Global Pet Expo 2022 Recap: Pet Boss Nation’s Top 5 Takeaways

Global Pet Expo 2022 has come and gone, and what a whirlwind of success it was!

The energy in the Orange County Convention Center was contagious. Everyone who attended was excited to be back for in-person events and ready to explore, learn, and connect. 

We talked about how to prepare for trade shows and maximize your time, but now we want to talk about the big takeaways– the moments that leave you feeling supercharged and motivated to get back to Pet Boss business. 

Here are a few of our favorite moments and lessons from Global Pet Expo 2022: 

1. Connecting with new people!

This is a #1 takeaway across the board, but specifically for Pet Boss Nation because it is the first time that our team got to meet in person!

The stars aligned and we were able to bring Jolanta (our online business manager), Maddie (our social media, content, and graphic support), Cait (our new team copywriter), and of course Candace (Pet Boss Nation’s founder and CEO) together in the same room!

Trade shows are amazing opportunities to not only create new relationships but also to build on existing ones. We were thrilled to make memories together as a team and to watch other pet industry professionals do the same. Meeting key contacts in the industry is so important for our growth. We are able to better support professionals in the pet industry when we can meet, chat, and get to know them. Global Pet Expo allowed us to do just that!

2. Meeting top innovators in the pet industry!

Global Pet Expo was THE place to be if you were looking for what is new and exciting in the pet industry! 

For example, Flingerz was the winner of “Best in Show” for dog products in the New Product Showcase! Their innovative hands-free fetch toy makes it a piece of cake to have an interactive, healthy, and fun game of fetch with your dog! 

Not only was their product amazing, but so was their booth! They drew us in with their video monitor display showing their product in live-action, big beautiful photos of dogs loving their product, prototypes of what they have in store for the future, and… free samples of their amazing product for attendees to take home and try with their own pets! 

For more great Global finds, check out this Facebook thread for some attendees’ favorite takeaways!

3. Meeting young entrepreneurs who are paving the way to the future of the pet industry!

Like Ava Dorsey, the 14-year-old Founder and Chief Pet Officer at Ava’s Pet Palace, a treat company that makes small-batch, organic treats with real healthy foods. 

Ava has been drawing up her own pet biz plans since she was six years old, and along with the support of her amazing parents, she has made those dreams a wildly successful reality. She believes in loving our pets the way they love us, and she supports organizations offering that bountiful love to animals by donating a portion of her sales to a different non-profit each month! She has been rightfully featured in many amazing publications, and was the 2020 WDB Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner! She fulfills orders across all 50 states, and we were honored to meet her and her parents at the Global Pet Expo this year. 

Not only is Ava a shining example for young entrepreneurs across the world, but she also represented Black-owned businesses at the expo. As an industry, it is so important to work toward more inclusivity and diversity at our trade shows (and beyond), and we hope to see more Black-owned businesses exhibiting in the future!

4. Meeting health and wellness rock stars within the animal world.

Candace was able to meet some of the brilliant minds behind transforming health and wellness in the lives of our pets, like Dr. Judy Morgan, who specializes in integrative pet medicine and offers tons of resources on pet health, diet, and products that will keep your pets happy and healthy. 

She also got to see Zoe and Sven Ley from Rockster for the first time in a few years! If you haven’t already checked out their product, you most certainly want to. Rockster is the only bio-organic dog food in the world and has already transformed the lives of so many dogs, with many more to come.  They use up to 87% bio-organic meat in single protein recipes, using only muscle meat and nutrient-rich vital inner organs. They use no antibiotics, growth hormones, or steroids. Check them out before distribution all over the U.S. becomes available (which is expected this summer) so that you can get your order placed! 

5. The Breakfast of Bosses.

We couldn’t leave the expo without gathering our 1:1 Pet Boss clients together for a breakfast to wrap up the week, chat about their takeaways, and connect in person! 

Sometimes we get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of our businesses, and we forget that there are other Pet Bosses out there who “get” our hurdles. Finding our people and building connections with them truly helps us remember that we have a support system we can lean on. You are never alone in your business, and sharing your experiences with others is always welcome! Together, we can produce hope and inspiration and keep our passions well and alive! 

If you are looking for 1:1 support in your pet biz, click here for more information on becoming a Pet Boss VIP! 

Those are just our top five of SO many takeaways from this event. To hear more about them in-depth, listen to Episode 13 of the Boss Your Business Podcast (which we recorded while at Global!). 

And if you’re already dreaming of your next in-person trade show, check out Episode 11 for our top tips for preparing for a trade show!

Learn more with us!

• Need 1:1 support to make massive action now? Book a discovery call with us to see if working 1:1 with Candace is the right fit for you.

• Get on the waitlist! You’re passionate about pets. It’s time to have a business that supports the life you want, too! Learn the specific techniques to find new customers, to increase sales and to build a better team for ANY kind of pet business by joining the Pet Boss Club! Get on the waitlist here.