613: Transitioning from Full-Service to Specialty with Mandi Fleitz
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Have you ever wondered if your business could thrive by serving just one type of pet? In this episode, Mandi Fleitz, owner of Durham Cat Company, talks about her bold decision to transition from running a general pet sitting and dog walking company to exclusively serving cats. Mandi shares why she made the switch, how she navigated the emotional process of closing her first business, and the surprising benefits of becoming a niche specialist. She also discuss how cat clients’ needs have evolved, the importance of customized care, and what’s next for Durham Cat Company. Whether you’re thinking about niching down or just love hearing stories of business transformation, this episode is packed with insights.
Main Topics:
Transition to cat-only business
Work-life balance and career shift
Value of niche branding
Special needs cat care expertise
Client communication and surveys
Main Takeaway:
“Just because we start something doesn’t mean it has to end looking anything like we started.”
This reminder from Mandi Fleitz of Durham Cat Company is a powerful lesson for every pet sitter and small business owner. Over tia a me, we grow, our passions shift, and our needs change — and our businesses should evolve with us. Mandi’s story of transitioning from a full-service pet sitting company to a cat-only care business is proof that narrowing your focus can actually open more doors. By embracing her love for cats and creating a service tailored just for them, she built a business that works better for her life while serving her clients better too. Don’t be afraid to pivot — sometimes the best opportunities come when you let go of what no longer fits.
About our guest:
Mandi Fleitz is the owner of Durham Cat Company, a cat-exclusive pet sitting business in Durham, North Carolina. After several years running a general pet sitting and dog walking business, Mandi realized her passion and expertise were best suited for feline clients. With a background in fashion merchandising and retail management, Mandi transitioned into pet sitting in 2016 and has built a reputation for providing compassionate, specialized care for cats, including those with special needs. Today, Durham Cat Company is known for its stress-free visits and personalized care that puts cats’ comfort first.
Links:
Website: https://www.durhamcatcompany.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/durhamcatcompany
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/durhamcatcompany
Beth Pasek’s Book & Resources (as mentioned): https://www.finickypet.com
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet sitting, Durham Cat Company, Mandi Fleitz, cat care, dog walking, business transition, client relationships, special needs cats, work-life balance, pet sitting software, niching, professional pet sitter, client surveys, stress-free visits, team growth.
SPEAKERS
Mandi Fleitz, Collin
Collin 00:00
Man Welcome to pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Today, we're brought to you by our friends at time to pet and the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets. YouTube channel today we're really excited to have Mandi Fleitz, owner of Durham cat company, on the show to talk about her journey into business, some transitions that she's made recently, and why she did that. It wasn't that she's taken away from that those and her time in the industry, plus how she's impacting her clients and giving them an amazing experience. Mandi, I am super excited to have you on the show today. For those who haven't been following along with you and aren't familiar with your company, could you please tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do. Man do? Yes, of
Mandi Fleitz 00:44
course. Thank you for having me on I'm so excited to be joining you today. My name is Mandi. I'm a dog and cat mom of five, and it's funny, I actually have always been more of a dog person. I grew up with cats and dogs in the house, but was always more into dogs. And my first cat showed up under the hood of my roommate at the Times car engine. His name is turbo, you know, appropriately so, and he was just a couple weeks old, and that actually caused me to fall in love with cats. And now I have four cats and a rotating bunch of fosters all the time. So it's but my friends that know that fun fact like to bring it up and be like, do you remember when you were like a dog person? And I'm like, yeah, yeah. I know it's weird, but it is what it is. I haven't always been in the pet sitting industry. I went to college for fashion merchandising, which is kind of funny when I look back, and I'm always in leggings and T shirts and hats now, but that's where I was led. You know, all those years ago, worked a ton of retail management jobs and a bunch of other odd jobs, and then in 2016 I was looking for a way to make just a little bit of extra money. And I was just like, we all were trying to think of something fun that we can do, that we love. And I was like, Can I work with dogs somehow? Like, how can I make this earn me some money? And so I started walking dogs part time, and I just kept getting busier and busier, and people kept telling their friends and I it was probably the summer of 2017 2017 where I was like, I think I could actually do this full time, and I haven't done anything else since. So it's been a wild ride, but so much fun.
Collin 02:40
How was that leaving behind that other trajectory that you were on in fashion, merchandising, retail, and going into this it was, it
Mandi Fleitz 02:50
was tough, because I had thought I was going to be doing that, and when I chose that career path for myself, I really wanted to do that. And I saw myself going, you know, to New York City or some other big city where fashion is big and merchandising is big. And I thought that's what I was going to do with my life. It's very different, but I wouldn't change a thing. Obviously, yeah,
Collin 03:18
yeah, you get to your your clients are a little bit cuter, I suppose,
Mandi Fleitz 03:22
oh my gosh, so much. And they don't talk back as much. I mean, the cats do sometimes, but
Collin 03:28
it's so funny how vocal they can be whenever you're in there, and how just again, I always love how different they are. Like we have one we have one house where we come in and they've got this big atrium, and they have three cats. And when you come in, it's like a coral going around every they're all just talking and trying to talk like louder
Mandi Fleitz 03:46
over the last one, and it like echoes throughout the place. Yeah,
Collin 03:50
it's always so I always try and get a video of that every time we come in and send it to the client, just so they can, they can experience what we get.
Mandi Fleitz 03:57
Yes, and I'm sure they love it too. And they say, Oh, I miss those meows or those screams or whatever.
