224: Emotional Intelligence with Wayne Hartley
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Summary:
What’s the difference between a manager and a leader? How do you juggle wearing all of the hats? Wayne Hartley Jr., owner of Happy Hearts Pet Care, joins the show to break down his mindset around working with his team and the role emotional intelligence plays in his business. From using fear as a motivating force, to how he views success, Wayne shares how he makes his business run. Wayne also talks about what it’s like running a mobile grooming service, and all of the bumps that come with that. He gives some great advice for how he recharges and taps into inspiration when running his business.
Topics on this episode:
Leader
Success
Emotional Inteligence
Mobile Grooming
Juggling everything
Main take away: Self care and mental health are about putting your ‘why’ at the forefront of your mind.
About our guest:
My name is Wayne Hartley Jr. I am a Registered Veterinary Technician. Pet Care has always been a passion of mine. Since I was young I’ve always loved animals — both learning about and taking care of them. I have graduated from THE Fort Valley State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Veterinary Technology. I have worked in various veterinary settings from the largest multi-specialty emergency hospital to general practices, other referral hospitals, and university settings such as the University of Georgia's Veterinary Teaching Hospital. When not working, I have volunteered my time at wildlife conservation centers, adoption agencies, dog daycare, cat sanctuaries, and with the Boys and Girls Club as well as Habitat for Humanity. Giving back and working with the community has always been another passion for me. It makes my heart happy to be able to be a blessing for someone else. (see what I did there). After being a veterinary technician for 7 years, I began Happy Hearts Pet Care in 2016. I now have the opportunity to share my love of animals with my clients and pet owners all over the Stone Mountain and Metro Atlanta area.
Links:
Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC7v4FA7Qs1C3BaVGJ2VB2bQ
Facebook: facebook.com/happyheartspetcareatl
Instagram: instagram.com/happyheartspetcareatl/
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
work, business, people, pet, clients, moving, vet tech, grooming, step, gift, handle, care, operating, offer, recognizing, fear, easier, successful, continue, business owner
SPEAKERS
Collin Funkhouser, Wayne
00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is petsitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by time to pet and pet perennials.
Collin Funkhouser 00:29
What's the difference between a manager and being a leader? How do we define success for ourselves and recognize that we are successful right where we are. Today, we're really excited to have Wayne Hartley, owner of happy hearts pet care to discuss his journey into and through the grooming world, what it's like worrying whether your employees will be cared for, and how he keeps all of the things that he has juggling in order. Really excited to bring this one to you. Let's get started.
Wayne 00:58
Thank you, Collin, I really do appreciate it. I love that. Finally get a chance to be unfair to this professional like this is amazing. I listen to you guys all the time. And I just I'm appreciative of this opportunity. Well, just to introduce myself a little bit. Again, my name is Wayne Hartley. I do own happy arts pet care services. here in Atlanta, Georgia, we offer pet sitting grooming training, adult walking, started the business about it'll be it'll be five years next month on the 19th of next month. So five years in. And I'm just extremely blessed and humbled just where we are now, compared to where we were then. And just all of the things that they will offer. And you know, just being able to educate pet parents and still be in the pet care field. I love that I'm still here. So some background on me. I have my bachelor's in Veterinary Technology. And I also have my license as a veterinary technologist. So I have about 10 or 11 years of experience in the veterinary world. And I just wanted to step away from medicine just because things have gotten. I wouldn't necessarily say rough, but to the point where it just wasn't as fun. And being that I love working with animals, I wanted to step away from the medicine side. And it just led me to pretty much just running my own business on the pet care side. That way, I'm still working with animals, I'm still able to educate and I'm still able to just do the things that I love to do day in and day out and just grow the business from there.
Collin Funkhouser 02:46
Well, congratulations on the upcoming five years. That's a huge milestone, especially since you were growing and expanding through a global pandemic. That's, that's quite the accomplishment.
Wayne 02:57
Actually our most our best year was during the pandemic, the beginning. Yes.
Collin Funkhouser 03:03
Oh, that's crazy how that happens. You said that you transitioned out of the health at the veterinary side into pet care because things weren't quite what you had wanted or expected or were feeling at that moment, were you suffering from burnout from the veterinary side,
Wayne 03:23
I would say it would be a mixture of to be fully transparent. A mixture of depression, plus burnout plus compassion fatigue and just not feeling appreciated as much as I needed to. Also not being paid enough, honestly to like I have all the years of experience and worked at different hospitals, I worked in general practices, specialty practices, as well as the University of Georgia so I have a lot of experience when it comes to it. And I just felt like the places where I work, they really didn't appreciate what you brought to the table. And it was just a lot of me sacrificing a lot of my time to make sure that everybody else was okay and nobody really cared about us for the most part as vet techs or assistance. So the burnout part for sure, because you know, the days are long, you can they can tell us to be there at 737 o'clock in the morning and we really have no idea when we go home and then we have to you know, just do the same thing all over again the next day. And it was just a lot to deal with because you have to keep your emotions in check. Especially dealing like I'm not sure and you know a lot of people you've probably seen as well as just like, one appointment can be a euthanasia and then the next appointment could be a puppy so you you know, not even showing or letting people really see what you've been through in the past. Last 10 minutes, but you'd have to go in the next appointment, you know, with a smile on your face like it didn't really just happen. So that kind of just builds up. And it just, it becomes a little difficult because you want the best for everybody, you want the best for all of the pets that you come in contact with, and the people that you come in contact with, you want to teach them and educate them, and just pray that they listened. And then sometimes they don't. So then when you realize, like 100 people does that, then it's like this, this just makes it a little difficult to really enjoy it, because you're doing everything that you can on your end. But you really need that, that that teamwork from the pet parent to make sure that everything you know stays where it needs to be. And sometimes it just does the pet Parent PLUS, like the management system with you know, certain jobs as well, that makes it a little hard as well, but a mixture of all of them. You know, it's just it can really weigh in on some techs and assistants, as well as myself, like throughout the years.
