717: How Wilma’s Wags Supports the Whole Family with Janelle Vargas
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What happens to a family’s pets when cancer treatments consume their time, energy, and finances? Janelle Vargas joins Collin to share how losing her mother, Wilma, inspired her to create Wilma’s Wags, a nonprofit providing pet food and pet-care assistance to families affected by cancer. She explains how the organization supports patients and caregivers, develops community partnerships, and delivers practical help directly to families. Janelle also discusses the realities of starting a nonprofit, raising funds, documenting assistance, and building a mission that can grow sustainably. Janelle’s story is a reminder that your work serves people as much as it serves pets and that pain can become a powerful source of purpose.
Main topics:
Supporting Families Battling Cancer
Turning Grief Into Purpose
Starting a Pet Nonprofit
Building Community Business Partnerships
Providing Practical Pet Assistance
Main takeaway: “You’re turning something so painful that is unimaginable, but you’re giving it a new life. You’re turning it into a purpose.”
After losing her mother, Wilma, to cancer, Janelle Vargas knew she wanted to create something that would support other families facing the same overwhelming journey. Wilma’s Wags now provides pet food and pet-care assistance to cancer patients and caregivers who may be spending long days at hospitals, managing treatment expenses, or struggling to meet their pets’ needs. Her story is an important reminder that the entire family is affected by cancer—including the animals who depend on them. It also shows how you can use your experience, relationships, and resources to meet needs that might otherwise go unnoticed. Pain does not disappear when we give it purpose, but it can become the beginning of something that brings comfort, dignity, and hope to others.
About our guest:
Janelle Vargas is the founder of Wilma’s Wags, a nonprofit providing pet food and pet-care assistance to families affected by cancer. She is also the owner of Pup and Away Premium Dog Services in Palm Beach County, Florida. Janelle created Wilma’s Wags in memory of her mother, Wilma, after experiencing firsthand the challenges of caring for a loved one while also managing the needs of a pet at home. Through community partnerships, fundraising events, and direct family assistance, she is working to create a nationwide support network for cancer patients and caregivers.
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/wilmaswags/
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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
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SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Collin 0:02
Welcome to Pet Setter 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 Dogco Launch. What happens to a family's pet when medical treatments for their life take away all of their time, energy, and finances? How do we, as professional pet sitters, step in and support them? Today, I'm really excited to be speaking with Janelle Vargas, who just started Wilma's Wag, a nonprofit providing pet food and pet care assistance to families affected by cancer. Janelle explains how this was inspired by her mom and how we, as professional pet sitters and dog walkers can help support those in need. Janelle's story is a reminder that your work serves people as much as it serves pets, and that pain can become a powerful source of purpose. Let's get started.
Janelle Vargas 0:57
You know, I'm really thankful that you're allowing me to speak about Wilma Swags, which is exactly what your whole interaction with Ruby was about. Just really quickly, I just wanted to give you a heads up. I met you a few years ago at the Florida Pet Conference, and you shared a story about your mom and how she passed, and it really touched me because my mom had just passed like two months prior to the conference. Yeah, and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go. I really want to go, and you know, my mom would have wanted me to push through and really, you know, turn my business into something positive. So you really inspired me after that. I was bawling sitting there, and you know, not to make this about grief, but you know that's and you know that's what there's worlds blacks came about. So really quickly, one was my mom. She got diagnosed with cancer March 2024. It was very fast, and by June she was gone, you know. I was her caregiver. Yeah, I was fast. I was her caregiver. You know, my husband was there for me. I had tons of family there for me, but I was her sole caregiver, power of attorney, all that stuff. And I had a pet myself, so thankfully I had my husband and also one of my walkers who was always there for me, but I would be at the hospital all day, all day. And the hospital that my mom was being treated at was over an hour away from my house. So after she passed, you know, the grief cycle, the grief wheel, denial. You know, you go through it backwards, forwards, side to side. There's no real way to you know navigate it, and I was talking with my husband. I'm like, I need to create something for families battling cancer, not just the patient, not just the caregivers, for the whole family because the whole family's battling cancer. It's not just the patient, you know, the whole family's battling together to create a lifeline, so pet food assistance, pet care assistance. That's that's what we're doing. And so far, I've been able to help like close to 10 families, which has been a great feeling. I'd love to serve more. And the reason why I asked to come on today is to talk about this because I want to open this up to the pet community. You know what I mean. I want to open this up because you, like you said, you had Ruby, and there will be more clients to come that their owners are battling cancer, and we gotta still be able to serve them. I don't want somebody to call and be like, "Oh, I can't afford you. I gotta pay for chemo, or I'm gonna give up my dog. I can't pay for dog food. That it it doesn't have to happen like that.