Collin 04:04
So what did your business look like when you started and went full time back in 2017,
Mandi Fleitz 04:10
so my first business was dog walking and pet sitting and so that was called Barbie and company Pet Services, and it was named after my late dog, Barbie. She was my heart and soul dog of 14 amazing years, and named it after her. So the business changed so much in those seven years that I was running just that. Obviously, at the beginning, I was accepting any and all jobs. I would travel anywhere and not stick to my policies as I should. I'm sure you got it. But you know, I, as I grew into being more of a professional pet sitter and just as a business owner in general, I started to see the things that I liked doing and didn't like doing, and how I wanted to steer. Of a business in the future.
Collin 05:02
You said that phrase grow into a professional pet sitter and business owner. And I, I love it, because it is just the perfect imagery for what happens as we enter this industry, where it's like, yeah, there's you. We really have to discover a lot of these things and build up some internal standards. You learn from other people. What was that process like for you and growing to where you are now, kind of, where did you? Where did you started? Do you? Do you remember one particular aha moment of like, Oh, I've got to do something different with this.
Mandi Fleitz 05:30
I think it was just doing it over and over again, and all the experience and all the different clients and dealing with everything that we did?
Collin 05:44
Yeah, no, it's interesting, because, you know, you can like that experience, that you can't discount that of like, well, I don't know what I don't know, and sometimes I don't even I there's no way to what is that, that phrase like the known unknowns, and then the unknown unknowns, that's all of my life. It feels like, because the unknowns, I don't even know what I don't know at this point until I experience it. Why? I've never had a policy for certain things around key lockouts or for last minute cancelations until I experienced that from a client, until I had that thing impact me, and I realized, oh, I don't want any more of that. Yeah. So that that that's one of the best teaching experiences, and we have to be open to that and realize that. You know, sometimes for me, I know at least I can get hard on myself and be like, Man, I should known. I should have done differently. I should have known about that, but realizing, well, I didn't, but I do now, and so I need to do different moving forward. Yeah,
Mandi Fleitz 06:35
and exactly like you said, just making a ton of mistakes, which no one wants to do. I'm a perfectionist. I don't want to make mistakes. But it happened, and yeah, then it helped me do things differently in the future and change policies or create policies, because, you know, I didn't have all the things that I have now and all the tools that I have now to help me be successful, including pet sitting software. And so it's now I know the things that can help me do my job the best way possible so well.
Collin 07:07
And you mentioned your you started your first business, so I'm assuming that there's another business or two that you brought up along the way. Yes,
Mandi Fleitz 07:15
I know. And it it sounds crazy when I think about it, or even when I try to tell people about it, but I started the second business in 2022 and that was for cat sitting exclusively. And so that's Durham cat company. And I was just excited to see how a cat only pet sitting business would do in the area. So I ran both businesses at the same time, which I didn't plan to do it for two years like I did. It kind of just happened that way, and I really wouldn't recommend it, to be honest. You know, like, as you can imagine, the two websites, the two pet settings offers, two emails, two phones, like, two of everything, and it ended up being a lot. But at the same time, I feel like it was necessary, because I really wanted to see how it did in the area, and if people responded to it as I was hoping they would. And also, from a personal side. I wanted to see financially, how it was going to do for us and for me, and if it could be
Collin 08:28
possible. Were you already seeing an uptick in cat client requests with the Barbie and me pet sitting, or was this something that you just wanted to strike out and try and find if there was any interest in this at all, kind of both.
Mandi Fleitz 08:44
I had really stopped accepting new dog clients around that same time, at the beginning of 2022 so for the two years that I was running both of the businesses, I wasn't accepting any new dog clients. So it really was just testing out cats with both businesses and seeing how it was going to do, but I wanted to see with the branding and everything around a cat exclusive business, if people were going to be into that and like, if they saw A need and the
Collin 09:19
excitement around that, because I know that there's definitely one thought which would just say, well, then you just need to market your cat sitting visits more, right? Just talk more about cat sitting, more about things. But I think what you're touching on here is there is a certain power to having the ability to have only one narrative, one image, one brand to somebody, right? That really is the power of niching and and what, from my experience, we don't have a cat only business. We do both dog walking and cat sitting and pet sitting and anything, as long as it's legal to own, basically, you know, and we feel comfortable. I'm still waiting for, like a Cayman in a bathtub this I'm just waiting for it. Mean, but, but, but there is something to go you know? What I know from our cat clients is that they are, they are really cat clients, like they are really cat clients, and they latch on to as much cat specific stuff that we can give. And so by creating this brand and this other business, it really sounds like you're like, setting out a beacon, kind of in a dark place, and being like, over here, and seeing that response,
Mandi Fleitz 10:25
yeah, and we did with Barbie and company, we're trying to push more cats. And we said we're cat focused, and we're cat specialists and all these things, but we were so well known in the community for being dog walking and pet sitting, and then people were still telling their friends, and I didn't want to take any more new dog clients, and so I was turning people away. And I just it didn't feel good to keep doing it the way that I was doing it. And I had, you know, the banner on the website, like not accepting dogs right now, and it just, it seemed silly, and it was but I had a plan.
