Kaleb Kearl of Flagstaff on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Kaleb Kearl and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaleb, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
I think what is misunderstood about my business is the financial aspect. There are those people who believe most professionals in the equine industry (Showing, Breeding, Boarding, Training) must be rolling in the dough. Unfortunately, a number of us in this industry are breaking even month to month. Sure, we drive around in the big fancy trucks with big fancy trailers, but most of that is debt. It is a hard reality to think about when you put pen to paper. People that are in the horse business are doing it for the love of the horse or the duty that they hold within their positions.
Another hard misconception is that we mostly spend our time with the horses day to day, which again is true to a point. Any business owner especially in the equine industry knows, your phone is your greatest asset, but can be your worst enemy. Some days it never stops ringing, sometimes it is silent for weeks.
We deal with the on and the offs of people on the daily, the mind changing, the emotions, and the irritants. All of it falls on us. This profession is hard enough with the horses alone, add in the customers and it becomes a whole new ball game! I wouldn’t change it though, because like I mentioned before, I love what I do. I love my job, I love the people, I love the horses and the challenges that it all brings.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Kaleb Kearl, I am the owner of Double K Breeding in Flagstaff, Arizona. I am 22 yrs old, originally from a small town called Hooper in Utah. I started my business 4 years ago and got my amazing facility in Flagstaff in 2023.
The facility has 37 stalls inside, a fully indoor arena, outdoor arena, mare motels, and turnouts. It is about 13 acres total. At Double K we try our best to be a one stop shop for all your equine needs. Our facility does breeding, training, boarding, consignment, events and more. I always knew I wanted a life with horses, my grandparents trained and bred race horses and it had always been very interesting to me, so I took that passion and turned it into something that can help everyone. My main goal as a business is to become the best of the best in all aspects especially the breeding and selling.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
The people that taught me the most about work would probably be my grandparents, Kurt Fowers, and Steven Kearl as well as my mom Kallee Kearl. Both of my grandfathers own their own businesses and work their butts off everyday for what they have now. Neither of these businesses are easy either. Kurt is a farmer and Steve is a contractor but used to train and breed race horses as well. My grandparents did not take many days off during their life time as they knew they had a business to run and days off would not help. There was no day off, no “I’ll do it tomorrow”. It had to be done. I strongly believe that working with them for the first part of my life taught me a strong work ethic and never to back down or quit from facing challenges.
My mother doesn’t own her own business, however, she has worked for the same company for 20+ years, hitting the ups and the downs with the company as well as moving up their leadership ladder to almost the highest she can. She has showed me that there is always somewhere higher to get to. Stick it out long enough, deal with the challenges and rise to the top step by step. I have always lived and worked by these amazing people that have showed me how hard work is supposed to look and where to start.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering is a struggle that I think everyone should feel at some point in their life. I have had multiple times in my life/career where suffering is the only reason I moved forward.
Suffering does not have to be a terrible thing, suffering does not have to be the end. Suffering can mean a lot of different things depending on how you want to look at it and look forward with it.
The more you fail the more you are going to suffer but the more you suffer the stronger you become through trials and events that teach you more things then success can.
Success is the outcome of the struggles and suffering if you can look past it and learn from it. Whether it is a financial suffer, emotional suffer, career suffer, all these things are going to teach you how to overcome and how to work through and past the suffering.
If I wouldn’t have tried and failed and suffered in multiple different ways early on in my life and my career, I know for a fact that I would not be who I am and where I am today. Suffering/Failure/ Trials are all the key steps to being and remaining successful.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I think that the biggest lie that the industry tells itself and others is that “You’re on your own”, meaning you can’t or shouldn’t ask for help. If you have to ask for help then you shouldn’t be a trainer or a “professional” in that field. I think part of that is true for the industry. For example, as a new horse trainer, we are going to make mistakes, some mistakes can be fixed easily, some are much harder. Sometimes, I wish I would have reached out and asked for help earlier in my career, rather than trying to figure it out on my own. I have found that the help is here. There are plenty of people willing to give their time and knowledge to you.

I used to think the same thing when I was first starting out, “nobody is going to help me” “I’ll have to work for someone to learn” and that was totally not the case. Now, if you have the opportunity to work for someone that has more experience in what you’re wanting to do, no doubt would I take that offer. However, if you have done that already and you are wanting to go out on your own, there are plenty of people and trainers that are willing to help you if you just ask. Again, don’t be afraid to ask for help, do your research, find who and what is the best fit for the problem you’re having with your horse and work your way up from there.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes. In my opinion giving everything your best should be a you decision anyway. You shouldn’t be relying on someone else’s praise to help you give your best. I completely understand the feeling of not getting praised for things I feel I have tried my best on.

In the equine industry there is always something better to do, there is always someone better doing it. So, you get compared to most everyone else all the time. As a 22 year old in an industry where most of my competitors or my peers are 20 to 30 yrs older then I am, some may have a better way of doing things that I have not yet tried or learned.

You have to try your best for yourself. Most of the time nobody is actually watching what you’re succeeding at anyway. So, don’t expect praise from everyone else when you’re doing your best. If you depend on peoples praise you will lose your motivation very fast. Do your best because it is the right thing to do.

You have to make sure you are giving yourself enough praise to keep building up what you are creating. Not everyone understands what you are going through and how much help and reassurance is really needed to stay motivated in continuing your climb to the top. If you can learn how to praise yourself instead of relying on others praises, you will become an unstoppable force.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://doublekbreeding.com
• Instagram: Double K Breeding
• Facebook: Double K Breeding

Image Credits
Kevin Donnelly Photography

Stacey Judd Photography