Meet Coleena Heath | Owner Of Coleena’s Diggidy Dog Roanoke, Grapevine and The Colony.
We had the good fortune of connecting with Coleena Heath and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Coleena, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Once I started my business my work life balance changed dramatically. When working for someone else you had a set time. Once you left work you were for the most part done, Customer issues, Employ issues, ording supplies and any business related stuff you just left behind when you left work. But that all changed the minute i decided to go into business for myself, even before i open the doors.
When I did decide to go into business it started to to take up all my time. Thinking about a name for my business, going though all the legal stuff to open up my business, looking for locations, Talking to landlords, The whole process starts taking up all you time. 24/7.
Once i opened up you might think work life balance may leval out a bit more. BUT no it still takes up most of your time. Once I leave work for the day, I am still working. ordering supplies , doiing booik work anything i cant do while i am at the groom shop.. Even when you lay down for the night your mind is still working on what needs to be done the next day.
Now would i change it and go back to working for somone else? No way. It does take up allot of yiour time but it is so satisfying that it makes all the time you spend to do it
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My journey started over 25 years ago when I adopted an abused standard Australian shepherd “Stormy.” He was six months old and was being trained as a show dog by a very heavy-handed owner. When Stormy was taken away from them, I stepped in to adopt him with the agreement that I would continue to try to show him. I knew nothing about showing dogs, but it sounded fun, and I really loved Stormy. What I found out was that I enjoyed grooming Stormy and getting him ready for the show more than I like showing. I looked up grooming schools but found them to be too expensive for me to afford. So, I went looking for a mentor. The small town I lived in had one groomer, and she had been there for years. I worked up the courage and walked in and asked her if she would be willing to mentor/train me in exchange for working for free. She rejected the idea of me working for free but did bring me on and agreed to be my mentor. She was great to me; she took her time and never got upset. After a year being with her, she advised me that she no longer could keep me grooming in her store because her clientele was not large enough for both of us in that store. So, with her blessing I decided to open my shop in the basement of my house. Pampered Pooch. This was quite challenging because we were in a multi-level house. My groom equipment was in the basement but the only tub we had was on the third floor, so I was constantly going up and down those stairs from the tub to the groom room throughout the day. I did this for a little over a year and was able to get enough clientele to open my own small shop in town. It was just large enough for me and my daughter Lori Heath who would come in after school and help out when she could. Being in such a small town and no connecting towns for miles, it was limited on how much I could grow, but it was a great learning experience for opening my first store.
After two years, my husband received a job offer in Texas, too good to pass up. The pampered pooch was not large enough to really sell, so I paid it forward and handed it off to another up-and-coming groomer that I had known, respected, and knew would take care of my clientele like I would.
After landing in Texas, I took a job with a corporate grooming/ pet store salon. I started as a groomer and quickly moved up to manager, then to manager trainer. While I was working here, I was able to learn more about managing processes day-to-day managing people and hone My grooming skills to be a little bit faster while still maintaining the safety of the pets. I was doing quite well working in corporate. During my time with them, they had me manage a total of three different stores, one of them being brand new and open from the ground up. What I did not like was I did not feel like I was having the connection with the pets that I did when I was running my own shop. My husband and I talked about opening up a new shop, but the timing and money just never seemed to be right.
Then, one day in December 2009, we were driving past a small house that was on Main Street in Keller that had been broken into four separate businesses. There was a for rent sign out front and my husband suggested that I call the number just to find out how much this small space would be. The space was 650 square feet, $500 a month, all utilities paid, and the lease was month to month. This was perfect because if, for some reason, it did not work out with a month-to-month contract, I could walk away and not lose anything. So, we went home, and we prayed on it. We felt that God Had shown us this opportunity in a way that we could get back into owning my own shop. So, on January 2nd, 2010, I signed the paperwork, and I opened Coleena’s Diggidy Dog In February 2010. Now I was still working at corporate and had responsibilities that I had to make sure were being kept while working there my schedule for corporate ended at 3:00 PM so I would book pets for my store between 4:00 and 10:00 PM in the evening. It was slow at first when I wasn’t grooming my husband, and the kids would help me hand out flyers door to door. I would also visit the local dog parks, handing out Flyers, and did a lot of my first grooms for 50% off. This was an extremely hard time for me; working the day at corporate and then working whatever pets I could in the evening was really hard. My goal at that time was just to make $100 a day, but a lot of times, I was coming up short of that goal as word of mouth got out, business did pick up, and by June 2010, I realized I was making the same amount of money at my shop that I was working for corporate and I was enjoying my time with the pets a lot more in my shop. I could take more time with the clients and make sure they were getting exactly what they wanted I had more time to spend with the pets and get to know them and put them at ease during the groom process things that I just could not do in corporate because it was so fast paced. So, in June, I gave my two-week notice and became a full-time pet salon owner.
For the first year and a half I ran the store almost by myself. My daughter Lori would come in and help after school when she could. She was 10 years old at that time and could barely see over the tub, but she did everything she could to help me out.