Collin 11:00
Did you, you know, when somebody call up your, you know, Barbie company, did you say, Oh, we're not accepting cat clients, but you should contact Durham cat company, because they definitely are. Did you ever have to do that moment? Because I would totally
Mandi Fleitz 11:10
do that all the time, a little bit, and I was being a little bit like marketing, strategic in it. And if they contacted Barbie and company, I tried to keep them with them for like, software and reporting reasons, because I really wanted to see, like, how much money Durham cat company could bring in on its own without, like, stealing them from the other business. And it it worked because, you know, as you know, time to pet has amazing reports and things like that. So I was able to pull all the different reports and compare and see what I was bringing in with each company, and how much were coming in from this one and this one, and all the things. So
Collin 11:51
yeah, and I just where did that idea come from? Did you ever consider not launching a whole nother brand and just piling more in marketing with the first company
Mandi Fleitz 12:03
I did, but I think so I have four cats, and when I was looking to travel, I was looking for a cat focused, or a cat only pet sitting business in the area, and it just didn't exist. So I was for one I kind of wanted just to create it, because I knew as a consumer that I would be interested in something like that. So I knew that something was missing in the market, and if I noticed it, I imagined other people would and would want it as well. So that's kind of what stemmed all of it. And I think also, just because we had been known in the community for so long, and we have partnered with Durham magazine a ton, we'd won Best of Durham magazine three years in a row, and had an article, and we did an ad, and so, like, we were just known for the dog sitting and the dog walking, and I just didn't know if I would ever be able to cut it off and, like, separate it without just doing something completely different. But I did, because I did think about it. Because I'm like, why would I create two businesses? Why would I create double the work? But I did have a vision, and it just took a little bit longer than originally planned.
Collin 13:25
No, I absolutely love it, especially for such a niche service. And as we look to take our businesses into to really any niche, I think we really do have to come to terms with sometimes we just need to shut down what we had been working on and, and obviously, as a business owner, like, that's, that's hard, right? It's our baby. Like, we want to see it going and, and, and I hold out hope for a possible transformation, but at the end of the day, going, but practically, like, realistically, how long am I going to deal with this and, and what is the versus, how fast can I get something fresh up and running right? And so whether that is we want to focus only on guinea pigs only, or you want to do adventure hikes only, or you want to do cat only, it's, you know, maybe you're it's, I love this, because it's reminding me that we have to take a holistic view of where we currently are and go. Is there any feasible, realistic way to make this whole transformation, where, for where we're trying to go with where we are now. And I, I feel like a lot of cases, the answer is no, it's better to just start fresh and build from there.
Mandi Fleitz 14:33
Yeah, and, and it was really hard. I mean, it is my baby was my first business. And, you know, is named after my baby, like my dog. And so there was a lot of emotions surrounding it, just from that side of it. And I was like, I can't close. I can't close my business. And I think that was another reason why the two years went on for so long, because I was like, I just can't anytime I thought about I was like, No, I just can't do it. And I actually did a um. Um, a session with someone to get some advice before I made the decision. And they invited against it. And so I actually went against their advice and opened the second business anyways. And probably a couple months into it, I was like, hmm, did I do the right thing? But, you know, it's fine.
Collin 15:17
Now all good. So you said that you ran both of them for two years. You said, yes, at what point did you know? Okay, it's I need to shut down my first business and focus only on the second
Mandi Fleitz 15:33
one. There was a lot of things that had happened, but I just, I'm mostly a solo sitter. I do have a very small team, but they're, they're part time, so it's, I'm the only full time person, and honestly, just after seven, eight years, like it was just getting to be a lot, like we're talking about before, with the the weather and all the seasons, like just all the dog walking outside in the extreme cold and the extreme heat was really getting to me, and just all the walking in general, it's like not getting any younger, and doing all this walking all the time just takes a toll on your body, and the late nights and the early mornings and the multiple times a day with, you know, the miles in the car and the gas prices always been so high. So there were many factors into why I was trying to move away from dog walking and dog pet sitting. And just as I have gone on and realized what I like and what I don't like, it's not that I don't like dogs. I love dogs. I have a dog, and it's really just cat sitting for me in my life just fit better, and I am trying to do better. I know we all do all pet sitters. We try to do better with work life balance. So I was trying to go into the new year with getting a better work life balance. So we're doing okay. So far. We're only, you know, three months in, but that, that is the goal. So,
Collin 17:04
so this was a pretty recent transition, then where you finally clicked off, right? Okay, okay, wow, that so that. So it's, this is still pretty fresh for you, really, it's pretty fresh,
Mandi Fleitz 17:13
yeah, yeah. And the the past two months of this year. So we closed Barbie and company at the end of 2024, so the first two months was, it's been a lot emotionally and everything else I have just been coming into, you know, the realization that I that I closed a whole business, and it was my first business. And then, even though I've been running Durham cat company since 2022 it I'm essentially starting kind of over it this year has felt very new, and try, just trying to get into a new groove, because I've always had dogs. I've always had dog walks in the afternoon, and so it's just been strange. It's been really weird, but it's been good, just
Collin 18:01
different. Now, I'm sure that the pulse and the flow, ebb and flow of the company feel different, right? Like, when are my busy times? When are my peak times? When can I anticipate to be slammed versus not? And, and I don't know, like, do you ever have does it feel weird not staying up to like, 11 o'clock at night and being like, like, going to bed early? It sounds wonderful. Many times it is wonderful.
