147: Consistency and Intentionality with Christina Walker
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Summary:
After 15 years in business, Christina Walker shares her transition from corporate America to full-time pet sitter. She gives us some great advice for practical ways to set boundaries in our business and personal life. Christina talks about what it means for her to be consistent and her biggest lessons since starting Top Dog Pet Sitter.
Topics on this episode:
Celebrating 15 years
Transitioning out of corporate America
Maintaining boundaries
Staying Consistent
Main take away? Stop waiting and the patience comes naturally.
About our guest:
My name is Christina Walker and I am the owner of Top Dog Pet Sitter. After loving and caring for animals our entire lives, my husband Mike and I decided to turn our love into our livelihood by pursuing pet sitting full time in September 2005. We currently live in Villa Rica with our two fur babies Button & Nickel. Our kitties have their own unique personalities and we really do consider them family. They mean the world to us and we know first-hand the anxiety of leaving our babies behind when we go out of town. Having a pet sitter we can trust and depend upon is paramount to our peace of mind in those situations. This is one of the reasons Top Dog was formed!
Links:
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, client, people, business, working, pet sitter, happening, thinking, helped, gift, care, exotic pets, boundaries, scheduling appointments, learned, pet sitters, networking events, dog, phone calls, talk
SPEAKERS
Collin, Christina Walker
00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is Pet Sitter Confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter
Collin 00:30
Christina Walker, the Top Dog Pet Sitter has been in the industry for 15 years now. Over the years, she's learned how to set up good boundaries, how she's learned to grow relationships, and her community. And today, she talks about what it was like transitioning out of her corporate america job into her very own pet sitting business all those years ago. Let's get started.
Christina Walker 00:53
Thank you, Collin. And so much for having me today. As a fan of the show, this is so exciting to add love, listening to all the different interviewers and all the tips and things from poop scoop to all kinds of things. So this is exciting. I'm Christina Walker with top dog pet sitter, top dog pet sitter is located in Villa Rica, GA, which is west of Atlanta, so we are 25 miles to Alabama. So we're way out there in the rural area, just like right there by Alabama tucked away. So um, so my husband and I do this full time. And so it's real, it's been really exciting. So that's a little bit about me and the company.
Collin 01:43
That's really cool. And you know, to know that you're doing it in a more rural setting, I think that's a little more unique and new. A lot of people work in typical, you know, high density, high population areas. So what has that been like working out in a more rural, rural populated area,
Christina Walker 01:58
we actually love it, because our drive is usually really pretty, you know, we're kind of going through surface roads and lots of trees and, you know, sometimes farmland, so it's not so for us, it's not as hustle and bustle, you know, right there in the city. So there's not as much traffic. So. So that's been kind of nice. So we really like it, we do try to cluster our visits. So because we, you know, had to get a little more creative being in a rural area. So we had, you know, we have certain cities that we service, so we try to do those cities together and then go to the next city and go to the next city, but we learned all the backroads. So if there is something going on, we'll just hop on the surface roads, and, you know, and the highway, but it's been great. You know, we've gotten to meet all kinds of different people. And that's how we started doing small farm animals, because being out in the rural area, Hey, can you take care of my chickens? You know?
Collin 02:58
I love that. Because Yeah, that does kind of just inherent in where you are, it does kind of change the services that you're able to offer though, like what what kind of services are you are you providing,
Christina Walker 03:07
we primarily do drop in visits, so that when people are out of town on vacation, or just gone? Well, we do have some daily dog walks, because we have people in different professions. Usually either, you know, lead out in the fenced in yard or an actual walk. So we do have, we do have some that we do service, which is very, you know, great to have that. And with it with us having different areas, we have some that are a little bit more in the city. And then we have the rural areas we're able to kind of offer that. We also offer we do the you know the the daily dog walks, we do cat sitting, of course, and bird sitting exotic pet care, the small farm animals that I told you about. We do pet waste removal, commercial and residential, pet transportation. That's something we been doing a little bit more of, and wedding services. So that's just kind of a snapshot of some of the stuff we offer.
Collin 04:11
How did the How did the wedding services get started? I think that's such a unique thing to offer.
