Moonlighting. It doesn’t have the bad rap it used to. Today, people find ways to make a living and make a life.
Moonlighting is our series about the radically interdisciplinary lives of Lehigh alumni who are successful in two professional arenas, and where a secondary “job” is primarily fun and fulfilling.
In this edition, we meet a global technology business strategist who also crunches numbers at several award-winning doggie daycares.
Michel Rau ’91
Economics
Life Before Lehigh
Rau grew up in Warren, Pennsylvania, where he ran cross country in high school. His state meet during his junior year was held at Lehigh — his first opportunity to experience the university. The interest in Lehigh proved mutual, as his application was met with a quick acceptance.
He arrived planning to earn a dual degree in biology and mechanical engineering, fueled by a love of math and science.
Time at Lehigh
Once on campus, Rau found chemistry, biology, and calculus classes during his first year more challenging than expected. Surprisingly, he earned strong marks in English. He also studied French. As his interests shifted, he dropped his engineering major.
But then came an unexpected turning point. He took an economics class with much-revered Richard Aronson, founder and longtime director of the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise and William L. Clayton Professor of Business and Economics. The course changed his direction and honed his love of math.
It wasn’t all academics. Rau pledged Delta Chi, played intramural squash, tailgated at football games, worked a campus security job, and ran for pleasure, including the annual Turkey Trot. It was too late in his college career when he considered a law degree, so he began his career after graduation as a claims adjuster at an insurance company in Connecticut. After a few months, he realized it wasn't for him.
Life Abroad
So Rau spent three months in France for intensive language immersion, then went to Germany to study at the Goethe Institute. Over eight months, he studied German and taught English, all while applying to MBA programs.
He landed a spot at Vanderbilt, drawn in part by its exchange program in Germany. Though administrators hoped he’d return there, Rau instead took advantage of Vanderbilt’s program in France. Soon he was back in the Republic with an internship at a steel company in Paris and a semester at French business school ESSEC.
Rau, of course, still had classes and work in Nashville, where he formed deep and lasting friendships … and met his spouse, Allison. They met in 1994. While it took 16 years for them to finally get together, their friend group continued to reunite in Nashville over the years. The hold-up? Mostly distance.
Life in Tech
Rau worked in Winston-Salem at Sara Lee Apparel, serving as an analyst on the Champion, Wonderbra, and Coach lines. He later joined Beiersdorf, a multinational skin care company based in Hamburg, Germany, serving as a brand manager in Connecticut for its face care line. He helped launch a wrinkle-control cream, the first to use the Q10 co-enzyme.
An offer to move to Germany followed, but he veered on a different course when a recruiter helped him land at Microsoft.
For two years, Rau’s consumer products team crushed it, working with PC manufacturers to preinstall the full Microsoft suite at a global scale. He also worked in software marketing, selling Windows products to small and midsize businesses.
By 2011, he was back in Europe, leading similar initiatives targeting Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
While in Europe, Rau shifted again, joining German tech firm Aximpro to help shape marketing and drive lead generation. The plan was to return to the United States and open a branch of the company, but he veered again. He did return to the United States and instead launched his own consulting business.
Dog Dad
That shift created space to expand his family.
Meet Xeus and Xiana, male and female Saint Bernese littermates. Somewhere in West Virginia, a Saint Bernard met a Bernese Mountain Dog, and it was love at first sight. Because American Kennel Club rules prohibit purebred registration from such pairings, the litter of puppies showed up at a rescue at just four weeks old.
By eight weeks, two of those puppies joined the Rau family.
“Joined” is an understatement. Xeus, named from the German word for “sweet,” liked to gnaw on doorframes and drywall. Xiana chewed on furniture.
Those two troublemakers soon found themselves in dog daycare, where the open play, best furry friends, and comfortable environment helped them expend their energy. Beyond preserving household furnishings, daycare also extended their lives. Bernese Mountain Dogs average six to eight years; Saint Bernards, eight to ten. Both dogs just celebrated their 10th birthdays.
When life took the family back to Redmond for another gig at Microsoft, the daycare had to come, too.
Chief Financial Dog Officer
That’s when the couple worked with Dogtopia to open its first franchise on the West Coast. Rau had been running the numbers for months while picking up his pups and observing the other dogs socializing and exercising.
A move back to Seattle would mean losing the furry friends each dog had made at their Virginia-based Dogtopia.
So when the couple landed in Washington, they studied the dog daycare market, scouted locations, signed a lease, and partnered with Dogtopia to open a franchise. Dogtopia is the leading petcare franchise in the U.S., focused on daycare and wellness.
The model of care led their location to earn awards like Best of the Pacific Northwest, and the business expanded. The couple now has three locations.
Allison serves as CEO; Michel is CFO. He likes how the business combines service and retail skills and serves professional-grade products backed by corporate biologists, training, and research.
Dog wellness is the mission, and Xeus and Xiana are living proof.
Tech by day. Canines by night. And never a ruff day.
