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Liam Charlton-Killen:
Equestrian Creative Network.
Liam Charlton-Killen is synonymous with the online directory and
news site he created nearly a decade ago: Equestrian Creative
Network. And he’s an impishly charming networker. The founder of
the Equestrian Creative Network (sponsors of the EQUUS INTERNATIONAL
Film Festival) and late, great Equestrian Social Media Awards
(ESMAs), grew up on a family farm in County Down, Northern Ireland,
where his family still keeps a small stud, breeding flat-racing
Thoroughbreds, and his mother’s family own studs in Kildare. So yes,
it was “almost inevitable’ that he would have a horse career, albeit
a circuitous bridle path that began with interning in Washington DC
for Habitat Humanity, then back across the pond to the Belfast City
Council before Cupid’s arrow struck and united him with a director of
a software agency that made a website tool known as PagePlay. “I
instantly saw its use within the equestrian industry. Fast forward eight
years and roughly a third of all PagePlay sites are horsey!” Today,
Equestrian Creative Network is an online showcase for the creative
side of our industry: the photographers, writers, publicists, designers,
etc., who may not be in the arena spotlight but whose talents make
horse sport worth watching. We caught up with Liam shortly after
the adoption of their daughter to learn what spurs him to action.
HERS: Give me an example of a time
when you solved a difficult problem.
HIS: I was in a bar in DC back in 2005
with my host family while I was interning
there. We were playing silly games, one
of which was to make our favourite book
out of tin foil for everyone else to guess.
My host sister (in her late twenties at the time) decided
to cut the tin foil with a steak knife. In doing this
she managed to slice her hand along the palm, from
her thumb and forefinger all the way to her wrist. Her
family freaked out. I grabbed a napkin held it on her
hand and lifted her hand above her head. While
everyone else was flapping I shouted to the bar staff
to call 911. She survived with a few stitches and her
family thought I was some sort of hero.
HERS: What’s your superpower or spirit animal?
HIS: I’m like Batman. I don’t have superpowers. I just
have cool gadgets!
HERS: What is your favorite quote?
HIS: ‘We’re all in the gutter, but some of us are looking
at the stars.’ Oscar Wilde.
HERS: How would you describe yourself in one word?
HIS: Optimistic.
HERS: if we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating
what a great 12 months it’s been, what do you
hope you achieved?
HIS: I’m really excited to welcome lots of new members
to the Equestrian Creative Network. Oh, and my
son finally being potty trained! He’s nearly five.
HERS: What never got the chance to be included on
your résumé?
HIS: I worked in a call centre when I was 18 for a summer…
horrendous!
HERS: How old were you when you got your first paying
job?
HIS: When I was 16 my mum found a pack of cigarettes
in the space between the panels under a
saddle in our tack room. She said nothing at the time,
but waited to see whose they were. She watched
me go into the tack room then followed me down
the fields and caught me having a cheeky cig behind
a hedge. She said she wasn’t paying for me to
kill myself so I had to get a part-time job if I wanted to
smoke. I took a job as a waiter in a local hotel… and
smoked my brains out!
HERS: On a scale of one to 10, how weird are you?
HIS: If I say 1 you’ll not believe me. If I say 10 you’ll
think I’m trying to be original. 5, let’s go for 5. Everyone
is weird… Oh, wait. I may need to up that. I’ve
kept the first cutting from the tail of a pony I bred 15
years ago. I keep it in the inside pocket of my winter
coat. It’s my good luck charm. I’m still alive aren’t I?
Or, maybe that was quitting smoking. Either way, it
works for me!
34 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
I’m a great ideas person.
/www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com