1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,880 Welcome back, pet parents, and welcome to 2025. 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,800 We are in a brand new year. I, well, not when I'm recording 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:09,800 this, but when you're hearing this, we're in a brand new year 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,080 and I think that is super exciting. 5 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,800 And what else is super exciting is that tickets are going on 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,840 sale today. In fact, even though this 7 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,320 podcast episode, it starts really, really early in the 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:27,400 morning, it might already be too late for the more, you know, Pet 9 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,800 Wellness Summit in Williamsburg, VA. 10 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,800 And I bring that up because my guest today is Amanda Wilborn, 11 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:38,280 who is the owner of the Nautical Dog and who is somehow she has 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,600 lost her mind and putting on this event. 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:42,920 Actually, it's one of my favorite events to go to every 14 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:44,960 year. So I'm really grateful for her 15 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:50,080 and I love her store and I love bringing you indie pet store 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,200 owners because I am super passionate about shopping local, 17 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,920 shopping small, and shopping in indie pet stores for various 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,720 reasons. If you've been with me for any 19 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:01,160 length of time, you probably know them. 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,040 If you don't, you're going to learn about them today. 21 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,400 So I want to welcome Amanda Wilborn. 22 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,920 How are you doing today? Hi, thanks for having me on. 23 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,480 I am good. Yes, I am a little things are 24 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,720 crazy and chaotic and yes I lost my mind a long time ago so. 25 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,560 That's OK. We'll like just pull little 26 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,280 pieces here and there and, and put, put some puzzles together 27 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:30,560 and it'll all work out. I was fortunate enough to attend 28 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,960 the very first the more, you know, Pet Wellness Summit and 29 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,400 then last year was the second one. 30 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,080 I got to attend that as well. And I'm super excited. 31 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,200 I'm planning to attend the one this year and I want to talk all 32 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,280 about that. But before we do, I would just 33 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,520 like to hear a little bit about you and how you started the 34 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,320 nautical dog, because I know just like everything else in 35 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,240 life, it wasn't like a straight path. 36 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,560 Definitely not a straight path. I think if anyone has ever seen 37 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,520 those like diagrams of like what a business owner is, and it's 38 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:04,840 like, you know, people think it's like this, this, this. 39 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,120 And in fact, it's this that very much describes my life. 40 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,920 And I think my life is still actually on that same, you know, 41 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 roller coaster path. But as far as the store goes, 42 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,160 you know, I don't have like this like really cool story and this 43 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,800 like big inspirational thing that happened in my life. 44 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:28,200 It was 20 years old and I had my first dog, like as an adult, 45 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,280 that was my dog. That wasn't a family dog. 46 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,480 And if you look in the back, it's a little corgi back there. 47 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,240 And she was my first dog. And I just, I loved her so much. 48 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,760 And I had already been working in retail throughout high 49 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,600 school, and one day I just was like, I want to open up a dog 50 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,640 store. And, you know, the store is very 51 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,680 different now from what it was then because it, you know, I 52 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,560 sold cutesy things that I probably would never sell now. 53 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,680 But you know, it's part of my story and how I got here. 54 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,960 And that's why I opened. And, you know, we could talk 55 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:03,640 forever about my store and how I got here. 56 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,080 You know, if you've been into the store before, which you 57 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,840 have, if you're listening even in the store, you know that 58 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,360 nutrition is really my forefront if everything that I do now, it 59 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,560 was not when I first opened the store. 60 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,480 But you know, as a lot of porgies are, they're genetic 61 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,640 little nightmares. And I knew nothing about them. 62 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,720 And she had lots of allergies and issues. 63 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,960 And, you know, I went down the path of what to do. 64 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,040 And, you know, the first food that I ever sold in the store 65 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,120 was raw food. And it's what I, you know, did 66 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,840 for her. And I saw it worked in 18 years 67 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,960 later, here I am and putting these big events on and teaching 68 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,440 everyone about all the things. That's the very, very short 69 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,040 story about me. There's a whole lot more. 70 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,360 You know, I do all the rescue work with all the animals and I 71 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,920 have way too many animals in my house right now. 72 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,400 But you know, I have two kids now and husband and here we are. 73 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:02,080 Yeah, well, and Speaking of all the rescue work you do, I know 74 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,120 you're always highlighting the shelters and rescues at your 75 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,760 store, having adoption events, but you also expanded. 76 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,560 Well, you've expanded multiple times, but you have like what 77 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,800 used to be, if I remember correctly, your original 78 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,240 storefront is now your cat section. 79 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,520 And you have in the front a cat Cove, which is so cute and so 80 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,440 fun with all adoptable cats. And how many? 81 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,440 I I'm sure it will change by the time this airs, but roughly how 82 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,080 many? Today I think we're like 300 and 83 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,360 no, sorry, 430. Some I believe, maybe more. 84 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,960 You know, at some point we start to lose track of them. 85 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,600 So yeah, so the Cat Cove opened like 2 a little over two years 86 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,720 ago in July of 22. And yes, that was my original 87 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,240 store in Newtown before I expanded into a larger location. 88 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:02,280 And it's named after Schwartzy. He was my first shop CAD. 89 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,240 You know, I always joke that he was the love of my life, but I 90 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,280 adopted him as a senior and he lived in the store. 91 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:13,760 And when that space became back open or vacant again, we 92 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,560 expanded into it. And I had the idea of doing a 93 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,800 whole store of cat merchandise, but then also essentially 94 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,600 putting in a cat cafe. It runs a little different than 95 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,240 most cat cafes do that You don't have to pay for it to go in. 96 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,960 But you know, we get cats from our local shelter and you can 97 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:33,400 just go hang out with them. If you want to adopt them, you 98 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,320 can. If you just want to cuddle some 99 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,080 cats, you can do that too. It's probably been one of the 100 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,800 most rewarding things that I've ever done for the store. 101 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,000 You know, it's not something that makes me money. 