Pet Care Rock Stars: Recent Episodes

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Kathryn Cockrell had her first business selling bunnies when she was 12 years old and started her pet sitting business when she was 15. Instead of going to college, she chose to be an entrepreneur and take her pet sitting business to the next level and today she has locations in Alabama and Tennessee. Not only has she expanded her business Happy Hound Pet Sitting to two states, she’s done this while backpacking through Europe, trying (and failing) to fix an Airstream, traveling throughout the United States by herself in a van and buying her own yacht.

What we talked about:

• Starting her pet sitting business at 15 years of age and the challenges Kathryn faced

• Growing up being homeschooled and how did that type of education impacted Kathryn’s business journey

• Why Kathryn chose not to go to college

• The moment Kathryn first started believing in herself after getting lectured by a stranger

• How Kathryn scaled her business and hiring a manager

• Why Kathryn is secretly a ninja and the lessons she learned from Taekwondo

• Kathryn’s favorite books and podcasts

• The importance of having mentors that are 1-2 steps ahead of you in the journey.

• How Kathryn transitioned her life away from the business and living in a yacht

• Being open about failure and struggles

• The challenges of running a business remotely while starting another location

Links:

Happy Hound Pet Sitting

Kathryn's personal website

Kathryn Cockrell on Twitter

Kathryn Cockrell on Instagram

Handlr Mobile Service Provider Software

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One of the pain points for service providers such as pet sitters and dog walkers is having a system in place that can handle everything that is needed to run the business. Brittany Alwerud not only owns a pet sitting business but has also developed a solution for her business that also helps other service providers to effectively manage their businesses as well. The app is called Handlr and it allows sitters to schedule, take credit cards and allows users to book online directly through Handlr.

What we talked about:

• How she started her pet sitting business after college

• Putting systems in place to better manage her business and how Handlr came about

• Running her pet business remotely while living in Los Angeles

• The team and customer apps for Handlr and the features of each

• How Handlr works for other types of businesses can use this and how a company can use Handlr to build synergy with other local businesses

• Brittany’s podcast Handling Business, where she interviews service professionals

Other links:

Schedule a free demo with Brittany at Myhandlr.com

Brittany’s pet sitting company: Dogzenergy.com

Brittany Alwerud on Instagram

Handlr on Instagram

Handlr on Facebook

Handlr on Twitter

The E-Myth Revisited on Amazon

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The guest on Episode 6 Natasha O'Banion, the owner of Walk with Renzo and Ruby, a Washington DC based dog walking company that has grown and scaled through the past four years. During this time, she has managed to be able to do what many business owners have a difficult time doing, being able to run the business without working in the business. She is spending her time traveling around the country in an RV with her family and her business is thriving. Since this interview was recorded, she has moved to Houston where Walk with Renzo and Ruby will also serve.

Topics discussed:

• Natasha's start in the dog walking business
• Her growth strategy from the outset of her business
• Putting trust in others when hiring
• Setting up infrastructure for growth
• The finances of doing walks vs. paying someone
• The challenges of pay with increased minimum wages and retaining staff
• Software, apps and lockboxes
• Dropping pet sitting and overnight business to focus solely on dog walking
• What's in the future for Natasha's business

Links:

Walk with Renzo and Ruby on Instagram

Pocketsuite (the software Natasha uses for her business)

Natasha on Facebook

Email Natasha

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Jay Pattiz has been in the pet sitting business for over two decades, owning Missouri-based Pampered Pet Sitting along with his wife Jill. He has switched his focus to taking care of cats only, starting another company called Cats at Home Pet Sitting, where he has his wife along with several other team members serving much of West Central Missouri.

