“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not… Genius will not… Education will not… Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
— Calvin Coolidge
There are countless quotes about persistence, but this is the one that has stayed with me the longest. I memorized it in college as part of pledge training in the FIJI fraternity, of which Coolidge was a member. At the time, it was a formality. Over the years, it became a philosophy.
As I fly home from a trip to meet a potential board member, I find myself reflecting on that ideal, persistence, and the role it has played in my life. Why pursue challenges when they will inevitably bring resistance, obstacles, and disappointment? The answer, at least for me, is fulfillment. It’s the pursuit of meaning through experience, business ventures across times and places, new ideas, new people. The journey is rarely smooth, but it’s rich, instructive, and deeply satisfying. If I have one defining trait through it all, it’s persistence.
“The best way out is through.”
— Robert Frost
My dad read Frost to me when I was young. While The Road Not Taken remains my favorite, this shorter quote captures a truth I’ve come to live by. My parents instilled in me a love of literature and, just as importantly, the value of endurance, to see things through. In recent years, as professional challenges mounted, their encouragement became a lifeline. “Keep going,” they reminded me. “See it through.” I did, for myself, for them, and for those who believed in me.
The Storm Before the Clearing
The last five years have been a series of storms — some personal, some professional.
Before the pandemic, I had built a business I loved, a retail brokerage focused on small businesses and mixed-use community projects. I took pride in helping local entrepreneurs find their place in neighborhoods I cared deeply about. Then COVID hit. Practically overnight, restaurants, gyms, and shops went dark. My work, my livelihood, evaporated.
Out of that collapse came a search for something new, something more stable. I partnered with a client to enter the dog daycare business, a chance to build a brand rooted in care, community, and consistency. I invested heavily, both financially and emotionally. Then, tragedy struck: a devastating flood claimed the lives of ten dogs at a location owned by my franchise partner.
What followed was months of heartbreak, chaos, and hard decisions. The crisis revealed deep differences in values and leadership. Where I believed transparency and empathy were essential, others leaned toward deflection and denial. I learned, painfully, that character is tested not when things go well but when everything falls apart.
That realization forced me into a long, difficult process of separation, from the brand, from the partnership, and from everything that no longer aligned with my principles. It was a year of legal hurdles, tense negotiations, and sleepless nights. Franchisees, people who had trusted and invested in me , looked for reassurance while I scrambled to rebuild something worth believing in. There were moments I thought about walking away entirely. But I couldn’t.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill
Walking away would have been easier, but persistence demanded something harder: accountability. These franchisees had placed their faith in me, and I wasn’t about to let them down. So, we found a path forward, slow, grueling, and full of setbacks.
At one point, I was negotiating a complete buyout and rebrand. When that stalled, I used my own funds to develop a new brand anyway, even as the legal ownership structure remained unresolved. Landlords balked. Lawyers billed. Time ran out. But finally, after more than a year of uncertainty, we reached a deal, acquiring a single struggling location as the cornerstone for a new beginning.
Rebuilding From the Ground Up
Stepping into that location for the first time was sobering. It was rundown, demoralized, and losing tens of thousands each month. The facility hadn’t been properly cleaned or maintained in over a year. The staff were exhausted. The space reeked of neglect, physically and spiritually.
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We started over.
We let the entire staff go, not in anger but necessity. We were honest with customers whose dogs we couldn’t safely accommodate. We invested in a complete reset: deep cleaning, new protocols, upgraded equipment, better lighting, more open spaces, and technology to improve transparency and care.
Five months later, the difference is remarkable. The energy is better. The rooms are brighter. The dogs are happier. So are the people.
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
— Benjamin Franklin
A New Chapter
Today, I’m proud to have a partner who shares my values. Working with Barry Madani has been transformative. A bad partner drains you; a great one multiplies your capacity. Barry embodies the idea that 1 + 1 = 10.
Together, we’ve rebuilt what was broken, not just the business, but the culture. A potential board member recently remarked that our staff seemed “genuinely happy.” That meant more than any financial milestone. Service work is demanding, but when people feel valued, they pass that care along, to customers, to dogs, to each other.
Our manager, Logan, has taken ownership of the operation in the best possible way. We’re investing in his growth with the goal of helping him become a franchise owner himself. Seeing someone rise through opportunity, and knowing we helped make that possible, is deeply rewarding.
Today, we have six Molly’s Dog Care units open, one corporate location and four franchisees (one with two units). Every one of them carries the lessons learned from the past and the optimism of what’s to come.
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
— Michael Jordan
I had this quote on my wall growing up. As a kid, I admired Jordan’s perfection; as an adult, I admire his persistence. Success isn’t the absence of failure — it’s built on it.
Looking Ahead
We’d be honored if our potential board member joins us but whether or not she does, I know this: no one is better positioned to build this company right. I’ve lived through every lesson in what not to do. I’ve seen failure up close and learned from it. Those experiences are not scars; they’re blueprints.
This isn’t a victory lap. It’s a pause, a reflection. The hardships have been real, but they’ve been met with persistence, and that persistence is starting to bear fruit.
To anyone in the middle of their own struggle: keep going. The path forward may be painful, but growth lives on the other side of endurance. Social media tends to show only the bright spots, but behind every success story is a thousand quiet moments of persistence.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”
— Maya Angelou
