675: Building a Community-Driven Dog Walking Business with Jessica Sarcia
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How do you rebuild a pet care business from scratch and create something stronger than before? In this episode, Jessica Sarcia of Annie’s Woof Pack shares how she went from navigating personal upheaval and COVID losses to building a thriving, community-based dog walking company. She talks about leaning into structure, clarity, and neighborhood relationships to grow her group walks and streamline her operations. Jessica also opens up about the emotional side of pet care and the deep bonds she forms with clients and their pets. Her story is a reminder that confidence, connection, and courage can transform your business.
Main topics:
Rebuilding after career changes
Community-driven business growth
Structure for group walks
Clear client communication systems
Emotional side of pet care
Main takeaway: “I can’t walk all of the dogs. I only have two hands, so networking is extremely important.”
Jessica’s reminder hits home for so many pet care professionals. When we stop seeing each other as competition, we start building the community our clients—and their pets—truly deserve. In this episode, she shares how collaboration, structure, and communication shaped Annie’s Woof Pack into a trusted neighborhood brand. Her story is a powerful example of what can happen when we choose connection over isolation in the pet care world.
About our guest: Jessica Sarcia is the owner of Annie’s Woof Pack, a thriving dog walking and pet sitting business based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. With more than 12 years of experience, she specializes in structured group walks, solo walks, pet sitting, transportation, and enrichment-based services. Jessica built her business on community relationships, clear communication, and a deep commitment to caring for pets through every stage of life. Her work reflects a blend of professionalism, compassion, and a genuine love for helping families feel supported
Links:
Annie’s Woof Pack Website: https://annieswoofpack.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/annieswoofpack
Facebook: https://facebook.com/annieswoofpack
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pet Sitter Confessional, its hosts, or sponsors. We interview individuals based on their experience and expertise within the pet care industry. Any statements made outside of this platform, or unrelated to the topic discussed, are solely the responsibility of the guest.
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet care business, dog walking, pet sitting, community building, client relationships, business growth, COVID impact, networking, software systems, client needs, business structure, personal touch, client communication, business challenges, professional development.
SPEAKERS
Jessica Sarcia, Collin
Collin 00:02
Hey, 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 tyned pet and pet sitters International. How do you rebuild a pet care business from scratch and create something stronger than ever? In today's episode, Jessica from Annie's wolf pack, shares how she went from navigating personal upheaval and covid losses to building a thriving community based dog walking company. Her story is a reminder that confidence, connection and courage can transform your business no matter what. Let's get started.
Jessica Sarcia 00:40
Hi Collin, thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to be here. My name is Jessica Sasha. I'm the owner of Annie's wolf pack dog walking and pet sitting based out of Westbridge water. We offer dog walking, pet sitting and transportation, and we offer some other things, like nail trims, bathing and Saturday group, hike walks and day Hanks.
Collin 01:05
Now I that's a that's a lot of different different services. Now, when did, when did you get started with this?
Jessica Sarcia 01:12
So this is actually my second dog walking company. I started walking dogs professionally full time in November of 2013 with my ex husband, we started our own company called tough paws dog walking. Back then it was more solo walks. We didn't do many group walks unless it was all dogs that lived within the same household. But we did that for about six years, and then once him and I separated, we still worked on the company together, and then covid hit and ended up being a little bit of a conflict of interest, because dog walkers at the time were deemed essential, but our clients weren't. So our client base dropped like 80% and we had hardly any dog walks left. So my ex husband and I had a son together, who was two at the time, and he ended up taking over all of the walk. So I was home with our son because the daycares were closed and there are still two more weeks. Flatten the curve, two more weeks, and it just that two weeks didn't come. So during that time, I was left home a lot, so I was going over the the admin stuff, the admin side of tough pause, and I just kind of realized, like I didn't know if I want to continue with that, and I kind of wanted to branch out on my own with tough pause. There was a lot of things I wanted out of the business that he didn't want to do. I wanted to do software. I wanted work cars. I didn't want to use our personal vehicles anymore. I wanted to grow. And he kind of wanted to just have fun with it. He didn't really want to grow as much as I he didn't make it a big, a big thing. He just wanted to walk dogs, go home and call it a day. So with that first stimulus check, I ended up taking the plunge, and I bought an LLC with it, and here we are, five years later, and that LLC still feeds my son and keeps my lights on, and I'm doing everything I've wanted to do. It's, it's really, it was absolutely terrifying at the time, because I didn't know if we're going to go back to back to work anytime soon, which I didn't. It was about it took about six months for Annie's wolf pack to really take off. And that was that was really difficult to to navigate at the time, because everybody was so unsure as to what the pandemic even was, let alone when we were all going to be able to go back to to the office, go back to work. So especially being a dog walker, going to multiple houses, a lot of clients were home, but they didn't want people that weren't family members in their homes due to to the sickness, you know. So it was, it was tough, but once October 2020, hit, it really filled up, and I've been nonstop since then.
