I read Chapter Thirteen in Erik Qualman’s, Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence, titled ‘Firm in Destination—Flexible in Path.’ The chapter talks about learning from mistakes, “History repeats itself because nobody listens the first time” (Qualman, 2012). Although a situation may seem negative at the time, it can lead to path where a person finds just what they want to do in life. Be open, flexible and ready to adapt because even though there is a plan in play, it doesn’t always work out like it should. The only time a person should not be flexible is when it comes to anything that compromises being true to one's self.
Many people believe they have a purpose in life; some strive to achieve that purpose while others never start or accomplish anything. Then there are some people like Marie Moody, who never expected to change her path in life until an opportunity presented itself that she could not refuse.
Photo courtesy of http://www.forbes.com/sites/sashagalbraith/2013/01/14/marie-moody-innovative-entrepreneur-fetches-profits-chasing-dog-food/
Moody was a busy New Yorker who marketed high-end labels such as Three Dots. One day Moody adopted Chewy, an Airedale-Shar-Pei mix, from a local rescue. Since he was sick and his immune system was so compromised Marie couldn't feed him regular dog food. A veterinarian suggested switching to a raw food diet and Marie started creating meals for Chewy. (Hurt, 2010)
A year later, Moody adopted Stella, a terrier blend, who was also on the raw food diet. The diet proved to be beneficial to both Chewy and Stella. Soon Marie was thinking about other animals like hers. In 2003, with a loan of $50,000 from her father, Stella & Chewy’s was created in the kitchen of her Manhattan apartment. (Hurt, 2010)
In 2007 she outgrew having her business in her apartment and as of 2010 she maxed out her existing factory space of 20,000 square feet and is looking to expand further. (Hurt, 2010) The paths may change but the destination should remain the same. Moody is a great example of how being open and flexible can come with rewards.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you.” (Qualman, 2012)
You never know what path life is going to take you down, but be open and flexible. The only time a person should not be flexible is when it comes to anything that compromises being true to yourself.
References
Hurt, J. (2010, June 25). From
fashionista to pet food mogul. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/37694300/
Qualman, E. (2012). Digital leader: 5 simple keys to success and influence. McGraw-Hill.
Hi Christine...I found your blog not only inspiring, but extremely touching. I am an animal lover myself and its so refreshing to know that there are others out there who are willing to go beyond the norm and do whatever it takes to care for animals not just in need but with special needs. Marie Moody is a testament to following your heart and taking risks which not only resulted beneficially for her....It ended up benefiting animals nationally including her own. The fact that she even donates proceeds to other animal charities speaks of her genuine love and dedication to animals who need to be cared for....whether its medically or those waiting to be adopted and so desperately wanting a home. Thank you for bringing light to the issue. I hope more people read this and are inspired to adopt or donate to animal charities...or even go as far as to take a risk like Marie Moody to save their pet.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon! Moody just set out to make sure her pet lived a healthy life and it turned into something she didn’t expect. She is very inspiring to people like us whose hearts are really set on helping animals in need. I was touched when I read about her donating proceeds to animal shelters and organizations. If you visit her website in the link above and go to her charitable work page you can see animals that are in need of adoption as well links to some animal organizations. Every little bit helps!
DeleteThis post gave me hope that one day I too will be able to fulfill my dream of being involved in the rescue world. I love animals and want nothing more than to be able to make my love and passion for animals something more. This story was truly inspiring and I hope to make a difference like this someday myself. Thanks for sharing such a great story and passing on such a great dream and message!
ReplyDeleteHi Melanie,
Delete“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you.” This is a quote from Steve Jobs. I really think he is onto something. Loving what you do and having passion about it makes for better work. I hope that your dream is fulfilled. Having a plan and starting off small is better than not starting at all. Plans change and obstacles arise but keep your goal in mind and I am sure you will get to it.
Hi Christine,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story and I enjoyed reading it. I think you really grasped the concept of creating an engaging blog! Even though this is a small story, I was excited to see what happened to Marie Moodie.
In the spirit of flexibility as you discussed in your post, how can Moodie be flexible over the next year to grow her business using digital media? Think about these questions that Qualman asks in chapter 13. I did some paraphrasing but am interested to hear your feedback:
Does my business have time to reach out to happy customers on Twitter (or other social media sites) or should I just respond to the negative ones?
Should we allow our customers to rate our products online?
