Ep 21: Guest spotlight Dr. Cindy Trice, Founder of Relief Rover and Kick It Pajamas

Imagine being inspired to change your career path because of a chance encounter. That’s exactly what happened to Dr. Cindy Trice, a veterinarian who transformed her passion for relief work into a thriving business. In our latest episode, Cindy recounts her unconventional journey from a freelance production worker to founding Relief Rover, a platform designed to connect relief veterinarians and technicians with job opportunities and resources. She shares how her early experiences and an inspirational figure led her to embrace the dynamic and flexible nature of relief veterinary work, which eventually sparked her entrepreneurial spirit. Cindy’s story is an eye-opener into how diverse experiences can unexpectedly shape one's career path.

We also delve into the intricacies of building a two-sided marketplace and the emotional highs and lows that come with it. Cindy describes how she sustained the business without initial revenue and the subscription-based model that ensured its success. Moreover, she talks about the strategic merger with Hound, aligning with partners who shared her vision and integrity. As if that wasn't enough, Cindy opens up about her personal battle with chemotherapy and how it led to the creation of Kick It Pajamas—functional yet stylish clothing for women undergoing medical treatments. Her resilience, creativity, and dedication are a testament to the power of turning personal challenges into impactful business ventures. Don’t miss this episode filled with insightful stories of entrepreneurship, growth, and meaningful partnerships.

Chapters

• 0:04 Accidental Entrepreneurs Podcast
• 11:11 Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Partnerships
• 18:05 Starting Kick It Pajamas

Transcript

Ira: 0:40

Today, I'm here with a very, very special guest, Dr Cindy Trice. Cindy and I were actually vet school classmates back in the day. I don't know that I would necessarily say we were friends as vet students. We were certainly friendly and we knew and liked each other, but we actually became friends later because of our respective entrepreneurial journeys, and so it's absolutely a pleasure to have you on the show today, Cindy. Welcome.

Cindy: 1:09

Ira, thanks so much for inviting me.

Ira: 1:12

All right. Well, today the plan is going to be to hear about how you accidentally became an entrepreneur and to share the story of some of your journey. Why don't you tell us a little bit first about what the company that you started first was called and what it does?

Cindy: 1:33

So I started Relief Rover, which is a platform to connect relief veterinarians and now technicians to opportunities. So mostly those are clinical jobs and hospitals, but sometimes we would have opportunities for where a company would need an independent contract vet for writing or for consulting or for telehealth or something like that. So they were. You know, we have all sorts of opportunities, but mostly to connect them to clinical work and also to connect them to resources, Because that was another big part of what I wanted to build with Relief Rover was helping relief vets and techs spin up their own business and start their own business and do it themselves. That is a huge part of what we're doing at Relief Rover.

Ira: 2:24

That is a huge part of what we're doing at Relief Rover. Yeah, relief veterinary work is so common nowadays that it's sort of figure out how to go about all of the specifics legalities, like how you get paid, like all those little things. But nobody really really knew. And I knew a couple of people that did relief work, but it was almost like this, this weird secret thing, whereas nowadays it's kind of ubiquitous like this weird secret thing, whereas nowadays it's kind of ubiquitous.

Cindy: 3:11

Yeah, weird is right. Well, I will tell you so. I'm a vet as a second career and in my other career I did production work and so I was a freelancer. So I got used to this lifestyle. I would go work on a movie, a TV show, a commercial, a documentary, and I just would hustle work wherever I could, and so maybe I'd be on a show for two months, Maybe I'd be on a show or a commercial for one day, and I loved that cadence.

Cindy: 3:36

I actually loved that cadence of working where I'd work really hard, you get really close to your crew and your team and and you become best friends because you're working these really long hours and you're all in for whatever period of time that show is, and then, poof, you're done, it's over, and maybe you stay in touch with a few of your besties from that show and go out for drinks or whatever. But you have this period of time possibly, and it may be days, it may be weeks, hopefully not months if you are really relying on the money. But you'd have this time where you've got to like rest and relax and reset and and then you do it all over again and sometimes you know, then there'd always be the crew shuffle and you'd have some of the people that were on your crew from before, and sometimes not, and you'd meet new people and I honestly think that that set the tone for me really liking relief work as a veterinarian and the other experience I had early on that I was working when I decided I wanted to go to vet school. I went and worked as a receptionist at a pet hospital. I was living in San Francisco and I had never. I don't wanted to go to vet school. I went and worked as a receptionist at a pet hospital. I was living in San Francisco and I had never. I didn't know what a relief vet was.

