Whenever anyone really pressures me and asks me why I do what I do with Stable Hands I go back to an encounter with a lawyer. Not that type of encounter. This was a settlement attorney that did the settlement when my father was selling all his buildings in Fairfax. The settlement attorney asked what I did and I explained I was dog walking and pet sitting.
All of a sudden she became very happy and thankful. She thanked me on behalf of the entire industry because her dog walker made it possible for her to own pets. That is a moment that has stayed with me because it showed me the difference we make in people’s lives. Just because someone has a busy life or a demanding job doesn’t mean they should miss out on the joys of pet ownership.
It came to me yesterday or the day before that this was an intersection of Stable Hands and Campbell Drive Properties. My father was selling all his Fairfax assets and was about to acquire the Wendy’s that would eventually be exchanged for the property in Virginia Beach. This was when Campbell Drive Properties went from my father just wanting to own the buildings around his business to owning assets that generate income.
Now that I look back at that moment it is more important than it would seem. It was a simple business meeting. Something that happens daily in America at settlement attorney’s offices. A casual bit of conversation of the most American of small talk lines, “What do you do for a living?” Has become a defining moment of my life. It is where I realized the importance of dog walking and pet sitting, and a shared moment between my father and myself involving the family business.
In a way the legacy of Campbell Drive Properties goes back past my father. To my grandfather and to the people that opened Fuller and d’Albert in 1915. Campbell Drive Properties is what remains of our family legacy.
My father often took me on business appointments, but this was the only one after I’d stopped working for him. This was the last business appointment I was at because after this there was no business. Campbell Drive Properties was a named entity that held assets. The Wendy’s generated income but when that ended and the houses in Virginia Beach took its place it was more about equity than income.
That moment is going to live in my head for the rest of my life and I bet that settlement attorney doesn’t remember it at all.
David Huzzard Writes 