Dog Biz School Open Enrollment is happening now - learn more information on our leading dog business coaching services and how Dog Biz School can lead you in 2021.
In this episode of Mind Your Own Dog Business, Kristen Lee sits down with an incredibly talented and feisty AF dog business entrepreneur, Lyndsay Shackelford, who owns Dogs Of Charm City.
A Baltimore dog walking company with some of the savviest dog services, programs, and merch out there that impresses the eff out of all of us at Dog Biz School.
Lyndsay and Kristen discuss everything out of the box when it came to building her wildly successful dog business:
GO BUY THEIR STUFF!
Buy their stuff here - support a small business and get badass gifts for your dog-owning clients
Connect With Dogs Of Charm City:
Email: hello@dogsofcharmcity.net
Links:
Dog Biz School Open Enrollment
Check out more episodes of Mind Your Own Dog Business
Connect with Kristen & Grassroots:
Join Our FB Group For Dog Biz Owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/petdogbizowners
Online: www.dogbizschool.com
Instagram: @dogwalkercoach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DogBizSchool
Dog Biz School Open Enrollment is happening now - learn more information on our leading dog business coaching services and how Dog Biz School can lead you in 2021.
In this episode of Mind Your Own Dog Business, Kristen Lee sits down with an incredibly talented and feisty AF dog business entrepreneur, Lyndsay Shackelford, who owns Dogs Of Charm City.
A Baltimore dog walking company with some of the savviest dog services, programs, and merch out there that impresses the eff out of all of us at Dog Biz School.
Lyndsay and Kristen discuss everything out of the box when it came to building her wildly successful dog business:
GO BUY THEIR STUFF!
Buy their stuff here - support a small business and get badass gifts for your dog-owning clients
Connect With Dogs Of Charm City:
Email: hello@dogsofcharmcity.net
Links:
Dog Biz School Open Enrollment
Check out more episodes of Mind Your Own Dog Business
Connect with Kristen & Grassroots:
Join Our FB Group For Dog Biz Owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/petdogbizowners
Online: www.dogbizschool.com
Instagram: @dogwalkercoach
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DogBizSchool
Hey guys, we're about to get kicked off with today's episode of the mind, your own dog biz podcast. I'm excited for this episode, but first I wanted to officially announce something. Doug is school is opening its doors for 2021 enrollment. Our coaching team has been getting ready behind the scenes to have one of the most powerful, powerful coaching years for 2021. You thought we did big things for 2020. You have no idea what we have up our little sleeves, small big sleeves for 2021. And for all of our incredible dog business owners, the thing is we only open our doors a few times a year. And I wanted to make sure I gave all of my listeners an opportunity to learn a little bit more about it, to apply to it. And even if you apply, it's no obligation this way, you can talk with one of our program advisors, see if it's going to be a fit because no matter what's in store for 2021, you can be prepared and ready with your dog business. It doesn't matter if you're a dog trainer or pets that are groomer because our team of coaches have your backs. And we're ready to lead you no matter what happens, no matter if there's another pandemic, no matter if there's a crazy economic crash, we got you. And the most beautiful thing that I personally love, and I know it's going to be very, very important to a lot of my listeners is when you work with dogs at school. There's not more of a sacrifice. And when I talk about sacrifice more time, more work on your plate as a busy dog, a business owner, the deal is we want you to be wealthy, not only with money in the bank naturally, but also with your time, your energy and your empowerment to live a life. That you truly love and actually have a business that works for you for you not to be stuck working in your business consistently. Cause that that's, that's not cool. You don't want to do, that's not sustainable. So dog, this school is your place. This is where smart as F dog trainers and dog business owners go to get educated, make some bold ass moves and shifts in their business and create lasting wealth. Plus what's really excited too, is our groundbreaking. Accreditation program is included in dog school, which is going to be launching extremely soon. So if you are interested, what you can do is go to www.dog biz that's D O G B as in boy, I Z as in zebra. 2020 one.com. So that's dog biz, 2020 one.com. And you can apply, like I said, it's a non obligated application. You can speak to one of our program advisors. See if it's a good fit. If it's not, that's totally cool, but I wanted to give every single one of you guys, the opportunity, if you've ever. Wondered what it would be working like with one of our team members. It's an incredible opportunity. And I encourage all of you guys that you've ever been interested in working with one of us to hop on this opportunity, because we might actually not even be opening up till maybe Q3 of 2021. So. Dog biz 2020 one.com and I'll catch you on the other side. You're listening to the mind, your own dog business podcast. I'm your host leading expert in dog business. Strategic Kristen Lee guys. Get ready for your journey, your journey to cutting edge marketing and sales, creating a standout kick ass dog business grant, along with mastering your mindset. That's going to smash. All of this glass ceilings that have been holding you back and catapult your dog was this to the next level. With actionable steps, you can take right away. We're going to empower you. We're going to grow you as you step into your authentic self. Not only as a dog trainer, dog Walker, or