Collin Funkhouser 06:11
Also, having experienced that, on the veterinary side, how have you set up your business and structured and boundaries differently in your own business? And how do you support your the staff that you have to?
Wayne 06:24
Well, first, I mean, I don't, I don't like to say that I manage people. That's the thing. It's not even so much as being a manager, I think when people become in management, they tend to feel like they have to micromanage and they have to, you know, just really treat people a certain way, because now they're, you know, a little higher on a material level. But as far as me like I were team, you know, I treat everybody, as a team, I treat everybody as family, I treat everybody as if we're on the same, you know, level and everything like that. So when it comes to certain things, and certain aspects, everybody feels like we are we're one like we, you know, we treat each other with respect and accountability. And we communicate effectively as best as we could. So I don't again, I don't manage people, I'm more of a leader when it comes to handling everybody that works with me. And then that's another thing that I say too, is like, I don't really like to say that people work for me, but they work with me. We are a team, like we're all working toward, you know, this common goal and making sure that you know, pets are happy, people are happy, and the business stays afloat. So it's not just them doing the work, it's all of us collectively working together to do it. So when it comes to, you know, stepping away from medicine, and then running a business, because I used to be a hospital manager. And you know, I just had to lead my team and I had to make sure that everybody was good. So I'm just using all of that experience from you know, quote, unquote, like, well, not even like managing people when it comes to it, but then also leading them and then just making sure that you know, everything that needs to get done gets done.
Collin Funkhouser 08:18
I think that is a really fine line between and I think that impact how you view the people that you're surrounding yourself with, am I leading these people? Or am I managing them like that may sound a little Oh, they're they're one rung lower than I am or they're, they're doing things that I don't want to do, and I've got to make sure that they don't mess anything up, I think we have these connotations that can come from that. So when you describe yourself as a leader, and you're leading your team, is that something that comes naturally to you or have you had to work through
Wayne 08:48
things? A little bit of both. I mean, I am the eldest out of my siblings, so I had to naturally lead them and make sure that they you know, stay out of trouble as I could. It was fun growing up, for sure. It's seven of us. So it's a lot of us. But otherwise, like there's been just through the journey, there's been things that of course, I've had to learn and I'm still learning and I'm always willing to learn so I do a lot of personal development. So like go watch the videos or read certain books, listen to podcasts and things of that nature. So it's just a matter of just constantly having that mentality to learn and just humble myself and just not feel like I know everything or I know how to do everything but I always want to just make people you know realize like, you know, I'm human too you know, I make mistakes, but um, if we can work together and just learn the things that we need to learn, you know, everything will work out. So yeah, it's just it's been a it's been a journey. For sure, but I do enjoy it. I do enjoy the position that I'm in. I'm just because it teaches me that again, I don't know everything. But as long as we're working together to find the answer, everybody's happy.
Collin Funkhouser 10:14
Yeah, that is so key, recognizing that I may be the leader, you may be the leader, but I don't have to have all the answers. And that's okay. And I think we can kind of psych ourselves out a lot. When we attach the definition of being leader to being the most knowledgeable, like that's that those two things are not connected. But unfortunately, that's where we get placed a lot of the time especially as the owners of the business.
10:40
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Collin Funkhouser 11:15
you are you're leading your team, tell us about the people that you're working with.
Wayne 11:20
So I have a operations manager, I have just hired another grooming assistant. She just came over from PetSmart as a junior groomer there, so I'm just training her and then also have another groomer. So I have two, two groomers as a operations manager, and a few pet sitters, again, like me being a vet tech, I have, you know, met a lot of other vet techs and worked with a lot of veterinarians. So I do have a, I have two veterinarians multiple vet, that we'll partner with. And then I have, under my staff art, I have a few pet sitters groomers, and then my manager, so it's been really good. Just to try to manage everything and just keep everything where it needs to be. It's been cool. So, you know, being a vet tech, I wanted to give that opportunity to make extra money. Because I know, you know how it is, I know that you know, we don't make a lot. But we continue to do what we love to do. So when it comes to pet sitting or dog walking, I will reach out to a few of my vet tech friends, and I'll bring them under my staff and everything, and then just offer them you know, just like hey, if you have the time, you're more than welcome to make a couple extra dollars. And then you know if you know we have sitting or walking in the area, you're welcome to you know, pick up that job as well.
Collin Funkhouser 13:00
I'm sure being in the in the trenches on both sides. Yeah, you do have that that viewpoint that you're able to relate to them and and schedule around those needs. Do you find that scheduling everybody? How do you manage that with with so many moving pieces?
Wayne 13:18
Well, with a grain of salt, you just got to breathe, and you just got to read through it. So I like to just strategize everything, and just make sure you know just keep everything as compartmentalised as possible. And just not stressed out about it. So we use a program, we use pocket suite, that has been a blessing to us, because it just makes it a little easier as far as like management systems and who to assign certain jobs to and things like that. So we just use that. And I just go through it, I'm constantly checking it just to make sure like our routes are good, and everybody has what they need. And you know, it just goes from there. Because like the clients, they're able to sign our forms and put their deposit down, pay everything all in one place. So that just makes it so much easier. So it's not so many moving parts when it comes to handling clients. It's just a matter of making sure that everything on our end is where it needs to be.
