The Biggest Mistake I Made with DogCo in 2026 (So Far) | Ep. 145

Hi everybody and welcome to the DogCo Secrets Podcast. My name is Michelle Klein, I'm your host and I am also the founder of DogCo Launch where pet care companies come to grow in scale. In today's episode, I would like to peel back the curtain a little bit and talk about my biggest mistakes to date in 2026 for DogCo. So let's get into it! Title of the podcast is slightly, well, it's not misleading. This has been a big mistake in DogCo, but the thing is, I don't really like to frame things as mistakes. I knew it was a good episode title, so forgive me for playing on the emotion, but lessons learned so far this year just doesn't hit quite as hard, you know, but that's really what I want to talk about is a lesson that I have learned this year that kind of has been a recent revelation. So I came into this year and I've talked about this a bunch because we've been doing the podcast all through the year. I came into this year knowing that it was going to be a year of growth for me and knowing that I had put myself in the position for that very intentionally. Last year, DogCo did a model of the business that I had done for two years prior. Then I took that model and launched a new version of it this year, a version that included team members and other coaches and success leaders from people who had done the DogCo program and seen success with it, and so it was a lot of new. So I knew going into this year, it would just be a big year of like more information, just more learning and pushing myself in ways that I hadn't before. So I knew that. There were a couple things I didn't expect going into this year though and this is going to be a pretty unstructured podcast. I'm just going to vibe. I'm going to process out loud because that's how it goes sometimes. So one of the things that I did not realize going into this year. So there's a model, and I can't remember what it's called, but it talks about how in entrepreneurship or really in anything that you're learning how to do, you continue to cross between levels of knowing and not knowing. And part of the growth path is that you level up into, I'm going to butcher describing this, but part of the growth path is at some point you step onto the next step in the journey and your head kind of peaks above the clouds and you're like, wow, look how much I don't know. And I had a moment like that earlier this year where I invested so much into my own education this year, like more than I ever have before. I got around companies that are bigger than me, a lot of them, and a lot bigger than me. And I just had this moment where I was like, wow, look how far I have to go, like in a good way objectively. I started to really psych myself out about it. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'm flushing. That's surprising to me. Anyways, well, now y'all know I'm learning as we go. I started to really psych myself out about it around April. I ended up calling in an emergency coaching session, emergency in quotes, a coaching session with someone that I've coached with for quite a long time, who now I coach with kind of as needed. And I was talking to him and I was like, I can't seem to get over this because my logical brain knows my business is more impactful now. My logical brain knows this and my emotions brain is really struggling to move forward. Like now that I see further of the path, how to create more impact, how to really coach well, how to create resources that break down concepts really well for companies, how to generate results. And what's so interesting is like, I think last year because I had worked the same business model for the last two years, I would say objectively, I feel that what I'm teaching now is a lot more impactful. I know a lot more than I did 12 months ago. I see things more clearly, I see how to create impact more clearly. I feel like I communicated better like on all fronts. And somehow this year when I entered into this level of like knowing more of what I didn't know, it became really difficult for me to move forward. And what that translated to was it became difficult for me to want to be visible specifically online. And you may be surprised to hear this depending on who you are because I tend to be online a lot, whether I'm doing a webinar or creating content. And I was still doing these things, but I found myself doing them in ways that felt more protective and more safe, less vulnerable kind of like this podcast. This is a vulnerable podcast for me. That's why it turned very red YouTube. I want to feel empowered in my own business. I don't want to feel insecure or unsure. And this all kind of came to a head maybe a few weeks ago. I flew out to do a part of the education that I had invested in was this group doing a deep dive on dog code to help me figure out the best way to grow it, best way to serve clients to drive impact all these things. And they got under the hood of the business. And they were like to be honest, this is like solid. I actually had someone in that group pay me a compliment that really impacted me. They were talking about how dog code has done something that like they've really only ever seen a couple other companies do. And the way that it creates impact, the way that people respond to it, the way that it's like changing lives, like it, I don't know, it kind of makes me emotional. It's like everything I wanted it to be. They were like, is it perfect? No. It's not. It is generating impact. And I remember talking to this person and just feeling like all I could see was the areas I seen now that could be better. Like communication could be clearer. I could be better. I could be a better leader. I could be more structured. I could have like more clarity for people. I could be a better planner. I mean, y'all can probably hear it in