SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI: Connor Anderson & Alan Ramseyer ’07

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: CONNOR ANDERSON & ALAN RAMSEYER, CLASS OF 2007

Best Friends in Business for Man’s Best Friends

by Chris Ashbrook

If I were to go back to Wichita Collegiate School graduation day in 2007, I might have asked graduates Connor Anderson and Alan Ramseyer if their future held a joint business venture, and they most likely would have said, “Yes.” Had I asked them if the business would have had something to do with taking care of dogs, they would have likely said, “It’s a possibility.” Recently I spoke with both Connor and Alan. “We’ve always thought it would be a good idea to start a business together,” Connor told me. Both men have loved dogs since childhood. Alan helped foster service dogs that walked the halls of the Wichita Collegiate Lower School and had several of his own dogs as pets. “I’ve always had a passion for dogs and considered being a vet or vet tech growing up.” Connor also loves dogs, but growing up, his exposure to them was mostly through hanging out at Alan’s house. Today, if you asked the two co-owners of Kansas City’s Collar Club, a new doggy day care/grooming/training/boarding facility in Waldo Kansas City, if the path to starting a business together went just as they had always thought it would, the answer would be a resounding, “No.” While Connor left Collegiate and headed to the University of Tulsa to pursue a degree in business finance, Alan went to play baseball at Mid-American Nazarene. After a couple of years of playing, Connor encouraged Alan to try Tulsa, and Alan, having given baseball his best shot, decided this was a solid plan. Did the business take off once the two joined each other in Tulsa? Not quite. Connor graduated from Tulsa and went to work as a financial analyst at Gregory W. Group, while Alan, who graduated with a Communications and Advertising degree, went to work as a Video Production Director for the double A ball club the Tulsa Drillers. After a few years Connor left Tulsa to work for Cerner, headquartered in Kansas City, and focused on health information and EHR technologies. Plans for starting a business together were still of interest to both, but “life” kept the dream at bay. Then, while walking on the Trolley Trail in Kansas City with his wife Lindsay, Connor spotted a building that just seemed like the perfect place to start a business. He discussed the building with Alan, and soon the two were putting

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Alan and Connor pose with their pups outside the Collar Club in Kansas City.

plans into motion. Alan moved to Kansas City with his girlfriend and now wife Elyse, and the Collar Club was born. For almost a year, walls of the Ramseyer’s home were covered in sticky notes full of ideas, questions, problems, and designs. When the two closed on the building in October of 2019, the sticky notes had been whittled down to their best ideas, answers, and solutions. Both men would say their time at Collegiate helped them to think through problems to find solutions, and both credit various Collegiate coaches for nurturing strong work ethics instilled by their families and providing them with a never-give-up attitude. Living by these principles, the wall of sticky notes transformed into 10,500 square feet of doggy heaven on March 30th of 2020. The transformed office building features both indoor and outdoor play areas, individualized glass fronted boarding spaces (no chain link at the Collar Club), an open reception area as guests arrive, space for a trainer to work with their pupils, and grooming stations. While the construction was visualized with dogs’ best interest in mind, they also wanted to make the experience easier for dog owners. Unique to the Collar Club is a 24-hour room where you can pick up your boarded dog whenever you return home, even outside of business hours. As someone who has had to wait to pick up their dogs for almost 36 hours after arriving home on a Sunday morning, I thought this was a nice touch. Connor and Alan focus on transparency as the key to customer satisfaction. They want their clients to know that their dogs are being well cared for, and glass throughout the building allows anyone to see what the caregivers at the Collar Club are up to at

Alan and Connor personify what Collegiate students are taught: follow your path, form strong relationships, think for yourself but work well with others, work hard, solve problems, find solutions, and treat others respectfully. In short, prove yourself worthy.

any given time. The two consider their staff to be a key component to their success. They both stated that they “work hard to find the right people who really care about the animals and their owners. We (all of Collar Club’s employees) treat our clients well, we help them out, we always take care of the client.” Both dogs and humans agree, as their Google reviewers give them 4.9 out of 5 stars, although I’m not sure how many dog reviews are included in that number. These two men always thought going into business together would be a possibility. Their paths diverged, converged, veered again, but ultimately met to form a successful business that the two hope will expand both in Kansas City as well as in places where their roots were planted before, like Tulsa and Wichita. Alan and Connor personify what Collegiate students are taught: follow your path, form strong relationships, think for yourself but work well with others, work hard, solve problems, find solutions, and treat others respectfully. In short, prove yourself worthy. While interviewing Alan and Connor, it was apparent that their friendship, even more than their obvious business savvy, was the key to success at the Collar Club. It also struck me how many lifelong friendships like these are formed in our Collegiate community. Are the lessons learned while at Collegiate responsible for the success of these two men? To give WCS sole responsibility would be ludicrous, but it is clear to me that, just as our mission statement espouses our desire to help students be the best versions of themselves, Alan and Connor have certainly embodied this sentiment since graduating and will continue to do their best work moving forward.

Alan wrangles several of his customers.

Alumni Class Notes

We have already begun work on our annual Impact Report. Featured in this summer’s Impact Report will be our annual Class Notes section highlighting the milestones and accomplishments of our alumni. Alumni, if you would like your news to be shared in this year’s Impact Report, please scan the QR code to complete the form May 15! 18