102 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,200 It's more of a passion project and was kind of my way to foster 103 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,080 more animals without bringing more into my house because at 104 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,520 some point my husband was like, this is this is crazy. 105 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:57,320 And it is. I have 11 animals in my house. 106 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,960 Yeah, I mean, I know what that feels like. 107 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,720 And I can't honestly, at this point in my life, can't imagine 108 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,320 going back to that. But you live and learn, right? 109 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,400 But yeah, your store. So the Nautical dog, you're in 110 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,840 Newtown in Williamsburg, VA, and it is nautical themed, so 111 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,360 there's a lot of blue. There is a lot of blue. 112 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,040 A lot of blue, but it's really super cute. 113 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,760 I see it highlighted fairly often and like pets plus 114 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:30,400 magazine and you won coolest store you were yes was so fun, 115 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,120 which it is. It's but it's certainly been one 116 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,240 of the coolest stores I've been into and the growth of an indie 117 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:42,400 pet store I think is something that most most people in general 118 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:43,800 don't. And I don't mean this in a 119 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,920 negative way, but most people in general don't really understand 120 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,880 like entrepreneurship and and owning a business and how to 121 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:53,920 grow a business. I think. 122 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,960 And there's obviously in various different industries, there's, 123 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,720 they all have their own difficulties and pitfalls and 124 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,120 all the things. But with an indie pet store 125 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,440 specifically being in the space and you can tell me so much more 126 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:12,240 about this than I could say. There's definitely, I think it's 127 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,920 just that much more difficult. Pet parents. 128 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,040 It's there's so much more education involved, I guess is 129 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,000 what I'm getting at. It's not something that a pet 130 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,800 parent most of the time is going to walk in and say, I want 131 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,080 Steve's real food or I want green juice. 132 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,440 You know, like they're not walking in saying I want 133 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,320 goodness gracious, right? They're not walking in knowing 134 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:37,240 that they want and need these really high quality brands that 135 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,600 you stock in your store. They come in thinking I'm just 136 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,680 going to buy a bag of dry food off the shelf, but this is a 137 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,080 cool store to do that in. And so you have that hurdle of 138 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,360 education. And so how did you start like 139 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,680 incorporating that when you are growing your? 140 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,600 So I'm going to use my dog as an example and I used my current 141 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,800 pets as an example too. So in my philosophy is if I 142 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,200 wouldn't give it to my own animals, it's probably not in 143 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,800 this store. You know, when I have lots of 144 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,800 levels of things in the store to kind of fit, you know, every 145 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,320 budget and every need. But you know, you're right. 146 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,520 No one is coming off the the street and saying I want to feed 147 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,600 my dog raw food like that. You know, it doesn't happen 148 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,600 often when they do come in and say that like my eyes just like 149 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,280 it's so big because it's so exciting for you. 150 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,480 But that's not generally the course that it takes. 151 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,440 So, you know, it's usually someone coming and it's like my 152 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,760 dog has allergies and my friend or my neighbor told me to come 153 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:39,159 in here that you guys know a lot about food. 154 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:41,760 And they usually don't want food. 155 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,200 They usually want like a supplement or some like magic 156 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,120 pill to like knock it out. And it's, it's such a, you know, 157 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:53,320 a journey to get to that point. So, you know, it can go a lot of 158 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:54,600 ways. You know, we get a lot of cuz 159 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,440 and then we get customers who come in who just want to come 160 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,880 look at the cats or they're just picking up some treats. 161 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:04,800 And over time that evolves as well into the food conversations 162 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,600 and things like that. So it's definitely not easy and 163 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,480 it's not, I think what the average person would think. 164 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,520 And in, in terms of running a store, no, we're not just 165 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:16,880 selling like gifts that people can come and pick up. 166 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,480 There's a lot of education involved and there's a lot of 167 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:21,880 learning involved. And, you know, I learned 168 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,240 something new every day, whether it's something that I've read or 169 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,680 something that I look up to has, you know, told me about or the 170 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,040 customer who came up with a problem that I don't don't know 171 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,360 anything about. And I've got to do some 172 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,400 researching about it. So it definitely evolves. 173 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,680 And, you know, and it's not just me, it's my whole team of, you 174 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,280 know, people who work for me as well and always teaching them 175 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,280 too. And you know us all learning 176 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,720 together. Well, I I know when talking to 177 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,360 so many people, it's like what I used to do before this. 178 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:58,040 I learned that it's generally like the lowest paid person in 179 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:03,000 an organization who is the first like face to face interaction 180 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,280 with a client. And so a business, for instance, 181 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,800 like a receptionist, right? They're generally the lowest 182 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,400 paid person in a corporation, yet they're the face of the 183 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,120 business. So like an organization has to 184 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,320 realize really, really quickly, either you're going to put a lot 185 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,080 of time and effort and energy into making sure that person 186 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,880 puts on the exact face you need for your corporation and knows 187 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,920 everything, or they're going to make your business look really, 188 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:32,680 really bad. And in the pet world, I feel 189 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:36,880 like our indie pet stores are almost like the receptionist, 190 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,000 right? You're certainly not in it to 191 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,520 get rich, but you are kind of like that frontline with pet 192 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:48,120 parents and then guiding them and where they really need to be 193 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,840 paying more attention to things in their pets lives. 194 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,480 Because, you know, sitting at home watching commercials on TV, 195 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:00,520 you're going to think of something, some giant company 196 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,520 that's advertising and spending millions of dollars on the Super 197 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,080 Bowl ad is like, that's the best food I can feed my dog. 198 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,480 But then they walk into your store and they're like, there 199 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:14,200 really is this like, Oh my gosh, moment of like, I didn't know 200 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,320 anything. And it changes so quickly to it, 201 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,680 you know, I think our industry is, it's always evolving. 