729: Still Standing with Cathy Duvall
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What happens when one unexpected moment changes your business—and your life—overnight? Cathy Duvall returns to Pet Sitter Confessional to share her deeply personal journey after a sudden accident led to years of surgeries, chronic infection, and a complete rethinking of how she operates her solo pet sitting business. Together, we explore the emotional challenge of adapting to physical limitations, learning to say no, and creating resilience before a crisis arrives. Cathy shares practical lessons about financial preparedness, backup plans, and protecting your health without losing your passion for pet care. This conversation is a powerful reminder that resilience isn’t about pretending nothing has changed—it’s about continuing forward in a new way.
Main topics:
Adapting After Life Changes
Health Before Business Always
Creating Business Safety Nets
Learning To Say No
Resilience Beyond Determination
Main takeaway:“Failure is not an option, but I’ve learned that saying ‘no’ sometimes is what allows me to keep saying ‘yes’ for the long run.”
There is a difference between refusing to quit and refusing to adapt.
Cathy’s story reminds us that resilience isn’t pretending everything is fine or pushing through at all costs. Sometimes resilience means changing the kinds of clients you accept, slowing down, asking for help, or protecting your health so you can continue doing the work you love.
As business owners, our greatest asset isn’t our schedule or our client list—it’s our ability to keep showing up.
The goal isn’t to prove how much we can endure. The goal is to build a business that can weather life’s unexpected seasons while allowing us to still be standing on the other side.
Links:
https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/499 ****
https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/553
phone: 770-883-4644
https://www.facebook.com/cathy.duvall.31
https://www.facebook.com/gointothedogsga/
https://www.gointothedogsga.com/
Give us a call!(636) 364-8260
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
Collin 0:02
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 Tied to Pet and Dog Code Launch. How do we continue to not push through, but adapt as changes come that are kind of forced upon us in our life, and what does that actually look like to work through in our business and personally? And I'm really excited to have Cathy Duvall, owner of Go In to the Dogs Pet Sitting, and she's actually-if that name sounds familiar-it's because she's been on the the podcast previously, back on episodes 499 and 553. I'll have those links in the show notes for you to go back and listen to those, but Cathy, for those who haven't listened to those episodes, please tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do.
Speaker 1 0:51
Okay, Collin. First of all, thank you for having me for the third time. Third time's the charm. My name is Cathy Duvall. I am a solo pet sitter. I live in a little town in the North Georgia Mountains called Mineral Bluff, Georgia. It is about 15 miles away from Blue Ridge, Georgia, which is a big tourist destination in this area. I have been employed or I've owned my business since March of 2015. I started the business when I lived in Metro Atlanta, and I relocated up to Mineral Bluff in 2018. So I've been up here over eight years. And as I said, I am a solo sitter. My husband is gracious enough to be-he's my business partner, and he is looking to retire full time at the end of the year from his corporate job, and he will come on board with me full time, and so that would be that will be a godsend. He loves doing it, and he is a big help. So, but he helps me when he can, and I'm looking forward. It'll be 11 and a half years, september 1, that I've been in business. It seems like an eternity some days, and some days it seems like I just started the business yesterday. And so, yeah, that's who I am. For the people who don't know me,
Collin 2:12
so you've been in now. You know, now you do. I was going to now you know when you're talking about your husband retiring. I was going to ask if you knew anybody who was hiring, and sounds like he's got a job right after that, ready to slide into. Oh, he does. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1 2:25
already started doing it. I mean, he has been my backup sitter pretty much from day one, and got really busy when we went crunch time, which I call like the July 4 week, spring break and fall break, which when we lived in the Atlanta area, we had fall break. Up here in the in the Blue Ridge area, we really don't have fall break. But I called those weeks heavenly hell weeks because the money's great, but you're really working really hard. You're doing a lot of visits, bumper to bumper to bumper, and stupid me who back then really didn't know how to say no. Yeah, I can do the visits, and I'm sitting there as a solo sitter with 30 visits on the calendar, and I'm going, oh, what have I done? And so my husband's name is Garland. I said, Garland, honey, how much do you love me? Would you be willing to help do the visits? And he jumped right in. He loves doing it, but I have learned, I have gotten better about saying no. But it is taking me a long time to say no. But it is a powerful word. But there are times I have to because there's just one of me, and when he's not available to help me, then that's when I do have to say no. But yeah, that's a tough lesson learned. Anybody out there, if you're just starting out, learn how to say no from day one. You'll you'll be grateful that you did that because it will get you into trouble later down the line.
Collin 3:48
Well, and part of that is recognizing the limits that you have on yourself, and you've had some limits that were, I guess, maybe externally placed on you. Talk to us about kind of your recognizing some limits that you've had, and specifically, I know you've been dealing with something for several years now.
