The Truth About Scaling (No One Tells You This) with Makenzy & Joe Geiger

16:21Makenzy:I will attest that that is all true. Kenzie I've never seen anybody that works as hard as Kenzie for me personally I have always cut against the grain if my parents are ever listening to this they'll be like yep he is the one that never listened to our advice and always did what he wanted and you know I felt like every job that I've ever worked people would always tell me this they'd be like you're too smart to work here because I know a lot about a lot of things. And where I really started to feel at home was in door-to-door sales where I could really set my own hours, get out and make it. And one of my mentors told me that there are two kinds of people in this world.

17:04Makenzy:There are the kind of people that push buttons and pull levers and are having people what to do. And there's the kind of person that just goes out and gets it and makes it happen. And that's the kind of person that I've always been. And the opportunity with Door to Door kind of unlocked that for me. And I've been super excited to be on this journey with Mackenzie and just grind this out. There's no failing. There's only learning.

17:28Joe Geiger:Yeah, it's a really beautiful aspect of our culture, too, and what we're seeking to offer to our teammates, too. Because we feel like everybody kind of has that entrepreneurial spirit in them. It's just a matter of like creating the right circumstances in the environment to which they can feel safe enough to unlock it.

17:51Makenzy:So Joe, I want to dig into that a little bit more. What did that person mean by saying that you're too good to be working here? What do they mean by that? Oh, so it's, this was like when I was in like tree work. When I got out of college, I started doing, I started working for Bartlett Tree Experts. and I would just like have the craziest conversations with my with my teammates like and they're blue collar types some of them are had college degrees and some of them are very intelligent but I could hold a conversation with anybody be it a physics conversation and computer science philosophy religion chemistry history art I mean you name it I can go there and when it came people would always be like you're too smart for this role you're too smart to be just cutting trees down you're too smart to be a deli clerk you're too smart to be an electrician's apprentice you're too smart to be x y and z and I even had people that when I was in door to door sales going on leadership retreats and being flown to the Caribbean and being at the company trips they'd be like I don't know why you're here at Encore or here at the sales org you're too smart you need to be somewhere else you need to be something crazier

19:04Joe Geiger:I'm going to be a CEO.

19:05Makenzy:I was like, yeah, I mean, I could be a CEO. It's just going to take a while. Okay. No, I get it. I get it. So how do you personally handle stepping away from the business, you know, like taking a vacation? That is a bad word, vacation. So this was something that I experienced when I was working in solar. when I would step away from the office, the whole office would seem to crumble. When I was like, yeah, we're going to have our own business and we're going to do this thing. And Kenzie has been experiencing it.

19:42Joe Geiger:We're about to go on vacation here. A couple of days. We're leaving in a couple of days, but it is like, I would be lying if I said that I did not have anxiety anytime we even take a mini vacation. And we're actually in the works and in the process of like getting an office manager and someone trained to be able to basically run all of our admin operations. Because at this point, I'm not out in the field as much. I've kind of taken on the role of wearing all the hats behind the scenes and doing all the admin stuff. So I think at that point, once there's a little more structure, we can let go a little bit.

20:16Makenzy:The key is to finding and nurturing the relationships with your key people in your organization and properly delegating and communicating the expectation, hey, I'm going to be away on vacation. If there's an emergency within this spectrum, please handle it. I trust that you'll make whatever decision you make is great. If it's elevated above that and there's something that's outside of your control, feel free to call me. So even on vacation, if it's like the house is burning down and somebody's bleeding out and dying, please let me know. Other than that, I'm on vacation. Please handle it for us.

20:56Joe Geiger:Yeah. And we do have some senior reps on our team. We have an amazing vet tech. His name is Brian. He is incredible. He's a rock star. So we really, we, we lean on him when there's emergency situations.

21:09Makenzy:And you just have to like, and you, and there's, that's part of the growth edge is like entrepreneurship is all about getting uncomfortable and taking risk and then figuring out how that risk landed. So like when we take that risk of like, yeah, we're going on vacation. How did, how did our rep do? Right. When we come back, what were the things that we, what were the things that went well? What are the areas that we can improve and just constantly bringing that coaching and that feedback to each other. And then, you know, figuring out, did these systems work for you? And then how can I make it easier for you?

