743: Building for Family, Purpose, and the Future with Jillian and Bert Riegelsperger
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What does it look like to build a pet care business that means something beyond today’s appointments and revenue? Jillian and Bert Riegelsperger, owners of Mama Jill’s Pet Care in Smithfield, North Carolina, share how a desire for greater freedom grew into a family business rooted in trust, service, and a deeply personal mission. They discuss building sustainable pricing and boundaries, maintaining high standards inside clients’ homes, and balancing their very different strengths as husband-and-wife business owners. Jillian also shares how the loss of her brother Stephen shaped the business’s connection to suicide prevention and their desire to remind people that they matter. Together, they explore what it takes to turn dreams into goals and build a company their children could one day choose to carry forward.
Main topics:
Building a Generational Business
Trust Through Consistent Service
Balancing Care and Profitability
Working Successfully With Family
Turning Dreams Into Goals
About our guest: “We can dream it, but is it a dream or is it a goal?”
There’s a big difference between having an idea for your pet care business and building a plan to make it happen. Jillian and Bert of Mama Jill’s Pet Care have plenty of dreams for their company, but they’re learning to slow down, look at the numbers, understand the costs, and identify the steps required to move forward.
That matters whether your goal is hiring your first employee, adding a service, opening a facility, or simply creating a business that gives your family more freedom.
Dreaming gives you direction. Planning gives you movement.
On this episode of Pet Sitter Confessional, we talk about building a business for the long term, balancing heart with financial sustainability, protecting client trust, and creating something that might one day continue without you.
About our guest: Jillian and Bert are the owners of Mama Jill’s Pet Care, a personalized in-home pet care company serving Smithfield, North Carolina, and the surrounding area. After years in corporate accounting and the fire service, they launched the business with a vision of creating greater freedom for their family and something their children could one day choose to continue. Their approach centers on dependable care, integrity, strong client relationships, and treating both pets and homes with respect. Mama Jill’s Pet Care also carries a personal connection to suicide prevention in memory of Jillian’s brother, Stephen.
Links:
Mama Jill’s Pet Care: https://www.mamajillspetscarellc.com
Give us a call!(636) 364-8260
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Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pet Sitter Confessional, its hosts, or sponsors. We interview individuals based on their experience and expertise within the pet care industry. Any statements made outside of this platform, or unrelated to the topic discussed, are solely the responsibility of the guest.
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
Welcome to Pet Sitter Confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Today, we're brought to you by our friends at Time to Pet and C Squared Accounting. How do we make sure to grow a business well, not just for today, but something that will last and last with a strong foundation? To talk about this and a lot of other stuff, I'm really excited to have Jillian and Bert, owners of Mama Jill's Pet Care, on the show to talk about how they got started and everything in between. Jill, Bert, thank you so much for coming on the show today. For those who aren't familiar about you and what you've got going on, please tell us a little bit more about yourselves.
Bert 0:40
Yes, thank you for having us. We own Mama Jill's Pet Care. We are a personalized. We offer personalized in-home pet care. So whether you go on vacation, extended days, really whatever your pet needs, regardless of cats, dogs, parakeets, goldfish, farm animals, people have pets, and we take care of them. So we we look forward at all of our clients. We try to maintain a relationship and provide dependable and trustworthy pet care.
Jillian 1:17
So where we're located is in North Carolina, we live enough.
Bert 1:24
We'll go anywhere. Just saying.
Collin 1:26
Care, careful, there, Bert.
Jillian 1:29
But yes, we do. We provide dog walking and drop-in pet care, and we're stationed in Smithfield, North Carolina. If anybody knows where that's at,
Collin 1:46
and and how did you get started on this adventure?
Jillian 1:51
Well, one day we were driving down the road in July of 2024, and I literally looked at him and said, "I want to start my own business. And he was like, "Are you kidding me? And I said, "Nope, I would love to be able to do something that is that is ours. And we'll get into rest of that later. But I wanted-I was tired of working for corporate America. So I wanted to do something that belonged to us, and he said, "Okay, what do you want to do? And it's like, "Let's do pet care.
Bert 2:33
Just pull a rabbit out of hat. I want to do pet care. Okay, whatever you say. Pet care it is,
Collin 2:41
Bert. Is okay. So, Bert, what was that like hearing? Okay, hey, want to go in a different direction now with the family?
Bert 2:47
Well, since you know, since I retired from the fire department, I've always been tied to the fire department. I've always had that kind of dictated a lot of stuff in our lives, you know, scheduling and things like that. Now it's whatever you know. Hey, we wake up, want to go Disney? Sure, let's do it. I mean, I have that freedom now where she comes up and says, "Hey, I want to start a pet care business. What else do I have better to do? I mean, so I mean, let's let's do
Collin 3:20
it. And and I think Joel, I know you talk about this on your website and places like you. When did the vision come in to have this be something that you would want to like pass down, like last longer than you?
Jillian 3:33
So, not pet care is not easy by no means. There is a lot of things that you have to. You're meeting a bunch of animal different personalities, but my children have always grown up with pets, and I wanted to do something that my kids could possibly pick up for me. All my children love animals. They we've grown up with dogs for the longest time, and my son actually is part of Mama Jill's a lot. He is one of the ones that once we pick him up from school, he will come out and play with the dogs, like when we let them go outside and run around. He is one of the ones that runs around with them and makes them tired. So I just really thought it would be something that my kids could pick up, and hopefully, I mean they don't have to. That's totally up to them, but hopefully decide to keep going. Yeah,
Bert 4:46
give them an opportunity to not have to work in the corporate world like like we did. You know, just this is an option. Obviously, you know they get to be adults and they make their own decisions, but. Hey, if you if you want to pick this up and and carry it on and continue it after we're done with it, by all means, I would much rather see my kids work for themselves than and spend their time and effort into themselves than somebody else's dream and vision.
