Celeb Shot: Dan Graham (Part 2)

The Saratoga business owner accidentally went on a weekend getaway with someone he didn't know, and is using his school bus industry connections for good.

“There’s a misconception about adopting that you’re going to get this old, mangled, fighting dog,” says Dan Graham, seen here with his rescue, Nikka. “If there is not a specific dog you know that you want, go to a shelter first and at least look. I guarantee you’re going to see some dog and be like, ‘That’s the one.’

When preparing for my interview with Dan Graham, I separated my questions into two categories: work and play. I knew the Saratogian was the owner and founder of website development company SM2 Dev, but I also knew Dan to be an avid hobbyist. Heck, his Instagram bio is “Work hard. Play harder.” But upon sitting down with him, I found that his perception of work and play isn’t that cut and dry. “My professional career is so intertwined,” he says of his personal life, “because a lot of my friends end up being business owners. We bond over our hardships in business and the things that we’ve learned. It creates this bond between us.”

And so, while Part 1 of this interview leaned professional, and this part will lean personal, there’s no separating the Dan who has grown up with the company he started and the Dan who travels the world, drinks whiskey and loves dogs. Read on to see what I mean.

—Natalie