Let's Talk Dog Business

DESCRIPTION In this episode, Jo & Vicky are joined by Clara who worked for many years as a senior trainer and behaviour advisor at Dog´s Trust. In 2022, she founded The Muzzle Movement as a way to advocate for muzzled dogs and their guardians. Something she felt compelled to do when she adopted Tolly, who needed to be muzzled. The experience they had while out and about compelled Carla to change the public´s perception of muzzled dogs. It also inspired her to shake up the muzzle space by developing a new type of muzzle. One that provides far more freedom of movement, while still being effective, comfortable and hardwearing. In under 2 years, 20,000 have been shipped worldwide. Carla shares her story, including raising £46,000 on Kickstarter. KEY TAKEAWAYS Carla hired someone on Upwork to create the CAD plan for her. The first muzzle was 3d printed. Being able to feed and drink water while wearing a muzzle is a big benefit. A dog wearing a black or brown muzzle looks scarier to most people than one that is wearing a blue or brightly coloured one. Hire help as soon as you can. Your business will grow faster, and you will avoid burnout. When Clara hired a team her turnover hit £1.2 million in 12 months. Hire people who share your core values and passion for what you are doing. This is particularly important during the startup stage. Be clear about your purpose. Without that clarity, you will not have the drive to get through the tough times. Offer true solutions for actual problems, not something only you perceive to be an issue. Stick to your values. Carla shares why they are doing this and why they turned down £2 million worth of orders. Hire a mentor as soon as possible. It will accelerate your growth. Regularly review what you are doing and improve. As an industry we need to pull together and stop criticising each other. There is way too much negativity in the dog industry. BEST MOMENTS “I wanted to be able to feed my dog through the muzzle really easily.” “I should have hired people sooner.” “A business needs to make money to be able to continue being a business and be able to support more people in the future.” “Your business decisions should be made off the back of those values.” “We'll take that loss of £2 million orders that we could have had next year if it means that over time, the right things are happening anyway.” “It impacted my business because I was surrounded by negativity the whole time.” “I don't think they're fearful of what their potential clients would say, they're scared about the peer group.” “Reach out to people and say that's amazing … it really helps the other person.” ABOUT THE GUEST https://www.themuzzlemovement.com Socials - @themuzzlemovement SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity/ ABOUT THE HOSTS Meet Jo and Vicky! They bring a combined 25 years of expertise in the canine industry. Jo, with a background in corporate business, and Vicky, a dedicated advocate for rescue organisations, form an unstoppable team. Beyond the mic, their lives are a whirlwind – managing two successful businesses, pursuing a full-time university degree, and parenting two little ones under four. Each of their homes combined is a lively menagerie, housing five dogs and an abundance of chickens.

In this episode, Jo & Vicky take a look at why the dog industry is mainly made up of women. They also discuss the differences between female and male energies and the pros and cons of the two approaches. As well as talk about the common pitfalls your natural way of thinking and being can lead you into. Before explaining how to take account of all this and adjust the way you manage your business so that you can stay true to yourself, become a more effective business owner and take care of your family. KEY TAKEAWAYS Most people involved in the dog industry, especially the women, really struggle to charge what they are worth. The fact that so many trainers started their careers almost as a hobby, as a side hustle plays a role in people underestimating what they should be charging. Frequently, the person setting up the dog business is not the main wage earner in the household. Certainly not, during the startup phase. This also has an impact on how much they are willing to charge. Many women lean into the nurturing side of helping dogs and owners to overcome their issues, but to the point where they feel they should be offering that help unconditionally. An emotional thought cycle that can make it harder to charge for their time. Some dog trainers find it hard to charge enough if they feel that the person in front of them is struggling financially. Successful business owners learn to tap into both feminine and masculine patterns of behaviour. At times being in business is tough, and you have to be tough too to get through those times. But it is not always wise to bring that energy home with you, where as a mother you are fulfilling a different role that requires a different energy. When guiding clients, tapping into your masculine energy can be helpful. It makes it easier for them to accept that in this situation you are the professional. BEST MOMENTS “Multitasking can be a good thing, but it also can be negative, because you maybe don't complete the tasks.” “With the transition of me growing as a person and growing this business, my role at home has now changed. I'm there a lot less.” “I think there are elements of feminine energy in all of the men that we've worked with.” “I do find that masculine and feminine energy really interesting because I see it show up in how people run their businesses.” “That caring nature bit of but I can help, I want to help, I need to help. So, if I can, I will, and if you can only afford this, then that's okay .” SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity/ ABOUT THE HOSTS Meet Jo and Vicky! They bring a combined 25 years of expertise in the canine industry. Jo, with a background in corporate business, and Vicky, a dedicated advocate for rescue organisations, form an unstoppable team. Beyond the mic, their lives are a whirlwind – managing two successful businesses, pursuing a full-time university degree, and parenting two little ones under four. Each of their homes combined is a lively menagerie, housing five dogs and an abundance of chickens.