what ever slice the pet industry, you find yourself in. But as that bad-ass entrepreneur, my mission is to disrupt the current norm. Cut through the noise, cut through the bullshit and empower the incredible women of the dog business industry to step into the spotlight, reclaim control and transform not only their businesses, but their lives. It's real. It's raw. It's uncensored. And it's what this dog business industry needs. Let's do this guys. All right, everybody. Welcome to today's episode of the mind, your own motherfucking dog Bez podcast. And today I have a super special guest by dog's of term city. She is in Baltimore, Baltimore. Sorry, Lindsay. Am I saying Baltimore wrong? Cause I don't wait. I love how you you're so funny. Wait. No. Yeah, Baltimore, but you're so spot on with the Baltimore. Yeah, I'm trying to say it because I have an ex brother-in-law that's from the area and UCL at me the way we set it. Anyway. Hello, NZ. Welcome to my drone dog is I'm so excited to have you here. Oh, me too. I know big fan go right here. Super pumped to chat. Yes. So to all my listeners here today, Lindsay is here to discuss her experience with her incredible company, dogs of charm city. And we're going to let you know how to get in touch with them, to discuss her experience of going beyond just the dog walking services. Now, this is something a little bit controversial. I'm up at this one out here, but my listeners know I'm controversial. Lindsay goes beyond the basic bitch services, serving the dog owners, like her dog, moms, what they want. What they need and what they fucking crave. Something that grassroots has been preaching and screaming for years, that dog owners do not want the basic services. So our girl Lindsay here is doing that and she's here to discuss it because those mother fucking dog owners that are out there and not just in Baltimore. But outside the entire us and inside the U S and wherever else in this fucking country, no matter what pandemic Lizzie's going to talk about too, as well, is these people really want community and getting out and doing the things in the real world to celebrate their dogs while doing legit. Cool shit. So. Lindsey's here, the bad-ass company, dog's a term study and is getting outside of the box and also getting inside the box too and leading the way. So Lindsey again, welcome officially. Hello? Hello. Hello, my love. How are you doing well? I'm sitting here with Sevino also. I love how you said in the box. I know we'll cover that later, but that's so clever. Yeah, the Lawson in the box. Have you seen the video already going off script here? Have you seen the video on my Instagram where Maggie was doing the in the box thing and I was just losing my shit with a little tiny, uh, Donald Trump hands. Yes. And like, love it. Love you guys and your dynamic and like, just for keeping it real. I'm always cracking up with the shit. Well, it's really funny is we play off this dynamic. Like I'm the super important business woman, corporate person. And then Maggie's like this. Funky, like eccentric, almost like out there, kind of gyms. I don't wanna use the word gypsy too much, but like out there and not serious. Yeah. Actually it's the other way around, but people love it. I dunno why. No, I love like the dynamic you guys have going on too. Like, I feel like you're these, like, you're just. So great for each other. Awesome. Thank you. You said, I sound like you're like married, but you know, as business partners, I'm actually married to a guy at home and she's getting divorced from her guy, but we are literally business wives. That's what we call each other. And then we have a business daughter who is our operations assistant, and she always talk about being our business baby. So anyway, how long have you Lindsey been in the business of dogs? Six is she years. And also I like that you say business of dogs because there are definitely quite a few things we do relating to dogs. I feel like I talked to some people and they're like, how long have you been done walking? I'm like, well, you know, I can, I can tell you about that. Um, But the business of dogs is a better representation. So, um, yeah. Six is she years? Um, kind of rewinding a bit. I feel like I've always been a dog mom at heart. I grew up with a Wiener dog named Oscar. I like bacon cakes and carry him around everywhere. Um, I also come from a family of, um, small business owners and entrepreneurs. My mom actually, she owned her own decorative painting business for over 20 years. And, um, I've got some aunts and uncles and cousins doing some cool stuff. Um, you know, nothing crazy, just like people with their own own businesses. Um, so, you know, I guess you could always say I've been inspired. And although sometimes I'm like, wow, never in a million years, would I imagine myself owning a dog business? I'm like, huh? Like the pieces kind of connected. Maybe I should've seen this coming. Yeah. Um, so entrepreneurship is in your blood, right? Like maybe, I don't know if some days I think that and other days I'm like, I don't know, but, um, yeah, we'll go with that. It's like entrepreneurs, I believe entrepreneurs are born and they're also, they're awesome. And especially if you come from an entrepreneurial style family, like I don't come from an entrepreneurial family, you know, I always consider my entrepreneurship was made at a young age. And I feel when you have that level of family support, that knows what it's like to be a small business owner. It makes it little bit easier. Like not too, too much easier. Like I wish it was, but anyway. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I feel like it's not even like, you know, you have like entrepreneurship in your blood. It's like all of those built up life experiences. Like, you know, my mom, she, you know, she'd be like sending emails, painting.