Christina Walker 04:16
Yeah, Igot started, one of our clients wanted to incorporate her dogs in her wedding. And so she reached out to us and was like, Hey, is that something you could help us was we really want to have our dogs in our wedding? And of course we said yes. And we thought this would be so fun. And so it was it was a great experience. And so we got to be part of their day. And we were kind of more of the pet handler so we just were there to to make sure that pets were you know, they're gone to the bathroom and we had them on leashes and took care of them and pass them on to the wedding party. And from there I learned a whole lot like what supplies I needed, like poop bags and food for me and things I wanted Cuz I had never done this before. So I was starving the first time. I was like, Okay, I need to get some food. You know? So it was fun though, it was so great. And of course to see the pets that, you know, we sleep pets it forward and down the aisle, it was so adorable. And so got us thinking, you know, this could be something we can offer for other people, you know, getting married. And so it's been fun. We've done a few weddings, and it's been really exciting.
Collin 05:28
Oh, I love hearing that. And, you know, touching on the fact that like those little things that you don't always think about, about like, you know, oh, yeah, I have to eat in order for this to work.
05:40
I was there like six hours? I'm like, Yeah, like, I probably needed to
05:46
figure it out. But yeah, it was funny.
Collin 05:49
Well, it just, it's a reminder of like, these little, these little things, like, you just have to experience that you've got to it's this learning process of every time you add or change something, you're never going to be 100% prepared for it entirely. And that's okay. Right, and just roll with it and go, Okay, I'll write that next time, bring sandwich, whatever, you know, like, you also offer care for exotic pets. What kind of pet so do you typically care for in that in that world?
Christina Walker 06:18
Yeah, well, it kind of got started when I had a client want us to watch their son's frogs. So we were, you know, watching their dogs and everything. And he's like, Oh, can you watch our, you know, our son's frogs? And I said, Well, sure. I've never watched him, but I can learn. And so the frogs were in a cage. And it was so there was like a bottle that needed to be filled with water, because it kind of put some mist into the like a fog and kind of into the into the tank. And it kind of gave it a mist. And so it was really kind of neat and fascinating, all the different different care for the different species. And so we thought this is kind of neat. And then I of course, gave the frog some crickets. But it wasn't as scary as I thought, I thought, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna be handling crickets, but it's like, it was like this plastic long tube that just went in here went into this container, and then you pulled it out, and then you just dropped it into the, to the frog container. So it wasn't, I was like, oh, okay, so that was kind of where I kind of started doing it. And then, you know, I had another client that had a turtle. And it was just really neat to, you know, make sure their habitat was clean. And, and, and the way it was supposed to be and, you know, give it the fresh vegetables and water. And so it was just really fun. And, and I learned, you know, of course, I educated myself a little bit more on each time, we did some and then, you know, then we had some lizards and you know, chameleons and different stuff. And so each species is taken care of differently. You know, it, you know, some of them have to have a heat lamp. And so it's just kind of like, you know, when you're going through the dog and the cats, and they have Okay, this is Fido needs this and, you know, and stuff like that it was kind of the same thing. But with with the exotic pets and, and I've done a few snakes, of course, not poisonous. So they're in the cage and the tank or wherever, and we would just change out the water. And, and so and we've been I think the biggest one we've ever taken care of we had a it was a very gigantic, it's a very large tortoise. And when I first met the client, it was walking around in the backyard, and I thought wow, you know, like I've never seen anything like this. And of course, I told her all that, you know, when I first started doing this, and and so but when we pets it, it was in a huge enclosure in the basement with sand. And so it was like in this big area. And so we just came and gave it fresh veggies and check the water and she showed us some things and it was just really fascinating. So that's why I make sure to list it. So people who do have exotic pets, you know lizards and different things, you know, they know that we can do that. And of course if there's something we can't handle, we'll tell them but it's just been really neat and we just it's been a really kind of fun doing different types of pets.