Things were going well my clientele was building month after month, I was happy. Then, one day during Grapefest in Grapevine, my husband and I were walking through a strip mall when we came across an open space. My husband asked me if I ever thought about opening a second store. To be honest, I had not. Again, my husband suggested that I just call the number and get some info so that if we ever did decide to open a second store that we’d have some kind of idea what rent went for in that area. So, I called the number and I met with the agent at the location and did a walkthrough. It looked perfect like it was already set up to be made into a groom shop. When I asked about the rent, I was told at that time that A two-year lease would be the minimum that they would go for. That was huge for me because, at this point, I was still going with a month-to-month lease with very little risk. Signing a two-year deal scared me. What if I could not make it go of this one? I would be stuck with payments for two years, which could bring down my first store. On top of that, I would have to hire someone to run my first store. So again, we went home and prayed on it. My husband went online and found out who the owner of the property was and how long that spot had been vacant. It had been vacant for over three years. My husband was able to find a phone number for the owner, and I called him to talk to him one-on-one. I told him my situation and asked if he would be willing to do a six-month lease and leave the property as is, meaning that anything that needed to be done to get this place ready to open would be on us. To my surprise, he agreed. So now I own two stores responsible for twice as many pets and a couple of employees now. After six months, we were confident enough to sign a year lease; then after a year, we signed A five-year lease. This would not have been possible without the support of my family and some great groomers over the years that worked for me. One of them, Jessica Esparza, who worked with me in corporate, accepted a job with me at my shops and is still with me today.
Again, over time, I got comfortable with my two shops. Each year was getting better than the year before we were growing slowly but steadily. Then, once again, an opportunity was put in front of us. There was a groom shop in The Colony, and the owner wanted to move and sell her shop. This was another scary moment because my Keller and Grapevine stores were only ten miles apart. The Colony is thirty miles from my closest store. It was also a risk-taking on someone else’s store and their reputation. After a lot of back and forth and praying, we decided to take the leap. It was a rough first year and a half. The clientele was used to the way the former owner did things. Neither way was wrong; they were simply different. In that first year and a half, we saw almost no growth and struggled just to keep Numbers the same month after month. It is funny because it was in my opinion easier to open a store from the ground up and build from no clientele than it was to take over someone else’s clientele, incredibly stressful during that time and many times we thought we had made a mistake. Jessica and my daughter Lori, along with many other great employees, helped us work through that tough time until we were able to turn the corner and start growing.
We have now been open for over 14 years. We went from me being the only employee to now an average of 20. There was a lot of scary times and hard times to get to this point, but I would not change a thing. We have made it this far because of the trust that our customers and their owners have put in us and our dedication to making sure that our customers have the best experience possible.
Our goal is to gain the trust of our customers and their owners!
Now, my daughter Lori Heath is stepping up and running the stores more. Hopefully, by the next update, we do she will be running and growing it 100%
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well, the things I would want to take a friend from out of town to do would take longer than a week. Texas has so much to do and see a week does not do it justice. But If I had just a week, I would first take them to Grapevine Vintage Railroad and ride to Fort Worth Stock yards and take in all the history it has to offer while doing some great shopping. Later for dinner we would go to The Classic Cafe at Roanoke. All their food is fresh Alot of the food they prepare are from their own garden along with local gardens and farms from the area.
I would then take them to Fredericksburg, Texas a great little German town in the hill country. We would shop and hit the local wine shops on main street. Must stop in at The Christmas Store year-round Christmas store. Then take the Fredericksburg Wine Tours, get to see the area and take some of the best wine anywhere.
The next day would take them to South Padre Island and camp on the beach. Just relax on the beach and watch the sunset and fall asleep to the waves crashing on the beach. SO relaxing.
Then we would go to East Texas travel through Davy Crockett National Forest and visit Tuel’s M&ET Barbeque little hole in the wall that has the world’s best BBQ For the night we would stay in one of the many AIRBNB treehouses in Tyler.
When friends are in town it is always great to show how different Texas can be. from farmland to mountains to beach and then forest. Texas has something for everyone.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Well, there really is not just one person to thank or give a shoutout to. BUT number one is always GOD. He guided us each step of the way, He did not always make it easy, he challenged us all the way but each time he gave guidance. He has been there when we mess up and there when we are shining.
Second would be my family. They have been so supportive and helped me every step of the way whether it’s just finding new spots for a store or handing out flyers and helping in the stores anyway they can, they have been there for me!
Third would be my daughter Lori Heath. When I opened my 1st store, she was only 14. She would come in and help bath and dry the dogs, clean and help the customer. She graduated and started working for Citi Group. After a year she decided she missed working in the shops and started training to groom. She later left Citi and now oversees all three stores and at some point, it will all be turned over to her. She got nothing for free. Worked herself up from the ground up.
Fourth would be ALL the people that have worked for me past and present. Each one has helped us in some way to get there we are today, A special shout out to Jessica Esparza. We met back when I was working corporate. She started working for me shortly after I started my 1st store as a groomer. When I open the other two stores, she would go to any of those stores when needed to help with anything i needed. She then took over as manager of the Grapevine store. Jessica Esparza is the manager of that store, but she is also the Asst District Manager to Lori Heath. The two of them are a huge reason we are where we are.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiggidyDogGrapevine https://www.facebook.com/DiggidyDogColony https://www.facebook.com/DiggidyDogRoanoke
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