On today's episode of gathering the Kings. So patience is key, but more importantly, More than anything else, if you wanna be a great manager, listen. Listen. At least twice as much as you talk. At least. And that would probably be the minimum. You should if you wanna be super awesome, listen all the time, and talk very little.
You are listening to Gathering the Kings with Chaz Wolfe featuring fellow 78 and even 9 figure business owners who have real battle scars, from business and life, but have prevailed as the king that they are designed to be. We welcome high performing entrepreneurs to the stage in order to reveal the real of the real on what it takes to build a successful business today.
We dissect the good and bad decision they've made along the way Chaz give a true and accurate picture of the journey of success and how you too can get there. Through this dialogue, you will learn the value of growing your network and surrounding yourself with power players and kings like today's guest. Grab your pen and notebook because we're about to dive in. What's up everybody? I'm Chaz Wolfe, gathering the king's podcast. I've got Dan Rubinstein here on the king stage.
My brother, Dan. How are we doing? Hey, Chaz. How are you doing today? You know, it's Monday. And, I get to talk about pups, puppies, dogs with with my man, Dan. So I'm excited for this conversation. Excited for you to be here, you know, off air. We were getting into a little bit of your story. I had to I had to be like, woah. Gotta hit the recording button. This is too good. We've we we share a love for for Saint Bernard's, and I'm sure business, but let's jump into it.
Dan, tell us what kind of business that you got, brother. We have a dog daycare business. We have a chain of doggy daycare stores in Chicago and New York. We cater to pet parents who need help with their dogs on a daily basis. Whether it be daycare, grooming, training, overnights. We do it all. We even do a veterinarian services or veterinary services through a partnership. At certain locations. So, really, all things under one wu Chaz our director of marketing likes to say, That's awesome.
So it it's a it's a labor of love. I I didn't expect to be in this business. I was in technology. For a majority of my career, which wasn't very long pre becoming an entrepreneur. Yeah. But I used to work for Accenture and, you know, a really tragic event kind of inspired me to get to the business. And and here I am 23 years later in my third platform, Pups Pet Club. Pups Pet Club. Well, and I I love we're gonna get into your story a little bit because it's so powerful.
Even that traumatic event that you kinda just briefed over, we wanna get into that and hear it. But You you've been doing doggy daycare before doggy daycare was was popular. You're you're the godfather of doggy daycare. The o g. The OG. The OG of doggy daycare. Yeah. Yeah. It it started. Doggy daycare is interesting. It started really in New York. 1 or 2 stores popped up. And, like, a lot of things, it went coastal. So it went over to California. That was really in the early nineties.
At the mid nineties, mid to late nineties, it hit Chicago. That's when I got into it. I'm from the New York area. I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. I was on a project in Chicago. With my Saint Bernard. We will show share and love for Saint Bernard's. And Yeah. And, yeah, that that event, I had a tragic, you know, events happen, that inspired me to start the one of the first doggy day cares in in Chicago.
And doggy day care came into being because of a a a real paradigm shift in pet parents attitudes towards their dogs. We actually didn't even call them pet parents before the late nineties. We called them dog owners. Right. Now you never hear that term anymore. Not at all. And I think pet parents is a more appropriate term for the way we feel about pets nowadays. They're very much a part of the family. They're considered our our children with four legs.
They bring us incredible amount of of joy to our lives, and they love, you know, like, Family members should, 2 legged, and 4 legged unconditionally. And that's the that's the best part about dogs. Yeah. There's so there's so much value there.
And I think that it's great Chaz, you gave the perspective earlier of not just for dog lovers, but the ones that's either pet as part of the family or that needs a special attention or even just a veterinary visit, I love practicality of kinda, like, the whole gamut that you've got going there. I I wanna the story of of how this all started for you is is a pretty impactful. I, you know, share as much detail as you'd like, but I wanna it's basically part of your why.
So I'm I'm gonna position my question how I normally do, but I want I'm prefesting it for you so that way you kinda know where I want you to go a little bit because I know the story because you just shared it with me. But my question is why are you doing the business? Why did you become an entrepreneur? What's the bigger picture? What's the burning desire inside of Dan? But I know some of that started with kinda how this started.