Topics covered:

• Jay’s start in the pet sitting industry
• Changes in the industry since his start
• Old-school marketing tactics that still work in today’s environment
• The transition to a cats only business model and how it complements Jay’s existing business
• The differences between the traditional pet sitting customer and someone that searching for a cats only pet sitter
• Whether cats are truly self-sufficient and can be left alone for extended periods of time
• Jay’s unique business model to grow his service area
• Finding the right person to work a service area and represent the brand
• SEO tricks with a larger service area
• Jay’s advice for people looking to start a feline focused pet business

Links:

• Pampered Pet Sitting
• Contact Jay via email

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Michelle Nadon is the head of C4P Animal Rescue which is an advocacy network that connects animal-loving citizens all across Canada. The C4P Network promotes rescues, fosters and adoptions, keeps readers current on animal issues, and showcases innovations and successes in animal welfare. She also is an expert in special needs boarding.

Michelle is also the President and CEO of mediaIntelligence in Canada where she has been the leading provider of strategic recruitment and cutting-edge career resources for professionals in the Canadian media and entertainment sectors.

What we covered:

• How Michelle worked with 800 NOLA animals in the Tylertown Mississippi compound and was responsible for bringing 60 animals back to Canada for re-homing, across 3 teams of rescuers
• The mindset of pet owners in Canada vs. other parts of the world
• What skillsets a special needs provider should have and what equipment is necessary to care for a special needs pets
• The emotional and physical issues of special needs pets along with the challenges with the care of them
• Attracting clients in a niche market such as special needs boarding
• Emotionally preparing for the death of a client’s pet
• Whether you should replace a pet after their death
• How animals are represented in the media
• Michelle’s educational webinar on caring for pets with special needs and her plans to write a second book

Links:

• Michelle’s book Careers AF, available on Amazon
• Michelle’s articles in HuffPost
• C4P Animal Rescue Facebook Page
• C4P Amber Alert for Lost Pets: http://c4panimalrescue.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/c4p-amber-alert-lost-pets.pdf
• C4P Pet Loss Prevention: http://c4panimalrescue.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/c4p-pet-loss-prevention.pdf

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Robert Forto is the creator and host of Dog Works Radio and is the trainer at Alaska Dog Works, where they train not only for obedience but working and therapy dogs as well. He also is part of Team Ineka where he is a dog musher with a 40 dog kennel that he leads in races and expeditions throughout the state of Alaska.

What we discussed:

Moving to Alaska after living in the lower 48 states

• Getting started in business and working with his wife Michele in the business
• Running a business in an area that has extreme elements and less dense than most metropolitan areas
• Training others to train dogs
• Becoming a certified diver and swimming with sharks
• Advice for people that say they are too busy in their business to check things off their bucket list
• The Ineka Project and training Siberian Huskies to be service dogs for autistic kids

Links:

Team Ineka on Facebook

Dog Works Radio on Apple Podcasts

Robert Forto on Twitter

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Glenn Cooke is a true pet care rock star, with a ton of accomplishments throughout his more than 25 years in the pet care industry. His expertise ranges from basic obedience and behavioural problem solving for family pets, seminars for trainers in the dog industry, right through to the highly specialised training and development of law enforcement, detection and sporting dog roles.

Glenn is the general manager of Pet Resorts Australia and is the current director of boarding, training, day care and pet sitting for the Pet Industry Association of Australia.

When he’s not busy doing all this, he is the co-host of the podcast “The Canine Paradigm” and riding motorcycles or swimming with sharks.

Topics we cover:

• How Glenn got into the pet care business
• Why training “pet parents” is just as important as training the pets themselves and the challenges of training the owners of pets
• Controversy within the training sector with the different philosophies and methods that are in direct conflict with one another
• Challenges with running a boarding facility where dogs might not be as well trained
• Glenn’s podcast The Canine Paradigm
• Changes and trends within the industry
• Competition and marketing in Australia
• Finding time to do everything

Links:

• The Canine Paradigm podcast on Apple Podcasts

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Every Thursday, Pet Care Rock Stars will feature the pet care industry’s top experts who will share their stories on how they were able to grow their business.  You’ll also get tips and tricks designed to help you start, grow and scale your pet care business.