Surround Yourself with People Who Inspire You: Interview with Larry Amos, Brand President of DoodyCalls
I recently went one-on-one with Larry Amos, Brand President of DoodyCalls.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Larry: I spent the majority of my career working in retail management. After 20+ years in the business, I was at a point professionally in corporate America, in management, where I lacked purpose. I thought to myself – what the heck am I doing every day? I’m working hard and going through the processes every day – but when it boils down to it, my productivity is just making someone else money. And one day, I received a random call from an individual who was helping DoodyCalls hire someone to come in and build out processes to help poise them for growth. I wasn’t too familiar with the brand or franchising at the time, outside of major restaurant chains, but was interested in the opportunity after hearing about the business model. I instantly fell in love with the culture, vision, and mission of what the brand aspired to be. And I admired that the brand was open arms to those who may not have come from a background in franchising but were entrepreneurs at heart or looking for a new opportunity. A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy at first – and I don’t blame them. The reality is there is a strong need for premier pet waste management across the country and I was excited to take on the responsibility of signing on entrepreneurs who could meet that demand. Founded in 2000, the brand began franchising just four years later in 2004 - and now operates more than 100 locations across 27 states and counting. In 2024 alone, we added 28 new franchise owners across 42 new territories and look to continue that momentum this year.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Larry: Emphasize the positives of the business. Work to support your staff from day one. As an example, at my company, we offer training for every level of ownership to equip our owners with the confidence, resources, and knowledge they need to drive growth in their market. We also offer ongoing training and continued educational courses to help our owners stay on top of industry trends, best practices, and ahead of the competition to grow their business. It’s important for us to have a process that empowers entrepreneurs from all walks of life and all backgrounds to join us and grow their business. Setting that standard and providing the necessary support for current owners is key – prospective entrepreneurs need to see that the business model works and that current owners are happy in order to invest in the business themselves. This can also help them hone their leadership skills, build strong teams, and reach their goals. Additionally, I believe it’s important to translate everything back to service. Everything we do here is a service. We provide a service to communities and businesses and that service is what creates revenue for our company. Establishing checks and balances to make sure our services are efficient – like relying on customer feedback, reviewing driving patterns and yard cleaning times, and other KPIs – is critical. But we also stress that these services have the potential to bring profit and multiple revenue streams to our owners. We are not just a poop-scooping company; we offer product lines, deodorizers, one-time scooping services, rental stations, etc. While that is a company-specific example, the sentiment holds true for any entrepreneurial venture out there. The ability to grow and scale the business comes from supporting your staff, believing in the business model, and showing others that profitability is possible by highlighting the wins and growth that other team members have achieved before them.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Larry: As an aspiring or established entrepreneur, consistency and treating your employees as people are important. It sounds cliché but effective leaders are truly and personally connected to their team. You can’t be effective if your team doesn’t believe in you – and more importantly, if your team doesn’t truly know you. Be passionate about relationships and fostering a cadence of communication. Recognize that those joining you in your venture may not have come from a similar business background or industry, but are here with you because they have the same passion and drive and are ready to grow within the business. I think that is the most important aspect of being a leader in entrepreneurship. But we also allow our franchise owners and staff to have wide access to leadership; they have business coaches, dedicated marketing managers, access to internal call centers for inbound and outbound customer calls, and so much more. I think it’s important to realize that leadership comes in many shapes and forms – and can shape and support team members no matter where it’s coming from.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Larry: Think beyond the customer. If your goal is to have your team “wow” the customer into buying your product, you first need to “wow” the team selling the product. Business owners should strive to develop and build relationships with their teams, so they feel fully confident and believe in what they are selling. Lead by example – your staff can’t sell or promote products or materials that aren’t bought in from the top down. Additionally, don’t run from collaboration. Even from the top, leaders can’t do it all alone. Learn from others, rely on mentors, and learn from your mistakes. Stay disciplined when things get tough – and develop a routine you stick to and can rely on regardless of the outside noise. I think those are all really important skills that can elevate leadership.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Larry: 1. Define success. Define what success means to you as an entrepreneur and your business, aligning on a vision with your employees or business partners. Be transparent about what’s truly attainable when it comes to working within your specific industry and make that clear from the beginning. There should be no false hope instilled upon team members. If their goals don’t align with the company vision or simply are not attainable by working for the company, it’s best to have an honest conversation and move from there.
2. Love what you do, and work with those who love what they do. From a business standpoint, I’d rather have no sales at all than work with a disgruntled team member or business partner. Loving what you do allows you to be open to always improving what you do and aiming to be the best among the best at what you do. No matter what type of business you’re running, whether it’s in franchising or another industry, you have to be able to adapt and learn and stay ahead of the competition. Working in a field you hate or have no drive in simply prevents that; the goal becomes to survive the day and complete the check list you’re given. It’s important to stay connected and hear from your entire team so we can all improve on and address any issues preventing someone from loving what they’re doing here.
3. Be authentic. Not much elaboration is needed here; authenticity is a staple in leadership and life. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with a vision, stay true to your goals and pursue them honestly. If you are an entrepreneur recruiting someone to join your team, show them who you are from the beginning and support them as they grow. One of the greatest things you can do in life, no matter where you are or how high you are on the totem pole, is to be authentic.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Larry: Surround yourself with people who inspire you. You cannot do it alone. Try your hardest to never be the most talented in the room. Recognize the importance of diversity of opinion and background and listen to others when discussing important topics in regard to the business. Listen to your team – no matter how small the issue may seem. Build and lead a team that you believe in – even when you’re not in the room. Give them the confidence and freedom to believe in themselves. You should have the necessary support and resources for your team to succeed – professional development, training courses, access to state-of-the-art and industry-leading technology, etc. If the tools for growth are not there for your team to use and build on, then growth is simply not attainable. That is part of what makes franchising so attractive to entrepreneurs; these types of tools and resources are readily available and ready to be accessed when joining an established brand versus starting your business from the ground up.
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?
Larry: If you are unfamiliar or not as informed on any of those subjects, learn the why, how, and goal of all three as a baseline. The insides and outs of what each mean to your company. And make sure you have a team that is knowledgeable and modern with how they implement their respective sales, marketing, and branding strategies. It’s important to craft a customized blueprint that is built for your brand – a model for growth that can stand against the competition and stand out to your customer base. With my brand specifically, it’s important for us to have a strong presence in the local communities we serve. Clients are giving us personal access to their properties and, in many cases, access to interact with their pets. Investing in local events, festivals, parades, sponsorships, etc., has a strong positive effect for our brand. We offer our franchise owners the resources and materials to develop true customer relations with their market. This type of investment and mindset came from a collaborative effort by our leadership team. When we were acquired by Authority Brands in February 2021, we had completely built out a training school, reinvented our marketing materials and modernized our branding by August of that year. We had to truly take a look at what was working over the last 20 years and what wasn’t – and make immediate changes in order to put ourselves in the best position moving forward. That lesson is important for any entrepreneur or business owner looking to better themselves and avoid complacency – which can happen after the thrill of growth takes over the drive to build from the beginning stage of your company.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Larry: Just be you. Constantly evolve, learn, and become a better version of yourself, but don’t change who you are to try and fit in somewhere else. No matter where you are or what position you’re in, be you!
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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