Echoes of Impact (Aired 07-29-2025):IRS Back Taxes: Fresh Start & OIC — plus Ethical Pet Grooming Tips | Echoes of Impact

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sam. [00:00:32] Speaker B: Welcome to Echoes of Impact, the show where we dive deep into the stories, challenges and breakthroughs of those creating real lasting change in the world. I am your host, Noor Al Masri. In today's episode, we will have two amazing guests. We will start with a serious topic that is important for every single single one of you or maybe someone you know if it's not for you. And bear with me if you have a pet or planning on adapting one because my second guest will talk to you a lot on how to protect them and how to really take care of them. But now let's start with my first guest. If you ever wrestled with back taxes with the irs, I know when you get those letters you try to ignore them, pretend that they didn't happen. But my guest today will tell you otherwise. So stay with me and welcome my guest so far. Welcome to Echoes of Impact with Noora. How are you today? [00:01:49] Speaker C: I'm good, thank you. How are you doing? [00:01:52] Speaker B: Great. Very excited to talk to you in such an important topic. So can you give the audience a little background about you and what you're doing? [00:02:02] Speaker C: Okay. My name is Safwan Al Syed and I started tax and accounting business under like Global Gate tax and accounting service since like 2019 to help people with tax problem. Many people are scared when they get a letter from irs. I wanted to help them feel safe, fix their problem and plan for the future. [00:02:35] Speaker B: That is awesome. So can you rem like do you remember the moment where you decided like, okay, this is what the business I'm going to have and this is the model of the business you're going to. [00:02:46] Speaker C: Have like on 2019. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Okay, so is there, was there an incident that led you to want to start a tax business? [00:02:57] Speaker C: My background, it's like I have a master degree in accounting and I get the license for like an Enroll agent in 2018. So I decided to start business by my own to help those people, individual people and the small business. [00:03:21] Speaker B: That's awesome. This is such an important business. Everyone needs it now. [00:03:26] Speaker C: Absolutely, yes. [00:03:29] Speaker B: So like you said like people are terrified when it comes to taxes to the point that they don't really open this letter. So what's your advice to the person that he received the letter and now like they feel like they don't, they want to ignore it. What do you tell them? [00:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah, once someone here received a letter, he's supposed to read it like carefully and check for like a tax professional to help him what he has to do. And because some, some IRS notice it had like a deadline and that will cost him like more interest and penal. Maybe the solution will be like just like a phone call or like to reply. But they miss most of the people, they miss like the deadline to reply. And the irs, he will take the action against them. [00:04:31] Speaker B: So what type of actions could the IRS do take like toward those taxpayers? [00:04:39] Speaker C: Let's just say, yeah, they can, they can levy the bank, they can file a lien, they can seize the property and like, sorry, they want to file a lien, they can seize the property, they can levy the bank. Just the action, they can take it. They will garnish the wages, they will garnish the Social Security. Yeah, something like that, yeah. [00:05:16] Speaker B: Wow. So you guys hear that? Like you don't want your account to be compromised by the IRS because you owe them. So when you receive the letter, read it well, as of one said. And if you need help, how can people connect with you first? Like do you work with people nationwide or do you work with people like around only in your area? [00:05:37] Speaker C: No, we work, we our office in California and we help all the people we work like nationwide with the 50 state. We open at 6am, we close 6pm. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Wow, that is like 12 hours a day. [00:05:54] Speaker C: Yeah. We have different shift. Yeah. So we have the expert people on the phone all the day. [00:06:02] Speaker B: That's awesome. So that, so how do you help the person when someone like comes to you like and say they have this problem with the IRS and maybe the phone call is not going to solve the problem? What is your strategies with that? [00:06:16] Speaker C: Yeah, first of all the clients, he came to us, we signed like the power of, of attorney and he give us like authorization to represent him with IRS or the state. And within like two to three days we do a compliance check like investigation. We call tax investigation, we call the IRS and we see what the irs they have