The Entrepreneurial Spirit Lives On

This week, we are celebrating a meaningful family moment as our son Christopher and his wife, Michelle, launch their new business, The Woolly Hound Co.

Their launch has caused us to reflect on how entrepreneurship has traveled through our family, often in ways none of us could have predicted.

My mom and dad were entrepreneurs. Together, they owned a commercial laundry and dry-cleaning business, and his mom also operated a retail clothing store. They understood firsthand the long hours, uncertainty, financial pressure, and personal sacrifice that often accompany building a business.

Perhaps because they knew the journey so well, their advice to their children was fairly straightforward: go to school, get good grades, and find a real job.

They wanted something more secure for their family. They wanted their children to have the stability and opportunities they had worked so hard to provide… And for a while, that is the path we followed.

My sisters and I each pursued more traditional careers. Yet, over time, we all eventually found our way toward entrepreneurship in one form or another. The very spirit their parents may have hoped to protect them from somehow continued to live within them.

Now, we are watching that entrepreneurial spirit emerge in another generation.

Christopher and Michelle have taken an idea and worked together to turn it into something real. Seeing them build The Woolly Hound has been a meaningful reminder that the desire to create, solve problems, serve others, and pursue a vision can continue through a family in ways we may never anticipate.

The Woolly Hound grew from their desire to create healthier and more thoughtfully designed products for dogs and the homes they share with their families. Their all-natural dog beds reflect their love for Oakley and Maple, their attention to craftsmanship, and their belief that everyday products can be made with greater purpose and care.

As entrepreneurs ourselves, my wife Lisa and I understand how much unseen work happens before a business ever launches. Behind the finished website and beautiful products are countless conversations, decisions, setbacks, adjustments, risks, and moments when it would have been easier to stop.

That is part of what makes this moment so meaningful to us.

We are not only celebrating the launch of a new business. We are watching a generational story continue to unfold.

My parents built businesses because they were trying to create a better life for their family. They encouraged their children toward security because they understood the cost of the path they had chosen. Yet their courage, independence, creativity, and willingness to build something of their own became part of the legacy they passed down.

That legacy continued through their children, and now we see it emerging within another generation.

The Woolly Hound is Christopher and Michelle’s vision, work, and story. We are simply proud parents who are grateful to watch them step courageously into it.

We invite you to visit their newly launched website, learn more about the story behind The Woolly Hound, and support them as they begin this exciting new chapter.