Collin 3:43
Yeah, it is really difficult to be in that position, especially as a business owner who do does you do have costs, right? You can't. We've had those many many times. Like it's just a reality of I I want to help, and we can help in some ways, but like I I do have my bills to pay, and we get that struggle, and all of a sudden, it can cause a lot of internal guilt of ourselves. Of oh man, I should be able to do this, but I I've got my rent to pay, or I've got to put food on my table, and and so being able to have this kind of you know program and institution that you're making with Wilma's Wags is one of those things of okay now the the sole mission of this is to help people. So, man, Janelle, like you unpacked like so much there in sorry and getting into getting into this is not this
Janelle Vargas 4:32
is not a grief podcast. This is no
Collin 4:35
no, but I think what's beautiful about it is that in those tough moments, you have that opportunity to make something from it, and and to continue to push and move forward, and and not like oh I can never stop and I'm going to push away my grief, but like you sat down and said what's something beautiful and helpful that I can do that is going to impact other people who were in the same position and or you know who had these similar difficulties. And and being able to help people in that because you said it's not just the person battling cancer it's the entire family and I I was actually just thinking of this the other day Janelle of of sometimes I think the people who call my business are really excited to use my dog walking services right there and I and I'm like, yeah, let's go, hoorah! And what can happen is is that I miss, I can miss. There's that danger of missing those people who are calling because I'm going to go spend the day at the hospital to be with my grandma or my mom or my spouse or my child, and I can't make it back home, and I don't want to leave them, and and and so knowing like it's a reminder, just like boldface, like right, just smack in the gut, people use us and need these services for a whole suite of reasons, and being able to like just talk with people and understand why they're there, I think is a critical aspect of this.
Janelle Vargas 6:01
Absolutely,
Collin 6:02
and you, yeah,
Janelle Vargas 6:03
definitely.
Collin 6:04
So you, you went and you're you're talking with your husband. You want to create something here, something that can move forward. I mean, just practically, Janelle, like, how do you go about starting something like this? Where did you where did you go?
Janelle Vargas 6:19
Right. Okay. Well, I mean, thankfully, I had knowledge about the pet business. Being in the pet business myself, I own pup and away. My husband and I own pup and away premium dog services, so we already had awareness on pet business. So that was just the start. Also, too, we have a very very good friend of ours. Shout out to Stan at TRC, our tax accountant, who walked me through the whole 501 c3 application process, which is very daunting, very difficult, but he donated his services to us so I can get the 501 c3 status, which is amazing. So once we got all that in place, I was able to go out there and kind of meet with different pet businesses and different people and ask for donations, you know, I was able to partner up with pet food stores and all types of different services, and and they're they're so willing to help. Obviously, I am able to provide them a tax donation letter, which is great for them as well, but I think the cause really, really hits a lot of people. Like I didn't realize going into this. Like a lot of people. I mean, obviously we know cancer is just evil, but a lot of people lose their family members to cancer. Like I guess you know when you're in it, you're like I'm the only one. Obviously you're not, but it's like it just hits so many people in different ways.
Speaker 1 7:44
Yeah.
Janelle Vargas 7:44
So I think the cause really just hits people, and they're like, "Yeah, this makes sense. For now, I've mostly been focusing on the pet food because that's the easiest for me to kind of tackle. So if somebody reaches out to me, what I've been doing lately is, if they're not local, is I'll send them to Chewy. They pick what they want, and then I'll go ahead and pay for it. I'll do like a auto renew for a few months, and that'll cover their dog food for you know at least a few months. They don't have to worry about it.
Collin 8:14
Yeah, and and so you're taking donations. I'm sure it's it's some some monetarily some in kind or some product donations, and then being able to disperse that to the people that need
Janelle Vargas 8:25
exactly, exactly. And I get donations all the time. I got some from Ollie from Little Positive Love. She had excess, and she's like, "Hey, I have this, so I'll take anything. I'll take anything. I mean, why not? You know? And then I'll post on my page like, hey, I have extra Ollie. Who needs it? You know, if they're local, and I live in Palm Beach County, so I mean, it's just there's just millions of people here, just so many people. Yeah,
Collin 8:51
I mean, what's that been like? All of a sudden, managing products and stuff around the house and seeing garage. I'm you know, because garage filling up. Like, how does it manage? Yeah,
Janelle Vargas 9:00
I have a storage unit that we had already. It's like a AC storage unit, but I'm mostly able to get everything out pretty quickly. And if and if I don't get response, then I'll just donate it to a rescue. So it's not just sitting there. You know what I mean? If it's if if I can't get it out in a reasonable time, I'll donate it to somebody like another rescue because I'm not going to hoard stuff either. or you know, if anybody, if another pet sitter needs it, I'll gladly give it to them as well because it was given to me. So you know, if if nobody needs it from my group, then obviously I'll give it to somebody else.