and we do the full compliance check for all years, unfile the balance, everything. And after three days we get back to the clients with the solution. Because once we get all the IRS transcript, we know exactly what the class he has about his income, about his equity and everything. And we will see based on the Fresh Start program, IRS Fresh Start program, we see what he qualify for and we get back to the client, we want to tell him, hey, you have to file those here, you owe this balance, you have this pen, we can waive it. You qualify for like for this. And we move forward for like, we call like phase two to help him to resolve the issue. [00:07:44] Speaker B: That's awesome. So what's the most. So basically like you're taking the pressure off the client so they can focus on their life without worrying about what IRS has to do with them. So what's the most common strategy that you often use with clients? [00:07:59] Speaker A: Like. [00:08:02] Speaker C: We wanna, as I told you once we, we get everything and we see if he has like a hardship and a hard time. He couldn't pay to the irs. So that's mean he qualify for OIC offer in compromise. So maybe he wanna all sometimes he want to owe like 100,000, sometimes we resolve in like lump sum like 500. We after we collect all the documentation. Some classes not qualify for offer in compromise. But those people, maybe he filed his tax return, he owe taxes, he has like a high penalty. So this penalty we can waive it. Sometimes he filed his tax return and he owe a lot but his tax return file incorrectly. So we do like amendment return. [00:08:55] Speaker B: Yeah, I want to stop on the this number you mentioned. Sometimes they might owe 100k and then with the offer and compromise, you bring them down to $500. [00:09:07] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. If someone like let's say he owe back taxes like seven years ago or six years ago, whatever, and now he has like a hardship. So we order from the class like the bank statement, proof of bills and all his financial, all bank statement and everything. And we study line by line, we study his financial and we have like a high tech software. We showing us for each county what the standard expenses the IRS allowed. And we want to compare if his disposal income will be almost like zero or something. That means he has a hardship. And we submit all the application to the irs. And once the IRS he will receive it, he will call us like after like three, three months. And we start negotiation with the IRS to show them that he has like a hardship. Once IRS he want to approve it, they want to accept the 500 and he want to be the 500 and 100,000 will be like zero. And we will keep the clients on track because after the irs he want to be approved the oic they have to be complained for the next five years. He has to file on time, pay on time. So we keep monitor the cases until the at last time he want to owe nothing. [00:10:45] Speaker B: Wow. So what's an incredible service that you take the client from 100k to $500 and you stay with him for 5 years to monitor his return to make sure he does not ruin what you just did for him. Yeah, that is an incredible service. Thank you so much for doing this, helping people and helping other business owners. So how can people connect with you. [00:11:09] Speaker C: Through the email and we have our phone number, 877-800-8180. I have like eight sales people already on the phone to help everyone. Like a free consultation. They want to hear, they wanna ask any questions. Yeah, those people available from 6am to 6pm every day. [00:11:34] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Safwan, for being here with me today. Thank you for the incredible information and the hope that you might give to someone who might owe like a lot of money to the irs, yet they cannot pay it back. So they know now they have a solution. So guys, if you are that person, if you need help or maybe you need you, you know someone who might need help, please feel free to reach out to Safwan. Make sure you, you reach out to his office. His incredible team will answer you and help you in the best way ever. So stay with us until after the break. We're gonna have another incredible guest with us today. If you are a vet owner or maybe are looking to adopt a bet you want us to want to stay with us because our guests in the next segment. This is what she's going to talk about. All right. This is your host, Noora Masri and this is Echoes of Impact with Noora. We'll be right back. [00:12:58] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:13:09] Speaker B: Welcome back. This is your host Noora Masri and this is Echoes of Impact with Noora. Loving what you're watching, don't miss a moment of Echoes of Impact or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows, live or on demand, anytime, anywhere. Download the free Now Media TV app on Ruko or iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. If you prefer to listen on the go, catch the podcast version of the show right on the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and breaking news to lifestyle, culture and everything in between, now media TV is streaming 24. 