Collin Funkhouser 14:27
was moving to that a software based booking tracking and implementing everything. Was that an easy move for you or what was that process like getting everybody on board with
Wayne 14:38
that? It was it was easy. I will say it was the only thing that made it time consuming was when I had my old system. So before I was on counting, there's a program called calendly and then It was integrated with PayPal. So that caused some issues because everybody didn't want to pay through PayPal. And some people don't realize that they can continue to checkout as a guest and put in their card information and things of that nature. And then, with calendly, you can have multiple people on there, it just gets a little tricky with, you know, just trying to explain certain things and certain people. So it was just the transition over to pocket suite that I had to like, put all of our appointments that already been confirmed into the system, because there was no way of moving that part over. But as far as like all of our clients, their numbers and addresses and everything, I was able to get an Excel sheet and just move that over. And then they made it really easy and just put it in there for me and just handled it the best way they could. And I double check the triple check that and just everything was where it needs to be. So I was just extremely happy about that part. But it has made a difference being using this program. Then, the last programs that I've used are even like paper and pen, church trying to keep everything down, the impact on like paper is just, it gets lost, lost in the sauce, and it's just like now it's just, it's so much easier. So it's made life a lot easier for sure.
Collin Funkhouser 16:32
Yeah, it's one of those things that you look at those kind of startup costs. And that may try you know, that may weigh on someone's decision to develop a new system or to go down a new path. But once it gets set up, sure, that may be a little painful. But once it gets set up, it really does provide so much and just getting some sort of software to keep it all organized, that you're not having to really does take, it takes a lot of stress off of you as the business owner, so you can focus on other
Wayne 17:02
stuff. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, and it's just, we wear so many hats as entrepreneurs. So definitely having the right software helps you relieve some of your stress. Because there's so many other things that that need to be done on a daily basis, like my to do list is forever growing, and never ending. So it's just like, there's always so much to do, there's always so much that needs to get done. And so much that needs to be handled. So it really, it's really important to have the right team and the right people around you. And just to be able to delegate a lot of the things that you have going on. Because, you know, again, one person can't do everything. And it really, and you know what, it really depends on how big you want your operations to be as well. So that is something that I will say, if you are you know, just wanting to run a business for yourself, and just make money for yourself and everything like that, then cool, you know, just handling it the way that you want to handle it, that's fine. But when it comes to, you know, growing the business and having employees and delegating certain work and wanting to you know, expand operations and things like that, that's when it comes down to having the right team and the right support around you day in and day out. Because you can't just do everything yourself. But it does help having the right software management because if everybody can check in and look at it, if you can check in and look at and handled things and just go about it like that, then it just makes it a lot easier for sure. I'm also
Collin Funkhouser 18:42
thinking back five years ago or and looking at where you are today with your business. Is this the business that you expected to be running or that you want it to be running
Wayne 18:53
at this point of time, yeah, honestly, I back then, when I first started, I used to work at UGA at that hospital and also work at a general practice hospital out there. And I saw the need of pet sitters, check ins and then also like rehab help. He had a lot of pets that were on the larger side. And then they had older parents. So they needed help like moving around and expressing their bladders and doing rehab things as far as like cuz they have probably the CCL tear or ACL tear. So they had that repaired and everything like that. So for us it was a little harder on them to move and you know, just do that therapy on physical therapy. So I offered it and it was good in the beginning. You know it definitely helped out I didn't do as much as I'm as much as I wanted to back then because I still had two full time jobs. So I was able to do what I could in the mean But looking back at it now, and where I am today, like now I'm full time in my business and it's growing, I have two vans, I have a shop that we're opening up in downtown Atlanta, I have merchandise, like, I see my logo everywhere. But like, it's just amazing just to think, you know, from there to now, all of the things that I've done, and I'm just humbled and blessed, you know, honestly thinking about it, because I will say, you know, of course everybody has their, their goals in mind where they want their businesses to be and stuff like that. And he wanted to say, I would have looked in one of my many notebooks, what my five year goal was back then, and where I am today, and just see, you know what, compared to what I wrote down then so what I what I'm doing now, but it's just, I wouldn't trade a journey for anything, because I feel like I am where I need to be right now. And it's just a matter of continuously growing and learning, and just doing the best that I could each and every day,
Collin Funkhouser 21:10
it really gets down to how we personally define or seek after what success is. And I know that's different for everybody, because as you said, we all have our own goals and our own reasons for doing this. But unfortunately, we can kind of get caught in that trap sometimes of comparing to what the next person is doing, or comparing to the other person is doing and never quite feeling like we're getting or we are successful. So for you. How will you know that you're successful in business? Or do you consider yourself already successful?
