In The Business of Healthy Masculinity Embracing Non-Human Teaching with Heather Hanson-Wickman
Hey, how are you doing and being? Let me know.
I’m REALLY excited to share this next In The Business of Healthy Masculinity conversation with you as I have had first-hand experience with equine facilitation and it is POTENT!
My guest is range owner, executive coach, and author Heather Hanson-Wickman. Let me share some more about her:
After achieving success in the corporate world, completing a PhD in Organizational Leadership and becoming a published author, Heather embarked on a new path dedicated to supporting senior leaders in their pursuit of evolved leadership and soulful organizations.
With over fifteen years of experience as an executive coach, Heather has witnessed the profound transformations that occur when leaders embrace new practices and self-awareness.
Heather’s approach is a bit untraditional. While she has the traditional academic background, a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Development, a Master’s degree in Human Resources/Industrial Relations, and a Ph.D. in Leadership and Transformational Change, her education and experience extends far beyond traditional academia. Heather has spent the past five years immersed in the teachings, practices, and wisdom found in equine-facilitated coaching, adding a unique dimension to her coaching practice.
If you are ready to align your life with your true essence and embark on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, experimentation, and change, I wholeheartedly invite you to join me.
Thank you to Anna deNardin for her amazing artistic support.
You can find out more about Heather and her work at her website.
As well as in this substack, you can also find this conversation on the following platforms:
* Apple
* Spotify
* YouTube
Let’s dive in:
Zero shame, zero judgement feedback from horses
“They (horses) are actually showing you what you need to see that no one else can share with you in a way that has zero shame, zero judgment, because the moment you shift, they re-engage.” - Heather Hanson-Wickman
To what extent could working with horses help you with your own development and leadership journey?
What I find super interesting is how our, my own ego, has been a blocker to receiving feedback, or having honest conversations that should have happened, in the past.
When I had my day coaching with a horse (a few years ago with Jo Menon), it was quite amazing seeing how jumbled and volatile my thoughts were entering the day (left hand image below), when compared with the clarity on leaving. You can see this visibly in the pictures below from my experience.
I can confirm that going through my day, it was incredible to feel the trust and equality in relationship that I felt with the horse, so much so I walked a kilometre down a path with my horsey-coach as below:
Horses have 5 X the electromagnetic field of humans
“The electro-magnetic field of the heart is five times greater in the horse than it is in the human, so they’ve been able to measure this in heartmath institute studies over and over again. The first thing that tends to happen when someone walks into our herd, is someone takes a deep breath” - Heather Hanson-Wickman
This insight from Heather was just like, whoah! It also reminded me when Dawna Jones (my guest on episode #6 of this platform), first introduced me to the work of the HeartMath Institute which honestly I need to dive more into.
Why wouldn’t we trust working with other animals when we have evidence that they have strengths that we do not have? To what extent can you believe that non-humans can be as strong, if not stronger sometimes, than humans?
I ask these questions as I have struggled, often, with challenging my conditioned bias that humans are superior to other forms of life, mainly non-human. My own experiences with equine facilitation is a key factor in helping challenge my internal narratives about that human superiority.
I am curious what reflections or challenges you have around the above?
Pausing to come from a place of wholeness
“So let me just pause there in saying that there is, I think, a space and maybe more broadly in nature that can help us all, you know, bring those pieces back so that we can find ourselves again, remember ourselves again, and kind of come from that place of wholeness.” - Heather Hanson-Wickman
What does ‘wholeness’ mean to you, out of curiosity?
For me, this is about integration; connecting head, heart, and gut, and not just relying on our conditioned ‘above the neck’ only experience of life. Having non-human guides, in this case a horse, to help you with that feels powerful.
To what extent can we influence business leaders to value wholeness and the exponential human potential that can come from creating space?
Heather’s corporate crack
“I tell you about my corporate crack. I quit my job in the middle of nowhere and sold everything and left the country for three months. Right. I just cracked. And so that was the first phase of the remembering.” - Heather Hanson-Wickman
Heather’s ‘chasing of the corporate ladder’ was exactly the same as what I chased (less effectively honestly!), but I have had a failed marriage, unhealthy vices, suppression of feeling etc
This ‘remembering’ is SO critically important and here in the UK as I type, we have just got news of a major shift in the political landscape, so much so I get a sense it will energetically open up people in a way they did not realise was possible.
Remembering we have agency.
Remembering we matter.
Remembering we have value.
Remembering not only humans can educate and support us.
All things our more degenerative systems are educated and condition out of us.
It’s to reclaim it all and avoid any more corporate cracks.
A more connected, less harmful, and generative world IS possible. It starts with each of us.
Until next time
We hope that you join us in this exploration, and please do feed back and share with your networks if you are getting value.
Finally, if any of the above questions have ignited curiosity within you, I am here if you are looking for a 1-1 Thinking Partner that can be in your corner by voice note, virtually, and in-person, I have found 5 x 60 minutes calls + unlimited voice note communication to work the best.
If you are ready to embrace the journey towards a healthier relationship with yourself and those around you, and the goodness that brings, at home and at work, drop me a line at garry.turner@radicality.co.uk.
Episode #21 of the podcast will be published next Mon 9th March 2026 with a purposeful communications expert and Dads Kids Club co-founder Scott Leonard for what is a CRITICALLY important conversation.
Here is a clip to whet your appetite in advance:
I am always interested in your reflections, challenges, and anything else that piques your curiosity with these updates.
Until next time, take care and have as good a week ahead as possible,
Garry Turner
garry.turner@radicality.co.uk
+44 7928 979358
Get full access to In The Business of Healthy Masculinity at inbusinessofhealthymasculinity.substack.com/subscribe