202 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:27,000 There's always something new. Someone is buying someone out, 203 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,920 you know, And you know, my world, you know, I know we're 204 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,960 airing in January here. But, you know, just this week, 205 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,200 there's a brand of food that I carry. 206 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,040 General Mills just bought it. It's all on sale right now in 207 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,280 the store. It's dumped. 208 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:42,960 So those are things that happen here a lot. 209 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,400 But yes, I mean, you're right. People come in, you know, not 210 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,080 only am I the face of it, but I have employees and you know, the 211 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,320 one thing that I think all of us have in common here is, you 212 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:54,960 know, we all love animals here, right? 213 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,280 So, you know, if even if you don't know everything there is 214 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,520 to know about, you know, nutrition and different 215 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,160 products, like we're all and this because, you know, we love 216 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,920 our dog or cats. It's easy to learn if you're 217 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,200 passionate about it. And I, and I think, you know, I 218 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,520 can speak that most of the stuff that works for me, a lot of them 219 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:13,320 have been with me for a very long time. 220 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,040 And you know, they're, they're good forward. 221 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:21,560 Yeah, So in your store, I know it's called the nautical dog, 222 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:26,720 but you have a pretty big, you have a good size freezer 223 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,040 section, pretty big, like dog food section, treat section. 224 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,000 We talked about you have you do have the cat section. 225 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,520 There's like a dedicated section for cats. 226 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,600 And you also have tell me if I get any of this wrong because 227 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,360 you have like this really, really cute section for like 228 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,880 touristy things. Because you are in Williamsburg, 229 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,920 you're in a very popular area of Williamsburg where there are a 230 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:51,560 lot of tourists, especially in the summer. 231 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,760 There's a lot of toys. There's a lot of you have like a 232 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,560 couple supplement walls. I think you have a dog wash. 233 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,800 What am I missing? And treats the bone bar is 234 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,080 actually probably the IT will probably is the most popular 235 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,840 thing in the store. So we have the largest selection 236 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,280 of natural shoes anywhere around that I know of, at least in my 237 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,520 area. That's awesome. 238 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,080 Well, and those are I was actually just talking to Lauren 239 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,440 Girls Gone wrong and that's what we were talking about. 240 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,600 Like a lot of times these treats and chews are like gateway drugs 241 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:34,640 and getting into a healthier food period for your pets. 242 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,720 So I I love it. That's like the biggest thing in 243 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,440 your store, bringing people over to not the dark side, but the 244 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,520 bright, the all the. Good things that you might think 245 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,400 are weird, but your dog is going to think is fantastic. 246 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,920 Yes. So tell me a little bit about 247 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,680 how, if you don't mind, how you choose. 248 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:54,920 We can talk about food, we can talk about supplements, 249 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:56,640 whatever. There might be different 250 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,360 criteria, but like how do you choose what comes and what goes? 251 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:05,760 So if it's owned by a big company, it's it's done, dunzo. 252 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,080 I don't carry it. I won't even look at it after 253 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:10,880 that. You know, I'm always reading 254 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,760 ingredients, the labels, who owns the company. 255 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:17,240 And you know, I'm a big enough store where I can offer a 256 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,360 variety of things. So I can have, you know, my, my 257 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,160 starting points, my medium points and then like the 258 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,240 absolute best. So, you know, I think for me in 259 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,560 the store and you and I have talked about this before, I want 260 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,000 to have an option for everyone. So for someone that's walking 261 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,960 and off the street, they're feeding grocery store brand 262 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,560 food, probably not taking them to the freezers to begin with, 263 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:43,600 right? Like I want, I don't want to 264 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,880 scare. I mean, I would, that's our 265 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,480 goal. Like Ray, like that's, that's 266 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,280 the ultimate goal. But there's a lot of that's 267 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:54,520 essentially like a foreign thing, you know, they, they 268 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:56,200 don't know. And so I don't ever want to 269 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,800 scare someone, right. So, you know, let's take baby 270 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,640 steps. You know, I'm, I'm always asking 271 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:03,400 them like, you know, what are they feed? 272 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,080 What are their comfortable feeding? 273 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,000 What things are important to them? 274 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:08,440 And then we kind of go from there there. 275 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,960 So, you know, I have a lot of criteria in the way of like, you 276 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,720 know, it can't be like, you know, grocery store brand, you 277 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,240 know, Mars cannot own at Procteria, but cannot own it. 278 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,160 And then from there, you know, I look at the company, see what 279 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,240 they're doing, look at their recalls, you know, all the 280 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,120 things that if you were shopping that you would want to look for 281 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:29,520 or you would want to know, right? 282 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,840 So I try to take all that guess work out of it for you. 283 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,600 You should be able to come in the store and know what you're 284 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,080 going to buy. You know isn't sketchy or got 285 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,120 some weird recalls or weird stuff going on. 286 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,640 Yeah, well, and that's actually one of the biggest selling 287 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,760 points for me for shopping at an indie pet store is that you do 288 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,440 all of that research because it's a lot like, it's a lot to 289 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,720 stay on top of just like you were talking about this week, a 290 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,120 specific brand and and this. Huge. 291 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,160 Corporation, this is the second big acquisition that they've had 292 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:10,960 in a year like in in the pet food space, in the pet world. 293 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,920 And so my understanding is that they're not stopping anytime 294 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,160 soon. No, no one is you. 295 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,080 No one is stopping anytime soon. You know, I always say every, 296 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,480 everything is for sale. Everyone's for sale. 297 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,800 If someone you know walked in with anything, you know a big 298 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,280 number, you know, everyone is for sale. 299 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,400 So people say, well, what does that matter? 