Speaker 1 4:09
Yes. Okay. Back in September of 2021, I fainted and I fell out of the blue, and when I came to, I'm sitting there on the floor, and I'm stretched out, and I thought, "Oh man, I sprained my ankle. And I looked down, and it was my left foot, and my left foot was turned in a way that is not natural for a foot to be turned. So I was not at home when it happened, and it's weird because I did not panic, and so I had my cell phone on me. Thank goodness. So I called my husband. That's the first person I call whenever I'm in distress. I call him, and I said, "Honey, I've had an accident. I fainted and I fell. I think you're going to need to take me to the emergency room. So he he was about 30 minutes. Away from where I was, so he came. He comes in. He goes, "We're going to have to call an ambulance. I can't do this. My first ambulance ride ever. So the ambulance comes, and I will say the EMT and an ambulance driver were the nicest guys in the whole wide world, and so they come and they get me on on the stretcher and they take me out to the ambulance and they could not leave until they started me on fentanyl and this is before this was back in in what 2021 you didn't hear all about the fentanyl crisis like you do now so he is pumping me with the fentanyl and it starts kicking in, and boy, if yeah, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. I got very talkative with them, so unfortunately, in this area, we are very limited on our medical resources. We do have a hospital here in the Blue Ridge, in Blue Ridge, but it's not the greatest hospital in my opinion. It's getting better, but the next town up, Blairsville, Georgia, has a good hospital. It's Union General. So I went up there, and they put a cast on me. Had to go to the emergency room, and they set it until I could go see an orthopedic surgeon. So two days later, I go to the orthopedic surgeon and he says, "Oh, you've got to have surgery next week. Now this is fall of 2021. It's a very busy time for me for my business. I had pet visits lined up through the end of the year. I provide overnight service. I had overnight service clients, and I'm thinking, what am I supposed to do? So I had to call. There were two other sitters. They did not live local, but they were professional sitters. And one I was friends with, and she covers the North Georgia area. She'll travel everywhere. I got her to cover one of my overnight assignments, and I got another sitter who lives in Ella J, Georgia, which is south of Blue Ridge. She's a professional sitter. She covered another overnight client of mine, but I had three other overnight assignments I could not cover for because my husband couldn't do them the visits for me because he had to take care of me. So I ended up having to call. It's the worst call ever to say, "Look, I'm not going to be able to commit to this. This is what has happened to me. So, I had the surgery the following week, was September 23rd of 2021, and the orthopedic surgeon went in and put titanium plates, screws, bolts, and wires in my ankle, and so I had to be off of my feet for two months. I could not put weight on that foot for two months. I'm sitting here going, "Oh my God, what do I do? I've I'm booked solid the rest, you know, September, October, and so my husband ended up for the the drop in visits, which my drop in visits are 45 minutes. He took on those visits for me so that I didn't have to close the business down. Now, what I will have to say is, not only did he have a full time job, a consulting business, we had elderly dogs, and he was having to do everything for me. He went ahead and did those visits. How we're still married, I do not know, because I'm surprised he didn't divorce me. So for two months, I was bedridden.
Speaker 1 8:33
The only time I would get out of bed would be go to the bathroom, go get in the shower, go to my orthopedic surgeon appointments, and I would have to walk with a walker, and hobbling around with a walker. Luckily, we had gotten our bathroom remodeled a month before I had my accident, which was a godsend because my husband said we don't ever use this garden tub. I want to take this out and put in this big shower. I thought, okay, fine, we did it. You could fit four people in there comfortably. He would get in the shower, and you have to step up to get into the shower. I would put my walker over that step. He would hold it so it would not move. I'm hopping over, and we have a bench, a long bench in the shower, so I could sit in the shower and do what I need to do in the shower. So for two months, that's how I had to survive. So everything's going fine. December of that year, 2021, I started physical therapy, and the physical therapist looked down, and I had a wound on the outside incision because they cut on the outside and the inside of the ankle to do the surgery. And he said, "Cathy, you've got this spot. There might be a stitch caught in it. Why don't you call your orthopedist and have them take a look at it? So I did. Go to the orthopedist. He goes, "Okay, another surgery. I said, "For what? He said, "You've got an infection. I've got to go in and clean that out and take all the titanium out. Your body is reproduc. 1% of the population cannot handle titanium, which is an inert metal, and I'm in that group. So January, yeah, I know. So January of 2022, I go in for the second surgery, and he removes everything. He could not put anything in its place because they use titanium, there's nothing else, and so I had to be off of my feet again for another couple of weeks, and I started having to wear this big boot, and I had my walker, and so in the middle, no, I think it was February of 2022, I got to where I could slowly start doing visits again, and my husband was helping me. He would drive me if there were stairs to use. I couldn't use the stairs. If people had their litter boxes for their cats all the way down, he would go do those. I was doing what I could physically to be able to to try to help out, and so things seem to be going okay. I've got to look back. I tell you, it all comes together. Okay, so in January of 2023, I had to have a third surgery to clean out the ankle because of the infection, and I had to start on six weeks of strong antibiotics that they put in a PICC line. So I had to go in to the hospital for outpatient, get the PICC line put in the arm. I don't know if you're familiar with a PICC line, but I will say one thing: that is a godsend because with a picc line, they have two little pigtails that hang out of that line. It goes from your arm all the way up your arm, down your shoulder into where your heart is, and it's all inside. And so the nurse that would come, I had home health care. She would come in. She would give. She would change out the dressing. I would have to get blood work. She could take the blood work through that little pigtail. I didn't have to be poked like a human pincushion. Thank goodness, because getting blood out of me is like getting blood out of a turnip. So, but they were able to. Garland learned how to administer the antibiotic and the heparin, the blood thinner. I had to be home at the same time every day to get that done, and then we noon. I was supposed to go to the Texas Pet Sitters Conference that February. I was told you can't travel, so I had to miss the conference. So every day for six weeks, I would have to be sitting in the in the den. Garland would come downstairs from his office. He would administer, and it was good.
