Letting it go to the dogs

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – “They say you learn a lot out there. How to scorch and burn. Gonna have to bury your friends, then you’ll find it gets worse. Standing out on a ledge with no way to get down. You start praying for wings to grow. Oh, baby, just let go.” -Nathaniel Rateliff (And It’s Still Alright)

If you don’t recognize the name Eve Molzhon, you will most assuredly recognize her work. For the last 10 years, she has been providing top-notch dog boarding and training to the La Crosse area through Fun Fur Pets. In 2021, she founded the Dog Handlers Academy when she saw a need for her employees to fill gaps in their training. To help people understand their dogs and how to train them (and themselves) she started Dog School of Minnesota in 2022 and, earlier this year (2023), she opened Pawsome Pets County Club in Holmen.

Believe it or not, that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.

Molzhon grew up a self-described, trailer park kid. Her goal was to manage a KFC because, as she saw it, “I thought my manager had a pretty good life so, I thought, ‘Hey, I can do that.” College wasn’t anything she entertained. Despite having zero intent on going to college or taking any necessary steps, she took the American College Test (ACT). Molzhon says she only took the test because, when she was dropping off her friends to take it, the teacher greeting everyone told her to get out of the car. Repeatedly. So, she did.

That, from my estimation, was the first time she let go.

She ended up scoring really well and, being one of three schools she sent her scores to, Viterbo University said they would love to have her. Still, in her eyes, that just wasn’t what trailer park kids did. Plus, she was taking care of her sister and there was just too much… stuff… in the way. Then, one afternoon, a friend called and said her mom wanted to take them out to lunch. First, they made a surprise stop at the Viterbo admissions office. Eve remembers, “We parked and I said, ‘Oh, Sarah, you’re going to Viterbo? That’s cool. And her mom said, ‘No. You are.’” Through tears and various attempts to decline, she registered.

That was the second time she let go.

School wasn’t about the education for Molzhon. Yes, she gained knowledge and was taught lessons, but what she really learned was that she was far more than just a “trailer park kid”. She was free to be whomever Eve Molzhon was going to be. She explains, “I had professors that would ask, ‘Why do you think you can’t do stuff?’ Well, I can’t. I’m from the trailer park. ‘Well, do you still live in the trailer park?’ No. ‘Do you still hang out with the people from the trailer park?’ No. ‘Then, you’re not from the trailer park. You’re from Viterbo and you’re a college graduate.’”

That is when the letting go really took place. Molzhon is proof that letting go can take you farther than you ever imagined. Letting go is realizing that your first dog doesn’t like to be crated and that the $7 muzzle she is comforted by is your problem, not hers. Letting go is realizing that the same dog is teaching you about dog psychology and that you’re really good at deciphering it and teaching it to others. Letting go is taking all that you’ve learned from that dog and those experiences and turning it into multiple businesses and industry-wide respect. Letting go is NOT giving up. It is very much the opposite and Eve Molzhon is proof that success is equal parts hard work, dedication, and adapting to what the world throws at you.  

Now, don’t get me wrong, Eve Mohlzhon isn’t someone who is passively letting the world go by her. Quite the opposite. She is vastly accomplished in the dog training and boarding industry but, if you’ll allow me to borrow from game show emcees and infomercial hosts… that’s not all!

Let’s start with EZ Printing. That was a successful printing business that Molzhon owned in West Salem during the early Aughts. She started it after working in sales for six years thinking that she would be doing advertising and marketing for corporate America. Instead, she became the go-to place for custom wedding invitations. In her own words, “That was not my nature. I didn’t even do my own wedding invitations when I got married.” She did, however, know how to make things happen. Things like approaching the college art departments and hiring those students to do work like… “fabricating the exact cream-colored lilac a customer wanted. It was fabulous. During the wedding trade shows, we would have lines stretching down the aisle to get into our booth. We were pretty popular.”