So share that question, but as much details you like about how it started as well. Yeah. That's interesting because I I never thought I was gonna be in the dog business. I I I had a burning desire to be an entrepreneur. I've been a leader throughout my life. K. And I think entrepreneurs are natural leaders. Yeah. And so, you know, I was a consultant, a technology consultant for Accenture. I was put on a project in Chicago. My best friend was living there at the time.
He was going to medical school there, and he said, Dan, instead of traveling back and forth, why don't you you know, come out, live with me in Chicago. And, you know, after you've done with your project, we'll go back to New York. A great idea. Chicago is an amazing city and, love Chicago. Even though it wasn't my home city, I I fell in love with it. And Rich and I lived together for almost a year.
The summer of 99 came, and he had to moved back to New York to accept his residency and start working as a doctor. And he said, hey, Dan. I'm going. Sydney, my my Saint Bernard was actually, like, Rich gave him to me. He said, Dan, I can't I can't take care of Sydney anymore. You know, you know, we had lived together. I had taken care of the dog, you know, as if you were my own. So he said, Dan, please take Sydney.
You know, I I won't be able to take care of him as as well as you could take care of him. So I did. And, yeah, through the summer of 99, my project in Chicago started to get, like, busier and busier, and I and I had to do something with Sydney during the day because he was just a three year old Saint Bernard. It's still a puppy in many respects. Yeah. And so he needed some exercise during the day. I found this dog exercising service, It was a pickup and drop off service. They came, pick them up.
They would take them to a local dog park, let them play, and, you know, It was a great service. He he loved he loved it. He'd come home every day, like, caked in mud. He'd be all over my bed, and I wouldn't care. Like, Yeah. He he he was happy, and that was most most important to me. Yeah. And then July 30th 99 came around and is one of the hottest days in Chicago history. I specifically had called the dog exercising service. I said, hey, listen.
Don't kick him out with you to the Park this week. It's too much for him. Please just let him out in the backyard and, you know, let him pee and bring him back inside. And, unfortunately, they they neglected to follow my instructions and that, you know, after a series of really terrible things happening, Cindy ended up in the hospital fighting for his life Chaz I was also fighting to save his life. Yeah. And about 13 hours into the fight.
He just succumbed to his, you know, to his ailments due to due to heat. Heat stroke. Right? A lot of complications in liver failure, renal failure, petechia, you know, really terrible stuff that you never want any animal to go through. It just suffered you know, terribly. It Yeah. It Chaz devastated me emotionally. I I called my manager on my project. I said, listen. I need to take about a week. I'm suffering here, totally depressed.
And I'm on the couch at home and my girlfriend at the time, you know, God bless her. She she came and said, hey, Dan, you know, you you've gotta get out of the house. You're just on the couch and you're you're miserable. And so she took me for a run-in Lincoln Park and Chaz run was liberating for me. I would go from dog to dog, and I would get completely emotional.
I would just stop every pet parent I could see and say, I'd ask them about their dog and, you know, and and I would start petting them and hugging them and I was, you know, crying and and feeling everything that I just was, you know, wanting to feel over that past week, and all this came pouring out. And then as I started going from dog to dog, you know, I just remember repeating in my head, you know, I can't let this happen to anyone else. I can't let this happen to anyone else.
And that was what inspired me to start all for doggies, which was about the first or second doggy day care in Chicago. There's I you know, it was so new back then that no one really knows. I think there there might have been a one other that started before me, but so it it it became quite a, you know, business and one that I almost started overnight. I I quit my job with Accenture. In December of 90. That happened in July. I quit my job in December, and then I just put it all out there.
And for entrepreneurs who are listening to this, like, you gotta believe in what you do, and you gotta put everything you have behind it. Not just your money, but your heart and soul. I It's right. Liquidated my 401 k. I emptied my bank account. So I maxed out my credit cards. I moved out of my apartment with my roommates and moved into the store I was building. I sold my jeep, which I saved. I mean, this is like my dream car a post graduation when I was growing up.
