Podcast
Pet Boss® Podcast with Candace
Hosted by Candace D'Agnolo of Pet Boss Nation® · EN
This is a podcast for the local pet business owner. Get foundational business tips mixed with the latest secrets of what’s working now, especially in this challenging world. Hear honest conversations from industry peers working the streets of Main Street, where dog business is BIG business. So, if you’re a pet supply store, grooming salon, dog daycare, boarding facility, pet sitter or dog trainer - we welcome you! What really sets this show apart from others in this space is that your show host, Candace D’Agnolo, the CEO & Founder of Pet Boss Nation® - has started, scaled and sold successful pet businesses in almost every niche of the pet industry. Not only that, but her business had multiple locations, a team of 30 people, and annual revenue hitting multiple 7 figures. What this means for you is that you’ll get a holistic approach from someone who’s been on your biz journey from start to finish. Intrigued? Press play.
36episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
242: What 1,000 Pet Businesses Taught Us About Growth (With Matt Aldrich)
4d ago00:40:09Tap to summarizeMatt Aldrich, founder of Pet Engine Marketing, has a front row seat to pet businesses and their patterns - the ones growing and the ones stuck. Between Pet Boss Nation and Pet Engine Marketing, they've seen 1,000+ pet businesses over the years. In this candid conversation, he and Candace talk about what growth actually looks like when the economy is tough, competition is everywhere, and business owners are burned out. They discuss: ✅ The pattern most pet businesses get wrong (and why you're probably doing it) ✅ Why activity ≠ progress (and how to tell the difference) ✅ The $6,000 email campaign that worked (and why you should steal it!) ✅ How to build "boring" systems that compound over time Plus Matt shares the one thing all successful businesses have in common and how you could do it too! ABOUT MATT ALDRICH Founder, Pet Engine Marketing & Co-Founder, Pet Industry Network Matt Aldrich is the founder of Pet Engine Marketing and a pet industry marketing expert with 12+ years of experience helping independent pet businesses grow. He's also a Co-Founder of the Pet Industry Network, a PETS+ Magazine contributor, an active member of American Pet Professionals, and a frequent speaker at events including Global Pet Expo, SUPERZOO, and The Pet Summit. Matt's journey started at 16 working at a local pet store in Ann Arbor, Michigan - a job he took because his dog loved that place, and soon so did he. He fell in love with helping customers, meeting their pets, and working alongside people who "got it." But when he moved into management, the job got buried under vendor calls, staff schedules, and the daily grind. That experience—realizing pet business owners started in this industry because they loved helping people and pets, not working on spreadsheets and social media - became his mission. In 2018, he launched Pet Engine Marketing to help pet business owners get back to doing what they love, while the agency handles the marketing.Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →241: Stop Starting from Zero Every Month: A Pet Business Guide to Subscription Revenue
2w ago00:24:56Tap to summarizeWe have an exciting new episode for you this week and this is one you are going to want to pull out a notepad and pen for! Candace is sharing the full training she delivered at Launch Your Box's Subscription Summit and turns it into an actionable playbook specifically for pet businesses. Whether you sell products, services, or both, there is already a subscription opportunity inside your business right now. She covers: 🙌 The 3 types of subscriptions and how to identify which already exists in your business 🙌 The auto-replenishment model and why you should know what it is 🙌 How to move slow inventory, take pre-orders, and create something customers look forward to every month 🙌 The VIP membership model your customers will be begging to join 🙌 A word-for-word script for offering auto-replenishment to a customer at the register - without being pushy! If even 10–20% of your revenue became predictable before you opened your doors each month, how differently would your business run? Well this episode shows you exactly how to get there! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →240: Can Indies Really Out-Compete Amazon and Chewy? (CEO of Wholesale Pet Says Yes)