Mandi Fleitz 18:24
To be honest. It's great. And
Collin 18:26
I hate that, I guess
Mandi Fleitz 18:30
Exactly. And you know, it's, it's different, but it has been nice, and that's, that's what I was trying to go for, is just a little bit slower pace life and more work life balance to do things, because just all of my friends and family have known since I started my business, like, oh man, he's busy. Oh man, he works seven days a week, like, Oh, she can't go. And so it's just trying to slow down a bit and make time for
Collin 18:57
things besides work well. And what a beautiful thing to be able to do, right? You know, your first business met you. You were able to have your business meet you exactly where you were and what you were able to do at that time. Yeah. And now, after seven, eight years of experience, you're able to have a business that's meeting you where you are now, right? And that's that. It's a wonderful reminder, too, that just because we start something doesn't mean it has to end looking anything like we started, right? And that we can make changes. And I'm sure it was hard saying bye to different clients and shutting that part out and managing all those relationships, but at the end of the day, we do have to take care of ourselves, and I'm going to what would I rather have a good night's rest, or, you know, the relationship with this client, and honestly, we've got to take care of ourselves. That's first and foremost. How did you go about shutting down that business, and did you refer out to people? Or, you know, did you sell off parts of it? What was that like?
Mandi Fleitz 19:59
Yeah. Um, yeah, I thought about all the different options, of course, as I was trying to make all the right decisions that I could. I think because I had dialed down my dog clients for so many years, I didn't have a whole lot left to sell. It's the ones that had been sticking with me for years and years, and which I'm very grateful for. So when I finally decided, like, alright, we're doing this, we have a hard, like, end date, you know, so incredibly hard, and I still tear up when I think about it, even these couple months later, because it just, I don't like leave leaving people you know, stranded, or just they had been my client for so long, and I've seen them grow, and seen the dogs grow, and some clients you know, their their dogs and pets have died, and they've got new ones. So all the challenges and sadness that comes with that, and you just create these relationships. And it it was really hard. That was the hardest part for me. It was just to be like, All right, bye, you know. But yeah, I did have I worked really hard and networking and getting a huge list of sitters and walkers in the area, and finding who would be best for who and what area they service and who can help them? And I made sure to see that they were taken care of, because those are my babies too for so long, so I tried my best to get them taken care of and looked after.
Collin 21:37
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Speaker 1 21:42
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Collin 22:07
If you're looking for new pet sitting software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confession what a wonderful gift you can give them is not only like I have done my best to care for you and when my team has set to step in, I trusted them as I'm leaving, I have done research, I have talked to this person the way this is the best fit for you. And because, while many of us may think that our clients can switch easily between pet sitters. It's actually really hard. They build relationships. They build they understand systems. It becomes really sticky, right? When we get those relationships. So it's, it's, what a wonderful thing to be able to, instead of just throwing them out to the wind and saying, that's a lot, right, being able to just introduce, make that introduction, and say, I, in my professional opinion, this is going to be the best fit for you, like, that's another way that you can help them, even when you're when you're not able to help
Mandi Fleitz 23:07
them anymore. Yeah, it, it was hard, but that made me feel a little bit better that I could try to help and I don't. Hopefully they appreciated it. But
Collin 23:17
yeah, yeah, you have to believe that they did right, because then it made their life. It was another convenience that you're able to give to them right as they made that transition. As you've made this transition, have you felt like you've had to do a lot of education for potential clients on why choosing a specialized cat care company is better over a generic company at all?
Mandi Fleitz 23:42
Yet? Yes and no. I know that sounds weird, but I feel like when, when people reach out to us, in my opinion, I think if they're already taking the steps to reach out to us, they in hiring a professional cat sitter. They know that their cats are important, and they love their cats enough to do the right thing. They're willing to go through all the steps of filling out all the intake forms and communicating with us and doing the meet and greet and filling out the software. And I feel like if they weren't truly invested in good cat care for their cats. They wouldn't do all that. And some do drop off as they do. They decide to go with friends or neighbors or whatever else. And some come back. But we can help them, if we can, at that point. But yeah, I think just then, when we get to the meet and greet, making sure we ask a ton of questions to learn about the cat and have a good understanding of who they are, and you know, their personalities and what they like, so that we can give them that specialized care that they need.
Collin 24:56
Well, that, again, is another benefit of why niching like the. This is really powerful, because the client is already kind of further down the decision tree than than otherwise it's you're you. They know the specific pain point. Like they go, Oh, that's me, right. That's where I am. So it there's very little sounds like there's very little convincing to get them on board, because they're basically like, hey, what do I need to do to have you come help me? Please? Right? Like, yeah, they're not looking for the best option. They're looking for, and this is gonna sound bad, like, but they're not Googling, like, top 10 Best cat sitters near me. They're looking for the one cat. So that's gonna solve their problem, and that really simplifies the messaging that you have to do and that we have to do as we niche into those services, and it helps get them into the company a lot easier.
Mandi Fleitz 25:46
Yeah. And I think that's, that was my hope when I was brainstorming back in the day of starting a cat only pet sitting business is, that's what I was hoping would would happen, and people would see, oh my gosh, they serve just cats like that's that's the kind of center I want. So I'm hoping that I'm doing the right thing there.
Collin 26:10
Well, I know on your on your website and some of your marketing and stuff like that, you talk a lot about stress free visits, and I know that cats are particularly susceptible to stress. How are you going about or what does that actually look like in a visit through for the cats?