Collin 04:11
I mean, you talk, you talk about that vision that you had for for tough pause, that now you're living out with Annie's wolf pack. Where did that vision come from? I mean, did you just know that you you could do more, or you wanted to try something like, where did that come from?
Jessica Sarcia 04:27
Try something? Because, I mean, back then, there weren't a lot of dog walkers in my area. We're very few and far between. And even in 2013 when we first started tough, pause, it took a long time to get clients. I was flying vet offices, grocery stores like Facebook was still relatively new to the public, and a lot of people weren't on like town groups or the marketing on Facebook was nowhere near what it is today. So back then, it took a long time, like I said, to get started. So there was a lot of trial and error. There was. A lot in my area to kind of bounce off of, I didn't really know at the time, essentially what we're doing. We're just kind of like, let's, let's do time slots, let's do this, let's do that. And then it, it really, it really took off. So then once we started to grow, we were still operating off of pen and paper scheduling, like he had his schedule book. I had my schedule book. I had no idea where he was. He had no idea where I was, and if neither one of us were, it's in our phones, we'd take a guesstimate. We'd be like, Oh, it's around 1130 she should be at Walker's house, or just finishing that up. But it was, it was tough, and I wanted to grow. I wanted to do more for the business, the clients, our community and ourselves. I really, really loved walking dogs at the time, and I still do, obviously, but it was at the time, it was kind of like a hobby, dogs during the day, and I wasn't quite full time walking dogs. I was only doing about like, three or four walks per day, and then going home by two, getting ready to go work at the bar at five and then be working until two in the morning. So over time, I started to I loved, I loved my day job. I was like, I'm into this, and I think I want to start pushing for this a little bit more so I can quit my night job. And I did. Just two years later, I ended up quitting bartending, walking dog dogs, full time, and I loved it, but I was noticing that it is a lot of wear and tear. It's a lot of wear and tear on your vehicles, a lot of wear and tear on my equipment, my leashes, all kinds of things like that. And I wanted to invest into the company. And unfortunately, he didn't, I guess he was cool with using our personal vehicles and things like that. So it really changed for me once our son was born, I was like, it's not just us anymore. It's, it's, it's him, and this is, we've been doing this for a while now. It's definitely successful. Let's, let's put all of our, all of our stock into it, and make something out of this. And so then just a few short months later, covid hit, and that's what I was like, You know what it I think I can grow more if I'm in this alone. And it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, having to branch out and do it on my own, because it this industry, it's extremely lonely, and I just lost the other person, you know what I mean. So now I'm navigating this new business by myself. It's wonderful to be able to make all the decisions, to choose when to work, choose what kind of software is to use, get a van, get work vehicles. It is nice, but it is lonely. I mean, just the job itself is it's a lonely job.
Collin 08:01
Yeah, yeah, you have those moments where you're like, you know, man, I feel really I like you said, like, I'm really glad that I can make like, I'm empowered to make this decision for myself. But, man, there's another side where you're like, where do I go? Like, I want to talk to somebody about this. Like, I want to, I want to have some feedback on this. I want to know, like, was it? I mean, how do you navigate that? With that need to maybe have input or extra insight into your own business now,
Jessica Sarcia 08:30
networking, honestly, it's and you guys, to be honest, like the podcast has has been so wonderful to me. I've learned so much from so many of the like guests that you bring on. I use tiny horse now because of you guys and like networking. Like I said this, now in 2025, there are so many dog walkers in my area, as opposed to when I started, when there was just two. So now we're we're all buddies. We're all friends. We don't see each other as competition, because I can't walk all of the dogs in my area. I'm only one person. I only have two hands, and I only purchased so many leashes. Yeah. I mean, it is the community that is built around the pet care industry now is absolutely amazing, and I I feel less lonely now that I've I've reached out to these people, because that was, that was part of tough pause too. I wanted to go to events and network event different networking groups and stuff like that. I was just kind of nervous to do it. But now that I'm alone, I'm like, I'm alone. I have to do it. I have to get myself out there. I have to face that fear and just introduce myself to people, because I'm not going to go anywhere if I just sit here. I'm not
Collin 09:46
going to go anywhere if I just sit here. I mean, that's definitely a mindset like that. Really is a mindset that as a business owner, like you've you've got to get in that mindset at times and just go like, like, you know you can either stay where you are. And operate as you've always operated, or you can try something different and actually get momentum and move forward in your business. And that transition, like, you have to find that thing that motivates you for like, why do I need to keep moving forward? And I know for us, I know it sounds like, for you too, like, for us, it's our kids. Like, it's like, I, if I, if my business stagnates, like, I can't, I can't I'm not providing for them. Like, I literally won't have food on my table or their table, and all of a sudden now I really go, Well, I don't want to go put out flyers today. I don't want to go to do phone calls. I don't want to go do another training. I don't want to go do all this. But I need to keep moving forward so that I can provide and I can do this, and that you find that motivation to really never stop. And I know sometimes for us, we can feel it feels exhausting, right? It never ends. But I've also had to flip that to also think of like. It also energizes me. And I found like, I find I find purpose and meaning in that work
Jessica Sarcia 11:01
energizes them too. I mean, my son absolutely loves what I do. He loves I have two dogs at home. He's constantly trying to do little tricks with them, teach them touch, teach sit, stays, all kinds of stuff. And two years ago, he wanted to be he had a career day at school, and he chose dog walker. And I thought that was so cool, so I made him a work shirt. He wore my leashes. He put on some sweatpants and some boots and had a little stuffy attached to the leashes. And I thought it was so cool, because it it's showing him that you can literally be anything you want to be. Well, you can figure it out, if you have enough passion towards something, you can, you can do that for the rest of your life.