Collin 5:15
It it's a really beautiful gift to have there, right? I think our kids are a little bit younger than yours. Ours are eight and 10, and we're. I have this mindset of like whether it's hey, you if you want to run it, or maybe you just want to work in it. You want to be the social media manager. Do you want to do something or run the business? Like here's an opportunity that your mom and I are working to make available to you, and it's this, and it's this. I don't know. It's just something that's been really special to us as we've as we've gotten more involved. Because yeah, we lived our corporate lives, and that's certainly you know, hey, no harm, no foul. But I got out of that for a reason. So if I got out of it for a reason, maybe I should make something possible for my kids too, right? And just have that have that be there.
Bert 6:00
Absolutely.
Collin 6:02
Now, the the listeners can't see this, but I can see this, Jill. On the back of your office, you have a a ribbon that I know is is really special to you. So, I I'd also like for you to talk about how the business is also more meaningful than just serving animals and making stuff available for your kids in the future.
Jillian 6:21
I lost my brother in 2020 November 2020 to suicide prevention when we decided to excuse me. When I decided that I wanted to start a pet sitting business, my brother was a huge animal lover. Where we, where I grew up was in the country, and pretty sure nobody knows this. Maybe I don't know, but there's a little town called Vanceburg, North Carolina. It's in between Greenville and Newbern. We grew up in a small town, and we lived out in the country. And it was a seriously a dumping ground for animals. So if anybody didn't want their pets, they would literally just drop them off, literally almost down the road from where we live. So my brother always brought home Animals. So, suicide prevention is. I wanted to add that to our logo. As you, maybe you'll see. Are you going to put our logo down on somewhere?
Collin 7:33
Yep, I have available for people.
Jillian 7:34
Okay, so on our logo, you will see our Rotty, which is our main focus of the logo, but we also have a Easter egg, is what I like to call it, because it gives somebody, you know, when you're looking at it, trying to figure out what is that, and it's a suicide prevention ribbon. My brother lost his battle to mental health during COVID of 2020,
Collin 8:08
how do you like? How does that shape your business and like what you represent and how you you function day to day?
Bert 8:17
I think it's a lot of the the core of where we came from, you know, both both my family and Jillian's side of the family have always been pet lovers. You know, we've always had dogs and cats, and you know these things, and just the the personality of of having those and really caring for them kind of brings the forefront of man. This is really a good business for us because we care. You know, it's not not something that we just kind of pulled out of the hat and said, you know, there's a market for this, but it's it's truly something that we care about.
Collin 8:57
Having that deeper connection to the why, I think, is is really critical, not just for us on the tough days. Like that's obviously a really important aspect of like I need to have a reason and purpose to keep going, but also like that's something that clients experience directly when they're talking to you. That's something that the pets experience whenever you are walking, and when you are there, because you're present, and it adds a that little bit more adds more gravity and weight to what we're doing, what you are doing, instead of just yeah, I come in, I throw food on the table, and I run away, right? Like that is so important in the work that we do.
Bert 9:38
Absolutely, my dad was a canine deputy for 15 years, so I grew up with working dogs. Wow! In the 80s, he had a Rottweiler. The 90s, he had a Shepard, so and so forth. And when you really, you get to you see the the bond that the handler and the dog. Have you know the respect and the you know the the love that the they have for each other? I've always wanted that. So when I grew up, I had a shepherd. You know, we got married. That's first thing. We're getting a dog. We're getting a shepherd because that's you know all I know. Now we have a Rottweiler. I I love the corks, you know, that they have. Yes, they're big dogs, but they're big babies, and I kind of bring that to the business. You know, when we go to people have are apprehensive that you have a pet sitter coming in. Well, I have a Rottweiler. Well, I have a you know a pit bull, or I got a bull mastiff, or a Great Dane. I am a big dog lover, you know. Yeah, and that's kind of what I just growing up and and being around that all the time. Just kind of maybe who I am.
Collin 10:57
Well, so I I do want to just take a small step back here, Jillian. You're in the car driving. I mean, what was that switch that made you turn and want to say, "I want to do this differently" Like, what, what, what, what, what had you been doing before, and and now, like, why then? Why was now that that time to just take that step?
Jillian 11:17
We, I worked for a Automobile industry as an
Bert 11:24
accountant.
Jillian 11:24
As an accountant, and actually, you can probably add this to the suicide prevention as well. I worked in Jacksonville, North Carolina, because he was at Jacksonville Fire Department, and
Bert 11:37
you don't have to go into the D.
Jillian 11:38
No, you don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My boss committed suicide.
Bert 11:45
Wow!
Jillian 11:45
So that company got bought out, and while Bert was actually in surgery for his back because he got injured in the line of duty, I they came to me and said we're shutting down our the office and you can either take a savage package or you can move to Carrie and work in our corporate office. So a lot happening around that time,
Bert 12:19
which Carrie is about two hours away from where we were. Wow!
Jillian 12:23
Yes, yes. So I love to tell the story. I don't know how much you want to put, but whatever you want to do. So we are sitting there at Christmas time, and we got a card passed around now. Remind you when you work in corporate America, you really don't get paid vacation or anything. You keep going with your Monday through Friday, 730 to 430 hours or however whatever time you wanted to work. And I got handed a Christmas card from the owner, and it was a card of all of the locations that he went to that year.
Bert 13:08
His his family vacation.
Jillian 13:09
His family vacations. And after three years of receiving that card, one we haven't taken a family vacation year. years, years, years, and I was like, I am tired of looking at this. So we were literally driving down the road, and I was like, I'm done. I am tired of working for somebody else that can literally be okay with handing you a Christmas card and saying Merry Christmas. Here's all the places that I went while you worked. So that is my reason.