21:39Makenzy:What can I take off of your plate?

21:42Joe Geiger:I think that's something that sets us apart too, is like, we have, you know, that, that stream that goes both ways like we take feedback from our people too and we realize that that's a very important part of being in leadership is like we can only grow as leaders to which our people also hold us to a high standard and everybody has you know we all

22:03Makenzy:have our blind spots so shout out to john maxwell and the five levels of leadership yeah yeah okay Okay. So looking back at it, what would you attribute most to your growth in your business so far?

22:18Joe Geiger:Mindset.

22:19Makenzy:Mindset. Yeah, mindset's huge. Love it. Love it. So expand upon that a little bit. What do you mean by mindset and kind of help out other business owners listening right now? Yeah. Yeah. Being unconventional and just making that unconventionalness a part of your culture. like it starts with the interview it starts with the vision that you paint for your organization and what sets you apart and what makes you different so from the jump during that interview process you're you are you are having applicants come in that they see you on indeed or they see you you know if you're word of mouth or on your website and they kind of are like oh this is what I'm expecting.

23:03Makenzy:And then you blow them the F away during the interview presentation and show them that this is way more than what it is that they've just signed up for. And then you have a little pullback. This might not be for you. You know, we got, we were very particular about our culture, who we want in here. And then you get people wanting to come on board. And now they're like volunteer army, you know, soldiers ready to march off to war for you and make things happen. And you just set those expectations from the beginning. Hey, everybody on the team does this. This is the expectation. And you, the expectations are you like number one, if the team is going to succeed, the expectations must be clear from the jump.

23:43Makenzy:I cannot stress that enough because that is what creates the culture. If you do not set the expectations, that culture can't be created. So we're unconventional. We do things that other pet sitting businesses aren't going to do. We're not going to talk about them here, unfortunately, because that's our little secret sauce. That's what makes Zippy special. If somebody wants to join Zippy, find us on Indeed. But other than that, like we, everybody's bought in, everybody sees the vision. They see where things are headed. We've created a clear path for them to grow within the organization, both personally and professionally.

24:19Makenzy:They see that they, or then they see themselves while they're at the organization that the, that, you know, we put them, we put our money where our mouth is. Like When we say that we're going to go do something, we do it, right? When we say that the organization is growing, they see the organization grow. When we say that there's going to be an event, the event happens. Really just, you know, getting in the trenches with our people, becoming permission leaders and production-based leaders, I think is so important. because then people are willing to be like, wow, I've never had a boss that I've worked for in my entire life that actually cares about me, that genuinely reaches out and speaks to me like I'm a human and then gets in the trenches with me and does the work with me alongside me.

25:06Makenzy:Instead of just being a positional leader, sitting at an office, taking phone calls and then complaining about jobs not getting done.

25:14Joe Geiger:Yeah, I think that's why we're seeing a huge wave of more and more people that are seeking entrepreneurship and really leaning into their skills. Yeah. I think people are just tired of that old paradigm of people not actually caring and seeing them as a number and being very transactional. I've had many experiences with jobs that felt like that.

25:36Makenzy:So, Oh no, it's, it's really funny. I've seen articles online that are like, be careful and be wary of companies that talk about good company culture during your interview process. And I just laugh because I'm like, there are companies out there that are doing that. And then they're just, they're pulling the rug out or they're, what's the term? It's, yeah, they're pulling the rug out from other people and just kind of, you know, cheating them. Or baiting and switching people on what the expectations are of the job. I signed up and I thought the job was going to be this and it's not what it was.

26:09Makenzy:We really put our money where our mouth is. When we say we're going to do something, we actually do it. So when you're building a team, let's say you're getting ready to hire a rep. Do you have any specific traits that you look for that matter more to you than what's on someone's resume?

