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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 31 A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 2 0 H eidi Neal had a background in banking, but a love for dogs. She combined her skills with her passion in January 2010, buying the original location of Loyal Biscuit, an independent boutique with dog and cat supplies.Today, Neal, who bought the store with her husband Joel, has seven stores in Maine. Neal has deep roots in Rockland. She was born and raised in Rockland, went to Oceanside High School and has a degree from omas College. Her husband is a Rockland Police officer. ey live in Rockland with their five dogs and a cat. Neal's background is in banking. She was vice president of branch operations at Midcoast Federal Credit Union and a marketing officer at Camden National Bank. Each gave her specific skills that she uses today in retail. "My marketing job [at Camden National] gave me experience in database digging, direct mail, events. It gave me a great background. Prior to COVID we did a ton of events at Loyal Biscuit," she says. "At Midcoast, I was a manager of people. I love my staff, but managing people is hard." Recession pivot In 2009, after 15 years in banking and so many new regulations after the Great Recession, she was ready for a change. She loved shopping at the Loyal Biscuit in downtown Rockland — the wel- coming atmosphere, the fact that she could bring in her dog, the proprietor she knew by name. She mentioned to her then-boy- friend-now-husband Joel that she'd be interested in owning a business like that. He suggested asking the owner of Loyal Biscuit if she wanted to sell. "Loyal Biscuit was my favorite. My only dog at the time, Fenway, and I would go in there. By 2009, things really changed. I was burned out on banking. I was set to go back to school to become a teacher," she says. As a matter of fact, Loyal Biscuit's owner at the time, Lauren Hinsman, was ready to sell. at was December 2009. A retail niche in Maine B y P e t e R V a n a l l e n C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » MEMBER FDIC EQUAL HOUSING LENDER In her own words What triggered your career path? It was actually an incredibly random conversation with my husband, talk- ing about my favorite store and how I just wanted to play with my dog all day. He encouraged me to reach out to owners of Loyal Biscuit Co. to see if they would ever consider selling the business, and the rest is history! I don't get to play with my dog all day (she prefers hanging out at home now) but I get to see so many other dogs, and the occasional cat, that come to our stores to shop. It's a pretty fun job! Did you have a mentor or role model? It would be really hard for me to pin- point one person as a role model, or mentor. I have had so many influen- tial people affect my life throughout my working career and I had some amazing bosses to learn from while in banking. Since becoming a small business owner, my current models and inspiration are other strong women business owners like Kate McAleer at Bixby & Co. in Rockland and Vicki Murray at Laugh Loud Smile Big in Rockport, to name a couple. And of course, my very first role models were my parents! What books are on your summer reading list? "Mad Genius" by Randy Gage and "Hug Your Haters" by Jay Baer. Who would play you in a movie about yourself? This one was SO tough! But I would have to pick a fellow Maine woman (with spunk, no less!) and go with Anna Kendrick!

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