Collin 13:50
I I mean, there's so much tied up into that, and I I you know it's it's a it's a hearing that hey, there's this freedom out there that I want, and maybe I want to make for myself and my family, make something bigger here, but also that connection to that very personal aspect of of you know your your your lives have been impacted by mental health time and time again, yes, and to make something that is purposeful and meaningful and intentional to help others to be connected in a certain way. Like that's just a really beautiful way to move forward through that.
Jillian 14:30
Yes. So we actually, I have done a 5k through John Heister every. I think he does it every November for suicide prevention. So I missed it this year, but I'm really hoping next year I can become a sponsor for mental health for suicide prevention. Just we do pet care; that is what we do. However, we also have a message on the other side of you're not. Alone, you matter, and we are here for you. I guess as you can tell, I'm the soft-hearted one. I can see somebody struggling in, let's say, food line or somewhere out in public, and I'm like, I want. What can I do to help you? I'm always looking at grandmas or grandpas or whatever that I see struggling in the parking lot, and I want to walk right over there and be like, "Can I take your buggy and put it back? Or you know, so I've I've always been the caring one. I'm working on him. He's a he's a hard he's a he's a hard wall to break, but I'm I'm getting in there.
Collin 15:44
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Collin 16:09
If you're looking for new pet sitting software, give Timed Pet a try. Listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting timedpet.com/confessional. So this this industry is very heavy in the we're caregivers is what we are right it really taps into that and and you know there's but there's an there's the other thing of hey I have to care give but it is a business and I have to have I have to carry both of those side by side I mean how do you both walk through that of be caregivers there's some self sacrifice entitled to that, and involved in that, while also recognizing I have to make a living, I have to make financial sense, I have to hold standards. What's that balance like for you two?
Bert 16:51
I think moving through with the the launch Joe Code program, which is at a small business, it's it's for small business owners, it's kind of like a kind of like a crash course in in business owning your small business and making decisions. Had not going through that, we would probably be in that perpetual cycle of trying to figure that out. Yes, our clients are our clients. We love caring for the pets and so on and so forth. You know, we love the relationships, but our clients aren't our friends. You know, we we're not doing this for free. We're doing this for a reason. Yes, is there? Do we get gratitude and everything for doing what we do? Absolutely, but we want to make this a business. You know, there there is insurance to pay. There is fuel cost. There, you know, all these things that we have to do. We have to pay for to be able to provide this service. When you when you look at the grand scheme, instead of thinking, all right, I have to charge you this to be able to take care of your pet. I have to charge you this so I can take care of more pets. If that makes sense,
Collin 18:10
yeah. No, I, I, both of those two visions just came colliding together. Of hey, I want this business to be around, and if I want my kids to take this on, that means that I have to have a strong foundation, which means I have to have pricing and boundaries because I need to be able to show up tomorrow. And the only way I do that for tomorrow is if I'm taken care of today. And and when we make a lot of those, it's really tempting to make a lot of really short sighted decisions too. I'll just get it get through today get through today get through today instead of the yeah it may hurt a little bit today and I may lose that one client but that's going to set me up for success for tomorrow and years down the line
Bert 18:54
yeah when you're looking when you're looking to make clients you know what why are they coming to us as a a professional business, well, I've had my neighbor watch my dogs before. I've had my brother, my my family, and you know I've had the kid down the street. You know I pay him 20 bucks a day or something, and they're my my pets are not cared for, or they they forgot, or something came up with them, and now my pet suffers, and I'm on a cruise, and you know the Bahamas or something. And those things are real and actual things that happen that you can't just rely on your sister down the street to come take care of your dogs when you know something happens with them. Well, when you hire us to take care of, regardless of situation. Somebody somewhere is going to be there to provide that level of care that we promised you.
Collin 19:49
Well, how do you? I mean, you guys use a lot of words, you know, like family, trust, peace of mind. How do you make those actually mean something so that they don't just. Because it's easy, like peace of mind is a phrase that can get thrown out there a lot. Of like we give we give peace of mind. What are you doing to make that actually meaningful to the clients and impactful to them?
Bert 20:12
So I tell a lot of clients when we when we show up. Yes, I was a fireman. I spent you know 15 years, City Jacksonville, you know I've been going into people's houses for for 20 years. You know, I kind of take that for granted, if you will. You know, you don't have to trust. You kind of have to trust me because you have an issue going on, and I just walk right into your house and and deal whatever your your issue is, but us as you know, our core, we're good people, and we we try to instill that when we come and meet your pet. We always do meet and greets every pet owner that we that we go to before we start caring for their pet. You know, simple things of hey, when I come in your house, I'm going to look and make sure that there's nothing going on. You know, you don't have a water leak, or you don't have any broken ones. Somebody tried to break in, or if you've got Amazon packages sitting on your front porch, we're going to bring those in and put them and secure them inside the house. Those things that we don't advertise, we don't charge for. Just we're good people, and I, you know, I would treat your house the same way I would want my house treated. You know, if you've got shut or closed doors in your house, they're going to be closed and and not opened. They're going to be closed when you come back. Those things to to let them know, hey, you know, we are trustworthy. There could be $5,000 sitting on the counter. It's I promise you, it's going to be sitting there when you come back. Yeah,
Jillian 21:48
yeah, because that is something that I am huge about. Like I've had things stolen from me. I have had people come in our house and steal from us, and so being able to trust somebody with one your precious fur baby, and you have said, "I want you to come in here and take care of my, you know, take care of my animals. I want to be able to walk in there and just look around because I know everything when we go in. That light was on, or stuff like that. I just, I'm, I'm just that type of person. And we've actually started making a list for when our girls go. That when they walk in, there's a list sitting there. The lights were turned on, or the living room light was turned off, you know, and that way
Bert 22:44
nothing gets missed.
