Ryan Alford [00:00:03] Hey guys, welcome today's episode of the Radical Company podcast - podcast Friday. I'm really excited to have Chris Buol on the show today. I've known Chris for a good bit here through GVL Hustle and a few other things collaborating. Chris, really excited to have you on the podcast. I'd love to start out. Each one of these we bring people on given a little bit of that and cliff notes of your background, your history. You've got an interesting story - what got you to Greenville, which is fascinating, but I love for you just to kind of give that a little bit of the history of you and your background and what got you into the dogs and all that once you got to Greenville. 

Chris Buol [00:01:48] So I grew up in Rhode Island, a small island, graduated with eight people and then just did traveling, summertime bartending jobs. My wife was working up there as well and there we met. And then we actually moved to Florida, for a few years. And then we adopted a dog in Florida that we found on the streets, and we tried a bunch of different training stuff and it just didn't work great inside. But then outside he would chase all the critters and do whatever he wanted. 

Ryan Alford [00:02:49] And for those that are listening and not watching he's been working with Chris for two weeks in this; the dog, just about every command, like better than any person I've ever known or any of my kids or anyone. It was like on command. 

Ryan Alford [00:03:46] I mean, again, we're doing lots of audio and visual versions. Luckily, you can watch the podcast on YouTube in full. But Chris is a big guy. He's ripped and has that chiseled look. 

Chris Buol [00:04:07] And basically eight months later, the opportunity to purchase a location came up. And Greenville wasn't really like on the map. We just typed in the fastest-growing city in the United States. And this was three years ago. And Greenville's a bunch of them would pop up. So we looked in Texas. I think we looked in Tennessee. We looked here. But we did a little bit of research. Never been here before, ever. I saw a couple of pictures of Falls Park and I was like, well, this looks nice. 

Ryan Alford [00:04:45] The city of Greenville, if you're listening, the marketing is working. 

Chris Buol [00:04:50] Very low blind marketing for that one! Really pulled in. And so we got married. Well, we bought a house, got married. This is all three years ago, bought a house, got married, bought the business four months later, quit working for them, packed up the house and moved up here. And basically, we just put our finger on the map and was like, oh yeah, let's right here. Had no place to rent. We just had our friend's cabin in Brevard. So that was an hour’s drive for like three weeks every single day because I came here trying to build the business. 

Ryan Alford [00:05:30] You hear people say this story like you'll see a movie that we put a finger on the map and we went there and we lived there. And you're like, that hasn't happened. I actually would like to start doing that. I have a good trailer voice and a good strip club voice coming to the main stage. It's Chris Boul. Yeah, I have very few talents, but maybe if nothing else works out, I could be the DJ. I'd pay to hear that though. But you hear that you're watching. We were just looking at a map and you did it. You made it happen. Put the pot up. Your marriage survived. 

Chris Buol [00:06:14] A year of renting our house in Florida, surviving building a business, and just networking, marketing, finding people that we liked up here, and then ultimately led me to Greenville Hustle, which is crazy. Like how all that just lines up isn't amazing. 

Ryan Alford [00:06:34] Like the way I think you are. The shining example. Like when Tyler now we're brainstorming, Greenville Hustle. We were like we had the Chris Buol's in mind. It was like both people that lived here and had moved here. But how do we like breathing? Because, it's been kindred spirits, with you intolerant of things. And you and I and just clicking just like mine. It's not because we hang out 24/7, but it's just we know we're on that same wavelength. And it's brought a lot of those people together. So, I mean, it's great. I love that. So talk about the canine training. I mean, I've heard we've seen it in action. I see it with Dr. C's dog. He's improved. I think he needs a little more work, 

How much is dog training and how much is people training? 

Chris Buol [00:07:29] When I first started, it was like fifty and now it's about ninety ten. So it's like I got to really focus on the owners just to get that side result because the dogs will do fine with me because I'm a professional, what I mean. The timing is good. I know how to move my body, but it's breaking down that weird in-between. And then once they figure it out and it's like why didn't I just do this earlier? And I'm like, I told you, what is it with dogs? 

Ryan Alford [00:07:54] I mean, it's amazing to me. I was thinking about this. I think about business and marketing in different ways. Obviously owning the agency. That's what I do every day. But I think about industries and we were like white spaces are not white space, but just where growth is. Everyone owns a dog like dog treats, dog food, dog training dog. I mean, it's like there are so many opportunities in that space, for business, but it's like people love their dogs. I mean, it's I don't have a dog now. I grew up with a dog. I love dogs, but we just have four other creatures at home known as children.

