EP820: Cody Sturgess - Loyalty & Love
"She's basically my best friend. I've had this horse for 21 years. If we do nothing, she's going to die — so it's one of those decisions you just have to make for them."
— Cody Sturgess
What does it take to compete at the top of any field — sport, business, or both? For Cody Sturgess, the answer is the same in every arena: do the work nobody sees, get back up one more time, and never mistake luck for the thing that actually got you there.
Cody was shortlisted for the Olympics in the discipline of 3-day eventing — an equestrian triathlon combining dressage, show jumping, and cross-country, the latter done at nearly 600 meters per minute over immovable solid obstacles. He broke his back in two places during a fall and spent nine months relearning how to walk. He came back. That same refusal to stay down carried him into real estate, a North American Director of Sales role at a SaaS company, and eventually into building an AI company for real estate agents — each pivot driven by the same discipline he built in the saddle before dawn, day after day, year after year.
Now Cody faces a different kind of high-stakes decision. Imperial Melody — Melly — the off-the-track thoroughbred he bought as a 2-year-old and kept for 21 years, the mare who carried him to Rolex Five Star and onto the cover of Horse Sport magazine, has been diagnosed with a large abdominal mass after colicking three times in seven months. He is taking her to the New Bolton Equine Hospital in Pennsylvania for surgery, and every dollar raised beyond her $30,000 surgical goal goes directly to equine cancer research.
Cody Sturgess is an entrepreneur, equestrian coach, real estate investor, and AI company founder based in Canada. He was shortlisted for the Canadian Olympic team in 3-day eventing and has spent over two decades competing and coaching at the highest levels of the sport alongside his mare Imperial Melody.
Learn more & connect:
GoFundMe for Imperial Melody's surgery and equine cancer research: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-bring-the-queen-home
Follow Cody's documentation of Melly's journey on his social channels
Resources mentioned:
New Bolton Center Equine Hospital — https://www.vet.upenn.edu/hospitals/newbolton
Horse Sport Magazine — https://www.horsesport.com
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Robin Sharma, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari — https://www.robinsharma.com
Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.