Board's at, at 9:00 PM or whatever. And then during the day she's able to go to our like school plays, whatever. And like, I watched her grow up and like communicating with her clients and building this business and like, you know, just some of those like qualities, um, in entre, preneurs, and being quick on our feet. But anyways, yeah. So what would you say Lindsay is your super power? So I would say, um, probably eating food first and foremost. I, yeah. So fun fact about me. I actually, I went to school for food science. So when people are like, yeah, so when people are like, I love food. I'm like, no, like I, I actually majored in suit. I love Sood. Um, so fun fact about me, but I would say, um, definitely being agile, like mentally agile, I try not to overthink things. I kind of just do things, you know, obviously being quick to do things. Can sometimes come with negatives, but, um, I think in the world of entrepreneurship and also COVID times, I think it's a super bad. Yeah, it's the whole ability it's like, I think back to like the friends episode and Ross is like pivot, pivot. Like if Ross only knew 20, 20 was coming. Yeah. You're a fucking pivoting. It's like every two seconds. It's like pivot, pivot, pivot. It's like dodging freaking bullets. So, what was the last thing that you accomplished that made you so incredibly proud? So we had our best month in the history of dogs with term city in October. And it was freaking amazing. Yeah. How'd you celebrate? Um, you know what, TBD, like, I feel like I wanted to do something with our team, but like again, weird COVID times. So kind of, you know, just some like internal, like. I don't know, chatting, it needs to happen, but it hasn't yet to be completely honest. Well, what's really interesting as like career entrepreneurs, when we hit these like mileposts, like to say, it's like the 20,000 Mark or 50,000 or a hundred thousand or even million dollar month Mark, it's like, it goes there and sometimes you even forget it. And I remember years ago, one of my first mentors is like, what was cause I was moving out of corporate into entrepreneurship. Full-time. And my, one of my mentors, like, okay, what's that number? And I was like, okay, it's this number? She's like, you're not going to even know when you get there. And lo and behold, I hit it like three months before and it's just like, okay, next. Cause when we're super hyper focused on the numbers, we have so many other external things going on, but that's a whole other conversation. Do you have a favorite quote? You know, I, my mom always says this and I think it's applicable to so many things, everything in moderation. And I feel like that's kind of like, that's really like a mantra. Like, I don't know who said that, um, quotes. I do, you know, throwing it back to Thomas Edison. I'm probably going to butcher this, but I know he said something like I haven't failed. I've just found. A thousand ways that don't work. And I really liked that. Um, just, you know, like that concept of not being afraid of failure and kind of seeing the positives in doing something that like may not turn out, um, like you at all. Yeah. I mean, do you find it like a lot of the stuff you feel that like, I feel that a lot of people don't understand this ugly truth, like to success, like. All the failures lead up to that one success. So it's like people see that one little percent of success, but they don't realize the other 99% of failures that are out there. Absolutely. And I think it's cool. Like, and I feel like you're one of those people, you're definitely transparent about things and like, you know what you guys are doing at grassroots. And like, obviously you're crazy freaking successful, but I feel like you guys, aren't afraid to be like, look, listen, like. You know, it took XYZ to get here and do this and, um, and make sure other people know that, right. Like other entrepreneurs that, um, failure it has to happen. And it's not even like, I don't even like saying the word failure because it's just like, you know, they're just these like more opportunities or, or things you try and, um, They're necessary, like you said, you know, I think it's like a stepping stone. So it's funny when I look back at quote unquote failures of 2020 with grassroots, there is this one time and I wish it's the last couple of jokes in the podcast with when I've had a mag I'm like, remember Maggie that one time we invested $30,000. Five-hour day event with somebody and then COVID hit the next day. And then the whole industry got shut down. She's like, yup. She's shut up. That really happened. Like, no, it really did. So we were asked if you go back to like, February early February or February of this year, we were in Florida because we hired some new mentors because the pet dog industry is like crazy morphing, like on the backend. And one thing that CRA grassroots has been doing is working with like corporate people, like corporate contracts and everything like that. And we were implored to kind of. To kind of focus on another side of the industry, not the pet industry, but a different side of the corporate contracts and then got off her plane from Miami, into North Carolina. And then the whole COVID thing happened and we're like, Oh, well fuck me up the ass right now. Yeah. Oh my God. But the thing is too, it's like, it's, we don't see it as a failure. We see it as like, okay, cool. So COVID bought us more time and we can actually serve more dog professionals that are out there, like the people that are listening. So yeah, exactly. Like it happened. You moved on. Um, I know you touched on it like real quick when we opened, but. There's some people, you know, I'm in some dog-walker Facebook groups and whatnot, and there's some people that are just like, they post everyday this like sappy shit, you know, like. Oh, does anyone else like ha you know, have clients right now, things are so bad, you know, just like dwelling on, on like COVID or like one bad thing, you know, losing clients and, um, kind of not getting past it. So, yeah. It sucks. I mean, like it does sucks, you know? Yeah. I