Chris Buol [00:08:32] Right, if you don't have time for a dog. Don't get one. 

Ryan Alford [00:08:35] That's why I've actually learned that about myself very few things. But one of them is I don't have time for it, so don't need to do it. 

Chris Buol [00:08:43] It’s no training in the world is going to be able to help that.

Ryan Alford [00:09:05] So tell us about what goes into dog training. What's like I mean, not the secrets of the trade, but obviously you have a passion for it and obviously, you have a skill set for. But what's to talk about some of those nuts and bolts. So ultimately dog training is motivation and consistency.

Chris Buol [00:09:24] And figuring out what motivates the dog to want to work for you and building that relationship. Like I have a ridiculous relationship with Elvis and I've known him for two weeks. I built that relationship within a 24 hour period. Right. So that relationship was based on trust and respect. You gotta earn my affection. I'll show you how to earn it. But you need to earn it the way that I want you to. And that's just being consistent. Like I don't want you rushing the door. I don't want you answering the door. I don't want you doing this. So we step that up and then all this other stuff, the dog goes, “oh, shit, I got to pay attention because I don't get to do whatever I want.” Because that's what happens with a lot of people is that we're overly affectionate. To the dogs, and you actually can create bad behaviors? Dog jumps up, you pet it, you go, “No, I'm done with you. “Dog jumps up again, you pet it. “No. I'm done with you.” You've taught the dog to jump up on you and then you get mad at the dog for jumping on you. 

Ryan Alford [00:10:28] Can we apply this to some of the moms and children in my son's daycare? Because it seems like a subject that seems common it's not that they're dogs. Anyone listening? I'm not calling any human being a dog, but it sounds like a similar issue. 

Chris Buol [00:10:45] It's funny because I don't have kids yet. But the correlation between that, like dogs, their lifespan, they pretty much have the mind of a two-year-old. And that two-year-old is getting into everything right as far as kids as I know. But the dogs do the same thing. They're always testing. They're always watching even as an eight-week-old puppy; they're figuring out mannerisms and the emotional influx that the humans are giving off. 

Ryan Alford [00:11:16] So consistency, obviously gaining the respect, doing those things. But what does that turning point with the dog like? Is it just visibly I mean obviously, I see what else is already doing but is there a turning point that you see when it's clicked?

Chris Buol [00:11:38] As you get better at understanding dog behavior, you can see into their eyes and see like the wheels turning and the process. So then the dog starts to go, OK, I'm going to put this picture together and they start you literally the dog, in the beginning, is like, “I'm not going to sit, I'm not going to sit.” Then you keep consistently doing that over like fast repetitions and the dog figures it out and then all of a sudden you start changing the game up on them. So I always say be inconsistently consistent with that because if you change, everything is working out. If you do the same thing over and over again, you’ll stop seeing results. But if you're changing almost every day. They're the dogs are going to go, “I don't know what he's got up his sleeve at this time”. 

Ryan Alford [00:12:40] So is there any dog that's untrainable? So I've either been with friends or I feel like I can remember back to being a teenager and having done this. This is never going to happen like that. 

Chris Buol [00:12:54] Just there's like the one-percenters that are either genetically messed up or owners aren't willing to change. So there are very few dogs that aren't trainable. I've had one too. That is because they all know how to do this stuff. Right. It's just the humans mess it up like one hundred percent responsible for why dogs are the way they are, especially nowadays. 

Ryan Alford [00:13:39]So, talk about some of your other passions. I mean, you are obviously into personal development. We'll get into the production side of things that you're exploring. But, I see, with you coming into GVL hustle; I know you're into physical fitness and CrossFit, but talk about some of those passion points. 

Chris Buol [00:14:08] Yeah. So I started doing CrossFit. And prior to that, I would just go to the regular gym, Gold's Gym workout, and I got stuck into that routine. I worked out hard but nobody wanted to work out with me. So like, I had friends that would come in, but they were like, “no you're doing too much.”

