IN CONVERSATION

Tell us how your career path led you to the pet industry and joining Pet Wants.

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I owned my own business that was not in a franchised system in an industry that served the elderly and the disabled. I eventually sold that business and went to work for the big company that acquired us. I did well there in corporate America but really missed being in a small business, so I acquired a franchise in an industry that served the parents of young children. I had that business with the franchise owner for 10 years, and almost exactly 10 years after I acquired the business I joined the franchisor and really began to be passionate about franchising from the franchisor perspective and how can I help other people. When I learned about the opportunity with Pet Wants, I felt like it was this completion of serving all of the populations that were important to me; I started out with the elderly and the disabled, middle part is children and their parents and now pets and pet parents. It was so attractive to me to be able to complete that arc.

What do you enjoy the most about working in pet?

I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t have at least one dog. I’ve had all breeds and sizes. I’m a rescue mom; my two current dogs are both rescues and mixed breed. My daughter adopted a dog that had been terribly abused, and we nursed him back to health so now he’s her shadow and he goes everywhere with her. Being able to be in an industry that is so driven by passion and compassion was something that really excited me.

A universal amongst our franchise owners and many other people that I’ve met in the pet industry—not only our franchise owners but my team here at Pet Wants corporate—they’re all driven by both the passion to help our franchise owners succeed but also by the love of animals. They get excited talking about and thinking about what our products do for the health of both their pets and other people’s pets and so you get excited when you go to work every day and that’s what you’re doing. What aspect or aspects of your personal work ethic have helped you most to become successful?

I show up. I know that sounds basic, but I am present both physically and intellectually and emotionally for my customers, for my team, for my bosses, for other people in whatever industry I’m in—currently for our franchisees—and I try to do the same thing in my personal life. I try to be present for my husband, for my children, my friends, my parents, and that’s so important in this world of we’re all trying to do too many things at one time, is that being present and giving people your attention.

The other personal work ethic for me is I’m always a student. Whether it’s working on my own personal development, whether it’s reading things that can help our team, whether it’s learning, the pet industry is new to me so I’m in this immersion of learning about pet health and nutrition and just recognizing that there’s always more to learn has also really helped me be very successful.

What makes the pet industry dynamic and vibrant?

While the pet industry is certainly not completely immune to economic forces, it tends to be affected at a lower level than other things because society has really changed the way it views their pets. The pandemic really lent this feeling of the emotional connection we have, particularly to our dogs and cats, and really built that personal feeling of this being is a real part of my life, of my emotional connection of my family. That is evidenced in the fact that the pet industry continues to grow even in uncertain economic times. Everything about pet was up in 2022 regardless of interest rates going up, of people hav- ing concerns about the economy, the pet industry just continued to grow and that really shows how vibrant it is. I just got back from Global Pet Expo, and just seeing all of the innovation in every specter—there is new innovation in food and treats, there is new innovation in pet care products. Whether it’s leashes, collars, shampoos, there was an unbelievable amount of new products. I spent a couple of hours in the New Product Showcase because there were so many of them. It’s so much fun to be a part of something that is always growing and changing.

What is it about the pet industry that allows it to navigate better in all seasons compared with other industries?

At Global Pet Expo, and I’m still gathering up so much of the data that was presented there and really analyzing it, but it was very clear in a recent study of pet owners that regardless of their own personal financial situation, a majority do not intend to reduce their spending on their pet. They’ll spend less on themselves to avoid having to cut back on what they’re spending on their pet. That’s the fabric of our society today. What is the role of pet specialty retailers in the pet industry?

I feel like the key to the specialty retailers just is the depth and breadth of knowledge that the store employees or the owner of that retailer is able to have in specific areas. You think about the big box stores or even the online pet retailers, it’s very difficult for somebody to have true expertise in every line. It’s really tough to be an expert in dog, cat, bird, aquatic, reptile, but as a specialty retailer you can really get that deep knowledge that you can then share with your community and really make that connection at a local level.

It can be really personalized to what that specific pet needs. I’ll give you a great example: I was in one of our stores up in northern Ohio a couple of months back, just meeting with the owner and talking about her business. A prospective customer that had never been in her store before walked in and so I walked away and I got to listen to that conversation, and it was all about