don't mean to be like, yeah, no, I total Headspace as you it's like, it really fucking sucks. COVID happened. And there's a lot of people that I've, you know, I've known that have gone out of business dog trainers too, but at the same time too, it's like, At what point do we start to say to ourselves and like, spin it, like, okay, cool. What can I do? What is this opportunity to teach me to a different way to do business? Right. And that's the biggest part about it. Anyway, that's a whole other conversation. I want to focus on you. I want to focus on your amazing business jokes, a term city. Um, so Lindsay. You already said, you know, people are like, Oh, tell me how long you've been walking dogs, but what drove you and your business? Oxford charm city to become, go beyond just a dog walking service and create like dog centric events for your clients. Like water taxi cruises, boozy pops in banana pajamas, brunches, and other events. Like what drove you to do something? So out of the box, like almost eclectic. What, what, what inspired you to do that? So, you know, I wouldn't say a big turning point for me was giving my own dog Wilson. So my little rescue buddy, um, when I became a dog, mom, I saw things a little bit differently. Like I, I felt like I had a better understanding for like our dog-walking clients and, um, you know, I was like the. I was our demographic, you know, the person that I knew wanted to be super extra and like buy clothes for their dogs and do things. And, um, you know, I became close with some dog-walking clients. We'd meet up at the Delta for the weekend, check out these dog-friendly spots. Um, so truly kind of seeing a need for it, like personally, because it didn't exist at least, um, not in Baltimore. So yeah, really like. We kind of created it within this like client friend group kind of thing. Um, with checking out dog-friendly spots and some dog mom, friends encouraged me to post our very first ticketed event, which was, we called it a gallon tines, romp. There were like eight of us and drank wine, you know, like, you know, stupid shell and you got to start somewhere and we're like, this is fun. Like see you next weekend. K cool. And then it just kind of. Turned into this thing where I started to make it like public and like more official where I was selling it tickets. And, um, just kinda kept going from there. I think what's really incredible to all the listeners out there was Lindsay was able to look through the eyes of her client, right. Because she was a client. So what we see happening a lot with a lot of dog walkers and dog trainers is. You're only focused on the solution versus you're not focused on what's going on truly in the head of your person, your ideal client. I hate the word ideal client. There's a lot of words I hate these days when his ideal client is so fucking overused these days, but it's like, you are able to basically look at the world of dogs and owning dogs, um, through the eyes of a filter dog, mom. And that's what really, really most likely. Drove you to have this crazy, crazy success with it. I think that's incredible, right? Yeah. No, 8000%. Like, I couldn't agree more. I think it was like you just said, like, I am, you know, kind of like the star person in my demographic, or however you, you know, you marketing people like talk about that, but, um, Yeah. So like seeing through whatever, I don't know, some words I'm very Versive to today brand strategist, like whatever. Anyway, but yeah, like, yeah, yeah. Um, so tell me a little bit and share with the listeners. How has the response been with these events and with the mom, the dog moms and dog dads, you service, like how is the overwhelming response been outstanding? For the most part, I say for the most part, because there's definitely people who think we're just like bat shit crazy, not so much our clients, but like. You know, see that boozy. Um, so we did, gosh, I guess it was like last, it was in February of 2020, um, the pumps and pajamas boozy. Um, boozy, brunch, where it was literally all you can drink. We had like catering of donuts. Everyone was in their PJ's. There were like 150 dog owners, like Sue people, you know, maybe stopping by the group or like what in the hell is going on. Um, but I mean, truly for the people that are coming to these events, it's like, can't get enough. Um, Like when's the next event. And it's just really, really fun to be able to connect with your community on such a personal level. Like it doesn't get more personal than like hanging out and getting drunk, right? Yeah. Well, Oh my God. Uh, pajamas don't that's beer cider on there. Yeah. Like the trifecta. I know. So, um, that was, was probably our biggest ticket at events. Well, it did happen in 2020. I was going to say last year, but, uh, it's kind of like the last hurrah, 2020. And we did a couple March Paul crawls, but we called it kind of like brewery pod crawls, where we popped up and it was halfway through that, that we like cut it. COVID so COVID fuck. Oh, geez. Um, well what's also what I want to like really reiterate back to the listeners right now. Like Lindsay's, ain't doing this shit for free guys. Like she's ticketing and selling and getting, making those connections. So, cause I see a lot of people, I see a lot of dog business owners try to do something very much like this and I see them undervalue themselves by doing it for like super, super cheap. Or for fucking free. And I'm like, no, no, this is why Lindsay is here to talk to you motherfuckers. So you heard about this just can't. I mean, I shouldn't say can't, you can make time for some of that. And I do believe there there's a, a place. Um, I'll give you an example. Like we, we do pups and puppet chinos events where we're out for maybe like an hour and a half, two hours. Um, whoever we're partnering with local coffee shop, whatever is, is donating with cream. We're donating some of our time. People are giving cash in exchange and that's going to a nonprofit. But yeah, like in terms of these events, dudes, so many hours go into like, The planning, the marketing, the ticketing, the