Speaker 1 12:43
So was I could I could still work, but I could not travel out of area. So that was in starting in January of 2023 into February, and then in April of that year, I'd go to my orthopedist. He said, "Okay, everything's good. You're good to go. It's been real. Been nice knowing you, adios. And I'm like, thank yous, adios. Everything's going along beautifully, Collin. I'm starting to really pick my business back up. I think I even wrote a blog on my Facebook page while I was going through all of this, just for my own benefit. And I said I finally crossed the finish line. Well, the joke was on me because 15 months later, I get out of the shower and there's there is this red blotch on the inside incision on my ankle, and I look down like, what in the world is that? And I touched it, but it wasn't warm to the touch. I thought, okay, well, I don't know what that is. Okay, fine. That was in that was in May of 2024. I thought, well, what could that be? So you know, I was told I was clear. Everything's great. It's been over a year, so I go to my primary care physician because my orthopedist had retired. So I thought I'll just go to the PCP. I go to her, and she immediately says, "Oh my God! You've got to go to the wound care center, and the wound care center is up in Blairsville at the hospital where I've had all the surgeries. And I said, "Okay, she said, "There's an appointment at 1o'clock today. And luckily, I did not have any scheduled pet visits, so my husband drove me up there. And so, from June of 2024 through the summer, they are trying to figure out what is going on with my ankle. They're doing all of these types of treatments. Nothing seems to be working. And then August of that year, they finally decided to do the MRI, and it showed I had a bone infection. And that was August of 2024. Well, they immediately wanted to put another PICC line in my arm and start me on 10 weeks of antibiotics, and I said, "Well, we're going to have to wait because I'm going to the Pet Sitters International Conference in Niagara Falls at the end of September. I paid for it. I'm not giving up going to another conference if I've lived with this thing this long. Another month is not going to matter if it." Kills me. Maybe that's what's supposed to put me off, you know, this earth. So no, I am going. I'll deal with this when I get back. And so went to Niagara Falls, had a great time. Came back and immediately got the pick line and started the 10 weeks of two different very powerful antibiotics. That didn't kill it. So then they decided, hey, maybe you you could try hyperbaric oxygen treatments. And for those of you who are not familiar with that, it's like you're put in almost like an MRI tube, but you can see out. You're in this closed-up tube, and it's like a scuba dive. They call it you you dive down, quote unquote, down where the pressure goes down, and you lie on that table for two solid hours. You're not allowed to take a book in. You can't have anything on you. You have to change into your little scrubs. They do your vitals before you go in. If your blood pressure is too high, they will not let you do the hyperbaric oxygen. So every day for 40 days, 40 days, I had to drive up to Blairsville, which is a 45 minute drive, lie in a chamber for two hours, and then come home. So the earliest appointment they had was seven a.m. and none of the people, most of the people doing the hyperbarics, were senior citizens, and nobody wanted to go that early. I said, "I'll take the seven a.m. slot because that way I can be back in Blue Ridge by 930, and hopefully that won't interrupt my pet sitting schedule too much. I did have visits I had to do in the mornings. Garland covered those. A lot of my clients have met him because he goes to the meet and greets with me, so they were all fine with that.
Speaker 1 16:39
But 40 days of the hyperbaric oxygen that didn't kill it either. So then I was referred to an infectious disease doctor who is not local. He is the practice is in Gainesville, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, about an hour and 45 minutes from here. And the first appointment I had to drive down there, an hour and 45 minutes for a 40-minute appointment. Everything's backroads, okay. So I go down there, and infectious disease doctor got all of my records from the hospital in Blairsville, where everything was done, and he said, "Okay, we'll start on the antibiotic bactrim. It's pretty, you know, basic antibiotic on it for two weeks, off of it for two weeks, on it for two weeks, off of it two weeks, and the it he diagnosed. He said, "You've got a chronic bone infection. It's chronic. That means it's going to be with you. So been going round and round. Well, then he left the practice in October of 2025. So I get assigned to another doctor in the practice that I'm currently working with. So basically, what we're doing is we're keeping that infection from getting into the bloodstream. That's that's the goal. It's probably never going to go away. I and I'm always asked when I have my appointments, and luckily I can do virtual appointments with the infectious disease doctor. I don't have to drive down there and back every appointment. And the first question is: Are you having any pain in the ankle? No. Are you having any nausea? No. Are you having any fever? No. That's good. That means that infection has not gotten into the bloodstream. So I'm able to function. I'm extremely careful about when I go up and downstairs. I hold a handrail. If there's no handrail, I'm like, well, I can't. I can't do the visit. I have to hold a handrail. I have to be extra careful. I don't want to fall. I don't want to have a fourth surgery. I really don't. That's the goal: is not to have another one. Three is enough. So it it's funny the day that I fainted and fell, you know everything was going hunky dory, and then bam, everything changed. Everything changed in a split second, and so I just take it one day at a time, Collin. That's really all I can do, as long as I'm able to function and do the job that I expect of myself and that my clients expect of me. I will continue doing this. If it gets to the point where I can't, I'm going to be honest and go, "Okay, I can't do this anymore. Time for me to retire. I'm 64 years old. I turned 64 in June, so I'm not a spring chicken, but I still got a few good years in me to do this, and I did have to change some things up with the business. I used to walk dogs, large dogs, if they were reactive on a leash. I could I could do that. I can't do that anymore. If a potential client calls up, says I've got a 100 pound you know English mastiff, okay, is he a leash puller? Yeah, he'll pull you down. Or is he reactive on leash? Yeah, he'll chase every deer he sees. Do you have a fenced in area? No. A lot of people up here in the mountains don't. Okay, I'm sorry. I will not be able to provide service, and here's why. And they understand. So I have had to limit myself. Whereas before the accident, I didn't because I could do everything right. I'll do it all. I can handle it. But I'm like, no, I can't afford. I can't afford to face plant on the asphalt or on the ground because this dog sees a deer and wants to go run after it, but Garland has taken over helping with the larger dogs because he's able to handle them, and so that's another good reason that he's on board with me. But yeah, I mean, I would like to think I can do it all, but I can't do it all. I am not 34 anymore, and it's. But it. It just really. It's been a journey. But I do have pity party days where I feel sorry for myself.
Speaker 1 20:54
And but most days I'm like, suck it up, because when I would go to that wound care center and I was having to go weekly. I would show up, and there would be people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s coming in on their walkers in their their wheelchairs. They were pretty bad off, and I'm sitting here going, "I'm doing. I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself. Those people have it worse than I do. But trying to maintain a positive attitude, but I will admit I'm human. Some days I just pity party.