Wayne 21:44
I would definitely would, I do consider myself successful just because I have the mindset that everyday everyday that we're above ground is a successful day. So every day that I'm learning in my books, there are books are filled clients are happy, we are, you know, making money, we're keeping our expenses lower than, you know the money coming coming in. And it's just that that's a measure of success for me. Because it is just it means that I'm running a successful business, I'm running a sustainable business, I'm making sure that not only are my bills paid, but those of the those of my employees are paid as well and everybody's happy. And they still enjoy commerce work, we talk we meet after work and I just make sure that everything is where it needs to be and they're happy so that that's a measure of success for me. So I would never say that I'm not successful just because at this point in time, my level of success is where we're at. Now I do have like my goals and my dreams where I want to take the business and everything like that. So once we get there, you know, then we'll be at that level of success. But I would say that at this point in time, yes, I do run a successful business, I would say that I am successful. And I've had a lot of successes in the past and I've had a lot of losses as well. You know, between friends, money, family, you know, jobs networks, things like that, like it is what it is and that's the journey of it, you know, you're gonna have a lot of failures, you're gonna have a lot of losses. But when you can say that your business is actually doing what it needs to do, then you have to you know, just take that win and say that you are successful and just continue to keep grinding and continue to do what you have to do.
Collin Funkhouser 23:51
I think too often we forget that success can be present tense, we can we can say that we are successful right now it's not something that we're always having to it's not something that we can attain tomorrow we have to attain in the future. I love that mindset that you have of looking around and going you know what? This is successful because it's meeting all of my goals, I'm able to do and operate the way I want to and that doesn't mean that we get complacent and stop trying to grow and stop trying to do new things. It just means that we can look at what we have and just honestly and I think that's really hard for a lot of people I know it's hard for me it's still weird to kind of say oh, this is successful because it's it's paying all of my bills wow like that is that is something that is that I never thought that would happen or it made you feel like you need to be bigger and be doing all these other things but to just take a step back and breathe and go no this This is amazing. Yeah.
Wayne 24:52
Absolutely. It's it's really difficult you know, as an entrepreneur because you're so hard on yourself all the time. know you're not only have to deal with what, you know millions of other people think and say and try to advise and try to tell you what to do and stuff like that. But, you know, the hardest critic that we all have is ourselves. And I've been you know, I'm guilty of it, I've definitely been guilty of just being so hard on myself that I really don't see how good things could be, or how good things are. And I just like you said, you have to take a step back and breathe and just really realize like, yo, like I am doing this you know, I'm here, I you know, every like you said bills are paid food is in the fridge, you know, I always have something to eat, the lights are on, I've got some my car, I have money in my pocket money in my bank account, like I am, okay, like, stop stressing over the little things and just really realize, like you have actually, you have it a lot better than what you realize or what you think you have it, you know, and it's just a matter of just continuing just having that positive, that positive mindset that, you know, doesn't matter what it looks like. But just keep grinding and just keep going because you are a success story, honestly, like everybody, you know, has their story. But you are definitely a success story, when you can really sit back and say that the things that you've wrote down or wanting to accomplish back then, and you're actually accomplishing it now. You know, you're doing it, and just keep grinding, keep going.
Collin Funkhouser 26:39
I think that's why it's so important to actually write some of these things physically down, because how quickly we forget where we were two years ago, five years ago, how quickly we forget where we started. And what we thought, you know, five years ago, 10 years, I know from Meg, Megan and I 10 years ago, when we started, if I wrote down what I thought success was, I guarantee you, I'm 10 times more successful than I what I even thought was possible back then compared to where we're operating now. And now it's just Well, this is ordinary, this is just what we do. This is just, and we forget, this is like this
Wayne 27:12
is everyday right here.
Collin Funkhouser 27:16
Until exactly, until you get these little reminders and I love how they kind of break through and punch through the reality bubble that we set around ourselves. Have you mentioned, like we are in the grind, we're busy, we got our heads down. And then all of a sudden, every now and then this little little thing pierces and you know, for you it was it was you see your logo everywhere, I'm sure it's still am I probably still weird to see your own van driving down the road and be like, hey, that's me.
Wayne 27:43
Or when people it's amazing, like I've had veterinarians or people that have never met, or, you know, I have veterinarians who can identify my logo, and then they think of Wayne or they, or like apartment management companies, a few of the residential managers, they, I was speaking to, and it's funny, I was speaking to an insurance agent. And he was meeting with a residential property manager. And he started to explain my business to her. And she was like, Oh, I already knew about happy. And I've never known this lady a day in my life. And it's just funny, like, people already identify, you know, and can, you know, see my logo and just think of the business and I'm just, it's amazing. Yeah.
Collin Funkhouser 28:33
And those are the kind of things that we don't always see, right, we don't see everything, the ripple effects that are moving out and around us as we are acting and operating. I think on one hand that can be kind of intimidating as the business owner of like, Oh my gosh, there's all these things going on around me and I have no idea. But I really think we should take comfort in heart in that knowledge in a I'm not having to do as much work promoting my business as I did before. Because there's all this word of mouth and all this stuff that's going on around talking about me and be I'm having an impact. People are realizing that this level of care is possible that this quality of work is out there, and they're looking to me for that, like that should really give us a lot of confidence and and continue to push us forward.
Wayne 29:18
Absolutely. I agree. 100%.