actual event itself, like, you know, we were probably there for like eight hours for that pumps and pajamas being between like setting up and breaking down and we bring Birch. And so, yeah, you, you know, you got to, um, got to know your value and you just have to charge. And truly, I think a lot of people coming to these events see that they'd see the value. You have to make sure they know the value. Um, You know, and, uh, yeah, you gotta, you gotta charge for these types of things. You got to try to charge better. You got to get that cheddar. Is that cash money? No, I mean, I don't, and I don't want to be like, you know, charged, but like you gotta, you know, you can't just be doing yeah. For fun. Yeah. It's the whole thing of like, would you, and this is something that people would probably hang up in listening to this right now. It's like, all right, you can be that nice. Homeless dog trainer. And I'm not making fun of homelessness at all, but like living in a cardboard box versus living a comfortable life. And, you know, we all use our to live comfortable lives. So speaking of that, like because of the success of doctor term, city and your events, how have you been able to give back to your local cumi community using these events? So. Um, I mean, definitely from a monetary standpoint, they're a great way for us to be like, Hey, you know, a dollar from each to get is going to, um, XYZ to Burke animal shelter, that kind of thing. Um, Aside from the money. We almost always try to loop in some local shelter, um, to actually bring dogs to our events. So it will be like, Hey, come to this event, you know, we're not going to charge you. Like, we want you to show up. If you're able to bring some dogs that are like socialized and would be okay in this kind of setting, um, they walk around, we make it very known that like these. However many dogs are up for adoption they're there. Um, we've had like at the, the, the jam pups and pajamas event, I keep going back to that, but it was a good one. Um, there was like the SPCA of Maryland came out and they had like a trailer type thing in the parking lot. So people could go out kind of take a break. And like go check out these dogs. They had cats in there. Um, so things like that, you know, and then even, um, aside from animal shelters, which I feel like, you know, we always talk about in our industry just helping to support other businesses through, through exposure, like to our, to our audience, right? Like they might not have known about the brewery we had it at. They might not have known about those donuts and like, you know, We might, we might work out something where the donut person giving us donuts and we are doing like advertising on Instagram, that kind of thing. Um, you know, or we work it into the ticket price, but whatever, we always just try to make sure that like everyone knows, um, you know, this is who's participating in the event. Here's their like Instagram handles, like go show them some love, that kind of thing. Um, yeah, that's fucking awesome. Well, that's also too. It's like, yeah, we're in this business of dogs, but also too. It's like we are in business and to be able to help out other business owners and like have that, like all that kind of intertwined is incredible too. Cause it's, you know, those breweries, like I'm in Durham, North Carolina, this breweries are not like they're not owned by like the Anheuser-Busch they're owned by. My next door neighbor or somebody down the street from us credible that you're able to partner and do all the fun things and get donuts and bring kitties out there too. Um, yeah, I love it. I love it. No, I was just going to say, I didn't mean to interrupt you. My, my dad is from Durham. I have to tell you that. So, um, Yeah. So, you know, I know a thing or two about serum girl, the downtown area, or see he from the outside area, outside area, they were like, so I know he just, he'd always say he grew up between Duke and chapel Hill. So whatever that means, um, somewhere kind of in the middle there. Okay. If you talk to him, tell him this crazy girl I'm in right in the middle of the RTP is called research park. Okay. I'll let them know. Hey. Yeah. I came down here, uh, because of. Everybody moved. Every company in New Jersey and New York city was moving as North Carolina and they offered me a package I could not refuse. And then I left them a couple months later. I'm like, Oh, thanks for the free package down here. Yeah. Thanks for the free package. Warmer weather by. Yeah, exactly. Except for the tornadoes. Durham is a true, I love fucking dark Durham. Um, yeah. Yeah. And by the way, I love that you brought cats out too. I've been telling everybody lately, like I'm very emotionally attached to my cats since my dog died, because my cat's been so fucking cool. So I'm like, Oh yeah, I know. I love that. So I think something, a lot of people don't know. I didn't know this until about last year, but a lot of the shelters have more cats than dogs. And I think that that was eye opening. I did not. No that, so yeah, these are cool. Cats are cool. And we even in grassroots, now we have a cat business specialist in there. She does. Yeah. Yeah. It's so freaking cool. I'm always asking all my questions. I'm like, I'm like, Cause that spends as much face as he practiced, felt like, like a boxer, like, does he have breathing issues? This is so cool. That's so cool. No, that's the cat world is like a world. I, I, I know things about, but gosh, I'd love to pick her up. Great. Yeah. So let's talk about not the cat, but the elephant in the room. COVID 19, the pandemic, Corona apocalypse, whatever you want to call it. So being a natural entrepreneur that you are, which you are. And a problem solver. I know you did not lay down and cry about COVID well, you might, you might've because we all did. We all did, but how did you and your team, cause I know you have a team behind you rise to the challenge and pivot to continue to be bad-ass. Yeah. So we, um, we pivoted hard and we pivoted fast. And, um, I know I, I mentioned it. We had the best month in the history of