Collin 21:26
Have you heard of Time to Pet? Sarita Eckhoff with Exclusively Cats In-Home Cat Sitting has this desire.
Speaker 2 21:32
Time to Pet has been a total game changer for us. It's helped us streamline many aspects of our operation, from scheduling and communication to billing and customer management, we actually tested other pet sitting softwares in the past, but these other solutions were clunky and riddled with problems. Everything in Time to Pet has been so well thought out. It's intuitive, feature-rich, and it's always improving.
Collin 21:52
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/confession. tinypet.com/confession. Well, I was I was curious about that, Cathy, because you had that moment where you were like, "I am going to the PSI conference, and I hear that throughout your story. It's the "I'm going, "I'm going, "I'm doing, "I'm continuing to move forward. I don't know how many other people or what kind of people would would continue to try and stay in business and to serve clients and do that through this. What like what kept you coming back to like? Did you ever think about just stopping entirely?
Speaker 1 22:33
I have, yeah. I mean, I thought, what if I cannot do this? But as long as I'm able to, I will. Because with me as a solo sitter, and I'm sure some of some of the the ladies and the gentlemen who own businesses and have employees and independent contractors, they may have an attachment to their clients and their and the clients' pets, but they're more removed from the day to day going and taking care of the pets. They're more of I'm running the show. I'm sorry, employee. You go take care. You go take care. So they're not as involved intimately with the client, the pets, as a solo sitter is, right? So my thing is, I sit here going, I have got. Don't get me wrong. I love all my clients. I love all the pets, but I do have a few clients who are a little more high maintenance, and I think okay, if I if I have to stop doing this, I'm not going to be as sad because you're driving me crazy. But I love your dog or I love your cat. I don't want to give it up. But I do have clients that some of them I have become very good friends with, and I sit here going, I don't want to give up their pets. I don't want to do it. For one, I've got that relationship for two. We don't have a lot of professional pet sitters in my area. It's a lot of hobby sitters, rover sitters. They are not the credentialed like you and Megan and me and the other professional sitters that we know. And I'm sitting here. I don't have anybody to refer to. If I when I do retire, I'm not going to be selling the business. That's a whole nother story. I know a lot of people like when you need to sell the business. That's not going to happen. So I'm thinking, I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to tell my clients, Miss Cathy's got to hang up the leash and put the pooper scooper away. It's time for me to call it a day, because I worry about them. What are they going to do? Granted, it's not my place to find a sitter for them, but I don't want to leave them high and dry. When I moved from Metro Atlanta up here to the Blue Ridge area, I was very fortunate to have a network of professional pet sitters in that area, and we would get together. We would refer to each other. We would help each other. My clients down in Cumming, Georgia, outside of is part of Metro Atlanta. When I relocated to Blue Ridge, I was able to tell clients I've got these other sitters. I know them personally. They're credentialed, and they took over those clients for me. So I didn't have the guilt. I'm going. Oh, I left my babies. I left them hydrated. How could I do that? And but up here, I don't have that. I have tried like you wouldn't believe hobby sitters on our local Facebook pages. I'd see their name and I would write them a private message. Hey, are you bonded and insured? No, I just love animals and I have references. That's not what I asked you. I can tell you how to get bonded and insured. We can meet for coffee. I don't charge. I just want to network. And nobody-they all shut the door in my face. They don't. They're taking money under the table. They're not running a legitimate business, and I will not refer to them. So when the time does come, I'm going to have to tell my clients, okay, it's going to be up to you to thoroughly vet whomever you hire to come in your home to take care of your home and your pets. I can give you some questions to ask. I can. I do know of a couple of sitters who might service this area. You can call them. I can refer to them because they are bonded and insured, and I know them, but I don't know if they come this far up. And so, yeah, I mean, my heart will not let me just let this go. My head tells me sometimes, Cathy, you need to let this go, but my heart said, nope, hold my beer.
Speaker 1 26:16
I'm not doing it. And so, as long as I say, as long, Collin, as I am able to go above and beyond the way I expect of myself, I will continue doing it as long as I can physically and mentally do it. When it comes the time I cannot do it, I'm going to try my best to give my clients as much advance information, a notice as I can, so that they're not just not left. Oh my gosh, what am I supposed to do? And I've talked about if I do have to quote unquote retire, it might be where I can hold on to a handful of clients who maybe live closer to me, maybe cat clients or small dogs clients I have really just really really bonded with and their pets. Maybe I can still keep my fingers in it, just not do it for the whole general public. That might be another option, and I can still do it. Still keep my insurance. Still you know pay the annual premium for that. Still have my PSI membership. Still be involved professionally with all the credentials. Doing my pet per se CPR certification every two years. But yeah, I mean it's yeah, it's not a decision I want to make. It's just like you know when you're sitting there and you're like, well, I know I really need to write my will, but it's like I really don't want to think about
Speaker 3 27:43
it.
Speaker 1 27:43
But you know, especially if you have children like you and Megan, you're like, we better think about this. But that's the last thing you want to do. You don't want to think about it.
Collin 27:51
Yeah.
Speaker 1 27:51
And so I don't want to think about this, but I know. But in the back of my mind, I know. Okay, the time is going to come when it's going to be. Hey, that's all, folks. It's been real. Thank you so much for giving me all this time to do something I absolutely feel like I was. It's the path I'm supposed to follow, but there will come a time. I'm 64. You know, it's it's that's the way it is. I'm going to keep aging, and but as long as I can physically do this job, I will continue to do it.
Collin 28:23
You mentioned earlier about how you had the realization of, hey, I'm not, I'm not 34 anymore. I can't make this risk. I can't take this stuff. What about your business? Did you realize, or maybe what assumptions did you have about your business? Because like the hey, my health is one thing. That's a personal assumption. Did you have any assumptions about the way your business was, the way your business was set up, that had to change through this?
