December 3, 2024
Rob Candelino – CEO – PetSafe Brands
How To Be Happier Healthier And Safer With Pets, Rob Candelino – CEO PetSafe
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The pet market is expected to be a half-a-trillion-dollar sector by 2030 with an ever-growing landscape of competitive growth opportunities serving consumers and their pets. PetSafe Brands CEO Rob Candelino joins this episode of The Reboot Chronicles to share his personal journey and how he is rebooting his company and the industry.
PetSafe’s portfolio includes leading brands with hundreds of patents—like Invisible Fence, Sport Dog, and Kurgo. With tens of millions of dogs protected by their fence systems and trained with their bark collars, they’re known around the world and looking to grow into a billion-dollar company. Follow along with us as we dig into Rob’s life lessons on transitioning your career, and why he is on a mission to unleash freedom for pet parents by keeping pets happy, healthy, and safe.
From Human Care To Pet Technology
Before being the CEO of PetSafe Brands, Rob was working as the CEO of Unilever Thailand. Rob was looking for a change as he was “Paranoid at being a middle-aged man in his skills” and eventually “becomes a dinosaur” in his field. To avoid this he wanted the opportunity to learn something new, so he dove into the deep end of a completely different market to keep his edge. He came into PetSafe Brands in 2022 after it had been successful for 30 years, with the purpose to “help unleash freedom for pet parents, and keep their pets happy and safe.” This was perfect timing, as many people acquired pets during COVID-19, and the role of pets as members of the family is growing year by year.
Looking Forward And The Plan To Grow
I am sure you are all aware of what the pet aisle in any store looks like, hundreds of different brands for every product you can imagine. Rob also has this view but from the angle of who his competitors are. To stay competitive Rob is looking to grow through building, buying, and borrowing other components or other companies. A prime example of this is the innovation and growth they are exploring in the kitty litter market. A patent that they acquired, during an acquisition, for a 30-day scoop-free litter box, plus their crystal kitty litter, led PetSafe Brands to grow rapidly in the kitty litter market. But even with that Rob notes that “there are still tons of penetration opportunities”, so they have to always be looking forward to the next area to grow in.
Lessons To Take From A Business Veteran
From his 25 years at Unilever to almost three years at PetSafe Brands, Rob has learned several lessons and set up a few rules for himself to guide him. One of those rules, which he was taught several years ago, is “do the hard rights versus the hard wrongs.” This is a rule he uses in his corporate life, but also his personal life to guide him in the decisions that need to be made. Another one of Rob’s lessons is, as a leader, he can never settle as when you settle you stop growing. As Rob puts it “It is in my job description to be constructively dissatisfied”.