Collin 11:45
Yeah, I know one of those big steps that you took, and you mentioned it a couple times, was actually you wanted to make sure that you had work vehicles. And that sounds like that was something that's really impressed you in this transition. Talk to me about, like, what? Because that's not common. Like, that's not a very common that we see in a lot of people, like, what why was that important to you? And what was that process like, actually getting a vehicle for the business,
Jessica Sarcia 12:09
especially now, since I'm solo, before, if my ex husband and I had any sort of vehicle issues, he could come pick me up. We could switch cars. We could just drag me to the mechanic to go pick up my car. But now that I have a work van and I have my personal vehicle, if one car is in the shop, I can still get the job done. I don't have to call out, I don't have to move anything around. I can still just take my personal car to the dog walks. I also own an SUV that's equipped to be able to handle at least three dogs safely. So it's, it's a little bit of a movement around and schedule, but it, it's, I can make it work, and it's awesome, and it's actually helped a lot too. I don't have to tell any of my clients, like, Hey, I can't make it today because I'm having a car issue. I can just call an Uber home from the mechanic, and then hop into my other car, and then off to work I go, you know, and I can still pick up my son and all that. The only downfall is my personal vehicle. That's the tough one. So if the personal vehicle is in the shop, I can't pick my son up and the van, so I'll have to borrow, like, a neighbor's car just to go get them from from school. But luckily, my mechanic is at the end of my street, so I can just walk to the mechanic. It's awesome. It really is. It's it's beautiful and and like, with that being said too, I mean on on, like holidays or days that my son's out of school, like school vacation, he can come to work with me. I just take him in my personal vehicle, and he comes and he comes and walks dogs with me, and he absolutely loves it. He doesn't hold any of the dogs. I don't want him, but he'll walk alongside us and and all of the dogs and my clients absolutely love him. They get him Christmas gifts. And he's really become like a part of a part of Annie's wolf pack. Everyone knows, like Justin Jackie. Jackie's my son's name. So everyone's always asking, how is he doing? I haven't seen him in a while, and I'm like, Just wait. February vacations coming up, you'll see him then.
Collin 14:12
Well, you know, that's that sounds like. That's part of getting this, this life that you were able to build, and how you're able to mold out of, like, what works best, and how you run a business. And like, we sit at that interface of personal and business as as solo business owners and operators. Like, that's just where we are, like, and, and we can't, I know, a lot of times we try and separate, and we try and build walls. We're like, no, no business is over here, and no, no personals. But like, no, that doesn't, that doesn't work. Like, it's, it's all together, and can really, we've had to really embrace that at that aspect of what we
Jessica Sarcia 14:49
do, yeah, yeah, of course. And it's funny that you mentioned that too, because I was big on separating, like personal from business for years. But what we do. Is extremely intimate. We're walking into clients' homes. I can see their cold cup of coffee that they rushed out of the house and forgot on the countertop. Like we're we're very in their personal lives, and it's nice to be able to show them a little bit of my personal life as well, even though I'm just the dog walker. They all of my clients, see me as family. They've they've seen me struggle. They've seen me at my highs, my lows. They've where they've moved away, and they still reach out, and they're like, I hope you and Jack are doing great. And it's, it's one of those things where it's really hard to separate within this industry, especially since it what we do is just, it's very personal, you know? I mean, we care for their pets. We love their pets, and in return, they love us, right? Or loving their pets.
Collin 15:54
Have you heard of time to pet? Susan the pet gal, has this to say, time
Susan M. 15:59
to pet has helped us grow exponentially. We believe the platform's features make us by far more professional than other companies who use conventional dashboards. They are the software gurus constantly developing and improving the platform based on user feedback. This decision was a good one.