Cindy: 4:50

And we had a relief vet in one day because this was a single doctor practice and she came in. I thought she was so cool, she rode up on her bike, she came in. She wasn't particularly friendly but she was all business, she wasn't mean, she just wasn't like she could have cared less about anyone on that team. She just wanted to come in, get her job done and go and I was just enamored with that and her for some reason. And she came in, she did her work and then she took off on her bike and I was like, oh, that is a cool way to work and not the not friendly part, because I'm such a people person.

Cindy: 5:29

Actually, one of my favorite things about being a relief is getting to know all these different teams, but that like breezing in doing your job and breezing out. I loved the idea of that and and so I think that also was another thing that planted a seed, because I I started relief work only a few years after I graduated, so we graduated in 2004. I became a relief vet in 2007. So and then I spent virtually my whole career doing relief. I had a little four and a half year break somewhere in between where I went back and worked at my previous associate position, but I still was doing relief on the side.

Ira: 6:11

Living that glamorous jet setting relief lifestyle.

Cindy: 6:15

I totally lived a glamorous jet setting relief style yeah. I loved it.

Ira: 6:22

That's great. And so you were doing relief and at some point you decided you wanted to build something. How did that come about?

Cindy: 6:32

Well, I had these evolutions as a relief vet, so I first went into relief in 2007. So a little backstory is that I didn't enter, I graduated and I went to do an internship in Tampa, florida, at what was called Florida Veterinary Specialist but was actually the first Blue Pearl, and I had to drop out because I got sick. I dropped out. I went and worked as an associate for a year and a half and it bugged me so bad that I didn't finish that internship. I really wanted to go back. So I went back and I did, started the internship over and I finished in 2007. And so then I had this choice to make I could either go back to my associate position or I could go look around for something else to do, and I did really like the hospital I worked for. I was one of the lucky vets who got a really good experience at my first job, with great mentors, things like that. I actually still do a lot of relief for them.

Cindy: 7:33

But I'm also just a curious person and I was thinking of that vet in San Francisco and how cool she was. I was like I want to be that girl and so I decided to go around and just see what else was out there and I honestly didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know if I was doing it to to find another place to work, like maybe there's something better out there. But I was very aware that if I stayed in one place I would get stuck in one way of thinking or or I was afraid of that. I think I was fearful of that. That may not necessarily always be true, but I was afraid of that.

Cindy: 8:17

And so I was really just and I'm also kind of nosy I wanted to see, like, what are other people doing in their practices. So my initial motivation to do it was curiosity and just seeing what else was out there. And that's when I had another evolution as a relief vet. I suddenly realized at that point oh wait, a second, I'm a business to business service provider Like this can literally be a career. And I ended up deciding to be full-time relief again because, for the same reason, a lot of relief vets do it today. I got burnt out. So you know, the first time, curiosity. The second time I need I am burnt out, I need more control over over how I work, and so that was when I decided to to spin up Relief Rover.

Ira: 9:03

Fantastic and like what was it when you first started it.

Cindy: 9:07

So I I don't know anything about software, how to build software, and I mean I had some really grand visions. I made a business plan. I really detailed out everything that I wanted to provide to this community, and then I went and shopped it around to software development companies and all this this, and I was coming back with like hundreds of thousands of dollars quarter million, half a million and I was like like I was so deflated because I was like, oh I, you know, I got maybe like 15 grand just on this, and I was just got laughed out of the room because I was bootstrapping this and I it never, ever occurred to me in the beginning to try to find investors or do anything like that. I literally just wanted to spin this up. So so I ended up scaling way back and I got a website provider, built me a WordPress site, which, and basically a two-sided marketplace. So that was where where I started.

Cindy: 10:20

And that was, um, I spent $21,000 on it and that felt like a lot of money like coming out of, you know. And I was like Jimmy, are you okay with this Like? And then I did it and I was like, once the money like went, I was like okay, here here?

Stacee: 10:30

we go.

Cindy: 10:30

I just spent so much money on this, like, here we go.

Ira: 10:33

I can't turn back now so you reminded me and my recollection is that for I think some years after you started relief rover, whenever we would connect um, the sort of feedback was the traction is great, like there's a ton of interest, there's a ton of interest, there's a ton of community and we are delivering on the mission of Relief Rover, but like there's really not substantial revenue coming in to support all of the time and effort and work that goes into maintaining that on your part. What did you ultimately sort of do and how did you navigate that?