I always wanted to have a Jeep Wrangler. Yeah. Resideo used to ride in the back of the Wrangler, and he drool over the back and, you know, all of the and all over cars next to us. He just I mean, he was known all over Chicago for for this. And and so I sold everything I Chaz, and I put everything into that first store, and it became hugely successful hugely successful. We were on every broadcast, ABC, NBC, CBS Fox. We were written up in the trip, and Wow. You know, we were on top shows.
No one could really figure out what we're doing back then. Right? They were just kinda, though. We know that they're dog walkers, but what's this doggy daycare? Yeah. So it it it looked the business just took off and It was a challenge for me. I can tell you that, you know, coming from Accenture. I was accustomed to working with, you know, people who were, you know, self starters. They're they're entrepreneurial, very much entrepreneurial. Right?
They they could you could give them a project and say, hey. Go do it. And and they would do it. Right. And then when you go from that to actually having to manage people and get the best out of them Right. At my very young age of just twenty seven, I wasn't that good at it. I'm that was probably downright terrible. And if anyone who used to work me back then is listening to this. I apologize.
You can call me the benevolent despot because that's really what my heart was always in the right place, but my head always wasn't, and I apologize. That's good. But, you know, I I managed the business. I was an owner operator for three and a half years. And then I I decided, okay, I wanna get back home to New York, but I was, you know, I was attached to this business. Yeah. So I sold it out to a company called best friend's pet care. They're a consolidator in the in the industry.
Yep. And it did very well and moved back to New York thinking that I wasn't going to be That was your doggy run. That was my doggy run. But, no, that was not my dog. You're a a friend of mine. I moved back to New York, a friend of mine who's in real estate. She's a store in Tribeca, and he says, they had a a number told me about this thing you did in Chicago. Right? Again, it wasn't that hot as 2004. And so he shows me the store in Rebecca, and I've just fall in love with it.
I'm like, this is a this is a great opportunity. I was missing the business at the time. Sure. So I reinvested everything that I made from the first platform into a new platform called spot. And then I was really in. I was really, really in. I invested my money, and then I took on a, you know, some outside capital to help ex expand the business. And I built it up to four locations.
Wow. And then I I'd look to further expand the business, and this is another great lesson for you on for yours out there. When you're looking to expand your business, be careful who you partner with. I made a really bad partnership decision in 2011. And I ended up having to divest myself with the business business that I love in a city that I love, you know, and I was a much even though I still I I think I was still evolving.
I was a much better manager second time around than I was the first time. Yeah. And, yeah, but I had to get out. It was a really toxic partnership I tucked the tail between my legs, left New York as I had to, went to Florida started working with my stepdad, you know, on some technology projects in unrelated industries. Yeah. And, Davin, I looked to get back to the Midwest for personal reasons and ended up back in Chicago.
It was on another project for a cash flow lending business where I did do some sales and tech consulting. That project ended. And I'm like, well, what now? Yeah. Back into doggy day care, and I really bootstrapped this one, Pups Pet Club. I I at that time, I didn't have any money. You know, the transaction from the second platform did not go well at all. Another warning to you entrepreneurs out there, if you're, you know, looking to exit do so very carefully and have good attorneys.
Yep. And I started walking dogs and training dogs and just getting back into the reasons that I really love the business to start with, dogs. Yeah. I scraped together the money for the first store. In in 2014. We opened it in December 15. K. And then It just, again, took off. It was in the River North Neighborhood in Chicago. Great neighborhood full of young professionals. We catered to them. This is a small 1450 square foot store, but we did small dog daycare. We did grooming.
We did veterinary services. We had a retail presence. And we did training as well. And then I attracted another investor made a much better deal for myself this time around. And that investor helped me grow the business to four locations. COVID hit. Chaz changed this business forever, you know, and it actually made my investor rethink his investments. He was looking, you know, he was looking for an investment that provided him with cash flow. I was looking for something much different.
I was looking for a platform that I could build. Yeah. Into something bigger. So I was I was making an equity play. He was making cash flow plays at Dan. I don't like the cash flows. Who wouldn't who would like the cash flows during the pandemic. It wasn't good for any any business, I don't think. Yeah. And so I I happen to get an opportunity to buy him out. Which I did. And now here we are today.