3w ago00:51:43Tap to summarizeCan indie pet stores really out-compete Amazon, Chewy, and Petco? Pearce Tibbles, CEO of Wholesale Pet, says yes - but it takes strategy, technology, and intentionality. In this interview, Pearce walks through how Wholesale Pet spent over a year gathering feedback from retailers and vendors before completely redesigning their platform. The result? AI-powered search, curated collections, new vendor tools, and a focus on helping independent stores compete on their actual advantages—not by trying to be Chewy. You will hear: ✅ Why Pearce is optimistic about indie pet stores ✅ The structural advantages indie stores have over big box ✅ The new AI-powered search that solves the "finding a needle in a haystack" problem ✅ Collections: how to curate products by season, pet type, or customer (and share them with other retailers) ✅ How retailers can find trending products across US indie stores in real time Plus how to avoid the financing trap, why changing your store layout bi-weekly drives foot traffic, and why inventory is your ATM. ABOUT Pearce TIBBLES CEO, Wholesale Pet Pearce Tibbles loves brick & mortar small business and believes it plays an indispensable role in local communities. He's passionate about finding new ways technology can help independents compete against ecommerce and big box stores. Pearce has spent most of his career with a foot in each world: he was a partner in a company that built an app for training restaurant and small retail store employees, owned and operated his own brick & mortar service business for many years, and has worked in software and technology for the past 8 years. When he started at Wholesale Pet in 2024, he brought with him a mindset focused on staying really close to customers, learning their businesses intimately—how they operate, what they spend money on, what their competitive challenges are—and figuring out ways to help them not just survive but succeed and outcompete ecommerce and big box stores. The new Wholesale Pet site is the first really big step in this direction, with more exciting developments coming in the months ahead. Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →239: The NeeDoh Craze: What a Squishy Toy Teaches You About Viral Marketing In Your Pet Business
4w ago00:29:04Tap to summarizeA squishy palm-sized toy with no celebrity endorsements and no big marketing budget just sold an entire year's worth of inventory in 9 weeks - and Candace watched it happen right outside her front door. In this solo episode, Candace breaks down the NeeDoh craze: how it started, why it exploded, and - most importantly - what the mechanics behind it mean for your pet business right now. She covers: ⭐️ How the NeeDoh Advent Calendar sparked a TikTok wildfire that turned an 8-year-old product into this generation's Beanie Baby ⭐️ The 5-part Pet Boss Nation framework for engineering your own viral moment ⭐️ Real action steps: auditing your shelves, setting up new arrival drops, building influencer relationships, and filming before you have a following Whether you're a retailer, groomer, trainer, or service provider - if you have products or services worth showing, you have the ingredients for a viral moment. Candace tells you exactly how to start building toward it! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →238: Why You Should Never Make Blanket Statements to Broad Audiences Again
May 3000:23:49Tap to summarizeThis is a very special episode! Candace is inviting you into a recent Pet Boss University marketing training - a true fly-on-the-wall peek at what's happening inside the membership. This training is about customer personas: how to stop making blanket statements to broad audiences and start marketing to one specific customer type instead. She covers: 🙌 What a customer persona IS (and what it's NOT) 🙌 The difference between demographics and behavior 🙌 The specific questions to ask about your persona 🙌 Why marketing to everyone means marketing to no one Plus the behind-the-scenes look at how client data gets turned into actionable marketing plans with specific copy, visuals, and calls to action. It's different from regular episodes, but it's the kind of training that changes how you market your business forever! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →237: June Education Events You Don't Want to Miss (And a Secret About Dante and Dory's)
May 2300:19:22Tap to summarizeIt's the start of summer - can you believe it? Half the year is already over, and Candace has some exciting announcements to share. She's covering 3 education events happening in June that you don't want to miss, plus a BIG announcement about what's coming for Dante and Dory's that took a year to make happen. She shares: 🙌 Why you should pitch yourself as the local pet expert in your community 🙌 The 3 educational events you won’t want to miss that will elevate your pet business 🙌 Where you can find and connect with Candace at this year’s SUPERZOO 🙌 The BIG announcement: Candace is launching… Oh wait!! You should listen to this episode to find out 😉 Plus why education without action is just entertainment, and how what started as a monthly tip turned into a weekly show that couldn’t be passed up! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →236: Part 2: How We Leveled Up the Farmer's Market Booth in One Week
