American Operator
Hosted by Joseph Cabrera, American Operator dives into the world of business ownership through conversations with entrepreneurs, operators, and leaders who have built and sustained successful businesses. This podcast offers real talk on the challenges, rewards, and lessons learned from the frontlines of entrepreneurship. Whether you're considering buying a business, running one, or looking for inspiration, you'll find valuable insights and advice here. We're unapologetically pro-American and pro small business, celebrating the people who keep our communities thriving. Join us to learn, grow and take control of your entrepreneurial journey.
American Operator
The School Bus That Picks Up 11,000 Dogs I Evan Z - EZ Dog Play & Stay I AO 39
What happens when you trade the desk job for a dog bus?
For Evan, the journey from finance to fur started with one realization — he was meant to work outside, around animals, and on his own terms. After years behind a desk as a banker and analyst, he walked away from corporate life to care for horses, manage vet clinics, and eventually launch EZ Dog Stay & Play — a dog daycare and boarding business built on connection, trust, and grit.
From 3 dogs on day one to over 11,000 reservations a year, Evan has grown his business from the ground up — literally fencing pastures, driving pick-up routes across Austin, and creating a place where dogs are part of the family. But his story isn’t just about success; it’s about perseverance.
In late 2023, Evan was diagnosed with cancer and underwent major surgery that could’ve ended everything. Instead, he fought through treatment, leaned on his community, and kept the business running — proving that purpose can push you through any obstacle.
Today, EZ Dog Stay & Play is thriving on two acres in southeast Austin with a full team, multiple dog buses, and a mission that runs deeper than daycare: to serve people and their pets with heart.
Evan’s story is a reminder that small-town values, hard work, and faith still build America’s best businesses.
Join the Movement
Tactical insights and behind-the-scenes stories from America’s operators:
- Website: www.americanoperator.com
- AO In Action: https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanOperator
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theamericanoperator
- Newsletter: https://americanoperator.substack.com
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:09:15
Speaker 1
Hard work. Real talk. No shortcuts. I'm Joseph Cabrera. This is American operator.
00:00:09:15 - 00:00:31:12
Speaker 1
All right, team, I got Evan in today from Easy Dog here. I guess you call it Austin, Texas, but really, it seems like you get a lot of central Texas folks that lean on you. If you love dogs, if you ever kind of curious what kind of folks not only also enjoy dogs the same way, but also kind of take on the task of taking care of, you know, kind of an entire mob of them.
00:00:31:12 - 00:00:35:14
Speaker 1
At one time, Evan started a whole business based on that man. So good to have you in today.
00:00:35:14 - 00:00:36:22
Speaker 3
Yes. Thank you.
00:00:37:00 - 00:00:52:17
Speaker 1
Well, let's do this. I know we want to get around in the dog business here at some point and kind of talk about the ins and outs, but what I'd love to, to give a little background on is you didn't you know you've been doing this business for about seven years. But what I want to know the laugh before all this, before it all kind of started.
00:00:52:17 - 00:01:01:10
Speaker 1
I know you had spent time kind of in the animal care world before that. Yeah, right before that. But even before all that, what was all? Where did it live? Start professionally.
00:01:01:10 - 00:01:24:19
Speaker 3
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So my background, I worked for financial firms, high school. That was one of my first jobs as a part time teller. There. And I got into the banking world, outside of Houston. And then from there it kind of went to promoting to personal banker. I moved to Bryan College Station. I worked for banks there, for a couple of years.
00:01:24:21 - 00:01:49:19
Speaker 3
And then when I wanted to come to Austin, I got another banking financial firm job here, and East Austin. I worked for three and a half years at and I was promoted to assistant branch manager. And then from there, I took a job as a product analyst, for a huge financial firm worldwide Global. There was 400 plus of us in the office, outside of Dallas.
00:01:49:21 - 00:02:09:01
Speaker 3
I did that for a couple of years, but it was a very, you know, like, desk job. And I just wasn't satisfied sitting in an office all day. And I would even if by the window, my desk was by the window. I was just hoping for more out there. So that's why I moved back to Austin.
00:02:09:03 - 00:02:35:16
Speaker 3
And then I started working at a horse ranch. Part time when I worked for another bank. Right. And I quickly realized how much my passion was towards caring for the animals, side. So I managed a boarding, facility and Dripping Springs. Actually, for about two years, I lived on site. I cared for about 40 horses there, and I gained a lot of animal experience and client all the above there.
00:02:35:17 - 00:02:56:16
Speaker 3
From there, I started working at a vet clinic. I wanted to do more full service. Right. So I worked for emancipate, the nonprofit here in Austin, and I was on their mobile unit. We'd start at 6 a.m. a lot of times, not get done till 8 p.m. it's a hard job, you know, vaccinating dogs, nail trims, microchips, everything.
00:02:56:16 - 00:03:27:13
Speaker 3
So I did that for a while. And then I went on to managing a vet clinic in South Austin. From there. And I was over 14 vet techs under me. We saw about 65 patients a day between three doctors, so I would it's about like a high volume clinic. Right. So I did that for a couple of years, but I think I mentioned I was dog sitting on the side for a lot of my clients because of my experience with surgery and, all the animals in general.
00:03:27:15 - 00:03:46:23
Speaker 3
And I quickly started realizing I was making more and things, doing my passion and watching dogs out in my home instead of sitting at the vet clinic, you know, ten, 12 hours a day. So yeah, it was in 2019 when I left and, launched my dog daycare business, and I never look back.
00:03:47:01 - 00:03:49:02
Speaker 1
Know, it sounds like crazy right now.
00:03:49:02 - 00:04:09:05
Speaker 1
Hey, y'all, real quick. Check it out. This show, if you like it. Well, we like you. I'd love for you to give us a rating and a review. We read every comment, whether it's on Apple or Spotify. And here's the real reason why it helps other Americans out there who are chasing their dream. Hear this message. And if you got a friend that you think could use a little inspiration in some of these words, hit with you.
00:04:09:08 - 00:04:12:05
Speaker 1
Please share this with them. All right. Back to the show.
00:04:12:05 - 00:04:28:00
Speaker 1
I'm just kind of backing up a little bit. Did you, when you got into the financial world? Obviously. Sounds like you kind of were moving through the ranks quite quickly. Was that like what was the starting point there? Did you have family say, hey, you got to get into finance or what was the thought behind that?
00:04:28:00 - 00:04:47:13
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. My brother actually worked for that bank. Okay. And then high school. And so when he graduated, went on to school, he put in a word for me. I was like, hey, I got somebody to fill in this part time position. And at the time, all my friends were making a couple bucks less and I was working fast food and I'm like, cool, I can go work at a bank and I get holiday pay.
00:04:47:13 - 00:05:06:03
Speaker 3
And it was a very incentivizing job to do something for a couple more bucks an hour at the time. And I thought I was killing it, working 25, 30 hours outside of school at the time, you know? So, yeah, that's kind of how I got into the banking world. I found out how much it paid at the time, and I'm like, man, all my friends are making minimum wage.
00:05:06:03 - 00:05:16:22
Speaker 3
I'm going to be $3 higher. I'm going to go here and, you know, and have holidays paid off and all that stuff. So that was kind of the move on to the banking world. And then I didn't. So but you.
00:05:16:22 - 00:05:20:22
Speaker 1
Weren't like, I wasn't like a passion. Like you grew up as a three year old. Like I'm going to be a banker.
00:05:20:22 - 00:05:25:00
Speaker 3
One. Yeah. No, no, I wanted to be an equine vet when I was a kid.
00:05:25:00 - 00:05:27:21
Speaker 1
Oh, dad. Okay. Stay consistent. Animals did. Yeah. Okay.
00:05:27:21 - 00:05:45:13
Speaker 3
Yeah. So I wanted to be an equine vet. But then as I got older, I started realizing man is not a good fit for me. All the school behind it. And, you know, the vet world is a very hard industry. I have a lot of friends that are that's currently, and I'm obviously glad I didn't pursue that direction.
00:05:45:15 - 00:05:51:10
Speaker 3
I have a big respect for vets, especially after working, in the clinics for all those years, for sure.
00:05:51:12 - 00:06:12:04
Speaker 1
I mean, I wanted to ask you about that later. Bad sick. Let's do it now. I've always wondered. I mean, you know, we got family and health care. Actually, nobody in the vet community that I can think of. But I've always like, thought maybe they were a kin and I'll tell you the, the docs and the medical care staff and nursing folks, they always come back home and they are just obliterated.
00:06:12:06 - 00:06:23:05
Speaker 1
You know, and so I'm curious what are the, what are the things people probably don't know behind the scenes of running a veterinary practice? What are the things that would shock folks?
