TAFE NSW Goulburn has helped a former corporate banking executive make a radical career switch, swapping her high-rise office for a stable to pursue her passion for horses.
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Nimo Wachira worked in a senior management role at BT Financial as part of a 15-year career in the financial services industry, before honouring a long-standing commitment to herself to launch her "second career" when she turned forty.
With a deep love of thoroughbred horses forged during her childhood in her native Kenya, Ms Wachira enrolled in a Certificate III in Performance Horse at TAFE NSW Goulburn to get the practical skills and experience to enter the industry.
While midway through the course in February this year, Ms Wachira earned a place in the prestigious Silverdale Academy, a partnership between TAFE NSW and Silverdale Farm that provides students with an immersive six-week experience of the thoroughbred racing industry.
Through the course, Ms Wachira was able to secure employment as a stablehand at John Sargent Racing in Randwick and enter an industry she's long dreamed of working in.
"I'd come to a place in my career where I'd ticked all my boxes and I was looking at what my next chapter would be," Ms Wachira said.
"I've had a passion for horses from a young age and I've always wanted to own racehorses and work with them".
"I just love what I do: to wake up when the moon is still in the sky and help care for these special animals doesn't feel like work."
The thoroughbred racehorse industry is Australia's third-largest industry, employing more than 75,000 people and generating more than $5 billion annually.
She said the Silverdale Academy and her TAFE NSW Goulburn course had given her an "essential foundation" to make a running start into the industry.
"My TAFE NSW teacher has worked in the industry which makes her knowledge very relevant; things like what goes into the horse feeds and what to look out for in a stable environment," she said.
"And the Silverdale Academy played a huge role in turning the wheels for me. It put me in contact with a lot of industry people and through those contacts, I feel very supported in my new chapter ."
Ms Wachira spends the mornings grooming and exercising the horses and the afternoons working in her second business - painting and selling her art.
TAFE NSW Goulburn equine teacher Linda Molloy said Ms Wachira's early success in the industry highlighted the many career opportunities available for well-trained professionals.
"The industry is growing and there are certainly plenty of jobs out there for TAFE NSW graduates," Ms Molloy said.
"The Certificate III in Performance Horse gives graduates the ability to move laterally in the industry and explore lots of different job opportunities."
- The Certificate III in Performance Horse is offered at both TAFE NSW Goulburn and Moss Vale, with semester two enrolments now open.