Collin Funkhouser 29:22
Well, and part of part of this, I think the flip side of this is when we're acknowledging that we are successful, there are a lot of things that are our our responsibilities now. As the business owner, and you mentioned one earlier talking about how you viewed your successes that your bills were paid, you were able to pay employees and staff around you. Does that ever weigh on you as the business owner the responsibility that comes with now probing providing for the income of others
Wayne 29:52
Oh, all the time. All the time. I I'm a bit of a workaholic, call it a bit of a workaholic, I will gladly accept that. And because it's just like now, it's not, it's never been about just me. But now it's really not just about me. Like, if we don't work if we don't, you know, keep up our clientele, or if we don't groom if we don't have the vans on the road, you know, that takes away from everybody. And now because of that, because of that, that one little fact, now that you know, because everybody that well, not everybody, the rumors, groomers am I, my operations manager, but they literally ain't no pressure at all. They literally left their jobs to work with me. Yeah, so it's like, Oh, okay. Oh, wow. Okay, no pressure at all, like, it's fine. But yeah, so it's just like, now it's just a matter of just making sure, you know, we have those signs on the books and, you know, we have everything we are continuously building and bringing in more business and more clientele and stuff like that, because it does like that responsibility, and that accountability just to take care of others. It definitely does weigh in on you, you just want to make sure that your business stays afloat, because otherwise, like, you know, I would pay them before I pay myself like, and it's funny that, you know, I talked to my accountant, and I listened to podcast, and I watched this video and that video, and they're always like, pay yourself first. But I never want to be in a position where I'm paying myself first. And I'm taking away from those that helped me get to where I am. So right now, since I'm in this space, my priority is to make sure that they're taken care of. And they work, you know, I mean, they they get paid first and they you know, just make sure that their bills are taken care of before mine is taken care of. Because everything, everything is always going to be okay. I'm never, you know, not going to have fines are not going to have a way of you know, building up the revenue. But right now, it's just a matter of just making sure that everybody else is taken care of before I am that does put a lot of pressure on one person. Yeah. So
Collin Funkhouser 32:28
how do you approach that of, of not operating? How do you prevent yourself from operating your business out of fear versus operating out of confidence that everything will work out,
Wayne 32:39
it's all in your mentality and your mindset and us fear as a motivation instead of an obstacle. So my fear is that, you know, the vans aren't on the road, or I won't have enough clients. Or I won't have, you know, you know, enough grooms are enough pet sets are enough anything this week. So that's a fear that so because I've identified that as a fear, now it's part it's on me to strategize and make sure that I put out ads, I ot maybe offer some type of discount code for referrals, or I speak to more people, I put out more cards or, you know, I go talk to different businesses that are pet friendly, I go talk to, you know, dog parks, or, you know, just, I find the clientele I find the people I find, you know, the things that we need in order to make sure that my fears aren't given more power than what they already have. And you know, it's just a matter of just strategizing and understanding that you do have the power to turn this fear into a strength and just be it because you know, you can use fear as a strength. And I don't think people realize that, you know, you can use that as a strength because now that you've identified what you're scared of, now, it's just a matter of changing your mentality and putting forth the effort to, to not let it overcome you, and do the things that you need to get done in order to continue to be successful. So that's just my take.
Collin Funkhouser 34:25
No, I totally agree. And I think a big part of that comes from identifying the fear. And because the fear of the unknown or being being in the dark, is very, it can be all consuming and can be really crippling in our ability to move and to operate. It's when we're able to give it a name, that now we're able to actually work with it and use it as opposed to always trying to guess what's going on around us that that's really where I think that strength comes from is whenever we're able to identify what that fear is and that it's okay to To label those fears like that's not acknowledging what you're afraid of, or what's driving you is not a weakness it's not a weakness to have fears in business because I think if you're not afraid, sometimes like, you might want to check and really make sure it's once you give it a name that you that you can take control.
Wayne 35:22
Absolutely,
Collin Funkhouser 35:23
when you started the business five years ago, did you did you have fears starting out and moving and transitioning from from your, your previous line of work as a as a veterinary technician into now going solo?
Wayne 35:38
It was so yes, um, there's always that factor because, like, you know, you have to, you have to build trust with people, you have to stand apart, like you have to let people know like, you know, what you're doing. And, you know, you can trust me with your pet, even if you're home or you're not home or, you know, you can trust me with your stuff, you can trust me around, you know, your family or your, your other pets and your objects and things like that. So you have to build trust with people, there's always that part, I think a lot of the comfort that I believe I bought was that I worked in the field, you know, and I've come with a lot of experience. And also, a lot of my clients, I met them at work. So that also bought them comfort as well. So it was just a matter of, you know, just being able to, you know, build the trust amongst people, um, you know, just staying educated on everything on my end, I'm just being able to educate pet parents on what proper pet care looks like. And if they ever had questions, or if they ever had any concerns, you know, I was always accessible to them. And just going from there so I would say over the years, it's become a lot easier for sure. But definitely there's it was a little fearful, I was a little fearful in the beginning because you know, you just have to, it's, it's, it's different, when now that you're working for yourself, and you're not working for anybody else, you know, if anything does go wrong, or something is not up to par, or you know, they have some type of issue or inquiry about something and you may not be comfortable with it. Now it's on you to handle all of that it's on you to handle, you know, any type of discrepancy with the business or anything that you may have fall short on, you have to be integrity goes a long way. You have to be accountable, and you have to be just transparent with them. And prayer, you know, prayerfully they understand, and they get it. But then at the same time, there are those that don't. But you have to exercise at that point, you exercise emotional intelligence, and just handled it the best way that you can. And at the end of it, you know, just remain humble and just understand like, the end also realize they're not the only person in the world. You can find other clients, you know, but it is okay if they if you do something that they don't agree with, or they do something that you don't agree with it is okay it is what it is people are people and you can't, you can't please everybody as much as we try to.