How else can we engage our customers to achieve our business goals?
Should my business buy the international URL doman for my business name in case I want to expand (I know Moodie has had aggressive expansion)?
References
Erik Qualman's Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence (2012)
Since Moody is a multimillion dollar business there should be an investment in dedicating a person to handling all social and digital media, if they do not already have one. I noticed on their website there are links to Twitter and Facebook. I did not see links to other social media sites like Pinterest, where interviews and products can be “pinned” or YouTube, where short videos about products and adoption success stories can be seen. These sites are popular and hold many potential customers. Instagram would be another great choice as a media to use. Along with Twitter, Instagram is a great way to “hash tag” their way into customers lives. Hash tags help categorize conversations, Stella and Chewy can great and share their own hash tags.
DeleteI believe even a blog would be a good idea. Topics for their blog can include pet care information and guidelines. Their current social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook, have mentions of new products, are used as tools in helping with the adopting of animals and what I see mostly are customer pictures and stories of why they love Stella & Chewy products. Stella & Chewy are active on their social media sites and I think it would benefit them to have customers rate their products as they are already talking about them.
There is not a way to buy directly from the Stella & Chewy site but there are two ways to purchase, online and in store. If you chose online, there is a lengthy list of stores across the USA a customer can order from and if a customer wants to buy in store the customer can type in their zip code or state and stores within a selected radius appear.
As far as I can see Moody is doing great and there is always a little room for improvement and expansion. As I said I see many online and retail stores carrying the product but I did not see any vet offices listed, maybe this is something they should look into. My dog happens to have food allergies, as do some of his brothers and sisters, and until I did this assignment I have not heard of Stella & Chewy. Many pet owners go to the vets office opt buy special dog food. This would be a great way to have their products in front of consumers who are unaware of their products.
Good point about hiring someone to work on social media and other digital initiatives. Many companies employ social media specialists or coordinators nowadays. This is important as you do not want to leave your customers hanging. It is also important for social media to be centralized under 1 "voice." If multiple employees are posting about the brand, messaging may not be as consistent as it should be. As Qualman says, it is important to look back at posts and see if the conversation is heading toward the destination you want it to. Do you think this company's conversation on social media is heading in the right direction based on your observations?
DeleteThey are actively engaged with customers on Facebook and Twitter. They seem to converse about ways their “friends” can help out with their causes, like donating time, money and goods to animals and helping with spreading the word about adoption. Stella & Chewy’s Facebook also seems to be a platform for customers to share pictures and stories about products and their animals. It’s also a way for Stella & Chewy to announce upcoming events and new products. If their goal of using social media is to engage and inform customers, then I think they are doing it right.
DeleteThat's great people are sharing pictures and stories! It seems like this company has fulfilled the goal of engaging customers through social media.
DeleteChristine,
ReplyDeleteI love that your blog pertains to animal rescue as I am an advocate of animal rights. While I love every animal I have been in love with the furry-four-legged friends called dogs since early childhood. My first dog was a rescue and I found your blog post extremely interesting as it relates. Qualman opens his chapter with a quote by John Donahue and one important point that I feel is proven through Moody’s story is that leadership is a marathon, not a sprint (Qualman, 2012). For many individuals they outline a plan or a goal they desire to achieve and they easily lose focus after time. I often hear the excuse, as well as use it myself, that it will take too long to achieve what I hope for or it’s just too hard and it’s simpler to take the easy way out. Therefore I love hearing Moody’s store because as you said she didn’t envision her caring nature and cooking skills to become a multi-million dollar company. She stuck with her passion because she loved what she was doing and she stayed focused on the outcome, the destination… providing healthy food to animals.
It is also evident that Moody has continuously been flexible in her business. Beginning operations her small apartment to relocating when need be (Qualman, 2012). I am curious what some of her ‘failures’ where along this road?
Krystal
References
Qualman, E. (2012). Chapter 13: Firm in destination - flexible in path. In E. Qualman, Digital Leader (pp. 191, 198-199, 201). New York: McGraw Hill.