00:06:23:08 - 00:06:40:16
Speaker 3
Yeah, sure. I mean, off the top of my head, I can just think of a lot of people think vets are there. It's the reputation that vets get that they're trying to upsell and sell you on things, and that can be really difficult when you're trying to do the best thing for that animal, at the time.
00:06:40:16 - 00:07:01:02
Speaker 3
And then people get their guard up and are like, oh no, my dog doesn't need that. And then a week later, they're calling back to let us know, hey, my dog still has an ear infection. And we're like, yeah, we did recommend this at the first vet visit, right? So really having those conversations, a lot of people don't realize that vets don't make the money that you think, they do.
00:07:01:02 - 00:07:21:10
Speaker 3
They really have to have a passion for it. You know, not to say every vet out there is a good what I would call a good vet necessarily, right? Just like in India, any industry. But I mean, on the back end, those vertex aren't making a whole lot, and they're working 12 to 13 hour days and like you said, it's very hard on your body.
00:07:21:10 - 00:07:49:09
Speaker 3
We bend over, we're doing nail trims on a mastiff that's 140 pounds, you know, and it takes 2 or 3 people. And at the same time you got two people in the waiting room. And it's just a very fast paced environment, and you're trying the best you can with what you have, in front of you. But I will say probably one of the hardest things in the vet industry was just the clientele and communicating, hey, your dog has an ear infection and we do need to do A, B, C, and D, you know what I mean?
00:07:49:09 - 00:08:08:10
Speaker 3
So you get those estimates and people automatically oh man, that's trying to upsell. So that was a really difficult thing to go home at night mentally drained not only physically but mentally. Just like man I really wish that dog would have taken that medicine. And those people left upset with us and we were just trying to do the best we could for that animal.
00:08:08:14 - 00:08:29:06
Speaker 1
Yeah. Actually, that's a really interesting psychology I thought that I have. I want to appreciate you sharing the background on that. I, I know that people are and, especially generationally, probably in two camps. This is where the struggle comes. I think my wife and I probably spend more money on my dog, and I've spent on my own health care, there's no doubt about I have zero doubt about that.
00:08:29:06 - 00:08:29:20
Speaker 1
And yeah.
00:08:29:22 - 00:08:31:03
Speaker 2
You know.
00:08:31:05 - 00:08:46:02
Speaker 1
Where there's other folks were especially like my, my dad's generation where they're like, like me, man, you ride the dog until it's no longer ready to go. And then it just, like, rest in the sunset. I ain't spending any extra money than I have to. Yes.
00:08:46:04 - 00:08:46:20
Speaker 3
Very much so.
00:08:46:21 - 00:09:01:11
Speaker 1
My folks in particular aren't that way. But I know a lot of that generation are. I feel like that's probably where the struggle of, like, you get this bill in. Oddly enough, if that same bill came and somebody said that about my wife, like, hey, if you pay for this, you'll be healthy for the day, you know, I wouldn't hesitate.
00:09:01:13 - 00:09:08:19
Speaker 1
But for the dog, it always seems to be that struggle. Can you give any insight into what you really think is going on when people are trying to weigh it out, other than just the cost?
00:09:08:19 - 00:09:19:04
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah, a lot of it's the cost. And then a lot of people are doing stuff at home now, where they think they can figure it out with, without prescription medication and things like that.
00:09:19:04 - 00:09:19:20
Speaker 1
I see.
00:09:19:22 - 00:09:42:07
Speaker 3
And then a lot of people are going holistic, you know, they're looking for a little more natural, type approach, versus just doing medicine right away. So that has a lot to do with it. But I know exactly what you're saying, because my grandparents, I think the dog went to the vet once in the 13 years they had it, and they maybe put flea medication from a grocery store on their back once of the year, you know.
00:09:42:12 - 00:09:51:17
Speaker 3
So it's very the dynamic has changed where now their family members and they're accepted and they're sleeping with you and all that from. Yeah that generation gap for sure.
00:09:51:23 - 00:10:07:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. The and I imagine the the access to information being high. Now there's always a little bit of I know that on the, on the people health care side, we're probably all guilty of it. Yeah. We're like, we believe we're kind of a minor and MD, you know. Yeah.
00:10:07:22 - 00:10:09:19
Speaker 2
Because of what I read, which I think is.
00:10:09:19 - 00:10:28:15
Speaker 1
Good, but I imagine imagine that can be tough. Yeah. When you think about also just the I've always been fascinated with the folks that work at vet clinics or anything in the equine space or whatnot. Y'all are always moving. Like if you think about this little wiggle worms. Tom's 50 of them. They're in a shop. I got to imagine that.
00:10:28:15 - 00:10:41:06
Speaker 1
You got to keep pace. What did was that, when you first started in that role? Kind of moving from banking was a little more, said Terry to that. Did you find those first couple of weeks or months to just be physically exhausting?
00:10:41:10 - 00:11:04:16
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. But, it's just more of, like a passion to where you enjoy the work to where you don't care if you're exhausted. I looked forward to going to work every day, even if my fingers and shoulders and back all were killing me the next day. It was something I knew that I was making a difference in the world, whereas the financial world was always going to be there, and not necessarily my passion.
00:11:04:17 - 00:11:20:18
Speaker 3
So I didn't mind being a little sore. And my nail trims, you know, I'd be all cut up. People had thought I'd been in a fight, you know, and I'm like, nope, just a little another nail trim. So yeah, just doing that every day. But yeah, I think it's a whole different mindset of like, yeah, you're worn out.
00:11:20:18 - 00:11:27:12
Speaker 3
But it was something new and intriguing to me where I enjoyed the work, so it didn't really feel like work, if that makes sense.
00:11:27:14 - 00:11:52:01
Speaker 1
No, it does. It does make sense. When folks, I think a lot of folks tune into this show, they're probably sitting in a world where you were maybe a decade ago or so were there's this we kind of call them corporate burnouts or folks that are there's something exhausting about being in kind of a sedentary environment or being without u-v or being without physicality, those kinds of things.
00:11:52:03 - 00:12:15:07
Speaker 1
Can you give us a little insight into your brain where you are, you know, how did you have the guts to make that call from going to something that especially you were moving that ranks pretty quick, something ideal and safe in quotes for those who can't see me. To this world where like, you're completely on your own, obviously at this kind of step in between with equine and vet, but for a lot of folks, they can't get off that side of the fence.
00:12:15:07 - 00:12:18:08
Speaker 1
There's just something about it that seems too scary to even pursue that.
00:12:18:10 - 00:12:36:17
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. Well, for me, I had to run like a quick business plan, right? And I had to see if it made sense when to make that jump. I didn't make a real detailed. I didn't go to a bank and, you know, discuss all the financials. I just did it on a little sheet of paper. I weigh the pros and cons.
00:12:36:19 - 00:12:58:20
Speaker 3
And then honestly, when I decided to start my business in 2019, it was a matter of, hey, how many dogs do I need to be in my care? X number of days? You know, just a quick little business plan to see if it made sense to make that leap. And then another side was, okay if I do make that leap, you know, what's going to be like?
00:12:58:20 - 00:13:18:07
Speaker 3
How much more effort can I put into this if I'm not doing 40 plus hours at the vet? You know, where I was coming from. And that helped make my transition so much easier. You know, I do take leaps and I take risk, but I'm really slow, like, when I launch my business and we can get into this later.
00:13:18:07 - 00:13:42:09
Speaker 3
But I launched it very minimally, just in case I did fail. I didn't have a big investment to, you know, I could go back into the corporate world, if I needed to. Yeah, I have that on the back burner. But, just meaning when I bought my first dog bus, I think it was like $19,000, right? And I went out and got an auto loan, and then that was another part of my business plan was, okay, now I got this loan.
00:13:42:11 - 00:14:00:04
Speaker 3
How many more dogs do I need to add and how do I do that? And all that kind of just fell into place. But I just made a quick business plan after dinner one night. I just made a list of. Okay, I need three dogs a day to make what I'm making at the vet clinic, and that turned into four, and I'm like, all right, I got a little more.
00:14:00:04 - 00:14:05:03
Speaker 3
And then, you know, when you reach that limit, you start looking at hiring. And those type things.
00:14:05:03 - 00:14:23:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, I think that kind of work in small think big, work small, that kind of stuff. I think oftentimes it seems to, we kind of naturally fast forward to the end state, and thinking about building that is very hard to digest. Whereas just thinking about what you do today, the other thing I noticed you did have, it looks like it.
00:14:23:23 - 00:14:35:16
Speaker 1
Whether that Bill courage to do it or not, it seemed like you were working somewhere and willing to work more on the side to also kind of test this out. What would you say through that? Like, it seems incredibly important to kind of test these things.
00:14:35:17 - 00:15:03:03
Speaker 3
Yes. Well, I knew financially I needed to do my primary, career right to offset until that other, position made sense to make that leap and start going off on that. So I couldn't just start like, stop cold turkey due to my finances and my overhead. Personally, I knew how much I needed to make a month, and when it needed to make sense to go ahead and leave, that it wouldn't mess up my day to day.