7 ready whenever you are. Today we have another guest. I told you you should stick with us if you have a bet on or planning to adopt one. We are welcoming back our amazing guest, Dara Forlo, the founder of the whole pet grooming academy and host of the business side of pet care. With over 20 years in the pet industry, she's not only transformed how pets are cared for, she is reshaping the professionalism behind it all all. She is on a mission to raise standards, educate the next generation and advocate for ethical care in the pet space. Dara, welcome to Echoes of Impact. Again. Welcome back. I'm very happy to see you again. [00:15:06] Speaker A: Nice to See you again. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Awesome. Nice to see you. I'm really, really happy to have you here because really you have such an incredible and such a unique movement. And I can't say anything like less than a movement. It's truly a movement what you're having and really appreciate it that you're taking care and education people, educating people about like how should they take care of their pet. So talking, talking about education, what inspired you to go from grooming animals to educating future groomers? [00:15:43] Speaker A: Well, we're, we're in a transition so because we don't take entry level people into the industry anymore. As for grooming, there are a lot of people out there that do that and we, we promote to other schools that do the hands on. Our role is, you said we're, we're creating a movement and the, the movement is, is stemming from the, the viral videos that are going around on Tick Tock and social media and of just how animals are being mistreated unintentionally by people who are claiming to be professionals in the industry. So we're, we're kind of shifting our, our way to, to say we're here to try and really showcase the, the professionalism of others in the industry and people that are, are taking steps to, to be progressive and put the animals first. Yeah, I really think that the, that, that the animals are the ones who are being affected by this and you know, I don't want to throw anybody under the bus or anything, but there's a lot of bad information floating around out there right now and we're trying to show the other side of it. [00:17:15] Speaker B: Wow. So was there a story that inspired you really to start this movement? [00:17:23] Speaker A: It was not so much a story as much as it's my team. Those that work with me and those that are on board with the academy are students, our graduates, our, our alumni. They're the ones behind what we do because they're the ones that are, are doing the work. We're giving them the foundation and we're giving them the support. And our support comes from us being a team together and us promoting them and saying, yeah, you're doing the right things. And we want to support that and we want to embrace that and we want to get you into the general public and show these are the people you want taking care of your pets. [00:18:10] Speaker B: Oh, nice nice. So did you ever have a fear or doubt that about teaching others on how they should take care of their pets? And how did you overcome that come that if you ever have a fear. [00:18:25] Speaker A: Oh, the fear Is more. More of, oh, gosh, you just don't want to hurt them. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:33] Speaker A: So that. That is something. And building your own confidence and confidence really plays into those animals being on the table. I think a lot of pet owners have. Have a. Have a fear or anxiety of doing something themselves and triggers the dogs or just being nervous about, oh, mine are going to bark. Sorry. Hey. [00:19:03] Speaker B: Just want to voice his opinion. [00:19:06] Speaker A: Yeah, they. Oh, they got big opinions, so. But yeah, the. The fear, you know, it's. It's really having. Being confident in what you. What you do and understanding what you're doing really plays a big part in. [00:19:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So did you always own a dog. [00:19:32] Speaker A: Or have I always had dogs? I can't remember a time not having pets. My gosh, it's been a long time. I think since the early 80s. I have not been petless. [00:19:47] Speaker B: Wow. That's. You only have dogs or do you also have cats? [00:19:51] Speaker A: We have. I have three dogs. Three cats. [00:19:54] Speaker B: Wow. [00:19:55] Speaker A: We got a couple horses. [00:19:57] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Yeah. [00:20:00] Speaker A: There's a menagerie, you know. [00:20:02] Speaker B: What states are you in? [00:20:04] Speaker A: Massachusetts. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Nice. It's cold there. Like, okay, you have a horse. You have to. [00:20:09] Speaker A: You said, well, our horses are. Are not at home. They're at the racetrack. [00:20:13] Speaker B: Oh, wow. I always wanted to have a horse, so one day I'll have one. [00:20:19] Speaker A: Ours are in New York. [00:20:22] Speaker B: Nice. Wow. So. Wow. So I'm gonna be, like, talking to you when I have my horse. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. [00:20:30] Speaker B: Not sure how soon. What? [00:20:33] Speaker A: You're in New York, right? So you're gonna. [00:20:35] Speaker B: I am in Chicago, actually. It's freezing cold. [00:20:38] Speaker A: Oh, wow. I had. I thought. For some reason, I thought you were in New York. [00:20:43] Speaker B: No, no, I'm in Chicago. Similar weather. [00:20:47] Speaker A: You're about on par with us. It's like. It's beautiful. It's like 70 degrees right now. [00:20:53] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. It's nice now here in Chicago because last few weeks, like, it was very humid and we didn't really love it, but. Yeah, like, this is really interesting, and I. I see how much you care and love bats and, you know, like, so who is better than you to talk about how to take care of them? [00:21:13] Speaker A: Well, I'm gonna say, uhhuh. I have a lot of graduates in Chicago. [00:21:17] Speaker B: Wow. [00:21:19] Speaker A: So any pet owners in Chicago, in that area, you let us know. We've got the groomers. [00:21:26] Speaker B: That's awesome. Awesome. So do they usually have their own place or. [00:21:32] Speaker A: Quite a few that are business owners. Yes. [00:21:34] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:21:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And we work with your chic. There's a Illinois grooming association and we work with them. [00:21:45] Speaker B: Oh, nice. [00:21:46] Speaker A: You have a very, very good organization within the state that is monitoring, that's monitoring everything and they are an amazing organization and a lot of great groomers spread. [00:22:07] Speaker B: That's awesome. So for someone who's maybe watching us or listening to us and they're thinking maybe this is something they want to pursue. What, what, what do you tell them, like how they feel like they are qualified enough maybe to teach other people on how to take care of their pets. What advice would you give to them for? [00:22:30] Speaker A: So say that again. Other people looking like groomers wanting to teach people how to yes. Keep their pets. I mean that's part of our job. We need to be doing that and helping, helping owners understand what we do is a big part of being a groomer. If we're not, if we're not getting across and you're not understanding what we're doing and why are even coming to us for grooming, it's, you know, you have to know and understand what's going on. So it's part of our, our job to, to educate you and to help you with that transition. In between grooming appointments, getting a new pet, introducing a new pet. What, what brushes you can use at home, what kind of products you can use at home. All of those things really help with the in between aspects. And a lot of groomers are going to have that material. A lot of people are going to have that information for you. And it's a good question to ask if, if you're looking for a groomer, you can go onto our website. We do have a pet owner's guide that is on our website. We have an entire page just for pet owners. And you can find all of our graduates and where they're at because we have an international presence. So our graduates. [00:23:53] Speaker B: Oh wow. [00:23:54] Speaker A: United States. They're all over the world. [00:23:56] Speaker B: What's your website? [00:23:58] Speaker A: It's a whole petsmh.com so it's just like whole pet nh.com. yeah, there it is. [00:24:07] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:24:08] Speaker A: And that is, that's a great way to, to really get started. We've got a lot of tips on there. We have a community online for pet owners as well. Where you in and talk to our educators, our graduates, you can ask your questions and we can help guide you in the right way. So there are a lot of options on our website for pet owners and, and we want to help and assist you guys too. Get, get in the right hands. We're, we're here for the pets that's awesome. First and foremost. [00:24:42] Speaker B: That's awesome. Thank you so much, Dara. Like, we're gonna be back with you after the break. So, guys, if you want to hear more from Dara, stay here and Dara will talk to us more after the break. This is your host, Noor Al Masri. And this is Echoes of Impact with Noora. We'll be right back. [00:25:07] Speaker A: Sam, welcome back. [00:25:35] Speaker B: This is your host, Noora Al Masri. And this is Echoes of Impact with Noora. We are back with Dara, a passionate leader bringing professionalism and purpose into the pet grooming space. In this