I've expanded the business with some additional debt capital, debt financing that that that I re I I've gotten, but also from the cash flows of the business. You know, you you gotta believe in your business. And if you believe in your business and your entrepreneur, greatest investment that you can make is in your cell. So, you know, stock market's great. Real estate's great, but, you know, you gotta be investing in your business.
So every single dollar goes back into building stores and building a great team. Yeah. Those are 2 of the Makes discussion. Of the many components. And we also happen to invest a lot in technology too, or we we believe that is Chaz a key key competitive advantage for us versus our our our competition out there. So anyway, I know that's a, you know, really long story. So I apologize for taking up so much airtime, but Oh, it's a cool story, Dan. Don't don't apologize for your story, brother.
The the The reason why people listen to this show is to hear stories. Of course, we wanna hear about business, but that was a story about some awesome business. And some ups and downs along the way. So I wanna dissect, man. This is what I do. This is what I love. And so I heard all kinds of stuff in there. I was I was really holding back. I wanted you to I wanted to jump in there, but okay. So couple things in there that that were really, really beneficial that I wanna dissect further into.
So I heard a good decision and some bad decisions. Yeah. And and I wanna go into both of those. So what would you say if you if you had to pick one good decision because you gave us several. There's some expansion. There's some, you know, believing in yourself.
There like, there's a lot of really good principles that you just shared with us, but you had to pick one decision that you made that has led you to where you are Chaz far as, like, a successful business owner, what would that one thing be? Something that maybe we could go do in our own businesses. Yeah. I mean, I think it's I think it's exactly what I said. I think it's believing in yourself and saying, okay. How can I invest my dollars wisely Yeah?
So that I can build something of value, not just value for yourself, but value for your team, value for your customers, value for the community. If you have a value driven idea, you're bound to be successful, but you just can't Go at an idea and think, okay. I I just wanna make money. Right? That's the principle of business is that you need to go make a profit. Right? That's number one thing you have to do. All business need to make a profit.
Yeah. But if you're going into into your business, simply to make a profit, you're never going to really, you know, be a great business, you know, owner or entrepreneur. You know, you've gotta be thinking of others. Right? And so I think for me, the greatest decision I made was following my heart, you know, and and getting into the dog business. I was a tech consultant. My family growing up was in real estate and manufacturing.
Yeah. I thought I was gonna be, you know, tech innovator of some sort. Yeah. You know, probably would end up, you know, putting on the sock puppet costume or something working for pets.com. If I wasn't in doggy daycare. Sure. Sure. And I'm happy that happened because I I do believe now retail is headed much more in in a service focus than it is in a traditional product product focus.
So Yeah. The online stores can handle all the the traditional retail, the dog food, and toys, and stuff like Chaz. But I think another great decision is, aside from believers is is sticking to what I I know and not Yeah. What I don't Yeah. And so trying to trying to bring people in who I know can help the organization because I I you know, the more you realize what you're good at, the more you wanna focus on those things.
And the more that highlights what you're not good at and the the areas of the business that are weakest that really could use, you know, professional help. And so building a great team around you is probably maybe the 2nd best decision that I that I made besides just investing in myself is investing in others. Because if you have great people around you, you're always gonna be better. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Both both of those principles are huge.
I think you gave some really cool examples of how you've been able to do that for yourself. As well. What would you say for the person listening right now who, you know, maybe they've invested themselves, and they're thinking about going to the next level? Maybe they have a couple of team members, but they're to really dive into being a better leader, investing in those kinda a players. You had already apologized the people in your first run. How does this run look different?
Maybe some practicals that you can give to listener, things that you're doing right now to build your team at a much higher quality. Yeah. I think the one piece of advice that I can give is, listen. Like, just shut up and listen. You might have a great idea. You might think that you know, your education or experience kind of puts you ahead of the, you know, the others that might, you know, Either with competition or, you know, people that you work with, right, that you might know something more.
But the best thing that I found that works for me nowadays is that I spend a lot of time listening listening to partners, especially listening to my employees, which I don't even really I don't call them play key members. Right? And I think Yeah. Yeah. They're very much vested in our collective success because you know, I empower them to make decisions. You know, I'm I'm making my decisions based on feedback that I get from them. Right?
