Camilla Gray-Nelson has a gift: She can understand what animals are saying without words.
She honed this very early on while growing up on a dairy farm with two brothers in Petaluma, California, as first-generation Americans. Her father was an immigrant from Ireland is 1928, along with his parents who couldn’t see raising their son in that uncertain environment so packed up everything and moved to the U.S. He grew to become one of the largest and most successful dairy ranchers in Northern California.
“It’s all my dad’s entrepreneurial spirit,” she says of her own. “He loved what he did and never took vacations because he said, ‘This is my vacation.’ I got a lot of who I am from him—from always trying new things to staying on the leading edge of my industry.”
Developing Farm Girl Values
Camilla has loved animals for as long as she can remember. Growing up on the farm, there weren’t nearby neighbors so Camilla made friends with the sheep, goat, pony and other critters. She remembers at around 4 years old finding an abandoned chickens’ nest and holding a burial service for them.
When it came time for college, Camilla earned a science degree and later did graduate work in business and public administration. She went on to work for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and then relocated to Nevada for a state position. When she returned to California, she worked in the wine industry.
Back in California, Camilla met and married her husband who couldn’t believe she was living on a big ranch without a dog. Pretty soon, she not only had one, but was breeding and showing dogs while still working. The buyer of every puppy would get a free four-week obedience course because Camilla understood and knew how to train them.
“You do it without words, but they can still understand what you mean.,” she says. “You just need to have them trust you and be quiet and listen to what they’re saying. And then tell them what you want and expect. That’s just so satisfying for me.”
Growing By Word of Mouth
Soon, Camilla’s obedience course clients told their friends, who told their friends. People began reaching out for assistance and as she laughs, “One thing led to another and here we are!” She compares her entrepreneurial pursuits to how her dad lived and worked, and to the Mark Twain quote: “Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”
Camilla officially launched her canine training business—now known as Dairydell Canine, Inc.—and for the first 10 years, her red pick-up truck was her office. She made house calls in her hometown and surrounding counties. Over the years, as the economy and business demands grew more complicated for families, and women in particular had less time to train their dogs, Camilla saw a need for on-site professional training that focused on owner education.
She created four runs for four dogs in the old milking barn of her property that was no longer in use. Once she opened for on-site training, it quickly grew in popularity—fueled by an appearance she made on San Francisco’s “Evening Magazine” show to demonstrate how she trained one of her canine clients. The station was overrun with calls asking for more information.
“I had so much business from all over the Bay Area and throughout California that I was booked for 9 months solid with people just waiting to get in to see me,” she recalls. “That advertising reach was priceless because now our name was out in a wider field.”
Making Even More Inroads
Another major milestone was in 2006 when the economy and Camilla’s business were thriving. She took the leap and mortgaged the ranch to build a large board and train facility. They opened just a few weeks before the 2007 financial crisis hit and still didn’t miss a beat.
“We were in debt and had loans to pay,” she says. “But even during that time, our business grew. We began as a really lean business machine because there was no extra money, so we learned how to do more with less and that has served us really well.”
Dairydell’s latest business milestone is the addition of private, luxury canine apartments. These come with heating and air that can be programmed to keep a small, hairless dog warm or a giant, fluffy dog cool, TVs by the beds, relaxing, spa-like music and cushy runs with play equipment and puzzle boards. They also feature security cameras to keep an eye on them day and night, which Camilla personally checks nightly before going to bed.
Through every milestone, one thing that has set Camilla apart is her focus on women and their dogs. She says that with both humans and canines, females lead differently. “Women leaders are more soft-spoken, wise, focused on the task at hand and not afraid to set rules and boundaries and follow through with them,” she says. “It’s a lot like parenting. You don’t have to raise your voice and be macho…you just have to follow nature’s model.”
Turning a New Business Page
Camilla shared this expertise in her bestselling book Lipstick and the Leash: Dog Training a Woman’s Way. It was the first and only book of its kind on dog training for women and earned her the honor of Best Book of 2012 from the Dog Writers Association of America. Camilla accepted the award at the Westminster Dog Show in New York City.
She has since published her second book, Harvest Your Happy: A Farm Girl’s Guide to Leading, Succeeding and Living Your Best Life, which speaks about how to use nature’s models of leadership in all aspect of women’s lives—whether they are parents, leaders in the workplace or partners in a romantic relationship. It was such a departure from her dog training advice that she felt like she needed a different platform.
In more recent years, she launched Farm Girls Lead, which is a digital platform for Camilla’s books and blogs with leadership advice for women. She would eventually like to go on a speaking tour and has plans for her next book about women at work and how they can get what they want.
“It’s such an interesting take on an old subject,” Camilla says. “Everyone talks about leadership, but no one is talking about it animal style.”
Selling Help and Hope
Camilla attributes her unique success story to a few things. She loves teaching and saving dogs and people. “We don’t sell boarding and training, but help and hope…I always tell my staff this,” she explains. “That guides who I hire and who I fire and that’s the atmosphere people feel when they walk in the door—that they have a friend and the money is secondary.” More importantly, the help they provide is leadership skills. Lack of leadership skills is at the core of nearly all dog problems in the home.
Camilla is also tenacious and an optimist. When she first left her day job and opened the dog training business, she tried and failed several times. “That’s personally devastating and embarrassing and makes you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, but I knew I had something,” she shares.
“I just don’t give up,” she continues, “and that comes from falling off my pony while growing up and my father saying, ‘Get back on and ride him or I’ll sell him.’ I look back every so often and say, ‘That’s where that comes from.’”
NAWBO is also part of Camilla’s continued success. She discovered it early on in her first business and became a member, but then missed a renewal notice as things got busy and her membership lapsed. A few years ago, Camilla read in a newsletter she was still receiving about the NAWBO Circle program for $1 million+ women business owners.
She was fortunate to have reached this level and interested in connecting with women of similar drive and experience. “I have really enjoyed networking with and learning from the Circle women,” she says. “When I’m listening to them on our monthly Mastermind, sometimes I feel like I’m not worthy because they are running such large national businesses, but not many dog trainers have built businesses of this size and I’m proud of the work I’ve poured into it.”
With two thriving businesses, plus two dogs, three cats, five horses and 25 feral cats on her ranch, perhaps it all goes back to her gift of listening and understanding…even without words.
Camilla’s Top Leadership Lessons For Women Business Owners
Here are her top leadership lessons for women business owners that she has learned from working with dogs:
- Stay focused on your objective and don’t let emotions or bright, shiny objects lead you astray.
- Make your rules and be clear and consistent if you’re leading others.
- Never get angry and always be compassionate but fearless in your follow through.
- Don’t worry that people won’t like you. If your follow through is honest and compassionate, they’ll like and admire you.
- Remember, you can be strong and still feminine—don’t try to be a man.