We recently connected with Angela Reid and have shared our conversation below.
Angela , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I live for creativity, it’s what keeps life exciting and dreams alive! My background is training horses and performing with them nationally and internationally. Working and having a background in horse training and performing requires a creative mind. Every day and every performance is never the same, the horses decide how the day and performance will unfold. Sometimes a show or act won’t go as planned, and that’s where creativity takes the lead. You have to think outside the box, improv, and think of creative ways to capture the horses and audience’s attention on the spot. Sometimes the best-performing acts, tricks, or even ways of horse training come from having to be creative in the moment. Marrying my amazing husband, settling down from his Navy career and my performing career, and focusing on growing our family was a big change for me from the life of a performer. That’s when “The Wandering Beer Burros” became an idea and quickly turned into reality. A new creative spark was born. My twin sister, also a horse trainer who lives on the West Coast, told me about the growing trend of beer burros at weddings. I live on the East Coast and, after some research, realized no beer burro companies existed on the East Coast. We already owned the horse trailer, property, and barn, so like many of my entrepreneurial ideas that I cast to my husband frequently, this was the first one he thought was brilliant and on board with. Just like performing, every venue or event we attend with our beer burros, “Winchester” and “Floyd”, is never the same. With beer burros becoming a fairly new trend, we had to be creative in designing their tack and attire, and what would work best to hold cold beverages on the burros’ pack saddles. Training the beer burros involves a lot of creativity as well. We want to make sure they are comfortable at each venue we attend, so we train ahead of time with music at home, different types of footing, and even different types of fabric so they are used to the wedding dresses and gowns brushing their legs during donkey selfies and cuddles from all the event guests. I believe creativity is the spark to success, I don’t think success would exist without it.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
We started The Wandering Beer Burros in the Spring of 2023. Beer Burros are a cute growing trend in the wedding/event industry! Our beer burros are dressed to impress and are equipped with pack saddles that hold woven panniers filled with ice-cold beverages. Our friendly mini donkeys not only serve drinks but also love to pose for selfies, cuddle with guests, and enjoy hand-fed treats. Our beer burros have become the highlight of many cocktail hours and events where we are based in Virginia.
What started as a fun side gig has really taken off and made me grow in the last few years. I have a horse training background, but have never owned donkeys before. We did some research before shopping for mini donkeys. We found that Mini donkeys can live until they are 40 years old! That is something I did not know. We searched for male donkeys that were “Johns” ( donkeys that have been castrated). “Jacks” are male donkeys that have not been castrated and can be harder to handle, especially if they have been bred before. “Jennys” are female donkeys, and they can sometimes be territorial. So “Johns” seemed to fit the ticket on what we were looking for. Our search for our two donkeys took us all the way to Dallas, Texas! I had quite a few donkeys I had found lined up to visit for the few days we were in Dallas. The first two we looked at were the winners. They had been around children and pets and had great personalities. So on Easter Sunday 2023, my son, who was 4 years old at the time, and I took a road trip back to Dallas, Texas, from Virginia, to pick up our new donkeys. Steve, my amazing husband, held down our little farm at home while working his full-time job as a Navy contractor. My son and I created great memories on our road trip, collecting all the Paw Patrol stuffed animals from truck stops along the way! I learned that donkeys are way more intelligent than horses and that they really think through things before they act, which makes training them so much fun! They also may judge you a bit more, so it’s fun seeing the wheels turning in their heads.
Other tasks I learned through this process was how to build a website on my own from scratch, how to market our business through the realm of social media marketing, accounting, and getting familiar with all the licenses and insurance required to own a small business. My husband has been great at helping with the licensing and legal side of the business, as well as becoming a certified farrier! Best gift ever is when your husband becomes a farrier and can care for our herd’s feet! Our son has been very hands-on too with the care and training of our beer burros. It’s why I love this little endeavor of ours, it’s fun to watch it evolve, and we are all learning so much along the way. We have enjoyed walking with Winchester and Floyd in our little seaside towns’ 4th of July Parade. At Christmas time, Winchester and Floyd have taken on the role of reindeer, donning antlers while crunching on the peppermints given to them by their fans during our town’s Christmas Festivities. Most days, Winchester and Floyd enjoy just being donkeys at home, sunbathing and rolling in the sand is a daily occurrence around here.
We are excited for this 2025 season of events we have lined up, but we also cut this season a little short as we have a little addition to our family on the way, due in July! We are very excited to grow our family, and we are excited to continue the beer burros in the years to come.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
For me, before creating our beer burro business, I really struggled with my identity. Coming from a lifetime geared towards performing with horses and chasing and living the dream, it was hard for me to settle down and focus on being in one place. Most of my friends and family are spread across the country as we had moved to Virginia for my husband’s military career, so it was very lonely at times. I worked part-time jobs here and there to help with my social gap and to feel like I was contributing towards bills, etc, but I didn’t feel fulfilled. I have learned there really is truth to the passage “in everything there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Reflecting back a few years ago, it was a season for me to just be still, create, and perhaps come up with new dreams. I do still enjoy training my own horses, creating my own acts, and performing from time to time, but becoming a mother has been the greatest adventure and dream of all.
If I had to share advice to anyone just starting out, it would be to embrace change. Use the slow seasons in life towards creativity, ideas, plans, shaping goals, and dreams. Secondly, just take one step at a time. A business is not built overnight and it will constantly be shaping itself and evolving even after it’s up and running. Trial and error do happen, and it’s okay! Some of the best creativity comes from trial and error. Thirdly, pick something you enjoy doing! I enjoy doing what we have created together as a family! We have met some amazing people and visited some stunning venues with the beer burros over the last couple of years.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
I love the people we have met who have booked our beer burros! Our amazing clients and the people surrounding them have really made me fall in love with the wedding industry. We have met amazing chefs, wedding planners, caterers, venue owners, brides and grooms, as well as the wonderful wedding guests. It’s fun to see how our burros, Winchester and Floyd, bring joy to everyone who has contact with them. I think we are lucky in the sense that most people who are hiring our beer burros for their cocktail hour or event are already animal lovers who love the idea of our beer burros being part of their festivities. We are also so blessed with owning the best donkeys in the world. They are the backbone of our business, and without them, it wouldn’t be The Wandering Beer Burros!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thewanderingbeerburros.com
- Instagram: @thewanderingbeerburros
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Wandering-Beer-Burros-100092402141471/
Image Credits
Personal photo is by: “Just Gerald Photography”
and 4th photo ( single donkey with white flowers) is by: “Just Gerald Photography”
All other photos taken by me.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
