116: Growing Your Tribe with Judy Nuñez
Brought to you by Time to Pet. Go to timetopet.com/confessional for 50% off your first 3 months.
Summary:
Judy Nuñez, owner of Tails On Trails LLC, is on the podcast to discuss the importance of building and having a tribe as a business. She also tells us how she has continued to host events for her community even in the time of Covid.
Topics on this episode:
Making the shift into retail
Working IN the community
Her “Covid Reopening” Course
Main take away? There is ALWAYS more room at the table.
About our guest:
A pet lover since birth, Judy has always had a special connection to animals. From dogs, to cats, to one of her first pets as a child in the Dominican Republic, her 2 chickens: Pito and Pita, she has always said, "There's something about their eyes, their soul rests there for me." While spending a decade in the corporate world, Judy always felt there was something missing. She longed for more meaning in her life by giving more of her self and helping others. She spent her spare time volunteering at a local Humane Society, where she cleaned crates, walked dogs, and gave lots of attention and love to the animals there. Eventually, she became the proud mom of three rescue-cats: Wilhemina, Bronte and Josephine. All of her cats came from very difficult situations; they were severely abused and abandoned. As a kitten, Bronte had months of medical care due to her injuries prior to her adoption. Wilhelmina was found locked in the truck of a car before she was rescued. And Josephine was found in a junkyard with a broken shoulder, before being found and adopted by Judy. Wilhelmina, Bronte and Josephine are the loves of her life. Judy has provided a safe, nurturing environment, with all of the love they missed out on. She's happy to report that they are all well adjusted and have been a loving family now for over 13 years. In 2008, Judy left the corporate world and started walking dogs for a local, well-known, dog-walking company in Hoboken. She has been an enthusiastic dog walker and pet sitter ever since. Judy has the privilege to know and spend, daily, quality time with dozens of pets and their families, over these last seven years. Another big step in the adventure of her life, Judy is thrilled to continue pursing her passion for animals. In July 2012, she followed her heart and opened her own pet sitting company, Tails On Trails LLC serving Jersey City. She continues to take excellent care of all of the pets entrusted to her and absolutely cares for each of them as if they were her own. In her spare time, Judy has been a stage manager for the local Jersey City arts community. Her work includes: stage managing the Jersey City Slam Team for national competitions and stage managing countless plays with Art House Productions.
Judy is also an avid baker and cook! Being a first-generation Dominican, Judy has been cooking since age 9 and has been a baker since the age of 14. She is the current, two-time "4th Street Festival Mac & Cheese Individual Champion" of Jersey City. Judy was also the baker for the longest running open-mic in Jersey City at Art House Productions, for 5 years.
Links:
Consider supporting the show
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
Check out our pet sitter resources
Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, & TuneIn
Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
people, community, pandemic, person, clients, walking, pet, big, feel, jersey city, pet sitter, open, support, stage, new york, dog, safety, trails, part, scared
SPEAKERS
Collin, Judy
00:17
I'm Collin and I'm Meghan. And this is pet sitter confessional, and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by time to pet.
Collin 00:29
Community is so important, especially in years like 2020. Judy Nunez has been working hard over the years on her business tails on trails to build that community in her local area and has seen it pay off dividends, not just for her business monetarily, but for the people that she works with, or the people in her community. This year, Judy joins us to discuss what it's like building that community why it's so important to her and what we can do in our own areas that we live. Let's get started.
Judy 01:00
Absolutely. Thank you so much for this opportunity. You call when I saw appreciate this. My name is Judy Nunez. Yes, I am the founder and owner of tails on trails, LLC in the magnificent city of Jersey City, New Jersey. We're right over the water of New York. And our city is amazing. So I am a first generation Dominican woman who comes from a family of entrepreneurs. As we came into this country, everything that I could think of to learn of how to run a business I've learned from my family. And we come from a long line of Well, we're basically forces of nature, I'll give it to that way all of my cousins, everyone involved, we're a huge family make My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but Spanish exactly like that. So lots of conversation, lots of chatting a lot of food and conversation on top of that, um, but I've been a pet sitter for 13 years in the Hudson County area. My background is stage management and safety. Also customer services, my parents own restaurants, there's no one on this earth, we'll have a client that coming in. There's no one on earth that really needs the exception of customer service and someone who's hungry. So we figure that out early, feed everyone on time get the music going, and we're good. But we offer a personalized pet care in Jersey City.
Collin 02:25
Wow. With that kind of background of you know, this customer service, I love that of like that. There's no need for higher level of customer service. And I feel like that, you know, that is so important to pet care, too, because it's not just taking care of the pets and providing as much love and care for them as possible. Like you really do have to take care of the clients because they're the ones that pay, right like at the end of the day, like they're the ones that that you need to keep serving. So with this with this background, how did tails on trails get started?
Judy 02:55
Oh, so tails on trails got started kind of tight in a surprising way. I in my 20s I was a well, I wasn't in the corporate world for a really long time until I had a physical issue. I became disabled at the age of 28 for about two years, and I can no longer work. So everything that I did in my 20s to self actualized in being an adult and go on with a life all of that had to be removed. And it was really daunting. What I learned during a time of reflection, it was you know, I love walking, I've always been very active have a dance background. So I have to be very physical and out there. And I found that during a time when I wasn't able to really function. The pets that I had around me because I've been a pet lover since I was born essentially. And especially living and living in the Dominican Republic, I was surrounded with dogs and chickens and every kind of animal you can imagine. But I tell some trail started after I became a pet sitter, a dog walker, for a few years. First, I didn't know what to do with my life, All I knew is that I can physically walk. Because everything else is off the table. I couldn't sit any longer, I could no longer be at a desk. So I ended up trying to find a way and it's like it's it almost felt like a lost journey, trying to figure out who you are. And what I found was with it with walking, there's so much strength that is involved in that and so much stamina, that it really helped to bring me back and of course, working with pets was so therapeutic and amazing. It was really healing for me. I decided because I was having the best time in the world. I mean, I did it for five years, in my late 20s, early 30s while I was stage managing as well, that decided you know what, I could do this for a living. And I decided to open it. I opened it tails on trails back in 2012. I find that the universe for higher powers really likes to give me give a full challenges that we can handle so I opened tails on trails, the worst timing ever. I opened it Two weeks ago, I finally opened it two weeks before Hurricane Sandy came and destroyed everything. So I had to walk clients 11 people, 11 of our clients lost their homes. I had a client, which was crazy. The entire Jersey City was basically decimated along with Hoboken, and so on. And in our city, even the pack station on Grove Street to go into New York, it was closed for eight or nine months. I mean, we had like, we were totally encased, it was like really specific. And I found that the community was so like, like, we linked arms and work together. I mean, there were like two restaurants in a New York app that were open. They were just like crazy. I ended up getting a second job working at one of those restaurants that was open. And it was just crazy. It was it was just intuitive and crazy. And learning. And then of course, I figured out a month after that, not that we needed more. But I learned that I was expecting expecting my first child. So all of this, right. All of this happened with all of this chaos. And I have to say, I don't know if it's God of the universe, but I still feel after all of that, that you never given more than you can handle. I have in an incredible work ethic, and particularly for my family, and an incredible love for it. I'm so passionate about all of this. And especially with the idea of me becoming a mother, I mean, I could not let you know my son down. So I put my head down and went to work. And somehow Here we are, it's been quite magical. It was myself, you love it. One clients, everything was on paper, there was no technology, I had to you have difficulties to go to meet and greet and go Hi, don't mind this, everything's gonna be fine. Like don't mind my belly, we got this. But I have to say I am a fairly, you know, I would have said, like, I'm a fairly confident person I know what I'm capable of. And it's not my first rodeo, I've always had a very determined personality. And usually, if things are joyful, I find a way. Right? That that's how that's
Collin 07:11
what I this is what a wild ride and it sounds like your your your background, and this this grit, this determination, this entrepreneurship that comes from your family, right? Like that's, it sounds like that, that really is what primed the pump for you to be able to look at those challenges and go, actually, uh, no, I'm not going to let this Take me down. I'm going to actually lean into this and and actually make this work.