26:26Joe Geiger:That's a good question. Yeah, I honestly, I feel, well, one, yeah, it's like, do they know how to write a resume? A lot of people. And I'm like, man, we got AI now. Like, y 'all don't just put that you graduated high school and you got one job. That's fine. But yeah, there, you know, we, we look for obviously experience and not everybody is, has no professional pet sitting experience necessarily, but you know, what we're looking for is like, do they have skills in just like even nurturing, you know, we have a lot of people that are very nurturing and have been teachers or have been in childcare and yeah, also just,

27:09Makenzy:yeah well kenzie kenzie does the last stage of the interview process and she's also sifting through all the candidates when i'm doing the because i do the interview presentation i'm looking at the candidates if they don't have their camera on i'm either booting them off of the call or if they're not really engaged i'm just i'm going to take that as they're not interested in this and either try to reschedule them for a different time or whatnot but i'm looking at facial expressions. I'm seeing how engaged they are. I'm asking a very particular set of questions. You know, what about the interview stood out to you?

27:45Makenzy:What about this? What about the opportunity is exciting and is pulling you in? What are two traits that give you confidence that you would excel here? And then if they say something generic, I'm like, look, everybody says that really what's behind that. And I put them on the spot. I'm not taking things at face value. I want them to go deep and I want them to convince me that they are the right person for the job.

28:10Joe Geiger:Yeah. And so even before that though, like looking at the resume, it's like, you know, have they been able to keep a job? Like it's amazing how many people will apply and it's, they have a whole laundry list of like, oh, I had this job for two months and this one for five months. And it's like 15 different places. And I'm like, y 'all.

28:26Makenzy:And also at the same time, if somebody is persistent or somebody has not the greatest background or not the greatest life experience, if they show me that they want it and I can tell that they're being genuine, more than likely, I'm going to give them an opportunity. I'm going to give them a shot. And that means setting clear expectations, right? Yeah.

28:50Joe Geiger:So yeah, it's a really tricky, yeah, case by case kind of interaction. And, you know, I look at how responsive are they when we send our pre-screening questions. If somebody is waiting over, you know, a few days to respond, that usually for me is like we our communication is huge for our operations. For pet sitting. So, yeah, there's just a lot of different factors that come into play. And then, yeah, based on how the recruiting presentation goes. And I usually do a follow up interview with folks where I look for, you know, critical thinking skills, scenario based, like in the field. How do you solve problems on your own?

29:30Joe Geiger:Like if you can't get a hold of somebody in leadership, how confident are you in the field? And yeah, what are their emotional intelligence skills looking like? Because a lot of what we do is a lot of people think that they're getting into pet care and they're just going to be around animals.

29:44Makenzy:And relaxing.

29:45Joe Geiger:And it's not that. It's very personal. We're dealing with clients. We're dealing with other people's expectations of who we are. And we have to be able to navigate hard conversations, take feedback from clients. Yeah. And just being able to read the room. Yeah.

30:02Makenzy:And getting into pet sitting is like, also, are you willing to accept the risk of being in pet sitting?

30:06Joe Geiger:Yeah.

30:06Makenzy:Like the other week I was doing compressions on a dog that passed away. And it's like, there's situations like that that could come up. And are you willing to put yourself in there in that situation? And are you not going to panic? And are you going to communicate? Yeah. You know? So. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Learning. So what's something that you do for those team members or for those employees to intentionally keep your workplace positive, motivated, and productive, especially during a very stressful time? Yeah, absolutely. Every Monday, we have a Zoom call at 11 a.m., our Monday motivational call where I bring the energy to the day.

30:48Makenzy:And I'm like, good morning, everybody. How's it freaking going? and then we go over the last week and everything that we said that we were going to do and we check in with everybody hey last week you said you were going to do this did you do it no all right you're making me do push-ups i'm getting up come on you're joining me for some push-ups we're getting that energy going and we have created a fun positive culture of accountability where there's some some repercussions some slight embarrassment but it's fun but like you don't want to be that guy you know or that girl that you know is doing squats on the call or forces me to do to squats on the call because I do them with everybody.

31:22Makenzy:But then we go through training topics and educational pieces, animal behavior, best practices. If there was something that the team was like not really pulling their weight on in the previous week or something that we find ourselves slacking on, we put together entire presentations to educate the team on best practices and continue to refine on a weekly basis. And I feel that it's a good touch point. Once a week, it keeps the team active. It keeps the team up to date on any updates that need to be happening. Keeps the team positive, especially because the job can be very isolating. If there's, if there's no call, then you're just kind of out and then there's no communication.