Collin Funkhouser 38:34
That is definitely a real struggle of wanting, I think that that comes from a lot of fear of scarcity of not recognizing where that fear is coming from. And when we try and take clients when we want people to like us, I do feel like that comes from this fear of not having enough and not being sure of what's going on around us. And you also said a really big word that I want to take a step in and touch on and have you kind of suss out for us here you said operating with emotional intelligence what does that mean or look like as a business owner to operate with
Wayne 39:08
that is taking a step back end breathing before you react you know just count counts of three if it if there's anything that comes up that otherwise like you know, I can't even think of a certain sense but you know, a pet gets hurt or you know, a client calls you and curses you out or gets upset with you because you don't you didn't meet their expectations or you're running late or you know, they just feel entitled and they want they feel like they can speak to you any type of way. There's certain people of course, you know, and then like even in our passion, you know, and you got to catch us on the right day too. Because otherwise you will get a good lashing back. You know as far as like we're Classes go and you know just sometimes you just have to you just have to exercise you know that intelligence that you know maybe they're just having a bad day you you know you can't really you got to just take it with a grain of salt and not react in a way to make things worse you can't really put more you know fuel on the fire you just have your job as a business owner your job as a leader your job as an entrepreneur your job period is to put the fires out you know not put more fuel on the fire now once you hang up or once they go away then you can really vent and let people know how you really feel but when it comes to just handling that situation right then in there you know you have to take a step back and understand like they are people to yet is what it is they may be having a bad day it is what it is. But at the end of the day let's try to compromise and you know, put this fire out so that both of us are happy by the end of this or not even happy but we've come to an agreement as far as what may have happened, whether it's our fault, whether it's your fault, but at the end of the day, we rectify that situation and now we're moving past it instead of continuously dwelling on it and making it worse. And that goes with employees that goes with you know, partners partnerships that goes with advisors to go with mental that goes with anybody that you come in contact with it's super important just to exercise you know, emotional intelligence when it comes to anything, but especially with business because again, you're not going to please everybody and everybody's going to have their opinions everybody's not going to work as hard as you be more be as passionate as you especially as a leader and they're not going to see the vision as you know as clear as you see the vision so what you can do in the meantime is just getting people to understand like hey, this is what we need to do in order to get to where we need to get to and along the way you're gonna have hiccups but you have to understand like it is what it is it's just an obstacle we're going to move past it, it's only temporary and we're just going to continue to keep putting our best foot forward and be the best versions of ourselves with everybody that we come in contact with. That it really is
Collin Funkhouser 42:27
taking a step back and not always reacting initially from the initial thoughts in the face breathing providing this stability as the business owner stability in income in operations in staffing and services and emotionally as well as keeping things on the same playing field and the same level and I love how you also said that you don't have to always be like that it's not like we're bottling up our emotions and our feelings and never letting them out it's just letting them out in the appropriate ways and the appropriate manners and in a healthy way.
Wayne 43:01
Absolutely that's the that's the key in and I mentioned earlier how much of a workaholic I can be but you know I am finding that self care and mental health is super important and you know just finding time for yourself you know just putting putting some some days away where you can just recollect and recharge your batteries and just really put your y back at the forefront of your mind because you know sometimes we forget what our y's are and why we're doing this and we're just in the moment right now and just trying to stay afloat and that can put so much pressure on somebody and you know it's just a matter of you know, just taking some time out for you you know get a hobby You know, I've inquired about joining a few things when I can find time, but you know, just getting a hobby something to pass the time to get your mind off of work all the time because as an entrepreneur, that's literally all you think about. And sometimes all you talk about because our businesses are who we are. Um You know, when people think of, you know my business they think of me or when they think of me they think of my business and I'm pretty sure it's the same with you as well because otherwise like, you know, this is what this is who we are this is what brings in, you know our revenue, this is what pays our bills, this is what you know makes us who we are at the end of the day at the beginning of the day and during and in between. So it's just like, if I want to make sure you know my job is to make sure that everything continues to run as positively and smoothly as possible. And you know, in the meantime, you won't just want to keep you know that maturity, you know where it needs to be in order to stay afloat.
Collin Funkhouser 44:57
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Wayne 46:24
So five years, we it was just pet sitting, pet sitting and like I would say some some physical therapy helped. You know, and it was just strictly for the client that, you know the cases that I've helped out personally with, you know, just because I didn't want to take on somebody else's case and, you know, messed anything up. So I was just mostly just petsitting doing check ins and just some of the physical therapy that some of my older clients needed with their pets, while they were close by so it was just that, I would say maybe three years in two and a half, three, almost three years. And that's when I started grooming started really doing pushing more walking, as well as the training aspect. So when I lived in Athens, it was strictly just pet sitting and you know, some walking, but when I moved to the city, and I was around more build more clientele and everything like that, that's when we offered when I started offering the grooming part and the training part. We had a trainer, but I'm in looking for another trainer at the moment. But I am still able to like do some training myself, it's just a matter of finding time to do so. So that's why we're looking for another one. But I will say that it has been fun adding it on, it could be a little stressful at time trying to handle you know multiple aspects of the business as far as like all of the services. But again, it's just a matter of compartmentalizing and just making sure that all the ducks are in a row. And you know, there isn't any untimed Stone when it comes to how certain things will get handled. So just you know, having all of your protocols in place, and slps and just making sure the clients know what they're, what they're getting, and what to expect. And just making sure all of all of us on our end, we know what we're doing to it wasn't hard adding on the extra services, just because I understood like I saw that there was a need for it as well. And honestly, growing has been a huge part of the business and building up the revenue. So I'm grateful that I was able to really learn how to, you know, just do what I'm doing now. And I'm able to teach others how to effectively do it as well. Because I am self taught. But I have trained under a groomer who worked for a showroom. So she taught me a lot of things as well. She had her own her own business out in Seoul mountain. And I was able to work there for a few years, about a year and a half or two years or so. And just learned a lot of the techniques and just really become you know better at what I do. And I do appreciate it because you know she was literally It's funny how that worked out too. I was going in to drop off some cards, and she lost She recently just lost her groomer. So she was telling me how she had a full day and I didn't have anything to do that day. So I was like, do you want me to come and To help you out, and she was like, if you would, I would be so grateful. So I dropped off some cards, I went back home, I changed my clothes, and I came back, and I had a job. It was really cool, that all just worked out perfectly. So that's pretty dope. But I enjoy I enjoy just being you know, in the pet care side, because I'm able to do a lot more meet a lot more people. And it grooming is consistent, you know, everybody needs their dogs groom, um, whether it be short hair, long hair, no hair, you know, they all need a bath, and they all need their nails cut at some point. So I'm just grateful that I was able to make that transition into coming out of medicine. And just being strictly into the pet care side. I mean, there's a lot of people that I know, that's the one medicine side. So I'm grateful that I do have my history in it. And I went to school for it and I have my license. So that gives me a little bit of, you know, of an edge when it comes to you know why people should choose happy hearts over certain other grooming businesses or, you know, other pet care businesses in the city?