Speaker 1 28:48
Let me think about that. Not really. I mean, financially, as far as income, I learned early on in life, you tuck away money when things are good, good times. Woohoo! You don't go spending like a sailor, okay, like a drunken sailor. So I would say, well, when COVID hit in 2020, there were a lot of sitters who had to shut down their businesses because they didn't have money to live on. They didn't save for a rainy day for whatever reason. I get it. This day and age, it's very hard to tuck away money. But if you don't go to Starbucks every day, you can you save money. You can get quite a lot of money saved up. So I had money saved up. I have a business savings account along with my business checking account, and I would just tuck money in that savings account because I thought okay if I can't do this anymore, and we had some catastrophic thing that we needed to pay for, okay that money's there. I don't have to use a credit card and pay it off, you know, in 30 years kind of thing. So financially, I planned ahead, and then getting through COVID, my my. Goal was okay. Got to keep saving. Got to keep tucking away because you don't know when that next catastrophe is going to happen. Little did I know I was going to have that personal catastrophe a year later of fainting and falling out of the blue. And so, but but COVID and I know a lot of sitters they had to close down, and my heart went out to them, but I thought, if anything, I hope that pandemic taught people. I don't know what's down the road-a year, a month from now, a year from now. I need to plan. I need to have a safety net. You have to have a safety net, financial safety net, whatever kind of safety net you've got to have it, so the assumption I didn't go in going, oh yeah, this business I could do this forever. No, you know, no, I can't do this forever. Even if ever 34, I couldn't do it forever. But really, didn't make a lot of assumptions. My thing as well, I've got to take it one day at a time. If it's meant for me to continue doing this, I will continue doing this. When it's meant for me to hang it up, I will hang it up.
Collin 31:10
Well, and that's part of just recognizing again those limitations, and and I think being honest with ourselves because many times we don't. I know I certainly did. When we started doing this 13 years ago, now at no point, Cathy, did I think, "What is my life going to look like doing this in 20 years? It never crossed my mind, and and that's both a hey, yeah, that's just part of it. Like you're here, you're so here in the now, here focused on what I have to do. I got to chunk through this. I've got this to do. I've got this visit. I got to do this marketing. I got this networking event. I've got this phone call to make. I got this client to take care of. It's so this this business is such a here and now kind of business that thinking ahead 15 years a year is almost impossible at times. So how how do you stay focused on the future while also like grounding in what you have to get done today.
Speaker 1 32:02
Well, I'm a planner by nature. Okay, it's a curse. It is a curse because I'm looking ahead all the time. It's hard for me to live in the moment. I'm not a live in the moment kind of person because I'm a worry wart, which worrying does not do you any good. And I can tell everybody you don't need to worry. It doesn't do any good. But I can't take my own advice. I'm an idiot with that. I'm like, well, I'm going to worry. I get it from my mother. I think I inherited it, but it's just you know you you just don't know what the future holds. And when you're younger, you don't think 2030, years. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I didn't think about you know what's going to happen when I'm in my 60s. I thought, oh, you know, that's a long way away, and guess what? Now it's here, and I'm, you know, I'm looking. All right, do I make it to my 70s? If so, what's what are my 70s going to be like? Oh my God, what are my 80s going to be like? And and then I picture myself. This might be kind of weird, but I've always pictured my husband and I've been married for 40 years, and I've always pictured when we get old, or than we are now, we would be in the assisted living facility, riding our little wheelchairs together, holding hands. He would go off to do some computer fun stuff. You know, I would go off to play cards with the ladies, and that's the way you know I envision it. It may not be that way. Who knows? But you know, we don't when we're young. We if we did, we would all be saving for retirement. We would all be millionaires by the time we're 55. We wouldn't have to work.
Collin 33:36
Yeah,
Speaker 1 33:37
you know, in our golden years, we could go off and travel like the Dell Web commercials. I know for Florida, Dell Webb and the villages, and you see the commercials of all these older people. They're out there playing pickleball, and they're sitting by the pool drinking adult beverages, and they're frolicking on the beach. And I'm looking like that is not what it's really like. You want to know what it's like? You go up to Union General Hospital to the wound care center, and you walk in, you see all those old people in their wheelchairs and on their walkers. That's what it's like. That's reality. Dell Webb commercials and the Villages commercials. That is that is not reality. Sorry.
Collin 34:15
How
Speaker 1 34:16
it's a fantasy, not a reality.
Collin 34:18
Cathy, how did this impact your priorities.