May 1600:35:06Tap to summarizeThis is part two of last week's episode where Candace talked about the five ways off-location events make you money. After another week at the Dante and Dory's farmer's market booth, she realized there were some things worth sharing - adjustments to the booth setup, the living SOP guide they're building, and an on-the-spot coaching moment with a new 17-year-old team member. If you're running events, managing a team, or trying to get systems out of your head and onto paper, this episode is for you! Listen to hear: 🐾 The booth setup mistake from week one and how she fixed it 🐾The living, breathing SOP guide that the team is living by and why it continues to evolve 🐾 The coaching moment with a shy team member 🐾 The three questions you should be asking yourself before every event Plus she shares why one item is the hottest right now, along with some useful advice on how to safely remove decals and why your food aisle needs more staffing attention! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →235: The 5 Ways Off Location Events Make You Money (Beyond Day-of Sales)
May 900:40:00Tap to summarizeWhat if your best new customers aren't finding you online - they're walking right past a tent at a farmer's market, and you're just not there? Pop-up events, farmer's markets, street fairs, 5K runs, community festivals - when done right, they're one of the most powerful, affordable, and underutilized tools in an independent pet business's playbook. Candace is sharing exactly what Dante and Dory's is doing at the Galesburg Farmer's Market this season: the booth setup, the pricing strategy, the leave-behinds that work harder than business cards, and most importantly - the 5 ways events make you money that most people never count. She shares: 🙌 Why your booth needs to be a physical extension of your brand 🙌 The leave-behind strategy that drives future visits 🙌 How to train your team to represent your business at the front line 🙌 The 5 ways events make you money Plus the 4th of July patriotic pet parade idea that came from showing up consistently, the technology that makes checkout seamless, and why you can't be your town's best-kept secret! Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram Read our Blog
Transcribe →234: The Cash Flow Squeeze (And What to Do About It Right Now)
May 200:33:57Tap to summarizeSqueeze, squeeze, squeeze. The financial squeeze is real - and if you're feeling it, this episode is for you. Candace tackles the most pressing realities that independent pet business owners are facing right now: fewer customers walking through doors, shoppers stretching every dollar, unpredictable weather keeping people home, rising expenses, and growing competition. She shares: 🚨 The surprising lesson from a 66-transaction day 🚨Why you can't wait for things to get better 🚨 Creative partnership ideas you haven't thought of yet 🚨 The cash flow management habit that keeps you ahead of the squeeze 🚨The mindset shift that stops the spiral Plus insights from the PETS+ Brain Squad survey on what independent pet business owners are prioritizing in Q2 2026. Transcript Show Notes Join Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram
Transcribe →233: What We Learned From 100 Customer Surveys (5 Insights That Changed Everything)
Apr 2500:33:19Tap to summarizeCandace sent out a customer survey for Dante and Dory's - and when the results came in, she had to stop and sit with it for a minute. Because everything she assumed about her customers was wrong. In this episode, she's pulling back the curtain on the entire process: how they built the survey, how they promoted it, what questions they asked, and most importantly - the 5 findings that genuinely surprised her and will reshape how Dante and Dory's markets, merchandises, and operates moving forward. She shares: ✍🏼 Why assuming you know your customer is costing you revenue ✍🏼 The 3 purposes of a customer survey ✍🏼 The exact process they used (tool, timeline, promotion strategy, giveaway structure - all replicable!) ✍🏼 What to do with survey data once you have it Plus the Pet Boss University Customer Survey Playbook - the guide that walks you through the entire process with templates, video trainings, and live feedback sessions. Transcript Show NotesJoin Us Online Find us on Facebook Join our Free Pet Industry Facebook Group Follow us on Instagram
Transcribe →