Collin 16:16
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 tie into pet.com/confession Yeah, they really we do become that extension and and we get we get to be there when they can't. We get to take them on the walks when they can't. We get to help out when they can't. It really is a very real sense we are being selected by the owner to basically represent them to their pet when they're not able to be there, and when we kind of view that position that we have in that relationship, it does change how I show up and what I write in my update and how I hold that leash, and how, like the severity, like the seriousness of that situation really, kind of just like bubbles straight to the top and goes, I'm supposed, I'm I'm in lieu of owner. How would the owner hold this leash right now? How would the owner care? Exactly, how would the owner care about this behavior? How would the owner care? Like, that's more of the mindset that we need to be in exactly.
Jessica Sarcia 17:25
And I try and follow along with what the owners do for their dogs as well. And at the meet and greets joy, I'll ask them, like, what what kind of training protocols do you have? And a lot of people have different commands for their dogs. I had a client. I always ask clients, write your commands, just so I can keep it as close to the owners commands as possible. Because everybody says different things, like the touch command. I say, boop. With my dog, I go, boop, and he does it. But if I said touch, he'd be like, what's touch? So and it's it's funny too, because one of my first clients, I told that I was like, Oh, just write down your commands, just so I can kind of follow along and be as close to what you do, so they can understand me and be comfortable with me. And at the very bottom, it said elephant. And I was like, What? What is elephant? I just looked at Teddy, and I go, elephant. And he ran and got his favorite stuffy that was an elephant. And I didn't even know, and I thought that was the cutest thing ever. And I I immediately fell in love with him. It was like, the first visit. And I was like, I love you. That was so cute. But I was like, elephant. It was all normal stuff. Sit, stay down, paw off, and then elephant. And I was like, wow. And that was right at the beginning too. So I didn't even really know what I was getting myself into at the time. And it was a, it was a fun thing to run into. And now, if I see something like that, I just I think of Teddy, and Teddy, unfortunately, has long passed, but he was, he holds a special place in my heart. He was a he was a good boy, and I'll never forget elephant.
Collin 19:09
Oh, my, you know, it's again, just that, that personal stuff, like, Who else knows? Who else would know that command for that dog? Who else was? Has that information been shared with it's only, only the dog walker, right? Only those close people. And we had a client who all of their commands for their dog were in French, and that was a new one.
Jessica Sarcia 19:28
Oh, yes, I had a Spanish fun Spanish, yeah,
Collin 19:32
there was one time. So there we had one week where we had a dog who's all its commands were in French, and another dog whose all commands were in Spanish, and it was like, it was such it was soaked. It was like, Oh my gosh, I don't try to keep everything straight. And it was, it was great. We all had a lot of laugh about that. But again, it was just this reminder of, this is that person's dog, and that they're choosing you. They're reaching out to you for a reason. I mean, how? How? How are your clients finding. Finding you, or how are you connecting with those people?
Jessica Sarcia 20:04
So I live in my hometown. I was born and raised here in West verduta, Massachusetts. My son is actually fifth generation in my house. My great grandfather bought my house in 1931, and in 2019 my ex husband, I actually inherited it, which was not the plan at all. So we were actually dog walking in the next town over, and even though it was only about 15 minutes away, it really put a damper on our travel times. So we decided at the time, he was like, You know what? You have a connection with the residents in this town. You've been here for a long time. I mean, I only moved out for about like 15 years or so, but, I mean, the next town over, I was still really close, but he was, like a lot of people know you in town, and they trust you, and you're still very active and involved in a lot of things in town. Anyways, how about we expand our service area to West Bridgewater? And so we did do that when we had tough pause. But tough pause is only operating in Westbrook for a very short amount of time. During that time, like I said, we inherited it in 2019 and then covid Hit March of 2020, so when I started Annie's, I really wanted to tighten up that route, because I was doing Easton dog walks, which is the town next so next next door, pretty much the town over. I was doing Eastern dog walks and Westbridge water, and I was finding that I was traveling between towns, and it took about like 18 minutes to go do a 15 minute potty break. So I kind of had to weigh my options and do like, a cost analysis and say, like, is this worth it? Westbridge was a very small town too. It's like five miles any which way. It's not that big at all. So I specifically flyered to Westbridge water. And at that point, I also do, at the time, I was doing a referral program. So for every hired referral that client gets two free dog walks. So if you tell your neighbor about me, you'll get two free dog walks. And that really kicked it off, and it kept me within a very tight area as well. So I had like, house to house to house to house. And the coolest part about it was all these people knew their neighbors and their dogs all knew each other, so they were are the dogs already had a relationship. So I would consolidate those dogs, and I would say, well, Tucker likes this dog down the street. They've hung out before. I'm going to come over and I'm going to see how that goes. And then I would walk each dog separately for a few months, just to get to know their personalities, see how their recall is. And then eventually, I would group those two, and then over time, I would bring in a third, and then a fourth. And my limit is six. My insurance only covers six, but I haven't done six in a long time. I like, I like, a nice four. Four is fun, yeah. Well, so is Go ahead.