300 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,400 You know it, it matters. You know, when you've got these 301 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,600 big corporations, I can promise you that quality is not at the 302 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,960 forefront of sourcing and what they're putting in the food. 303 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,360 If you think it is, you should go read your own labels of the 304 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,960 foods you're feeding yourself and remember that those 305 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,960 standards are higher than the standards our pets get. 306 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,080 So, you know, the people who are making, you know, your candy 307 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,400 bars, I'm sorry, should not be making your pets food. 308 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,160 And those are just things to look at. 309 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,040 And they sell all the time. You know, you've been into the 310 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,480 store before. Wait, when you walk in my store, 311 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:17,000 I've got posters lining the wall that show who owns what. 312 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:21,800 And I have to have them redone every single year because that's 313 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,040 how quickly things change. And I think it's important to 314 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,680 know who is making your pets food. 315 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,640 I mean, because they don't care. It's like some guy sitting on a 316 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:35,080 board somewhere and you know. Well, yeah, bottom. 317 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,520 Line is his wallet, not your pet's health, and if they tell 318 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,480 you differently, you know we can just. 319 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,960 Yeah, well, and, and that's actually exactly like I posted 320 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:51,640 that on Instagram this week when we're recording this this week, 321 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,160 because when you start a company, you do have that 322 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:57,600 passion. You do care about the product 323 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,680 that you're putting into the world for people's pets to 324 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:07,520 consume one way or another. And when it's just a huge 325 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:12,080 conglomerate corporation, they may actually care about what 326 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,080 they're putting in their own pets mouths. 327 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:16,760 But when they're sitting in that boardroom making decisions, they 328 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,000 are just looking at what is the percentage of profit increase 329 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,120 quarter after quarter and that's where can. 330 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,080 We get this item cheaper. Where can we source it from 331 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,120 cheaper. Let's not forget that a lot of 332 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,160 these people that are sitting on this board are also sitting on 333 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,400 the AFCO board and they're saying what can and cannot be 334 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,760 allowed in pet food. And I think if you know, if you 335 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,880 are, you know, listening or watching to this podcast right 336 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:47,560 now and you don't know what's allowed in food per AFCO, please 337 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,320 go to the AFCO website. It is all public information. 338 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,720 You can see what is allowed on pet food. 339 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,640 And these people that are sitting on these pet food boards 340 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,280 or your lobbyists that are allowing this. 341 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,080 I mean, there you go. There's your answer. 342 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,520 They're fighting for some of this stuff to be allowed in pet 343 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,320 food. So they want it in there for a 344 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:09,920 reason, right? You know. 345 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,320 Yeah, well, and as as a matter of fact, I saw this the other 346 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,880 day and Susan Thixton just posted about it as well. 347 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,320 They are now letting consumers attend AFCO meetings for only 348 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:29,640 $250, which I know is still a lot for a lot of people, but 349 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,280 it's like literally half the price of what it used to be. 350 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:38,400 So that actually is a big deal and hopefully will make it 351 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,800 easier depending on, you know, what actually happens with AFCO 352 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:44,360 moving forward. Hopefully, it will make it 353 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:48,480 easier for more consumers to attend because as Susan reminds 354 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,600 us all the time, consumers are the biggest stakeholders in pet 355 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,840 food and we're not represented in pet. 356 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,440 Food. No, not at all. 357 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,240 Yeah, not at all. Yes, so Speaking of like having 358 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,240 to make those decisions I about pulling something off of your 359 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:07,760 shelf. I've spoken to a couple of 360 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,640 people about this, originally talked to BC Henshin about this 361 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,560 on the podcast and Krista Fox, who wins pug and hound and. 362 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,880 Who I know you're familiar with and it can be really, really 363 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,760 difficult to make that decision to pull something off of your 364 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,600 shelf, especially if it is something that is your biggest 365 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:28,720 seller or close to your biggest seller. 366 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:32,680 So can you, I just like to reiterate this for people like 367 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,240 it's not an easy decision for you, but you do it for the pets. 368 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,040 It's yeah, I mean, it's, it's no question. 369 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,120 You know, the big company buys out something. 370 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,200 You know, I'm not going to be hypocrite and have a, you know, 371 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:48,400 big sign on my wall that says Mars owns XYZ brands. 372 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,880 And then Mars buys a brand that I sell in the store and I sell a 373 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,320 lot of it. Like I can't pick and choose 374 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,240 which ones I want to put up on the board, right. 375 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,640 So, you know, it, it hurts a little bit at first. 376 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,600 You know, it always is a sting in the very beginning. 377 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:09,200 But you know, I've been around since 2006 and hopefully have 378 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:13,600 enough trust in me to know that I am doing it in the best 379 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,760 interest of their pet. And guess what? 380 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,880 I don't sell that anymore. But hey, here's another option 381 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,320 for you. You know, I don't have all my 382 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,240 eggs in one basket. And you know, I don't want to 383 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,840 speak for Krista, but Kristen are pretty good friends. 384 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,560 And, you know, I won't name names, but you know, a couple 385 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:34,000 years ago, her and I both pulled our #1 brand from the store with 386 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,640 some things that happened. And when you sell a whole lot of 387 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,360 a product and not just a little bit of it, and that's a big 388 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:46,680 chunk of your money. And you, you see that and you're 389 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,560 like, what do I do? But you know, it again, it 390 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,240 stinks for a minute and then it goes away. 391 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,360 Because, you know, I want people once again to come to my store. 392 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:58,480 I want them to trust me, know that what I'm selling is not 393 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,880 going to harm their pet. And I have to always stick with 394 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,400 that. And if I lose that, then all of 395 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,240 my credentials now go out the door and I want it to stay 396 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,400 there. Yeah, no, I mean, that's a 397 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,680 really good point. And again, and I'm just going to 398 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:16,120 keep saying this, why I'm so passionate about sending people 399 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:20,440 to Indy Pet stores because that's exactly what you want. 400 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,440 Like you don't want, I was going to say you don't want your 401 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:27,080 doctor to prescribe you something just because they're 402 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,080 making money out. But that's that's actually 403 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:30,720 happening. But I mean, that's not what 404 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,000 people actually want. They want to go to their doctor, 405 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,160 for example, and then to actually give them what is going 406 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,720 to be the best for them, not just what they're getting the 407 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,160 most kickback off. Right. 