Collin 09:15
Yeah, they do provide a unique kind of experience for us the pets that are right, we're like okay, I'm doing dogs doing cats, lots of cuddles lots of stuff, right, you know, and then can't really cuddle with the reptiles and amphibians, but there's still it's just unique and different that carries I remember we took care of somebody lizard one time, and in the grand scheme of things, it was probably the most boring thing ever because the lizard just sat on a rock and ate its mealworms and that was it. But it was so like, Whoa, this is so much fun. Like it was so cool. because it adds a little bit more variety and spice to to that experience. And we get to learn more to it sounds like you know, as you are taking on these new clients, there's a lot of research, a lot of education that goes into Before you show up to start taking care of him so that you are, you know, you are fully knowledgeable and that you recently celebrated 15 years in business, which is amazing. That is so cool. What What keeps you going? After 15 years,
Christina Walker 10:15
we just this is our baby, I mean the business and that we created this, you know, it's just been amazing and just knowing that we get to go outside and just it's very therapeutic, you know, we get up and we just get to go out and, and see all the pets and, and and just, is there something different when it's your business and you know, you're working on it, it just kind of keeps you going. It's just like, wow, this is cool. We can we were doing this, you know, this is our thing, you know, and we just love it, we've learned so much along the way. And it's just, it's something really cool about actually being outside, whether it's sitting outside working, or just you know, walking outside and stuff, it's just been great. Doing this,
Collin 11:04
yeah, there's probably will, there's never a dull moment, there's always something to do the different facets of it, as you mentioned, of the getting to be outside traveling the cool back roads, getting to experience the the awesome people that you're meeting and take care of the pets and like, there's all these different things of if one starts to get boring, there's always something else that will not be boring, and you can I'm sure kind of rotate through these phases. Yeah. And you say we, because you work with your husband, so what what's that, like have working together
Christina Walker 11:35
actually is great, we get to see each other more obviously, then when we were in corporate, and we get to coordinate sometimes lunch, you know, it's a lot more interactive, which has been we've we love it, we're you know, we balanced each other out, he does our, my husband, Mike does our accounting and the book stuff, and then marketing and of course, you know, pet sets too. And I do a lot of the day to day and different things. So we kind of are constantly collaborating and running ideas off each other. And you know, if things come up, when you're talking about it, how to do things. And so it's been great. I mean, we, we just kind of were a partnership and a team and, and you know, if we chat on the phone, he's playing with the kid and a cat and I'm talking you know, throwing a ball to the dog or something. So it just kind of keeps things exciting. And if something's going on, we're you know, talking about it so. So it's been great, we, we've been able to do a lot together. So a lot more than you know, before we can kind of coordinate our times better, because we obviously know what's going on, you know, a lot easier though. I got a meeting today. You know what, meaning we're here.
Collin 12:49
Yeah, you know, so so you're balancing this you working together really closely together, you're collaborating I love that word. I love that we're collaborating when you're working together, you know, with with your spouse or significant other because it really is it really is this ability to utilize the other person's strengths and recognize them and you know, in recognize your own weaknesses and collaborate to overcome a problem or to get a really cool thing out the door. How do you find balancing the business aspect with personal life? And taking off the the business people hats at the dinner table or whatever? However that works?
Christina Walker 13:27
Yeah, well, there's a variety of ways. One of the things I have done Personally, I've taken the social media apps off my phone, and, and I've even blocked the websites off my phone. I know that sounds crazy. But that way, because you just you know, put a little bit here a little bit there. And so when I get on social media, it's on my laptop, and then I just quickly intentionally get on and then I'm off. And so that has really helped me just most of my time. And, and then another thing we've done is we there's a two hour block a day where we do not have any pets that's scheduled. For us, it's between four and six. So it's not even an option for the clients to schedule that block. And, and that's something consistent that we know we can look forward to every single day, or to success, our time. That's, you know, scheduling appointments, taking a nap, having dinner, normal things. So it's been great. I mean, just that you would just think that one little thing has just made all the difference. No, we would, that's one thing we've done, and then that that's consistent. And of course we've set office hours. So that way, you know, clients know, you know, after a certain hour we're you know, we're not going to respond and and then that way and of course our phones are on Do Not Disturb after hours. You know we don't have to worry about that and we also utilize Omni call receptionist and they answer our calls. calls 24 seven, so my stress level is almost zero. Now, when it comes to phones and phone calls, I used to be like, you know, as soon as I walked downstairs to grab something, the phone rang and I'd be like, oh, running upstairs, like, Oh my gosh, I'm fumbling with a phone, like, Hello, you know. And I didn't realize how much stress that was causing me. And so I don't have to worry about that. Now that that has gone, all my phone calls are being answered professionally. And they send me a text or an email. So I don't have to worry about that. So when I've kind of set those boundaries of, Okay, here's my time and business hours, and everything, then we can, you know, schedule our pockets of time, that work for us, you know, when we, when we try to unplug, you know, because obviously we work together, and never end in our lives together. So we try to when we, when we hit when we're off, we're just off, like, if we're just going to watch a movie or relax, read whatever, that's just off. And unless there's something really going on, we try to catch ourselves if we're talking business, or whatever. So we can kind of have that balance and stuff. So that has really helped us Is it just kind of being more intentional with our time, because I mean, before I set some of those things in place, it was just like, things were happening all the time, and you're just going and going and things are just you don't even have a second because you don't, you know, have anything to look forward to. But if you know, you got Okay, I've got these two hours, you know, that I won't have cuts, it's I can make appointments, I can do certain things, you know, and then setting the boundaries of the of the time. And I think, you know, with a lot of people COVID after COVID, that kind of gave us that reset. It was a really nice reset that we needed. And and it kind of put us into like a slower pace, we're in stopping to smell the roses more enjoying life more. And we've been sitting outside, working more, you know, just little things that have just made such a difference. And it's just being intentional. A lot of times we find ourselves saying, Oh, I don't have time, but Well, what were you doing with that time? You know? And so that's kind of where we've helped us with?