Cindy: 11:16

Well, there was no revenue like none. It was actually I was just working a ton of relief and extra relief shifts to pay for it, which I think, and I always knew, eventually I was gonna pay for it. But I was building this two-sided marketplace nationwide. From out of the gate it was like, okay, at what point is it are? Is each side big enough to provide value? And there's no, you can't read.

Cindy: 11:48

You can read a thousand entrepreneur books and no one will tell you that because there's no answer to that. Right, there's no, you can't read. You can read a thousand entrepreneur books and no one will tell you that because there's no answer to that. Right, there's no answer. It's like, um, you, just, you have to try at some point to start charging. The business model was that the employers would pay a subscription and we thought of it like it's like a dating site. So basically they would pay a um, a subscription to be on there and have access to all our relief vets. They could reach out, they could post as many jobs as they wanted, and we would also give them some resources as well to try to help them understand how do you onboard relief vets? How do you most productively work with them. So we were always trying to provide education and resources in addition to just the opportunity to interact with this community.

Ira: 12:37

Fantastic. And yeah, I think there was a significant amount of time when Relief Rover sort of was Cindy Trice, right, but then at then, at some point I know we had some conversations about this like you know, it's sort of you know kind of got to be ready to take that sort of next step in its evolution. And you know, maybe you can talk about sort of what, what prompted that and how that that went.

Cindy: 13:07

It did get to a point and I had like probably a lot of entrepreneurs have had this experience. It was up and down. You know, they say it's a rollercoaster ride for a reason. So there were times when I felt really good and like, oh my gosh, we're doing something, this is really great. And then there were times I was like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? Have I lost my mind? I'm really, I'm giving so so much to this and I'm neglecting other things as a result. And how am I, an idiot like am I an idiot?

Cindy: 13:39

And um, and then something good would happen and I'd be back at the you know top ready to weed down on the fun part of the ride. But I did get to a point where I was like, okay, we are at a point where I either need to sell it or runaway screaming.

Ira: 14:01

Last one was probably not the best option.

Cindy: 14:03

Right, one of those four things. I would not have runaway screaming because I think I'm too stubborn, you know, which may or may not be a good thing. And so I was starting to look into getting investment and starting to think about, like writing my little pitch decks and looking into how I could do that. And then Hound came along at just the right time.

Ira: 14:30

And for those that don't know, hound is a next generation recruiting platform for veterinary professionals, you know. Also a startup I think in its own right it's fair to call it but growing and gaining popularity, and certainly made perfect sense to me when I heard the news, why you were a great fit to join forces with them and was that just sort of like a natural fit or were you looking at sort of multiple options at the time?

Cindy: 15:00

just sort of like a natural fit, or were you looking at sort of multiple options at the time? Well, I had had, I had had other people big, some big groups actually two big groups, three talk to me about buying Relief Rover and it just didn't seem like the right fit because, also because I I, I did and do care about the integrity of what we're doing and and I was worried that the alignment wasn't right. You know that that what they wanted out of it was not this, the thing that would be good for the relief community in the long run. I wanted that to be, you know, upheld.

Ira: 15:42

Yeah, I'm thinking that you know with with Eprep, which is my company, you know, one of the things that just always gave me the most joy was to meet somebody that had used our product, loved our product and was thankful and appreciative for how much it helped them. And I think you had a ton of those same types of people at um, at relief rover, and when you are looking at a new big partnership or selling a company to somebody else, yeah, that's what I worried about the most was like, oh man, like I'm okay with no longer like being the guy, but I would just be devastated if you know, a few years from now, like you find somebody. Like, oh, you were the founder of this company. Like, oh, yeah, that sucks now.

Ira: 16:31

Right Like you know that's what you don't. Want that to happen, right Like that's just that's your baby right Like you want it to grow up and do well. You, that's your baby, right Like you want it to grow up and do well. And and so, yeah, I think finding finding the right partner that you think can kind of help it to grow up into something you're going to be even more proud of is is really important at that stage. You mentioned, you mentioned something earlier I wanted to follow up on and I actually remember having a conversation with you maybe maybe it was during kind of one of those little downs in the roller coaster of Relief Rover and then you sort of mentioned to me and there's this other thing that I've been working on and like your eyes just like lit up about.

Ira: 17:14

You know how excited you were about this other thing, because you know running one startup by yourself wasn't enough for you and so in the thick of all that, you started a second business. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the inspiration and why in the world you started a pajama company?

Cindy: 17:41

So in my mind it is actually not as random as it sounds.

Ira: 17:46

It is not at all, actually, yeah.

