Today we’d like to introduce you to Shana Martin
Hi Shana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In March 2019, I opened Orange County’s first and only truly luxury cat-only hotel, Club Cat. A “Four Seasons” if you will, but only for cats. I built Club Cat because I had spent decades seeking an appealing boarding option for my cats to stay when I was traveling on business trips or vacations. Sadly, none existed so I decided to take matters into my own hands. In 2017, I left my career in corporate America and dusted off the business plan I’d written years before to build a hotel for cats that is worthy of my felines – and everyone’s felines. Our flagship cat hotel in Irvine opened its doors March 1, 2019, a year before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down travel and life as we knew it for months. Fortunately, we survived and have been thriving ever since thanks to the many helicopter cat parents (helicat parents as I call us) out there like me who want the very best for their cats when we must be away from them.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like any new business, Club Cat has had its fair share of challenges. Fortunately, we’ve overcome them. In my initial interview with Voyage LA a few years ago, I outlined a few challenges in building our flagship location in Irvine. Any time you start a new business concept from scratch– even if it’s a variation on an existing concept like Club Cat – you don’t know what you don’t know. From site selection to buildout to creating brand awareness and streamlining operations – every obstacle we’ve overcome is one our future Club Cat franchisees won’t have to.
Covid-19 pandemic, which hit at our one-year-anniversary, had a huge impact on us as a brand-new business because the majority of our customers use our services to board their kitties when they are traveling. Thankfully, we were able to identify cat parents who needed to board their cats due to home improvement projects, selling their homes, and other situations where their kitties were unable to stay at home temporarily.
As we expand by building Club Cat hotels across California and beyond, the biggest challenge is identifying the right franchisees to own and operate their own Club Cat hotels. Our newly created franchise company, Club Cat Franchising, is an emerging brand that we are growing steadily yet strategically. As a former marathon runner, I am a big believer in pacing oneself to achieve the greatest long-term results.
My focus is to preserve our brand image and equity. This is contingent upon aligning with the right humans. That means we are being highly selective with who we partner with. We will always put our customers’ needs – feline and human alike – before advancement just for sake of advancing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Club Cat?
I could talk about Club Cat forever! However, I’ll try to be concise. Club Cat is a boutique luxury hotel and resort exclusively designated for the overnight care of domestic cats. As a high-end alternative to traditional cat boarding, Club Cat provides more than just a safe and clean environment for cats; it also promises a five-star customer service experience for both cat and cat parent alike.
While in Club Cat’s care, kitty cat patrons receive the type of authentic love, care and attention they’re used to at home – and more. To achieve this, Club Cat employs a team of dedicated care givers, many of whom are cat parents themselves, to provide the highest level of care to our kitty cat guests – and their parents. To that point, many of our team members board their own kitties at Club Cat. We offer a wide array of novel services, amenities, and entertainment uniquely tailored to meet each kitty cat’s own unique personality and preference. Cat parents can also close the distance by staying connected to their beloved pets 24/7 while they are away via webcams in each suite.
Club Cat Irvine’s success is the impetus behind forming Club Cat Franchising. Having survived Covid-19 as a new business, we have learned that there is explosive demand for Club Cat in California and across the United States. Case in point: We have customers who drive 2-3 hours to board their cats in our Irvine hotel. Cat parents want luxury accommodations for their cats no matter where they live. This is a highly underserved market and our goal is to meet that demand. In addition to expanding our locations as a corporation, we are actively seeking people to own their own Club Cat hotels.
If you (or someone you know) are seeking greater flexibility in life where you can make a high impact on other cat lovers, I’d love to speak with you about franchising opportunities!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I spent 25 years working for mainly corporate and a few nonprofit organizations as both an individual contributor and then as a people manager. But I never felt truly satisfied in my professional life no matter how much money I made or what company I worked for or what I did. When I finally became an entrepreneur, I knew I’d reached my professional calling. I’m the kind of person who needs to feel the impact of what I’m doing to feel whole.
Being an entrepreneur allows me to tap into my God-given talents and abilities in a way that is not restricted as it was in the past when I worked for employers. My only regret was that I did not make the move to business ownership sooner.
Life is all about taking calculated risk – and I am very grateful I finally made the leap into business ownership. It has made all the difference in my professional and personal life!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clubcatusa.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clubcatusa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClubCatUSA/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/club-cat-irvine
- Other: https://g.page/ClubCatUSA?we
Image Credits
Mily Cooper Photography