In this episode, Jo & Vicky are joined by Gordon Burcham, a 3 times Martial Arts champion who runs his own martial arts school and has helped 1000s of other entrepreneurs  to build successful martial arts businesses. He is also a public speaker, author and business & personal development coach.  Gordon shares his journey to help you understand the connection between personal development, happiness and business success. In the process of doing so, Gordon, Jo & Vicky explain how to empower yourself for growth. KEY TAKEAWAYS Honing your business skills will only get you so far. The other half of the equation, the most vital part, is personal development. If you don´t work on yourself you won´t get much further than you are now. Personal development and growth empower you to be your true self and equip you to navigate the storms of life. You are the one that is holding yourself back. Look internally for the answers. Life is not about what happens to you, what you do with your experiences is what really matters. Don´t fall into the trap of being a victim. Your critical inner voice is wearing you down, take the wins as your wins. You won because of your efforts and ability, not because of luck. Self-love is vital. Love yourself for who you are, absolutely everything you are. Judgement is horrible, it´s a virus, give yourself a break. Instead, accept yourself and others.  Toxicity comes from a lack of abundance, a lack of love. You worry that if someone else gets something or you share there won´t be enough for you.  Empathy is powerful, it enables you to stop judging. Stop tearing each other down, accept that there is more than one way to do things. Not everyone has to do it like you. Embrace change don´t fear it. Be grateful for everything, even the small things e.g. the rain that grows your food, the sun that warms you. Living in gratitude generates joy and makes you happy every day. BEST MOMENTS “If I am looking externally for someone to help me, I lose all my power.” “His passing was a blessing in many ways because it led to me writing Live Life Happy.” “Get rid of the sh**t from the past.” “I beat the person that I've been battling for years, which was myself.” “The world is toxic because of judgement.” “This toxicity comes in, and this is where we're actually destroying an industry from within.” “Pause, don´t go straight in with that judgement.” “Your personal development journey is never done, it´s never finished.” ABOUT THE GUEST https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonburcham https://www.gordonburcham.com Books - https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Gordon+Burcham SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity/ ABOUT THE HOSTS Meet Jo and Vicky! They bring a combined 25 years of expertise in the canine industry. Jo, with a background in corporate business, and Vicky, a dedicated advocate for rescue organisations, form an unstoppable team. Beyond the mic, their lives are a whirlwind – managing two successful businesses, pursuing a full-time university degree, and parenting two little ones under four. Each of their homes combined is a lively menagerie, housing five dogs and an abundance of chickens.

In this episode, Jo & Vicky are joined by Cat Topham who talks about her experiences of living with autism and working as a dog trainer. Cat shares a fascinating insight into the impact autism has on running a business. Including, how being autistic is both beneficial and challenging when training dogs. Cat covers finding clients that fit with what you have to offer, dealing with social media when it´s all a mystery to you, being more understanding with clients and adjusting the way you communicate with them. She also explains how she manages where her energy goes to avoid burnout. KEY TAKEAWAYS Autism is a bit like a breed difference e.g. terriers' and collies’ brains are wired differently, so they have different behaviour traits. There is no point in ignoring difference, you have to adapt your approach e.g. if noise overwhelms you, recognise that and reduce your exposure to noise. All business owners benefit from learning to manage their time and energy better day to day to avoid burnout. Dogs don´t require you to mask how you are feeling, which is part of the reason neurodiverse people have such a strong connection to dogs. Many autistic people become obsessed with things they are passionate about. This makes them very knowledgeable about those things. Cat´s autism makes it hard for her to read people. She shares examples in the podcast. Seek out the right clients for you, people who want what you offer. Autistic people spot patterns, so can very easily pick up on precursor behaviours e.g. a dog's muscles tensing or ear moving just before it is about to do something. Being diagnosed as autistic empowered Cat. She understood herself better and found it easier to adapt to the challenges she faces, while further strengthening the abilities autism enhances. Social media does not come naturally to Cat, as it doesn´t for many dog trainers. BEST MOMENTS “The average neurodiverse person takes in 40% more of what's going on around them than a neurotypical person…that in itself is more tiring.” “I only have 3 hours a day to speak to people face-to-face  because  communication is so much harder.” “Many neurodiverse people have a connection with dogs.” “As a neurodiverse person, it isn't like excuses. You just want accommodations in certain situations.” “I just hate doing It (social media), that's the problem and I'm not bad at it.” “The way I would speak is very, very direct. I have to be very careful to not be interpreted wrong, like to say the wrong thing.“ “Running a dog training business, isn't really about dogs, is it? … It's about people” ABOUT THE GUEST https://www.instagram.com/chtopham https://www.valleydogs.uk SOCIALS AND IMPORTANT LINKS https://www.tiktok.com/@letstalkdogbusiness https://www.youtube.com/@LetsTalkDogBusiness Website www.caninebusinessacademy.com Community Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caninebusinessacademycommunity/ ABOUT THE HOSTS Meet Jo and Vicky! They bring a combined 25 years of expertise in the canine industry. Jo, with a background in corporate business, and Vicky, a dedicated advocate for rescue organisations, form an unstoppable team. Beyond the mic, their lives are a whirlwind – managing two successful businesses, pursuing a full-time university degree, and parenting two little ones under four. Each of their homes combined is a lively menagerie, housing five dogs and an abundance of chickens.