Collin 17:18
Yeah, well, I'm hearing that evolution of time of how you over time of how you have put these boundaries into place. It sounds like it wasn't maybe not easy to put those boundaries into into place. How did you know what was some of the first signs that you needed those or to get you to get those in place?
Christina Walker 17:37
Well, you know, you don't realize how often you check your phone, I'm sure that's, you know, that's something everybody talks about. And so that's where, you know, you always think I gotta check it, I gotta check it, I gotta look at it, you really don't, you know, you can just set a certain time to look at it. And so that was that discipline that I did for me, that's why I completely just, I don't even get on it at all anymore on my phone, I just do it on the computer, and like the social media, and then that way, I'm more intentional with it. And I just get on for mostly for business, and you know, look around for personal or whatever, and then I'm gone. And then I can just and then I don't realize I don't miss it as much. And then when I do quickly get on, I can just quickly be intentional and get out. And then I don't have to waste time doing certain things. And pretty much I mean, the business hours, that was one hard thing. But COVID kind of helped us with that that was something that we had been talking about forever and ever and ever and ever. And then after that were like, we are implementing that right now. Because we needed that, you know, because I mean, I'm a night owl. So sometimes I will ever plot reply to certain things later at night. And but then that setting that standard, you know, for the clients and different things like that. And so we wanted to make sure not to do that. And so that's why we set those boundaries. And it's also for us, as well as the client, you know, just to let us know, hey, you know, we're not on call and, and, but it was important to do that, especially the two hour block that has made such a difference. Because when do you make appointments when people need pets, it's seven days a week, 365 days a year, pretty much any time block you allow. So you have to set something for yourself, because otherwise it's wide open. And then that was what was happening. I was just going around and so it was like, Okay, I gotta set this here. Let's set this here. And wow, it's just been really good. And it was it was a process.
Collin 19:41
Yeah, it is. And it's these, these little things that are gonna build up over time that are really going to set yourself up for success. And, you know, you mentioned earlier about how, quote, you know, he said things happen, like things just happened whenever you didn't have these boundaries in place and it's like you just kind of going through the day and things were happening to you. And it kind of rushing through and figuring out where to go. And now, this intentionality has come in this purposeful attention and directness in your actions is making going, no things don't just happen I am I am making them happen and they are not happening unless I let them right and, and taking some and taking that control back away from outside influences away from the clients who are contacting you at 10pm. Demanding your attention demanding something, right? You're like, No, I know, office hours. Nope, sorry.
Christina Walker 20:34
Absolutely. And, you know, I've, because I work, you know, as a team, my husband and I can delegate things. And so I, I've been able to, he's been able to take on some tasks that I was trying to rush and do, they realize I don't need to rush and do some of these things. And so he was able to do like a scheduling appointments or maybe even responding to client messages or just little things. And so taking a lot of that off of my plate and invoicing and a lot of things. Now I can focus on other things.
Collin 21:08
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Collin 21:31
If you're looking for new petsitting software, give tide Pettit try our listeners get 50% off your first three months by visiting tyent pet.com, forward slash confessional. Somebody's listening to this and they're working with their spouse, they're working with their significant other what what advice would you give to them? So they can have a good working relationship and a good and maintain that personal relationship?
Christina Walker 21:57
Yeah, I think just listening to each other and, and just knowing that you both, you know, you're both working together on things and just setting, you know, just for us, I mean, we we set the schedule, and we talk about things and just kind of going through, well, maybe not this or maybe not that. And so a lot of times, it's you know, working together on things. And so that's kind of where I think sometimes we tend to just do things yourself, and you're just running off and you forget to communicate things. So trying to make sure you also communicate, because I'm bad about that I'm like quickly do something and run off. And then he's like, what do we do? And I'm like, Oh, yeah, you know. So there's obviously gonna be that in there. So, so just making sure you communicate and, and then of course, you have, you know, you can appreciate things, you know, when you have those times, because, you know, you know, way, it's interesting how you can resolve certain things too, because you're working together, and you handle it right off the bat, you know, so just communication, I think is the big thing. Because it's so because you're both doing your own thing. But then you have to keep you know, communicating what's going on. And sometimes you will do things together because we do drop in visit. So we're, you know, he's over there. And I'm over here and then we come home and we come You know, we are a lot of times he's working from home. And then so like he'll be working on things and so you just just communication, I think is a big thing. So that way everybody's on the same page of what's happening and stuff like that.