Then she moved on to be the project coordinator for the Hmong Cultural Center build. She, “learned how to speak some Hmong, organized a thousand Hmong volunteers so they felt a sense of ownership in the building and learned valuable life skills, and learned about the culture of the Hmong people to give them a better building for what they needed and wanted.” Molzhon met with the elders separate from the younger generation, the women separate from the men, truly respected their culture and discovered that there was a plethora of things that needed their own spaces in this building. A place for blacksmithing, a kitchen, a space for women to congregate, a space for funerals, a space for the cultural library, and so on. She came up with a design that flowed, connected, felt communal, and, ultimately, saved the project a million dollars. So, to summarize, she listened to the people who would be using the building to give them something they cherish and feel ownership of while also saving the project a million dollars. Literally.

Oh, also, not for nothing, the next time you enjoy the famous Hmong egg roll sale that happens every year, yup, you can thank Eve for that. She proved to the Hmong elders that the community would absolutely come out for their egg rolls. That first sale she had to convince them that 10,000 egg rolls could and would be sold. They pre-sold 15,000 and it’s only gotten more and more popular every single year. Thanks, Eve.

How about Downtown Trick-or-Treating in West Salem? You can thank Eve for that as well. In the early 2000s, according to Eve, not a lot of people were going to downtown West Salem for much of anything but the bar. Routinely, she would hear “Oh! I didn’t know you were downtown,” or, “I didn’t know this was here” despite West Salem having a thriving, quaint, downtown to enjoy and her being across from the post office for five solid years. She decided trick or treating for the littles was the way to go. She promoted in all the (human) daycares, schools and areas kids might be akin to visiting and, in that first year, she alone gave out over $800 in candy. That event is still celebrated in West Salem. Mohlzhon says, “That was a huge win-win. They have blown it up and now have non-profit organizations set up booths in Village Park and all the businesses participate. It built the community and allowed the kids to safely go downtown and celebrate. I still go every year despite my daughter not trick or treating anymore. I mean, Halloween is my birthday too so, I guess it was a win-win-win. The kids got to safely enjoy downtown, the community and its businesses benefit and,” as she giggles, “I get to celebrate my birthday. Win, win, win!”

However, Molzhon says her biggest win is her employees. She says she prefers to hire people just like her. People from humble beginnings that might not, “look the best on paper.” Because, in her words, “Those are my people. And the dogs don’t care. They don’t care if your hair is a mess or if you don’t wear make-up every day. They don’t care if you have a rap sheet. Those are my people and they do really well because the dogs give them love and affection. And they understand the dogs that are scared here. They understand the dogs that are timid or have stranger danger. I love coaching them. I love it when they leave me and succeed in life. They know, when we say family, we are ride or die here.”

And there isn’t hyperbole when she says that. It’s not just a cliché to the people at Fun Fur Pets or any of Eve’s other businesses. In the interest of full disclosure, our interview took place in and amongst a few of these employees and I didn’t catch a whiff of disagreement. I didn’t see an eye roll or feel one person shy away from the way she described the relationships in the building. She is honest about the people who work for her and their shortcomings in the way a parent or respected mentor would be. She also celebrates their successes in that same way. She told a story of an employee that she had who came in with a rap sheet and was well known by local police and would’ve been overlooked by most employers and businesses. That employee came out the other end with the strength and confidence to go back to school. She is now a pharmacy tech in the area. Completely turned around from where she was when she came in. These “rough around the edges” employees come to Eve. She gives them respect, acceptance and support. The dogs give them love and affection. All three of them (employee, employer and dog) get the feeling of community and family. Everyone involved, and many that aren’t involved at all, benefit.

I could go on for pages about this massively impressive woman. Mother, entrepreneur, college graduate, trailer park kid, absolute badass. I can’t say enough how in awe I am of her. Don’t get me wrong, there are many impressive people in our community; titans of industry, artistic virtuosos, and reasons to celebrate people on every corner and in every nook of the coulee region. However, my grandmother taught me that you can trust dogs and babies. The logic being that if a dog and/or a baby take a liking to someone, there is a good chance that is a good person. By that measure, Eve Molzhon is the absolute best of the best.