408 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:45,880 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it is crazy to think 409 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,880 about, you know, what the most popular foods are and, and how 410 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:55,800 they get there and yeah, you. Don't want to talk about yeah, 411 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,760 yeah. So with your supplements, I 412 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:03,200 think that's something similar where you're how do you there is 413 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,440 so. There's so many supplements and 414 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:11,600 fun thing supplements around buy a lot of these big corporations 415 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,600 as well and people don't think about supplements as being one 416 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,000 of them, but they are supplements and treats and all 417 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,400 this stuff. So you know, I've got my go to 418 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:22,760 brands that I love. You know, most of the 419 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:28,120 supplements that I have in the store I've used at some point or 420 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,320 have a staff member that has used at some point. 421 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,520 So we're not just Willy nilly just someone says that I should 422 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,560 bring it in, right? Like we use it, we've had 423 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,800 experience with it and that's how I bring it in. 424 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,520 And you know, there's a lot of supplements that I don't carry 425 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,760 the full line of supplements from that company. 426 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,640 I kind of pick and choose things and and go from there. 427 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,040 So when somebody comes into your store and as you were saying 428 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,440 earlier, likely they're if they're coming in for the first 429 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:59,400 time, they're coming in thinking I need a supplement do. 430 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,240 You. Start off, I'm just curious, 431 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,560 like, do you start off saying, yeah, I can sell you a 432 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,640 supplement for that? Or do you say, you know, this 433 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,120 supplement is going to be really amazing, but you're going to see 434 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:13,560 the full benefit if we also improve the diet? 435 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:15,600 Like, how do you have those conversations with people? 436 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,320 You know, it really depends on the person, right? 437 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,840 Like you got to read the person to kind of, you know, see how 438 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:23,640 willing you know they're going to go. 439 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,440 If it's me talking to someone, I usually take them right to the 440 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,840 supplements. I show them, you know, some 441 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,360 other things and then I will say, but what are you feeding? 442 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,880 And when if they tell me it's, you know, one of those big 443 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,360 brands that's owned by someone that's got bad ingredients, I'll 444 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,040 say, you know, this might help. But I think that really this is 445 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,120 actually your problem. And if we fix that, you might 446 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:49,680 not even need this supplement. And you know, you hear this all 447 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,120 the time and I say it all the time, you know, you cannot out 448 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,680 supplement a bad diet. You just can't. 449 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:01,240 So I would rather see someone, you know, fix the food, start 450 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,080 there and see if you even need the supplement. 451 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,480 You know, I'll, I'll sell you all the supplements in the 452 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,080 world, but it doesn't mean that you need them or your pet needs 453 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,560 them in this in this case. So the idea is we're not adding 454 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,720 all of these things in, right? Like if you're feeding a good 455 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,280 food, you probably don't need all this stuff. 456 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,160 And I think it's crazy. And I always bring this up. 457 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,200 It's amazing to me how much money people are willing to pay 458 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,600 for a supplement, but they're not willing to spend that on 459 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,320 food. And the food will actually cost 460 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,800 less than the supplement will. So, you know, it's, you know, 461 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,200 I'll always, always bring that up too, because people like flat 462 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,040 foods XYZ, but you know, this supplements only X, you know, 463 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,240 this, I'm like, you know, you're putting this on top of the food 464 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,520 that you're already spending. What if you just took that money 465 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,320 and, and put it into a good food, you know, and you fix all 466 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,000 that, But not only are we going to fix like this problem, you 467 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,320 know, let's say, you know, the pet has allergies or you need a 468 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,920 probiotics got a gut issue or whatever. 469 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,040 So you know, they're looking for a probiotic. 470 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,400 We want to fix that, but you know, let's talk about the food 471 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,840 that you're currently feeding and all the things that that 472 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,320 food could also 'cause, you know, later down the road. 473 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,760 So I think, you know, I kind of went on a TH here, but I think 474 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,120 it really depends on the customer and you know, if 475 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,440 they're willing to jump into food, you know, we're going to, 476 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,240 we're going to walk back over to the food section. 477 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,040 And then, you know, I always, I don't like to give people too 478 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:20,160 many things. Like I think it's important for 479 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,320 when someone comes in, you know, we, we don't overwhelm them, 480 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:24,760 right? Like if they're feeding grocery 481 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,840 store food or you know, your big box brand, they're feeding that 482 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,960 and I sell them food and this supplement and this and a test 483 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,240 for this. It's very overwhelming for 484 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:35,720 someone who's never done it before. 485 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,200 I don't ever want to scare someone away from doing better 486 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,760 for their pets, right? So like, let's take baby steps. 487 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,280 Let's start small, let's change the diet, let's add 1 supplement 488 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,360 and you come back in a month and tell me how your pets doing, 489 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,920 right? If you're doing better, awesome, 490 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,600 let's keep it this way for a little bit longer. 491 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,760 If you've noticed a little bit of improvement, but you still 492 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,240 have got something else going, now let's add another one. 493 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:00,200 Plus like I think it's important to know what's working as well 494 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:01,800 too. You know, you add, you know, 5 495 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,600 supplements in there and your dog all of a sudden is doing 496 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,480 great. Which one is the supplement that 497 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,680 is helping your pet? Yeah, very, very good point. 498 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,680 And so Speaking of all of the education you do in your store, 499 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:20,720 2 1/2 at this point years ago, you had the first, your first 500 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,680 event, the more, you know, Pet Wellness Summit. 