All tagged pandemic

391: Finding Your Balance with Renée Stilson

391: Finding Your Balance with Renée Stilson

Collin

What does it mean to live a balanced life? Finding balance as a dog walker and pet sitter is one of the most crucial aspects of running a thriving business, and maintaining personal well-being. Renée Stilson, former owner of Home Sweet Home Pet Care LLC and now The Balanced Sitter, draws on her 23 years of experience in the industry to share the lessons she learned. She discusses how she had to adapt her business multiple times, and how pet sitters and dog walkers are true ambassadors to their communities. Renée also reflects on how she knew it was time to retire, and how she's found a new way to live since hanging up her shoes and leash.

287: Continuing to Adapt with Miguel Rodriguez

287: Continuing to Adapt with Miguel Rodriguez

Collin

How do we continue to pivot, adapt, and overcome challenges in business? Miguel Rodriguez, owner of City Dog Pack, joins us to share how he continues to apply lessons from Covid to the way her operate his business. From slimming down the number of staff he oversees, to tackling dog training and coaching via Zoom, Miguel has learned to let things go that don't help him on his mission. He also shares how he uses social media as his only marketing tool, and why we should be reading more!

248: Going The Extra Mile with K.C. Heitchue

248: Going The Extra Mile with K.C. Heitchue

Collin

How has your business grown? Growing rapidly is never easy. Since starting Fur Baby Comfort & Care three years ago, K.C. Heitchue has worked hard to provide exceptional pet care to Southeast Michigan and has grown to over 900 clients. K.C. shares her motivations for starting the business and how that has continued to drive her. She also discusses how growing her Facebook page helped her build a network rather than competition. She shares the key to staff retention and what it means to go the extra mile for clients.

242: Defining Your Company Culture with Riti Sobilo and Jen Austin

242: Defining Your Company Culture with Riti Sobilo and Jen Austin

Collin

Have you ever thought about going green in your pet business? ♻️ Maybe you've looked into it but thought it was too much work. It turns out there is much more to being eco-responsible than simply buying bio-degradable poop bags. When being eco-friendly is at the core of your business, the impacts go much deeper. Riti Sobilo, Growth Officer, and Jen Austin, General Manager, of Green Paws Chicago, share how to “go green”. We also discuss how to grow a great company culture through allowing your staff to embed their values and why they invest so heavily in their staff.

218: Know Your Customer with Brian Taylor

218: Know Your Customer with Brian Taylor

Collin

How are you building multiple ways to service your clients? Sticky services keep clients coming back because you keep solving their problems in new ways. From package pricing to customer service and retention, Brian Taylor, owner of Harlem Doggie Day Spa, joins the show to share how he's become known as the 'Dog Father of Harlem'. His passion for being neighborhood centric and servicing community drive him to connect his business to his community. Brian pursues servicing his top client's needs and making every interaction special. He shares why he continues to give back and where he hopes the grooming industry goes in the future.

202: Overcoming the Struggles to Hire

202: Overcoming the Struggles to Hire

Collin

The job market has really changed in the last 6 months. Unfortunately, it corresponds to the increase in demand for pet care services. Many of us are facing a daunting task of trying to hire staff in the middle of one of the toughest job markets in a long time. Today, we outline ways to use more than just financial incentives to attract staff. From paid benefits to connecting to core values of your business, there are ways to compete for the staff you want and need. Then, Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I empower others?”

199: Laying Strong Foundations with Heather Branch

199: Laying Strong Foundations with Heather Branch

Collin

Why should we have a good support community and what does it mean to be an advocate for the pet care industry? Heather Branch, owner of Best Friends Forever Pet Services and a board member of NAPPS, shares about the tribe around her business and gives advice for building a strong foundation. Her tribe, which includes her staff, help make her better and continue to push for more education and excellence. She stresses the importance of learning about running a business and not just focusing on the pet care. Heather also encourages us to get involved in the pet care industry at the local and national level to start advocating for the industry and let our voices be heard.

181: Facebook Changes and Separation Anxiety

181: Facebook Changes and Separation Anxiety

Collin

iOS 14.5 was released and is already having an impact on targeted ad campaigns in places like Facebook and Instagram. As small business owners, many of us have relied on these powerful targeted ads to get in front of potential clients. We share some simple things to do in response to these new changes. We also discuss a new bug in Google My Business listings that impacted our business, and how it was corrected. We finish off the episode by discussing how the pet care industry can respond to the rapid increase of separation anxiety in pets (and their owners)!

