Ep. 144 – How to Reduce Staff Turnover in Your Pet Resort with Amy Hillis (Plus Your Ultimate Expo Survival Guide: Make the Most of Your Hershey Experience)

Are you constantly recruiting, hiring and training new staff members, only to watch them leave a few months later?

Have you tried handing more responsibility to your managers, but somehow everything still seems to come back to YOU?

And what if the biggest obstacle preventing you from stepping away from the day-to-day running of your pet business isn’t your staff, your systems or your managers… but the way you’ve built the business in the first place?

In this week’s episode of the Pet Boarding & Daycare Podcast, Dom is joined by Amy Hillis, co-founder of Social Pet Hotel & Daycare, to discover how she and her husband Bill have transformed their three-location pet care business by putting people, leadership and culture at the centre of everything they do.

Amy shares the remarkable turnaround they’ve achieved, reducing staff turnover from a staggering 163% to just 22% in their most recent quarter, while getting all three locations profitable. She also reveals the critical mistake they made when opening their third facility, why they stepped away too soon, and what they discovered about the dangers of trying to delegate company culture before it’s properly established.

They also explore what it REALLY takes to move from being the person doing the work, to managing the business, to finally leading an organisation that can operate successfully without your constant involvement. Amy shares how Social Pet has improved its hiring, onboarding, staff development and communication, why organisational charts should be built around positions rather than people, and how enrichment is helping the business stand out in a Charlotte marketplace with 181 active daycare and boarding providers.

Plus, with the Hershey Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo just days away, Dom shares his Expo Survival Guide, including how to identify the problems you need to solve, find the right people to help you and make sure you return home with a practical plan rather than another notebook full of ideas.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

How Social Pet Slashed Staff Turnover From 163% to 22% – The changes Amy and Bill made to their recruitment, onboarding, leadership development and company culture that helped them dramatically improve employee retention.
The Biggest Mistake They Made Opening Their Third Location – Why Amy believes they stepped away too soon, what happened when they tried to delegate culture from day one, and how they eventually turned things around.
How to Build a Business That Doesn’t Depend on You – Amy’s framework for progressing from doing the work, to managing the operation, to leading the organisation, so your business can grow without consuming your entire life.
Why You Should Build Your Organisational Chart Around Positions, NOT People – The dangers of creating management roles for employees you like rather than designing the structure your business actually needs.
How to Get the Maximum Return From Attending an Industry Expo – Dom’s practical guide to planning your visit, making valuable connections, choosing the right ideas and turning what you learn into profitable action.

Don’t forget you can join Amy, Dom and all the other amazing speakers at the Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo in Hershey

There’s less than one week to go!

The Pet Boarding & Daycare Expo in Hershey is almost here, bringing together hundreds of pet care business owners, around 100 vendors and more than 30 speakers for three and a half days of education, networking and business development.

If you’re serious about making 2027 your most successful year yet, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Grab your ticket at petboardingexpo.com

Thanks to Amy for being an awesome podcast guest. Find out more about social pet by going to socialpet.com

A huge thank you to Canine Lab Testing for sponsoring this week’s episode.

Most dogs carrying parasites show absolutely no symptoms, which means an undetected problem can quickly spread through a busy boarding or daycare facility without anybody realising there’s an issue.

Canine Lab Testing provides a quick, affordable and reliable way to collect samples on-site and receive results the next day. Their partnership with the National Veterinary Diagnostic Lab helps facilities protect the dogs in their care, give clients additional peace of mind and potentially turn faecal testing into an additional revenue stream.

Find out more at caninelabtesting.com

To join the waiting list for Dom’s Dog Daycare Success Academy click here now

Episode Highlights

[03:41] – Dom’s Hershey Expo Survival Guide: why you should arrive with three business problems you want to solve, rather than just a list of things you’d like to learn.
[08:53] – How to evaluate the ideas you discover at Expo, calculate their potential financial upside and decide who will implement them.
[11:37] – Why you shouldn’t come home with just a notebook full of ideas, and how to turn your Expo experience into profitable action.
[16:33] – Amy Hillis reveals how Social Pet turned around its third location, made all three facilities profitable and reduced staff turnover from 163% to 22%.
[19:53] – How Social Pet builds a stronger company culture through employee development, accountability, communication and experiences outside the business.
[21:56] – Amy reveals the biggest mistake she and Bill made when opening their third location: stepping away too soon and trying to delegate company culture.
[24:25] – How Social Pet uses enrichment, sensory spaces and unique experiences to stand out in a marketplace with 181 daycare and boarding competitors.
[28:20] – Why you should build your organisational chart around the positions your business needs, rather than creating management roles for people you like.
[31:26] – How structured communication, one-to-one meetings and consistent accountability help managers lead without everything falling back on the owner.
[35:55] – Why Amy believes attending Hershey is one of the best investments pet business owners can make in themselves, their relationships and their future growth.