The more I’ve learned and grown as a business owner this year, the more clearly I’ve been able to see everything I still want to improve. What I didn’t expect was how easily that awareness could turn into insecurity, hesitation, and even a desire to become less visible inside my own business.
In this episode, I’m peeling back the curtain on one of my biggest lessons from 2026: learning that two seemingly contradictory things can be true at the same time. DogCo can be creating meaningful, life-changing results for pet care companies AND still have areas where I want to become a better leader, improve our systems, and create even more impact. If you’ve ever struggled to celebrate how far you’ve come because you’re hyper-focused on how far you still have to go, this episode is for you.
#EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessLeadership #PetCareBusiness
⏱️ Timestamps
0:00 - My biggest business mistake of 2026
0:55 - A year of growth and a completely new DogCo model
2:02 - When learning more makes you realize how much you don’t know
3:21 - The insecurity that started affecting how I showed up
5:32 - What an outside review of DogCo revealed
7:10 - Learning how to hold two truths at the same time
8:29 - Celebrating impact while still seeing opportunities to improve
10:20 - Why new clients need quick wins before the hard work
11:12 - The biggest mistake I made this year
12:09 - My commitment for the rest of 2026
🧠 Key Takeaways
- Growth often reveals how much more there is to learn
- Becoming more skilled does not automatically make you feel more confident
- Seeing opportunities for improvement does not erase the progress you have already made
- Two seemingly contradictory truths can both be true at the same time
- Your business can be deeply impactful and still have areas that need work
- Constantly focusing on what is wrong can make it difficult to protect what is already working
- Business owners need enough perspective to recognize both their strengths and their blind spots
- New clients often need tangible early wins before they are ready for deeper, more difficult work
- Better leadership does not require believing that everything you have done before was wrong
- Insecurity can quietly reduce your willingness to market, lead, create, and be visible
- You can honor how far your business has come while continuing to push yourself toward what it can become
🚀 Join Me at the DogCo Business Summit
If you’re ready to become a stronger leader, see your business more clearly, and build a pet care company capable of creating greater impact without losing sight of what is already working, I’d love to have you join us at the DogCo Business Summit, October 2nd-4th in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In-person and digital tickets available 👉 dogcosummit.com
-M