dog, Trump city in October, obviously like things first went South. It was like in March and March sucked. Um, We like things that are really good leading up to March for us. And then yeah, COVID came and we probably dip down to like 15 ish percent of the number of walks that we were, we were doing up to that point. Um, but we got pretty creative, like right off the bat. And although we weren't serving the same number of clients, we were able to put more time and energy into, um, some were like value add services to the clients that we were serving. So, you know, we were still serving, um, medical staff, even when things were like at the worst point. And it was like essential personnel only. So doing more things like. Hack walks and 60 minute walks. And, um, we do something pack adventures where it's more like a half day kind of thing. So capitalizing on that, like that need for dog owners to want to continue to socialize their dog in a safe and responsible way. That was a big thing for us that we were able to. To help with and, um, and still are, I mean, gosh, the whole socialization aspect. And I know some of this is like specific to my business and my demographic and you know, most of our dogs actually. So like roughly 60% of our dog-walking clients are on Instagram. Their dog is on Instagram. I don't know if that's like a Baltimore city thing. I don't know what that is, but like, and also I know I also attract. That kind of clientele, but anyways, so dogs want to see, they want to hang out with other dog, Instagram friends. They want their parents want to see photos that they can post to Instagram of their friends. They want to see their dog having fun. Um, it's no longer that like, Hey, I'm at work. I need you to grab my dog. It's like, We like, I want my dog to have a really great day. And I, and I know that's through like one of your really fun services with other dogs. So we kind of kept capitalizing on that. And, um, we still, our numbers aren't quite up, but the cool thing is that, um, We picked up a ton of new business. So like the COVID puppy, boom is so real. And although we, we still aren't seeing as many of our regulars right now, about 35% of our current schedule didn't exist. Pre COVID. So like, yeah, pop, you know, a lot of those were puppies, people rescuing, um, whether they were medical staff. Um, I should also mention, like, we are like Hopkins Johns Hopkins hospital is, is in our service area. So, you know, I think some of this, we do have quite a lot of, uh, medical personnel here in Baltimore that are like needing locks because they are actually gone from the day two. But, um, Yeah. So like the puppy boom is very real. And we, um, we picked up a lot of new biz that, um, that I'm really psyched about. And like, I know it wasn't just out of the blue. We really. Tried to stay super top of mind for people, whether they were like, I love dogs or just kind of like, I am thinking about getting a dog or they're a new dog owner, um, kind of in the beginning of COVID through like blog posts, social media, um, and even like months leading up to that, you know, making connections through events and Slack, we do, um, things like that. So anyways, yeah, some new business. Um, so, you know, we're hoping to see those regulars come back, like when they're ready through some service, but, um, yeah. Um, what else? COVID Oh, like events. So basically when it started, like I mentioned, we were doing, we were in the middle of that, like March Paul series. And I was like, man, I got to cancel this. Like, it was kind of that awkward, like still optional point. I was like, I just can't do this. And we refunded people and. We really haven't done events per se. Cause we just, you know, even there were periods, I feel like the past couple months where it was like maybe okay to do something outside, but I just like wasn't ready. Um, both from a personal standpoint. And then also like being a little shaky from like a PR standpoint, like what would somebody think of me? You know? Um, like not gonna lie. So. So anyways, um, we had extra time on our hands. They're not doing these events and we really put that energy into ramping up retail. So we have some swag on our website. Um, so working on that, investing. In our branding investing in some design. I know, you know, Kayla at doc's design. She's also great, so talented. So, um, you know, I got to shout out tequila for sure, for helping us with, uh, some of our retail and stuff like that. And, um, you know, like focusing on alcohol themed things like couldn't seriously and like capitalize it. Yeah. Just being very on trend with like retail we're pushing out right now. Like. Cozy stuff, sweatshirts things people want to launch. And so, um, Yeah. That's, that's so fucking, it's amazing. I love it. I absolutely fucking love it. Yeah. And funny thing about talks is I, and we actually had a, we had a business call with her a couple of weeks ago and we're like, yeah, can we send you people? She's like add doctor terms that he blew me up to my stop. She's so funny. She, she loves you. I know she spoke very highly of you too during her call because her stuff is incredible. I love that style. And she's actually, cause I like brand, like I'm a branding person, but I do theory and she's designed and it's just magic. She makes, and it's just such a beautiful artistic touch to everything. So anyway, yes, no, I know big sand girl of Kayla as well. And she knows that. I feel like I'm like always like telling her like commenting on all of her shit. Like, Oh my God, this is my favorite ever. I love this. And like, she just, she just keeps pushing up this up and I'm like, this is so good. Um, So, yeah, that was cool. Yeah. Yeah. Her team, her and her team were incredibly talented. Yeah. So kind of going into the merge stuff and the swag, something that I fully admire and find incredibly impressive. And so does the grassroots team, cause we, you know, we've got people, we, we do look at people and up and comers is that. Your company and your company alone is one of the dog companies are dog training, dog walking pet-sitting