Collin 22:57
No no. Sorry. Jessica didn't mean go ahead. Well, I
Jessica Sarcia 22:59
was just gonna say it was, it was, it was. The coolest part about it was this town is so small, and everybody does know each other, to the point where everybody's dogs already knew all the other dogs in the neighborhood. So it made my job extremely easy. Because when I'm introducing dogs to each other, it takes a long time. I have, like I said, I have to get to know each personality individually before I feel comfortable even introducing them together. And it was just, it was a beautiful thing, and it worked out nicely.
Collin 23:30
Yeah, when you have neighbor dogs who know each other through the fence and maybe interact on their own playdates and that kind of stuff, I can imagine that that would make that, that grouping a lot nicer. So are you? You're doing mostly group walks these days, and no, not necessarily doing the solos as much, or what's the mix there of your services.
Jessica Sarcia 23:49
So right now, I'm doing a lot of solos. So I've noticed over the years, and this is kind of like a normal trend too. I'm sure a lot of dog walkers experience this as well. Summertime, we die out. There's, there's really not a lot. I have a lot of teachers. People like to change their schedules in the summertime. They either go on vacation, board their dogs, or they go on vacation and on pet sitting their dogs. So daily dog walking in July is, like, almost out, like it's very I go down to maybe, like, from about 17 walks a day to like four in July. It's absolutely insane. But my pet sitting service is like through the roof in July. I'm hardly ever home this past summer, I pet sat from mid June to the very end of July, and I was only home for about like, four or five nights throughout that. So it definitely makes up for it in the back end. But then once, once September hits, I have a lot of clients who are either back in the office or back to teaching. So mid days are a lot of potty breaks. So I try doing all of my group dogs in the mornings and in the late hours. Afternoons, so I can keep that midday open for out of the house clients. And whenever I have a meet and greet and they say, Oh, I work from home, it's just exercise, they automatically get grouped into the morning walk or the afternoon walk, just because the midday is specially dedicated to either elderly dogs or people who are out of the house for the day.
Collin 25:23
Do clients pretty get that kind of scheduling pretty easily? Or do you, do you ever get pushed back on No, I want my dog seen at noon. I definitely want this at noon kind
Jessica Sarcia 25:33
of thing. So and then it comes. Sometimes, you do have those every once in a while, but then it kind of comes down to the the logistics of the situation, and I'll explain to them to why I operate that way. And majority of the time they're like, Oh, I understand. Because I'm like, if you're home, because I do have clients who work from home and they can't they're stuck upstairs, so that's fine, too, if they're stuck upstairs and they can't get out, but they're going to get moved around a lot because they are home and they have breaks, and they they they give themselves potty breaks too, you know? So I tell them, I just to kind of keep in touch with me throughout the day, let me know, like, hey, the last time they were out was at 9am I have a meeting. I'm not coming out of this room until 3pm then I'll know where to kind of put them. And a lot of clients are very flexible too, so I can kind of move that around. There's a lot of schedule moving in, like the middle of the day sometimes, but that's okay, because that's that's all part of it as well. And if I, if I didn't help out, then I'm no use to them, you know,
Collin 26:42
well, and I think, I think having that kind of structure also helps direct the client to the solution. I think when we, when we exactly when we first started, we were kind of a anything goes, whatever the client wants. We'll just make an adapt and kind of make it work. And that sounds nice, because you're sounding Oh, it's completely customizable. But when there's no structure, you you just get things dictated to you, and then you don't have a flow, and you can't organize your life, and everything's just kind of tossed around. So just to be able to it takes being opinionated about your business to say mornings and evenings are groups, middles, potty break, and I'm not budging on this, if that exactly it sounds constricting. But also clients are just looking to know, like they expect you to have these kind of things in place. So it's, we can, we can confidently come to them and say, you want this. This is how I offer that welcome, like it's, it's, we don't have to over complicate that, presenting some may not like that have pushed back, and then you just explain it and kind of go about what you're, you know, the rest of your day. But I love that you have that separation and that structure to your days, because it helps you plan, schedule, Route, that stuff, and it gives the clients an idea of what to expect. Because they're looking, they're looking to see, how do you operate? What do you do? And I think many times we think, Oh, they're not going to like this. Well, they don't know, like, how, like, I get in my head about that. I'm like, Oh, I don't want to tell them my cancelation policy, because they're not going to like it. Oh no. And it's like, they just want to know. They're just asking me be, stop trying to hide it, be honest and up for it, right?
