I struggled with finding quality people to hire, managing the finances of running a business, tax issues, shady contractors when building out a location and fixing equipment. Challenges make you stronger and this life is not for the weak at heart. It wasn’t glamourous to say I’m an entrepreneur! You lost money, got depressed but the one thing was you didn’t quit!. When I started doing this, there wasn’t a guide and information wasn’t shared the way it is now. There has been a lot of challenges but I like to refer to them as lessons. We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road? We are a USDA certified pet transporter that provides breeders around the world the ability to get their pets personally delivered to customers anywhere they are allowed. Something that would be innovating and different. After moving here and starting back up our catering business, I wanted to do something different. We had success but NC wasn’t a good state for entrepreneurs so I started looking for our next move.
![rockstar pets rockstar pets](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/95/b1/6c95b1b340f5444ab544ca3feaaac15c.jpg)
So we opened a catering business called Hunger Pangs. Along the way, I learned I had a passion for food. We owned several salons and a salon suite before everyone started doing it. After building the business up, we sold it and moved to North Carolina. A bit after that word had got around that I owned a business and I was told I could stay with certain conditions or leave with six months salary and medical. We opened up a very successful salon where I handled all the backend business. When my wife saw an opportunity to open our first hair salon that was our start into entrepreneurship. While working for a fortune 500 was great and had a lot of perks, it wasn’t fulfilling. I was always someone who knew they want to be a business person and wanted more out of life in general. My story started while working for a Fortune 500 company as an account executive.
![rockstar pets rockstar pets](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/H6GJPJ/rockstar-border-collie-dog-singing-into-a-microphone-H6GJPJ.jpg)
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Hi Marcus, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story. Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Thompkins.