Mandi Fleitz 26:27
Yes, and I have a cat who is very affected by anything different at all. He is just super anxious. And so I get it when people have cats like that. And yeah, cats in general, just are more like that. But I think just being more generally calm and and quiet around the cats, I don't I don't talk loudly, I don't move fast, and just being calm and not startle them or stress them out, I sit on the ground a lot and talk softly and get their favorite toy or their treat, and just learning the things that they like if they like being brushed, and just trying to be as calm and patient as possible. I have a ton of patience when trying to win a new cat over, especially if they're really shy. It's kind of like a challenge. I'm like, Okay, can I get this cat to come out of hiding and play with me or eat or whatever? And so during the trip, I'm like, I'm gonna do this. Like, this is a challenge. Let's go. So
Collin 27:35
you mentioned the like, the not moving quickly and the talking softly. We had a client one time where I noticed that the cat was, like, really hyper, on edge, and like, was very agitated and was splitting about the room. And I had to be very introspective about myself at the time, because I realized that, in looking back, it was wintertime, and so I was coming in with big winter boots. Also, I am a very heavy Walker. Some may say I stomp. And so what I what I realized is I came in and was like, clogging around the house, oh no, boom, boom. And the cat was like, Oh my gosh. What is going on? And so we kind of had to make it a policy of, like, just come in. A, don't walk like me, but B put your shoes off, you know, take your shoes off, and you can walk a lot softer. And it was amazing, the difference that even something so so simple was able to make in the progress that we were trying to do with the cat. Yes,
Mandi Fleitz 28:33
and I noticed that about myself as well, not the stomping, but I think it's
Collin 28:39
fine. It's me, it's fine. It's okay, Mandi, I'm okay.
Mandi Fleitz 28:43
When I would go to meet and greets, I think I'm just like, excited and excited to meet the cats, and I would talk, you know, really high pitched and loud, and I didn't really realize it. And I think one potential client even was like, you know, can you lower your voice? And she said it nicely, but was pretty much like, my cat started easily. Like, is there anybody else? Like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. And I didn't even realize and so that was one thing that I realized in the moment. And then from then on, I was like, softer, Mandi, when you go in, take it down a notch, but
Collin 29:16
you're right. It is hard because we come in, like, amped, excited. I want to show clients that like, I'm your person, and here we go, and I don't, but on the other hand, going, what is this conveying to the cat? And knowing that the client knows their animal, and they are looking for all of these signs too. They not. They might not be able to articulate it always as that of hey, my cat startles easily. Can you tone it down a bit, but they're watching how their cat or dog responds, and so being in tune with that, and knowing Okay, while it's important that I have this relationship with this, with the person, especially when I'm doing that initial consult, that meet and greet, I need to be looking at how my relationship is progressing with the. A mole itself,
Mandi Fleitz 30:01
yeah, and you know they're watching you and how the cat's responding. And the biggest compliment for me is, oh my gosh, my cat doesn't do that, or my cat never comes out for people, or normally they run and hide. I'm like, Oh, thank you. You don't know who you're dealing with.
Collin 30:19
Have we missed? Yes, right? Anyway, exactly what's as you as you work on those those services and making them, you know, specific to them, how do you make sure that you meet those expectations that the clients and the cats have?
Mandi Fleitz 30:34
Yeah, I think just being flexible and adaptable. I mean, you have to do that in pet sitting, anyways, but I think with cats, it's a whole another level. And I think me as a cat mom, I can be a little bit over the top sometimes as well. And so if clients are, you know, going on and on about their quirks, or they have this huge list of things to do or not do, or just instructions in general, and then they're like, Oh, I'm sorry, or Oh, that's a lot. And I'm like, honestly, no, it's not like, that's me. I have the full list. And if they're pictures next to each of them with the descriptions of their personalities, you flip it over, like, I get it. So I think that helps, because I can relate like, I'm just like you,
Collin 31:24
letting the client talk is one of the biggest things. I mean, that's something I had to learn, because I'm a, I'm a talker, right? I will talk about anything and everything for as long as I have breath and yeah, I have. I had to remind myself of No, this is a chance for the client to tell me and talk to me, and the more I can keep them talking, the better, because all of these details matter. And you're right, many times they will say, they'll start to feel self conscious. And I feel like those clients have typically used friends or families, neighbors and acquaintances where there's this like social debt that they're being placed in and that they're they don't want to overburden their neighbor against and so they feel about asking us. And I just did a meet and greet. I was a couple weeks ago now, where the client was talking and talking and going on, and they were really excited and adamant. And then all of a sudden they just stopped, and they turned and they looked at me, and they went, do other people talk this much about their cats? And I was like, I was like, yes, absolutely. I would love to hear more, right? And it was just kind of giving them a little bit of that permission to go. And I think that's part of where they feel connected, because they can go, oh, this person gets me and gets my enthusiasm for
Mandi Fleitz 32:37
this. That's so true and so important. And then a lot of times at the end of meets people, like, I see them take a deep breath, or they're like, Oh, I feel so much better. Like talking through it all, and you're taking the time to listen. I'm like, of course, that's, that's what I'm here for. And I want to be able to know all the things I need to know so that I can do my job the best that I can. So,
Collin 33:00
yeah, yeah, I've, we've started incorporating more photo taking during the new client consultation. We used to do it very sparingly, but now we're being pretty liberal in our photos. And just I have found that that even right once we ask for permission from the client, say, Hey, I'm going to take is it okay if I take some photos while we're talking so that I can add this to your profile so we remember where everything is. We've really seen some clients open up and be like, trying to showcase things. They're like, do you want me to hold it? Like, go over here. Did you get this photo? Did you get this?
Mandi Fleitz 33:32
Oh, that's amazing. Oh, okay.