Collin 9:35
Now you mentioned that you're you're kind of starting out with the the food and the products kind of stuff right now. How? What do you envision is the next phase of including donations for Wilma's wags?
Janelle Vargas 9:47
Well, I do want to include a therapeutic aspect to it. So groups available for caregivers. I know when I was caregiving for my mom, I was in a caregiving group that I went to. Weekly, that was pretty helpful. You know, talking with different people, their role in caregiving. You know, whether they're a parent, a child, a sibling. So I want to incorporate some therapeutic services, whether it's groups. And if people do need some extra therapy, I'd love to cover those costs as well down the line. That's my big picture moving forward. I'd love to have like retreats for families, almost like you know, Make a Wish, where the but like for the whole family to go and experience something doesn't necessarily have to be like a Disney trip, but maybe something they they can't really afford because again they're spending their money on chemo and medication and whatever have you. So that to me is like the big big picture. Obviously, down the line, you know, beauty services for for women. Maybe if they've lost hair or eyebrows, partner up with some beauty specialists. I have I have really really big dreams, really really big dreams.
Collin 11:04
Well, and and part of that I'm sure is just each time you interact with a family, kind of learning. Oh, hey, I can help with that, or hey, here's something that we can work on. Here's a partnership. I mean, when you go and you said that when you go and talk to people, it kind of they kind of get it. It sounds pretty easy. I mean, do they do? How do those conversations typically go? And especially if someone's looking at this, going, "Hey, how do I get involved in this? Or how do I bring something like this to my community? Like, how do you start those conversations with people?
Janelle Vargas 11:33
Well, I, you know, I just say, "Hey, I'm the founder of Wilma's Wax. We provide pet food and pet care assistance to families battling cancer. You know, your service. Like let's say I partnered up with Pet Wants. She owns. I don't know if you guys have them up there. Pet Wants. Yeah. It's like a chain. It's like a franchise. So I partnered up with her, and then her mom passed away from cancer, and so now I mean, she reached out to me recently. One of her clients has cancer, and we're able to cover her pet food through her, and now she's opened up her space, and we're going to host the Paint Your Pet Event. So I mean, I just feel like being open and honest about what we're doing, and you know, obviously recognizing the people who are helping me. I will be blasting pet wants for the next few weeks on my Instagram and on my Facebook, and everyone's gonna get sick of me talking about pet wants because if you're helping me do this, I mean I have to show my appreciation to you. I just have to. So I think also too, not to say that they see a benefit of it, but they understand that I'm extremely grateful and that you know I I will promote the heck out of the business as well, because it's the fair thing to do. It is. I mean, there's just these huge billion-dollar corporations. I won't say the names. You know that does the money really go to the families? I'm not going to say the names, but I mean, you can just, you know, does the money really touch the families? I don't know. I don't know, but I know that every dollar I get for Wilma's Wags, it will touch a family. I know that for a fact, because I don't have much. But what I do have, it will touch a family. It absolutely will. And if they allow, if the families allow me to, I do make a post showing where the money went to and what it went to. It's all optional. I'm not. I don't force them, but some of them have been like, "Of course, share it. I want you to share it. I want people to know. So yeah.
Collin 13:34
Now, will you will you also help pay for like dog walking and pet sitting services if somebody needs that? And that that so that's an aspect. So you're partnering with other businesses, or is that kind of okay?
Janelle Vargas 13:44
That's still in the beginning stages. I'm figuring out, but obviously, like let's say how you had your situation with Ruby. You'd reach out to me directly. Hey, Janelle, we have this client. They're already your client. The the owner has Keeneville, can't cover walks. I mean, I can try and cover a few walks. I can't cover dozens, but I can cover a few. You know, maybe you can help me out. Maybe you can give me a discounted rate, or maybe if you want to donate walks, I can give you a tax donation receipt as an in-kind donation as well. So there's different ways of doing it, but I mean, all you have to do is reach out to me, and and we'll we'll make it work. We'll make it work.