Jillian 22:45
Nothing gets missed, and three of the bedroom doors were shut, and the owner allows their bedroom door to be open because that's where
Bert 22:57
the dog or the cat goes.
Jillian 22:59
So I have always wanted to be able to be trustworthy because if you lose that person's trust, it's it's hard. It's so hard to get it back.
Bert 23:14
And I think if a if a customer, you know, I think when people read reviews, they read the review, and regardless of what that person actually says, but if they hit that this this Mama Jill's pet care stole from me, or you know alludes to the fact that we're untrustworthy, that is going to do more damage to the business in in its entirety, then I just you know I this pet sitter just didn't take care of my dog the way that I wanted it to, or I just had a bad experience. But if if you come down and and the integrity of Mama Jills has been broken, I don't think you ever get that back for that client or any future clients?
Collin 24:06
Our integrity it means everything. Correct. If I say I'm going to be here, I'm going to be here. But it's hard because the client doesn't know that instinctually. Like they they're going to hear the words, but there's still that little like, ooh, what if they don't? What if they don't? Correct. So we we you have to deliver, and then you deliver the next time, and the next time it's that consistency. Like we say it all the time, the single easiest thing to do in this business is to show up.
Bert 24:32
Correct.
Collin 24:33
The hardest thing to do in this business is to show up consistently. Correct. It's that kind of thing, and you, you mentioned a thing that you're doing as your girls are coming and working for you, and like you're providing them that guide sheet. I love that so much because there's been times where it's so we have a we have a team based business where we have different people coming and going, and that's that's been part of our growth and and things like lights where we're. Like, hey, you know, flip the lights on and off. Well, somebody may come in and they go, well, I don't know what was on before. Is this what the client left on, or did the person before me turn the light on and then I think that this is the one that I'm supposed to leave on, so I turn off another one, and that cross talk and communication. So something as simple as, hey, you're at this client. This client is like this. This is the current state of the home. Make sure it returns back to this, right? Like that's that that initial collin. I love that of just saying like here's here's the current state and where we all need to be working towards.
Bert 25:30
And we leave that for the client after we leave. Like once once we're all done, you know, we drop the keys right next to the piece of paper. All of our clients get a the first time get a thank you card. Of course, we put like a little treat bag for the pet, whatever it is, and we leave that to show. Hey, you know, we are very thorough in everything that we do. This is what was done while you were while you were away, and you know they see the signature next to whoever showed up and so on and so forth. So I think it kind of cements on you know the professionalism, but also you know we're very detailed in what we do.
Collin 26:10
Yeah, it's it's like when you go to a nice hotel and somebody who made the room is going to leave their signature there, and it's like it adds this level of personal thing, or you know, custom made cars. You can get the person's signature who put the engine together, kind of thing. It's like I know the person, and it's not in a like I know who to go and complain to. It's a a person did this, and this person was so confident in the work that they signed
Chante Dawston 26:37
it. Right.
Collin 26:38
That's that's what that's saying. That's screaming out to the client, I am so confident. Here's my signature on the work that was done, and that's that's tricky though. When you've got you know you guys coming and going, you have you know your kids coming and going. You're you're building this out. How do you make sure that all that stays like that quality is still there as you add more people coming into that home,
Bert 27:01
I think that we've set a standard to start with with our kids. You know, just in daily life, you know, our own home, and you know, clean your room, take your trash out. You know, the simple chores. We we've kind of set a standard on this is how we treat people, and this is how we're going to treat their home and their pets. This isn't just a free for all. You know, you know. I know my teenagers; they can they do something just to get it done. But when we go to a client's house, these little things have to be done, not only for the respect for the client, but also the respect for Mama Jill's in its entirety, because this carries over.
Collin 27:46
Yeah, yeah, carrying high standards across the board, and and and I think it's that this is a yeah, it's a job. Yeah, I'm getting paid for this. They're paying money for this. They're a client. They're customer. But at the end of the day, they're a person. Yes, and and we've got this big mission over here to help and care for people because people matter, and people matter meaning that I'm going to pay attention to your lights. I'm going to pay attention to which doors are open. I'm going to pay attention to what you've asked me to do because you matter, and that that can get so like that's fundamental to what we do, but it can get lost in the well. I need to pay attention to the pet, right? There's this like, do I do I do I serve the client? Do I serve the pet? Well, the answer is yes. Yeah, but but when people matter, that changes how we show up, right, and what we do.
Jillian 28:42
Yes, I
Bert 28:43
think a lot of it. It's more your yes, we're caring for your pet, but we're caring for your pet in your home. And yes, you know, if I came in and you you had a massive water leak or something, you know, and I could I just wow? That kind of sucks. You got a water leak. Take care of your pet, and then walk right out the door. Yes, by its definition, we are a pet care service. But realistically, if I go out there and I turn the water off to the house and I send you a text said, "Hey, just to let you know, I came in and your looks like your water heater has busted. Am I going over there and diagnosing and fixing the water heater? No. Am I mitigating it by turning the water off so you don't have any more? Correct. You know, hey, you've got a water leak. Hey, I've got a I've got a buddy that's Surf Pro or you know water restoration or something. Hey, I can shoot you their information. Give them a call. They can come over here. I have access to the house. I don't mind coming over and letting them in. You know, and seeing what it'll do to fix your your issue. Those kind of things now very very outside of the the realm of just pet care, but that's. Kind of what you're getting when you when you get us that you know we understand you're on vacation you're away from your house the reason why we're there
Speaker 2 30:07
yeah
Bert 30:08
what is it a a text or a phone call to make to to make sure that not only their pet but their their home is okay you know come there and their house is on fire what are they what am I going to do with your pet,
Collin 30:21
yeah.