Collin Funkhouser 51:15
Well, as you said, it keeps you connected to different aspects of the pet care community as well. You know, the the vets, you have these connections to the technicians, you have a history of that. So you can have connection with them, you know, if they come in work for you, as well, you can really sympathize with, with a lot of the stuff that they're going through too.
Wayne 51:35
For sure, absolutely. Network is definitely key, I love that I still have my network and everybody that I know. And I can just call them up and they continue to support. And you know, it's really cool, too, is that a lot of the vet techs that are known veterinarians, they actually refer business over to me. And so that helps out so much because I have a question on I have a question on my intake form, you know, who referred me so who referred them Excuse me. So I see like the different hospitals or the different texts or different businesses that refer people over to me and I'm just extremely grateful that you know, I've built this network that people you know, they are comfortable sending people my way when you know, those clients asked for a mobile groomer or a groomer or pet sitter or anybody that's outside of like the medicine side of the field as
Collin Funkhouser 52:33
you said like those those connections and they also help you whenever you're working with clients to also refer back or refer out or you know where to go for questions and it really just does bring back that pet care community a lot closer and you're able to provide better care because you know, and you have all the access to the information now
Wayne 52:52
i mean i still love I still have to keep up my license I still have to go to like see ease and I still have to do meetings and different conferences and stuff like that is a little hard over the last year but they are opening more virtual conferences as well as virtual sees just continued education just so that I can keep up my license so that definitely helps out a lot with staying connected with everyone to
Collin Funkhouser 53:18
now with everything that you have going on between the business and adding services and you mentioned opening up a shop and a location How do you keep it like personally all together and keep yourself balanced and in proper boundaries?
Wayne 53:36
What do you mean now it's
53:39
boundaries are these things
Wayne 53:43
What do you mean? No, I find is healthy ways to kind of disconnecting like uses outlets. I listen to music a lot again, I listen to like podcasts and read books and stuff like that, but some days I'll just go on a long walk with my dogs or play with my dogs all day, you know a little longer or honestly some days like if I feel like it's becoming a little overwhelming I'll just turn everything off and just disconnect I think that plays you know, a huge part in maintaining mental health just because you get wrapped up in trying to please everyone and you know, just maintaining your like social media and you know, just maintaining, you know, business with clients and stuff like that. And sometimes you just have to take a step back like I've recently booked a trip just to get away for a little bit because I haven't been able to really step away from business. And you know, just to recharge my batteries and just kind of refocus things, be able to take a step back and do more admin stuff. I had to kind of book a trip just to get away. Because I know, while I'm here, I'm going to be in and I'm going to work and I'm not going to really take any time to sit down and you know, go over emails and, you know, just handle some of the backend work when it comes to business. But I would say All in all, you know, just finding that time for yourself, I have had to do that I had to talk myself into do that, and just really be accountable with myself, because I'll keep going all day, and I had just take a step back and be told that it is putting somewhere on my body. So I had to, you know, just really, you know, get some, some put some time apart from myself, some and just kind of refocus and recenter things. Because it is a lot, you know, managing people, as well as our mobile aspect, and then we are opening the shop soon. So it is a lot, it's going to be a little more. But it's definitely manageable when it comes to it, because I do have a good team of people that I can delegate certain work to, and they kind of take some of that off of my plate. So there's less that I have to worry about, it's just a matter of making sure that it does get done at the end of the day. Well, and a key part
Collin Funkhouser 56:29
of that, as you said, was you you know yourself. And I think that's a big part that many of us don't take time to do or recognize is doing some self reflection and introspection about who we are. And for you recognizing, if I'm anywhere near the area, I'm going to be working on the business. So I need to take a big step back and go somewhere else to different physical location. So that I don't have that temptation. And I don't and I don't get sucked back in. And I, I really appreciate that. Because I know for me, yeah, if I'm anywhere close to a computer or phone or something like I will find things to occupy my time even though I'm supposed to be doing something else. So recognizing these triggers, finding this stuff out about ourselves, because what boundaries look like and what time away looks like, it's gonna be different for everybody. Because we've all got these different triggers, we've all got these different desires and things that we're working on and towards. So it takes some tight little bit of time and reflection to figure out okay, what what are these things that I'm getting that keep sucking me back in? And how do I separate myself from those?
