Lisa Imbesi grew up in New York and that is where she got her first taste of working in the nightlife industry happened. She went from being in debt to the CEO of one of Las Vegas go-to spots for famous and unfamous paw parents looking for dog boarding and other furry-friendly services. She sits down with CARRA and details her inspiring entrepreneurial journey along with valuable savvy business advice.
“While I was in college, I worked summers in the Hamptons and in Manhattan for several different nightclubs, one nightclub in particular was Pink Elephant. My first job in Las Vegas was with Liquid Pool and Haze Nightclub inside Aria Resort & Casino.
I did go into nightlife with the plan to turn it into something bigger for myself and I did have an idea and had heard stories before I moved to Las Vegas, but when I started working at Haze Nightclub, I couldn’t believe what some of the staff considered a ‘slow night’. I remember my first summer I was in debt and [I] wasn’t sure if I was going to stay in Las Vegas. But, I soon saw great potential…if you were smart with your money in this city [Las Vegas].
There are so many in the nightlife industry that spend their money as quickly as they make it, but I always tried to work more than one job in the industry so I wasn’t able to go out and spend it.
After seven or so years of waitressing in nightlife, I knew it was time to make a change. Having a Bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University in marketing and business, I was always eager to move back into the Marketing industry. After a year of being persistent it finally happened; I landed the marketing manager position [at] 1OAK Nightclub and Bare Pool with Hakkasan Group.
It was a definite change of pace. My work week was more than Monday through Friday [from] 9am [to] 5pm. I was working about 60 hours a week with events and [the] in summer, but it was a great change because I was doing more of what I wanted to do. It was after some time that I realized I wanted more and if I was going to be committing this much time to a job, I wanted it to be for my own company.
Since I can remember I [have] always watched coworkers and friends dogs at my house as a side job and I [quickly realized] that this [was] something I wanted to do full time. I had been searching for a location out of my house to expand my dog boarding business and finally had found the perfect location in August 2017 right near the strip.
I have always loved the pet industry. I have had animals my whole life and love working with them. I always volunteered with animal shelters and fostered dogs. I actually thought about getting my degree as a veterinarian but the thought of constantly being around sick animals weighed too heavy on my heart. I knew from starting a small business in my home that people loved dogs just as much as I did, and that opening up a facility like would bring nothing but success.
At first I tried to manage both jobs, but I knew that if I wanted Pawsh Palace to become what it is today, I had to go take a leap of faith and leave my career in marketing. There was absolutely no way Pawsh Palace would have been successful if it wasn’t for what I learned working in the marketing department and the network of people I had formed in the industry.
I would have to say [that at] 9 [to] 5 career was way easier. My first year of business I was working some days 13 hours straight and had not had a day off in weeks. It was really hard adjusting. But, when you are passionate and love what you do, it’s very rewarding as well. I learned a lot during the transition period.
I learned you have to be patient, hardworking, dedicated, and offer something that others do not. I think people see that in me and in Pawsh Palace and that is what sets us aside from the rest. People trust my staff and myself with watching their dogs. What I learned about myself as a leader is that I must lead by example. If there is a mess, clean it up. If there is something that needs to be done, you as the owner have to show your employees that you are willing to do their job.
We like to respect the privacy of our customers, but a few [famous pups parents] I can mention would be Illenium, Richelle Ryan, and we watch the majority of the famous poker players dogs as well.
Filing for my LLC was the easy part. Before filing for the LLC, I went back to the ‘business mindset’ and researched, planned, and projected what I needed to do in order for my business to be successful. I researched my competitors, found out statistics, and asked customers what they look for in a dog boarding facility. I knew I had to have all of the knowledge and information before I could take that next step.
It’s pretty hard to budget a buildout and stay within those means because there is always something else that you aren’t expecting and it bumps up the cost. The first thing I invested in for Pawsh Palace was securing the building for the next few years. I had to put down the first few months in order to please the landlord as well as completely gut the inside to maybe it puppy proof. First was reflooring the entire space, then making sure the entire building had air conditioning. I was hoping to get the doors open investing under 100k and went well over that.
Having your own business has its pros and cons. I would say it has a lot of perks and other business owners like to support each other. When you are sick there are no sick days and when employees are sick you have to cover. I put in over 2 years of hard work and dedication trying to build my business and have it run smoothly. Of course it will always have its challenges, but I am able to plan my schedule how I like it and take vacations when I can.”