Judy 07:38
Oh, huge. I am. I'm a stage manager by trade. I love my mind works in pieces in a gathering and, and you can't no one can really do this. I don't think unless you're hyper organized. And I'm that person who gets obsessive about that, because that's how I win. There's so much chaos. One does have to hold on to something. Right. So but thank you my background. You're correct. You know, watching my family. We're I we had a family reunion about a year ago where a bunch of our first cousins got together. I have about 118 first cousins. Like I'm not kidding. Both of my parents, my father and mother both came from a family of 20 siblings. My father was first born, my mother was a 12th. And they lived in the Dominican Republic. And someone said that I was math us in the Santiago province. And when we had our family reunion last year, were out of the bunch of first cousins, we had about 20 to 25 when we got this amazing house in Florida, like this, it was like a halfway mansion to fit 70 people. Yeah. And one of my cousins was doing like, you know, we're trying to figure out a lineage exactly where we came from. And we did he determined that my entire family has been in one province since the 1700s. One place. And as my parents came here in the late 60s, early 70s, they went to New York City they were my father was a restaurant person, you know, he was like a dishwasher became a chef and eventually own restaurants. And my mother, she was a seamstress. She worked down in the Lower East Side, you know, in other factories and everything. I mean, they were to heart, their heart and soul of New York City. And, you know, when we were born here, hello. And then my parents decided to take us back. So I grew up in a Dominican Republic until I was nine. So I came in as an immigrant to this country, not a word of English. And I'm a smart cookie. So a year in I got it. So it's all of that it's watching my parents, you know, go from I mean, I can't even imagine how scary that must be your entire family history. If you think of like the immigrant story happens with with us, you know, and it's so daunting and I have four brothers. I'm the only girl and there's a lot of pressure but I just I don't know I just watch my parents you know, work and live. And have family and party and God we had so many dance parties and we ate so well and all flowers everywhere. Like, I didn't know that we were maybe poor or we had no idea we were always surrounded with so much love and so much conversation. It was like, awesome.
Collin 10:18
Yeah. And to see that see that passion, right, this lineage of passion and hard work transform. And as you met, I can't imagine what that would be like being like, this transformation is really happening with me, right? Like, this is me, taking this, taking this entire history, taking this entire history and hard work and making and making something happen here. And that that's, that's just wild. I love I love that. So I think as part of your doggy daycare that you just started, I think you've also offer a private party and event area that you are there to I would love for you to tell us more about that. And how that got started.
Judy 10:59
Sure, sure. I'm part of that everything got started was jersey city's pretty large. And it comes into different neighborhoods downtown Bergen left yet the heights and so on. Um, I live on the west, excuse me, I live in Bergen Lafayette. So I decided to open something new in the west side, another area that really needed more specific service. And I wanted to get into part of Jersey City that I felt reminded me of that Jersey City maybe 15 years ago, a little bit a little smaller than required. I remember being out here visiting when the past station wasn't even there. And you can only imagine in 15 years, how much something can change, especially next to New York. So it's just been, you know, just so much has changed that I kind of wanted to revert back to a more quiet and calm area that maybe was not getting that type of service. So I thought, let me find my tribe. Let me continue finding my tribe in different places I've always found, I don't know what it is. But I've always found whether it's wherever I grew up, whatever school I was in, I never felt like the odd person out. I've always felt like, Hey, guys, let's be friends. And it was like, whatever click it was I was a person who was friends with every single click. Because for me, I was just happy to be there. And happy to like talk to people. And I'm so interested in how people what they do. And so on that I don't know, I wanted to open a doggy daycare to have like private parties because I I was really missing like being part of the neighborhood I had finally after 13 years, if you can imagine after, you know since 2012, and then being pregnant. And my son just turned seven and he is just the sun in the sky full of energy and the boy doesn't sleep he doesn't ever nap. So I'm in a place where I'm surrounded with very specific energy. And I honestly open up the spot to find a different connection to community that was more specific and visceral for me. But I all my Spanish family, they're in Queens, they're in Florida. Like I just I miss my people like I love the vibration with Miss 15 people in the room. So we have this thing where the doggie day camp that on the weekend, the intention had been to open it up to do private doggie birthday party. So we had separate ones of those people were celebrating. And then we were doing something called rent the run that way that could rent the space and the run in the back for like a private dog run in that area. That way I want to neighbors like it was very Mr. Rogers about it. Like who was the people in our neighborhood, like what's going on here. And I wanted to sit down and just be like, let's go somewhere that's safe. somewhere that the doors locked and that we can you know, meet our neighbors and there's a coffee shop next door treehouse cafe. Amazing. They're 50% of the reason why I got that spot too. Because they're the heart and center of the west side as well. That's how that opened we wanted to socialize get to know our neighbors. And that was like my way of just like hanging out with people I mean, I don't know I really just missed hanging out with people because the last two three years of my life I've had to physically remove myself from the physical walking as you know with dog walkers we walk six eight hours on concrete every day or whether I did it for 13 years like my body was falling apart. Yeah and because I was removed then we staged managing and still being every meeting greed every trading I was out there but I was not that was move like I needed to like
Collin 14:20
you were you were you were out in the community but you weren't in the community at that point and and
14:26
was torture. And so
Collin 14:34
when you looked at that and you went you went okay where is there a need for this and where can I fit in and this idea of going I want to bring I want to help bring the community together through their pets right like I need and I can I can get be fed by that too because then I get to go to the parties and you know, help run the event. Do all that fun stuff too.
Judy 14:55
I get to hug puppies. I'll tell you I missed out the most I wasn't seeing my babies as much anymore. And that was really missing them.