00:15:03:03 - 00:15:23:23
Speaker 3
I wouldn't have to sell or, you know, really sacrifice and suffer while it was launching this new business, a whole lot I did. I cut some things back, but that's when I knew to jump in, go ahead and quit the primary. But I started very small. Like I said, you know, I started that first van, and then I did the numbers and I'm like, all right, I'm dog sitting.
00:15:23:23 - 00:15:34:17
Speaker 3
And then Thanksgiving and Christmas are my busiest holidays. So I looked into that. And how many dogs would I have, during that time to offset some of the slower months, if you will?
00:15:34:20 - 00:15:46:10
Speaker 1
Yeah. Talk to me about let's do this kind of go backwards. So just shooting forward what easy dog is today. And then I want to kind of jump back and go, okay let's talk about the build story. Yeah. What is it today.
00:15:46:12 - 00:16:16:11
Speaker 3
So currently I own two acres in southeast Austin, that I've owned for three and a half years now. And then currently I have seven employees. And then we watch average this year. We'll watch a little over 11,000 reservations, between daycare and boarding combined. That's 365 days a year. I'm open. But, yeah, that's currently what it is today.
00:16:16:13 - 00:16:18:10
Speaker 1
What are the services other than.
00:16:18:14 - 00:16:40:00
Speaker 3
That's just daycare and boarding. Okay. Those are the number a little over 11,000, estimated to complete this year. And then as far as additional services, we offer nail trims, they can be their dog after a day, if they. If you want your dog to come home clean and dry, that's a service we offer. We offer nature walks.
00:16:40:02 - 00:16:56:20
Speaker 3
A lot of dogs won't relieve themselves. And let's start on a walk. Even if they got the biggest yard in the world. So people sign up for those nature walks in the morning. We'll take them out of property and take them on a walk around the, just to be in nature and hang out and get off, site, especially for a longer stay.
00:16:56:20 - 00:17:26:03
Speaker 3
A lot of people, like that. We also offer a little froyo treats. I support a little local pet store. A good friend of mine owns. It's called Paws on Chacon. Here's an awesome, great spot, ma'am. Yep. So, Keith, sells me those little froyo treats, and then we offer those to. For daycare and boarding dogs. But, yeah, I'm trying to think what other services other than those are just listed, but, yeah, mainly bath nail trims, the nature walks, the fro yos, but the I don't do any grooming.
00:17:26:05 - 00:17:38:06
Speaker 3
You won't see me cutting and trimming on a dog. I refer that out. I used to do training, but I refer that out now to just because of the volume we see. It really takes that one on one attention. Yeah. To do that.
00:17:38:10 - 00:17:42:00
Speaker 1
Well, folks come to y'all to do the training there or where that. Okay.
00:17:42:00 - 00:18:04:21
Speaker 3
And it depends. So we do have some trainers that'll come on site, but the majority of them, I have them go to either their house or they'll go to the trainer's house. Yeah. Just because the space and everything and the time when I'm running a daycare and boarding 24 seven, it's hard to have an outside party come in and not be distracted and take up my space that I might not need for those dogs that day.
00:18:04:23 - 00:18:09:13
Speaker 1
When you started the biz, was it primarily daycare or boarding?
00:18:09:15 - 00:18:29:09
Speaker 3
So when I was working at the vet clinic, I was doing boarding outside of my house, my personal home. Right. And then when I, launched my actual business. Business? That's when I launched my first day of daycare. So I wasn't really offering that service before just because I had my primary job. That took all day out of me.
00:18:29:09 - 00:18:39:09
Speaker 3
Right. But when I launched my first day of daycare, I had, like, three dogs the first day of daycare, and I was pumped and it kind of just grew from that, that.
00:18:39:12 - 00:18:43:09
Speaker 1
Did you have people asking you about it when you were just doing boarding, if you would watch them during the day? Yeah.
00:18:43:09 - 00:18:44:03
Speaker 3
Well, yes.
00:18:44:03 - 00:18:56:05
Speaker 1
I give folks who don't maybe understand what day boarding makes sense, I think for most folks. But the daycare piece explained like who their customer is and not only the darkest room, but the human customer. Yeah. Why is that a need?
00:18:56:05 - 00:19:19:11
Speaker 3
Yes. So especially like I was open before Covid. So I'll talk about both, right. Yeah. But before Covid you went to the office. All of us mostly went to the office. You were gone 8 to 5. Well, you'd pay a dog walker to go in for 20 or 30 minutes. Well, I saw a need there of like, hey, that's not enough time for that dog to be in a crate or at home for that many hours.
00:19:19:15 - 00:19:37:22
Speaker 3
So daycare is great for those that go into the office, you know? So a lot of my clients are nurses. They work 12 hour shifts, right? They go in at 6 a.m., they get off at 6 p.m.. So we were really, really, good for them because I go pick their dog up while they're at work already. Right.
00:19:38:00 - 00:20:00:04
Speaker 3
A lot of dog daycares, traditional all over Austin don't open until seven eight. In the morning. Those nurses are already on their shift for a couple hours. So it was really beneficial to those, nurses. I go get their dogs, I pick them up by 8 or 9 a.m., and then I'm dropping them off at 435, and they're, after noon, and then they're getting off their shift at six.
00:20:00:04 - 00:20:09:20
Speaker 3
And their dogs now played for the majority of the day. And they come home to a nice, tired dog, and they're not feeling guilty about working a 12 hour shift. So the need for a.
00:20:09:20 - 00:20:11:04
Speaker 1
Win win win for everybody
00:20:11:08 - 00:20:31:01
Speaker 3
Correct. Yeah. So a lot of people that work at even a typical 8 to 5, they were seeing a big need for us to pop in, and take their dog out for a day of playtime. They don't feel guilty when they get home. You can also go to happy hour after work, knowing that your dog just played for seven, eight hours, throughout the day.
00:20:31:01 - 00:20:51:03
Speaker 3
So yeah, that's really where daycare comes into play. As much as like boarding as a need, obviously, when you're traveling. But daycare is a huge part of it because your dog's getting socialized, you know, and stimulation, it's just great benefit for a lot of folks that are working those 8 to 5 or just need their dog to get out and have a good day.
00:20:51:07 - 00:21:15:14
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's probably I got to imagine when folks are having thoughts about getting, a fur buddy, that's probably the one thing it's got to be in the top. Two things they think about, which is it wouldn't be fair to the dog. We can't be around to go do these different things with them. I've even seen folks select different breeds, just that they know are going to naturally not need as much where they don't get, you know, we have, a dog, Crockett, German Shorthair running around.
00:21:15:14 - 00:21:36:09
Speaker 1
A lot of people would say, I can't do that because I don't even know when I'd be able to take them out. Do you nurses, first responders like that all makes a ton of sense to me. Do you also get a lot of, Call it, like, folks that commute and they just they know they're just going to be gone for extended periods of time or doing overnights.
00:21:36:09 - 00:21:39:02
Speaker 1
The it's got this daycare in this kind of boarding situation.
00:21:39:02 - 00:21:39:20
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah.
00:21:40:01 - 00:22:01:18
Speaker 1
Flexibility. On the the part I think that's kind of take them brain a little bit and you kind of looked at. Sure the dog need is there. But what I've heard you say is also the fact that it's also about extending that time, which is in a way innovative. But I think a lot of people wouldn't see that as you probably don't see that as a very fancy thing, just meeting the customer where that's at.
00:22:01:18 - 00:22:04:12
Speaker 1
Why was that such a natural thing for you to think through?
00:22:04:14 - 00:22:07:04
Speaker 3
You mean our dog bus? Portion.
00:22:07:04 - 00:22:17:05
Speaker 1
The pickup portion and the fact that you were just going to pick them up earlier, like, that's something that just. Duh. But for some reason, a lot of folks had to sit into that get filtered for folks.
00:22:17:05 - 00:22:32:16
Speaker 3
Yeah. Well, to be honest, we've backed off. So I used to pick up really early in the morning. But that was a learning gap for me because the majority of the people were still asleep when we were arriving. Right. So I pushed it another hour just to give people that time to get up, because it's just like a child going to daycare.
00:22:32:16 - 00:22:48:18
Speaker 3
You got to get them up, let them go potty. You got to feed them breakfast and do all those things before you send them off with us. Yeah. So we adjusted our times to where it made more sense for people. And the dogs, you know, they're still in bed, they're in their pajamas. And, man, I'll be out in a little bit, and then it puts us.
00:22:48:18 - 00:23:08:21
Speaker 3
We're delayed. Right? Yeah. So, yeah, just learning that curve of that sweet spot. Time to where they're either gone to work already, or they're there to they're awake and they're able to let their dog out. But yeah. Yeah, that was a big part of it for my time tweaking, I looked at, okay, what time does everybody going to work and then what time do they get home.