Collin 14:21
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Collin 14:45
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 timetopet.com/confessional. What's that process been like for you to educate on that? Because you just said. We can do in kind. We can do you know discount. We do. How have you been bringing yourself up to speed and kind of like getting into that mindset of how to run that 501 c3
Janelle Vargas 15:12
I'm still figuring it out. I reach out. I reach out to my tax specialists a lot. I do. It's because this is a whole new realm for me. I've I've worked in nonprofits in the past, like years ago, big name ones. Not going to say the names. Big ones. I was never on the like forefront. I was more so a social worker, but I understood that there's lots of language you have to use, lots of different paperwork, like your whatever you're you're raising funds for, you have to be very specific, you know. So if I'm giving you a service from the money that I've raised, there's certain things that have to be you know documented. Everything's all documentation with 501. So obviously, since I've embedded in my mission pet care and pet food assistance. I mean, that's what I'm doing. You know what I mean? Like that's how we get it done. We'll figure it out. But that's what I'm doing. But but definitely the my my tax, you know, my tax preparer and all that. My associate. He's he. I'll call him like, hey, can I do this? Can I do that? And he'll be like, yes, no, because he knows the legalities of it. You have to be very specific when you're doing 501 c3 And I I really encourage everyone if you have something you want to do, you can create your own as well.
Collin 16:39
Well, and and just I guess that just starts off by asking questions and having that good like to for what purpose is this? Because that sounds pretty foundational to starting out of like having that good direction. You can't just say you know can't it can't be super broad. You know having that specificity really does does help because then it also helps you in in the partnerships in the communication with people and they understand kind of what you are doing. It's easier for people to get on board with that mission as well.
Janelle Vargas 17:07
Yeah, it's very clear cut. It's literally written out on my flyer like dog walking, pet sitting services, short term pet care assistance during treatments or emergencies, pet food assistance, and we provide peace of mind for families when they need it the most. I mean, you got to keep it simple when you're starting this out. Obviously, as you progress, you can definitely add more things, but keep it simple.
Collin 17:33
Yeah. Now, are is your again? This is just me speaking of ignorance from this. Are the is this a state specific? You know, not no, not at all. You can do multiple. You can go from multiple states,
Janelle Vargas 17:45
right? I had a really lovely girl. She's she has a like a cancer Instagram where she documents her journey. I just I reached out to her randomly. I'm like, hey, I really appreciate what you're doing. I really liked her journey. It was she's a travel agent. She's still traveling, but she's going to chemo. You know, it was just really like, it was a good, good page. I really liked her, and I was like, hey, I have this nonprofit. Like, you know, she had two cats. I'm like, can I just, can we just talk about it? So I ended up helping her out, getting her cat food for her cats for a few months, and she posted a reel and it went really, really well. So she's from Philadelphia. So, so through Chewy, you know, I just go on. I say, hey, pick the cat food. I log in to my Chewy account because I have like a Chewy account for for Wellness Wags, and I was able to purchase the cat food easily. Just gets sent to her door. You know what I mean. Very simple. And then again, like you said, with the with the pet care, same same thing. You reach out to me as a pet care provider. I have this client. What can we do? And we make it work. So I didn't want to make it location specific because cancer's everywhere. It wouldn't be fair to me to say, oh, it's only for Florida residents, or it's only for you know, it's it's everywhere. Everyone should have the opportunity to tap into this service personally. I think.
Collin 19:12
Yeah. Well, and it just, I mean, that leads to another question then, Janelle, of how do people how are people finding Wilma's Wags right now? How are you making how are you making contact with families?
Janelle Vargas 19:23
I'm on Instagram. I actually had a family reach out to me through their church. They found me through their church, which that was pretty cool. It was a local church in my area, and we were able to get that family heart guard for the year, which was cool because heart guard is pricey. I mean, you know, it's the monthly payment. Make sure your dog doesn't have, you know, fleas, ticks, all that worms, all that stuff. So it's a necessity, and so that was through church, which was very, very cool. But mostly, it's been through social media, just Instagram. I'm very active on Instagram, posting a lot. You know, highlighting the families and highlighting different things we're doing. Like we have an upcoming event, so I've been posting like crazy for that event.
Collin 20:16
Well, and I mean, it's really just being out there, and you kind of trust. Okay, the right people are going to find me at the right time, and I think that that's another important thing to remember of building that network and doing those kind of events and partnering with the right people. Like it's a that's a build because this is how many how long has this have you been running this now?
Janelle Vargas 20:36
So I became official actually last year, but I didn't think I was mentally ready, personally, just because I knew that I'd have to talk to a lot of people about cancer and how it affects them and their family. Yeah. So I had to be in a place where I was able to have a conversation, talk to somebody about what they're going through, their treatment, what's going on, and and be able to get through the conversation without bawling before I can fully do this. So so I did have to wait a bit. I I thought I could jump in. I thought I was ready, but I did have to wait a bit till I was in that mental capacity to be able to to do it. So we're gonna be about a year in May, but I would say we hit full throttle like end of last year. We were we we went all in. I had my marketing stuff done and websites almost done and all that stuff.