I don’t think she had failures per se; she had more obstacles that held her back for a little until she overcame or figured them out. When Moody was using her apartment as her “office”, she had to deliver her products and in order to do that she had to take taxis and make her own delivers. She also was a fashion guru and new nothing about making natural, raw dog and cat food. Since she was going from one extreme in her career to the other, she had to start from the very beginning including educating herself on her new “business”. “If you're going from one career into a passion that's totally different, you have to expect to not know everything and be okay with that," Moody says. "But there are people who do know the things you need to know, and you have to find them, and then really ask a lot of questions.” (Hurt, 2010)
DeleteHurt, J. (2010, June 4). From fashionista to pet food mogul. Retrieved from http://www.secondact.com/2010/06/ex-fashion-rep-serves-up-thriving-raw-dog-food-company/
Hi Christine,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post and Marie Moody is a great example of how flexibility in one's path can lead to success in finding a career to be passionate about.
Erik Qualman says that too many people spend their time planning and dreaming but never taking action, and that "In life, you need to just go for it" (p. 193). Marie Moody clearly did just that.
I agree with Krystal's comments that Ms. Moody has shown her ability to be flexible in her business thus far. What do you envision might be the next expansion for Stella and Chewy's as it continues to grow?
References
Qualman, E. (2012). Digital Leader. New York: McGraw Hill.
Before this post I have actually never heard of Stella and Chewy’s. I have many friends and family members who are big animal lovers and none of them have heard of it either. I think they should do more to get their name out there. They are doing well and have loyal customers but what about potential customers? I asked some friends where they buy their dog food, local grocery store (Stop & Stop, Shop Rite), Wal-Mart and the vet happen to be places they all mentioned, but Stella and Chewy’s is not available at any of these locations. This is just an idea to reach people where it is convenient for the customer.
DeleteI see they have Facebook and Twitter, which are great, but I think adding some other social media sites like YouTube and Instagram would be a plus for them, considering most of these can be linked to the other. I know many animal lovers, like myself, who post pictures of their animal on every social media site they have. I would also encourage customers to take pictures and post those pictures. For example I, Christine the customer, would post a picture of my dog next to a Stella & Chewy’s dog treat bag and post it on Instagram with hash tags of what would be recommended by Stella and Chewy’s like #StellaandChewys #rawfooddiet and other ones stating the product and whatever else then I would upload it to Instagram, which happens to be connected to my Facebook and Twitter and tag Stella & Chewy’s in it. It sounds like a lot but taking the picture, tagging them and adding some hash tags is what I normally would do when I take pictures anyway. This way it shows on my social media sites as well as Stella & Chewy’s and encourages others to engage in conversation and follow the lead of posting pictures.
Christine
DeleteI am not surprised to hear that many have not heard of Stella and Chewys because looking at the company website it seems as though Stella and Chewy's produces specialty niche products and the distribution strategy is to stick with natural food and specialty pet stores. I looked up my zip code for where to find it on the website, and although we have several vets and PetSmart here, Stella and Chewy's is available at the few niche pet and natural type stores.
I suppose at some point they could consider expanding to the stores you mentioned, but I bet they won't. Those stores do not fit their brand.
If I had to venture a guess, I would say vets practices do not sell it because this food appeals to the customer who is a whole food/natural type person. So in other words, the customer probably shops at specialty organic stores and also is most likely very holistic. That demographic is the type who doesn't look to the medical community. They are looking to alternative lifestyle solutions. They are also not Wal Mart or Shop Rite customers. And they also don't make decisions based on a convenience factor.
What do both of you think about opening stores or making their products available in specialty organic stores? Or, in towns with populations that gravitate towards these types of products. For example, I live in New Paltz, NY where people in general gravitate towards these types of stores. Another example would be Burlington, VT. Could they use social media to grow their presence in these cities?
DeleteJames,
DeleteIf you are referring to opening Stella and Chewy's stores, I would vote no as a first reaction. I don't know any specialty pet foods that survive this way which to me means they probably cannot.
I think the product belongs where it currently is, in specialty type pet shops that carry organic and raw diet foods, where higher end products are supported.
With regards to using social media to grow their current business, this is a very good idea, and expected in today's environment.
That is a good point Kristin, if they are trying to reach the market of natural food and specialty pet stores, then those suggestions would not really fit into their strategy. I too typed in my zip code and with 5 miles there were about 6 special pet stores that carried their products. None of which I go to and they are all out of the way. All of the stores were located along the coast line in small towns and not in any of the surrounding cities. Would think a store like Whole Foods would be a better option than Shop Rite or Wal-Mart? I will be honest and say that I have never been to a Whole Foods store, I do buy some “organic” products but it’s usually in the organic isle at the local Stop & Shop or at farmer markets.
