Jocelyn demonstrates authenticity from the tip of her silver head to the toes of her cowgirl boots. Living in the foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains, she’s survived Canadian winters, metastatic cancer and online dating. She supports women in uncovering their unshakeable beliefs and creating a code of behaviour to define prosperity on their own terms and guide their days in that direction.

Compassionate Leadership

I’m Jocelyn, a horse woman and a CPA by training. I work with talented professional women (generally entry- or mid-level supervisors or managers) who desire development of leadership skills aligning with values of compassion, acceptance, appreciation, mutual respect and integrity. I support them in standing out from the crowd while remaining likeable and honouring empathy.

Jocelyn has a unique combination of over thirty years of:

  • supervisory and management experience as a CPA/CGA (Chartered Professional Accountant)
  • horsemanship as a breeder and competitor in the Peruvian Horse show world

After recognizing the depth of leadership learning and healing she gained from working with horses, she completed a two-year certification in partnering with horses to help people overcome unfinished business and improve their lives in 2012. That training helped her survive and heal from diagnosis and treatment of advanced stage cancer in 2014.

Watch the video below to see how Jocelyn works with her stallion, HdN Jalapeño, at liberty.

Jocelyn Says

  • Do you avoid leadership roles because you fear it will make you unlikeable?
  • Do you trust others’ opinions more than your own?
  • Do you feel disrespected, dismissed, or even invisible?
  • Do you want more out of life?
  • Do you hesitate to state your opinions?
  • Do you feel like an imposter?

Many of these statements were true for me.

I attributed my promotion to Accounting Supervisor at an energy company when I was just 22 years old to my “superior leadership skills” rather than technical and analytical expertise landed me that job and the other management positions that followed.

Six years later, I found my heart in country living. The horses  were beautiful to watch, but I was frightened of them at first. Then my father-in-law obtained a beautiful gelding named Trigger. This horse was a true gentleman:  mature, confident, calm and wise. He was also very forgiving, which made me much more courageous. So courageous, in fact, that I thought I actually knew something about horses. Turns out I knew as much about horses as I did leadership.

My next horse was also beautiful, but mature, confident, calm and wise were not qualities he possessed. As I worked with him, I learned that I did not have the leadership qualities he required to feel safe. As the holes in my competence as a horsewoman (and Trigger’s true value) became more obvious, I realized I needed to give up this new horse or develop some skills.

I learned how to suggest what I wanted, and to show my new horse that he would be safe following my instruction. The light began to dawn on me that perhaps my staff at work needed the same reassurance. I realized I led by alternating bribery and bullying.  Being the person that could hire, fire, promote and give bonuses made me insensitive to how my team was feeling. I felt ashamed of my actions once I became aware of them.

Some of my amazing clients…

Calgary Stampede First Nations Princess

Margaret Holloway (2024) and Alayiah Wolf Child (2023). Photo credit to Cheryl Dust Video.

Calgary Stampede 2024 Princess Contestants

Speech Clinic, October 13, 2023

 

An incredible experience. I learned life-long lessons that I hope to share with others. I feel much more confident in my speaking and am more open to learning from my mistakes.

QM – Speech clinic participant

I had the pleasure of working alongside Jocelyn while volunteering with the Calgary Stampede Royalty Committee. The commitment and dedication Jocelyn provided to our committee and to the success of the young women who take part in our program was exceptional. She provided such meaningful training and expertise that resonated with each of the contestants who took part in our 2024 Stampede Princess competition. Jocelyn’s support also extended to some additional training for the 2023 Stampede Princess, which was very appreciated! Whether it is during her instruction with an entire group or one-on-one, you get the feeling that Jocelyn is trying to teach you strategies that will genuinely improve your abilities and allow you to succeed. I highly recommend having Jocelyn from the Cowgirls Code be a part of your training program to help you achieve your goals.

Thank you Jocelyn!

TA – Calgary Stampede Royalty Committee Member.

As a Community Builder for the Calgary Stampede Royalty, Jocelyn supports the Princesses, coaching them in communications and leadership skills. It is a thrill to watch their confidence and competence grow throughout the year of their reign as they appear at hundreds of events, not just during July. 

Her work begins with all the contestants, who attend a communications workshop to gain presentation skills they can take out into the “real world,” even if they aren’t crowned.

 

2023 Calgary Stampede & First Nations Princesses

Sarah Lambros and Alayiah Wolf Child (2023 Calgary Stampede and First Nations Princesses). Photo credit to Cheryl Dust Video.

Digging Deeper

Jocelyn’s mission is to assist women in clarifying their values and defining a coherent code of conduct for themselves and those around them.

Jocelyn grew up in the city, and spent her young adult years climbing the corporate ladder. She found her love of rural life in her late twenties. Horses taught her about living in the moment and being a cherished member of a herd. She completed a two-year program to become a Certified Practitioner of the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method and began a hobby business partnering with her horses to help people identify and remove obstacles that got in the way of living their dreams.

When she was 52, Jocelyn thought she had the world by the tail. She had been working for ten years as Finance Manager at a natural gas processing facility ten minutes from home, four days per week. She planned to be there until she retired. She’d built an equine facility from raw land, and had an ongoing contract with a horse trainer from Peru to work with her horses each summer.

She partnered with her horses to help a few private clients in her equine facilitated coaching side business. She ran small groups helping women to develop self-awareness and draw open-hearted boundaries. She had overcome an upbringing that discouraged risk-taking and learned to ride a motorcycle.

It was early June, and her chiropractor asked her about a marble-sized lump on her neck. It had been there for a few months, and she felt terrific, so she’d ignored it. At her chiropractor’s request, she followed up with her family doctor, then an endocrinologist and finally an ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeon who gave her the news no one ever wants to hear. “It’s cancer.”

Before year-end, Jocelyn underwent two minor surgical biopsies, 33 radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and antibody therapy. She lost her salivary function, sense of taste, and the ability to eat. She was tube fed for two months, then on a primarily liquid diet for a year. It was one more year before she got her sense of taste back and could eat almost normally again, although her salivary function remains limited.

During this two-year treatment and recovery period, many of the horses found new homes. Jocelyn’s gradual return to work program started about six months post-treatment, and eighteen months after diagnosis, she was declared “fit to work” and ineligible for any further long-term disability benefits. That same day, the natural gas processing facility that had been her employer for thirteen years declared bankruptcy and was shuttered.

Jocelyn knew she couldn’t return to work in downtown Calgary. She didn’t have the energy she’d once had, and two and a half hours of day of commuting from the ranch and preparation of complicated financial statements were beyond her capabilities. She looked for a new career.

Her mission became guiding women to develop self-awareness and resilience.  She joined Toastmasters to learn how to present herself better. She began to develop the women’s programs.

Then she met a retired rodeo cowboy. She thought they’d share their love of horses and ride off into the sunset together. Her program ideas changed to incorporate his cowboy mystique and fabulous skill with horses into executive coaching programs. She made excuses for the many times he failed to complete his contributions to the partnership, both in business and in relationship. Finally, she surrendered to reality and used her experiences to write a cautionary novel about the experience.

Today, she has realigned her goals. She took her core values of integrity, courage, compassion and community to  develop The Cowgirl’s Code – a code of conduct guiding herself and her relationships. She presents Compassionate Leadership as both a keynote and personal development program, and finds peace and fulfillment as she lives her days in congruence with her core values and inspires others do the same.

Location

Events are held primarily, though not exclusively, in southern Alberta.

Call or Text Us

(403) 369-8776

Email Us

books@jocelynhastie.com