Cindy: 17:48

So when I graduated I alluded to this earlier in our conversation I graduated, I was in an internship for about two or three months and I got diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and so I dropped out. I was in the hospital a lot because they did my chemo in the hospital. They would check me in for a week, I'd get chemo for a week, I'd get checked out and I'd go back in and then I had some complications. So I ended up in the hospital a few more times and, um, and the first time around, that first week that I was in the hospital, one of my very, very good friends gave me a pair of pajamas to wear while I was in the hospital, cause I was just wearing a hospital gown. That's what they gave me. I was wearing it, but, um, and that was game changing for me, truly game changing in a way that I would never have expected from myself.

Cindy: 18:41

We're vets, we're sloppy, we were scrubs all the time. You know, like I'm not you know I don't typically care about that stuff Like I'm like, fine, whatever. It's a little thing that goes over, but it was scratchy, it was uncomfortable, and what I found is that when I was feeling sick and feeling vulnerable like that, having that gown on made me feel even more vulnerable, and that's why the PJs made such a big difference. I was also dating who is now my husband at the time and he would come visit me, and when I had the pj's, I just felt better. I just felt more dressed. But the problem was they didn't have the appropriate functionality for the medical staff. So I thought to myself well, duh, why don't you just make cute pj's with snaps on the sleeve right, like how hard could it be? And so that was when the idea of Kick it Pajamas was born. And so, of course, I had a lot to go through, and I didn't end up doing anything about it for a few years.

Cindy: 19:42

Then, in 2008, I was. I was like you know what I want to. This idea has just been sitting with me all this time. I really want to see if I can make something happen. I know zero, zero, zero about fashion and or how things, how clothing gets made, or anything like that. So I went to a fashion school in Tampa and I just started emailing instructors and I got a lot of crickets, but finally one emailed me back and she said sure, let's have a meeting. And so she ended up helping me spin up some prototypes.

Cindy: 20:20

I came up with some branding on my own. I, you know, curried favors from friends and other industries and and I ended up, but I couldn't. I couldn't figure out how to get them manufactured, and so, anyway, I just got stuck and I was again doing this all by myself, and I'm trying to be a vet and have a life and all these things, so I threw it in the closet. Fast forward 10 years, a friend of mine who's a business person had met these women who own a clothing company and she said hey, can we? I always love that idea that you had. Can we spend this back up?

Cindy: 20:58

dust off the old pajamas so we dusted off the old, but I pulled out, like I had this, like again three ring binder, like with all this, like research I had done, I had my business plan, I had all these things, and we just pulled it out and we and we, just we figured it out and we started over. So we started selling um, really get december 2020, so really December 2020. So just, we'll call it 2021.

Ira: 21:23

Fantastic, and how's it going?

Cindy: 21:26

It's going really well. Our sales are increasing every year. We are still very much a startup. We've gone from pajamas to a whole line of clothing. So we have pajamas, gowns, that are good for the hospital. We have some that are designed for if you're not in the hospital, but all of them have special pockets or snaps or specific designs that are meant for comfort, for functionality and for style. We wanted them to be pretty and where you would feel nice in them. We also developed some clothing that we had chemo centers in them. We also developed some clothing that you know we had chemo centers in mind.

Cindy: 22:03

So I used to volunteer at Florida Cancer Specialists and my job was to pass out warm blankets to people getting chemo. And you know, those blankets are great because they're in this like little warming thing, but they stay warm for about a minute and a half and then they get cold and then they're kind of weird and they're crispy. They're just not that comfortable. So we ended up, you know, based on my experience with that, we ended up creating what we call the cape, which can be taken on and off while you're hooked up to an IV line. We have a dress coming out, we have this cardigan coming out. So what we wanted to do basically was to support women in any part of their journey. So whether they're out running errands but they still may have drains or other medical equipment, or they've got scars, or they've got a colostomy bag or a urostomy bag or whatever, we wanted to provide clothing for them where they were comfortable and felt good in it, where it didn't feel like medical clothing.

Ira: 23:03

That is amazing. Thanks so much for sharing some of your story with us today, cindy. We are going to have you back for another episode soon to talk a little bit more about things from the entrepreneur perspective, but I hope folks enjoyed your story as much as I've enjoyed seeing your story, as much as I've enjoyed seeing your story along the way and hearing it again today.

Cindy: 23:25

Thanks so much for having me.

Stacee: 23:28

Thanks for listening to the show today. If you want to learn more about my story or Ira's story, be sure to check out episodes two and three. And if you are an accidental entrepreneur and would like to be a guest co-host on the show and spin the wheel, just message be a co-host no spaces to 1-833-463-9727 and tell us your story. See you next time.