DeleteChristine,
DeleteI just think for a specialty pet food product, no grocery store fits the distribution strategy, not even Whole Foods. It may be frustrating to some that it's hard to get but that may be part of the appeal. Just a thought.
I can see that. Maybe the thought is not to expand to that extent. The customers they seem to have are loyal. I see comments about people being long time customers and that may be what is important to them.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteA creative approach may be to purchase a 'lunch truck' and travel to surrounding dog parks. This way she is interacting with her public, getting her name out to many more people and essentially selling her product. I think a ton of relationships could be built this way. Considering the posts shared by Mark in our Facebook group - Moody could utilize social media to find her and interact with the lunch truck for dogs. :) Honestly, this whole approach sounds very appealing!
DeleteCaring for pets is expensive. I hate it when Boom (or Sir Charlie Bear) gets sick of eating the same food and I try to switch it up, I spend money on a new bag of food only to find out he doesn’t like it or he is allergic to it and then I have to go buy another bag and pray he likes that food. A friend refereed me to a few websites where we ended up getting samples of dog food. Boom has tried Beneful, Nutrish by Rachael Ray and a few others and I now know which ones he likes and can switch those up. Maybe they should offer something like this. Have samples at stores where they already sell their food and try to get their target customer to switch from their current brand to Stella and Chewy’s. We, as pet owners, do not eat the food so we do not care what we buy as long as it is good for the dog and they like it.
DeleteKrystal - that's such a great idea!It's kind of like social media on wheels (engaging with the public)
DeleteKrystal
DeleteI agree with James. The lunch truck is an ingenious idea. Have you seen something similar done before? I am curious how you came up with that suggestion because it really seems like such a wonderful idea. A mobile marketing app would be great, telling the consumers where the truck is so they can track it. Imagine that! I love the idea.
Krystal, I agree with James and Kristin. Having a sort of boutique style lunch truck for dogs would be very refreshing and interesting to see. I think it would certainly add some interest to the social media aspect of the company.
DeleteThe truck also would have very little overhead compared to a store. It's a nice solution to give her brand more presence. How do you all think social media could be integrated with this concept? I think that it would be great to be able to follow the bus on Twitter and Facebook with updates about its location.
DeleteI think following the bus on Facebook and Twitter would be great. They can also gain more followers if they have special incentives for just their Facebook friends or their Twitter followers. They can incorporate other social media sites, like YouTube, uploading videos with comments from customers about their products. It can be a great source of feedback as well. They can take polls on Twitter asking where they should head, go to places where customers want to see them.
Delete@ Kristin - In all honesty I have never seen anything like the lunch truck idea I provided. It was a random creative thought.
DeleteI do see it as a great method to build relationships with the Moody's publics and really personalize customers experiences. Perhaps one day you may run across a Stella and Chewy's lunch truck ;)
That would be so funny if one day we see one of these! I think it's an awesome idea and it would really catch on quickly.
DeleteChristine,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, it was very inspiring to read and I really like the connection you are making between animal rescue and the lessons we are reading. I, like so many others, believe that I have some sort of purpose. Unfortunately, I have not yet gotten to the point where I know what that is. It is because of this I am flexible. I know that opportunity will present itself as long as I am open to the idea of change and growth. I share Qualman's sentiments about only being as flexible as to not compromise who you are. All too often it seems that people are willing to settle into an existence that will never allow them to realize their full potential.
I think that is really great that you are flexible and open. I see people who do not know their purpose yet and are closed off thinking it will help with figuring it out. They only allow time for what they chose and change and growth is not in them. The more closed off they are the less likely they are to realize their purpose. Risk, and like you said, change and growth is all a part of it as well.
DeleteI completely agree, I do not see how someone could remain closed off to new and different things and still think that they will be able to grow.
DeleteGreat real-life example, Christine. It shows that your plans can shift throughout life, and its not necessarily a bad thing! Opportunities pop up in life and not everything can be planned for. Relating to Chapter 12 about laughable goals, even though Moody's original plan had changed, she still set goals that motivated her on her new path.
ReplyDeleteWhen you apply Chapter 13 to social media, you learn that you must continually reevaluate your strategies to make sure you are still on the right track AND that your goals are still the same. Sometimes priorities shift or new technologies are introduced. Your original plan can waiver. It's what you do to adapt that it most important.