Wayne 57:34
Sure, and that's hard, is very, very difficult. Because, again, we our businesses, and our businesses are us. So it's hard to really take a step back and just, you know, let it that's one of the biggest things that I'm learning now is, that's another reason why I had to take a step back, because I can't really see what everyone else is capable of, if I'm always here. And if I'm always here, I'm always going to be like, okay, you know, and make them, you know, have them feel like I am a safety blanket, or, you know, some type of safety net, if something doesn't happen, or, you know, add up well. So it's like I needed to, I want to, honestly challenging the team, just to make sure that everything goes through it needs to be and everything can get handled, you know, the way that it needs to be handled while I'm not here, because that way, if I can see that they can do that, while I'm gone, then even when I'm here, that actually frees up more of my time to focus on other aspects of the business as well, because now I can trust them enough to make sure that they handle more of the things that I've been doing myself, or even with them. That way I can, you know, hire more people or, you know, expand a little more, you know, go take this meeting or, you know, just, you know, go to this aspect of the business. And that way, I still know that the things that I've delegated or set in place for others is still taking care of the way that I would take care of
Collin Funkhouser 59:23
them. And operating differently, then you really have these inclinations to and really trusting those processes and procedures and the people right that you brought in that that takes us operating differently than we used to and is kind of a big step for a lot of us. And I think part of that is, is recognizing that in order to operate differently. We have to think differently and expose ourselves to different ideas and thoughts and ways of doing things. That's kind of like for me I've more we've run the business, the more we realize we really are creative We are creative people whether we recognize it or not we're trying new things we're exploring new ideas and so for you where do you go for for inspiration and for new ideas and new things
Wayne 1:00:12
nature love nature just walking around parks I will you know it's been a while but I have really enjoyed like going to different nature reserves or different parks and just being you know out in the open and just watching you know people like to people watch so now we'll go out and just watch different people with their pets and see how their pets interact and things like that. If you know I can't be outside then I just I just immerse myself in like different you know podcasts or just watch certain movies you know and just be in that space is lit you know music kind of you know take me away as well and just like just kind of zone out and then that just helps out a lot when when it comes to just kind of sintering you know myself and just trying to figure out okay, what's the next step and what do I need to do and how do I handle this and things like that so it's just I kind of draw inspiration from you know, depending on what it is to from just different aspects of life and just honestly just letting it just come to me when it comes for the most part I'm able to sit on a roof and just sit up there and quiet you know I'll hear like the cars go by I'll hear you know, life move around me but just sitting still just does it and it just helps out when it comes to just trying to you know figure out exactly what's happening you know and just staying in the present
Collin Funkhouser 1:02:03
I would not be joining you on the roof I am terrified of heights but I will join him for a walk but you're right it is it is right when we when we were busy moving around, we are active we're doing all these things we're trying to make things occur but when we are still when we are silent when we stopped moving I think one of the biggest things that happens is all of those unspoken either expectations or ideas or thoughts those start to be able to bubble up because we removed the noise of life and activity when we remove that all the active stuff these passive thoughts these ideas these emotions these desires do start to to come out and it can be kind of freaky sometimes you're like whoa Where did that idea come from or what I didn't even know I was feeling that but taking those moments to do that really does help you a manage those so that you don't have them building up over time but be tap into these these ideas and these these, these this inspiration that maybe you didn't know was there?
Wayne 1:03:07
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And just finding that inspiration from you know, just little aspects of life. And just understanding like you know, he, you have to kind of separate yourself a little bit in order to continue to grow and just understand like, you know, creatives and artists and music artists producers, like they find their inspiration from you know, the smallest minute things sometimes and that can be the same for us and just put us in a happier place for sure. For Business and for ourselves.
Collin Funkhouser 1:03:46
Wayne I have really enjoyed the conversation and I really appreciate you challenging us to be better leaders and motivating us through the tough times and recognizing that it takes stepping back to acknowledge our fears and to get inspiration from the world around us. But I know you're doing a lot of other stuff and you've got a lot going on. So how can people get connected with you and follow along with your work?
Wayne 1:04:15
Absolutely So um, if anything you know, I do have my website www dot happy heart PCs calm and PCs like pet care services so happy hearts PCs comm they can follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Happy hearts pet care. ATL. Both of them are saying and then we are building up our YouTube page. So that is coming soon. But otherwise yes Instagram Facebook is the best way to reach us again is happy hearts pet care ATL and again thank you Collin for your time and the opportunity please tell Megan I said hello and I have thoroughly enjoyed this as well. Well, this is awesome. Thank you.
Collin Funkhouser 1:05:03
Where do you go for inspiration? After talking with Wayne, I couldn't help but think about how inspiration is connected to self care how when we are so busy doing all of the things in life and in business, we don't have any time left over to do the creative aspects. Whether you think it or not, you are a creative as a business owner, from writing blogs, to shooting video, to social media posts, to interacting with other people. All of that takes being a creative spirit and developing new ways of doing things. If we're constantly running around, too busy, too time constrained to give ourselves space to think relax, and rejuvenate our creative well. Those things run dry and we struggle and we bang our head against the wall frustrated, trying to figure out something to do something to post what to write about. It all starts with taking that step back and recharging. Whether that's listening to music, going for a walk in nature, or a hike or playing with dogs or reading a good book, whatever that is, add inspiration as another benefit when we take care of ourselves. We want to thank our sponsors time to pet a pet perennials for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you for listening. We wish you all the best in all of the success and we'll be back again soon.