Collin 21:37
Yeah, it's one of those things. It just it's just gonna take time, right? Obviously, of just hey this is we just have to be in this for the the long haul and continue those good those good partnerships and continue to to talk to people. But what's what's what's one thing that somebody's listening to this going like that sounds amazing how do they know like advice for them for either like starting something like this or what's it look like to for them would be for them to partner with you? I mean, both both sides of those things.
Janelle Vargas 22:06
I mean, I would say to start, just pick something that truly, truly means something to you. I mean, I know that there's dozens and dozens and dozens of rescues, and it's it's it's hard for me because when somebody thinks of a nonprofit dealing with pets, they're like, "Oh, you're a rescue. I'm like, "I'm not a rescue. I love rescues; they're great. I love rescues, amazing, amazing work. But we're not a rescue; we are a service provider. That's what we do. So, I mean, I I knew that there was a need for the service, so I created it. So, obviously, mine comes from a very, very deeply personal emotional place. It doesn't have to be something that deep, but find a need and fulfill it personally. I mean, whether it's specific to where you live or specific to a cause you believe in, just make it happen personally. I mean, it's and you know, obviously, make sure you have a really good tax professional to help you out as well. You know, thankfully mine. Shout out to Stan again. He helped us out. You know, he donated his time and his services. I mean, that to me was invaluable, extremely invaluable. There's also nonprofit lawyers as well that you can reach out to. Very pricey, but you know you'll get the paperwork done correctly.
Collin 23:23
Yeah,
Janelle Vargas 23:25
and also to if anybody wants to partner with me, I have Instagram at Wilma's Wags. I do have my website. I'll provide to you. I have a temporary website. In the meantime, it's a bio site, but our main website's being worked on right now.
Collin 23:40
It's you and your husband working together. So, what's that process been like of of working with him on this?
Janelle Vargas 23:45
Well, we have experience from pupping away, but Abraham was actually on your podcast a few months, or actually a year ago, Florida Digital Center. Yeah. So, I mean, for him, it's amazing. For me, it's amazing because I have somebody that's already in the marketing realm. So, you know, getting my logos, getting my website, all that done. I have I have saved a lot of money. You know, I can't. I mean, I have. I just have. I have an in-house marketing professional. Yeah. You know, and and Wilma's Wax is is his client, and you know, thankfully, he does in-kind work for me. So you know, it's been amazing. You know, I don't have to worry about any of my branding, everything's good to go. I know my content's ready to go. It has helped me, you know. But that's also to say too, you can partner up if you're just starting up. You can partner up with a marketing agency. They may be able to provide in-kind services as well. You know, I just happen to be very fortunate. Mine lives with me. That is my husband, and and and and also too on on on a deeper level, he truly loves my mom, and my mom really loved him. So he knows this is just the biggest thing to me. So as a partner, he's going to support me, and he's going to support Wilma's wax because he loves. My mom so much.
Collin 25:01
What kind of support are you looking for right now? I mean, like, is it is it you looking for boots on the ground volunteers? Just awareness, kind of like, what do you what do you need? Yeah.
Janelle Vargas 25:10
So like, yeah, volunteers. Obviously, monetary donations are great as well. Any other you know businesses, local or even nationwide that want to provide donations or even credits on their websites for different food or different things. I eventually, when you told me before, like how I envision this as well. I'd love to also provide vet care assistance if people do need that. Like obviously, you're gonna. Sometimes people put in this position, like you know, cancer bills or pet bills. You know, sometimes your pet does need something taken care of. So maybe partner up with some vets. And and again, this is all nationwide. So I want to open this up to anybody who needs this assistance. I also forgot to mention too, and this is horrible. I do have a therapy dog in training, Reese. So yeah, Reese. Yes, go to find him. So he he's also in training, and he's going to be providing therapeutic services to families as well when we do get the chance to start visiting the hospitals. That's a whole other like process because he has to be like certified and there's paperwork, so that's a whole other thing we're working on as well. So getting recertified to be a therapy dog. So if anybody has any resources for that or can help out with that, that would be great as well. Because right now he's currently in like the PetSmart School just to get the basics down because he's still a puppy. But I do need to get him certified as a therapy dog, and that's like a whole list of different tasks that he has to hit before he can be certified to go to the to schools, you know, the hospitals, even the elderly homes, which is a big goal of mine, especially those you know going through hospice and things like that. Just for the families, you're there all day. I mean, why not bring a dog to lift your spirits just a little bit?
Collin 27:04
Yeah.
Janelle Vargas 27:04
Right.