companies that has merged, but you actually have follow through and strategy around it. Like the launches of your projects. Like the merge story. I know you have a new dog box, which I love too. And after some serious stalking about the dog box, that looks really good. I liked the fact that you so source local artists too, meaning I know how easy it is to get caught up in shiny red ball syndrome, but like being able to deliver consistently with everything else that you have going on. Right? So you have your marketing, you've had to run your employee team. You have to do your finances. You have to do this, you have to do that. You have to go on Instagram. You have to tag your dog influencers too, which is a whole other thing that's I find so interesting, but like for you as somebody that's consistently going, going, going, going. By the way. That's why I'm so excited. You're sitting here with the time today. How do you Lindsay balance at all? Like how do you bounce it all and consistently deliver the way you do? Oh, gosh. I mean, well, first of all, I'm glad that you think that because it's not always the case. Like we may get that impression, but like, you know, things can be a little bit all over the place sometimes. Um, in terms of like retail and making things happen, I feel like I know things are gonna be successful only because I, um, Like a lot of our ideas come from our community and we're like constantly chatting, like, Hey, what do you think of this idea? And like, um, never underestimate the power of like a free, you know, free survey or like Google forms. I mean, we're constantly collecting info. Like what do you guys want to see? That kind of thing. Um, so knowing that a launch is going to be successful before we even do it because people know it's coming and then, you know, making sure everyone else who may or may not know is also getting like psyched up about it. Um, I think from a time standpoint and managing my time, I like freaking love Instagram. Like I live on there and crack. Yeah, it is. But you know what? Yeah. And I wanted to tell you this because I thought it might blow your mind. Like I recently did a survey with, um, our current dog-walking clientele and guess what percent of them, um, like found us on Instagram, how much. Um, 38, which I thought was pretty high. I don't actually, I don't even, I don't know. You would, you would probably know like an industry standard, but I thought that was like pretty high for a service business. Maybe it's not, maybe it's like, I don't know, like that's high that's specifically Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. And I say that because I feel like for me, because I know that I'm like, well, we gotta stay on Instagram. And I know it's funny because like, I guess it's more ironic, I should say, because I know a lot of people can get really sucked up into it and like, yeah, I know I can be one of those people when I'm not doing it with a strategic approach, but I'm also like, yo, I know that there's a lot of people looking out what we're doing and we're getting clients through this. So I'm going to continue. Hell fucking, yeah, that's the thing it's like, and again, almost 40% super high. And I love that you put a number in, because you're actually tracking our data, which I fucking loved. Um, and I'm a dad. It, yeah, that's what I wanted to tell you. I'm like, I'm so excited. I looked at the number for the call and I was like, I need it. Yeah. Yeah. I know you are, but what's really interesting. And is this something that. I find, especially with the demographic user, I'm not going to say niche because I don't know your niche, but with the demographic you serve is those people are on Instagram and they're looking for like that FOMO. They're looking for that connection with their dogs. Right. We call it proof of life on the backend, but they're looking to see like, Oh shit. Like if I'm still working from home and I'm on a fucking conference call on zoom and I can like, Between like breaks or whatever. And I can just mildly waste time on Instagram. Hell yeah. My dog's going to pop up and talk to term city and this really gorgeous graphic and this really cute story or whatever, that's what people fucking want. And they love rave and that's the shit. They take home to bragging rights because they want to reshare that shit with their fucking, their friends and family. Yes. What I love now about Instagram? Um, I like Tik TOK, my personal thing, but I. I don't know. Are you tick-tock gal now? I didn't know that. I don't know if I follow you. I need to follow you. No, I'm not on tech talk, but I actually took it away from my phone because I do have, like, I get too sucked up into it because it's just so easy to consume content there. Yeah. What I love about Instagram is I'm actually starting to like it more than Facebook to be a hundred percent honest at this point. And it's, I would have a contention between me and Megan, like Maggie, Instagram, and Instagram connections, engagement and everything like that. And you can build such a relationship with it because like what you do, and this is something that I want to point out to everybody else is I know Lindsay, or I don't know you specifically, but from what I viewed and what I see in her interactions on Instagram alone. She creates community and she creates engagement and she creates a sense of connection with those dog moms adapt. She's not there just to have big fucking inflated numbers go, Oh, I have a hundred thousand Instagram followers. Okay, cool. You do you bro, like, I'm sure that half of those are bots or whatever. I'm thinking of one particular person who thinks he's a business coach. I'm sorry, long story, but I'm just saying you're actually making those connections and you're putting out content that's consumed and that's why people are finding you. So it's, I'm like. Clapping right now. I'm like, hear a clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. I raised my glass to state or to you. Oh gosh. Raising the glasses walks at mine's like pretty much empty, but, um, I'm raising, I'm raising it, but