501 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,440 And at that first event, Doctor Judy Morgan was the headliner. 502 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:33,320 And let me remember Angela Ardelino, Billy Hookman. 503 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,360 Yep, that was it. That was it that first year. 504 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,280 It seems so, it seems so long ago. 505 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:42,680 And yeah, like I just did it at the same time, right? 506 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:47,360 Like it's very Yeah. So I, you know, I say this story 507 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:50,600 a lot. So I've always done lots of like 508 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,120 little events in my story, you know, where 20 to 30 people come 509 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:58,680 into and that's in the store. You know, I started off many 510 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,640 years ago. I was doing viewings a. 511 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,400 Pet food. Careful yes. 512 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,440 So I was doing, you know, little, you know, showings of 513 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,000 that, you know, happening in the store and people would watch it. 514 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,120 You know, I've had, you know, other speakers like come in for, 515 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,320 you know, smaller events. Philly is one of them. 516 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:20,080 And one day I just like I was like, oh, I was talking to Billy 517 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,720 and I was like let's I should do like I would like to do a 518 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,040 summit, some type of thing. And, you know, he said, oh, I 519 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,600 think you should do it. And then it just kind of like 520 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:29,800 got put on the back burner and I never thought about it. 521 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,440 And then, you know, him and I were talking again one day and 522 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:33,560 he's like, I think you should do it. 523 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:38,040 So I jumped in, hit first. I had no idea what I was doing. 524 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,440 I mean, it is like planning a wedding. 525 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,000 I don't think anyone realize unless you've done one of these 526 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,280 events and put it on it, I don't think people realize how many 527 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:52,560 things go into putting it on. And most of the people who do 528 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,320 these events don't have stores to like they're able to focus 529 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,160 all their time and do this. And I'm like, oh, I'm still 530 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,240 running the store and planning this event. 531 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,320 It's exhausting, but so very worth it. 532 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,560 So yeah, that was the that was the first one. 533 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,760 And it was successful enough to do it for a year or two. 534 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:14,560 And I did last year's. Yeah, there's yeah, last year 535 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,200 was. What really this year, 2024? 536 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:18,520 Yes. Well, yeah. 537 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:24,680 Yeah, by the time this airs last year, so you had Doctor Karen 538 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:29,720 Becker, Rodney Habib, Angela Ardolino, Billy Hookman and Dr. 539 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,640 Katie Woodley. So we added a couple speaker 540 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:39,600 spots and that was super fun. And then so the Rodney and Karen 541 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:45,800 did their first live podcast right afterwards with the Inside 542 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:47,320 Scoopers. Got to stay that. 543 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,240 Was really cool. It was, it was really, really 544 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:55,520 cool and it's just been like, obviously I don't go to every 545 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,560 single event, but I go to a handful of them and it's 546 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,680 definitely been my favorite out of all the events. 547 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:07,600 I think because it's big enough, but it's also pretty intimate. 548 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,520 Yes. So you obviously have already 549 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,760 announced who is going to be speaking for 2025. 550 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,800 So you want to tell me about who's coming this year? 551 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,160 And really quick, I want to go back to something that you just 552 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,360 said to touch base with talking about it's big enough, but it's, 553 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,040 and I've struggled with this, you and I have talked about this 554 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:34,360 because the 2024 Summit sold out in 36 hours of the VIP event 555 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,680 sold out in 18 minutes. I mean, I got to the store early 556 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,240 that morning and I put up Eventbrite where the tickets 557 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,400 were on sale. And I was just like, my eyes 558 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,880 wanted to explode and I had to go mad at me that the VIP 559 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,800 tickets sold out. And you know that, you know, the 560 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,400 tickets never went for sale public. 561 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,280 Like you had to have had access to the tickets, which was 562 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,520 signing up for it to get access to the tickets. 563 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,520 And so we had some very angry people. 564 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,120 Most people are understanding it. 565 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,640 You know, that venue holds roughly 200 people. 566 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,240 And you know, it's, it's big enough for me to want to 567 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,400 control. It's also a block away from the 568 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,440 store. So it makes sense in terms of, 569 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,920 you know, business. Fun fact, you know, I tell 570 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,160 people all this, you know, the store pays for this event. 571 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,040 You know, as much as you know, we sell tickets and all that 572 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,880 stuff, I don't make any money off of this event. 573 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,560 I'm really doing this is like a passion project to bring 574 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,280 information to people. And I and I want people to 575 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,320 learn. So it kind of has to be by the 576 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:35,960 store, but because it's 200 people and it's, you know, it's, 577 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,160 it's 200 people tight. Like we're going to, we're going 578 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:39,480 to love each other and be best friends. 579 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,600 You know, you, you get to feel close with people though, right? 580 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,680 You know, our speakers, they're, they're close to you, they're 581 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,680 within reach. Like you can, it's not this like 582 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:53,200 huge venue where they seem so far away and like, you know, in 583 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,360 our world, like these are the stars of our world, right? 584 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,360 So I think it's cool to, like, have them accessible. 585 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:04,560 You know, I, you know, have gone back and forth on the whole, do 586 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,440 we make it at a bigger venue? But the answer to that's no, 587 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,960 it's going to be 200 people. And if you're listening to this, 588 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,000 there's a good chance the tickets are already sold out. 589 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,880 But if not, send me an e-mail and we can get you on that list. 590 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,560 That was my rant about my, about the size of the space. 591 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,640 But yeah, so for the 2025 summit, let me think about this. 592 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:25,680 We've got Susan Thixton. So we've already talked about 593 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,720 Susan Thixton. She is the truth about pet food. 594 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,760 We also have Doctor Katie Kangas and she's coming from 595 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,400 California. Rita Hogan, canine herbalist. 596 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:40,600 So, so excited to hear from her. She has a book coming out, so 597 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,920 we'll have her books here. And I've been in this industry 598 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,240 for a very long time and I'm pretty well versed and pet food 599 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,240 and supplements. Let me tell you what I'm not 600 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:54,960 well versed in, and that is herbs because like so many 601 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,120 things. And so I'm really, really 602 00:32:58,120 --> 00:32:59,920 excited to hear and learn from her. 603 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,160 Who else, Oh my gosh, I'm missing? 