Collin 15:05
Yeah, it is, it is a lot, it is a lot. And you don't know that part of it too is a lot of times you don't might not think, Oh, I'm gonna miss them as much as I do. But we do miss them, we do miss them when we have to go on, you know, when we go take a break, or we go on vacation or they they don't need our services for a time being. It's like, Oh, I miss my walks with, you know, with Kevin, like, he was awesome. Like, I really didn't expect that. But you but you do have those moments for sure. So, you know, knowing that you're out there going, there's a there's a need in this community. What can I do? How can I help fill this? You know, I just I think that I think that's really great. And you are, you're involved a lot in your community, you do a lot of community type events, too. did want to touch on some things. You know, you mentioned a little bit earlier, shifting the business, you're shifting to more of a boutique atmosphere. And I think you're also you mentioned you bringing in some some retail to your locations, too. Yes. What is that shift? What prompted that shift? I guess other than 2020 a pandemic? what's the what's the thought process behind that? And how does that shift going?
Judy 16:08
Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for asking that. That's like the toughest one. I'm, I'm a big believer that if you're passionate, and you know yourself, you know what you're made of, you know what you want, that I find it resonating with something is more important than chasing after something or feeling like I think I want this. At the end of the day, there's no I think it's very difficult to do what I've done with the pieces I've had, I've had to MacGyver a lot of things with tape and gum, that's kind of crazy. A part of that is stage managing theater, you kind of have that. Um, but I found that, you know, the experience with Sandy and starting a business that way, that's how my business the seats came along. That I don't know, I kind of, I don't know if this is this is probably very telling. And it's kind of weird. But when the pandemic happened, it was awful. Especially out here in March, it was really devastating. But then I had the feeling that oh, I, I know what this is like, I know what this is. I wasn't as freaked out because I did this in a place where I had nothing. So doing it again now after doing some much because in a time of five to about seven since 2012, until this year. And that time from seven, eight years it went again from me being me with a backup. I had a client. And it went from me having to the peak, I had 20 walkers. I had four people in my office, we had 125 daily dog walks, we had between 40 and 80 clients that came in throughout the year. And then we were doing events in the PAC walk. And we're doing all about downtown, this huge fall event that is a yearly community event for Jersey City that takes place every September. We were vendors and sponsors for many years. And in that place, hundreds of thousands of people come and it's a big like if that was my favorite because there's a block party to hang out in like hundreds of thousands of people. And I had our walkers here that we even meet each other because put a face to the name. And it was such a party, I'll tell you the best time and you can go out and meet other vendors. And it was just like the whole community of like, a like a blackout like New York City just had an anniversary for the 2003 blackout which I was in New York for that one. It reminded me of that party except no blackout. And it was like full day fun. And people had drinks or food and it was like super party. So that makes it's like how did we start shifting? We reached this I don't even understand fully how we reached where we did except that that's what we can do. I'm a very, I know how to put my head down to work. And I know at the end of the day that because I want to resonate with people. The clients that I that I chose because they did a meet and greet I must I have, at this point in 13 years have met hundreds of clients probably like seven or 800 clients over the years. Like it's been a lot. I mean, every single client even to the state through zoom now, which is weird, but we'll do it with you that but every Walker that's ever walked with us I'm very hands on with training. I'm the General up front, even though I'm not walking every day, the worker see me I'm out there and all kinds of weather going high on the Dominican it's super cold as negative 20. I got my ski pants off like this. And it's like oh Judy's out there training I trained everybody will work it out. Um, the way everything started shifting really is. I really wasn't thinking too far ahead as to how something this big can really be structured long term. I'm a single parent, I'm only one person. I have incredible staff around me. I resonate again, with really great people in the office. There's no way I can do half of anything without anybody. But I had to structure the business with the understanding that I cannot be a cog that blocks anything I'm hands in but I have to observe more and trust my staff to really push everything Because if my son needed something or he was sick, here we are, I had to take care of him. So how did everything shifts from now into retail, um, basically, when the pandemic hit that Monday, Tuesday for us, it was like the beginning of March, Monday and Tuesday because every part of the country, you got hit with the pandemic, and whatever iteration you were sitting here, my brother is up in like Washington State, he got it six, eight weeks before us New York is not six, eight weeks, I had a Florida and so on, because this country is so big. But um, I had given myself the doggy daycare open February 1, which is doggy daycare with what we advise with renting, you know, the space. And we went from having a dog to 12 to 16 dogs in a matter of five weeks. I know I did everything I met every client, I get in there. I'm like, Okay, I know how to be a professional dog walker. But it's a different universe than being attached to a leash and then running around. And I'm not a behavioral specialist. But you know what, I can figure anything out. And at the end of the day, there was a lot of research, I'd look to mentorship, there was a lot of resources that I went to and said, you know, what would be the best way had behaviorists come and give us suggestions, and to set up that up for safety. And the week of the pandemic? I'll tell you that Monday, Tuesday, I was standing there, and everything worked. I had given myself eight weeks from February 1 to make it work. Hell out water, let's do this. And by the fifth week, we did it. I remember calling the office going, Oh my god, we're here. And I looked around and the dogs were getting along. They were frolicking in the sun. It was like a movie. I'm like, ah, and then follow me along. Like I'm like, you know, I would walk from one way, but he was like, alignment was so weird. They were following right behind me, it was perfect. And then I started treating people. But then that was Monday, Tuesday. By Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, New Jersey was shut down, like New Jersey, like we specifically shut down. And I think in the course of a week, everything was shut down, like we close out in four days, put everything to bed. And it was the most panic straining, I think I've ever been in shock. Um, how this all happened was I have to let go, I am a perfectionist, I am the stage manager. There isn't anything that I expect other people to do that I would not put myself to do first. And I realized that I am that person who it's too hard for me to let go. Like, I feel like I'm such a willful like willful in the sense where I can create my destiny or I can take the tools, that MacGyver tape and the chewing gum and like a stick of whatever, I can make a pen, like I can make it work. And then I look at the crazy inventory of all the things that we've built all of the projects, all of the events, all the things that we wanted to do for community, and it had to watch everything closed down in the lights turned off and put away it was. I mean, I'm a creative person, and just that creative aspect of putting away was devastated. So I let everything go. And then I just kind of eventually became like everybody else and started watching Netflix and chilling out because I don't know what else to do. And, and then slowly but surely, I felt like I I would take a lot of time to take walks. And I felt like God of the universe speaking with me talking about it's time to make it smaller. It's time you know, as much as I enjoyed doing something that big and it was amazing. And it's so grand ly gratifying to come where we started to where we were. But at the end, you know, is that what I want to long term was I really happy, you know, with my personal life when it came to that and I realized smaller is better. Like it's nothing wrong with starting again. And the pivot then began where there were so many other vendors and so many other dog walkers and so many people who have so many other skill sets, who dove in who maybe started other creative processes. And I realized we have so many vendors and so many people I wanted to open like the tails on trails marketplace is what we're going to call it which is like a little boutique shop. And in that area because every section it's almost like epidemic forced everyone to have like their own little village like think of like England countryside, like, what is the butcher, the baker, candlestick maker and everybody there and like nobody wants to go downtown anymore. Everyone's scared to go to Target. Nobody has like a dog place. And my neighbor or treehouse cafe was saying hey, I don't want to go downtown for my dog food. Why don't we do something so it became this like a lifeline of I want it to be part since my ready was planning to be part in a very Mr. Rogers kind of way there and party. One of them be a hub for creatives for have maybe whatever vendors needed that way he didn't have to go all the way down to town for pet supplies or dog food or something fun because we're basically gearing it. It's very boutique style. we're gearing gearing it for dog moms, dog dads, and basically essentially it's gonna be Super fun. So kind of happened on his own, I can't even tell you.