Speaker 1 34:23
It impacted my priorities a lot because I realized if I don't have my health, I'm no good to anybody. So as I said before the accident, I didn't think twice about walking a reactive dog, big dogs, you know, going up and downstairs without a handrail, I learned that, and I'm overly cautious. Probably, I go overboard with, oh, there's no handrail. Got to hold the handrail. I can't fall. So my priority is I have to put my safety first because if something happens to me. During a pet visit, I'm no good to the pets I'm taking care of. I'm no good to the client. Have to call Garland. Hey, Garland, I've had this issue. You need to come and bail me out. I don't want to have to do that again. So priorities, yeah. The bit I've revolved myself, and this probably isn't smart. For the last 11 plus years, I have revolved my life around this business, and I did it because I look at it as the business is like an infant; it cannot take care of itself. It has to have nourishment. You have to constantly take care of it. And I'll admit, as a solo sitter, I've made sacrifices. I've missed birthday parties. I've missed you know, family gatherings because guess what? Holidays I work. People go, "What are you doing for Christmas? I'm working. "What are you doing for the Fourth of July? I'm working. Also working. What are you doing this weekend? I'm working. And and they they think they're you know some of these clients nothing against them. They think, well, don't you take time off? Well, no, because if I do, I'm going to have to say no to another client. I'm saying yes to you, but I do, and and and I chose that. I would not recommend that to anybody to just put your business and and put your whole personal life aside. That's why a lot of sitters do hire, and that's smart on their part. Hiring is not for me for a lot of reasons, but and now because still dealing with this this chronic bone infection, and also business has really strangely enough July is has always been my busiest month of the year every single year. This year it has just dried up. July I do not know why, and I'm sitting here going, okay. It may be God telling me you got some other things you need to take care of in this downtime. And one thing is, when my husband and I relocated up here, we moved from a 4000 square foot home to a two 500 square foot home. So, which means you can't take everything. You can't take everything with you. So we had a big garage sale before we moved up here. Got rid of a lot of stuff, but because I am a pack rat and I have emotional attachment to all kind of stuff that nobody else is going to give a rat's flying fig about, put all of that stuff in two storage units here in Blue Ridge that we're paying monthly fees for, and so I kept thinking I need to get to those storage units and start cleaning them out. I've got to start cleaning them out. I would think about doing it, and then I would get busy with my business. And it's not something where you can just go over there for 30 minutes and leave. No, it's got to be a couple of hours to really get it going. So when business kind of started, just fell through the bottom back a couple of weeks ago. I thought, I think this is a good time to go clean out those storage units. So Garland and I have been spending a couple hours every day going over to those storage units, cleaning out these boxes. A lot of the stuff we have taken to the thrift store, we have made four trips with carloads full of stuff. Because I'm going through these boxes, I don't have any room for this stuff here at the house we're in, or it doesn't go with the decor.
Speaker 1 38:16
But I am keeping the sentimental things, you know, pictures and and other things like that, but so I have I am trying to you know I've been handed lemons. I'm trying to make lemonade by being productive with my time and getting this stuff done because I'm hoping maybe August will pick up. Although August is traditionally a slower month here for me anyway. September looks steady, but you know I never know from one month to the next how busy am I going to be.
Collin 38:45
Right,
Speaker 1 38:46
you know I said usually June. Weirdly enough, June is not a gangbuster month for me, but people are waiting till they're waiting longer to book. They're waiting till quote unquote the last minute. Hey, can you come see my dogs tomorrow? Or hey, we're going out of town next week. Can you come see them? Absolutely. So business picked up. June turned out to be I broke even in June from the last June, but July I'm sitting there going, I don't know what's going to happen, and it picked up a little. August, I don't know. I don't know what to expect. So right now, while I know I don't have any bookings, or I've got one client. You know, one visit I get to do. I'm going to those storage units, and I'm trying to knock out as much as I can because I don't know how busy I'm going to be this fall. I have no idea.
Collin 39:32
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Michelle K. 39:36
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Collin 40:18
Well, what I love about that, Cathy, is that that reaction to take advantage of the moment and to to to recognize I have other things that I need to address because oftentimes whether we're solo or we have a team we we all have that reaction to let me invest more back into my business with my time, right? Let me do more of my business. Let me give, give, give, give, give, give, and we have to recognize that at some point we might not be able to give any more to the business, right? And I, I have others. There's more of me. I've said like we are as entrepreneurs and small business owners. We are the interface of business and personal life. It's you. It's it's it's me. Exactly. And and I have to make sure that I consciously take those opportunities to invest to do other things in my life that's not business, because otherwise, because sometimes one day the business may not be there, or one day I might not be able to be involved in the business. What else am I building? What else do I have invested in all along the way? And not losing sight of that-that that is as equally as important to me, the individual, as is having a business that can serve people. But not putting all your eggs in one basket, I guess. But also saying there's more to me than just showing up for the dog walk or scooping the litter, am I taking the time to invest in that?
Speaker 1 41:45
Right. Well, you also you have children, you have a wife, you have children, and they need you, and you you you need them. My husband and I, we don't have children. Our our children are our dogs, so I'm a little more fortunate in that respect, that I do have the flexibility. Well, I don't have kids depending on me, so I can go off and do you know clean out this closet, go clean out that storage unit. So I do have that. But if you've got a family, you've got kids, or if you're a grandparent, you know, yeah, your priority should absolutely be the family. It should be your children, your grandchildren, and so yeah, it's. But me, it's like my business is my family to a point because I love it. I love yeah my clients. I love the pets because I get attached. I can't help it. I can't just. I cannot compartmentalize with because I'm. It's an emotional business for me. It's not. It's not like I'm a plumber and I'm going in and you know changing your toilet out, or I'm an electrician and I'm fixing your electrical. There's no emotional attachment to that. I couldn't imagine a plumber having an emotional attachment to a toilet, but you know these are living, breathing creatures that we take care of, and I cannot help but get attached to them. That's just it's my nature, and and especially being an overnight sitter, you get even more attached when you're with the pets you take care of longer periods of time, and so it's just it's a big emotional attachment. If I could remove myself emotionally, I might be better off. But I'm not I'm not a robot. I'm not Spock. I am. I'm an emotional being. I admit it. I'm not a logical person. Garland is. He's the logical side of this. I'm the emotional side of it. But I think that's what makes me the type of pet sitter that I am and that I want to be because my clients appreciate it. I do have a good reputation in my community. I'm very grateful for that. A lot of people know me. I get recommended all the time. I'm involved in volunteer work with local rescues. So yeah, I mean, it means a lot when people get on the Facebook pages and say you need to hire Cathy. You know, she's the best of the best, and I appreciate that they don't have to say it. But that's another reason I'm like, well, they say I'm the best of the best. I can't leave them now, you know. I can't. I can't do that. They have invested in me, and it's because of my clients. I have this business. Without them, I wouldn't have it.
Speaker 4 44:18
Right.
Speaker 1 44:19
I just wouldn't. So it would be nothing. I can't. I can't take care of dogs if I don't have clients. I can't take care of cats if I don't have clients. So, but it's it's it's an emotional attachment for me. It really is.