Jessica Sarcia 28:25
Like, yeah, yeah. And that's the beauty of networking too. Like I said earlier, I'm friends with a lot of other walkers in the area, and I'll tell the client, like, Hey, listen, I have an awesome group of people that I network with as well. Let me put out the feelers and see if anybody has something that's a little bit more accommodating to the exact timeframe that you would like and and that holds to this longevity in that the client thinks of that, and they're like, Wow, they're not, I'm not paying them any money for this, but she's still willing to do a little bit of the footwork to try and find something that works best for my schedule. Because, I mean, I care for pets, but, and a lot of people say to like, Oh, I got into the pet care industry because I hate industry because I hate humans. Well, you're dealing with the humans. That's the thing is, it's, it's the dogs. Can't tell you they have to go out at noon. You know what I mean, that it's the client that is asking you about that. So I like to help out. I like to help out my community. And in the long run, to it. It works out because they say, like, even though you didn't walk my dog, you're so helpful, and you got me a dog walker that I absolutely love. And they might not have found that without my help and the help from others as well. And I think networking is extremely important in that sense, because, like I said earlier, I can't walk all of the dogs. I don't have 24 hours of dog walking in one day. I still have to go home and eat dinner and feed my child at some point. So it's nice to be able to just reach out to somebody else and then get that figured out for the client and and then I always ask the Walker. I'm like, Do you love the dog? And they're like, I do my favorites. Because. As you know, we do end up falling in love with our clients dogs, and they become a part of our daily lives. And it's it's just one of those things where you want to know what happened, you know, you want to know how it worked out.
Jessica Sarcia 31:03
in the beginning I did. I remember going to meet and greets being like, I hope I get this. I hope I get this. And then I leave and I'm like, Did I stutter? Did I talk too much? Did I have word vomit? Like they're not going to hire me? And it was definitely a lot of confidence building over time with especially with meet and greets, too, in the beginning, but nowadays, not so much, because of word of mouth, because the town's so small, and I do a lot of events in town. We have an event called River Walk that happens every June. They shut down an entire street, and there's a bunch of local vendors, and I have a booth, and I'm just giving away dog treats, not selling anything. I'm giving away dog treats and just talking to people. And a lot of my clients end up coming, and they bring their dogs, and it's a ton of fun. So word spreads fast around here, and I'll have clients who reach out to me, and they already know, like, I want the morning group. I want the afternoon group. I want midday just because they talk to another neighbor of this who I've worked with, possibly in the past. So it's, I don't want to sound like conceited, but I don't have to sell myself so much anymore just because the town is so small and everything's pretty cut and dry with what, with what I offer,
Collin 32:27
well, and when you have what helps with that too. And I love how you mentioned that sometimes the potential clients, the new clients, already know a lot about you through the person they were talking to, and that comes from having clear, defined, you know, you've got structure. It's easy to communicate.
Jessica Sarcia 32:44
And I think we all well oiled machine at this point.
Collin 32:47
Yeah, it's right. And many like we can I'm really good at over complicating things, and I'm making things as particular and fine platoon and as as possible. And what that does is, not only confuses the person I'm talking to, but they are never going to be able to share that kind of complexity to other friends. They're not going to be able so the when you have that clarity, it makes it easier for people to talk about you, and that word of mouth to expand when it's like this thing that like, it just it helps that entire process, like you said, like becomes that well, old machine where it's easy to talk about, because it's easy to understand, and that often gets lost about our business operations, as we tend to over complicate things, and that just causes a whole mess all the all the way down, exactly.
Jessica Sarcia 33:33
And I think switching from pen and paper to a software system has has really kind of pushed that forward as well, because a lot of my policies and procedures are emailed to them. As soon as they get the invite, they already know how it works. They before the meet and greet even happens, they fill out their pet profile. I already know what to expect when I'm walking in. They already know what to expect as far as how walks are going to continue after this. And we just go in meet each other, and then we end up talking about a lot of personal things in each other's lives. Anyways, you know, we always end up trailing off, not talking about the dog. And then I'm like, let's get back on track here. But it really has, it's helped out a lot. And it's, it's like you say, it's given clear instructions and clear definition as to what the policies, why the policies are there and and why what we are doing and what to expect next?
Collin 34:28
Yeah, I love that's something that Megan, I switched to pretty early on. Was emailing all of the forms and stuff beforehand, because I was, I was tired of being bogged down sitting in somebody's home, answering all these particular questions when it's like, we could have just gotten
Jessica Sarcia 34:45
paper you're checking off boxes, yeah.
Collin 34:48
Like, this could have been an email back to me, like, you didn't need to waste my time sitting out here. Like, like, now you're Right exactly. Got policies you ask all your questions beforehand, and it's just kind of. It's one thing that, like you said, you come in confident because of the clarity that you've given. And when everybody's on the same exactly, when everybody's on the same page, you're not selling, you're then building that relationship with people. And that starts right, right, exactly.