Collin 25:04
Well, it happened on its own. But behind it all was this immense like desire for community and not just community like in this big speak but community where the rubber meets the road of community doing things together, supporting each other. And it's really cool to hear that as the pandemic progressed, there was this hyper focused on very, very localized supply and, and grouping together and community to, to meet people's needs. And to step in and go, hey, yeah, let's do this, you know, you bring whatever you're making, and you know, you if you're making dog food, we you know, we'll bring it in, and we'll just supply the local community here. One, it's, it's probably, you know, safer. It's keeping people out of really high density areas. And two, it's bringing people together and going look, if you need anything, we're here to help.
Judy 25:54
100% that's exactly what the challenge was. And I have to say shout out to my Gen Jersey City residents and everybody business owners. Wow, magic and rainbows. I'll tell you, it's it's exactly what it was like during Sandy like it but bigger and obviously more intense, the pandemic really forced everyone to stop exactly where they were, it wasn't even like a way to have a shoe here. Oh, my God, people were just randomly whether they were out of state or wherever people landed. It's almost like everything shut down so fast. And it was so terrifying. And then it affected in New York City, you know, area, New York, New York is right there. I mean, we can look in New York, anything that happens to New York essentially happens to us, like, people have been talking about the sixth floor, or that kind of bothers people. I understand that. But being out here, it's like, we're so interconnected. And it was so scary. And especially because everyone had to sit and stop and how do you that's unnatural for New York City from Metropolis to sit and stop, like, Where's that energy? Like, you know, how like, it's like you're running on a treadmill, you just fall off, like, what the heck happened here? It was really daunting. And everybody was marinating in whatever they were feeling all this time, because no one, especially me. I didn't see this coming. Who did and no one saw, it'd be this long.
27:14
Like, wow, this is intense. You know,
Collin 27:19
it really has been it really has been and trying to understand our role in the community aspect of it. And I know that's, that's something that you've been playing for, for a while, you know, you've mentioned some events that you would go to or put on. So I got to ask, like, what, why is it so important to you to be involved in the community events and everything going on like that? Because it is it comes up in everything that you're mentioning here? And so I am curious to know why, you know, why is that?
Judy 27:48
For me, I find that tribe is probably the most important thing. It's not. It's bigger than family. It's bigger than friends. It's bigger than community, this chosen family. There's so much that happens in a timeframe. I think it's my perspective, because I am the initiators and immigrants to this country. And I was born here we went back. There's this specific there's only immigrants know this, there's a specific responsibility to the to your, to your tribe, in your, in your ancestors really, that you bring forth when it's somewhere that's so different in you. I think I was 40 I'm 43. Now I was 42 years old. The first time that I went to a real big family birthday party that it wasn't mainly Dominicans, like this one, people are more expensive, and they're a lot more of different cultures within it. And that was very unusual for me before that timeframe was the Spanish people. So it was like really my personal I was heavy, Dominican, very Spanish. And I found that as I grew up, and I was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, a really it's in Bergen County, not too far from Hudson, where we are right here, George Washington Bridge, just put it that way. It was such a recce of incredible city, I grew up with every minority. Everybody back in the 90s. Like everybody, like most people, when they went to college, realize that how diverse we were once you went to college, that's where it was from middle school and high school and we had arts and dance and oh my god, just the artists and musicians and it was just so like, full and people from New York, the Upper West Side, we're moving towards that area. And he was just so fold in that way. That it really, I found that I found the reason why in the end, the what I learned as a Dominican woman, and through my ancestry and my ancestors and a tribe, is that the table is always there's always room. Like where you remember as far as we grew up, my mother, you know, she would make like all of our arms like all this food, and we're like, I mean, we knew like we have a budget. People call me like, you know, having three arms and the kids just like 1520 people everyone had to eat, but they will always have all this extra food. And my mom would always say like, you never know who's gonna come over, you know Kingsolver who's coming over. It's about having this extension of welcoming people. And I found that because as an immigrant coming in, we have the responsibility of living in the old world and keeping that tradition, but also being the ones that open into the new world. I parents had a very difficult time, especially me being, you know, a woman, female. coming in with that energy, I had a very in their minds masculine energy, because I was so outspoken. I was so gregarious, and I've always been out there. And I've always known who I was, and who I am. And so it's kind of daunting, you know, you grew up, I always joke that my parents grew up in 1850s. I grew up in the 1950s. And suddenly, I transported like Scott bacula, from Quantum Leap or something out into the future. There's been so many different types of people that I've encountered. I'm a world traveler, I've been a lover. I'm the first generation who's been anywhere past New York, I've been to Alaska, I've been to Egypt, I've been all over the world. And I don't know there's something about once you meet. Everybody's the same in the end, it's family, it's love is traditions. And although we do do it differently, and it's all based on where we are, I just want to go to I just want to go to where the party is. So I, I want to dance I want to eat and I want to talk I mean, that's basically the deal. So why it's I'm a tribe person, I want to embrace people who resonate, and I feel that, you know, we're here to support each other. And that's essentially why Yeah,
Collin 31:44
yeah, and I love that metaphor that that picture of the tables always bigger, there's always room at the table, you're never gonna run out. And and so to hear that in your position of going, I have to maintain my connections to where I came from, while eagerly looking to to learn more and integrate into a new the new world, the new says, a new society, like that makes it one big table. And so you can't Yeah, you can't not be the one that goes out and gets everybody together. Right? Especially with somebody with a background that goes, we always have more people come over. And so you're bringing that into your community there. And, and, and through through pet care too, which is just, which is just wild and so cool.