segment, we are diving into what it's like to work in the field that's often misunderstood and how to rise above judgments. The problem facing many in the audience is that working and pet grooming or animal care often feel like their profession isn't respected. And it can feel deeply discouraging. So, Daria, welcome back. I have a question for you. Have you ever, like, if I am, don't I haven't been asking you a question all the time. Right. Have you ever, have you ever faced people looking down on what you do and how did you respond to this judgment? [00:26:40] Speaker A: So I'm not sure if it's that people look down on what we do. It's that we are because the industry is not licensed and it's not regulated. A lot of people don't take us as serious professionals and with no credibility, no credentials, no governing body, that, that kind of really makes it hard for people to take you serious. We get a lot of comments as groomers and, and probably more in the other industries, dog training, you know, anything in the pet care that we play with dogs all day, that's all we do. You just play with dogs all day. And our jobs are hard. It's a lot more than, than a pretty picture or playing with dogs in a daycare or boarding and kenneling. You know, there are a lot of factors that go into all of our industry areas and it's just, it's very multifaceted. So we, we really, as an educator to stand out is kind of what we're doing is giving that credential. I don't want to say we're giving it, but our students are working towards their formal education, which is the first step for becoming a licensed trade or even considered as a trade. [00:28:10] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. And I love that how you took that problem like to really make it a solution and help those other people in the industry to get certified and saying, hey, this is an incredible professional who can help you with your bet. So thank you for that. Like, very few people who can turn and turn something like negative into that much positive with education. Like, for me, education is, is the best. You know, like, you cannot go wrong with educating people. You get better clients with these, you get better vet owners, you get better groomer, you get better parents, you, education is amazing. And this is why we are here, like, talking to you and speaking of education and speaking of echoes of impact and now media tv, I want to say congratulations on your new TV show. [00:29:09] Speaker A: Well, thank you. Yes. [00:29:11] Speaker B: Tell us a little bit about the TV show. [00:29:14] Speaker A: Oh, why? Well, you know, it's a lot of this. I'm going to be talking to actually other professionals within the industry, and we're gonna be talking about that, that voice, the voice of the animals, the empathy, the compassion that needs to happen. You know, there's, there is, there's somebody for everyone. And the, the name, it just, it flows so well with everything that we do at the school with it being the business of pet care. And, you know, I teach all the business classes at the school. We do, we, we're a lot more than just a pet grooming school. We have something for a lot of people, like you said, the pet owners. And you know, this program is, is really for you. We, we need to get our, our word out there and we need to, to get that out there for the animals and the pets that we serve and the, and the people that are, are their handlers and their caregivers. So I'm excited to have that. [00:30:20] Speaker B: That's awesome. I'm excited to watch it. So tell us the name of the show again. [00:30:24] Speaker A: It's the Business of Pet Care. [00:30:27] Speaker B: Oh, and do you know when is the first episode's gonna come out? Like, when should people wait for it? [00:30:32] Speaker A: It should be coming out in the next few weeks. We've got a few more to do. So it, it is definitely coming out. But, you know, you can find me on LinkedIn. I do have some social media. You know, I post about it on the personal pages, we share it, it's listed on the website, so it's coming soon. [00:30:55] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's awesome. Can't wait. And congratulations on that. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you. I have you to thank. [00:31:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, thank you. Thank you. So how do, like, I want to hear stories. There are people like, maybe waiting for stories. So can you tell us a story of moments when someone finally understood the value of your work, what you've been doing into the industry? [00:31:20] Speaker A: Oh, so me personally or people that I work with. [00:31:24] Speaker B: Whatever you. You have. [00:31:26] Speaker A: You know what? Every time we have a graduate, every time we have an enrollment, we know we're doing our job. Our. Our graduates and, and the, the educators that we have that do all of our, our teaching and our curriculum writing