Mikki Naranjo, In Her Father鈥檚 Name
painted under the name Shadow Wind. A longtime executive officer for the , he was also an artist whose stained glass portrait of sits in the .
Today, the name Shadow Wind hangs over a small ranch in , where Eugene鈥檚 daughter, , runs a horse boarding business. 听
鈥淸Shadow Wind] really takes care of the horses personally. Our horses do not become another number. They become family when they鈥檙e here at our facility鈥
But the name is only part of the family story. Her love for horses stemmed from her grandparent鈥檚 ranch, and her drive to keep learning came from her mother, who earned a masters in teaching. Shadow Wind is where all of these pieces came together.
Getting there took time. Naranjo spent years in tribal finance and set aside an earlier business idea along the way. The Rural Colorado Workshop Series helped her find her way back to the entrepreneurial goals she'd set long before.
Specialization is Key
Shadow Wind gives horse owners a place to keep their animals when they don鈥檛 have the land to do so themselves. Boarders pay for daily feeding and care, and they can ride in the indoor and outdoor arenas while they鈥檙e there.听
The business started from a mix of desire and chance. When Naranjo and her husband drove by the property, with arenas and paddocks already in place, they remembered how they had wanted a ranch of their own. So they purchased it, which quickly became a return to how she grew up, where she spent most of her time on her grandparents鈥 ranch with a Shetland pony.听
The previous property owner had also been boarding horses, and still had two clients who needed somewhere to go. When she was asked to take them in, she instantly jumped at the chance.
"I thought about it, and I said, yeah, let me try it."
Immediately, she leaned on her accounting background to handle the setup, registering the business with the state and applying for a federal tax ID. From there, she researched competitor pricing to help set their own. All in all, the goal for her first year was to come out with a profit, and she did just that, capitalizing on their low-cost business model, and high expertise and care. The physical work is a family effort, with her husband and two sons handling all the daily operations.
She credits her family for the business's success, specifically her husband, Gary Methvin, and sons Jerid and Seth, along with her son Kai, daughter Alexandria and son-in-law Kyle, who help when needed. The day-to-day operations would not be carried out without them.
What sets Shadow Wind above the other facilities, aren鈥檛 the fancy amenities, but the sheer attention and care each horse gets.
"I really love taking care of horses because they have a soul. They can't tell us when they're hungry. They can't tell us, 'Help me,' or 'I'm not feeling good.' It's just something I've really come to love, being able to take care of God's creatures."
A Sign, and a Turning Point
The Rural Colorado Workshop Series, instructed by and Executive Director of the Deming Center Erick Mueller, brings entrepreneurial training to rural Colorado communities, specifically in collaboration with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.听
Naranjo had her eye on it for years. Her first business idea was a coffee shop she planned with her sister. They made it as far as a proposal and market research before setting it aside after her mother's passing. Naranjo returned to the tribe鈥檚 finance department, and a busy career kept the workshop out of reach.听
When the series came back around after she semi-retired, she didn't hesitate. She walked in with a clear goal. As a former grants manager, she already knew how to search for funding online. What she wanted was to learn what was available closer to home.
The two-day workshop walked participants through starting a business and keeping it growing once it's up and running. The sessions also pushed participants to think creatively. In one exercise, each group was handed an orange and asked to build a business around it. Naranjo had the name ready. Her last name traces back to "naranja," the word for orange.
The bigger takeaway was momentum. The workshop connected Naranjo with local resources like Region 9 and gave her the push to start using them.
"It just helped me get motivated, put a little fire under me to start utilizing the different resources in the area.鈥
An Empowering Future
Naranjo doesn't plan to turn Shadow Wind into a large operation, but she isn't sitting on her heels either.
Her husband is preparing to attend farrier school to learn hoof care, which will give the ranch another service to offer boarders. The ranch is also about to get busier. Naranjo is adopting five rescue horses from the U.S. Forest Service, and one of her boarders is returning with two horses of her own.
More horses mean more upgrades. The paddocks need work, and a new barn tops her list. Rather than keep funding the business herself, Naranjo plans to pursue grants to make it happen.
Beyond all the planning, the operations, and the goals, the drive has always remained the same for her.
"You gotta always love what you're doing... or else you're not going to be wanting to do it. Entrepreneurship to me is powerful. It's having your own destiny, to do what you want to do. It's exciting to be your own boss."
Shadow Wind began as her father's name. Now, it's where Naranjo is shaping her own.