So I think being a better listener inevitably makes you a better manager. You always you have to have the other skills. You gotta be organized. You gotta be able to make good decisions. You've got to, you know, be empathetic, right, and understand that not everyone thinks like you or acts like you. Right. So patience is key, but more importantly, more than anything else, if you wanna be a great manager, listen. Listen, at least twice as much as you talk, at least.
And that would probably be the minimum. You should if you wanna be super awesome, listen all the time and talk very little. Yeah. I'm talking the most right now that I that I ever oh, that's something. Thank you. Yeah. Well, it's okay. It's a this is this is where shine, because this is When I open up my team so I can I can freely just let it go? A 100%.
And and it's actually it's actually a little bit of a secret about being a guest that you could talk about you, which not a lot of guys at our level. Yeah. We we were always listening, which is which is fine. It's a blessing to listen. What you're talking about. You get so much value and you give so much value when you listen, but When you flip the script and you get the guest on a show, you go for it. You know, you get to talk about you, which is great. So okay.
Listening, we got the good the good the good decisions here. You've made some really good moves in business. Appreciate you sharing. Let's flip the coin. You mentioned bad partnership. Maybe the way that it was struck shirt exiting in a way that wasn't so good. Pick one of those. Tell us some details. What was a bad decision that didn't work out so good? Oh my. I have a master's degree, but it wasn't in in business. I have a master's in science.
So I I never ended up in the Harvard Business School and sir. But I I certainly paid the price in real world experience. So whatever education I've received, I've definitely paid for it. And I think, you know, if you're expanding your business and you're looking for partners and whether it's equity or debt, you've gotta make sure that you're partnered with the right people.
You gotta do all your homework, do your diligence, know those people backwards and forwards, and take your time making that decision because a hasty decision will inevitably sink you. And so that's really what destroyed me in in, you know, round 2, my second platform of of being in this industry. I was in in love with the business second time around. I had no, you know, no thoughts about getting out. And then I just ran into the the wrong person.
I happened to be in a vulnerable place in my in my life. So, emotionally, there was something going on there. I encourage everyone, you know, if you're a a great manager and a great leader, you're separating out the emotion from from the decision making process. Right. And I didn't at that time. And it it was a very expensive lesson both personally and professionally and financially. So know your partners, know them very Wolfe, you know, they shouldn't just be friends. Right?
They should not but they should be trusted advisors, people that you can go to and you would know in your heart of hearts that they would never screw you over, and it takes time to get to know someone on that level. Right. And so I was really hasty in my decision making process. I was I was an impetuous entrepreneur. I was promised something and that that promise was not delivered. I was asked to do certain things, you know, in lieu of that promise.
And, you know, of course, I I know that it's it was bad. Anytime anytime you're giving up controlling interest of your business guys and gals out there, you've gotta make sure that you're protected. Yeah. And So I think that's the advice I could give any entrepreneur as you move towards, a transaction. Would it, you know, a partnership or an exit transaction, anything. Know those people. Right? Know those people intimately. You know, take your time.
Make sure it's a a really extensive courtship Yeah. So that you, you know, absolutely Chaz say, there's never no 100%. Right? But you could be I'd say, like, it's 95%. I you know, I wouldn't even say that I was I I couldn't my situation, I might have been Yeah. 50% or less for sure. Like, it was not it was not a well thought out plan on my part. Yeah. Well, I like how you used a intuition, really. You didn't say that word, but that's really what it was.
It's like, you know, taking your time, paying attention to how you know this person listening to your gut. Like you just said, your gut really told you otherwise, but you you were you weren't really listening.
You were making a hate decision for whatever reason, you know, pressures of the of that moment, the emotional pressure, there's a lot of things that go in to us making decisions that, you know, keep us, I guess, from the better part of the decision making process, So with with with that said, as I kinda move over here to like, okay. Well, that's what you learned. What about now? Like, something comes across your desk, and you have to make a big decision on something.
Is there a is there a magic formula that you follow now? I think it's the one I just gave you. Like, I I'd take my time. You know, I'm I'm going through one of those issues. I can't get into the details right now, but let's just loosely call it an expansion opportunity. And so I had several offers with several people wanting to partner with us, and and I've narrowed it down to one partner, and now I'm committing myself to that partner, basically saying, okay.
