“I live my life by the motto that failure is nothing but a temporary port, not a final destination in the mind of the person bound for success.”
-Billy Peterson
Billy Peterson won the 1995 All American Futurity aboard Winalota Cash. He later transitioned to finance, founding Peterson Wealth Services. Peterson serves on the board of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. His story reflects a journey from early adversity to achievements in sports and finance.
Billy, thank you so much for joining us today. To begin, could you please introduce yourself to our readers? Tell us about your journey—in your own words—what you do, how your background shaped who you are today, and what drives your mission moving forward.
Hello, my name is Billy Peterson and I am honored to be featured in the Worlds Greatest Magazine. Today I own a successfuI financial planning and investment management company called Peterson Wealth Services. Even though I have been a financial advisor for 28 years, this is actually my second career. Prior to this I was a professional jockey for 9 years and made a pretty big name for myself in that career. I won some of the most prestigious races in the world was the #1 ranked quarter horse jockey in the country by purse earnings in 1995.
I grew up in a small farming/ranching town in Utah known as Morgan. It wasn’t the easiest of childhoods. I was born with a genetic x-chromosome linked deficiency in phosphorous and calcium. This is common in my mother’s family and produces extreme bowing of the femur bones in the boys who recieve the deficient chromosome from their mother. I was placed in the Shriner’s charitable hospital at age three to undergo a number of corrective leg surgeries. I spent many weeks in the hospital and many months in full body casts recovering from the methods the doctors used to “fix” my legs, although they never fully straightened.
It was traumatic and life altering, and as it turns out, quite unnecessary. Today the science has shown that delivering high doses of potasium and calcium to affected infants prior to walking can solidify the bone structure before bowing occurs.
Facing this and other hardships as a child didn’t dampen my determination. I made up my mind to become a jockey. This career was made possible largely because of the surgeries which stunted my growth.
I am a true believer that adversity can make us stronger. It certainly played a role in my life. Things didn’t come easy for me and I failed many, many times before finding the success I was looking for. In 1994 I reached my dream to ride in the All-American Futurity, the most famous and richest quarter horse race in the world. There I was, the youngest jockey to ever qualify a horse for the 10-horse race and on the world stage with television crews, media, and hundreds of thousands of fans on hand for the event. Tragically, the horse I was riding broke his leg during the race and went crashing to the dirt at 45 mph. By the grace of God I was uninjured. Doo Dominate had to be euthanized.
This tragedy was just another example of the set backs, falilures, accidents, and tragedies that I had to overcome. I kept my dream alive. One year later I found myself back in the All-American on the horse that would change my life forever. Winalota Cash and I won the All-American and broke the 54-year race record time in doing so.
I live my life by the motto that failure is nothing but a termporary port, not a final destination in the mind of the person bound for success.
Your book From the Starting Gate just won the 2025 BREW Nonfiction Book Excellence Award—congratulations! What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
I am very honored to be receiving this BREW recognition. I wrote my first book called Harnessing Your Wealth in 2019. From the Starting Gate is my second book and I really wanted to go deeper than wealth alone and address the nature of health and the misunderstood concepts about mindset, energy and the role that our thoughts play in the outcome of our lives. Writing a book is not an easy task. This type of award is very gratifying.
Your story beautifully bridges the worlds of elite sports and financial strategy. What were some of the most pivotal moments where lessons from the racetrack helped you tackle life’s financial or personal crossroads?
Riding in a horse race can seem chaotic, confusing, and overly risky to most observers. The same description can apply to investing. The skills I learned from riding, patience, quietness, awareness, observation, and preparation all play a major role in the skills I need to be successful as a financial advisor today.
Some people think investing should be fast paced with lots of changes being made regularly. This is a bad strategy. To be a successful investor, one needs a great deal of patience and trust in what will drive the business forward. Don’t get in a hurry to push your horse to the front. Let the race unfold as it will. Oftentimes, the best horses aren’t the flashiest or the biggest, but rather the ones with the grit, determination, and the will to win. That being said, being aware of the other horses in the race, their strengths and weaknesses and watching how they are positioned is also important. While you can’t switch horses mid race, sometimes a decision needs to be made that you shouldn’t keep riding a losing horse time and time again. I always say, find the winners and then let them carry you to the winner’s circle.
