Earlier this year Logan Mikhly and her father Coppy Holzman opened a business unlike any other in NYC: A dog-friendly cafe. Logan has a background in animal rescue, Coppy is a dog-loving serial entrepreneur, and both are obsessed with coffee. Frustrated by the fact that New York's health codes make it nearly impossible for them to grab a cup of joe without having to tie their dogs to a streetlight, they contacted the Department of Health for a brainstorming session on how to make a place where beverages and quadrupeds could lawfully co-exist. The result is Boris & Horton. Named after their own dogs, this bright, cheery, and well-loved cafe-cum-indoor-dog-park has quickly become a beloved neighborhood fixture. In this episode, Logan shares the business' back story.



Notes: Boris and Horton is located at 195 Avenue A, at the corner of 12th Street. Learn more at BorisAndHorton.com. Other dog friendly cafes: The Bulldog in New Orleans - The Dog Cafe in Los Angeles - Chateau Le Woof in Queens, NY - Products mentioned: Klimb Platforms - Bocce's Bakery Treats - Stewart's Freeze Dried Beef Liver Treats - Nature's Miracle - Fun Dog Fact of the Day:  The CoyoteVest - kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article220971390.html - Woof Shout Out: Last week the world lost a wonderful woman, and dog lover: Ellen Retter. She was a client, a friend, and a big School For The Dogs fan. A photo of Ellen and her dog Lucy training at School For The Dogs with Annie appeared in CNN in 2015.

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Partial Transcript:

Annie:

Today I am speaking with Logan Mikhly, who is one of the owners of New York city's first and only dog friendly cafe, Boris and Horton, which is in the East village and is named after, well, actually, Logan, why don't you tell us about the cafes namesakes?

Logan:

I actually have Horton here with me and the other dog that the cafe's named after is Boris and that's my dad's dog.

Annie:

And Horton, I should say is just the cutest, scruffiest, little like terrier mix who loves nothing more than to stare lovingly at Logan.

Logan:

Yes, stare deeply into my eyes. He does need a haircut. He looks scruffy, but he looks like a little, maybe a little too scruffy.



Annie:

I think he's perfectly, perfectly scruffy.

Logan:

He has like grandpa eyebrows now.

Annie:

And Logan runs Boris and Horton with her dad. So tell me his name.

Logan:

Yeah, his name is Coppy Holzman. Okay. So I actually worked with my dad at his previous company, which is called Charity Buzz and it's an online auction company that raises money for nonprofits. So he was in the process of selling the business.

Annie:

He's something of a serial entrepreneur, isn't that right?



Logan:

Yes. So for my whole childhood and up until now, he's started several different businesses, sold them. Uh, he's super creative, big ideas guy. But yeah, his previous company, Charity Buzz is an online auction company that raises money for nonprofits. And he was in the process of selling it. And we were actually out to dinner one night and I was staying at the company, but I wasn't kind of like loving the company culture and was thinking about leaving myself.



Full Transcript available at SchoolfortheDogs.com/Podcasts/

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