32:01Makenzy:And we just see your face maybe at an in-person event once or twice a year. So we see everybody every week and everybody loves the calls and everybody comes to the calls. And if they're listening, I hope they love the calls. okay they keep showing up they keep showing up in their early hey they they keep showing up and with that kind of energy that you gave me man hey you got me you got me going now so i don't even need coffee with that kind of energy boost you were screaming there yeah yeah yeah joe is our zippy mascot and then at the end of the calls we go over like hey look guys we got one week coming up ahead you know or if there's inclement weather be sure to prepare for the inclement weather let's get some commitments on the board what are we doing personally in our life to move the ball forward?

32:45Makenzy:And what are we doing professionally to advance ourselves in an entrepreneurial spirit? What books are we reading? What things are we doing around the house? What tasks are we knocking off the list? And then, let's go! Let's have a great day! Let's get out of here.

32:59Joe Geiger:I love it.

33:01Makenzy:Love it, love it, love it. Alright, so we're going to head into what's called the quickfire round. So what we're going to do is, I'm going to give you guys one word, and I just want you to spit out the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running your business and then expand upon that what you mean by what you're saying okay does that make sense yeah yeah yeah okay perfect so first word is education you do just one of us go you go education um constantly reading books on our craft and i will expand on it um yes and i'm I'm thinking like, you know, for being an entrepreneur, leadership books, books on communication, books on sales.

33:44Makenzy:Because if you're an entrepreneur and you're not reading books on sales or taking sales courses, I don't know what you're doing. Get with the picture. But also like finding good books to give to your team so that they can constantly be improving. because what your team should be looking up to you as some sort of like pace setter and some sort of, I don't know, mentor maybe, some sort of role model, people looking up to you. What books are you reading? I want to be where you're at one day. So, you know, always be learning. Always be learning. Next word is planning.

34:20Joe Geiger:Planning. One word, structure. And, yeah, I guess for me, yeah, trying to make sure that I know what my week is going to look like ahead of time. So taking the time every Sunday to review the week, creating structure, reaching out to people, reaching out to the team, our clients, making sure everybody's up to speed on what needs to be done.

34:45Makenzy:Inspiration. Connected. so in order for me to feel inspired every day i need to feel connected to myself and my and in in god um without god none of this is possible or for anyone who's listening the higher power spirit whatever that is for you um i need to feel connected to that source so that that source can work through me so that I can do the things that often seem daunting and very heavy. Being an entrepreneur is not an easy path. It is the hard path. And so we need help in that. Discipline.

35:34Joe Geiger:I'm still learning that one. I'm coming back to the structure and the planning and really, yeah, just getting up, going to the gym, having healthy routines. I think routine really comes in there too. That's a big word for me. Um, having consistency and stability and with the structure and the routine that really holds the container for the growth to happen.

35:56Makenzy:Risk. Belief. So every, every decision is risky in entrepreneurship. Doing something is risky and not doing something is risky. So having belief and conviction in what you're doing, and not doing it blindly, but, you know, taking calculated risk, calculated decision-making and having belief and conviction that you're ultimately moving the ball forward and that you will succeed is the most important thing. And the last word is execution.

36:26Joe Geiger:I am just like, I'm hearing Joe right now with that one, just saying LFG like that. Let's just, yeah, F it, we ball, let's go.

36:39Makenzy:yeah yeah no for sure execution is like all hands on deck come hell or high water everybody has been everybody has gotten the memo we have all got the green light it is go go go we are storming the beaches of normandy and we will do this who's gonna carry the boats david's gonna carry the fucking boats love it all right so yeah appreciate that for the quick fire round so just a couple of last questions here. So, you know, and I want you to be as candid as you can on this answer here for this question, both of you. You know, let's say I'm a small business owner and I'm listening to the podcast episode with you both today and, you know, I'm having a bad day.