00:23:08:21 - 00:23:18:14
Speaker 3
And then I don't want to be in Austin traffic either. So adjusting those times. But yeah, that was that's kind of where I got that idea from with the time and everything.
00:23:18:17 - 00:23:24:20
Speaker 1
Went seemed like out the gate. The pickup was a big thing because a lot of it for a lot of places because they're focusing so drop off, I would imagine.
00:23:25:00 - 00:23:25:11
Speaker 3
Yes.
00:23:25:11 - 00:23:28:01
Speaker 1
What's the split between pick up and drop off?
00:23:28:03 - 00:23:45:05
Speaker 3
We probably have about 10%, only that drop off. And I'll be honest it's mostly pickup. Yeah. So the majority of my business let's you know is pick up and drop off. I'll tell you why. The only dogs that really drop off are the ones that live within like 10 or 15 minutes. From there it's easy for them.
00:23:45:05 - 00:24:02:20
Speaker 3
If they don't get a jump into an office, they'll pop them over, and pick them up. But the majority of them see that value of us. I can't tell you. We got a binder full of spare keys from all my clients homes. Garage codes, door codes. Now, on an app. So that way we don't interrupt and whatnot.
00:24:02:20 - 00:24:25:00
Speaker 3
But the majority of them, we just pick up and drop off. And people love that service again, because you don't have to rush home. A lot of traditional daycares, they have that cutoff time of 7 p.m. or 6 p.m., right. If you got a late meeting that's running late and then you're rushing to get your dog, how nice of a service is it that you get home and you're spouse sitting there waiting for you already?
00:24:25:00 - 00:24:27:22
Speaker 1
Oh, you're putting them in the house. Do you mind if they are back?
00:24:28:00 - 00:24:44:11
Speaker 3
So I laugh, I mean, I haven't met like a handful of my clients in person. Like they just. And one day maybe I will, but they're gone by the time I get there in the morning and they're still gone when I drop them off. So I've met a lot of the dogs before I even meet the clients.
00:24:44:11 - 00:24:45:20
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's a service.
00:24:45:22 - 00:24:46:02
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00:24:46:02 - 00:24:52:03
Speaker 1
It's almost like we always know the gal. See people walking in the street and I'll know their dog. And I had no idea what their name is. I've seen them for years.
00:24:52:06 - 00:24:52:16
Speaker 3
Yes.
00:24:52:21 - 00:25:10:18
Speaker 1
Wouldn't. So you got, you picking up these dogs just described to people that you've kind of. What's kind of iconic is this dog bus. Just take me through. And as a spoiler for folks like, we're going to actually do a full day with you. So this is going to be great. We're we're going to it's I'm stoked man about it.
00:25:10:19 - 00:25:11:01
Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:25:11:03 - 00:25:12:07
Speaker 3
But firsthand.
00:25:12:07 - 00:25:23:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. Put me in sad that you're all leaving the ranch with the bus. What what is the process for the day? I'm actually just curious, like how you get these dogs to sit down in the chair. Yes. Like all that stuff?
00:25:23:14 - 00:25:41:10
Speaker 3
Yes. So the majority of my dogs come 2 or 3 times a week, right? They're on a recurring schedule. So the first time, their first day, they actually right up front with us so that they're not overwhelmed. You can imagine if your dog load it up into a bus with a bunch of other dogs, they're going to be overwhelmed, like who's who.
00:25:41:10 - 00:25:59:10
Speaker 3
And we have an introduction process too, right? So they right up front. That way they're separate from everybody. They're more comfortable. They're buckled in up there. The whole way to the ranch. Same thing. When we get to the ranch, we separate them to where, we have an intro process, like I said. But back to the bus.
00:25:59:12 - 00:26:29:15
Speaker 3
We go down and work down a route. Unfortunately, the dog software all out there, the dog bus isn't real common, right? So meaning there's no other service in Austin that picks up the amount and the volume of dogs we do a day. Sure, there's taxi and shuttle services, but they're like one offs. Like, hey, if you want to pay me, we'll drop your dog off after boarding or whatever, but nobody picks up the amount of dogs that we do, so meaning we have to manually make that on a Google Sheets page, right.
00:26:29:17 - 00:26:49:04
Speaker 3
Of the dogs that we're picking up that day. And we do our routes off the most efficient routes. But you can imagine that might vary and change day to day, because I might have more dogs on the east side than the South for that day. People can book up to 8 p.m. the night before, so my schedule is always changing, meaning the routes and whatnot, you know.
00:26:49:05 - 00:26:51:19
Speaker 1
Do you have you said you do not have software right now that you just.
00:26:51:22 - 00:27:03:01
Speaker 3
We have the software. It's for dogs. It's for boarding and daycare. So you know, shows the list. But unfortunately I can't hit a magical button and have it put all these address things.
00:27:03:02 - 00:27:03:11
Speaker 1
Out there and.
00:27:03:11 - 00:27:20:02
Speaker 3
Tell you. Right. Exactly. So we can put that in Google Maps and do the best we can. But the majority of it is very manual, tedious, you know, putting them in order. And like I said, they come 2 or 3 days a week. So most of the time we can duplicate. But I'm telling you, like, it never fails.
00:27:20:02 - 00:27:41:15
Speaker 3
Dogs fill in and we have to adjust our schedule. Yeah. But yeah. And then we always text them when we're 15 away, so they have a heads up. Even if they're not home, they just know we're on the way. And then the dogs normally have their seats. And I say that lightly, but when dogs load up on the bus, like I did this yesterday and I was driving around.
00:27:41:20 - 00:27:59:07
Speaker 3
But all those dogs know where they want to pick a lot of, pick the very front seat. Yeah. Right. And my little guys, especially right up front, but the majority labs, golden retrievers that they picked up, they'll run right up and they have their friends, and they know that their friends are going to be on the bus waiting for them.
00:27:59:11 - 00:28:16:05
Speaker 3
So literally, like, their tails roll in, we open the door, they'll literally run up and they'll jump up with their friends to sit with them. I'm telling you, it's just like a child, like a kids daycare. They run up and sit with them and they get all pumped and they start smelling and licking them in the face. So that's how kind of the bus works.
00:28:16:05 - 00:28:22:09
Speaker 3
We let them pick their seat. Unless I said their little or they're troublemakers and. Well, yeah.
00:28:22:11 - 00:28:27:10
Speaker 1
Our school days are all the time making sit in the back. Yeah. Who goes to the back? Yes.
00:28:27:12 - 00:28:44:13
Speaker 3
Generally my golden retrievers are my golden doodles. They love to ride in the back seat, and a couple of them take the whole bench. They want to lay down. They'll stand up occasionally, but like, other than that, you see their little tail hanging in the aisle. But yeah, they mainly just pick their seats and then they do this often enough.
00:28:44:13 - 00:29:04:13
Speaker 3
It's a training thing so they know the routine and the schedule. Those dogs, I swear, when we're pulling up to the dog ranch, a scent hits them or something. I don't know if they're looking out because we tried to, like, black out some windows and test us, but like, they can tell when we're close to the dog ranch and they all start getting so excited they'll start whining and fire it up.
00:29:04:15 - 00:29:24:16
Speaker 3
They know they're about to jump out. And yeah, I have the rest of the day. But anyways, we let em pick their seats and then generally I'll have somebody on the back while I'm driving to just kind of monitor and make sure everybody's behaving and everything, like that. But yeah, it just works out. I'd say a lot of it's training, just repetitive consist of like, hey, sit in your seat.
00:29:24:19 - 00:29:42:11
Speaker 3
If they move or transfer the floor, you know, we might buckle them in. It just depends on the dog. Okay. There's a lot of safety parts to it as well. We don't want a dog choking off the leash either, aspect, but the majority of my dogs know to sit in that seat, next to their friend, and they're happy till we get to the ranch.
00:29:42:12 - 00:29:45:04
Speaker 3
Wow. Just because, you know, they do it consistently.
00:29:45:04 - 00:30:02:07
Speaker 1
Yeah, I can imagine they. Yeah. Dogs are good like that. You know, they want training. Most of them want to be able to have some level of routine in their life. And you just got to show them that, in a situation where like how often you get just an unruly kind of tornado that comes through and you get a really.
00:30:02:07 - 00:30:22:13
Speaker 3
Yeah, not much, because, you know, my new dogs right up front. Right. That's a very controlled, seat where we can buckle in their harness and whatnot. But, you know, if we have a really high energy dog the majority of the time, if they're they've only been coming a couple times, but I really can't think of an instance where it was just like a tornado that was disrupting everybody else.