Collin 44:32
Well, and you can't take care of those dogs or cats if you don't. If we're not taking care of our health too. You're right. Yep. And and that's such a like a. It's okay to be that little bit of selfish, and I'm going to say a big bit of selfish. Yeah, whatever you want to call it, self care, you know, resting, days off, you know, health breaks. It you need to be selfish in that. And and Cathy, I mean, you said like it was hard to make those phone calls. As a phone call, no pet sitter or dog walker wants to make. Hi, I can't be there because. I felt
Speaker 1 45:00
like I was letting them down. Yeah, I really did
Collin 45:02
right. But but it was just like this was just unfortunately it was a there is literally no other option right than to do this and and I think that that kind of like it helps me thinking about this of if like looking ahead going okay if my health is really important. Maybe I need to start thinking. There's no other option but to say no instead of waiting until I literally have no other option to say no, and and I can actually give myself some more space and breathing room.
Speaker 1 45:37
Right. I probably should have said no many years ago. I finally learned how to say no. It took a long time. It's very hard. Same, same. Hi. Yeah, yeah. It's just because I'm a I'm a people pleaser. I want to make people happy. I want to help them. I want to fulfill a need. The other thing is in the chat groups. Whether you're I guess, I guess NAPS has a chat group, but PSI's chat group, there will be solo sitters who get on there and they go, I'm a solo sitter. I don't. What if something happens to me? I don't have employees, ICs. I don't have any family. What do I do? And people will get on there. Oh, well, you need to network. Well, that's great if you have people you can network with in your area, but I will say have that safety net. If you're going to start this business, people think, "Oh, pet sitting's easy. It's easy money. I'll just no. If you think it's easy, you're doing it wrong. Sorry, it's not. It is the most stressful job, and I've had a lot of stressful jobs in my life. It's the most stressful job I've ever had in my life, but it's the most rewarding job I've ever had, and so I'm sitting here going, okay, if I didn't have my husband, I could not do this alone, and I probably would not have even considered going into this industry because you do, and people don't think I'm fine, I'm healthy, I'm getting around. You don't know. You could go out, God forbid, and get in a car wreck. You don't have any control over everything. You have control over what you do sometimes, but you don't have control over everybody else. And so, a lot of people don't want. They don't either don't stop and think about it because they're just not, or they don't want to because they're afraid of oh yeah I don't want to think about that, but you you really do have to have that safety net okay if something happens to me do I have a backup person to fill in for me like when I could not be on my feet for two months if Garland had not helped me I would have had to shut the business down period and because of him doing all of those drop-in visits for me because I got busy. I mean, September, October, November, December, busy time, and I he knew how much I had invested in the business emotionally, financially. He he did not want me to shut it down, and so he made the sacrifice of, you know, all you know, all cylinders on fire when he had all these other things he had to do primarily to take care of me. I couldn't take care of myself. He was serving me breakfast in bed. He was making all of my meals, kind of nice. But I was sitting there. I got hooked on. There's a channel called Ion Ion TV. I had never watched. I got hooked. I could tell you what program was on which day of the week, and I got hooked on that because I couldn't do anything else. I mean, I was not where I could get around, and it was hard to get around. And so I didn't want to get around unless I had to. Got to go to the bathroom, get up, hobble to the bathroom on the walker. Had to take a shower. Hobble in the shower. Had to go to the stupid orthopedic surgeon. Didn't really want to go see him anyway. Had to hobble. Get in the car. Oh, and we had steps, and we had to have a ramp built so I could hobble on my walker to get up to my my house. And luckily, our bedroom is on the master on the main.
Speaker 1 49:03
Thank the good Lord, the bedroom is not all the way upstairs, or I would have been sleeping on the couch. I couldn't use stairs. So, but you don't think about something like that, Collin, until it happens to you. And I don't wish what I'm going through on anybody. But if there's anybody out there dealing with something similar, they can give me a call and we can have we can have a commiserating you know session because I I I understand and I I feel your pain.
Collin 49:30
Yeah, I think that word resiliency comes up and oftentimes it's about oh I need to be more resilient or I need to be able to weather the storm and I or I need to do whatever, and and resiliency has this this wide spectrum of yeah, there is a mental component to it. There's also an operational and a structural component to this. Like you've talked about, like have those backups, have that network, have that person. That's part of being resilient as a as a business, which is different than me being resilient as a as a person. But we still need that network. We still need that, as you said as well, Cathy. To be for me to be resilient, I still need people to connect with. They might not be helping do walks or take on new clients, but they can help me process things mentally, share my emotions, have an outlet there, so that I can show up again tomorrow. And that's part of that healthy relationships, healthy healthy networking that helps us be resilient when the tough times come because they will come. And if we don't, it's the last time you want to be frantically searching for that kind of network is when you're in the middle of desperately needing that network, right? Instead, too late.
Speaker 1 50:34
Yeah, yeah. Obviously, having
Collin 50:35
that connection, and that's where it's like it takes. Sometimes you know, Cathy, like you've talked about, it's it's I may make a bunch of phone calls and it that may be rebuffed by everybody, but I'm going to still try. Why? Because it's still worth it. I may you know you know like I get connected locally or online or on a podcast or in a professional organization. Let me find my people so that when the tough times come, I'm ready for that. And then yes, I can work on networking and referrals and going things out there. But I take care of me first and have that support, so I'm ready when I need it.