Bert 30:21
You know those type things. We have a plan in place. We don't advertise that, but we have a plan in place that if that happens, we can just act. And when we get a hold of you, you're on vacation. Say, all right, this is what happened. This is the steps that we've taken to to move forward.
Collin 30:42
And like you mentioned earlier, like it's you don't get an extra. It's not charging extra for home checks on water, right? It's just a this is what we get. I mean, we walked into a home one time and it was 94, and it had been trying to cool for like 20 hours, and I'm like, oh, it's actually just blowing heat, and the contacts on the air compressor outside had been closed and shut, and was like arcing and like buzzing and doing all this stuff. And you're right; it's like I am not going to go turn that off, but I will coordinate the person who shows up. Right, and it was it was so simple. It's like, yeah, I just made a phone call, and the client was like, "Oh my gosh, this was so important to me. Thank you. Like they were over the moon that I noticed a problem and I let them know about it, and that was as simple as that. That that was. And yet, and yet here they are. Like, I will sing your praises forever. It's like, oh yeah, okay, yeah, because that's okay. We get to do that kind of thing.
Bert 31:36
Yeah. Well, you instilled that you matter, and you know, I I don't want to sit in a house. It's 94 degrees. You know, we live in the south. It's hot. You know, it's just those things that you you don't have to. You know, you say these these big words. You know, integrity and professionalism, so on and so forth. But that's I mean, that's what it truly matters. That you know, we're truly going to care for your pet in your home, and we're not just you're not just paying us. We're not just doing the pet care.
Collin 32:10
Do you have plans to to grow and expand a team further beyond? You know, I know you want to have your kids involved, but have you thought about hiring outside help and such as you grow.
Bert 32:23
My, I think our biggest issue. I know my biggest issue. You see in the news all the time of employees, dog groomers, vet care techs, dog handlers. They get frustrated and then they lash out. You know, you've seen videos of less than desirable interactions with pets. If I hire somebody, I want the same level of care and compassion that that we have. Yes, can animals, you know, get aggressive, or you have to defend yourself, or something like that. But I'm saying I don't want just anybody coming in and they say I know there's video of them kicking a dog or you know attacking a cat or you know whatever. They have to. I have to know that they're going to be upstanding and professional at all times. So yes, I would like to, but there's going to be a pretty hefty onboarding process before that happens.
Collin 33:28
No, it's there are pros and cons to it. There are definitely a lot of like, hey, I just took on a lot of a lot of risk in in this process, and I I have to feel really comfortable. And there's it's also just a. It's also not necessary to grow a. You know, to have a an amazing business. And I think we often get caught up in the mindset of, well, the only way I can do X, Y, Z is if I hire. If I do, you know, whatever. It's no, we you don't have to. It's not. It's not not needed. A lot of people do it.
Jillian 34:00
Yeah. Now I would. I, I am the one that I don't like to let go of some things that belongs to me. My name is on this business, and again, if you lose somebody's trust, it is hard to get it back, and I would be highly upset if somebody did something crazy to ruin that, and not something that I can control. When it comes to the aggressive dogs and stuff, that's something that Burt and I have learned. That when it comes to an aggressive dog, he is the one that goes to that dog and handles that dog. Now, the nice ones-no, just kidding-the ones that I know I can handle by myself, I go to. But there, we do have a couple that. We have to tag. I won't say
Bert 35:01
aggressive. I'll say they're they're challenging.
Jillian 35:03
Challenging. Okay.
Bert 35:05
Yes. I worked one of the guys that I worked with at the fire department. His wife. I told her I'd give her her flowers. She she has truly helped me throughout this entire process. She is a handler. She deals a lot with animal behavior and how you, as a handler, project energy and your moods and stuff to the animals, regardless horses, dogs, so on and so forth. She does a lot with the energy that you pass through the leash, things like that. So seeing the the behavior in the dog, and yes, we come in. We can get frustrated just as much as the the animal is frustrated. They're stressed. A lot of them lash out. I don't know what to do. I just need to do something. And being able to take that time and all right, we're we're gonna figure this out, and we're gonna build this relationship together. Take that, you know, yeah, it might take 20 minutes our first couple times coming in, but then eventually it's it's great. And I've never been more proud than we had a blue heeler. Everybody knows that Blue Heeler is a working dog. They're a cattle dog, and they bite the the heels or the ankles of cattle to get them to herd. They had one not in a great situation, but you know we kind of play the cards that we're dealt. And the first couple interactions, it it bit me a few times, but I noticed it was a very reactive bite. It wasn't an aggressive bite, and we both went and like this thing was just Jillian would tense up, and it would start its its little thing. And I was like, okay, all right, I'm just going to be the one to have to deal with this, you know, deal with this animal. And after I got done, I had that dog laying in my lap, licking me all over. Like I truly made a great relationship, and and that is what I love about this business. You know that there are challenges, but when we're able to meet them and overcome and actually build a. You can you can really you can BS a person, but you can't BS a dog or an animal. I mean, you if if they got something that says I don't really like you and I don't like you for a reason, you can't. That's a trust you can't overcome.
Collin 37:40
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Collin 38:15
Jill, earlier you mentioned about there may be some differences between you and Bert. How do you how do you work? Listeners can't see the the snorts and juggle. How do you work through like you know differences in approaches or thoughts or maybe just straight up disagreements in in the business as you guys are operating together?
Jillian 38:37
We take time to. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. He knows my weakness, and I know his weakness, and he knows my strength, and I know his strength. I mean, we've been married for 17 years, so we've had a lot of time, and we've only had two years of running this business together. So we figure it out. That's not the good answer.