Collin 23:26
No, it really does. It's amazing how much just a little bit of communication like how that impacts I know for Megan and I when we you know, we'll have a day of disagreement and we're not exactly friendly to one another but because we work together we have to talk to each other and it almost like forces us to resolve the other stuff so that we can get down to business and get this moving and like it when you're when you're communicating it like that and you're going okay like I've got to put this aside let's get over this real quick so that we can keep moving on and because I've got to talk to you about this I got to talk to you about scheduling this dog and I know I'm really angry at you right now but this client needs help let's solve this together like it does kind of force you to continually come back and resolve that stuff pretty quickly.
Christina Walker 24:10
Absolutely. Yeah we have our we have our morning routine down pat. I mean we got the coffee pot said what we're going to have for breakfast we pack our we have pack a big ol cooler of snacks and things so we don't go to fast food or anything we just a bunch of healthy snacks and for us and so we just we just like a you know Madhouse we just throw all things in the cooler and you know we just we have a system you know and it's interesting how it can all work if you've got a system but there's like you said there's times where we're just like moving in my way I gotta go get like you said as long as like you know you don't go to bed man kind of thing you know as long as you resolve it when you need to and you talk about it when you when you need to. It works and and you know and there's also you you have someone in your corner you have someone there for you and And you can work through things. And we all like I said, we we have are different, we're different personalities, and you know, we different, you know, he's, I'm more ADHD and he's more add, you know, so we kind of, you know, can work together on that. So just you know, using using those differences make make the difference really?
Collin 25:21
No, no, no, that's no, that's really good using the difference makes the difference like it really does, knowing that you have strengths that I don't I have strengths you don't that's good. And remind Remember, all right, I do have a partner, I do have somebody in my corner that is rooting for me to succeed here. Like, I need to remember that on those crazy days. And and and i'm that for the for the for the person as well, like that's, that's you do have to keep that forefront of mind. Like, I'm not in this alone. When you're working with a partner. You're not i'm not just inherently not like they're here with me. You know, you mentioned you're working together, you're seeing a lot more each other than you were when you were in corporate America. So what what was that shift? Like out of corporate America? What was the catalyst for that change for you?
Christina Walker 26:06
Well, basically, um, I was working a lot. So I was working, I was doing pet sets before work. And I was having to get to work at eight. So I was doing stuff early in the morning, I was doing pet sets early in the morning, getting to work at eight. And then all of my breaks, I was spent returning client phone calls, scheduling appointments, and then all my lunch hours, same thing, I was spending my lunch hours talking to clients doing all that stuff, or what, sometimes I wouldn't go do a pet sit and come back. And then I get off at five. And then I would go do client consultations, and just kept on going I was burning both candles. I mean, it was crazy. And I started it too, you know, just to kind of make a little money and to make pay off some debt. And then it just kept going and going and going. And it was just so it was just amazing. And so that's when we, you know, we, after doing all that I was like, okay, maybe we could do this full time. And so that's when my husband and I, we sat down and we ran the numbers. And we had a plan, we had a business plan, we decided to get out of debt, we paid off any debt we had, and we had a few months income saved that way, when we made that transition, we weren't focusing on money, because you know, last thing you want is paycheck to paycheck, and you're like, have no corporate money coming in. And so I wanted that not to be a stressor or anything I was worried about. And, and that I'm so glad we did that. Because then, you know, I wasn't worried about money because you know, like a salesperson, if they're thinking about money, then it comes across, you know, so you don't want that to be a problem. And so that's one of the things we did and, and the planning really worked and, and then I was able to when I, when I put my two weeks in, I'd never looked back. And it's just been we just, we just like it was like open the floodgate boom. And then a couple years later, my husband joined me full time and because I kept saying here, do this here, help me with this helped me with this. He was already like, you know, working this job and then doing things and so but it was it was great.
Collin 28:12
Now, do you remember your first client?
Christina Walker 28:14
Yes, I do. Um, Josie, she was a long, long hair donson. When we first started getting the word out, we just put fliers out at some nice neighborhood, out in this area. And so she had responded to the flyer, and she she became our first client, Josie, that sweet, sweet dog. And, and it's you know, we did some dog blogs, and then you know, drop in visits when she was out of town. And then from there through that we kept getting more clients in that neighborhood and just kept growing and growing from there, just, you know, just telling people about what we did. And so it just one, one person after another but yeah, Jesse was so fun. And we had to keep up with her.