Collin 27:05
Yeah. And again, that's I love that that angle and that reminder of of yes, the the person going through this, the family needs support too, and and that that that's can gather around everybody to walk through them with this. What was it like that first time that somebody reached out to you for help, and you were able to actually work through and and provide assistance?
Janelle Vargas 27:27
Yeah, it was actually sorry. I thought that was recent. It was actually one of my coworkers at my job. He had a pretty long battle with colon cancer, and you know. he expressed to me like it's tough. You know, it's it's, and he had he had some idea what I was doing, but not fully. And I was like, okay, I got you, and and just the the the sense of like, okay, that's something I don't have to you know worry about anymore. Like you got it under control like that to me was like the recognition like okay this works you know something as simple as like hey I'll cover the dog food and what I've been doing lately is I say about three months of dog food because I I just like to a lot like between 100 to $150 per person just to keep it fair until I get more funding because I say I'll cover three months unless I get more funding, just so they I can manage their expectations. I don't want them to think I'm covering pet food forever. I wish I could. Maybe one day I will, but for now I can't. So that to me was like okay. And then and then also the lady that found me at her church, that one too, because that was completely organic. I didn't know her. I don't even go to that church. Like I have no ties. So just an organic call that to me was like wow. And we were able to help her tackle that quickly by getting the heart guard to her within just a few days. I just went on Chewy. and the reason I use Chewy is because it's easy. Yeah. If there's if there's any other ones, I'm gladly open to it. But Chewy, it just has everything. They have everything.
Collin 29:11
Well, and especially when you're looking for okay, how do I minimize? Because you could imagine a world where you are personally driving from the store to this place, or get this, then do that, and like in you, or you have somebody doing that. As far as like allocation of resources, if there's already something that's built out, designed to deliver two doorsteps, hey, let's take advantage of that, and then that way, um, I, I'm, it's the best utilization of my time and the resources that I have. That's just part of that. Hey, how do I make the most of what I have, and so that I can help more people in the in that process?
Janelle Vargas 29:48
Right. If they are local to Palm Beach, I utilize Pat once because she does offer delivery, which is great. So she's like my local treat dealer, food dealer. But yeah, Chewy Chewy's been great. It's been it just makes my life easier, honestly, and it just it makes it easier for everybody else. Did they drop it off right at your door? I mean, it's it's just a no brainer for me. So yeah, that's been pretty pretty good.
Collin 30:16
And now a word from our friends at Pet Sitters International.
Speaker 2 30:19
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Collin 30:53
I know you know we we said this isn't a a podcast on grief, but again, the I think it's beautiful what you're working on, Janelle. I mean, I mean, you you mentioned a little bit of how that first year you weren't quite ready. As as you have worked and done more and worked more, what's that been? Just what's this whole thing been like for you?
Janelle Vargas 31:18
Ah, it's been difficult. I'm not gonna lie. It's been difficult, but my mom was very, very religious, and she just she loved us so much. She just really, really loved us so much. So I just, for me, it's about honoring her every day, the best I can. It
Collin 31:42
is
Janelle Vargas 31:42
a podcast about grief because now we're crying together. Well,
Collin 31:46
yeah, it is. It is, and and but that's one of those reminders of of the impacts that we have and that we carry, right, and the difference that we can make, and that sometimes that's the motivation, and sometimes that's all we have. Sometimes that memory can be the only motivation that I have in this moment to take that next step, because that's that's what they did, right? I was scared. We're scared. I'm sure you're scared many times going out and talking to new people, asking for one more thing, posting on social media, asking you know, it's it's all a process, and yet going, I I can right. I I just just I just one one step, and to know that that's you know in every little thing, right? That's such a wonderful thing that you you get to do for your mom.
Janelle Vargas 32:38
Yeah, it's true.
Collin 32:41
Yeah,
Janelle Vargas 32:42
yeah, yeah. I mean, you have to honor, you know, you have to honor your family. You have to honor the people that you love. You know, what's the best way than to create something beautiful in their name? Yeah. You know, sometimes people name their children after their loved ones, but I feel like this is a legacy that will outlive me. I hope. I think so. I hope so.
Collin 33:05
Well, if people want to get connected and get part of that journey, Janelle, and help it continue to grow, you mentioned a few other places. How can people get connected and help support and contribute?