00:30:22:18 - 00:30:39:23
Speaker 3
The majority of the time they're sitting in the front. If they're like, I call them troublemakers, a little more high energy, they'll sit up front with us, but it's nothing that we just tell them with the leash. Hey, sit, sit. You know, and if they're allowed to have treats, we give them a treat. But the majority of them know, like, especially after the first ride.
00:30:40:05 - 00:30:43:11
Speaker 3
And I will say on the ride home, they're all knocked out.
00:30:43:11 - 00:30:44:16
Speaker 1
Or are they all sleeping?
00:30:44:22 - 00:31:05:11
Speaker 3
It's a completely different ride than the morning. Pickups. Right. And the morning, they're all fresh. They're slept, you know, an afternoon they've played all day inside and out. They were wiped out. They jump in those busses, find their seats. And I'm telling you, like everybody, I got pictures. Everybody's just passed out and sleep, and, And they're waiting for their drop off.
00:31:05:14 - 00:31:06:07
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00:31:06:09 - 00:31:22:20
Speaker 1
I cannot wait to see this man in there. In real life, when you were getting set up with, talking the business for a second. Yeah, well, actually, before that, they leave. What does the day look like for most of them? Before I forget to ask you. I mean, I know we're going to see it, but for folks who don't get to participate with us.
00:31:23:01 - 00:31:23:16
Speaker 3
Yeah, they.
00:31:23:16 - 00:31:31:23
Speaker 1
Come off the, they come off the bus. And are they enjoying their individual activities? I am curious what happens after that. Sure.
00:31:31:23 - 00:31:50:04
Speaker 3
So it depends on the breed and the age, and a lot goes into what their day looks like. Yeah, meaning I tell people this all the time. I watch like 17 year old dogs, you know, that might have back issues are they don't want to play in the group play with a six month old happy golden retriever in the pool right.
00:31:50:08 - 00:32:11:12
Speaker 3
So their day is going to look a lot different. But the majority of them, we rotate in and out. I built my dog ranch out, my property I bought, to where I have four different yard spaces to where I can generally put, you know, some kind of senior geriatric dogs over here. They're happy because they don't have dogs in their face, getting them upset and worked up.
00:32:11:13 - 00:32:29:00
Speaker 3
And then most of them come back in and lounge on the couch all day, or, you know, whatever they're bedding, towards a lot of my dogs. The majority of my dogs are high energy, right? They want to play in the kitty pools. I, I have a bubble machine. I just popped out the drone two weeks ago.
00:32:29:02 - 00:32:48:05
Speaker 3
The drone is a big hit. They all like y'all are. Y'all laugh, but I have a video of it. Literally. The dogs are just chasing this drone back and forth, right? And it's the best day of everybody's lives. So I've done that a couple times. But I always say like, it is what you make of it, right? So I try to.
00:32:48:07 - 00:32:49:21
Speaker 1
Get fired up right now, man.
00:32:49:21 - 00:33:11:05
Speaker 3
But I try to switch up the days or it's not the same day twice for these dogs. It can get really repetitive. I've been doing this seven years. Right. So to stay up and at it, I try to get the dogs doing different things. And even if that means transitioning from yard one to yard two, you know, this Monday we're in yard one, next Monday it's the same group of dogs generally, right?
00:33:11:07 - 00:33:14:12
Speaker 3
I'll switch them to a different yard, which has different things and different.
00:33:14:17 - 00:33:15:02
Speaker 1
See.
00:33:15:04 - 00:33:24:08
Speaker 3
Exactly. Different. Just everything to where they can get a change of scenery. And that's to help my team as well and get really repetitive for them as well.
00:33:24:08 - 00:33:25:16
Speaker 1
So yeah, keep refresh for the humans.
00:33:25:16 - 00:33:48:12
Speaker 3
Exactly. And then yeah, rotating them in, especially during the summer months, giving them those AC breaks. But yeah, it's, it's I wouldn't say there's a set schedule every day because again, with that volume of dogs, you got to switch and maneuver so many different things and do so much to make sure everybody's comfortable. Yeah, I have frenchy's, I have pugs that come right.
00:33:48:14 - 00:33:59:09
Speaker 3
They don't breathe as well as, you know, typical dog. Right. So they get a lot more indoor breaks and hang out with me in the office a lot more, while I'm working on my laptop and stuff.
00:33:59:11 - 00:34:19:03
Speaker 1
Yeah, you kind of. I was just thinking when you were talking about the dogs being chill, that is a, My wife's a good example. Somebody that any dog that usually is rambunctious is chill around her. I think it's like they feel that they know that. I mean, nobody's anxious around here. Everybody else just relax or if it's familiar.
00:34:19:05 - 00:34:26:10
Speaker 1
So I imagine it's the same way when you're playing with these dogs in the field, you kind of having to watch with what's going on and then kind of move based on that flow.
00:34:26:10 - 00:34:27:05
Speaker 3
Correct. The and it's.
00:34:27:07 - 00:34:32:17
Speaker 1
Hard to have just some hard SOP about how you're going to treat this breed of dog versus that breed of dog or whatever might.
00:34:32:17 - 00:34:58:17
Speaker 3
Be correct. And everybody's from a different background. You know, we we don't have breed restrictions. I don't accept aggressive dogs towards my employees, me or other dogs. Right. But also it's part of knowing dog behavior and whatnot that I've learned through working at the vet clinics of dogs that are going to be a good fit for group play, and some that might not need, need a little more extra training and then return and see if they're a good fit.
00:34:58:19 - 00:35:18:03
Speaker 3
For our group, play, because there's some days, I mean, over the years, I've had upwards of 25, 30 dogs in one yard at once. So that can take a lot of shifting the energy and moving that attention span of other dogs to other things, to where it's not a male on male. You know, I always say the three second rule, right?
00:35:18:05 - 00:35:36:13
Speaker 3
But counting to three and like, hey, we need to move on. Let's find something else to look at. Butterfly. You know, look at that. Because it is it can be very high energy of all these dogs and males, females, different breeds. And from all different backgrounds. So one might be triggered by something another one might not be bothered by.
00:35:36:13 - 00:35:41:21
Speaker 3
So really understanding that dog before you put him in that group play is huge for us.
00:35:41:23 - 00:36:10:19
Speaker 1
Well, I mean, this shouldn't be a surprise to me, but you definitely talk like somebody who just knows that so well, having that expertise in it and living it when you think about the business side of the house, the things that come through my head is, especially nowadays with our generation, like, this is basically, a child, you know, so when you think about, from a business perspective, knowing, okay, hey, look, we got to make sure everything goes well, go safe, and we're taking care of this.
00:36:10:21 - 00:36:32:00
Speaker 1
This isn't like parking a car somewhere. This is a living thing that people want to make sure they get back in at least as good a shape as you know that you picked him up in. What are the business things that you've had to learn over the time, whether it's insurance or whether it's just some of the the harder parts of it that maybe at the beginning didn't seem obvious, but now you're like, okay, these are these are heavier things to think about when you run a business like this.
00:36:32:01 - 00:37:01:02
Speaker 3
Yeah. I mean, one thing, when you're running it by yourself, right? I'm 100% owner. I don't have, like the financial backing that a corporate, dog daycare necessarily would. So that's definitely challenging. I mean, you might have a great month, but then something might happen the following month, or Covid might hit. Right. So really balancing that out to where, like, hey, do I have a little extra expense to put in turf or some of the overhead expenses that come with owning a business?
00:37:01:07 - 00:37:21:00
Speaker 3
So that's really challenging. And I think that's for any small business. Right. Managing that balance to where you can make sure and make it through some of the tougher months. And then deciding when you can add those additional things that you've been wanting. You know, little perks. And then another thing that comes to mind is employees, right?
00:37:21:01 - 00:37:40:22
Speaker 3
I think when I, opened my business, I had no idea the challenge. Not only do I manage dog and care for them, right, and treat them like my own, but then there's another piece. Now I have seven employees and seven different personalities, and seven different schedules. And so I think that's a big piece of it.
00:37:40:22 - 00:37:58:03
Speaker 3
When I opened my business, I was like, hey, I got dogs and this is the best ever. And then as you bring employees, you bring in personalities. Well, now you bring in people with different dog experiences, right? And you have to train them. And so that piece can be huge too. You think you want to grow, grow, grow.
00:37:58:03 - 00:38:26:03
Speaker 3
That's business. But you have to keep in mind the care of the dogs is number one priority. And a big challenge of mine over the years is managing a team as well now. So I'm managing dogs and I'm managing the team. And then I'm also managing all the clients because that's a huge piece of it as well. Yeah, communication and the billing and like you said, all the other things that come with running a business, but that's definitely been more challenging of like, oh man, I don't just watch dogs all day now.
00:38:26:05 - 00:38:33:20
Speaker 3
I'm now managing a team and their schedule and their lives. These are humans and all the clientele that come with it. Yeah, so.