When else here, you gotta put them aside. I think really good decisions are not, like, You don't know them when you make them. Right? You just try to make the best decision you possibly can with the information that you have. That's right. But but when you're making a decision, you're cutting off all the other possibilities and you're sticking with that decision, you're going forward. That's right. And you're hopefully making that decision based on really great information.
A decision that I'm making right now, you know, what I'm referring to, I I've made over an extensive period of time. Yeah. And I've considered lots of different opportunities. Actively, I'd say, over the past 9 months, but passively over the past 5 or 6 years Chaz more and more people are drawn to, you know, outside investors are drawn to our our business. You know?
Yeah. Yeah. So when I first got it, Chaz, when I first got no no private equity company, you know, I they they didn't they couldn't figure out what I was doing, let alone. Invest in it. You're just a dog walker. That's not scalable. Not scalable. So, you know, Commit to the decision once you made it, but take your time making the decision. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. It's good. Gonna go over to our speed round here, Dan, inside this Hupp's pet care. What would you say is the Hupp's pet club.
Oh, pet club. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. It's okay. Everyone does the same thing. Always. Always. Thanks for the clarification there. What what would you say the the the number one KPI or the one thing that you would track forever and ever would be. Utilization. K. Yeah. We track utilization. So, yeah, forecasting utilization, historical utilization, you know, that in our business, that's everything. So And and give us just a little bit more for someone who doesn't understand what that is.
Is that Sure. Sure. But, I mean, it it goes in in several. So it comes down to visits. Right? How many day care visits? How engaged? Yeah. Exactly. How engaged are customers. Right? So that's you you you tell that by the number of reservations they're making. So Chaz you're forecasting out a customer to make 300 reservations over the course of the 3 65 day year. That's a pretty nice yeah. That's a pretty nice, you know, pipeline that you set yourself up with. Right.
So in the same goes for overnights, training, grooming, we consider the 4 core services, daycare, overnights, training, and grooming. And so we track we heavily track utilization of those services. And try to increase utilization by marketing campaigns. You know, there's we have trip campaigns, customer journeys that we've set up. Active customer solicitation campaigns based on based on data, right, things that they're doing. So customer behavior and also actual pet data too.
For example, you know, we know when you know, a dog is due for his vaccinations. Right? We're sending them vaccination reminders. We're also encouraging them to use our veterinary services. We know if we acquire a young dog for services through our puppy play care program. And we also know, inherently, as you're a pet parent yourself, that young dogs require training. They require 1st grilling service. Our early adoption is is key too. But utilization is something we actively track.
Haring up utilization with good with good data Wolfe help you win the customer and get more out of that. Right? Because Yeah. Because let's face it. Like, now when I first started, you there wasn't another doggy day care for Yeah. Right. 100 of miles. Right? Now they're they seem to be on every corner. So you gotta be doing it better. Chaz than your competition. Yep. And so it's there's choices. So not only KPIs. KPIs are important, but it's really at the core. Your mission's gotta be right.
Right? And ours is to take great care of dogs. You know, everything else is secondary. And it says it right there on our website. That's what we publish. And that's true. Right? Like, your heart has gotta be in the right place. Your head's gotta be in the right place, and everything else kinda comes along after that.
Yeah. Yeah. So going back to your question, as we get into the business for, you know, what the finance guys are always interested in talking about is things like utilization, customer spend, lifetime value of the customer. Yeah. All these things we we track. Yep. So yeah. Super important stuff, but don't lose sight of your mission.
Ever. I I like I like how you did a really good job there of tying that utilization to the mission because For example, you have someone coming for doggy daycare, but they don't come in ever for overnight don't come in ever for grooming service or don't come in ever for your core service, then it doesn't mean that that person is not engaged or not is unhappy necessarily, but it They're not as engaged as they could be. You're not serving them to the fullest possible, you know, possibility.
You're not taking care of that dog the best way possible because They're going other places for other services. So there's there's truth in that mission that's very connected to utilization, which is the top KPI that you would you would try. So you you're right. I mean, so cross sell and up sell opportunities are all all born out of utilization, data analytics.