37:21Makenzy:I'm feeling stuck or overwhelmed. What's a piece of advice you'd want them to hear from you today? So do you want the masculine or the feminine? Because the masculine in my mind, I'm like, come on, let's get with it. come on come on with it come on with it you know pick up your head yeah i had a i had a mentor in solar he would always be like if you got yelled at by a karen on the doors if you're having a bad day if you got the cops called on you come on with it if you're paid if the bills aren't paid and you feel like you're drowning come on with it and you just gotta like pick yourself up from your bootstraps because nobody's gonna come and save you so you gotta be that one

37:57Joe Geiger:for yourself yeah that's huge that's it yeah yeah what about the feminine come on come on honey you got this yeah no i have i have the same mentality um yeah it's just and it can be really hard when you're like stuck like i feel like sometimes we can just get super stuck in like our minds and for me it's just like i need to get outside and if the sun is out like i'm gonna just soak in the sun and bask and like recharge myself.

38:25Makenzy:Yeah. Yeah. Emotion creates emotion. So if you are feeling stuck, generate positive emotions so that you can then take action filled with, with, with

38:34Joe Geiger:good feelings and finding resources, books, podcasts, shout out to Tony Robbins. Yeah. Routines. There's so much information out there. Um, just turning something on that can completely put you in a different state. Yeah. Okay.

38:48Makenzy:Okay. Perfect. And what's next for Zippy Pets? What should people be excited about coming up in the near future?

38:54Joe Geiger:All right. So we've got some in-person events coming up. We have one in South Asheville on April 25th. It's going to be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There's going to be a DJ. So we're actually doing this in partnership with the Asheville Area Professional Pet Sitting Association. That's a mouthful. So there's going to be a ton of different vendors. There's going to be dog trainers, groomers, bakers, people that make dog treats, pet treats. I think Hollywood Feed might be there. There's going to be some vendors that have like pet supplies and pet sitters. And so we'll be setting up a booth there that day.

39:34Joe Geiger:So that's where you can find us then. And then we also have a newsletter that people can sign up for on our website if they want to stay updated on other events that Zippy is going to be doing personally. And then we also just opened up a market in Greenville too. So we've got some events coming up this summer. So I'd say the best way to stay up to date on that is to sign up for our newsletter.

39:57Makenzy:Okay, perfect. I appreciate that. So, and finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you do?

40:02Joe Geiger:Our website is ZippyPetsAVL.com. Welcome to check us out there. We have an online portal that we do all of our communications through. They can send us an email at admin at Zippy Pets AVL dot com. We're also on Instagram again at Zippy Pets AVL dot com as well as Facebook. Same same link there. Yeah. And I'm happy to provide you with the link so you can include them in the show notes.

40:29Makenzy:Yeah. IG at Zippy Pets AVL. Yep. Perfect. All right. Well, Mackenzie and Joe, yeah, this has been fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Shouts out to you all, you know, you know, just a little bit about me, a little bit of personal note about me. I actually lost a dog of 18 years back in October 19th of 2025. And in really speaking with you, McKenzie has kind of helped me out a little bit on how to kind of move through that grieving process. So I really appreciate you get you. You are a bunch of really, really good people. And I hope nothing for the best for you in the, you know, in the near future and going forward, period.

41:02Makenzy:I mean, five, 10 years from now. So I really appreciate you guys coming on the podcast today.

41:06Joe Geiger:Yeah, we appreciate you too. Very grateful for the opportunity. Yes.

41:11Makenzy:Thank you. Hey, thanks for listening to the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast. Here's three things that you can do. Number one, remember to subscribe to the podcast. It takes very little effort on your part. It's going to help you and your fellow entrepreneurs. Plus, you guys know how it works. the more subscribers we get, the more cool things we can offer to you. Second, to learn more about growing your business, just download my book, The Coach Approach. It's free for you at giftfrombill.com. That's giftfrombill.com. Hey, and if you'd like more info about growing your business and what we can do to help you grow your business, send me an email directly just send it to williamgilliland at actioncoach.com that's my personal email that i read no one else reads it first there's it's not screened it's my real email just send it to me i can't wait to talk to you hey and until then all the best