Jessica Sarcia 35:16
Yeah, exactly. And I love that. You say that, that I'm not selling. I'm building. I never even looked at it that way, because it You're right. I'm not selling myself trying to build a relationship with this client and and see what their needs are. Their needs obviously come before my needs is fine and I can't provide that time, I'll put them on hold and say, like, Hey, let me reach out to the client who has the time slot that you want, because they might want to move to everybody's work schedule changes every day. There's a lot of there's a lot going on at the same time, let me just put you on hold. I'll reach out to them, and then I'll get back to you. And nine times out of 10, the client that had the 11am slot that somebody else wants would be like, actually, I've been meaning to talk to you. My work schedule changed. I'm leaving a little later in the mornings, so can you come a little later in the afternoon? So then it ends up being kind of like a trickle effect, in a way, and then I reach out to that client, and then before I know it, my whole entire schedule is just kind of shifted a little bit, and it feels like a brand new day. I i listen to your podcast the other day about being kind of like, stuck in a rut, and I've you can feel that, especially if you have master repeating clients where it's the same time every day the dog poops in the same spot every day. You give them the treat at the same time every day. And it kind of, I feel like Bill Murray and groundhog stay sometimes, where I'm like, I have deja vu, but that's because I've been doing this every day for years. So it's it's nice to reach out to your clients. See what it is, see if their needs are still the same, even though they put you on master repeating five years ago, because it might change, and it might give you the refresher that you need to have a brand new day.
Collin 37:01
I love that, because you're right. Many times we're like, well, the client will reach out to me if there's an issue. The client will talk to me if they need to change. The client will come to me. And oftentimes they just don't, because they're busy, it might be low priority. They maybe they don't want to be a bother. They don't want exactly and so it's kind of, it's kind of like this. When you review a bank statement and you're looking for those repeat charges, those monthly subscriptions, and you're like, do I really need that? Do I really need that? Do I really need that? Yeah, just asking questions. Hey, not not that we're trying to get them off of our schedule, but we're just saying, hey, you've been at 11am for the past year. Is that still working? We're not exactly yes. Again, it's just like, it's not complicated. You're just asking, and you don't care either way. We're just having that conversation because, and that helps too, because you don't know what other needs they may have, what other things that they've been thinking about changing to. And then you can step in and go, Oh, well, you want to do this? Well, I can help you with this, or blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, here's a recommendation, and then that's having those kind of touch points, I think is way healthier than checking in to see if there's a problem like that. I don't exactly like, I don't like having those conversations where I go to my clients and I'm like, Hey, do you have a problem? Why aren't you using us? I love the conversations where I can have going. Can I serve you any better, or can I help you in any other way? Like that's such a much bit more beneficial way for everybody to do and have it. Can get those touch points that you have with them,
Jessica Sarcia 38:33
little check ins, yeah. And like with beginning in this industry, full time for 12 years, I did have, I had a tough pause. Client follow me to Annie's. I had him for 11 years, and unfortunately, he passed away last spring, but towards the very end of his life, he needed changes, and his mom didn't want to tell me, because she was already having a hard time dealing with the fact that she knew she was going to lose him soon. She didn't want to be a burden on me. And I said to I said, Laura, this is why I'm here. Use me. You're he will have priority because he's elderly. He will get first in line over the younger dogs who can hold it for a few more minutes. And she had no idea that that was even an option, and I don't think she ever would have changed and working out because I was noticing he was soiling himself, I was showing up, and I was like, let's see if I can come a little earlier. Maybe we can kind of adjust this. And that's the thing is, we're part of these dogs lives throughout all their phases, their puppy phase, their middle age phase, their teenage phase, their elderly phase. And with that, there's a lot of changes within the dog's daily life. And we as pet care providers, we recognize that, and sometimes, like I said, the client might be kind of sitting with a heavy heart, not even really wanting to accept that. This is happening to their dog, their dog's getting older, and they have to make these changes. So I think. And she she actually just wrote me the sweetest letter yesterday that made me cry in the driveway, and it was awesome. But she even said, like, she was like, I wasn't even sure if that was an option, because you're busy and you have other clients, and I don't want him to be a burden on you. And I was like, Laura, he is 100% never going to be a burden. I love him. I've been with you guys for 11 years now. Let's, let's make this change. I'm going to talk to my other clients, and every single one of my clients was so cool with it. They were like, Yeah, that's totally fine. And like, like I said, there was some days where I went in there and it was a total mess, and I would have to spend extra time cleaning it up and cleaning him up and taking him out, and he got slower, which ended up pushing my entire schedule back and all of my clients now that I was like, sorry, I had Max today. And they were like, we could tell that's totally fine. Don't worry about it. And I'm like, I'm a little late today, and that's that's also why I operate in two hour time blocks, because if a client wants 11am I can get there anytime between 10am and noon. I'll I'll shoot for the 11 as close to the 11 as possible. But give or take, I might be 15, early, 15 late. Traffic. The dog before you might not have pooped. Did it look like it had to poop? So I, I stayed a little extra with it, because I'll do that for your dogs as well. That's the