Collin 33:35
Like, because they're I, you know, and sometimes that's they had a bad experience where somebody forgot where something was, or maybe they're so concerned that we're going to be completely clueless, right? That they're like, How is anybody going to do this? Well, only I can do this. And it's like, Well, part of that is, yeah, I'm not going to remember every time, because sometimes you might not use me for nine months. And do I remember the inside of your home? No, but I have a photo that I took last time, so this helps us, right? Yes. And it's been really interesting to see how people suddenly start going, Oh, here's a tool. Let me use it, right? Take a photo of this. Take did you get this photo? And that's been really beneficial in connecting with clients and kind of getting them on board with us as we move forward. Yeah, that's a great idea. You mentioned the cats and stuff that you've been working with. Do you handle any special needs cats, or anything like that with over the years,
Mandi Fleitz 34:24
yeah, we have helped a ton of special needs cats, diabetic cats, a cat that needed sub q fluids. We actually have a large number of cats on inhalers, and so that's something we have been working through. I don't know why the uptick in that recently, but we have a ton of experience in it now. And then, obviously, regular pills, liquid meds, and the trains, dermal and all the things. And then watching senior cats. You know, they have their their issues. Use with the mobility and things like that, and so we've watched deaf cats and buying cats and ones that don't have full use of their back legs. So yeah, we've had a lot of experience, and it's great. It helps us in the future to know how to handle those cases when we get them again, because we will, and sometimes it creates a little bit more work with cleaning and things like that, because they're having accidents outside of the box, or they can't fully get into the box, or throwing up more and but totally fine part of the job, we're used to it. Yep. That
Collin 35:37
that's why we're here, right? Yep. Do you find that as far as like your client mix, do you find that there are more of those more special needs, special cases, versus the kind of young, prime, healthy in their life? Yeah,
Mandi Fleitz 35:53
I think since opening the cat specific business, there has been an uptick in that. And I think it goes back to people see the value in a professional cat sitter, and they obviously know that we have the experience, and that's great that they see that. So I think there has been a lot of a lot more of that since we've
Collin 36:17
opened it. What other kind of trends or shifts have you seen just in your time between running, you know, Barbie and now Durham cat company in how people are receiving care, or what cat clients are wanting out of their care?
Mandi Fleitz 36:32
Yeah, I honestly think it's changed a ton. I remember when I was first starting off and I would do meet and greets with dogs, and I would see cat things or see the cat and I would say, okay, so what does your cat need? And they would say, oh, no, they'll be fine. And I was shocked every time, and it happened multiple times, and I you know, if I didn't in the moment, because I probably wasn't brave enough to back then, but I would send them a message later and be like, Hey, I don't want to leave your cat without care for that long. Like, even if you don't pay me, I don't care. Just, how can I help this cat? Like, where can I feed him? Tell me where the litter box is. Like, I just want to make sure. So it seemed back then that things were a lot different. You know, they just go away for the weekend and throw some food out they'll be fine, or just not tell their dog sitter about it at all. So I do think it's changed a lot for the better now, which is great. And I think people now view cat care is just as important as dog care. And I would say that most of our clients actually do two visits a day over one, which that was a little surprising to me, but I do it for my cast when I travel too. So it's fine I get it, but it's great that people see the value in us coming multiple times a day just for their cats. So there's definitely been a shift
Collin 38:01
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Collin 38:56
Yeah, you mentioned doing the mean greet, and you're talking to the dog client, and then the cat runs by. That. Let that led us to adding a question to our Meet reform of, are there any other pets in the home? Because we used to say, Who are we caring for? What pets do need? Do you need cared for? They'd fill out that. And then there was like, and then it really came to a head, where one time we I was taking care of a dog, and I heard meowing coming from a room, and I open it up, and there was the cat with a filter with water and with a with a litter box. And it was like they had just put the cat in the room and not told us about at all. Wow. Well, okay, and it's like, like you we have seen a transition now to where people are going. Yeah, I don't when we started. If they did have a cat, they'd ask us to come every other day. That's even if they asked us now it's I want you to come every day, twice a day. Honestly, for us, our hour long services are are more popular among cat clients than anybody else. They want you to come in play cat TV, sit on the ground, you know, you know, all that stuff. And. Uh, it's just in it's very fun to see that. And I think this, just as cat owners start seeing what their options are, they're really taking advantage of it,
Mandi Fleitz 40:12
yeah, and maybe that was the thing, um, back then it wasn't as it wasn't seen as available to people with cats, and so they're like, Oh, well, I guess we'll just do what we have to do, and they'll be fine. But yeah, there's a lot more options now. And we were the same way when, when it was just Barbie and company. We had 45 minute and hour long visits, and I don't think we ever had a dog in either one of those thoughts. They were always cats. And the same, like you said, just even if, even if the cat was shy or not very friendly, they're like, can you just sit on the couch and, like, be in our house and in around them, because they like having people around. We're like, Okay, if you want to pay for that, of course,
Collin 40:56
you know, it's one of the very few asks that I go, yeah, if you're willing to pay for it, I'll do it right, absolutely. Yeah, we, we've gotten that too. Of, oh, they're just more comfortable. Or they're a, they're a social eater. I feel like we have a lot of cat clients who are social eaters, and they're just like, I just, I want you to come in, put the food down, and then go sit the dining room table, and the cat will come out from wherever it is, and the cat's gonna eat. And then, sure enough, that's what happens,
Mandi Fleitz 41:22
I know. And we have a couple that, like, this is probably one of those examples of, is that weird? Like, are you will you do that? Is there's a couple that like to be pet while they eat, and that's the only way that they'll eat. And so after they tell us that meat they're like is that I'm like, No, I'll do that. I don't care. Like,
Collin 41:42
you're, you're, you're telling me I have to pet a cat. How dare you right. What is this?
Mandi Fleitz 41:47
I know.