you know, okay. You know what? You just said, something that like made me, like, it was like light bulb going off saying, I know Lindsay. Yeah, we've been connected, but like, we don't personally know each other, but like that is the actual Bible. Like we want people to think that I know I go into some of these dog-walking client meet and greets and the first thing people say like, Oh, we trust you. And I'm thinking, dude, you don't like, I, this is great, but I'm like, you all like. Y, you know, we haven't built this relationship, but we have it's these like passive Instagram, viewing back and forth kind of things. And even the chatting and, you know, I know you keep it very real and like, you just, you gotta keep it real. And like you're chatting to friends and, um, be genuine about it. Yeah. Well, even when we first started this call, before we start recording, I was like, Hey, Oh my God. So great to actually talk to you. It's like, Oh shit. We actually know each other just from our interactions alone on Instagram. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So Lindsay, where can people buy all of your incredible stuff? Cause you have so much cool stuff in your merged store, in your boxes. Cause also too guys, this is good stuff to give to your clients as swag gifts as well. Yeah. Thank you. So it totally is. We've got some cool stuff. Um, dogs have term city.net. From there, you can check out our online shop. And then also, um, we have a new, uh, we're calling it our party shop with, um, some different party boxes, kind of with the idea that, um, life should be celebrated with your dog and your dog should be included in all of life celebration. So fun stuff in the party shop too, but also lots of, lots of Christmas stuff going on holidays approaching and year round stuff. You have really funny stuff too. Like the, like one of the claws, like a little drink you have dude. Yeah. Those were koozies, man. People will buy every color. Yeah. And we'll send them out all over. They're so fun. Yeah. You some really good stuff. Like I actually really like your merge. I really like your merge. I got to get some at some point. Yeah. I would be honored to have you Oh, same here, but our emerged stories. Super small and it's on spreadsheets. Like, whatever, like you got, like, I mean, when I first started, I was making t-shirts gosh, I forget. What's the like most typical website, like you type in like. How to make a t-shirt um, like, uh, fuck. Yeah. It starts with the C I feel like, Oh yeah. Like I was like making them and giving them to people and they were like so expensive and I didn't know what I, you know, you start somewhere like your stuff's cool. Your stuff's funny. And it's original. Like I think, yeah. That's what, and that's like hard. Like there's so many people, um, out there now with the dog merchant, I think it's. A lot of it's like replicated, but, um, anyways, so yeah. Awesome. Everybody to go check out her shop. I love her stuff. Um, it's great. Great, great stuff. Hilarious stuff. And it's okay. It's so tail, excuse me. I'm losing my voice. I'm like, I'm so cited about this. It's such a good Christmas presents to give to your clients too, without breaking the bank as well. And I know they're going to be like, Holy crap. I want this, I want this. I want this. So everybody go and do that. Now, Lindsay, as we wrap up my last question for you, that's not on the sheet of questions. All right. I have to ask, I have to ask this because my family will be disappointed. Well, my sister will be disappointed. Are you a Ravens fan? I am not. You know, here's the thing. Here's the thing. I I'm the girl on there for the party. I'm there for the booze. Yeah. And the food I, so actually I'm from Pittsburgh, so I, yeah, virtual Christian. I know. So I I'm a Steelers fan at heart, but you know, I kind of jumped on the bandwagon. Like that's a good example. We have like Raven stuff in our shop and like, I don't wear it, but I know people freaking love it around here, but, um, anyways, they like you in Baltimore being a Steelers fan. Yeah. There actually are a lot of other Steelers fans in Baltimore, I believe. Right? Yeah. I'm not into football. I'm more into basketball. And my sister is, she believes purple is all I can say. She okay. Her purple. So she's a grievance girl. Yeah. Well, Lindsay, thank you. So fucking much for taking the time. So, and if people want to go check you out on the Instagrams and everything like that, where can people find you? How can they connect with you otherwise? So I, I live on Instagram for sure. It's just at dogs of term city also. Um, anyone wants to feel free to pop into my inbox by emailing me at hello at dogs of charm, city.net. Say, Hey, let me know if you want to chat and need help, whatever. Um, you know, what goes around comes around is, is what I say. And I'm always up for connecting. So dog business or not dog business, like. Awesome. My inbox. So thank you. Yeah. I mean, seriously, this was so much fun and I think I could talk forever about all the things. Thank you so much, Lindsay. And I appreciate it. And I'm looking forward to connect with you soon again with my audience. Yes, absolutely talk soon. Bye. Via Kristin. Hey there. Thank you for listening to another bad-ass episode of mind, Euro dog business. If you haven't already subscribed. What are you waiting for? Oh my God. Go and subscribe now. So you don't miss out on any of our content pack, dog business jam sessions, plus special offers that I'm going to only be sharing with my amazing Doug business entrepreneurial podcast listeners. Now, if you've enjoyed this episode, Be sure to leave a five star kick ass review. So more amazing dog business owners, just like yourself, confined us and starts to transform and disrupt their businesses and their lives unapologetically. And if you feel so inclined, feel free to tag me on Instagram with a screenshot of this episode and holler at your girl. Um, at dog-walker coach, you can find me dog-walker coach and I'll pop up and I'll give you a special shout out. All right guys, til next time. Bye. okay.