Collin 29:03
How have you marketed over the years?
Christina Walker 29:05
Yeah, we're finally at a point now where word of mouth and referrals are pretty much getting to be most of our business. But obviously, when we first started, we had that shoestring budget. So we were, you know, passing out flyers and talking to people. But and of course, our website. A lot of people find us through that, you know, just doing a search engine result. But we have found consistency and montage of efforts to do worldly work. We utilize a lot of the networking events, whether with the chamber or some there's a couple of independent networking events. And it's definitely something you have to consistently do. It's not something you just do one time and that's it because you want people to keep remembering it because like if you just went one time, if somebody goes to that person and says, Oh, do you know a pet sitter? They'll say well, there was somebody here one I don't know, remember who they were really. But if you consistently come, if you consistently go and meet people, and they build that relationship, you have friends, you, you know, connection and whether it's not a direct referral is going to become like an indirect. So like they have clients. So a lot of these are business people, but then they have a pool of clients. And so those people, you'll be surprised, they may say, Oh, I got, I'm going out of town and, and my friends, you know, they bailed out on me, and I don't know what to do. And they may be telling that they're, you know, that person. And then they'll say, Oh, I know somebody that goes to our networking event, here's your information, and symbol, you know, and then it's been great. And you know, you have so many opportunities. And of course, now there's a lot of virtual stuff. For me, I do a lot of passing out my cards, and whether it's people I already do business with, you'd be surprised people will be more than happy to, you know, you're already doing business with your hairdresser, your nail person, you know, you name it, anything, anybody you already do business with, you know, you know that you tell them what you do all the time, and you give them your cards, and they'll have some of your cards out, or they'll just know who you are. And they'll be referring people, I'm getting that get gotten those two, and it's just being consistent. I used to do Mary Kay, I was a beauty consultant years ago. And one of the things that we were supposed to do was five income producing activities a day. So it's kind of stuck with me. And so I'm always, you know, whether I'm wearing my shirt, I mean, like, you know, whether I'm wearing my my business shirt or a name tag, or just what always looking for opportunities to tell somebody what you do, you know, passing out a card, or just, you know, giving them a smile, talking about their animal, or, in the course, obviously, your great experience with, you know, your clients, then they'll be referring people, which is why I think being consistent again, with, like, social media is important. Because if someone if a client does refer you, Dino to someone, and they go to your social media, and it's like 2018 was the last post or whatever, they're gonna go, Oh, okay. I wonder if they're still around, you know, are they still there? Are they active? You know? So that's where, you know, being consistent, you know, is so important. And those little things make all the difference. I mean, just, you know, you know, liking something consistently, not just one time, and you forget all about it, and then you go back six months later and go, Oh, that didn't work. Well, yeah, cuz you only did it one time, you know, you got to keep doing it. You got to keep doing it. I know, it sounds silly. But it's just this, you just got to keep doing it. And and man, it's like, finally, I felt like Finally, after 15 years, we're finally getting like referrals. I mean, that's just like, word of mouth. Oh, yeah. So and So referred me and I found you from this or, you know, and, of course, the search engine and stuff, too. But, so that's been, it's been really excited. Cuz I always ask, you know, how did you hear about us, we always like to know what marketing efforts are working. And so I'm able to start tracking, and I'm starting to put down more and more, you know, so and so refer to so and so referred this,
Collin 33:12
that idea of going, Oh, well, I went to that one event one time, good. Marketing check. I have my checkbook. I'm marketing, I'm done. You know, it's like, No, no, no, you have to go again. And again, and again. And again. It's, it's that it's that mentality of like, Okay, what else can I do? What else can I do? What else can I do? Like, well, did you do it again, you'd like to have to, yes, you have to do it again. And being consistent, because it's keeping that mindset of, okay, they might not need me right now. But when they need me in six months, I want them to remember my name, and I want them to be able to tell my name to somebody else. And so it's having this much longer view of that process. Instead of this immediate one time I do this one thing, I get immediate payout, you may, most likely you're not, but staying Top of Mind and reminding people because they're gonna forget your name, they're gonna forget your business name, they're gonna get what you do, they're gonna fit your face. That's fine. Go again, and continue to put this stuff out there. So that so that they don't basically.