604 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,120 Well, you're missing a big one, but is Amy? 605 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,680 Amy? Wait, Amy Renz, right? 606 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,040 Isn't Amy speaking? Oh my gosh, Amy Renz. 607 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:16,800 Amy Renz was just at my store a couple weeks ago actually, or 608 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,360 you know, a couple months ago for listening to this. 609 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:21,760 And Amy is the CEO and founder of Goodness Gracious. 610 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,760 And Dr. Connor Brady is coming all the way from good old 611 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:30,720 Ireland, which I'm so very lucky that I got the chance to meet 612 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,160 him and his crew a few months ago. 613 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,080 They had a pit stop here in Williamsburg and it was a very 614 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,360 impromptu thing. So excited to have him back for 615 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,480 longer than just a couple hours. Yes. 616 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,960 So, OK, I have so much like I really want to say about this 617 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,480 lineup because first of all, Amy is somebody that I very 618 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:56,760 unexpectedly have like kind of hit it off with and been able 619 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,000 to. She really is like just her 620 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,080 mindset and how she looks at things. 621 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,600 I find myself like asking her way. 622 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,239 I ask way too much of her. I ask way too much of her. 623 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,880 And what's really interesting about Rita is that, and I 624 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,880 actually like texted her the other day because. 625 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,719 She. Her life is crazy with this book 626 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,800 right now with her publisher, but I talked to two different 627 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,199 animal communicators in the same week for two different animals, 628 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:32,960 and both of my animals brought up that I need to be learning 629 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:35,560 from Breda Hogan. She's amazing. 630 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:39,440 I mean, I'm like, OK. Slowed her down when I'm talking 631 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:40,600 to him like wait, wait, wait, wait back up. 632 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,760 Like I didn't understand that. Like I just went way over my 633 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,080 head. But like, so smart and so 634 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,360 knowledgeable and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of 635 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:52,040 that book and. I know. 636 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:56,840 Hear her talk for, you know, one to two hours about you know, all 637 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:02,000 the herbs than you know the simple things to improve and you 638 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:07,280 know, these things also help us, you know, as as someone walking 639 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:08,640 on two legs, you know they help us. 640 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,440 It's not just for our pets. Yes. 641 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:17,440 So yeah, Herbalism is definitely on my on my Go card for 2025. 642 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,560 Good, good. It's on my bingo card. 643 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,240 I'm I'm, I'm doing it, I'm I'm definitely doing it because I'm 644 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:26,000 very interested in it as well. And Doctor Connor Brady. 645 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:32,360 I am if I don't get to meet this man, I swear, I know. 646 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,760 It's it's like I've had multiple, well, it a couple of 647 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:40,480 times been on the like I'm supposed to be somewhere to 648 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,720 where I could meet him and then it fell through and I'm like. 649 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,280 July is coming. It is. 650 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,440 It is your time. I'm very excited for for it and 651 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,720 I am very lucky. I know I say this all the time. 652 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:56,080 I'm very, very lucky that my family is there. 653 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,480 So I make a huge trip out of it and get to stay and hang out and 654 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,960 then try to pull you out, but you're like, you can't. 655 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,640 You're just dead to the world. Just a little bit. 656 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,240 I'm dead to the world today. What are you talking about? 657 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,800 Yeah, Conor is is so cool. Like I mentioned, you know, I 658 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,480 had this like really cool thing happened a few months ago. 659 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:21,160 You know, Doctor Judy Morgan's event was supposed to take place 660 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:26,080 and that hurricane came through and the whole thing was 661 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,360 rescheduled. So super unfortunate for her. 662 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,520 I know it's coming back and it's going to be fantastic when it 663 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:33,920 does get to happen. But Doctor Carter Brady, Doctor 664 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:39,440 Nick Thompson, Doctor Brendan Clark, they were all in the 665 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,600 state. So funny story because they had 666 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:46,360 posted online that they were in the States and they were looking 667 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:47,960 for something to do and where should they go? 668 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,120 Everyone's like commenting all these things like where they 669 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,680 should go. And someone commented, actually 670 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,280 Jessica, who works for Doctor Katie Kangas comments, she's 671 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,640 like, well, if you're in the States, like obviously you have 672 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,480 to go to Nautical dog. So there was all these comments 673 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,840 on there and I commented and I was like, yeah, like come by. 674 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,280 Like, I hope to see you guys. And out of all the comments, 675 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,400 like I was the only one that they like, responded back to. 676 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,520 So of course, like I messaged Connor and I had a lot of stuff 677 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,160 going on during that weekend and I was like, I need, I need to 678 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,840 know like where you guys are going? 679 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,280 Like, are you guys coming here? And so in typical like UK 680 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,280 fashion, like they think everything on a map is like it 681 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,600 must be really close. Yeah, because they were in New 682 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:33,960 Orleans and I'm like, that's a big. 683 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:38,840 So Connor emailed me and was like, you know, Nick talked to 684 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,080 Billy and, you know, maybe, you know, Billy can come because 685 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,040 like, I know that like, he's near you. 686 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:49,320 And I was like, well, like he's so, but it's not like, you know, 687 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,440 he's not going to like hop in the car and like, you know, you 688 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,440 know, be here in an hour. He's not like that close. 689 00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:57,360 So I called Billy and I was like, hey, like he's like, I 690 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,800 know why you're calling me. Like you must have talked to 691 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,160 Nick and he was like, you know, Nick thinks I'm like an hour 692 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,240 from you or something like that. He's like, you know, because 693 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:07,400 when they look at a map, you know, Ireland, you know, the big 694 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,560 map, every everything is relatively close, right, 695 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:11,440 Whereas, you know, the state's everything is far. 696 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,160 So fun time. So Billy's like, yes, I'll come 697 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,000 up there. So gets here and they literally 698 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,680 drove from, so they like drove from like New Orleans to Atlanta 699 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,080 or not. No Athens, GA, sorry, Athens, 700 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:27,200 GA. And then they're like, OK, well, 701 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:28,600 we're leaving at 8 O clock in the morning. 