Janelle Vargas 33:17
I think my email probably would be best for now until the the website gets going, so that's going to be wilmaswags@gmail.com I'm working on getting a .org. I don't have it yet, but that's what we have for now. And on Instagram, I'm also at Wilma's Wags. That's been a good way for people to get in touch with me. Instagram has been amazing. It's such a such a great tool. Also, Facebook Wellness Wags. You can find me there as well. But the email is good. That way, when you can get this dialog started, and it's quick. You know, just and I and I like again. I open this to everybody. Open this to you, to to any of the other providers in your area, anybody really, we can we can definitely do some big, big, big things for these families that they never even thought could happen. Because I know when I tell people about it, they're like, "I've never heard of this service. Like I, and even I hadn't either. Because when I was at the hospital, the social workers, the list of services was like this big, and you know there there's really not much for caregivers or anything like that. And again, I also want to open this too. This isn't just for the patients. This is also for the caregivers as well. If you're taking care of somebody and you have a pet at home, you need assistance as well. So it's it's open to the whole family.
Collin 34:43
Well, and you mentioned the service and social workers, like that's a that's a big educational lift to make sure that you get in front of them and be on those right lists in those correct places. I mean, is there a are there professional organizations for nonprofits and charities like this that? Help walk through or help you know open those kind of doors for you.
Janelle Vargas 35:03
Yeah, so here in Palm Beach, there's one called Nonprofits First. It's basically like a support, like they provide you like the resources and things like that. So I am a part of Nonprofits First. I'm also part of my local chamber as well, just to you know get out there, get awareness and you know definitely talk to different people, so yeah, those are definitely those have been some good tools for me. I haven't really pushed to get on lists yet because again, my funding I I would like to have more funding so I can provide more because my my worst nightmare would be that a ton of people call me and I I'm literally like, well, I can only help like this amount for now. I want to help everybody as much as I can. So I was definitely just trying to get my funding up. I had an anonymous donor donate $1,000 That was huge. You know, sometimes people donate 25 here, 50 there. It adds up. It adds up,
Collin 36:01
yeah.
Janelle Vargas 36:01
And I had my first quarter auction. We raised $1,000 That was pretty cool too. It was very exciting. Oh,
Collin 36:09
what's okay? So first quarter auction was that first quarter because it's q1 or were you auctioning off quarters? I do have to just because I don't know what that is. This
Janelle Vargas 36:15
is this is a new concept for me as well. I didn't even know what it was. So basically, a quarter auction is. you purchase a paddle, right? And all the items for bid are worth quarters. So let's say we're auctioning off my Tupperware cup, which was gifted to me by the lovely Tupperware lady who helped me do the quarter auction. She'll say four quarters for the Tupper Cup. So everybody puts in four quarters to the middle of the table in like this basket, and then you raise your paddle. So you donated four quarters. You raise your paddle, and then there's a bin with the different numbers. So I pick the whatever number, and if I call that number and your paddle is up, then you win the prize. It's it's a lot. It was a first for me. It's confusing, but yeah. So I have a big giant box of quarters that's like $900 worth because we auctioned off so many different things. I had donations from Stellar Smiles. She's a dental office. She donated like a really nice toothbrush, so I was able to ask for more quarters. I had a wine tasting package, so I was able to auction off for more quarters. So basically, the prizes you're auctioning them off for quarters. Eventually, I'd like to move on to a silent auction because you're able to get more money. But you know, starting small, starting small.
Collin 37:41
Yeah, I love. Yeah, now that you describe that, oh, I actually have heard of that. It's just it's such an interesting concept, but I yeah I think, but I think also it helps kind of people go because they're not expected to bid $5,000 Yeah, it helps kind of move quickly and it's a little bit more relaxed, calmer atmosphere kind of thing. And and you can imagine like that. All of a sudden, like that becomes part of okay. We're doing these kind of regularly. We can then have some silent auctions. We can then kind of build and build and build and grow and just go from there, right? And that's all part of that process,
Janelle Vargas 38:13
right? Yeah, we have some exciting stuff. I'm working on a wellness event with a therapist, so hopefully we can do something like that for the community, we like to partner up with different community members, different nonprofits, therapy dog nonprofits, just to get out there and to meet different people. I mean, a therapy dog can really change the outlook of your day. I mean, you know, a dog can. You look at a dog, you're like, oh, all right, whatever, and they're not even better. And they're not even trained to
Collin 38:43
do it. They're just happy to be there, right? For normal dogs, but but having the actual proper certification is important, especially to gain access to hospitals and hospices and those you know care facilities and places like that. So yeah,
Janelle Vargas 38:54
yeah. My my hope is to get them certified and to get to the kids to get to the kids that are battling cancer, I have another event coming up soon. If I could just quickly talk about it, yeah. So I partnered up with Bronxies, and she was actually at the same event that I went to where I saw you speak. That's where we met. We've become very close friends. She's in Miami. She's a pet sitter business in Miami, and she started a book club for kids. So we're having an event coming up soon. Pause for purpose. We're going to be doing a book drive, and we're going to be creating Bronxies bags for the kids that are at the hospital. So we're going to do books and just like little you know things to keep them uplifted. You know these kids are at the hospital 24/7 You know, getting chemo and treatments and things like that. So that's the initiative of the event to create the Bronxies bags, to have the kids that are attending the event write the kids' notes, like you got this, you're gonna make it, and then we're gonna go drop them off at Joe DiMaggio Hospital, which is our pediatric cancer hospital down here in. Florida,
Collin 40:01
wow! So
Janelle Vargas 40:01
that event's coming up april 26 She's been an amazing, amazing support system for Wilma's Wags, always pushing us. So I really, really appreciate her. And again, that was a really great connection I made at the Florida Pep Conference that I went to years ago. Hopefully, I could go this year. Are you going to be there this year?