So just like you said, if if you've got someone who's coming in for daycare and they're not utilizing you for the other services, you're doing something wrong. Yeah. Hands down. Right? So if I've got a store that offers the full suite of services and someone's only using 1, I'm losing. Right? I mean, as simple as they just don't know about the other Right? Yeah. Right. So sometimes it comes in it comes down to simple things like, you know, store signage. Right. Right.
Advertising right in there in your store, what you do. Sometimes it's more complex things. Right? You've actually gotta win a customer over because they have a relationship with someone else for for a service. And you do have to do it better. You have to prove yourself to your customer every day, especially in this business. This is an emotionally driven business where you're taking care of live animals, people's family members. And if you're not doing it right every day, you're gonna lose.
Right? They're gonna know. Yeah. They're not they're gonna know. Right? So our stores, first of all, our people are great. Right? And they're all bought into the mission. We hire dog lovers at every level. Even the senior leadership level. You've gotta, you know, you can't be just a numbers printer and come work for me. It's just not gonna work. Right. But especially at the line level, you know, our our day care attendants are amazing. Our groomers are traitors. They really care.
They care about the dogs and they care about the pet parents. And they care about things that are important to pet parents, like, having a great relationship and making sure that your dog lives a long and healthy life because they bring so much joy to us. Why wouldn't we want them to, you know, to be around for as long as they can? Yeah. And and I think we in in that way, we contribute to to people's happiness. And I I really believe Chaz. Right?
When someone walks through our doors, the experience of seeing their dog well cared for and knowing their dog's getting proper exercise. Or properly groomed or properly trained is going to enhance their their personalized, right, and their own personal relationship with their with their dog. And so I believe that strongly. I believe that's, you know, what we do to help people. If people ask me, okay. How do we help people? That's it. Right? You know?
And who doesn't want a better relationship with their dog? Because, you know, it's been proven scientifically that dogs are better for us, for humans, right, for our emotional well-being. Yeah. So if I can somehow improve that relationship, hey. We're winning. It's a big deal. Yeah. I think even for the for the guy, like, I I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm a dog lover. But every dog that we've had, I've loved. And and there's love that gets, you know, given back and forth.
And even we share the you know, they left for Saint Bernard. I had a Saint Bernard. Like you said, early, they don't live for very long, and that was a sad day for me. That was probably the one of the most I mean, I'm not an emotional guy. Like, at all. I could probably count on one hand I've been, like, physically emotional and and, like, stuff came out of my eyes. You know? I don't know what that is. Yeah. And that was one of those days. You know?
And so I think that you're speaking truth, but inside of that for business purposes, it's taking care of your people, taking care of your clients through your people, and taking care of all of that through the mission statement. And so all of those things just go, boom, boom, right in the row. So that's pretty cool. Yeah. Whether you have a product or service too, and it doesn't matter. Like like, if you have a a great product, your lines with you know, our thinking, I think.
I mean, I hope you are. Otherwise, I'm doing it wrong, but I don't think I should. But, yeah, I mean, it's it's the the principles are the same. Really are. You know, you gotta have a great product or a great service. You gotta back it up with great people. You gotta have amazing technology. So the digital experience for the customer has gotta be incredible.
And then, you know, you've gotta you've gotta basically wrap it all together, you know, in a nice bow, you know, by always following your mission, always every day no matter what. Yep. Love it. You're gonna you're gonna be faced with decisions that are really tough financially tough. And but You know, if the decision that you're about to make is inquiry ruined with your mission Yep. Then you've gotta stick to your mission no matter what the cost is. Yep. Mike drop.
But I got I got a couple more questions so that let's not drop it quick at it. My my next one is about statistical resource or maybe a book that you like. Business, related potentially that listeners can go pick up and and grow. What would you recommend? Oh, god. Been so long. Who's that time to read nowadays or podcast or whatever resource that that has been beneficial to you? The last book I read Oh, and I'm I'm going to forget right now. So you might have to go and and look this up.
It was David Goggins. Now I remember. David Goggins Chaz the author. I can't remember the title of the book. He was gonna make me. He can't hurt me. Yep. I recommend that book to every single entrepreneur. Yeah. If you my story, I think, is a story of perseverance Yeah. I've been knocked down so many times. You know? And people have told me, you can't do this, or you there's no way you're going to survive or you're gonna know where you're gonna be successful.