So they would do that. So then I wouldn't have people in for almost a year here. I was working out at any time and I just got super depressed. I got really bored and I would go, but it was just monotonous and boring. So I was like, “alright, I got to find something different”. And I like the universe. It's crazy how that works and starts putting little images here and there. So swamp rabbit stuff started popping up. And then I was trained in a client's dog and she had a swamp rabbit sticker and like all these weird things started happening. So I called him up, got a fundamental set up, and took like a week for them to get back to me. And I called him and I was like, “guys like, here's my money. I want to give it to you, help me.” And so they finally got me set up and it is the best decision that I've ever made because the first day I went in, I did pretty good. The second day I was dead last; it destroyed me. And then from there on out, progressively just getting better and literally staying in the suck during that hour, like, how far can I push myself to the point where I can pretty much blackout? I've done it one time on a roller and it was like I rode and fell right off the road. 

Ryan Alford [00:16:10] I've been on that road. 

Chris Buol [00:16:13] There's a picture that I said, Matt, it's actually like me curled up in a fetal position, like dead after a competition workout. That was the lowest point that I think I've put myself in. And I loved it. I didn't love it then, but like, because I know that it made me better. So I have a huge passion for Crosthwaite and I've always had a passion. I've worked in the gym industry for a long time for fitness and health. I'm trying to push that through more media stuff that I like to do as well. So that being like that's that non-negotiable, getting into the gym and fitness and there are days I don't go. 

Ryan Alford [00:16:55] Do you do anything besides only CrossFit that you are into?

Chris Buol [00:17:42] I keep up with the two of my really good friends are shorter. That I work out with and I keep up with them. That's pretty quick. 

Ryan Alford [00:17:50] That's good. Tall. But it is something different isn't it. Being taller as far as those workouts go. 

Chris Buol [00:17:55] I don't know any different. 

Ryan Alford [00:17:56] Yeah I don't either.

Chris Buol [00:18:00] But it is funny like watching the little guys do like you're like damn you're fast. 

Ryan Alford [00:18:04] I know. 

Chris Buol [00:18:05] Just are clean and I'm like I got another like eight inches. Yeah. So. Before you were like even while you're 

Ryan Alford [00:18:11] Kind of me getting on the bench press, I always like, I just feel like I'm going for this has got to be different, I don't know. I said I'm pretty strong for my size, but like I thought, it just feels it looks different. He would have felt myself ;like, But I'll take the height over any of that. But so what else. The production side is self-taught. And just kind of a budding passion. I mean, just interested, like a lot of media is moving there and just caught your eye and you've been learning. 

Chris Buol [00:18:53] When I started we actually made a video for our Save the Date wedding video. And it is awful like you had landscape and then you had verticals that it was switching back and forth. Terrible. 

Ryan Alford [00:19:05] The movie meets something.

Chris Buol [00:19:12] So we made that and and then when I started with off leash, I actually just went on a movie and just started making the videos a little bit better, speeding them up and no, none of this crazy like color grading or doing any of that. That has recently just happened to me for the last three months. So I just went on YouTube. I started downloading an app on my phone, most of the videos and I'm making unless it's like for somebody is out of the iPhone. 

Ryan Alford [00:19:44] It's amazing what you can do on the phone. It's crazy like it's come so far in the last like three years. I mean, like some of the programs blow my mind, the processing that's going through that little thing in your pocket. 

Chris Buol [00:19:56] I know my brother works for a big company up in New York. And he's like, you do that shit on your phone. I'm like, yeah, he's like, I don't know how I could do 

Ryan Alford [00:20:05]  It's out there, 

Chris Buol [00:20:09] But like I, I because I can go, it's on the go. Yeah, so I'm like I'm filming them, chewing the dogs and then I can make a video update for the owners in like 30 minutes. And it looks pretty good 

Ryan Alford [00:20:23] Yeah, it's interesting. Let's go down that path because how you're blending it into and that's what I love that blend of seeing where the media is going, having that passion for it and then using it in your business and knowing how that can differentiate you. That's interesting. 

Chris Buol [00:20:39] Yeah. And the cool thing is, it's kind of changing the dog industry, right? Like off leash is very change oriented, change the dog industry type of stuff. But I watch, I start putting out some videos and I'm not saying that I like I create this stuff at all, but I do watching everybody else kind of level up their game. Yeah. And I just like sitting back and observing and just letting them kind of do their thing a little bit and then just kind of like putting in little things and then helping everybody else out. Like people are texting me like, hey, how did you do this? Would you use that app? And I'm like, hey, use this, do this. And it makes it much, much better, like the production of it. It's not just a standard iPhone where you're just walking behind somebody like that's boring. But changing that whole dynamic because we put out the best dog training videos. I like that's one of our biggest niches is like you won't find a better before and after video or updates from any other dog training company out there right now. 

