Zachary Leyden
Trail Brothers
Sacramento, CA USA
"As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for everything and everybody—period. You can’t make excuses as a leader."
Career Roadmap
Zachary's work combines: Environment & Nature, Business, and Accomplishing Goals
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
My career path is unusual. It is not impossible, you’ll have to ask a lot of questions and seek knowledge from everyone and anyone who’s willing to share with you. The horse industry is a hard one to break into, you just need to stay focused and driven. Be open to continually learning and going back to school if necessary.
Here's the path I took:
GED
Associate's Degree
Mathematics, General
Sierra College
Bachelor's Degree
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
University of Montana
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a CEO:
Bachelor's Degree: Agricultural Business and Management, General
Graduate Degree: Business/Commerce, General
Associate's Degree: Horse Husbandry/Equine Science and Management
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I grew up in a suburban environment and my whole family works in medicine—I didn’t have any exposure to horses when I was younger, but I always had a love for them.
2.
After high school, I joined the U.S. Army, where I served in a long-range reconnaissance unit and learned valuable survival and land navigation skills.
3.
After leaving the military, I attended Sierra College and earned my associate’s degree in mathematics.
4.
Attended the University of Montana, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in engineering.
5.
My first job out of college paid really well, so I started spending the majority of what I earned on horses and learning how to train them.
6.
Eventually, I decided to quit my job to pursue my dream of working with horses full time—I cashed out my savings and started volunteering on different ranches to learn from them.
7.
Went back to Sierra College to start learning about business and began running small pack trips and kids camps.
8.
I am now the CEO of Trail Brothers at Gibson Ranch, where we rescue and train horses, teach horsemanship, and do other horse recreational activities like trail rides.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You won't succeed.
How I responded:
I kept my mind on the end goal and no matter how many times my path towards that end goal changed I never stopped focusing on where I was going.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I come from a broken family and we did not have financial stability while I was growing up. I had to find creative ways to fund my company at the beginning. It involved a lot of loans and smart business moves.
I have ADHD and was told school would never work out for me, later I realized as long as I could relate the course to the real world I was able to engage and focus! I had to relate everything to my business or I was unable to succeed in the class.