Yep. And every single time, you know, I've been, like, Okay. Like, I I hear you. I'm kicking that feedback, and I'm using it as fuel, right, as motivation to to prove them wrong. Yep. And David Goggins is the ultimate, like, person who has persevered in my mind. Yeah. He's he's an incredible role model for not only business people, but also for individuals. I I greatly admire him, and I would love to get a chance to meet him.
A credible character I also happen to be, you know, a endurance athlete, like, like, he turned out to be Got it. His his naval navy seal But yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of there are a lot of correlation between preparing for an Ironman race Right. Chaz as there are for preparing to open a business or operate a business. That's right. Yeah. And Yeah. Hugely valuable, and I and I I suck at that. I loved I loved everything about his energy. That's for sure.
Yeah. I got I got one last question here for you, Dan. I wanna know if you had the opportunity to whisper in the younger Dan's ear. What would you say? Hey, Danielle. Well, you already said it. Listen to your gut. Listen to your gut. Trust your gut because your gut will never stay you wrong. And this the only times I really made, like, serious mistakes looking back because, again, you always think you're making the best decision with at the time you're making them was when I didn't trust my gut.
So do that, Dan, and your life might have been a little bit easier, but everything's turned out okay. So I'm I'm very happy with with the way things have turned out. I think, you know, I hate to sound you know, this is so cliche, but everything happens for a reason. And so all those really difficult times in my life, both personally and professionally Chaz gotten to me where I am today, and I and I wouldn't have everything that I do have in my life.
All the great people that I'm surrounded with you know, my kids, my beautiful, extraordinary, amazingly intelligent wife, and my family, I I wouldn't have all that and the business too, you know, if if it weren't for all those experiences. Both good and bad. Yeah. I mean, the business started because of a quote, unquote bad experience. Yeah. Sure. I think that's it's all it's all in hindsight, and it's all perspective. And so I think that you've been raw and and real with us here today.
But, Dan, how can if we're in the Chicago land area or New York. Potentially, if you've got a location there, I think you said, but how can we find you? How can we do business with you? How can we locate you as an individual as an entrepreneur and maybe pick your brain about business? Yeah. I mean, listen. My email's right out there. Anyone wants to email me, please. It's just dan@postpclub.com.
I'm always willing to talk to Other entrepreneurs, especially people in this business Chaz we grow our business, and we look to partner with some great people. In Chicago, it's super easy. Just just get Google dog day caring. We're gonna pop up. We've got 6 locations there. We're the preeminent brand in Chicago, and we've got locations at every major neighborhood. And in New York, it's a little tougher to find us. We just started our first. We we need some help here.
So Please, any Chaz listeners, please come and visit us in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. We've got a beautiful store. It's 34100 square feet, and it's it's full suite of services. That's amazing. It's like it's like nothing else in the neighborhood. And I just we're we're not Chaz well known as some of the other providers right now.
So I think if you if you stop by with your dog, you certainly wouldn't be disappointed by the look of the store Certainly, the smell of the store because we use top of line mechanical systems and the experience you get with our with our team. That's great. Yeah. I know. I know a few actually, podcast guests that are in that area, and I'll have to get you connected so we we can get some get some traffic going that way. Yeah. Please do. I love it. I love it.
Well, Dan, you've been, like I said, real and raw both, but to the story is encouraging. It's inspiring. You said that you like inspiring stories, but that's what you gave us here today. So I just appreciate your time, man, but willing to share and We wish you nothing but blessing on your family and your business locations and all the things that you guys are doing here in 2023. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Thanks, John. Thank you for listening to gathering the Kings today.
I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself. What I have realized not only in my own journey from multiple business and multiple different industries and now interviewing literally over 2 or 300 other very successful 7, 8, and 9 figure business owners is that It's tough to do it alone.
And so gathering the Kings literally exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs. In fact, we are putting together 1 1000 kings, specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities, and here's what we believe Chaz in the pursuit of excellence in those areas, that it ignites within us the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy.
So if that relates and and resonates with you, and you know that you need people around you, sharp, qualified other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gatheringthekings.com. I want you to take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 kings. Talk soon.