Meet Taryl O’Shea | Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taryl O’Shea and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taryl, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.
The end goal is to look back at my career and know I accomplished something great! I would like to clearly see that: I used my skills for their greatest glory, I would hope to see that my effort helped to make the business better and was beneficial to those who relied on it. I want to clearly see that I was a leader and not a boss or manager.and that my time was well spent mentoring people to help them achive their best potential, I want to know I learned from my mistakes and became better and more resilient each time. Most importantly would be that I was able to find balance between work and my personal life and that both had very few regrets!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Since 1955 the Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show has set the pace in the Arabian horse world. The first show was held at the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel which was a beautiful setting for a horse show. The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show was a first class show from the very first day. After the show’s beginnings at the Arizona Biltmore, Ann McCormick bought 150 acres in Scottsdale and made it into the horse facility known as Paradise Park which served the needs of the show for many years. Since that time, the show has been held at Westworld in Scottsdale. It has grown from 50 horses to nearly 2000 horses bringing top owners, trainers and breeders from around the world competing for a chance at winning. The sponsoring organization, the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona, was incorporated in 1955. There were about twelve members when it began and it has grown to over 450 members. As our association has grown so has our annual show. Even though our show is our focal point, our members are active in other ways, representing us on boards and committees at national levels. Many of our members have become judges and stewards and have encouraged our youth to become involved with the horse show as well as other activities. This competition permits them to win Educational Scholarships.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would wake up early and head to the McDowell Mountain Preserve for a vigorous hike (Gateway Trailhead or Brown’s Ranch Trailhead), for lunch we would head to Isabella’s Kitchen on the golf course for a healthy salad on the patio, We would head to the Fairmont Princess Well & Beining Spa for a massage and some pool time and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing. The evening would be a night out at Dominic’s Steak house for an amazing dinner and some drinks. Mic drop!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to the Arabian Horse, the Arabian horse has given me the opportunity to be a part of something very special. The Arabian horse has such a rich history and has instilled a passion in me to work towards it’s future. The Arabian horse community is so amazing and it’s rich history has instilled a sense of purpose in what I do. The passion I have to work hard to perpetuate this amazing breed is second to none.

Website: www.scottsdaleshow.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottsdale_arabian/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taryl-o-shea-484904/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArabianHorsesAZ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottsdalearabian/
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/arabian-horse-show-scottsdale
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScottsdaleShow?feature=mhee

Image Credits
Osteen Schatzberg, Lauren Ebert for arabhorse.com