In your book, you don’t shy away from talking about hardship. How did those early challenges shape your views on success and resilience, and how do you define both today?
We are all going to have difficulties. We don’t get through life without some type of loss or adversity. Some face much more challenging hardships than the average person. The greatest stories in my mind are those made possible by the people who simply refused to quit even in the face of unbelievable challenges.
There is not much use in playing a victim card. Why bother? People have their own problems. Victimization or sympathy seeking to justify our own shortcomings is a rather unattractive personaltiy trait in my eye.
You’ve earned numerous accolades across very different fields—horse racing and finance. Can you walk us through a few of those standout recognitions and share what each one has represented for you on your personal journey?
I received a number of academic and athletic scholarships for my college education. During my riding career I won the Buffalo Wooten leading jockey award in back to back years for best jockey in the state of New Mexico. I was the leading rider at Ruidoso Downs, and Sunland Park racetrack in multiple years. I rode two world champions. At UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) I was awarded Phi Beta Kappa and also Magna Cum Laude and was recognized as one of two standout students by the University President at graduation ceremonies. Unfortunately, I was not present for graduation. I was at the racetrack, Sunland Park winning the Budweiser Handicap on a horse named High Siete. A guy has to have priorities!
In my financial career I have been named to Forbes list of Best In State advisors seven times, received honors from Wall Street Journal and have been named to Raymond James Chairman’s Council six different times.
Outside of the office, I have been my home town High School’s head softball coach for eight years and was named the best coach in northern Utah in two separate years.
Creativity and adaptability seem essential in both riding and financial advising. How have you continued to innovate in your second career, and what habits or mindsets have helped you stay ahead of the curve?
I think the most important component of staying relevant and adapting is to surround yourself with smart people. The hardest part of my job is always the hiring decisions. I really try to add players to the the roster who make the entire team better. I realize that I am not the smartest person in a whole bunch of areas, but if I can hire people who bring those values to the organization, it makes my life easier and forces us to constantly question if we can do things better and find ways to improve how we run our business as well as the experience for our clients.
Your story touches on perseverance, identity, and transformation—three things that many readers may wrestle with in their own careers. What guidance do you have for people at their own ‘starting gates,’ unsure of how or when to leap forward?
The starting gate is where you are forced to live in the present moment. In those few seconds before the gates spring open, you cannot fall into subconscious behvaviors. You can’t ruminate on the past or worry about the future. You are in the now. This is how we should attempt to live our lives. Not in high anxiety of something about to happen, but in a relaxed state of experiencing life in each moment. At the same time, people need to get comfortable taking calculated risks. You can’t get anywhere if you live in a state of fear and indecision all of you life. If you don’t know which direction to go, allow your inner wisdom to guide you. But you have to act. It’s better to close your eyes and take a leap of faith than it is to go nowhere at all.
With regards to changing my beliefs about health, I learned the hard way that negative thinking and worry can cause direct and severe physical changes in our bodies. Disease, illness and chronic pain are all a consequenc or our emotional state of mind. Too much emphasis on negativity, stress and worry causes chemical reactions in our bodies. Cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine are great for short term boosts to energy if we need to protect ourselves from harm or are in a competitive situation; however, if the stressors remain a constant and are not reined in, these chemicals produce seriously destructive changes to our cells.
We can change our lives. We are not on a predetermined route based on our genetic code. Our choices, beliefs and outlook on life have FAR more to do with our health and happiness than our genetics. The relatively new field of epigenetics is proving this in study after study.
You’ve worked with people from many walks of life in helping them build secure financial futures. How do concepts like inclusion and accessibility show up in your financial philosophy or client relationships?
Becoming financially independent is something everyone and anyone can accomplish. It is not just for the lucky or those fortunate to have wealthy parents. I grew up very poor. Many successful people can say the same. Taking action and sticking with the proven investing concepts I provide in my book are the keys to building a lifetime of wealth.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include areas like quality education, reduced inequalities, and decent work. While these may not be direct focal points of your work, have you seen or supported efforts that align with any of these themes—especially in mentoring, financial literacy, or community empowerment?
I am not a big believer in relying on government assistance. Rather, I promote acquiring the skills, knowledge and work ethic to which will allow people to improve their life far beyond what is possible when at the mercy of others.
