YYC F*CKUP NIGHTS YYC SPEAKER
MEGHAN HUCHKOWSKY
DOODLE DOGS
Doodle Dogs has been Calgary’s favourite pet boutique since 2016, serving fresh diets, functional gear, and next-day delivery with the kind of service dogs (and their humans) obsess over. By 2023, siblings Meghan and Corey were riding high: two strong locations, a new warehouse, a SE acquisition, and a shiny Marda Loop build on the way. Even a fire couldn’t stop them, they rebuilt bigger and better.
Then 2024 hit like a freight train. Costs exploded, spending shrank, and suddenly four stores and two mortgages were producing the same revenue they once made with a location closed from fire. Payroll ballooned. Construction stalled. Cash vanished. Time for hard decisions.
They sold a warehouse. Reworked their perks program. Shut down Marda Loop after brutal construction wiped out access. Ate a $267K loss. And when lease rates skyrocketed on their rebuilt store, they walked away from that too.
But one win kept them going: their SE acquisition is now on track to beat last year by 30%, proof they weren’t done yet.
Through chaos, fires, expansions, and a few major “WTF” moments, Meghan and Corey have stayed scrappy, smart, and stubborn. They’ve learned resilience the hard way, and they’re building a 2026 shaped by grit, growth, and catching the screw-ups before they land.
Visit Website – https://www.doodledogsboutique.com/
F*uckUp YYC - The Crew Behind the Chaos
Hosts: Shahr Savizi & Amanda Ovaici
The FuckUp Nights YYC team is a collective of community builders and catalysts dedicated to tearing down the facade of "perfect" professionalism. Led by Shahr Savizi and Amanda Ovaici, the pair are on a mission to destigmatize professional failure through radical vulnerability and the power of raw storytelling.
By hosting high-impact events that celebrate the messy, human side of business setbacks, Shahr, Amanda, and their team foster a resilient entrepreneurial ecosystem in Calgary. Their work encourages local leaders to:
Embrace Transparency: Shedding the "hustle culture" mask for honest, authentic growth.
Drive Resilience: Learning more from a collapse than a win to build stronger ventures.
Foster Meaningful Connections: Creating a professional landscape rooted in shared experience and grit.
In a world obsessed with highlight reels, the team is here to remind us that our biggest blunders are often our greatest lessons. They aren't just hosting an event; they’re building a culture where Calgary’s leaders can fail forward, together.
