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Happy Dogs, Happier Owners, with Stacy Fotos, The Happy Dog Hotel

March 3, 2025 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Happy Dogs, Happier Owners, with Stacy Fotos, The Happy Dog Hotel

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Happy Dogs, Happier Owners, with Stacy Fotos, The Happy Dog Hotel (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 849)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray interviews Stacy Fotos, co-owner of The Happy Dog Hotel. Stacy shares insights about her dog-centric business that offers daycare, boarding, and grooming services for dogs. She emphasizes the importance of cleanliness, staff who genuinely love dogs, and the difference between owner-run and investor-run dog care businesses. Stacy also discusses the unique features of The Happy Dog Hotel, such as large kennels, a dog ice cream shop, and various community events. Additionally, she outlines her future goals, including acquiring a farm to expand her services and creating a non-profit to help homeless dogs.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Stacy Fotos, Co-Founder, The Happy Dog Hotel

Stacy Fotos is a dedicated entrepreneur and community leader who has been an integral part of the Metro Atlanta area for over three decades. As a mother of two grown children, Courteney (29) and Joseph (25), and a grandmother to Jaxson (4) and Chandler (21 months), Stacy has deep roots in Alpharetta, where she raised her family. Her personal interests include spending quality time with her grandchildren, traveling abroad, and indulging in her love for reading.

Throughout her career, Stacy has demonstrated a strong commitment to both community service and business leadership. From 1998 to 2002, she served on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Restoration Network, eventually holding the position of Chair. In this role, she was instrumental in media relations, acting as a spokesperson across various platforms, and led successful fundraising initiatives, including chairing the fundraising committee and organizing annual auctions. From 2008 to December 31, 2024, Stacy founded and managed Synergy HomeCare of North Atlanta, a home care company where she oversaw daily operations, employee management, and ensured compliance with state regulations.

**Stacy Fotos and Christopher Zimmerman, Co-Founders, The Happy Dog Hotel**

The Happy Dog Hotel is a premier dogboarding and daycare facility co-founded by Stacy Fotos and her childhood friend Christopher Zimmerman. Opened in March 2024, the hotel offers a unique “home away from home” experience for canine guests, providing services such as boarding, daycare, grooming, and even featuring an organic doggie ice cream parlor. The facility prides itself on its spacious, climate-controlled suites, supervised playtime sessions, and personalized care tailored to each dog’s individual needs.

At The Happy Dog Hotel, Stacy oversees comprehensive management, including human resources, marketing, networking, social media, and all operational aspects of the business. What sets the hotel apart is not only its commitment to exceptional pet care but also its dedication to giving back to the community. The founders have set a five-year goal to use proceeds from the hotel to build their own homeless shelter and support dogs in need. This mission-driven approach, combined with their family-owned status and trained, dog-loving staff, has quickly established The Happy Dog Hotel as a top-rated choice for pet owners in the Johns Creek and Alpharetta areas of Georgia.

The Happy Dog Hotel is located at 11895 Jones Bridge Rd., Johns Creek, GA 30005.

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Stacy LinkedIn

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
01:35 Meet Stacy Fotos of Happy Dog Hotel
01:55 Services Offered by Happy Dog Hotel
02:41 The Story Behind Happy Dog Hotel
04:29 Importance of Cleanliness and Quality Care
05:46 Owner-Run vs. Investor-Run Facilities
14:25 Community Involvement and Events
17:38 Future Plans and Goals
21:51 Conclusion and Contact Information
22:42 Final Announcements and Thank You

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way to better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 850 shows and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their market, community, and profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

**John Ray, North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Daniel Burrell with AZPetVet and Blake Woody with Gabriels Angels E20

June 15, 2019 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Daniel Burrell with AZPetVet and Blake Woody with Gabriels Angels E20

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Daniel Burrell with AZPetVet and Blake Woody with Gabriels Angels E20

AZPetVet is a family of 21 animal hospitals united with one vision: to provide the best comprehensive care for their highly valued patients and their pet parents. They provide complete veterinary care, from routine wellness and preventative care exams, vaccinations, spays and neuters, to treatments for dental care, illness, surgery, and advanced care such as acupuncture, stem cell therapy, chemotherapy and more.

Thirty-five years ago in 1984, the first location (Arrow Animal Hospital) was opened in Glendale, AZ. Since then, AZPetVet has experienced continued growth, while staying true to their community roots; each of their 21 hospitals across the Greater Phoenix area is locally owned and operated. With more than 100 veterinarians and over 600 veterinary and support professionals, the AZPetVet family provides a network of outstanding primary and preventative healthcare for pets.

As animal lovers and pet owners, they understand the connection between pet and owner – the human-animal bond. They are dedicated to providing their clients with the services, information, and resources to serve the total needs and enhance the life of every pet.