Judy 32:27
I think you were the Welcome Wagon, essentially, if there's a term to be used where I wanted to do like a soft landing, because I found I have traveled and move so often in my life that when people are coming into Jersey City, Jersey City was so heavy artists, artists, and it still is and community. But as people were coming from all over the place, and then from other boroughs of New York, they were wary coming in, like I made a mistake what I do, and I'm like, Oh, honey, I don't even know what's going on. This is great. Come in, and let me show you. There's something about when so whenever somebody moved into the area, we always like that's a tradition with most cultures, you come in and you're like, Welcome Wagon, you have like some cultural or you have like a Dominican cake or you have like cookies, or you have maybe some wine, something to make them feel, you know, moving from what you notice something that you don't, it's so traumatic for people, especially for the reasons people move, and especially New York City area, people come to New York for an experience, people come to New York to find themselves, people come to New York, to be under that kind of pressure. I mean, the type of people who come here, as I say, you make it here, you make it anywhere, the type of person that it takes to come here, whether you stay short term or not. And most people come here kind of short term and move on. It's to have that experience of like the big city and all the history that's happening within New York. And I feel like you know what, no matter where you go, whether it's Alaska, Turkey, Egypt, you know, wherever you are the little place in Dominican Republic samosa last month as we grew up, dude, all you need is some food and someone can you do a welcoming you I mean, that's that's like the biggest relief when you know that people care, right? I find especially in a city that's so hard to find. That's the approach for personalized better for us.
Collin 34:03
Yeah, right. And why is that? You know, that question of like, Why me? Well, why not? Me? Why am Why? And that I feel that because so many times get caught up in our heads of going Oh, what you know, I Why would I be the one that reaches out? I just walked dogs like I just I just you know, it's good cat litter, that's all I do. Well, you know what, like, Why not? Because Because you're out there in the community because you are seeing people you're waving people from the streets you're you know, you're meeting shop owners. Why not you Why not be a part of that? Have you heard about time to pet Dan from NYC pooch as this to say I'm Tibet has been a total game changer
34:42
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 petsitting software's in the past, but these other solutions were clunky and riddled with problems. Everything in the past has been so well thought out. It's intuitive feature rich It's always improving.
Collin 35:01
If you are looking for new petsitting software for your business, give time to pet a try. As a listener of pet sitter confessional, you'll get 50% off your first three months when you sign up at type two pet.com slash confessional. And as you've mentioned, you know, COVID gave us a whole new meaning of community. And one of the things that you did was you organised a special COVID reopening class for your
Judy 35:29
Oh, yes.
35:31
So tell us about that.
Judy 35:34
Sure. So here I am. We close things down, obviously, in four days, because everything down, no one knew when this was ending, I figured a few weeks, maybe everyone's panicking. I'm a fairly a fairly empathic person. I'm a healer, as well, as a teacher, a business coach a bunch of things. I just feel like with the experience that I had, I did it alone, so much of that it's so important. Whenever I see I feel anyone being afraid, or I feel people being shaken to their core. Anything that reminds me in particular, what happened with Sandy, it just, I have like a kinship to people who are afraid, I think, and my big thing has been like, it's not like a magical and I'm like, Yeah, let's do this. I am the most scared person there is at the end of the day, surprisingly, but I'm scared, but then I do it scared, because there is no other choice. I mean, you have to move ahead. So you might as well be terrified. I hate heights. I don't do roller coasters. I even if I can do the merry go round like I can't, like I can't do like what is the Ferris wheel Oh my god, like I can't eat to be on the ground. Because life is so scary to me life has been so scary in my experience. And I felt like I've been thrown into the lion's den so often. But I've learned that if you do it scared, then you It's okay, that's kind of part. You never going to get rid of that. So when I saw I just felt like, like everyone I think had this global vibration of anxiety and fear, and shock and awe and in panic and it's just, it was so heart wrenching for me to watch that with our walkers and the people in our in our office staff. And to watch our clients and everyone just worry about their families and their health and people are dying left and right. I mean, New York, New York area got hit so hard, similar to California in other larger cities in comparison, thank goodness, I have to say in other places that it will likely will never reach that that type of Epicenter but how I was I was out here reminds me. I mean, I was out here for I was living in New York City since 1999. Like I was there in New York, pre 911. I remember, it has a lot of shape the similarity of when you walk through life, and all you're doing is living loving going to work and doing the best that you can to give and become a better person and take all your failings and work on that and fail and you know, wallow or whatever, and whoever you're gonna meet, and I'm realizing as more time went forward, you know, there's something about the people being afraid. So after things settle down, I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take this energy, where I just felt like everyone was like, shaking. I don't know, maybe that's just me my own perceptions. I don't know why. But I said to myself, well, I've done everything I needed to do or could do, or would do, or whatever, for my business. And I'm checking in on other people and through about 29 companies or so that an emergency like Instagram, like what the heck is going on, like everyone was so scared, and out of everyone there. You know, I had been a pet sitter within the counting the longest, we will want the larger companies. So we were helping each other, we were supporting each other and pat each other in the back and saying it's gonna be okay. And anyways, through the conversations that I was seeing and observing and being part of with all of these amazing pet sitters, that, you know, we recommend, and there were other little mini tribe that we have in support prior to COVID. When I realized that, they reminded me, a bit of me when I first started, and I'm like, What am I doing, it's wrong for me not to do something like I just felt like, let's see, whoever like, I'm just gonna do this. If people want to be there, great. If not, no biggie, let's just do something. And then on top of that, I'm a person that I was so anxious, and I needed something to occupy my anxiety. I felt like the way that I tend to work through things, especially with fear is that I make take a fear as fuel, that anxiety and try to build something for the greater good if I can. And I thought let me take my knowledge and see how I can help with my stage managing and the rest. See what happens. So that's how that came along.
Collin 39:57
The phrase you said there was, you know, I needed to do it but I was scared. So I'm going to do it scared, right? And I'm going to I just, you know, you couldn't not do something when you saw people and and to step up and go, Okay, I'm gonna put this on and to help everybody right that's gonna make everybody better in the end. So what what kind of topics Did you cover for the for the businesses that were that attended?