Collin 39:06
I think Megan and I are the exact same way. of Of we we we know like things that I am I am good at and things that she is good at, and there's a hard line of like I can go up to this point and then I I there's I'm out and yes and I think it's also just a lot of trust in the other person to be like, I know where I end; they can pick up, right? And they're going to go on and take that, and that that is just that helps so much.
Jillian 39:29
Yes, well, and that also helps, like the blue healer situation. That's really been our our that I can remember offhand of where I was like, nope, I'm tapped. She's she's came after me too many times, and I don't want to keep you know making her angry. So that's when he hops in and says, "I got it. I got it. I got it. It's okay. And we, I mean, we do feed off each other. He can tell when I. Overwhelmed with something, or if we're both together, he'll you know he'll go walk the dog, and I will do the house the house walk around, or get their food ready, or clean up. You know, if when I'm had an accident or something, and while he's doing that, I'll do this or vice versa, so we we feed off each other because we can. And honestly, to be completely honest with you, on the way to the house, we're talking about the what what ifs if we walk in and this dog's had an accident, and he'll say, "I'll take the dog out. You clean, or like I said, vice versa. So we communicate. We're we're learning that communication is a huge key. But sometimes I'm like, I got it, I got it, I got it, and he's like, No, stop doing that. And well,
Bert 40:59
and I mean to tell the listeners, you know, up until about six months ago, I was doing this while she was still at work.
Collin 41:09
Okay, yeah.
Bert 41:10
So I would get up in the morning. I, all right, I've got ex dogs now. Obviously, we weren't as busy as we are now. Yeah. So I would get up. I was like, "All right, you know, I've got to go here, here, and here. And she would get up and go to work. And then I would start my day whenever our first visit was. And then we would communicate throughout the day. Hey, you know, all right, I've got this done. I've got. I'm going here. Anything I need to do? What did? Because she was speaking with the clients, and it wasn't efficient, if you will, but we were just kind of making do with how we were starting out. And then we decided, all right, you're coming home full time, and then now it's grown into, all right, we're both home, we're both doing, we're like, we're both 100% in this, our communication because now we're together. You know, it's the first time that I've not only been married, but I've actually been married and with my spouse all day, all night. You know, my time at the fire department, it was she'd call me, I'd miss a few phone calls. I finally get up with her and be like, "Why didn't you answer the phone? Well, kind of busy, and the dishwasher's broken. Well, there ain't nothing I can do about it now. I'm I'm on the truck, and of course, to her, that is a major thing, like trying to figure out the dishwasher, this or that. But I'm not there now. I'm here now. You know we all of our issues and problems were together, and we can tackle them together, not over the phone. Or so I think that has been a a major reset in how we we deal with issues and problems that that arise, good and
Collin 43:02
bad. can never go wrong with that, and and sometimes it's communicating. You know, it's just communicating those boundaries too, like with one another, also with the clients, because it again, it's such a deeply personal business where clients they want you, they want Jill, they want Bert in the home, and you guys are working together. And when we stop communicating and start making assumptions. That's when things go off the rails. Like that's across the board.
Jillian 43:27
Yes. So one of the things that we did agree because I came home full time in May of this year. So I've been doing this full time since May, and I think it was day two that I came home and he looked at me and he was like, "We've got to communicate because I am notorious and he's also notorious for saying I got it, we've got this. You know, I'll do it. You go do your thing. I got this, and it turns into a big argument. But we won't, and we actually still need to do it. Is put communication, you know, in our office, in the living room, you know, wherever we can find the word communication, and we know that we have to communicate. It's not just a one-person team. It's five. There's five of us in this household that is with Mama Jills and is ready to work. So communication is huge.
Collin 44:26
Yeah, I mean, I I want to. You you both are are building something. You've got a long term view. I am curious. Like what what are you working on now, or maybe want to get started to make sure that the business continues beyond you two, beyond the two of you, like how are you setting it up now for that future?
Jillian 44:52
So he is actually in Launch Joco. It's the small business center in Smith. Johnston County, and when he had to do his proposal to be able to get into this program, they asked us, "What is your five-year plan? I wanted to join the class, but because it was once a week and I was still working full time, I couldn't do it. So you know, he he's my main two guy when it comes to this stuff, but um, he came to me and he was like, "What is your five year guilt? Your five year plan? Well, I would love to have a a storefront, not a boarding, just like a doggy daycare. Just let your dog come and play. You know, just just give me just let me snuggle with them for just a little while while you go shop downtown or say hey I got a doctor's appointment I don't want my dog sitting at home by himself for a couple hours can we drop him off here that is one of our goals and then we're actually going to start transportation hopefully hopefully very soon
Collin 46:00
wow yeah
Bert 46:02
so the transportation would be from to and from vet grooming businesses. You know, I know they they have some mobile, but if you you really like this groomer, you've got to get off work or try to schedule on an off day to take your pet to the vet or the groomer, same thing. We would come to your house, pick your pet up. The same level of professionalism and everything that you get with Mama Jill's pet sitting. We would come and pick your pet up and and transport it to the vet or the groomer or whatnot. Drop them off, let them do their thing there. They would call us, say, "Hey, Fido is ready. Pick them up, carry them back home, and then you come home. Your your your pet has been to the vet, been to the groomer, everything, and and you don't have to kind of like a white glove service for your dog.
Collin 46:52
Yeah, it would that be in addition to the the pet thing. So this is these are add on services that you're looking to yes increase. We're
Bert 47:01
we're looking to have the pet sitting fund the initial startup cost for the transportation. Have both of those pay for the initial startup cost and operating cost for the the storefront. So one build on another. They both build on the other. So on and so forth.
Collin 47:21
Yeah, yeah. Cash flowing it that way, as opposed to trying to take on a huge load of debt right at the beginning. Because yeah, especially especially
Bert 47:30
in this economy.