Daniel Burrell currently serves as the Director of Marketing for AZPetVet, a family of 21 animal hospitals with locations across the Greater Phoenix area. He has an incredible combination of sound financial/business smarts, strategic vision, and methodologies that help enhance every project he oversees. Under his watchful eye as a brand steward, teams are kept moving forward on task, on time, and on budget. He has a keen sense of how and when to ask the right questions, when to refocus the team on key points, and when to step back and watch the magic happen.

Daniel has successfully lead organizations through the development and implementation of strategic marketing plans, focused as a champion for brand consistency while increasing the marketing channel matrix. He understands how to restructure in order to expand capacity and adapt to changing market conditions, and has served as a driver for developing collaborative workflow management systems that positively impact both business financials as well as company morale.

Before joining AZPetVet, he ran a local advertising agency for 8 years (of which AZPetVet was a client), and prior to that he oversaw the operations of an architecture design/build firm for nearly a decade. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Arizona State University, is an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America, and believes that change begins on a local level. He’s an active donor and volunteer for organizations that are working to empower the next generation of leaders; such as New Pathways for Youth, Dress for Success, One-N-Ten, and the Arizona State University Alumni Association.

Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn, and follow AZPetVet on Facebook and Instagram.

Gabriel’s Angels is a non-profit whose mission is to inspire confidence, compassion, and best behaviors in at-risk children through pet therapy. Pet Therapy Teams visit crisis nurseries, domestic violence and homeless shelters, group homes, and at-risk children in after-school programs and self-contained classrooms all in an effort to intervene in children’s lives and enhance their emotional and behavioral development by teaching core behaviors – attachment, confidence, self-regulation, affiliation, empathy, tolerance, and respect.

Currently, Gabriel’s Angels has 190 registered Pet Therapy Teams serving over 15,00 children annually through 122 partner agencies in Maricopa, Pinal Pima, Cochise, Santa Cruz and Yavapai Counties in Arizona.

Blake Woody is responsible for the fundraising and development programs to support the work of Gabriel’s Angels. She has experience working with non-profits in education, animal husbandry, wildlife conservation, community engagement, and child-welfare. Past responsibilities have included special events, marketing, major and planned giving, volunteer management, curriculum development, and community outreach. Blake and her family live in Mesa with their two dogs Luna and Brenly.

Follow Gabriel’s Angels on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About 3C Amplified

3C Amplified is a space to highlight businesses, nonprofit organizations and individuals collaborating to amplify their impact in the community. We share real world examples for how partnerships allow for growth both within our businesses and our communities. Listen in as we share how others are connecting, creating and collaborating and how you can be part of something greater.

About Jacqueline Destremps

Jacqueline Destremps is a creative marketing strategist and founded Another Hand Advantage, LLC in 2014 to help community minded small business owners and nonprofit professionals move forward more confidently with their marketing strategy. After graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in Psychology, she has spent her professional career working in both the nonprofit and for-profit sector.

She now enjoys being self-employed and the flexibility it provides to allow more time to volunteer, serve on nonprofit boards, choose pro-bono projects, run 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun (which she co-founded in 2014) and travel the world. Jacqueline believes in creating connections between businesses and nonprofits in the community to stimulate growth and collaboration.

Follow AHA on Twitter and Facebook.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Kathy Stone with Camp Bow Wow, Jordan Sandler of Frenik Marketing Group and Courtney Spencer with Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

June 24, 2016 by Mike

Gwinnett Studio

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Kathy Stone with Camp Bow Wow, Jordan Sandler of Frenik Marketing Group and Courtney Spencer with Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

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Johnny Phelps, Courtney Spencer, Jordan Sandler, Kathy Stone

Kathy Stone/Camp Bow Wow

Camp Bow Wow Lawrencveille/Hamilton Mill is Georgia’s newest location of the largest dog daycamp and overnight boarding franchise in the country. Their location has been open 15 months and uses the latest equipment and design. They do training, grooming and offer an in-home pet sitting service, called Home Buddies. They have webcams so parents can watch their camper play during the day. They are open every day.

Jordan Sandler/Frenik Marketing Group

Frenik Marketing Group is a full-service marketing firm that specializes in strengthening the digital presences of growing companies. Based upon thorough assessments, they deliver creative strategies that grow revenue, rankings, followers, and total brand equity. They are trusted by many large companies and organizations, but are also partners with many growing brands.

Courtney Spencer/Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

The Gwinnett Chamber is the forum for business, government, education, healthcare, arts/culture/entertainment, and philanthropic and public-service communities to come together to advance the region’s economy and enrich Gwinnett’s quality of life. The mission of the Gwinnett Chamber is to strengthen existing businesses, facilitate the growth of quality job opportunities, and enrich the community’s quality of life. The Gwinnett Chamber serves over 2,000 members throughout metro Atlanta by delivering pertinent and useful programs that strengthen and connect businesses locally, regionally, and globally.