164: Burnout Recovery with Kristin Morrison

164: Burnout Recovery with Kristin Morrison

Collin

Burnout and compassion fatigue are such a huge topic in the pet care industry, because we all struggle with it. Kristin Morrison joins the show to share her own struggles with burnout and what a road to recovery looks like. We discuss why it’s important to redefine what success looks like for you and why understanding our time commitments helps us set aside time for ourselves. We also discuss why it’s so hard to ‘rest’ as a business owner, and what it takes to replace negative mindsets with positive ones.

152: The "Hustle"

152: The "Hustle"

Collin

What does “hustling” mean to you? We break down several ways it applies to the pet care industry and the misconceptions around what is means to be full time vs part time in this profession. The past year saw many “full time” sitters and walkers go “part time” as demand dropped, but many picked up multiple new services and streams of incomes for their businesses. The industry, and our identities as pet care providers, has changed because of it. Natasha O’Banion answers the question, “How do I enter a new market?”

136: Doing vs Dwelling in Business

136: Doing vs Dwelling in Business

Collin

In business there is a time for dwelling and a time for doing. Unfortunately, dwelling can be very comfortable, while doing the work can seem scary. On today’s episode we give ourselves a little pep-talk and discuss some of our own fear of moving from the planning stages in business to implementing them. Natasha O’Banion answers, “How do I keep using the lessons I’ve learned from Covid?”

130: Redefining Prosperity with Kristin Morrison

130: Redefining Prosperity with Kristin Morrison

Collin

We're super excited to get to share this talk from Kristin Morrison entitled, "Redefining Prosperity in the Midst of a Pandemic" that she recently gave at a conference. Kristin discusses the struggle the pet care industry is going through, plus several great ways to overcome and thrive.

129: Patience and Perseverance with Jay Pattiz

129: Patience and Perseverance with Jay Pattiz

Collin

Jay Pattiz has been taking care of pets professionally for the last 23 years. From reading Patti Moran's groundbreaking book to today, Jay's passion for taking care of pets has been the core of his business. Jay shares his 7 P's for success and why knowing your own finances is key to making solid business decisions. He talks about getting involved in the community in more than just pet sitting, and how important fostering local relationships and connections is to your business surviving.

116: Growing Your Tribe with Judy Nuñez

116: Growing Your Tribe with Judy Nuñez

Collin

Judy Nuñez, owner of Tails On Trails LLC, is on the podcast to discuss the importance of building and having a tribe as a business. She also tells us how she has continued to host events for her community even in the time of Covid.

096- Learning to say 'YES'

096- Learning to say 'YES'

Collin

We covered saying ‘no’ and setting clear boundaries, but what about saying ‘yes’? Today, we break down every facet of saying ‘yes’. From overcoming the fear of the unknown, to the right reasons to say ‘yes’, we share some of our learned experiences. Natasha O’Banion joins the show to answer “How do you keep you and your staff organized?”

092- Beth Stultz-Hairston with PSI

092- Beth Stultz-Hairston with PSI

Collin

Beth Stultz, President of Pet Sitters International (PSI), joins us on the podcast to discuss their move to a virtual conference. Beth shares how to prepare for an online conference format and what kind of talks to expect. We also discuss how PSI has supported its members, and the industry at large, though education and training opportunities throughout the pandemic.

077- Reassessing 2020 Goals

077- Reassessing 2020 Goals

Collin

We open with Collin’s epic ankle story and move into taking another look at our goals for 2020. Things definitely haven’t gone the way we anticipated, and that's ok! By creating S.M.A.R.T. goals and objectives for you and your business, tracking and modifying goals is easy. Natasha O’Banion joins us for the “Ask a Pet Business Coach” segment, where she addresses the question, “Which is best for my business, ICs or employees"?”

067- Pet care and BLM Pt. 1

067- Pet care and BLM Pt. 1

Collin

We share some of our thoughts on recent events and the Black Lives Matter movement. We have a special interview with Natasha O’Banion, owner of Walk with Renzo and Ruby, and Kylie Holliman-Rivera, owner of Fire Hydrant Pet Sitting. They sit down to discuss the BLM movement, what being an ally looks like, and what the pet care industry has to do with it. We end the episode with another “Question with a Pet Business Coach” segment with Natasha!

064- Common Client Questions

064- Common Client Questions

Collin

After some back-to-back meet and greets left us feeling a bit rusty after being closed down for so long, we breakdown some of the most commonly asked new client questions. Additionally, we're so happy to annouce a new segment with Natasha O'Banion, from Start.Scale.Sail. Each week Natasha will address some frequent pet business questions.

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