Jillian 47:31
Yeah, no, yeah, no. So we're hoping to have transportation up within maybe a year and a half, maybe two. So that actually beats our five year our five year goal. I know the storefront is going to take some time, and it's always going to be on a you know my dream, my my dream board that I have. Yeah. But if it don't happen, okay. But I've still because transportation will happen. I will. We are going to go at it for that. But you know, getting a building to rent, and then getting a building to, you know, perk or whatever was it called to be able to do the flooring and be able to. There's a lot of state
Bert 48:14
regulations and stuff when you start having that. Like you can't have any impervious surfaces. You have to have drains, and you know there's a lot of infrastructure that has to go into the building to start with to be able to have pets for any length of time. So to have all that stuff, that stuff costs money.
Speaker 3 48:33
Yeah,
Bert 48:34
and costs a lot.
Collin 48:35
I mean, you guys are talking about a lot of a lot about opportunities in front of you, and you've you've get these long term plans, and you're thinking through. How do you decide whether something actually is is going to be good for the business versus just a like a shiny object that you that we're going to be chasing?
Bert 48:54
I think it's a lot of you know. I'm very apprehensive. Like I I am very analytical. You know, I have to see. I have to see it work in my head before I say, "All right, that's something we can work towards. Even you know, when I do in this class, you know, it's further cemented that. You know, I sit down and I look. All right, what's our profit loss? What's our, you know, where where where are we trending for this year compared to last year, those things I really look at. Then I look at all right, what's it going to cost to get this started? You know, it's not just a dream. We can dream it, but what is a dream or is it a goal? And then then we go. All right, it's a goal. All right, this is how we make the steps to make that meet that goal. Not just, hey, this is like you said, a shiny object, and it's a carrot on a string kind of thing where we're always chasing it, but never doing anything about it.
Jillian 49:56
I am the one that jumps headfirst and says. I want to do this now, and let's do it. And it drives me nuts because he's like, "Wait, let's do. And I'm like, "Oh my heavens, Lord! If you don't let me go, he has to reel that back in just a little bit and be like, 'Come on, come on, come on, come on, breach! In the
Bert 50:16
middle, in the middle of doing all that, she goes, 'Was this a bad idea?' No, I don't know because we didn't look at it. We didn't. We
Collin 50:27
could stop doing something for a minute. I have a report I need to run right now. Yes, so that
Jillian 50:33
is one of our weaknesses and our strengths because I am, I am like driving down the road one day, looked at him and said, "I wanted to start a business. He was like, "Okay.
Collin 50:50
But again, that's that's the beauty of getting to be an entrepreneur in your business, right? Because you can say, "Hey, I've got this dream, and then either I need to have the self control to turn it into a goal, or I need to have somebody come alongside me and go, let's put some steps together and let's actually start doing the 123, because otherwise we just spin our wheels and it's years and years and years or months and months. You know, it's a long time before anything takes place. So having that, like, hey, here's the north star, here's where we're headed, and having to somebody come alongside and be like, "Yep, and here's step 12345, and then work the plan. Right? It's it's great. Like I I love to see it.
Bert 51:29
Yeah. How many people do you like have great business ideas, and that's all they are is ideas. They'll tell you all about these these great business ventures and and all this stuff, but it's all on a whiteboard in an office somewhere, and they've never done anything to get to that point. But you're trying to-they're schooling you on this. Is you know this is what you could do, and this-they're-they're just words. Let's let's sit down and let's put the rubber to the road and actually meet. Let's take that and and try to get there. Not, we'll just talk about
Collin 52:03
it. Yeah, I know people. Oh, I don't want to share my idea. Somebody will steal it. I was like, you know what? They're not going to steal your hard work, though. They're not going to steal the plan. They they can't do that, right? Like ideas, ideas, and words are cheap. It's it's the action that takes place that's actually needed to get stuff done, dreaming's fine. It's great. I'm a daydreamer by nature. I'm I'm the one, I'm the one who's like, man, wouldn't be great to go to Colorado. And then like 15 minutes later, I've got the whole trip planned out, and I'm thinking about it. You know, and Megan's like, so when's that go on the schedule? Like, right? Ah, yeah. Time is a thing. Wait a minute. Oh, plane
Bert 52:43
tickets are $3,000. All right, okay, $3,000. I'll just
Collin 52:47
close out of that tab. There we go. On to something else. Yes, on to my next thing. It's just, but that's again, that's what we get to do. We get to dream. We get to create things. We get to make something. Especially doing it together is is really fulfilling as well.
Jillian 53:02
Love it.
Collin 53:04
Yeah, I was curious. Just you know, you both have built an extremely personal business. It's it's very personal to you. It's very meaningful to you, both with with your brother and the purpose of the future of your kids and how that's tied in together, what advice would you give to somebody else who has a deeply personal business that may feel like is starting to feel trapped by the business by the clients, so that they can continue to show up, you know, tomorrow.
Bert 53:42
I really and kind of take a page out of our book. Is it's just do it, you know, make those connections, make those connections with your clients, and let them see the the deep side, the the personal side. My mentor in this program was kind of apprehensive about us being putting personal achievements and things in our personal lives onto our business, but I I really think that especially in this day and age with you know businesses and stuff that are so far out there, you know the WalMarts, the Amazons, the you don't see anybody, especially with a small business. It is that it's small, it's intimate. Make those relationships, and I think what you feel trapped will end up coming out, and you'll be able to appreciate the relationships that you're building with your clients, whether it's product or service based or whatever it is, that you you'll you'll you'll see that enjoyment kind of flourish in the business, and then you'll see it monetarily, and so on and so forth.
