Vinnie Soma is a life long dog lover, who started training dogs professionally in 2012, after a few serious injuries derailed his hockey career.

College just wasn’t for him, so he connected with his uncle, who had been training dogs since the 1970’s, and through trial, error, ups, and downs, he created Say it Once Dog Training, the biggest dog training company in Pittsburgh, PA, and has since branched out into Cincinnati, Nashville, and DC.

He started a non-profit, to provide training for rescue dogs, to ensure that they transition smoothly into their new homes, and avoid being returned back to the rescue. His “Say it Once Dog Derby” has raised tens of thousands of dollars towards this effort, and had over 400 participants last year.

Vinnie’s is a great story of perseverance and overcoming many BUT’s on his way to success!

Read more about Vinnie and how to get involved in the Dog Derby, or helping rescue dogs at www.sayitoncedogtraining.com

After getting his Master’s degree and working a few unfullfiling years in the corporate world, Mike Wombacher changed gears, and has been involved with dogs for over forty years. Over thirty of them as a professional trainer. During this time, he has performed around 40,000 private consultations covering the entire spectrum of dog behavior, from the mundane to the bizarre.

Mike is also the author of three other books – There’s a Puppy in the House, Integrated Dog Training, and Good Dog, Happy Baby – and has another book slated for publication – Hey, What’s with the Collar: Inside the War in the World of Dog Training.

Mike has trained dogs for high profile celebrities in the entertainment, financial and academic worlds including Charles Schwab, Robin Williams, Linda Ronstadt, Barry Levinson, Chad Hurley (founder of YouTube), Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal), Jeremy Stoppelman (founder of Yelp), Dr. Robert Sapolsky (author of many books on animal behavior and neurobiology), Joe Satriani, Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Linda Ronstadt, Kirk Hammet (Metallica) and Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony,

who commented that "Michael Wombacher is a maestro of dog trainers. His clarity of thinking, sense of humor and skills in communicating make dog training fun for both pet and pet lover."

Mike has a great story of overcoming the doubts of others, and persevering, to overcome his buts, and the buts of others!

(Note that this is part 1, and cuts off at the end, but we plan to get Mike’s partner on a future episode to talk about her time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and how they are now working with PTSD service dogs for veterians.)

From White Gold To White Beaches: How a Wanna be Asparagus farmer ended up running a successful BNB and management company in Aruba.

Meet Rik Maes, Rik was born and raised on a farm in The Netherlands that specialized in White Asparagus (also known as White Gold). Riks story is a story of being at the right time in the right place and meeting the right people and recognizing & seizing opportunities without asking himself the “what if” questions and ignoring the “yes this is an opportunity BUT ……..” remarks from people around him.

His story is the epitome of what happens when you do not plan out your life but just do what sounds right and hope it will all works out.

Find Rik's place at https://stonethrowaruba.com/