thing. Is, every client knows that what I'm my tardiness is something that helped another client, and they'll get that someday too. If they ever get to that situation, if they have an elderly dog, they know I'm going to spend extra time and extra care on on their dog as well, which is, unfortunately, it pushes some of the other dogs to the side a little bit as far as the schedule goes. But it everybody gets treated equally, and being late happens sometimes, I mean, sometimes I'm late just because of traffic. We had three major roads closed in September. School busses just hit the roads. Everybody's driving. My schedule is overloaded, and I caught up quite well. I was like, I just put my hands up. And I was like, I I don't know, every turn I take this traffic because these three major roads are closed, I'm doing my best. And everyone was so cool with it. They're like, just don't even worry about it. Like, get here when you can get here, and then at 5pm they're all texting me, going, I'm stuck in the same traffic. This is wild. And I'm like, Yeah, I know I was stressed over it. And they're like, I don't blame you. Don't ever worry about being late. And I think as long as you're you're you're ethical, you're putting wellness first, and you're just, you're doing your best. Nobody can fault you for that, because things happen throughout the day, you know. And every, every day, you run into something,
Collin 42:55
it is, it is, and that, that open communication, right? And that, and just hearing you talk, thinking about what you said at the beginning of you know, you wanted to do more for your clients, more for your community, more for yourself. You wanted to do something that served people better. And you hear that, you hear this of the like, and everybody gets treated fairly. Everybody gets I'm going to give this client time, because that's kind of person I am. You hired a caring person. I still have you in mind. I'm not going to be 14 hours late. I'm going to communicate things ahead of time, and when your dog also has an accident, I'm going to give them the same love and attention, and exactly I often think of, you know? And that takes a special client, right? And that's but, and I'm sure there are people who that doesn't work for, and they just kind of weed themselves out. But when you give that extra attention, it's like, if you ever waited in line to order, you know, at a restaurant or whatever, you know, it's me go through a fast food restaurant, and the person, the clerk at the front who's taking orders every like a really good one, every person that person's talking to is the only person in the world, and they're making that person feel special. They're making that person feel amazing. Does it make the line a little bit longer? Yeah, but every time where I start to get frustrated, I'm like, Oh, just take the order they want. It number seven, stop asking them about the weather. When I get up there, I love that they asked me about the weather, and I'm happy. Yes, I am the only person in the world. Yes, talk to me
Jessica Sarcia 44:25
exactly. You're
Collin 44:26
making those people feel special and and that's that, that's that unique thing, that unique aspect that, when done properly, is is, you know, I've heard it said before, right? There's only one best dog in the entire world, and every family has them, right? It's like, it's like exactly. We have to have that mindset every day and every door we walk through, otherwise it doesn't work, and we lose that connection that we have with our clients, exactly.
Jessica Sarcia 44:56
And I'm extremely fortunate with my client base every. Buddy is so cool. I love all of my clients. Like, anytime I raise rates, I'm always getting feedback. Like, you deserve it, of course. And I follow a lot of different dog walking and pet sitting groups on Facebook, and I I see people have these worries, like, Oh, I'm going to raise rates soon, like a lot of my clients, is going to be upset. And I don't know what that's like. I have no idea what it's like to have a client be upset at that. They're always like you deserve it, which is it's very few and far between when I do raise rates and they're all for good reason, but I just I couldn't be more grateful for the client base that I do have at the time, because, like I said, I I try my hardest not to mix business with personal, but it's it's almost impossible with especially with a town so small a community that I have, and just that the client base that I have, like I said, they I don't have much family, but I have the biggest family, And that's Annie's wolf pack. To all of my clients.
Collin 46:04
Oh, Jessica, I love that, and I'm so thankful for you coming on the show today and talking about your journey and your dedication to your clients and how you're making them feel special and you're giving them the best care possible. For those who want to follow along with you, see all the cool photos and stuff that you post and, you know, get connected, pick your brain. How best can they do that?
Jessica Sarcia 46:26
They can follow my Instagram, Annie's wolf pack. Or they can follow my Facebook, Annie's wolf pack, a, n, n, I, E, S, W, O, O, F, P, A, C, K, or they can go on my website, Annie's wolfpack.com Awesome.
Collin 46:41
Well, I will have all those links in the show notes and on our website so people can get connected. Jessica, this has just been an absolute pleasure. And thank you so much for your time today and for coming on the show.
Jessica Sarcia 46:52
So Collin, thank you for having me.
Collin 46:55
Building a community based business doesn't just mean that people in your community know who you are and know when to or not use you. It also means that you have a network of others that surround us, and Jessica's reminder that we can't walk all the dogs we only have two hands. Networking is extremely important. When we stop seeing each other as competition, we actually start building the community that our clients and their pets truly deserve. Annie's wolf pack is a trusted neighborhood brand that was intentionally done by Jessica. She works to make sure that there is a good reputation for her business, we should as well. We should look to have the support of other professionals, other providers in our area, because that's the only way that change in the community actually takes place, is when we play our role and when we are intentional about that, we want to thank today's sponsors, Ty and pet and pet sitters international 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. You you.