Jillian 54:57
So I would say. To breathe, just breathe. It's all right. We do have days where we're both just completely overwhelmed, and we feel trapped, and we feel like I need a moment. So take a moment. Take the moment to yourself. Get in your car, play some music, read a good book. Make sure you you have time for yourself also, and if you're quiet and you feel trapped, you will start hearing and listening to your brain tell you how to come out of that how how to come out of being trapped. Get out there and do community meetings. You know you feel like you're going around in circles and you're not getting anywhere and you're stuck. It'll just letting your brain chill for just a minute, and you'll start getting yourself to where you need to be.
Bert 56:04
And take yourself out of where you're at. We joined a chamber, and I think that's that single-handedly has done tremendous amount of work for our business. And it's just going and and being around a group of people that are other business owners, making those relationships, and next thing you know, you've got clients. You know, you met somebody at the chamber, and they in turn gave out five of your business cards or talked about your business, and then they didn't have pets, but they got five people that they know that have pets that need pet care.
Speaker 3 56:40
Yeah,
Bert 56:40
kind of take yourself out of where you're at and plug yourself into some of these other groups and stuff. I think that'll kind of open up your open up the little box that you you put yourself in, kind of take you and and show you a new world, a new avenue of of doing business.
Collin 57:00
I love that getting outside yourself, getting connected with more people, and sometimes that's all it takes is just hearing a fresh idea, a fresh perspective. I had somebody who once said, "You know, hey, business is business, and whether you're in pet care or whether you're a plumber or whether you're a lawyer or whether you're a dentist, business it's it has its struggles, and to talk with people and to commiserate. Sometimes it's all you need is be like, "Ugh, today was not good. Have someone else go, "I know, right? Be like, "Oh, hey, hey, it's not just me. It's yes,
Jillian 57:31
and getting out there and just just talking. And I say that. Why do I say that? Because
Bert 57:40
like this morning, stuck in a corner, had to drag her out by her ear, drag her into the center of the room.
Jillian 57:46
I don't know. I don't do public speaking. I guess it's because you have 75 eyeballs on you. I don't know. I don't. I don't. It freaks me out. So when we went to the meeting today, he was like, "Come on, and I was like, "Oh, oh, please don't, please don't. So he did the speaking, like, because you got a 32nd pitch. Sure, he did the speaking, and I just said hi. I said hello. Yeah. Um, but if you get me in a corner by myself, I can talk to you all day long, like, but please don't put the spotlight on me for like for 30 seconds. I will completely just melt in front of everybody. So,
Bert 58:31
yeah, I mean, a lot of that comes. I was a fire inspector, like talking to business owners and stuff like that. To that, that's easy to me. You know, yes, talking to business owners while I'm an inspector, I come from a position of authority, but you have to you have to talk to people the way that you would want to be talked to, and a lot of it comes from a point of education. And business owners, you think of their business as their home. This is this is my livelihood. So being in a room full of other business owners now being one, I love it. You know because these, like I said, the I may not know or may not have the need for interior design, but I may come across a client that you know they're they're looking for one and be like, hey, I just met you know I met this one a couple years ago you know through this and that they do a lot of business in this area. I'll put you in contact with them, and then not only do I get to build the relationship with this client, now I get to share that relationship, and I don't want to say scratch your back, I scratch mine. But you kind of you you put yourself out there, and then that interior design says, "Man, they really gave me a great lead. I need to make sure that anytime their business comes up, to mention, and it just it builds from there.
Speaker 4 59:59
Yeah.
Collin 1:00:00
It's it's that connection to others. I think that just it's so foundational to the human experience, and not to get all you know meta here, but like it really is of whether you are in your personal life or in your business life, having connections to others is so important, both on the hard days, on the good days, on the struggle bus days on the it's just a day that ends in a why and going I have to be connected to to people and to sometimes it's just a person that's all I can tolerate that day all I can do is show up and say hi but that's how you showed up right you showed up and that's what matters and that's those steps that we take to to build our confidence and to get connected with other people. I just, I love that, and I love how both of you are focused on the people in the business. And again, I know that's deeply personal to you, Joel. I was, I did want to ask, what what is your brother's name?
Jillian 1:00:54
Stephen.
Collin 1:00:54
Stephen, and
Jillian 1:00:55
Stephen,
Collin 1:00:56
and how Stephen carries forward in everything that you both are doing. And I I really want to thank you both for coming on the show today and sharing about that and encouraging us and our listeners to take that step to get connected to be personal about the business and to set those good boundaries. If people I know that there's a whole lot more here and so people want to get to get connected, get you know, reach out, say hi, or just follow along with all the cool stuff that you guys are doing. How best can they do that?
Jillian 1:01:27
Facebook. I'm sorry. Okay, I thought he was going to take over. We have a web page, website www.mamajillspetscarellc.com, or Facebook, Instagram, and I am working on my TikTok, Mama Jill's Pet Care. Okay,
Collin 1:01:49
well I will have links to those in the show notes and on the website so people can get connected with you again. I have I have just thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and getting to speak with you both today. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Thank you. Thank
Speaker 5 1:02:03
you.
Collin 1:02:04
My favorite part of my conversation was when they said we can dream it, but is it a dream or is it a goal? There's a massive difference between having an idea for our pet sitting and dog walking business and then actually building a plan to make it happen, and and that's what I love about Jillian and Burt with Mama Jills because they have certainly have they do have plenty of dreams for their company and a direction and goal where they are headed. But what they're willing to do is they're learning to slow down to to actually look at the numbers, understand the true costs of what they are taking on and what they are building, and then identify the steps required to move forward. It's that planning stage where all of the power comes from, because whether you're hiring your first employee or adding a service or you're opening an actual facility or just creating a business that gives you and your family more freedom. Dreams only take you so far. Dreams will certainly give you a direction. It's the planning that is going to give you movement and take you there. We want to thank our sponsors today, Time to Pet and C Squared Accounting, for making the show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon.
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