Collin 40:20
I will be there this year. Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. I'll be giving a doing a talk, and I'll secretly get to be the MC of the conference as well. So
Janelle Vargas 40:29
very cool.
Collin 40:30
Yeah, it's going to be exciting. I'm excited to see everybody, and and I think that that also speaks to the power of bringing people together. Yeah, you mentioned a couple times of I met this person because I was at this place, or I was at the met this person because I was of of whether it's in our businesses or whether it's growing a nonprofit or doing these impacts to the community. Showing up is really the first step in anything happening, and and and that is both the you know the the hardest part is showing up, and the easiest part is showing up because then the hard work follows. But just being in the room, talking to those people, like that's just that makes an impact to across the board to being to to at a personal level, at a community level of making those really good connections.
Janelle Vargas 41:17
Yeah, it's very important. I mean, like I said, when I heard you speak and you just spoke so openly about you know your mom and everything. That's, I it was just I was like okay you know you can be a business owner and be vulnerable you know you can be a business owner and you can talk about your life and you can talk about how it affects you you know and it's it's and if people judge you then they're not your clients but you know it's it's just good to to see, you know, the human the human side of it, you know, humanizing it. Yeah,
Collin 41:48
being a business owner, being able to express yourself. I think that that's of
Janelle Vargas 41:52
course we
Collin 41:53
often feel like okay, like and and I have to I I get this sometimes, like in order to help shield out some of the bad stuff of like hey, there's a business in between me and that's going on, but at the same time, we can't help but have ourselves in the business because it kind of comes from us. I don't know, like and and and and that helps, like you said, humanize what we do. And what I've heard more and more from clients is they just want to know, like the person, like tell your story. What are why are you here? And that level of connection, because in a disconnect in an increasingly disconnected world where nobody knows anybody or has any clue of who each other are, that's there's just this desperate cry from people in the community to have that kind of connection, have that familiarity, have that that point where they go. We are like one another because X Y Z we share, and that is that's so incredibly powerful when we can get to that point.
Janelle Vargas 42:50
Definitely, I mean you connect in in ways that you just you don't see it, but you'll see the payoff later. You know, down the line, somebody will be like, "Wow, you really struck a nerve like that. That really impacted me, you know, and and I'm really grateful for that moment. And you know, somebody it's probably like a cliche, but it's you know, you're turning pain into purpose, right? You're turning something so painful that is unimaginable, but you're giving it a new life. You're turning it into a purpose. So that's what you know. I like people to take from this, and and you know, I I really encourage you to dig deep. And like, if there's something you truly, truly care about, you can make it happen. You can absolutely make it happen. Again, oh God. Again,
Collin 43:44
Janelle, I really want to thank you for coming on the show today and sharing with us about your purpose and sharing in what you're building and encouraging us to take part and also to find that in our own lives and in our own businesses and communities as well. It's really encouraging, and you know, I just I love everything that you're working on that you're doing, and I will make sure and have links to your email, Instagram. You've got a donation button that I'll make sure that's in there as well, and that people can get connected with you and see all the cool, cool stuff that you're doing, Janelle. This has been just an absolutely wonderful conversation. Thank you for coming. Thank
Janelle Vargas 44:23
you so much for having
Collin 44:24
me. My favorite part of my conversation with Janelle is when she said that you're turning something so painful that is unimaginable, but we're giving it new life. You're turning it into a purpose. We all started to do dog walking and pet sitting. We just wanted to take care of pets, but what we're actually doing is caring for people. We're caring for families through every stage of life. How wonderful to be able to contribute to something like Wilma's wags, or maybe start something. Of your own to help people to cover the costs, so that they can focus on their own lives and not have to worry about the pets. That's what we do. We help people not worry. Can we do that in other ways? Pain does not disappear when we give it purpose, but it can become the beginning of something that brings comfort, dignity, and most importantly, hope to others. We want to thank our sponsors today, Time to Pet, and Dog Coat Launch, 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.