Christina Walker 34:12
Yeah, and it's true. And you know, with pet sitting there is so we offer multiple services, and it's so vast, so you can get really creative. And you don't have to say you know, your same old pitch every time you can just one time talk about cat sitting. And then next time you just talk about birds next time you talk about dog walking, next time you talk about this and so and then what happens is you kind of become known, you know, oh, yeah, that's that's the pet person over there. Because a lot of pet sitters, I mean, when I do these things, there's no other pet sitters there. So hey, people know me. And you can begin to the more you talk about it, it's interesting, you start attracting, you know, people are going to be remembering you because I get a lot of people Yeah, so and so I mean, when, when, when there's I'm also a part of a couple of groups, Facebook groups locally. And so I kind of monitor those here and there for if someone says, Hey, you know, is there a pet sitter or whatever, because because of those efforts, people are already tagging me. I got I'll get before, by the time I get in there, there's already like, 10 times I'm like, Yes. Hello, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. But it's just that consistency that did that. But it's just been like, this is like, awesome. I'm like, they're doing all the work for me.
Collin 35:33
Right? Do it is it talk about heartwarming, make your day kind of thing? When you find where those posts you're like, oh, why? What? Who tagged me in this? Oh, oh, yeah. Great. Yes, thank you. You're awesome, right? Like, because you're right. Like, it's this, it's, it says, like, I can't be marketing myself. 24. Seven, I can't like so I need to put my efforts and focus my efforts where I can, and it will pay off, right? People will start recommending you, when those things come up, they will like that will happen. And it's one of the best feelings in the world, because you didn't ask for them to do that. They love you so much. And the services that you provide that they're they're going to tell you more people about you. And that's you can't ask for better clients, and you can't ask for better marketing for that.
Christina Walker 36:14
Sure. And of course, I also give back naturally to so like when I'm when I'm in those forums, to people will say, Hey, I'm looking for electrician, I'll quickly post my I'll just comment on my electrician. So I'm constantly active to you and giving them helpful resources. You'll be surprised when people say, Oh, I'm looking to adopt a puppy or whatever. And I'll put a quick resource in there. And so without saying anything, or doing anything, just naturally doing things, and those kind of things will start to come back to you too, because people will remember. Oh, yeah, yeah, they were they weren't, you know, they'll start remembering you. Because you, you were also helpful, too, with other things.
Collin 36:52
Yeah, it's not just petsitting stuff. It's not just the pet signifies it's not that you're just being a good citizen of your area, right? You're, you're just you're invested in the community, and you're just being a community member, at that point, taking care of other people and meeting their needs. You know, when I hear when I hear consistency, and what we're talking about here, like long term view is little things are gonna pay off I'm thinking about that sounds like it takes patience. That sounds like it takes a lot of patience. How do you how do you find that patience in that? And it doesn't come easy to you?
37:26
No?
Christina Walker 37:28
Well, honestly, um, well, because when I, because I left my corporate job in June of 2012. So I wasn't able to do a lot of the networking until 2012. So I was a, I was able to do some some things remotely or you know, participate in some things. But I was working a full time job. And during the pet said, so my time was obviously really limited. So I did more like passing out my cards or things that I was able to do, while I was out and about always wore my shirt and just the little things. But basically, once I stopped thinking about it or worrying about it, that's when it that's when it started happening. Because you know, a lot of times you'd be go to a networking event, you're like, Okay, well, I've talked to three people. And I did that. And I should be hearing back or something. Well, it doesn't work that way. Because a networking event. And there's different types of networking events, it doesn't have to just be the business kind. I mean, we there's like a couple of local networking. I mean, obviously, I think there's even some net pet sitters, you can connect with pet sitters, and they'll refer people to you, because you'll, you'll be busy. And you know, you can refer people to them. So there's different types of events. But not having that expect expectation. Once I stopped thinking about that, that's when it was like, oh, it just kind of takes the pressure off. And so I'm not waiting. So that's where the patience comes in. Because I'm not thinking about it or waiting for it. I'm just doing the efforts and going about my day. I'm passing out that car when most of the time I wouldn't. That's the thing, the beauty of pet sitting versus I've been in sales before I did, I was beauty consultant, Mary Kay. And I used to have to actively try to get people to, you know, I would give them my information. And I was I was the one doing a lot of the engaging but with petsitting I have found people come to me, you know, like, I haven't, I have my brand, my my, you know, my business shirt on? And they'll come to me and say, Oh, do you do pet sitting? I'm like, yeah, and then I just have a conversation. Or if I see a cute dog, you know, I we have a conversation. So I always try to, you know, I've always had my top dog shirt on or I have a magnet on my car. And so you just be surprised and then people will come to me and me because I've talked about it or whatever people will come to me and say, Hey, do you have some cards, I want to I want to pass out your cards and through those networking events. A lot has come out of that. And people have approached me to, you know, do a facebook live with them and interview me. And they so that again, that's another shout out for our business which I didn't even have to do anything, they're coming to me. So what's happening is through that time and that effort of just being consistent and being out there, it's going to happen. And so because I'm not waiting, I'm not worried about because I'm not patient, my husband will tell you, he's like, you're too impatient. So when I stopped waiting, then I can, I can deal with it. Because I'm just going about my day and doing my thing and just consistently doing something and then it comes, it comes to me,