00:38:34:00 - 00:38:56:13
Speaker 1
That's like a 17 sided Rubik's Cube you constantly nurture. And especially when you think about, when you think about having also just very different perspectives, you got you get the, the owners that are probably going to be particular in certain ways. You definitely have your teammates that you know, you probably have to, especially in the way that you're trying to grow the company, the brand.
00:38:56:15 - 00:39:03:11
Speaker 1
And then our buddies right there in the middle that have their own thing. I'm curious of the three which seems to be the easiest to manage.
00:39:03:13 - 00:39:06:18
Speaker 3
Probably the dogs.
00:39:06:20 - 00:39:08:12
Speaker 2
Yeah I mean.
00:39:08:14 - 00:39:16:05
Speaker 3
They're just always happy and you know they wake up. Yeah. It's just they're probably the easiest to manage. You know, they're just. Yeah.
00:39:16:07 - 00:39:17:04
Speaker 1
Yeah.
00:39:17:06 - 00:39:17:20
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00:39:17:22 - 00:39:19:13
Speaker 2
The I can't say that I'm, I'm.
00:39:19:13 - 00:39:23:08
Speaker 1
Daydreaming right now. Or maybe it's a nightmare of like, some very particular parents.
00:39:23:08 - 00:39:23:17
Speaker 3
Yes.
00:39:23:17 - 00:39:25:03
Speaker 1
Right. They just are like.
00:39:25:03 - 00:39:45:12
Speaker 3
Oh, get on the helicopter parents. There's a lot of videos online that's going around, you know, on TikTok and stuff about people making fun of those helicopter parents. Amazing. Like when you run a dog business, you can relate. And those videos are just funny more than anything now. But, you know, it's the people like your dog stay in one night and you pack the whole house.
00:39:45:12 - 00:40:05:17
Speaker 3
And so there's this video of like a lady with six bags on her shoulders, and then she unloads it on the table and she's like, okay. He takes the treat at 6:00, make sure he's looking at you. And he looks. It takes a treat. He'll poop at 601. And then he, you know, and they literally tell you. And then they open a binder of their emergency contacts and it's like 20.
00:40:05:19 - 00:40:29:20
Speaker 3
But anyway, so I get, yeah, I laugh at those videos because some parents, you know, do realize, and don't realize what we do. And so it is helpful. But I can understand because I have two dogs of my own and dropping them off anywhere. I'd want them to have all the information too. But yeah, as a business owner and I've been doing this so long, I can generally, you know, let them know, hey, I've been doing this a long time.
00:40:29:22 - 00:40:34:04
Speaker 3
I got you, you know. Yeah, it's just a trust issue when it comes down to dog sitting for sure.
00:40:34:04 - 00:40:46:19
Speaker 1
Well, you definitely talk like if I were to. I mean, even in just first few minutes, I would assume. Heaven knows what he's talking about. You could tell you have a level of death with dog knowledge. Yeah. It is immediately builds trust and credibility. Yeah.
00:40:46:19 - 00:40:47:16
Speaker 3
Thank you.
00:40:47:18 - 00:41:01:14
Speaker 1
You also, as I'm thinking about your business, you're describing the different aspects of it. Not only is it a dog business and a client business and a teammate business, but it sounds like now because you got a fleet of vehicles, you got property, you have to manage facilities.
00:41:01:16 - 00:41:03:21
Speaker 2
This business boomed.
00:41:04:00 - 00:41:07:09
Speaker 1
In a way that you probably did. You even anticipate all those things? No.
00:41:07:10 - 00:41:27:21
Speaker 3
I tell my dad that all the time. But yeah, I did not expect it to blow up like it has. And it's just organically. I don't do any advertising. I mean, more to Mars is exactly. It's all word of mouth. Social media is a big part of it. But yeah, we've just grown. You know, like I said, it's just me, launching the business.
00:41:27:21 - 00:41:50:11
Speaker 3
So, like, two years in, I had a waitlist of over 80 dogs waiting to join my daycare program, and I just couldn't keep up with the demand. Part of that was the location I was in. Right? I'm on my third location, and I don't know if you want me to talk about that at all, but, you know, I started my first, very first location I actually rented from a buddy down in Man Tech here in South Austin.
00:41:50:13 - 00:42:08:20
Speaker 3
He had, like, ten acres. And I went out there and looked at it, and it was a field. I mean, the weeds were as tall as over my head, right? And I had the vision and I'm like, cool, if I can brush hog this one little area and it had like a little lean to horse, said, right. I was like, okay, it's got a plug I can haul in water.
00:42:09:02 - 00:42:35:03
Speaker 3
So like, people talk about my humble beginnings because I told you I made the risk really low for me, starting off. So yeah, I paid him 500 bucks a month, and that was my first location. And, yeah, he rented that spot to me. I put up the fencing. I did little t post six foot high stretch fence across, and I'd sit out there all day by myself with those dogs, just updating the parents and loving them.
00:42:35:05 - 00:42:56:16
Speaker 3
And that's why I said I started with 3 or 4 dogs my first day, and by like month seven, I had over 30 dogs a day coming to daycare to where I quickly was like, hey buddy, I gotta find another location with like some running water and stuff. I mean, I was warming up my meals with the cigaret lighter in the van, you know, like while I was watching the dogs.
00:42:56:16 - 00:43:14:05
Speaker 3
So when I tell you, like, and I didn't have running water and plumbing, so I was using the restroom out in the, like woods, I'm telling you, like, all my clients were so loyal and trusting that, like, if it started raining, I'd load the dogs back up in the van and we kind of waited it out, because I didn't have any other option.
00:43:14:05 - 00:43:33:14
Speaker 3
I didn't really have a building at the time to go in and get away from the weather. So, yeah, just looking back, it's like my wildest. I couldn't believe I went from that to where I am now. My second location. I told you I outgrew it, and within seven months, I was actually working part time as a horse wrangler at a, horse ranch in South.
00:43:33:14 - 00:43:54:08
Speaker 3
Awesome. I let her know I'm like, hey, I'm blowing up. She's like, hey, this house needs to be remodeled on my property in South Austin. But hey, if you want to take that on and remodel it more than welcome. It's the storage right now. I went looked at it. I should show you a picture of this place. It was, like, all hoarded, build, you know, everything you could think of.
00:43:54:10 - 00:44:10:22
Speaker 3
I cleared that out. My family came up a couple weekends to help me. We remodeled that. We put a new insulation and the siding. Everything. Right. And I ran that, out of there for two years. And I rented from her. But again, that's when I was, like a house.
00:44:10:22 - 00:44:11:14
Speaker 1
And some land.
00:44:11:14 - 00:44:18:12
Speaker 3
Yes. Correct. So it was a house with, like, a big front yard space. And I only had one yard. But yeah, we ran that for.
00:44:18:15 - 00:44:22:14
Speaker 1
Smaller than the first location, but had the utilities and stuff to make it.
00:44:22:16 - 00:44:39:19
Speaker 3
Yeah, it was a little bigger than the first location. It was a little bit bigger, but I had a house to where I could actually move the dogs. I was boarding out of my personal home, over to that home, because we had somebody stay overnight in that house. That was the ranch hand. So it worked out great. But yeah, I did that for two years.
00:44:39:21 - 00:44:54:22
Speaker 3
And then during that two years, that's when I went on that waitlist. I was capped out like I couldn't take any more dogs. I had outgrown that space safely. I couldn't manage anymore dogs. That's when I started hiring a team. And realizing I had something going.
00:44:54:23 - 00:44:56:04
Speaker 1
You doing 30 by yourself?
00:44:56:10 - 00:45:00:01
Speaker 3
Yes. Correct. So, I was doing, I think.
00:45:00:02 - 00:45:03:13
Speaker 1
I think of, I think about crack. He's running around now, and I'm.
00:45:03:13 - 00:45:06:19
Speaker 2
Just like, yeah, 30 of those teams, right? Yes, yes.
00:45:06:21 - 00:45:27:02
Speaker 3
Yeah. So, there were days that's when I quickly realized I needed help, with dropping off and picking up two. Right. But, that's when we added our second bus, to the fleet. That's, I added my third bus to the fleet at that location, and then I capped out. I'm like, no more. I gotta find my own place.
00:45:27:02 - 00:45:45:01
Speaker 3
And I already had a vision that I wanted to buy a place. So. Yeah, that's what I did. Three and a half years ago. I ended up when that lease ended. I talked about potentially expanding there. I just didn't have the space I needed to. And I knew, to grow this thing. I needed to buy my own space.
00:45:45:03 - 00:46:04:20
Speaker 3
So that's when I, you know, hired and found a commercial spot. And I'll show you tomorrow, of course, to when we go out to the property. But it was just a shell at the time. Warehouse, that I bought. I did all the fencing, meaning I had it done, but I did all the fencing. I had a vision I drew out with spray foam.