Ryan Alford [00:21:45] It just be so awful. This is a franchise, it's a licensing. OK, I know you're talking about that. I didn't kind of go down that a little bit. So you licensed the name and how many brand and how many licenses they have? 

Chris Buol [00:21:58] 135 locations. They show two internationals. There's one in England, a couple I think there's one in Canada. And Australia is kind of on the map.

Ryan Alford [00:22:10] They give you updated training. I mean this stuff come with that. Other than just I mean obviously they trained you on the front end and you've got the branding because they're like ongoing education. 

Chris Buol [00:22:20] There is. A lot of headquarters, like people. I'm good friends. A lot of those guys. Where is headquarters. 

Ryan Alford [00:22:27] It's in Virginia. OK, yeah. 

Chris Buol [00:22:29] Woodbridge is where that started and it's light is the owner. He's a savage. 

Ryan Alford [00:22:34] What do you think of um now that you’re here, you've been here a few years Greensville the growth and just the dynamics of everything. Digging it. 

Chris Buol [00:22:43] I love it. Yeah. This is home base. Yeah. I've lived in a lot of places and I'm like, man, I don't want to leave this place. 

Ryan Alford [00:22:51] It's really great. I mean, , I was born here, lived elsewhere and. I even have to, like, stop and like, appreciate it more some, because you get used to it and it's obviously changed a ton. And, my two mile commute has turned into 20 minutes some days. But that but I try to keep it all in perspective, actually lets me get into some podcasts and different content, like listening. But, so you see, you see, Greenville's still just I mean, it's being home. Bootmen. 

Chris Buol [00:23:26] It's like I, I love the growth of a city. Watching it grow to me is incredible and just seeing it and the little things that are happening where a lot of people aren't like paying attention. And if I had more ability to invest in stuff, like, I would absolutely have done it three years ago. But just working on the business and that's where I'm trying to branch out now and create that umbrella of that 

Ryan Alford [00:23:49] What's the future for awfully. I mean, like just growth. Yeah. Yeah. 

Chris Buol [00:23:54] I just hired another trainer so I have four full time trainers. Wow. Myself and my wife um and then I plan on hiring two more and then kind of like stepping away from it a little bit. I still have my hand in it and train dogs every once in a while. But getting more into the media side of stuff we just bought a thirty one foot travel trailer. 

Ryan Alford [00:24:18] Supercheap for the dogs or for whatever, 

Chris Buol [00:24:22] Yeah, for whatever, we're actually going to go down to Florida, we're going to drive it down and we're going to start kind of just like a little travel log. Just do fun stuff. That's cool, because it's everybody in any podcasts and anything that I've ever heard of. People are going to do what you want to do. Right. And you have that fear and you're like, oh, I don't have the money. I can't do this? And it's all that negativity that drops in there. So I said, all right, let's just go get one. It was a goal in 2019. And then we did it in the first 14 days of 2019, 

Ryan Alford [00:24:55] How can people find you, like how can they find off leash for you locally? Here they have a dog. They want trained social channels and then all your personal stuff. 

Chris Buol [00:25:06] Yeah, it's off leash. Canine on Instagram. It's OEL Canine Greensville. And there's no underscores or anything like that. Boul City Dreams is my personal account. So I added some media stuff in there as well. Off leash canine if you type it into Google or come up with a website and also come up on Facebook. Great. 

Ryan Alford [00:25:27] That's awesome, man. Well, I've, considered a blessing meeting you through Grimble Hustle, so appreciative of our friendship and growing that and coming on the podcast and supporting you any way we can. I mean, you're just a great guy. You're like when we started Greenwall, just like I said, like the epitome of what we wanted, you know, those connections to happen. And so really appreciate you coming on, super cool here, man. Yeah, it's genuine. I mean, it one little shout out racism die dotcom. Jordan Yabe, check out all of his gear. Really growing brand here in Greenville, really supportive of this message. Racism die dotcom. Check out all of his stuff and we'll see you on the next episode of the wrap up of the podcast.