Collin 41:51
What do you think some of the or maybe the biggest misconceptions are that some people have about making the switch, especially if they're, they're a dog walker, dog sitter, heavy, making the switch to Cat Carol.
Mandi Fleitz 42:06
I think for me, what I was worried about is that I wouldn't be busy enough. I I just didn't think it was possible. And a lot of people that I talked to, whether in the business or not, were like, You can't do that. There's no way you could do this full time and be sustainable and pay all your bills. And so I think, you know, obviously it's not the same for every area, and things could be different. But fortunately for us, we're in a bigger city, and people love to travel around here, which is great for us. So we typically have to stop accepting new clients even around like April until August, usually because the clients we had, since we have so many, they keep us busy enough, and then we stop taking new clients again around November, for the holidays until the end of the year. So we just stay busy enough with who we already have, because people just love to travel around here, which is awesome. So that was one thing at the beginning where a lot of people, including myself, was like, am I going to be busy enough? But that was one of those things that, like I mentioned earlier with the time to pet reports. It was amazing to be able to print everything out and say, okay, yeah, now, after this many months, or whatever, like, we can do this. So, right,
Collin 43:28
yeah. So yeah, because I know that's been a that's a concern where, especially if you're a person who have dogs, and you go, Well, I require three visits a day for dogs. Well, if I switch to cats, all of a sudden, I've got to find three cat clients for one dog client. How is this going to work? But like you're talking about Mandi, the trends are cat clients typically are booking, still booking multiple visits a day, and by the way, they're booking longer visits if they're an option. And so the combination of both of those also makes you more profitable too, because you're having to thrive in each visit, right? Like it seems like this really does help balance a lot of those
Mandi Fleitz 44:06
things out. Yeah, and I think that when I was starting to notice things like that, and in the final months last year that I was still doing dogs, it was really tough for me, because with dog walking and having a strict schedule that I needed to be there by. I had these cat clients that wanted twice a day and I only had X amount of morning slots, or I had ones that wanted the longer visits, and I couldn't do it because I had to have, had to be done by, you know, 12 to get going on the dogs. And so that's when it was starting to get really frustrating for me, and I was like, I want to do cat sitting full time, like I can do it. And unfortunately, no offense to my sweet dog clients, like it was messing up what I wanted to do for for cat singing, I couldn't offer it to them, or I had to turn them down. Or, you know, say I can only do one visitor I can do really short. Shorter visit, and I didn't want to do that. So,
Collin 45:03
yeah, I know with the with the with the cats versus dog scheduling too, right? Like dogs, they're really dependent on you getting outside, and so you get locked into time blocks really quick with them that you can't fluctuate. Not saying that you just blow off when the cats need a visit or whatever, especially with medications and whatnot. But there are those were going we always ask, like, does it matter what time of day I come over? And when they say, No, it's like, fantastic, right now, all of a sudden, I can fill those weird gaps. I can make my route a lot more efficient if I'm moving around three or four different cats instead of dogs, because then I've got to do a lot of other things to take into account. So it really does help simplify that too. And I'm, you know, I know from your perspective, if you've seen that kind of more simplified, or you have an ease of ease of schedule or route planning for yourself, yeah, because
Mandi Fleitz 45:56
that's exactly what was happening, is I would have a certain amount of cats that I would want to see on one side of Durham, but I had to be back on the other side to walk a dog by 1230 and so then I was having to go back and forth because I didn't finish them in time. And it was creating more work and more gas and more driving when, if I just didn't have the dogs to begin with, then I could do slower and get everything done on each side of town before I moved to the other side. And because we have, Durham is a pretty big city, and so we don't even service the whole city. It's so big, but there's different parts. And if you're going back and forth a bunch, it gets to be a lot. Well,
Collin 46:38
you mentioned that you're mostly a solo operator, but you did have some people who worked very part time for you, yes, when you made this transition, did they make that transition with you?
Mandi Fleitz 46:48
Yes, and they so my main sitter is. Her name is Sage. She's been with me for over two years, and she's amazing. And we work really well together. And if we're either of us is struggling with a spicy cat or getting a cat medicine like we can work with each other really well. So she, bless her heart, worked since the very start of Durham cat company, and so she did both businesses with me, so we had two time to pet accounts and keeping up both of her schedules for two years, I just am so thankful for her, because I know how big of a pain that was. And when January hit, I was like, we just have one account, one schedule to look at, like, your life will be much more simplified after this. And I know she was happy, so
Collin 47:37
I felt bad. Well, I mean, because that is a lot to to ask for keeping both of those and then for you also going, I can't overlap these two things, because all of a sudden I'm going to get disjointed and out of whack.
Mandi Fleitz 47:51
It was so much work, and like looking back, I don't know how I did it for so long, and I'm thankful for one schedule now.
Collin 47:59
Well, so are you looking to hire more and grow your team?
Mandi Fleitz 48:06
I will probably. We usually have three to four people around the summer months and the holidays all very part time, just because we need it, and with only having a certain amount of time slots in the morning or the evening and people wanting the twice a day. It's kind of essential, but I don't really want to hire much more than just how I've been doing it the past couple years, with having a main part time sitter and then a little bit of seasonal help sprinkled in, we could grow. I mean, the demand is there. I just when I was envisioning the company, I never wanted it to be a big company. And I think with cats in particular, we've worked really, really hard to get some of them, a lot of them, to trust us and to come out of their shell. And if we just had a rotating door of a huge amount of sitters, I think it would really break their trust, and they would go back into hiding and so and and really for myself, I wouldn't want that for my own cats either. I have a Blind Cat, and then my one cat that I mentioned that has extreme anxiety, they wouldn't be happy with a new person coming in every time. And so I've thought about that when running my business as well. So we definitely could grow. But I think people like us being a smaller team. They like that it's the same people and that it's they just, it's not going to be, Oh, who's going to show up today? Because I think with cats, that's so much more important.
