For years, Nicole Ross thought yoga was a passing fitness fad and wanted no part of it. She preferred horseback riding, which she’d started at age six, and hard-hitting martial arts like Muay Thai Kickboxing. But, when she was invited to attend a friend’s yoga retreat in beautiful Costa Rica in 2011, she agreed to try it “just this once.”
Much to her surprise, she discovered that yoga was actually fun, challenging, and calmed her always-on brain (at least a little). She also discovered lavender-scented eye pillows and Savasana. Enough said.
In 2013, after cyber-stalking Big Sky Yoga Retreats for two years, she booked her first trip from Indianapolis to Bozeman for LUXE Cowgirl Yoga. The trip was transformative. She met amazing friends, reconnected with her childhood love of horses, deepened her yoga practice, and fell head-over-heels-heart-a-fluttering-in-love with Montana.
She returned in 2014 for Cowgirl Yoga and Cowgirl Yogatography, then attended the first Cowgirl Yoga Costa Rica retreat in January 2015. Shortly thereafter, Nicole quit her corporate marketing job of ten years and founded Creative Quarterback, a virtual marketing agency. That summer, she packed up her elderly Beagle and drove 1,500 miles to Bozeman for a two-month “town tryout.”
After spending the summer fly fishing on the Gallatin River, hiking with her dog Penny, trail riding, practicing yoga, and volunteering at Cowgirls vs. Cancer, she decided to permanently relocate in 2016. She teaches the groundwork workshop at Cowgirl Yoga and Cowgirls vs. Cancer and dabbles in retreat photography (thanks to Larry Stanley’s Cowgirl Yogatography tips).
She now rides at Holloway’s Pretty Good Horse Barn where she boards her Quarter Horse gelding Remington (Rem). From cow work to reining to dressage, she looks forward to many years of learning together. She also runs HorseRookie.com, an educational equestrian website.
Nicole earned her B.S. in Business from Indiana University Bloomington and her M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from IU-Purdue Indianapolis.