Judy 40:21
Oh sure, sure um the first one that was very specific was going over the executive order for our governor governor Murphy. Well, we found the New Jersey since most of New Jersey is not a city most of New Jersey is either suburban or, you know, rural or etc, like beach towns and so on. It's the Garden State for reasons a lot of farms and things. I found that it seemed as if the government look they everyone I'm so proud of Governor Murphy, so proud of the governor of New York, everyone really up here, I felt like we all felt really supported. And despite all this crazy stuff that we had to go over us is only essential businesses were open the way they deemed anything on Thursday pet care label was that Mary, which makes sense. And then pet food. It's and you know, as everyone knows, the dog walking business in the last 20 years, especially the last eight to 10 really has come almost out of nowhere. So most like the the government really has not really kept up with the reality. So when they just shut everything down, and I am that person who's like, because I am the regulator to the stage manager and safety person. Like I'm a big I follow rules, obviously, for safety otherwise, and I didn't want to go against anything that they first put out. But we had to, you know, my company reached out to Governor Murphy, and he reached out to Steve Bullock and their organization to basically go, Hey, I respect what you guys are doing. But do you understand the the conflict? What's going to happen if only essential people can work? Do you not understand maybe that dog walking can be essential? Because how will all of the doctors and all of the store clerks and everybody that needed to go to work? It's a human to leave someone behind for 12 hours, like what are we doing here? So I regrouped early to try to figure out what to do. But the class covered. Basically, what can we do as a business to bring up COVID policies that would be best according to what the governor Murphy did an executive order. And the way he amended certain things as he eventually he opened up rooming is there's so many breeds that if you don't ruin them, that's, that's not that's a health issue, you know, on top of that, so there was a lot of conversation involved. So we covered what governor, what happened at that time, because every bit as you know, the executive order would change every couple of weeks, depending on the intensity. So it was like how do we put this class on when I feel like I'm like chasing this train, it was like really intense. So we did the executive order. We did a lot of information regarding prepping your staff. If you have along with other partnerships like other buildings you come into and honoring their safety aspect. The latest we go to the CDC, I made sure that I was certified do other pet sitters International, they have a course for COVID-19 certification. And I was very proud to say that I want to say like 85 to 90% of what I had already planned to discuss and cover is what they cover too. So I felt like I was on the right track. There was a lot of research. Again, I preface everything saying I'm not an expert. This is a an educational program, as we're doing everything else. I gave a listing, I gave a syllabus, it was like a teaching situation. So I had a syllabus, we had a lot of coverage. But we covered, you know all of that. We had a q&a, which is super great. But again, we went into safety options, and more how to have a conversation where we wouldn't get so much pushback, because how do you have a conversation with clients? who normally like to give you a little bit of pushback, because they don't know they like eating the haka. They don't know how to make a hot dog behind the scenes. That's what we do. Right? Yeah. So you have to have that balance of customer service with like safety of like, of course, we're not doing that. How do we do it in a way that that they can best understand where they were, they're not the ones pushing you and making you uncomfortable with the policies that are there. I'm glad that Governor Murphy, our governor had what he had. I'm glad the executive overs were there because all we had to do is according to the governor Murphy's executive order, like look, it's dog walking, it's not brain surgery, like work with us, right? Like let's do this. So it was a lot of that just conversations of how to approach clients in a way that it's effective, what kind of emails to write, how to then support your staff because everyone is scared. How do you make them feel that they're supported with the safety masks and gloves, what policies they can put in for their safety because it's I've always run my company where it's the safety on both sides. I have this emblem that says clients equals walkers walkers equals clients because it's the same and if you don't treat without clients obviously would have a company but without walkers. Hello I did it for 13 years. And the moment I got off my feet, I've been like, Oh, my God, like it has safety is number one. And if we can't do it safely, we're not doing it. I'm not interested.
Collin 45:10
Wow, that aspect of going, Okay, there's not just information here. And yes, that information is changing. Because as these executive orders come in, it's kind of kind of chaos. But it's not just that to it's how do we how do we communicate? How do we just talk about this in a way that's going to make sense that's going to be clear to both our employees and our clients? Because it's confusing for everybody. Everybody's scared, everybody's on edge. Nobody knows what's going on. So let's, let's just get some tools in place. So that we, you know, again, it starts with us, why not me why I need to learn how to talk about this, I need to learn to take on that responsibility.
Judy 45:47
100% and like the escalated anxiety, how to give support. And then more importantly, I find a pet sitters have a hobby difficulty because most of us are very empathic and we want to help boundaries. We wanted to if there's ever a time I was telling everyone think of this as a minor blessing. But thing is if there's it took a pandemic, to slow everybody down, it took a pandemic, to bring up the idea of how does one effectively communicate with a client, or you're supportive, but then you draw that line where doesn't then, you know, boundaries are so essential in what we do. And so many of us are so bad at it, that if there's ever a time I said, Look, blame governor Murphy, like, I mean, that's the point. Like he's, he's the leader of the state. And I'm not, I'm a dog sitter, like, at the end of the day, if you have to pull the Murphy card, pull the Murphy card,
Collin 46:37
right now is so good, like this muscle that none of that this muscle that so few of us exercise on a regular basis, going, Oh, I need to tell this person? No, but I don't really want to tell them no. And so how can I get out of telling them? No, I'll just say yes, I won't do and it's in, you know, what? No, use do? Start. start rehearsing that, start putting that into practice. And you know, and you have a really good reason to say no, right now, or you have a wonderful, whatever reason. Just and and, and I'm sure you know, again, that that that takes some of that fear that takes some of that edge off as far as like, Oh, I didn't, I didn't want to say no, I didn't want to have to do that. But I have no choice. Now my hands are actually tied. Okay, that should make it easier to say no next time because you said it No, that one time or you drew that boundary, you drew that line in the sand that one time each time you do that kind of honestly, regardless of the reason of whether it was governor Murphy, or was because you wanted to, it's easier to draw that line to each time that just it's just practice. At that point. It's
Judy 47:36
very empowering. And I encourage everyone, this is the time Take a look at everything of how you're running a company that you just doesn't work for you anymore, that you don't resonate that you hate. This is the time to clean it out. And no is your friend, we everybody was like we can do that. I'm like, Yes. 100% It's like giving them permission to sit down and do whatever you like. And I told them look, be prepared people are either gonna leave you or they won't. But if this is what you need to move ahead, and it's brand new and sanity, it to your peace of mind, do it for yourself. Most of the people that I was working with, I have to say in our area, most of the people are their own walkers. And then we have one or two that work with most of you that are smaller, there's a handful a little bigger. So there were like their own people. And and because they're so involved, they had a difficulty of separating. So it was a really good thing. Beautiful perspective. And it went over really well. I have to say everybody was very excited about that one.
Collin 48:37
Yeah. And given your past experiences in organizing events and being part of that your stage management to what, how did you pull this together, especially with the pandemic of aging in the background?