this podcast, like this list of stuff that I've just been so hyper focused on. And so I came home from this consulting engagement and was like, man, I got a real problem here. It's like the further I get into this, the more I see everything that could be better. I'm having a really hard time seeing the pieces that are also doing really well and should be protected. And I'm having a hard time distancing from it. I called in this emergency coaching session with my coach where I was like, hey, I don't know what I need. I don't know if I needed talking to. I don't know if I need someone to tell me to just get over it. I don't know if I need a therapist. I don't know like I'm really struggling. And he and I talked it through pretty in depth. And what he came to was he was like, you know, Michelle, I think it's really hard for you to hold two truths that feel contradictory. Both is true at the same time. I think you feel this need for one truth to cancel the other out. If there are two things that are true that feel like they shouldn't fit together. The example that he gave was like, it feels like you have a hard time believing that your business can be impactful. And also believing that there are areas that could be better. I think he's right. And it's something that I am now looking for ways that I can like grow this muscle inside of my brain for lack the better way to say it. Of two things can be true at the same time. So for example, dog co-create's a lot of impact. I just pulled together a folder of client testimonials from the last month. These are not even from like the years of work. These are just from the last 30 days of people who are talking about the biggest month of revenue they've ever had. The biggest month of profit they've ever had. Being able to take a vacation and actually check out someone wrote the like dog co is why they're able to have a baby and why they're able to step away from their business long enough to have a maternity leave. Like beautiful, beautiful things. That can all be true. And I know that I want to do client onboarding different next year. I know that I want to organize our platform school differently so that people can have a clearer pathway to impact. I know the dog co is at the tipping point of there shouldn't be more calls. We should use the time that we have together better rather than pushing for more. That's an opportunity that the program has right now. I know that next year and this year too, like it's not like I have to wait until next year. But when like new clients start next year because this is a new client thing, I know that we need to do a better job as a program at helping people get impact more quickly. Rather than coming out of the gate, focusing on all the hard stuff that like yes, has to happen. We have to dig into your profit. We have to dig into your data. We need to look critically at who's on your team and if they should be there. Like, these are things that historically, like, I see that as kind of the real work that we need to get to. Like, those are the highest leverage moves we can make for you all year. And I see now, and I acknowledge that when a client first comes in a dog kill, they don't know me, they are overwhelmed. And they need a few really tangible quick wins that are going to help them hang in there for the long call and that are going to help give them the conviction through all the hard work that's going to come because growing a business is hard. I will never minimize that. It is some of the hardest work I've ever done in my life is learning how to be a better business owner and learning how to grow a business. And so I know that people need a clearer letter towards the impact that we can drive earlier in the year. Like, these are all things that I have been thinking about. But the practice I am holding now, I hope this episode makes sense and replay it. This is the biggest mistake. I have made in dog code this year is believing that one thing could be true over the other. That if there are areas of opportunity, I now see as I am growing, learning and evolving as a leader, I'm practicing that can be true. And the program can be worth. The business can be worth shouting from the rooftops because I genuinely believe it can change lives in our industry. And that's not just me. Like, that is like the team I've assembled, that's the content that's come together, that's the community, the encouragement, like the beautiful thing I think about where dog code is now is a lot of it is not me, a lot of it is the people inside of dog code. I'll champion those people all day long. I struggle to do it for myself. I struggle to see that as clearly as we all do, I think as business owners. But both can be true as an example. And so that is what I am working on, most vulnerable as a business owner. As I get further into my journey, seeing how much further I have to go to be the type of business owner I want to be, to be the type of leader I want to be, and still holding on to the conviction that my business is better than it was before, 'cause it absolutely is. It has better people in it, better clients in it, it's just all around awesome. And that can be both of those things can be true at the same time. And that's my commitment for the rest of this year, is to practice holding those beliefs together and to not let them, the anxiousness of it, reduce my willingness to be visible because my business deserves more than that. My team deserves more than that. And so I am going to continue to push myself out of my comfort zone. I hope y'all got value out of this. I hope that this was helpful. I hope it generated some thoughts for you, maybe on where your biggest growth areas right now are, where the biggest opportunities are in your business right now and how you approach it. All right, I will catch you guys soon. (upbeat music)