and our fact checking. Every single one of them. We. Let's see. I'm trying to think of anyone in particular. I'm trying. I believe we just had a graduate from one of our programs just today from Chicago. [00:32:03] Speaker B: Oh, nice. [00:32:04] Speaker A: Pretty sure I'm gonna have to double check that. But, you know, we, we have a podcast about it. I just can't think of anybody right now. You put me on the spot with that one. Yeah, yeah, you put me on the spot with that one. [00:32:23] Speaker B: No worries. So direct us to our. Your podcast. [00:32:27] Speaker A: So that one's called. Actually, it's Creating Great Grooming Dogs and Creating Great Grooming Dogs is one of our. It's all about how you turn a pos. A. A negative situation into a positive one for an animal and how you get them from having a bad, bad, bad experience on the grooming table or a bad experience and, and turning it into a positive and getting them. Because grooming in, in the, the way you've got. You get a puppy at 10, 12, 16 weeks old and those puppies have, depending on what size and what breed, they could have 17 years of grooming ahead of them. And for an animal that it's. That is done on a regular basis, a pet that sees their groomer with the consistency and knows their groomer and has that good positive experience right from the beginning, it becomes part of their life and it becomes part of their routine. And that's what makes a good experience. So you want to think about that when you're getting these pets and you're getting the animals in and know that your relationship with your groomer is a lot more than just dropping your dog off and picking them up four hours later. You really want to consider that relationship based on who they are, what you. How you get along, how they interact with you and how they interact with your animal. Because at the end of the day, you could have a 17 year span of being part of that. That relationship and as a groomer, the longevity of, of working with animals, they become part of us and we love them as much as you do. And if it hurts us to, to lose them and because they're part of our family as well as your family. So really think about that for, for your. For your future groomers and, and that you want a compassionate and empathetic person. [00:34:42] Speaker B: Absolutely. So for your curriculum. Just came to my mind where you're talking. We have two cats. One of them, like, both of them are sweetheart. But one of them is very, very easy. Like, he doesn't complain if you just think his nail or doing anything. He just stay still. Doesn't. But doesn't act out at all. The other one. Oh, my God. She is. Just doesn't want to sit like. And she's very difficult when we take her to any groomer to the point. So my daughter takes care of them. So she. She stopped taking her at all. She cuts her nail on her own and even she gives her. She gives her a very hard time. Do you have any curriculum something like how to deal with this type of pets, like and to comfort them more. [00:35:27] Speaker A: So, you know, there are a lot of things. There are. We always say the last resort is going to be any type of sedative, but our calming remedies. And if. I mean, I have three cats at home and I groom them at home myself. I'm not a. I don't wash them because not all cats want to be washed. [00:35:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:50] Speaker A: That again, is a process. You start them young and train them to it. But I never did with my guys. And so I brush them and clean them up and they have their sprays and they're all good. But taking them in the car. Yeah. No, they don't want to go in the car at the last place I got to do. Right. So that traveling is very stressful. And if you can do it at home. There is nothing wrong with doing it at home. [00:36:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:16] Speaker A: And. And doing that. It's having the right equipment. That's going to be your biggest. Biggest thing is having the right brush, having the right comb and making it part of your routine at home. So maybe your washer and dryer is a great place because it's nice and flat and put a mat on it or a countertop in some area and make that part of your feeding routine. So they get cookies or something. And now you're training them to. This is a positive. This is. When we do this, it's not on their space. It's in a particular spot. And that's where that training triggers comes in. [00:37:00] Speaker B: Oh, that's awesome. [00:37:02] Speaker A: Aiding that spot. [00:37:03] Speaker B: I love that I'm gonna bring those tips to my daughter. So thank you so much for sharing all these great insight. Dara. Your voice is really elevating the entire industry. I love that you are creating it movement. I will be back with you after the break for the guys. Stay with us like you don't want to miss any moment with Daryl. And we'll be right back. Welcome back to Echoes of Impact. Loving what you're watching. Don't miss a moment of Echoes of Impact or any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows. Live or on demand, anytime, anywhere. Download the free Now Media TV app on Ruko or iOS and enjoy instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. If you prefer to listen on the go catch the episodes version on the podcast of the show right on the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and breaking news to lifestyle culture and everything in between, now media TV is streaming 24. 