702 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:33,800 We'll be to like around 5:30. They drove from Athens, GA all 703 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,080 the way to Williamsburg, VA in the day. 704 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:39,400 Connor left his driver's license. 705 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,840 So it's just making Brendan driving and they get to the 706 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:51,320 store and I had 48 hours to plan this, like impromptu Q&A session 707 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,040 with raw pet medics in person. And I'm like, people, this is 708 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:57,920 never going to happen again. Like this. 709 00:38:58,080 --> 00:38:59,560 This is not ever going to happen. 710 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,800 And so, you know, it was a small event because it was so last 711 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,320 minute. But man, those three are 712 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:10,040 absolutely hilarious and so down to earth. 713 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,600 They mean like, you just meet them and they were like, where 714 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:14,920 are we going when we leave here? Like let's go out. 715 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,200 They're just so fun. So I cannot wait for Connor to 716 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:22,120 come back in the summer. And you know, I kind of wish the 717 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:25,120 other two were coming too, but the events have planned already, 718 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,960 so I don't know. 26 y'all watch out. 719 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:29,800 We might have all of raw path medics here. 720 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,360 You have no idea I was literally on Expedia. 721 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:34,840 Like what is the last minute flight? 722 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:36,720 Right. It was so awesome. 723 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:40,240 Like it was, it was crazy. And you know, the fact that they 724 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:44,120 drove that far to come to my store was was really, really 725 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,600 cool. I'm not so sure that they knew 726 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,840 exactly how far it was going to be, but you know, they made it 727 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,520 here and they, you know, made a great road trip out of it. 728 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:55,120 And I'm very honored that out of all the places they could have 729 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:56,720 come and gone to, they came here. 730 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,200 So it was really cool. Yeah, yeah. 731 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:04,680 So this year's. The more you know, Pet Wellness 732 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:09,400 Summit is it you're going to do so it's an all day event. 733 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,000 All day. All day event and Doctor Connor 734 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,520 Brady is the headliner and very, very limited VIP tickets as very 735 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,040 huge, very, very limited and then are you do what you are 736 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,920 doing the next morning, a coffee talk type situation again. 737 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,080 So things are going to be play out a little differently than 738 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,720 they did last year. The VIP event is going to be the 739 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:35,520 night before, so it'll be that Friday night, which will be 740 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,400 better I think for everyone. It was a lot to do in one day 741 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,640 and that was just because of some of the speakers schedule. 742 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,680 We had to do it all on that day. So so Friday night we'll have 743 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,960 the VIP events at the store. The next day the summit will be 744 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,080 all day. The nice thing with having the 745 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:54,400 VIP event the night before is that this summit is not really 746 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,120 going to be on a short timeline. Like we'll actually be able to 747 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,480 have a little bit of a longer day with our speakers and then 748 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:04,320 the next morning we are having our coffee talk go. 749 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,880 As of this recording right now, I have not announced to my 750 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,320 coffee talk people are, but you're going to be listening to 751 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,000 this in January. Billy and Kelly are going to be 752 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,520 here for the cough talk, Connor's coming for the coffee 753 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,920 talk and and there's going to be some other people coming too. 754 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:25,960 So that's who's going to be here for the coffee talk and Billy is 755 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,400 the MC for this year. So it'll be super fun. 756 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,880 You know, if you know Billy, he's very dry. 757 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:35,960 But you know, I'm sure he'll be roasting lots of people. 758 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:41,840 Yeah, well, you know what he did better last year and, and so 759 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:45,280 many people I know he said, so many people have come up to him 760 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:48,080 and said like how much better, how much funnier? 761 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,240 And he's like, I don't know what I did different, but OK. 762 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:56,080 Roast some people a little. Bit yeah, yeah, I'm very much 763 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:59,280 looking forward to it and hopefully because I do post 764 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,600 these at like 8:00 AM. So hopefully there are some 765 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,400 tickets left by the time you are listening to this. 766 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,720 If not, then like Amanda said, get on the wait list. 767 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:12,240 Yes, the get on the wait list. Send an e-mail to 768 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:17,320 info@nauticaldogva.com. You know, if you are listening 769 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,800 to this and there's tickets left, you can shoot me an e-mail 770 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,760 and I can tell you how to get on that list to buy the ticket. 771 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,680 Yeah, and if you are anywhere in the world other than Hampton 772 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:31,800 Roads, Virginia, and you are planning a vacation and you are 773 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,360 at all looking at Hampton Roads, Virginia, make sure to stop in 774 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,920 to the nautical dog because she really does have some really 775 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:39,600 cute stuff. Take some pictures, take some 776 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:43,880 video, post on social media that you what, adopt the cat. 777 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,200 I guess it depends on where you're heading back home to, but 778 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,760 yes, adopt the cat. We told people to adopt cats 779 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:52,600 from Canada before, so there you go. 780 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:55,520 Yeah. So sweet. 781 00:42:57,600 --> 00:42:59,240 Yeah. Well, I just want to say thank 782 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:02,520 you for all that you do for. Everything that you do July will 783 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,080 be here before you know it. So you know I give you a big hug 784 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:08,880 when I see you then. Yes, I can't wait. 785 00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:10,400 And anything else you want to tell people? 786 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:15,640 No, other than, you know, if you're not in Virginia close to 787 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:19,000 me, please, please, please shop at your local independent 788 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,880 stores. I cannot stress that enough. 789 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,200 Like, you know, we care, we try really hard. 790 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:27,360 You know, we, I can speak for myself that I try to keep our 791 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:30,440 prices, you know, very comparable to everything online 792 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:33,840 or in the big box stores. And, you know, we are out there 793 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:37,160 doing the research for you and vetting everything and, and 794 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:38,960 making sure everything is safe for your pet. 795 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,640 And yeah, so please shop, you know, take that extra minute, 796 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,600 take the time to shop with them. They're going to look out for 797 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,240 your pet. And you know you you need these 798 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:51,120 stores around. Absolutely. 799 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:53,840 That's perfect way to end. Thank you so much, Amanda. 800 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,960 You guys have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll talk to you 801 00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:58,480 next week. See you soon. 802 00:43:58,480 --> 00:43:59,120 Bye.