00:46:04:20 - 00:46:12:12
Speaker 3
The inside. There was a lot that went into shaping what I have now. When I bought that property. Incredible.
00:46:12:13 - 00:46:12:19
Speaker 1
And.
00:46:12:19 - 00:46:13:20
Speaker 3
But, yeah.
00:46:13:22 - 00:46:16:16
Speaker 1
It's gotta feel pretty proud from where you started to where you are.
00:46:16:16 - 00:46:35:21
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. It just doesn't seem real. I just never imagined, you know, that I would be doing what I'm doing, for a living. And, you know, the burnout is there, right? A lot of days, I'm like, man, should I? Over the years, I've had people approached me to buy my business or come in as a partner and I'll.
00:46:35:21 - 00:46:59:02
Speaker 3
And it's, you know, I just I can't imagine doing anything else. And all my family and friends are like, you would be crazy to let this go. This is your passion. And look what you've grown it into. And what would you do if you did something and I'm like, that's a great point, I don't know, and I should just be more happy than anything that I do have the demand and volume, you know, my clients and whatnot.
00:46:59:02 - 00:47:06:13
Speaker 3
It's nothing to be burnt out about. So when you have those hard days, I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, I, I can't imagine doing anything else.
00:47:06:15 - 00:47:21:07
Speaker 1
Yeah. So, when y'all. But y'all are also nonstop. I can see where there's, there's no the weekends. The holidays are the days you're probably most busy. Correct. Right. Yes. How do you balance that? How do you balance especially the think about Christmas, Thanksgiving, a labor Day.
00:47:21:07 - 00:47:22:00
Speaker 3
Holidays.
00:47:22:00 - 00:47:26:02
Speaker 1
Man. How do you manage your own personal well-being through all that?
00:47:26:02 - 00:47:55:04
Speaker 3
Yeah. So over the years I've learned to set boundaries, with my clients. And then a big piece of it was training my employees, to not come to me every time something happens. Really, if you cultivate and train your team and you have that culture. I have a manager on site, so that helps tremendously. To make sure that I don't get burnt out because, yeah, it is a 24 over seven, 365 a year.
00:47:55:06 - 00:48:15:07
Speaker 3
But yeah, during the holidays. And you'll laugh at this too. But back when I first started and I didn't have a team, I'm from the Houston area, and I had those, vans, my dog van, my dog busses. There was like the first year I think I took. I only remember 12 dogs with me home to my parents.
00:48:15:09 - 00:48:15:13
Speaker 2
To.
00:48:15:13 - 00:48:32:14
Speaker 3
My parents house, to board. Right. I shut down daycare during those busy times. Yeah, but yeah, like my first year, I had those dog busses. I'm like, hey, I don't want to miss out on the family Christmas, right? My parents luckily have acreage and I grew up with dogs and everything. But yeah, we we made it work.
00:48:32:14 - 00:48:52:15
Speaker 3
And now looking back, I'm like, that was wild. I had 12 dogs in my parents home running around at Christmas time and stuff. But just to give you an idea, I mean, over the years now I have a whole staff and team that's there during the holidays to make sure we cap out at 50 dogs for boarding, at night, and then I close up daycare during that time.
00:48:52:17 - 00:49:11:15
Speaker 3
But yeah, to prevent burnout, I try to go on vacations as much as possible, which at the beginning I felt guilty about doing. But then I quickly realized, hey, like I'm allowed to go on a trip to just like anybody else gets their time off. It's important for my mental health. And everybody says, oh, you just watch dogs and whatnot.
00:49:11:21 - 00:49:34:16
Speaker 3
But I try to explain it. Managing a business is not just that one piece. So yeah, I try to travel and take as much time off as I need to for my mental health. But yeah, that's really helped with burning out as well. And then just setting those boundaries a small piece is just getting a separate number than my personal cell phone number.
00:49:34:17 - 00:49:48:02
Speaker 3
You know, at the very beginning, that's how clients texted and called me at all hours of the day. Yeah. Now I have a texting number, that goes to an app. So that's helped tremendously. Just having some time off and my personal time.
00:49:48:02 - 00:49:50:05
Speaker 1
We have a separate. Yes. Yeah. Yes.
00:49:50:07 - 00:49:51:05
Speaker 3
For sure.
00:49:51:07 - 00:50:20:04
Speaker 1
Well, the one thing that people would probably not know about you when you're sitting here right now, man, and especially in the level of energy and work that's required, you had a pretty big medical obstacle that happened to you. I did, yeah. Can you talk to me about that one? I just I'll preface. I was saying that like, you talk about perseverance and, like, what somebody can do through all this stuff, and it wasn't like you're running a, I don't know, like a software agency print thing.
00:50:20:07 - 00:50:22:21
Speaker 1
This is a very active business. So if you don't mind sharing that.
00:50:23:00 - 00:50:45:10
Speaker 3
Yeah. So in December of 2023, I started having hip pain, in my left hip. And I thought it was just a pulled muscle. I ride horses, I'm pretty active. And so anyway, short version. I did X-rays. I didn't find anything exciting. It was still hurting. I got a steroid injection. They were like, it's just a pulled muscle.
00:50:45:12 - 00:51:04:12
Speaker 3
Take a pain reliever and go home and rest it. I did that for two weeks in December. It wasn't getting better. I finally went, got a second opinion. And they ran an MRI on me. And that's when they found out I had three cancerous tumors in my hip. It's a very rare cancer I had. It's called angio sarcoma.
00:51:04:14 - 00:51:35:16
Speaker 3
So about 3000 people a year in the world are diagnosed with my type of cancer. So obviously, you can imagine running the business and Christmas being two weeks away, my busiest holiday ever, that we book out every year for, But yeah, that was that was a big part of last year. So when I got that second opinion that, surgeon told me, hey, the best, best thing we can do right now for this type of cancer is amputate your left leg off.
00:51:35:18 - 00:52:01:19
Speaker 3
You know, and that was not an option for me. I run a dog business, you know? I needed my legs. So, anyways, I went to MD Anderson, and Houston for a treatment. I started my first chemo treatment in January of 2024, and then I did that all the way through August. I did eight rounds of chemo, and like you said, that's that was a really difficult time for me.
00:52:01:21 - 00:52:24:16
Speaker 3
A lot of what ifs like, if I should sell the business, should I shut it down? Do I keep going? The chemo therapy. I did one of the toughest regimens. Just because of how rare this cancer is, I had to to give it no chance of survival. But you can imagine. I mean, I lost 47 pounds, during that chemo.
00:52:24:18 - 00:52:48:15
Speaker 3
I couldn't even look at my phone without getting nauseous, so I was trying to run. What's a very hands on business now. Remotely as best I could from a hospital bed, with a pump hooked up to me of drugs and the chemo medicine. I mean, I was getting mouth sores. I mean, I don't know if you know anybody with cancer, but obviously I lost all my hair.
00:52:48:17 - 00:53:10:18
Speaker 3
Yeah. It was just a really, really dark and tough time for me. Just trying to run the business. And I actually had a couple family friends. My mom and dad had to try to help and make some decisions for me when I just couldn't, going through that, that. But anyways, all that being said, the tumor shrank as much as they were going to.
00:53:10:22 - 00:53:32:02
Speaker 3
And then when we scanned in August, I did, MRI, they said, hey, it didn't shrink from the last chemo. So that's when they knew it was surgery time. So they went in. And I actually have an internal prosthetic, prosthesis. Now, half my, pelvis is reconstructed and then have my femur bone, is all, prosthetic.
00:53:32:02 - 00:53:44:19
Speaker 3
So pretty wild. But like I said, that was just a wild time last year. I still can't believe that I even lived through that, to be honest. While managing and running my business.
00:53:44:21 - 00:53:46:07
Speaker 1
So it never stopped.
00:53:46:09 - 00:54:04:20
Speaker 3
No, no, I, I never shut down. I shut down for, like, a couple weeks during my surgery just because I was out of it. And I wanted to make sure that those dogs got the best care possible. So in September of last year, right after my surgery, because my Joe, I was hospitalized, it was a 14 hour surgery.
00:54:04:22 - 00:54:21:09
Speaker 3
You know, putting that prosthetic. So, yeah, I shut down for a couple weeks, and then we opened back up in like October. I only did overnight boarding, but I shut down all the busses and stuff. But that's been the only time in the seven years I've been doing this that I've had to do that. And you can imagine that was.
00:54:21:10 - 00:54:22:11
Speaker 3
Yeah.
00:54:22:13 - 00:54:24:04
Speaker 2
Just a little reason. There's a.
00:54:24:04 - 00:54:42:08
Speaker 1
Good reason. Yeah. Right. I got tired leg being replaced here while I'm, you know, doing this, but I'll take care of that mastiff for you. Yes. Did you have your. What was the response? I don't even know if you shared it with, like, your team in the community. Oh, yeah? How did that come to play or what were folks thoughts on that?