7 ready whenever you are. Welcome back to Echoes of Impact. We are here again with Dara, who is not just growing a business, but leading with purpose. We will explore the deeper definition of success and how to find fulfillment when numbers alone are not enough. The problem facing many in the audience, Dara, is that success is often measured by money or size. Like how much money I'm bringing, how many, maybe staff member do I have? But that can feel really like Holo when their work is heart centered, like your work. Like you really care about the, and the animals, the pets, you want to make sure they are safe, they are taken care of. So I like that you are here with us today so you can tell them like, what does success really mean to you and how that definition change over time. [00:40:06] Speaker A: You know, sometimes I think a lot of people, like you said, they, they look at a number or look at the number of employees they have, how much money they're making. But it's, it's very personal. And you know, a lot of people ask that question, what do you think it is? Um, but one thing it isn't is comparing yourself to somebody else. And nobody can compare their business to somebody else because what my take on it is going to be different than somebody else's. And for me it's been a transition of growing from a grooming salon that operated as a grooming salon and, and knowing that I had a bigger mission. I have a bigger, I have a bigger journey ahead of me and I have a lot of ambitions. So I want to continue to grow and continue to move forward. And for me, that works. I knew that there was something more. So I have to keep pushing and finding and seeing and going one step ahead. And my journey isn't going to be the same as somebody who's really happy just having a grooming salon and they should find their success in that because if they're doing what they love at the end of the day and everyone's happy and healthy and safe, that's the success right there. It's not the, the money in the bank, though. That's really nice. Yeah, the money in the bank is really nice. But, you know. Yeah. It's lucky for us as pet care providers that we have such a passion for the animals that we can do this for a living. And being able to roll that in to education. I'm a serial scholar. Put a book in front of me and I'm going to consume it. Like, I love learning and I love school and I'm in my MBA right now for business. [00:42:18] Speaker B: Wow. [00:42:20] Speaker A: You know, I, I'm, I can't do better for anybody else and help anybody else without doing better myself. [00:42:29] Speaker B: Absolutely. I can't agree more. So have you ever felt like a season in your life, like where the number maybe looked good but you still, you did not feel successful? [00:42:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a problem. Yes, honestly, it is. I do, I wonder about that. And I, it's hard to not compare to somebody else and it's hard to not look at as somebody else and go, oh my gosh, I am working so hard. Why am I not there? Why am I not at that level? How come my life isn't looking like that? But we don't know what's going on on the inside. Perception. Right. You know, but he knows what's going on on the inside. And it's, it's hard as a small business owner to find somebody to work with that as, as a, I mean, I have business mentors, I have had business coaches and I have done them outside of our industry because it's hard to find somebody who's at my level. And I don't want to make that sound like, oh, I'm better than everyone. Because that's not. What I'm saying is it's not that I'm better than anybody else, but it's that I want to be better. [00:43:54] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. [00:43:56] Speaker A: I want to be better. And so it's looking outside and so people I work with in the school and people that, groomers and, and pet care providers that come to me for coaching, I want to give them the best to make them better. [00:44:14] Speaker B: That's awesome. I love that. Yeah, I love that. I love that. But what are the non financial ones that have meant the most for you in this journey? [00:44:27] Speaker A: Say that again. [00:44:28] Speaker B: The non financial Ones that have meant the most for you in your journey. [00:44:37] Speaker A: Man, you're stumping me today. [00:44:41] Speaker B: Like maybe is it, is it probably like teaching someone like who's taking care of