Judy 48:51
Well, let's put it this way. Um, anybody who's a stage manager, anyone who is an event like the event coordinator, there's a meme, I saw a joke that says, hey, if this pandemic, if we just have stage managers and an event, people basically come up and take charge, everything will be done in a week. And we'll do it with like, you know, minimal, we have like gaff tape, like, make it work. Like it's not even like that. But anybody who does any type of level of management, especially for stage and performance, we're every single performance has to be like the the first one experience for the for the audience. Well, the history of theater is fire. I mean, at the end of the day, it's what it is, anybody who runs anything on Broadway knows that we run a pandemic schedule every day of the week. So it's that aspect of preparing for the worst. And having not just plan A, B and C, I'm a person who has a plan A through Z and beyond whatever other language I have, like Spanish alphabet is longer. So I have a plan for everything. I'll tell you like, let's get in here. I'm gonna lean I don't know. I feel like very prepared. I'm like how this came about in the end. Honestly, it was Kind of daunting, because I'm a stage manager. And because I do love this, you think I'm an extrovert I'm not. I'm actually an introvert. I'm a very like pensive. I'm actually fairly quiet on my own. Like, I love being in my own headspace and it's there. And my big thing is, you know, stage managers, no way to stage manage that play. Opening day like you work with the director and producer and you like the in between you do all you like the center, and you're the one who basically time check, and you balance the whole thing. And you deal with all of the personalities, you're just super crazy and fun. creatives are great. I love it. But oh my goodness, it's one of my favorite things. The reality is opening day. The biggest surprise that I had when I was staged managing the first time is that the director sits down and he's done, he or she has done their job. And this state they brought to help to bring it to life. The day of opening day, it's the stage manager show. A director needs to sit down everybody needs to produce a sit down, everyone's Sit down. You're the one in charge and you're dressed all in black. Because no one you can feel like you're behind the scenes and you're pressing buttons. You have that thing in your in your in your mouthpiece, and you're walking around with the thing and and it's like you're my you're a ghost Exactly. I kinda didn't that supposed to be seen. It's it was I found the biggest issue for me, it wasn't a knowledge of how to get it the work behind because I'm very thorough. The biggest thing for me, surprisingly, was stepping into the spotlight. That is not a natural place. For me. I have a dance background. So anything nonverbal, I can do just fine. Like Yes. But to step in as a teacher as a motivational speaker, as I just every cell the knowledge that I had, part of me had that feeling of almost like imposter syndrome, like Who am I to be stepping in? What do I know? And I had to sit down and go, dude, what do you know? So I had to get over myself, I had to come in. It's like, I have to become that actor in front with full makeup and hair. And I'm like hair, I feel like I feel like I went behind the scenes. As I'm walking towards the front of the stage. It was like this, this just transformation of like, wardrobe and hair. And I'm like, wait, why? And then the lights, like the lights that I usually would have brought in with people with the lights on me. And the key was in the front, I'm like, Oh, geez, yeah, that was tough for me to be up there. But once I got over myself and my nerves, I realized that it was so much fun, because it's just like, it's like sitting down with people. And you know, drinking tea together or having a drink or just talking like I love to do so it wasn't really, it was a lot less daunting that I really wrap my head around to do because that scared the living nightmare. And again, one step at a time, one step at a time, I made sure I was certified and I sure had research I reached out to other people. There's Mega petsitter specifically, she's amazing. She is a force of nature. She's so out there, and she does social media. Again, I'm 43. I'm like the youngest of the Gen Xers. So I got like the taste of social media. But I you know, again, I'm from the 1800s. I love a good book, like I don't know, she got me in there. And she has taught so many classes. And she I went to her and I hired her to teach me like what is the what is one view? Like I realized the only thing that I didn't know that I couldn't picture necessarily how one does. Like, how does one interact with people with a knot in front of you like that. It's just a really weird thing. I'm so used to having flesh and blood in front of me of a thing and being a part of the same energy. But that's a covid experience. Everybody had to learn that. So I reached out to Meg to Megan and she was supportive, and lovely and gave me such phenomenal pointers. I went to the expert because I'm not going to recreate a wheel or I didn't have the ego in me to be like, I don't know what to do. I'm like, if I feel scared, I felt like I had to do everything as well as they could to make sure that people got what they needed to get in the format of this weird video thing. So through her she held my hand. I called her before freaking out. I'm like, Oh my goodness, I know what I'm doing. And then she talked me off the ledge and the day off I realized that you know, through that support. I'm so grateful to her in particular. It was really magical. Yeah.
Collin 54:28
Yeah. For for listeners who are going oh my gosh, I have no idea how you would start doing this. This is crazy. You know, listening to this going. Yeah, you get out of you get outside of yourself. You bring in support bringing this community lean into this tribe that you have around you. Right, like, like, and so what other advice would you give to somebody who may be thinking about this event? They hear this idea of doing a COVID reopening and they go Oh, that sounds interesting. What kind of advice would You give to them?
Judy 55:01
Well, everything is the most important thing. It's bite size. I'm a pet, I'm a person who can view the larger span. I love planning six months a year, I love this idea of playing with the possibilities. But in this COVID world, we didn't know what's going on tomorrow, half the time or three days in felt like at like two weeks, I mean, nobody knew what the heck was going on. So this long term, this ability to look beyond the timeframe of I can see for the future that was erased, everything was just dark like everybody else. And that terrified me. So I find what I tell people is, sit down and look in your inventory, open up all of the projects that you've done, look at the things that naturally, that you are already attuned with, because everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. And it's mainly people that you like, there's plenty of people that I would love to work with. But maybe we don't resonate exactly the same way. And that's okay. At the end of the day, there is a path for everybody. And it's not about saying how do we make this for the masses? It's Who am I? What do I have to bring? That's honest, and what's that makes you unique? And then look around and saying, What is my experience, even like tiny experience, like whatever it is, every experience you've had in life is important. In my 20s. You know, when I was living in New York City, I wasn't able to finish college. It's a long story, but I was able to finish college. Part of that was the effect of 911. I, it was very difficult for for anything to really proceed. And I realized that I needed to figure out who I was. So I became a mail carrier. I was a legal analyst, I was a real estate agent like I I wanted to get my feed into different possibilities to build things. So everybody has something whether whatever that you have discipline in, look at your inventory, honestly, and figure out what's fun, because I'm telling you, I know putting a class together and doing the stage management thing most people will be like, Wow, that sounds really boring. Oh, that sounds like really intense. I love it. I love putting Legos together. I love to see I'm I'm I'm always putting ideas, creatives, looking, it's almost like cooking, I feel like I go I open the fridge and go, what do we have left here. And I can make anything out of anything really, as long as I honor the ingredients. And at the end of the day, look at what you have. But most importantly, start small. I when I first started again, with this again, it was just me and I had a client. And that was only 20. There was only years ago it doesn't feels like it's been 100 years now. But I don't know, I feel like look at your strengths. Look at who you have an inventory wise, and everything is one step at a time. You know, one bite at a time. And it's about getting over the initial fears of organization. But most importantly, if you're not an organized person, you have to work with somebody who is otherwise it's gonna be nothing but chaos. And not all of us have that as as a strength and God bless you I understand but get somebody they can help you with that. It also resonates with you who's able to give you that support? Because Ooh, that's hard.
Collin 58:19
Again, thinking about this of going, Oh, man, that that class sounds so cool to put on my community could really use that. But I'm, as you guys mentioned, I'm just the pet sitter, though, like I who am I to put this on? You talked about this imposter syndrome starts creeping? Who am I? I'm not an expert. I don't know anything. But But as you're saying, but you've done things in the past to that can help. Right? And you, you probably know somebody, look at it, look around you and start going, what assets? Do I have both internal and external? And start small? Don't Don't think about the final production? You know, we need we're thinking we're thinking angle of stage lights. And we're thinking settings, we're doing that right now. Right? We're just looking at things that are around before we start trying to back up and see the whole production, you know, you are so big into community and it's such a big passion for you. Some people might not have a close community like that around them. They might not have connections to the community or might not feel that connection around them. What are some steps that they can take to build that community?