Every year my staff and I host a financial literacy boot camp for high school students from surrounding school districts. We just held our 17th event in March of this year. Students learn investing concepts, learn how to get started and the best investments and account types for dfferent goals. They learn about debt management, insurance, signing up for a company 401k and performing a great interview. Beyond those concepts we have instructors who teach students about health, nutrition and fitness. We bring in a motivational speaker each year and wrap up with a professional panel of local leaders who tell their stories of acheivement, failures, and what it takes to ultimately suceed in careers and to reach financial independence.
Looking back on From the Starting Gate, what impact do you hope the book leaves on readers? And now that it’s found recognition through the BREW Nonfiction Book Excellence Award, what’s next for you—personally or professionally?
I hope readers will find the information, stories, and anecdotes to be memorable, relatable and movitational. The demand for self-help books has never been greater. People are searching for answers to the secrets of acheiving wealth, health, and happiness. I believe that my down to earth, and easy to implement action steps will get people on the right track to obtaining and maintaining each of these life goals.
I plan to continue managing Peterson Wealth Services and hosting my podcast, Harnessing Your Wealth with Billy Peterson where I host guests from many different walks of life who have found great success, especially through perseverence. I love my personal life with my wife Heather. We live in Morgan, Utah on 16 acres known as Buck Way Ranch where we breed and raise and take care of race horses, rope horses, and Heather raises chickens. We enjoy watching our kids compete in sports and spending time with our family.
To close, could you share a bit more about your personal journey and the legacy you hope to leave—how do you want your story to be remembered?
I grew up on a small farm in rural Utah where I learned how to work hard, believe in the power of my dreams, and to always get back on the horse—literally and figuratively. I was named the top jockey in the country in 1995 based on winnings, and won both the All-American Futurity and the All-American Derby. Today my firm, Peterson Wealth Services, manages approximately $450 million in client assets and represents more than a thousand clients.
As a professional athlete for 9 years, I became the leading quarter horse jockey in the country in 1995. I have been a financial professional for 28 years with advanced designations of Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®). I have been named to the Forbes Best in State financial advisor list seven years in a row and was named to the Chairman’s Council at Raymond James six times.
I suffered for most of my life with one health problem after another, culminating with such debilitating back pain that I actually considered ending my life. Through the grace of God, I was able to find the path to true healing and have spent the last several years showing others how to overcome their own poor health conditions. I have written dozens of published articles, appeared in the Wall Street Journal online, SpeedHorse, Track, Divorce Financial Analyst Journal, the Utah Bar Journal, and more, and host a popular podcast called Harnessing Your Wealth. In 2019 I wrote and self-published my first book, Harnessing Your Wealth: The Pursuit of Millionaire Status, which has a perfect 5-star rating on Amazon, where it also hit its category bestseller list for several weeks.
In 2009 I founded a non-profit foundation called Livastride, following my younger brother’s suicide due in large part to financial distress. Livastride’s goal is to provide financial literacy and education to youth. With Livastride, my staff and I hold an annual financial boot-camp hosting 500–600 high school and college students for a full day of invaluable financial education on topics such as investing, debt management, tax minimization, overcoming adversity, finding the right career, understanding the mind-body connection, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Check it out here: https://petersonws.com/pages/financial-boot-camp.
Today I live with my wife Heather and the youngest of our five children. I stay connected to my jockey days by raising horses and participating now as a race-horse owner, as well as other activities like trail riding and roping. We enjoy watching our kids compete in baseball and softball, as each of our first four children have gone on to play at the collegiate level. I serve on the board of directors for The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) and the Utah Racing Commission. I also serve as a member of the American Quarter Horse Racing Association Champion’s Selection Committee. I was the head high school softball coach for 8 years in my hometown of Morgan, Utah, retiring from that role in 2024. I feel blessed to be able to share the knowledge I have acquired throughout my life of significant accomplishments as well as devastating adversities.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“We can change our lives—our choices, beliefs, and outlook have far more to do with our health and happiness than our genetics.”
-Billy Peterson
Links
- Know more about the BREW Book, Blog, and Poetry Awards here
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Alignment with the UN SDGs
- SDG 4: Promotes quality education through financial literacy boot camps
- SDG 8: Supports decent work via financial empowerment
- SDG 3: Advocates for health and well-being through mindset awareness
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