Collin 49:49
Yeah, it is. And I've, we've, we've seen that too in our own in our own business, while we're not cat only, we do try and for, like, for cat clients, put them in the same gym. General time block. We operate so that anybody can step in if necessary, and then we have those built in backups and internal stuff. We don't do a one for one, but we do go okay as as best we can. For our cat clients, let's try and get them used to one and two people at most, because then you really can't make the most progress with them, especially with those ones who they say, Oh, you'll probably never see them or whatever, like you can, yeah, you could really start to know those those quirks and those little intricacies of them,
Mandi Fleitz 50:30
yeah. And there's been a lot of clients that I think would prefer that I just go by but it's just not possible. I mean, there's things that happen. My dog was at the ER last week, and so sage had to step in a ton. And, you know, I'd like to travel, and so when I travel, other people step in. So they do have to be used to that. But there are some that, even in two years, there's probably 50 so cats that, like sage has never even met, because they're just so particular, or the clients are particular, and they just want me to go by and that's okay.
Collin 51:05
So, yeah, yeah, I am. I'm gonna add a flag to our our profile here for spicy cats. Yes, one that I'm gonna do now, you said that phrase, and I had to write it down, because I was like, I need that immediately, because I have 10 clients of me that came to mind. I was like, spicy,
Mandi Fleitz 51:23
spicy. That's, that's the r is, and then the little abbreviation is the fire emoji, because that's what they are. They're spicy,
Collin 51:31
even, even, yeah, well, I know, I know you just, you know you're you as you mentioned, like you're two years into running Durham cat company, but it feels like you're just starting out. So I it may feel silly to kind of ask this, but like, where, what do you think's next for your company? Like, what do you what are you wanting to do moving forward?
Mandi Fleitz 51:52
I think since we're down to one one business and 100% cats, we've been brainstorming on different things that we can do and different things we can offer. I think we might send a survey or something out to our current clients and see what they think, and, you know, open to suggestions, see if there's anything like if they want longer than an hour visits, or just something that we're missing that they could find,
Collin 52:22
you know, helpful. So yeah,
Mandi Fleitz 52:28
we're definitely going to look into that. But as far as expanding, we're definitely going to keep the smaller team for now, so I don't know, stay tuned
Collin 52:38
and work on your sleep and work life balance.
Mandi Fleitz 52:41
I'm still catching up, so it'll take a little bit more time to catch up
Collin 52:47
well, and the client surveys are really an underappreciated aspect of our industry. We consistently will have thoughts of, well, I know our clients use us, but I don't know why, right? Yeah, and it can, it's like, it's one of the weirdest, I don't know, like, like feelings and to not know. And so it's, it's, you know, just asking is what we have to get used to. Of just, I want to know what you think, and not saying that I'm going to make major changes, right? Because one of our first surveys we sent out, and everyone was, like, cheaper prices. And I was, oh my gosh. Anyway, yeah. So then, you know, then you say, Okay, if they're asking for that, what can we do on the other like, what's a more positive thing? And so working on value ads or things like that, or are we communicating what we're doing? What good enough? And that's it, can lead to just a lot of different ways of thinking, if, because, especially if, we have a perception of our company asking for information from the outside, just it blows away our own preconceived notions and biases. Again, it's our business. I have thoughts of what I think it is, but also I'm not my ideal client, so I don't know, right? And so that's been the best thing for those client surveys is to say, Hey, I'm not my ideal client. You're my ideal client. Talk to me, please, and get some ideas flowing from there exactly. Well, Mandi, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing this transition with you in your lesson with that you've done the lessons that you've learned through this process and how you're meeting the needs of these of the cat parents in Durham with excellence and everything. And I love this, and I love the reminder of the power of specific messaging and niching down to find those clients who need you, for those who want to follow along with you and everything that you've got going on, how best can they do that
Mandi Fleitz 54:43
Durham cat company.com will have all of our information on there, and social media is Durham cat company, and we're still growing. It seems like we are kind of starting over. So we're trying to gain up everything that we can. Kind of lost with closing the other business. So we're we're excited to keep getting our name known out there.
Collin 55:07
Yeah, well, that's fantastic. I'll have those links in the show notes and on our website so people can click right to those. Mandi, again, this was an immense pleasure, and I'm so thankful for your time today. Thank you for coming on. Thanks so much for having me. I love during the conversation where Mandi said that just because we start something doesn't mean it has to end up looking anything like we started. This mindset is absolutely critical to the life of an entrepreneur and small business owner. When we lock ourselves away and think that just because we started something, we have to finish it and make it look exactly like it was when we started. This limits our ability and potential to adapt and change and persist over time. When we look at what resilience means as a business, it means that we must change. There must be a life cycle and course through which we travel as a business and embracing that, taking advantage of that, leaning into that as a critical component to us, that is what can set us apart, being willing to adapt, admit when we were wrong, and seek after new and different ways to serve our clients and live the life that we want. Otherwise, we'll simply lock it all away and run a business that quickly leads to irrelevancy. How do we get around that, though, by having a posture of humility and viewing change as a necessity and always looking at the next opportunity. We want to thank today's sponsors, tiny to pet and our friends at the peaceful petmic COMM music for pets YouTube channel for making this show possible, and we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon.
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