00:54:42:10 - 00:54:59:23
Speaker 3
No. You know, I, I shared it with, all my clients, and I wanted to be up front because they were used to seeing me every day and whatnot, and obviously I couldn't be there. So I sent out an email and just let them know, hey, I'm I can still run this business. I'm just going to be from a hospital bed and you won't see me in person.
00:55:00:01 - 00:55:18:17
Speaker 3
But I have a great team in place and we're going to make this work. So yeah, the response, I mean, my sister started a GoFundMe. Me and so many of my clients were just there for me. Whatever I needed care packages to texting and saying, hey, don't feel like responding, but we're praying for you and thinking of you.
00:55:18:21 - 00:55:38:06
Speaker 3
And that was a huge part of my healing. And I truly believe that a big part of overcoming cancer is mental. And I knew I had a business to get back to and manage, and having that to look forward to was a big part of overcoming all and still is day obstacles that get in my way. So you can imagine I did for months after.
00:55:38:10 - 00:55:58:08
Speaker 3
Yeah. I went from a wheelchair. I wore a brace for six weeks, while this was healing. And then I went from that to a walker, from a walker to, two crutches to one crutch, to hiking staff stick. So it's been a journey. I mean, I just reached my one year mark of being cancer free.
00:55:58:10 - 00:56:23:18
Speaker 3
And I still have to go quarterly and do all my quarterly scans and Houston, just to make sure that I'm still in this. That. Yes, sir. Or you're cancer free and going strong. So that gave me a whole different outlook at life to running the business and being so thankful. And on my personal life too, obviously with my nutrition and what can I do better, and really live, each day, you know, differently.
00:56:23:20 - 00:56:32:23
Speaker 1
How did that shift your what would you say the big things that shifted either personally or professionally, which is how you do life, sir.
00:56:32:23 - 00:56:53:05
Speaker 3
Yeah. I started thinking a lot about, like I said, nutrition, and kind of self-advocate of what goes in and what we're eating. It's much like a car, you know, you put sugar in your gas tank, you're not going to get very far. And I started realizing we're not invincible. And there's a reason that a lot of these people, I mean, every day.
00:56:53:05 - 00:57:19:22
Speaker 3
So many people are diagnosed with a type of cancer. And so I thought I was invincible. I was working all day out in the heat, wrangling horses. And I was drinking three Cokes a day, and then I was eating, you know, whatever I wanted not to say I was eating fast food, but I really started diving deeper into, okay, what's on this planet Earth that I can eat greens and, you know, almonds and just quinoa stuff.
00:57:19:22 - 00:57:47:08
Speaker 3
That's nutritional value versus junk. Like, people laugh at me, but I always look at the ingredients on everything I eat now and I'm like, man, that's wild. Like, I went all this life thinking I was invincible until you're not. And then afterwards you have a different perspective of like, hey, I'm not invincible. And it's probably not good to drink a Red bull and vodka and think that that's, you know, the next day you're drinking Cokes while you're outside sweating, playing with dogs.
00:57:47:08 - 00:58:14:06
Speaker 3
Right? And then you're going to happy hour and having a couple beers. So yeah, for me it was just a different perspective and outlook of like, hey, you're not invincible. And now even more so with this prosthetic. Yeah. Of like, hey, I used to be so active and running and doing everything I could to now I've had to slow down and just have a different outlook on life that people always, you hear, oh, in a blink of an eye and you know, you're old and great and it's like, that's so true.
00:58:14:06 - 00:58:38:16
Speaker 3
Now I'm in my 30s, I'm realizing, oh, wow, that's that's even more true. After you beat cancer, it's like, what do you have to live for? And what connections do you want to make? And the world is huge. Like, for me, I wanted to get out and explore it while I'm still running and managing my dog business. So you have just a balance of waking up every day and being thankful for something, and really having a positive attitude.
00:58:38:16 - 00:58:57:08
Speaker 3
You know, because it's super easy. I could fall in really dark places when I was doing cancer and even overcoming it and trying to understand the why behind why have this, but just trying to be more positive and realizing what I have instead of what I don't, has really kept me above water.
00:58:57:14 - 00:59:16:16
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, Yeah. Well, I'm proud to see here moving around. And I mean, no cane, no nothing here, man. If you didn't tell me, I would have never guessed. Thank you. I think it's what the community response to you and folks praying for you and taking care of you and being able to keep that business running says a whole lot about you.
00:59:16:20 - 00:59:36:01
Speaker 1
And that's pretty incredible, man. That folks would. You've been taking care of their most, one of their most important things in their lives. It doesn't surprise me that people came around and said, yeah, it's the least we could do is kind of help with what you're doing. And then it's just a testament. And I do think it's some of the stuff that we get kind of lost on what's important.
00:59:36:01 - 00:59:49:00
Speaker 1
And I think you it's clear to me from day one, you value not only taking care of something, but also making sure that the people you're taking care of something on their behalf knows it's being taken care of. It's like that going the extra mile.
00:59:49:00 - 00:59:49:19
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah.
00:59:49:19 - 00:59:56:20
Speaker 1
Something about that is almost hard to teach. Like you either just have it in your don't. I think people must have felt that as they were kind of also helping you keep going.
00:59:56:20 - 01:00:18:10
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. My old boss actually told me that at the bank, back in the day, he was like some people just have it and some people, you just will never. You can't train that piece, right? But for me, it was such a passion for animals that I think it just people could sense that when they meet me, that I love their animals as much as they do, and I'll do anything I can for them.
01:00:18:12 - 01:00:27:14
Speaker 3
And once they had that understanding, it was like, okay, we're going to trust this guy. Because, yeah, that that's their babies, you know? Yeah. But yeah.
01:00:27:16 - 01:00:41:13
Speaker 1
So on with this man. It's been awesome. And I look forward to hanging out with you tomorrow, man. It's going to be a great day. What is your day dream like? If you think about what you're doing ten years from now, what's that look like.
01:00:41:15 - 01:01:05:16
Speaker 3
Sir? Yeah, that's a great question. Especially after, the whole cancer and the business. Now, seven years in, I've really had to sit back and think about what that look like. But for me, I've always had a vision and a dream. You know, we went viral a couple years ago. I have people all over the world reaching out, wanting to know how and what I do.
01:01:05:16 - 01:01:33:04
Speaker 3
And they want to start something similar in Australia, new Jersey, Florida. I'm telling you, I get a couple of emails a week of people reaching out to me, but kind of my vision and dream would be to do some type of consulting role and show people, kind of what and how to build a dog daycare successfully. But yeah, I, I never see myself selling this business, to be honest.
01:01:33:06 - 01:01:52:19
Speaker 3
I might open another location. We'll see. I've had a bunch of people requests that again all over the the US and whatnot, but I don't know, as far as the next ten years, I think I'm just going to continue and remain what I'm good at with what I have. At my location. And then I'd like to trickle in some training.
01:01:52:21 - 01:02:16:21
Speaker 3
Like I said, I've had people offer to pay me to go in and consult and see how we can raise their brand and add more dogs and what they're doing wrong and fix some things. And that's a passion of mine, too. I love to help people, in general. So I really think that would be a great, asset for me to jump on and show people kind of what I've built over the years and help them kind of duplicate what I've done.
01:02:16:23 - 01:02:40:23
Speaker 1
That's great. Well, I wish the best for you. And added, it definitely feels like the next on a stage of what you've done is being able to give back and help folks kind of build something of their own. I imagine the thing that they'll probably gain from it, just even in the time we sat together, is how you approach your business, not just the tactics and the bookkeeping and the facilities and the tools and the scheduling.
01:02:41:01 - 01:02:55:06
Speaker 1
But the one thing that I think is probably not to be missed, even with you just saying your ten year dream here is to keep this whole conversation. You've been like, I only want to go do more if I can do more. Well, you know, and I think that's something that a lot of folks can. We can miss the whole point.
01:02:55:06 - 01:03:10:16
Speaker 1
So Evan, thank you for that, man. Thank you for that. And really enjoyed our conversation today. And I cannot tell you, I mean, and you got to go run that drone for me tomorrow. I just if you would be open to doing it I just I I'm looking forward to getting out to the ranch and seeing all that you've built.
01:03:10:18 - 01:03:16:05
Speaker 1
Thanks for being a great example of what it means to fight through and fight for your dream, sir.
01:03:16:05 - 01:03:18:16
Speaker 3
Thank you for having me. Excited to have you all out tomorrow.
01:03:18:22 - 01:03:20:14
Speaker 1
We're going to be there, man.
01:03:20:14 - 01:03:46:20
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the American Operator Podcast, where we celebrate the backbone of America small business owners and operators like you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss out on more of these stories and insights from people who keep our community strong. Until next time, keep building, keep operating and keep America moving forward.