We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Peter Hartmann a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Peter, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The whole reason I got into dog training and business ownership in the first place was because of the process of trying to get my German Shepherd, who was extremely aggressive, trained. I had contacted several trainers in my area and was either turned away or got taken to the cleaners with out any improvement in his behavior. This lead me down the journey to rehabilitate my dog which grew into helping friends and family with their dogs and eventually paying clients and ultimately into the business it is today.
Peter, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Prior to my journey to get my dog trained, I had almost no experience training dogs and as a nineteen year old had even less experience with business. I thankfully had help from my parents to help guide me through the process with most of the formation and start of the business. After fixing my own dog’s behavior and helping a few others my mother and I set out to see if we could help others do the same. We quickly picked up a reputation for being able to help people with some of the most severe dog behaviors you could think of. Through out the beginning of our building we focused on one very specific aspect which set us apart from most other trainers; We remain focused on teaching the Owner no matter what it takes. This meant a flat rate and as many lessons as needed, even giving clients access to us when “off the clock” to ask questions and share successes. And we continue to keep that mentality to this day. We do this because we know that even though we call ourselves “dog trainers” we know it’s a misnomer. Our job is to train the owner as well as the dog, and put a focus on building the owner’s leadership and communication skills. This is what we take the utmost pride in as a company, helping people grow to reach their full potential with their dog, because if they don’t neither will their dog.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The reputation we have built in our market, was built on three core factors: honesty, gratitude and discipline. We make it a point to be as honest as possible (sometimes almost to a fault) with the clientele we work with. We found that giving customers clear reasonable expectations fostered a relationship of trust making our clients more likely to follow through with their end of the training. This means we maintain a high level of professional discipline to keep ourselves honest at all times making sure to always do what is right for the client (even if it’s not what they would like). And we remain grateful every day for every person we get to help, because while its not always sunshine and rainbows,without them we would not get to do the job that we love.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
The best advice I can give for leading a team is based on what I learned during my time in the United States Marine Corps. “Leaders eat last”. This philosophy is based on putting those who are in your charge ahead of you and leading by example. Often times as a founder, manager or supervisor, we forget that our responsibility as a leader is to take care of the team we lead. This means putting them first. As a leader your responsible for the people who produce your company’s product or service not the product or service itself. I find myself constantly asking my team if there is anything they need help to do their job better, and will jump in to do the low level jobs myself when needed to make sure they can complete their objectives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fidofidelistraining.com
- Instagram: @fidofidelistraining
- Facebook: /fidofidelis