Judy 59:27
Oh, sure. Sure. Um, I think when technology is something that all of us have to find our peace with, because I find I appreciated it. I saw it as a tool that is obviously the future. Everyone needs to understand that this room. Again, this is history that I learned because I was a history major too. But this reminds me of any time in history. Anytime in history, that there's been a big change Like the Industrial Revolution, but it was mainly farms before the big city came along, technology comes along. And its technology comes along, especially the last 150 years, it has radically changed how we do day to day things, how we are able to make space for each other or not. I find the technology especially for whatever generation that you're in. It's this is the time, I feel that detect the way technology has processed itself, especially the last five to eight years. It's been there, we've been playing around with it, but look like the pandemic did, it forced everyone to pick up that tool and run. And every month, I look as much as it's there. I have a Facebook thing. Yeah, Facebook, for my family. I'm very, very private person. My son's pictures are there. So that's there. And yes, we have Instagram, you know, I have a social media person who that's the language she knows. And she's phenomenal at that we share the same brain, thank goodness. But I never made it a priority for myself, because it was not, it was nothing. It was something that wasn't important to me individually, or necessary in my personal life. And then I come to realize that the way I run my business is all pre COVID was there shouldn't be any part of my business that I can do relatively well. I mean, I'd be the expert. I mean, it'd be exactly the person that I want to do the long term. But it doesn't make sense. How can I weigh things properly if I am so out of the loop of social media? So I sat down and gave us our project pre COVID, to finally bite the bullet and and dive into Instagram and figure out the why. It wasn't like, oh, people Instagram. It was like, Well, why? why are people coming here and I feel like I came to my realization as to why I started learning it. But I find the biggest thing that people can do, especially when they feel isolated as we all have, and how difficult that is, no one is more isolated than a single parent, I'll tell you that right now, point everybody has become so much responsibility, especially as entrepreneurs. Technology is your friend. There's a lot of good and bad in everything. And when you finally embrace the part of technology that best coincides with you, I find that in this post COVID world, it would behoove us to open the doors that way, I find Facebook groups are really important. There's plenty of Walker like balking, Facebook groups, anything that you want to type in a Facebook group, you'll find it. Now the trick is, is to find the right group for you. And it's basically like the way he used to be, it's like let's go into a group together. And it used to be very interpersonal. You know what, now there's a way that someone you know, from Asia can connect with somebody in South America, because they have similar interests. So they have a similar, you know, residents and things you will find your tribe anywhere you go, it doesn't have to be specifically the immediate community you're in. So you if you feel so isolated, especially at the Cova, you can't even I can't even touch anybody out here. It's been so crazy that you know what online is where people are. But if you want to do something you community as communities are opening up, well, where do you find peace and happiness? What do you find your people go to the dog run up to people go take walks with, you know, if you like going to the gym, it's almost like, depending on where ever in the United States is so big. And there's every community is so individual, that maybe somebody you know, in South Dakota versus like South Carolina, we'll have different options to because of weather because of the people are there because of history. It's all very dependent on location, but I find that there's always going to be somebody that is going to be your friend, there's always going to be somebody who needs the support, even if it's not exactly like you doesn't look like you. It's about opening up and having that conversation. It's like I wrote something down here about, you know, you know, borrowing a cup of sugar, like that type of thing, where it's that simple. If you're not sure what to do and how to approach instead of it being business and what do we do? Talk to your neighbors, talk to people that you like, talk to people in the community who have been there before you because again, there's no need to feel that you are recreating any kind of wheel, who else is there and mentorship that may be able to support you, even if it's a different realm. They may not be petsitting and maybe something else and maybe resonates more community aspects. So I think it's important for everyone to sit down and look around and look, look where you're living and start from there. And if you cannot find something there, continue to go online and start that process because you will find your tribe.
Collin 1:04:30
Right It's that stepping out and just start searching just start just start asking questions just opening doors. Yeah, opening doors, hopefully to people that you know, you know, knock on the door first maybe before you open it.
Judy 1:04:42
Exactly. Knock on that door come in with like a pie or something.
Collin 1:04:50
It sounds It sounds so simple yet. It's really profound of just start reaching out to people whether that's next door or whether that's halfway across the world because of Facebook or whatever right?
Judy 1:05:00
That's shops, pet stores, there's always a wherever people congregate that hard they're under the pet world, there's, there's always a place that people carry, you know, pets and dogs and cats are part of our families. So there's people who have that support, whether it's through medical, again, through the vetinary, there's a way to start somewhere. And it's a great thing is don't get like, defeated with the idea that's not going fast enough, is eventually going to hit something that makes sense for you. And it's like a snowball effect, you're going to start walking the right way. But just realize that you get lost a little bit sometimes. And if you're gonna open doors, or I don't know, I don't want to really be here. These people seem nice, but they're not your people, that's okay. Doesn't mean that you messed up, it means keep going on, stay there. And don't leave forever. Just keep going. Because you will find you know, your table, a chair or the table that you belong in.
Collin 1:05:50
Well, Judy, thank you for having us at your table. Thank you for bringing us together, for having us in exploring and explaining what it's like and the importance of community and all that you are and all that you are involved in. It's been very encouraging and uplifting to me. I know and I know other people will as well. But if people want to have if they have more questions, if they want to reach out, get some more information from you, how can they do that?
Judy 1:06:16
Absolutely. please get in touch with us at tails on trails.com. Follow us on Instagram for our handle is tails on trails, LLC. And of course, same for Facebook. Come say hi, email us anything you need. I'm happy to answer questions or give support. And in particular, keep an eye out for fall 2024 tails on trails marketplace in the west side of Jersey City. This is just a new iteration. And we're so excited to you know, not lead what has happened under 2020. stop us I think it's going to be bigger, brighter and better, mainly because we are finding our own tribes. And we're supporting each other more locally. So Jersey City all the way.
Collin 1:07:00
include links to all that and some things we've discussed about as well in the show notes, people can click there and find it very easily. It's been it's been a real pleasure. It's been a real joy, Judy, thank you so much.
Judy 1:07:09
Thank you so much, Collin for the opportunity. This has been such a pleasure for me. Thank you so much.
Collin 1:07:15
When you look at your community, do you see a big table with lots of room and never running out of space or chairs? I love that metaphor. And that way of thinking about the people around us. I also loved when Judy said, I need to do this. And I'm scared. So I'm going to do it scared. I love that so much because it's a reminder that we get scared sometimes. And there are still things that have to get done that we need to do because it's who we are, and it aligns with what our business needs to be doing in the community. So what are you scared to do? What do you need to do in your community to bring people together? Only you can answer that, but we'd love to hear what you're working on and what you have in mind. So send us an email at feedback at pet sitter confessional.com. You can connect with us on Facebook and Instagram at pet sitter confessional. And we haven't got one in a while so it'd be great to hear from you. You can leave us a voicemail at 636-364-8260. We'd like to thank our sponsor time to pet for making this week show possible. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