Speaker 1 51:09
Exactly, exactly. And back when I had the accident, and for the first couple of years when I was keeping that blog on my Facebook page, blog for lack of a better term, I was really into it. And then when I crossed the finish line, I thought in April of 2023, I quit writing. Everybody thought, "Hey, yeah, happy ending. And then when May of 2024 rolled around, I didn't. I said, "I don't want to get online, and I don't want to talk about it. I just didn't want to, and I still don't want to. I just don't want to because I'm thinking, well, I told everybody I crossed the finish line, and jokes on me, I didn't, and I just haven't brought myself to talk about. Now I'm talking about it, but to get online and go, okay, hey, remember back, you know, when I said cross finish line, well, they moved the finish line is not even on the track anymore. It's not even anywhere. There is no finish line, so I haven't really gone and poured my heart out on my Facebook page. Maybe I will, but it's just it's just something. It's like you know, I'd rather not think about it. I'm just I'm dealing with it. I want to focus on getting through today, and then I'll take tomorrow when tomorrow comes. But I'll still have that plan for the future, you know, in the back of my mind. Okay, if this happens, if A happens, what is the answer? Or a plan B, plan C. I go through the alphabet and the Greek alphabet until I'm running out. You know, a plans. But yeah, it's it's just. But I could tell anybody you do not know what tomorrow holds, and I know that sounds very cliche and kind of you know dorky, but you really don't. But be try to be prepared the best you can. Just think about it. Okay, what if something happens and I cannot service those clients who have already paid, maybe a deposit, or they have paid up front. What do I do? I don't want to have to give them their money back. I don't want to have to say I can't do the service. What do I do? And I'll tell you, people that do have networks, they're very lucky. Love your networks. Give your networks a hug. That that is wonderful. I miss I miss having a network. I have tried so hard the past eight years since I've lived up here in Mineral Bluff to try to form a network, and I cannot get the interest, and it's very very frustrating to me. I don't like being a party of one. I really don't.
Collin 53:38
Well, and Cathy, I want to thank you for encouraging us to not be a party of one as best we can, and to encourage us to keep going and to find those areas where we need to shore up parts of our business and just recognize that we have our our own limitations and recognize those earlier than maybe we would like to admit in our business, so that we can be here for the for the long term. I again, Cathy, I've I've really enjoyed getting to to talk to you and having you share this part of your life and your journey and where you are and encouraging us with that. So for those who want to get connected with you, reach out, follow up questions, just encourage or commiserate if needed and want to, how best can they do that?
Speaker 1 54:23
Okay, first thing I will say, I've always said failure is not an option, and I am too stubborn for my own good. I don't like quitting. I think I don't want to quit. I don't like that word. I'm going to continue as long as I can, but I will know. Okay, I can't do this anymore. I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it. But anyway, to get in touch with me, there are multiple ways. I have my phone number. It's area code 770-883-4644. That's my cell number. I have an email address. It's go. To the dogs, ga@gmail.com. I have a personal Facebook page, Cathy Eduvall, and I also have my going to the dogs Facebook page. How else can people get in touch with me? Carrier pigeon. If you're traveling to Blue Ridge, you know, you know, look me up. You can go to anywhere. Go. Do you know Cathy Duvall? Yeah, you know, yeah. Here's where she lives. But yeah. So anybody, I mean, I'm serious. If somebody needs someone to talk to, whether it's you want to send me a Facebook message, if you want to text me, if you want to call me, if you want to email me, please do because you're not alone, and sometimes you feel like you're alone, and nobody knows what it's like to go through what you're going through. Now I can say you can be going through the same type of injury as me. I can't tell you exactly. I don't understand exactly how you feel because I'm not you, but I do understand how it feels to be in this predicament, and how to try to deal with it. So I can I can relate to it. Other people they can be sympathetic, empathetic, which I appreciate. But until it's happened to you, you don't understand it. And I'm just I'm too stubborn to quit. And you know, God might have another plan because I think the reason I had the accident, I was going just going, going, going, and I probably shouldn't have. And he's, I'm going to slow you down, and that's what, and he did, and I'm like, okay, that that's a sign, Cathy. You're taking on too much. You're not superwoman. You think you are, but you're not, and so taught me a lot. So I have been better about pacing myself, saying no. I can't please everybody. I can't do every job that comes along. As much as I hate turning down the business, it's just not my nature to turn people down. But yeah, that that's a lesson that I learned. No, to be able to say no and not feel bad about it. The guilt used to say, "Oh, I can't believe. Oh my God! I said no. You know the world hates me. Nope, can't help you. No, you're out of my area. Nope, I can't drive 25 miles to see you. Nope, I have a big service area. 25 miles. No, I cannot do that. No, you've got a 100 pound dog who pulls a leash. No, I'm sorry, I cannot help you, and I hate saying no because then they're going to have to go to a hobby sitter, and I feel bad for the animals. But there's only so much I can do,
Collin 57:30
and that's what we just have to admit to ourselves, Cathy. I again, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today. As always, it has been such an immense pleasure. Thank you so much, Cathy.
Speaker 1 57:41
It's always a pleasure talking to you, Collin. I do appreciate it. I'm I'm your biggest fan, by the way, so big fan. So thank you so much for having me and and talking about this. And hopefully, my story. I hope it will help someone.
Collin 57:57
I love when Cathy said that failure is not an option, but she's learned that saying no sometimes is what allows her to keep saying yes for the long term, and I think that really is the difference between refusing to quit and refusing to adapt. Cathy's story reminded me that resilience isn't about pretending that everything is just fine, or pushing through at all costs, and you know, to heck with the consequences. Sometimes being resilient actually means changing the kind of clients that you take on, or slowing the pace of your business, or asking for help, or or just maybe it's protecting your health so that you can keep doing the work that you love. Our our greatest asset as a business owner is not your schedule, is not your client list. It's not your skills. It's not your abilities, but it is your ability to keep showing up, don't don't try and prove just how much you can endure. Because the goal is to build a business that can weather lights unexpected seasons, while allowing us to still be standing on the other side. We want to thank today's sponsors, Time to Pet and Dog Co. 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.