the animal or, or maybe like doing it yourself or maybe something else that you do like you feel like, oh, okay, this meant to me like more than a million dollar or more. [00:44:58] Speaker A: Like, you know, I, I love seeing other owners, other business owners, other groomers when they get that light and it's like, oh, oh, I get it now because you know, as, as groomers and we're a lot of them aren't going to business school. They're not going and, and getting their, they're not going to get in their mba, right? Like they're not. I do all kinds of classes on social media and digital marketing and web development so that I can bring that back and giving, being able to pass that on to them and, and do our weekly seminars and our weekly coaching calls and how many people are starting to come to those in our community. It's like that is just so nice having like minded people being part of our journey and that, that comes from our own online community. I mean we've left social media, we're not in Facebook anymore. We have our own platform and we love having people in there and being able to give back to them. [00:46:14] Speaker B: That's awesome. So how do you guide your students and staff like to find fulfillment beyond profit and their journey? [00:46:21] Speaker A: Oh my goodness. We meet so many times. We are so active with each other. We keep in contact. I love hearing the success stories of our graduates. That's. I love when they call. I, we just had an one here in, in New Hampshire and she opened her second location and it's like that is amazing. That is so exciting that she opened her second location. When we have groomers that are like, oh, I just want to work for somebody. And then all of a sudden it's like no, I want to go open my own place. And it's like, yes, that's also. [00:46:57] Speaker B: Do they have the freedom when they have, they work in other places like to implement the same strategies maybe and method that you teach them? [00:47:06] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we hope they do. [00:47:09] Speaker B: Yeah. You didn't hear any stories that like they were not happy like because they were not able to apply anything or some of the stuff. [00:47:19] Speaker A: I mean you're never going to please everyone, right? So we've had ours, we've had our share. There are people that have not, you know, you, you get what you put in, right? Yeah, anything. You get what you put in, you go to school, they're going to be D students, they're going to be a students, you're going to have a valedictorian, people that are going to flunk out. It's what they put in. And there's sometimes as a teacher, as an educator, we can't force it upon them. So if they're not gonna, you know, you people want to level themselves up. That's, that's what we do. And absolutely. Or not. [00:47:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. So they don't really have that much trouble when they go work for someone else. Like to apply the strategies and things that you teach them so that if they, if there's a will, there's a way. [00:48:11] Speaker A: We. Absolutely, yes. We try to make sure that, you know, our doors are open. You're, you're not kicked out. You're, once you graduate, you're part of the family. And if you need anything, they come back to us and we want to see them again. [00:48:25] Speaker B: That's awesome. So how can people connect with you and become a student or work with you? [00:48:34] Speaker A: Wholepetnh.com you can find me on LinkedIn, you can find me on social media. We're, we're everywhere. Well, we try to be, you know. [00:48:46] Speaker B: Can you, can you say your website again, especially for those who are listening to us? [00:48:51] Speaker A: Yes. It's a whole pet nh.com and it's just like it says, whole. Because we like to think that we are talking about more and we look at the whole as everything, including owners. So owners come find us too because we want to meet you. [00:49:11] Speaker B: That's awesome. Thank you so much, Dara. Thank you for being my guest today. So for me, of course, of course. I love having you. You really. Wisdom and courage and conviction are inspiring. Not just for the vet care industry, but for anyone trying to make a meaningful difference. Maybe creating a movie movement, maybe the first one in their industry to create something. [00:49:34] Speaker A: Don't be afraid. Think outside the box. [00:49:36] Speaker B: Absolutely. To our audience, legacy does not start when you retire. It starts when you realize your work can outlive you. Whether you're building a business, raising a family, or mentoring someone at a time, what you are doing matters. If you've ever wondered if you are making a difference, let Dara's story remind you. Every student you teach, every standard you raise, every ripple you create, that is an impact. I am your host, Noora Masri, and this is Echoes of Impact with Noora. Until next time, keep making an impact.