Collin 40:41
stop waiting. And the patience just comes naturally. And you're not waiting anymore because you've removed the focus, right? That's not the focus anymore. The focus is just is being a good citizen and doing your job and, and being great at it. And trusting and knowing that this other stuffs gonna happen. And you're you know that and so you know that you know what? watched pot never boils, why doesn't a boil? Well, it takes too long. So you're sitting there watching the seconds click by and going, Okay, is it now? is it now? is it now? Is it now like okay, like, No, I'm gonna, I'm going to focus on the dinner at the end and the good pasta that I'm going to have the pots going to get there, when it gets there. I know I'm going to have dinner later. Like, it's, it's this removing the focus. So you don't have to be you don't have to worry about that you don't because your focus is on something else. And something more important, really not those not those individual things that you're that we can get so caught up. No one likes having to think or even talk about what happens when the dear client passes away. And this just happened to Megan and I actually, one of our longtime clients, her name was jewels. But pet perennials made it really easy to send a gift directly to her owner. They have this really awesome direct client gift service that takes the effort completely off of us and ensures a thoughtful, personalized sympathy gift that reaches our client or our employee all gift packages, including handwritten card, colorful gift wrap and shipping fees across the US and Canada. Now, they just launched a brand new offering of an array of milestone gifts and greeting cards that can be sent to celebrate special moments people share with their pets, if you're interested as a business register for a free account to receive their discounted pricing on their packages, rather than paying their consumer prices. Since service is leveraged as an as needed basis, there is no monthly or annual obligation or minimum purchase a month, learn more and register using petronila.com forward slash pages forward slash GP s and enter the referral code, PSC when you register your business, you will then be given a unique coupon code to save $2 off any packages you would send in your first 90 days. Thinking back over 15 years in business, what are some things that you have found that have worked really good for you, or some of the best practices that
Christina Walker 42:58
you implement, always going that extra mile. So if there's something, you know that, you know, you kind of notice, you know, maybe that might be off, you know, just mentioning that or just doing little extra things, you know, just bringing in something doing something extra, those are those will be noticed, and people will really appreciate that, you know, if you saw, like we have one client where we noticed, you know, there was a little spit up on the on the, on the pet bed. And so my husband pulled it out and cleaned it up the best he could and put a towel over it and told her because she'll be home that you know, a couple hours later. And she just was like, so thankful for days, which is like, thank you so much. And so just go and just doing those little things we have found to really pay off and people, you know, just go on doing those little extra things that you're not really told to do. I think people you know, you know this not this just kind of extra that you just kind of do,
Collin 43:57
you know, I'm thinking to something that is so you know, it may seem so insignificant, but if you know your clients getting home late at night, turn on the porch light for them, or leave a light on the inside the house form like like these little things where it's just it literally takes you know, extra energy to flip a light switch as you're on your way out the door. But they they like that is so huge to them because that means like that tells them not only were you thinking about the pet, but you were also thinking about them, their safety, making sure that they were cared for and putting the focus on them. In addition to their pet like that just it shows that you are your concern for the whole whole thing right from from top to bottom.
Christina Walker 44:41
It's just amazing what just doing one little extra thing, or even writing a little note, you know, how that's been a big deal for people and they remember that it's kind of fun because we don't usually see their clients you know, and so you try to do little things to be there when you're not there. You know, when they can't see you and everything, that's one little thing I would say, you know, is just always going that extra mile and doing extra things. When not, you know, it's not that, like you said, it's not going to take you extra time put the light on as you're on the way out. Because you know, they're coming home late, just little things like that makes a big difference.
Collin 45:19
Now, I'm sure after 15 years, you've probably had some really interesting experiences. So what's been one of the crazier ones or most interesting ones that you've come across? Or that's happened to you? I guess?
Christina Walker 45:31
Yes. Well, of course, there are several. But one that definitely comes to mind is I went to a pet set to do the morning visit, and I get there and there's cars everywhere, all in the grass and the driveway. So I'm like, Okay, this isn't right, because obviously, that was, you know, the setup. So I get to the house. And of course, the door's unlocked. And long story short, the son had a party. And there was people everywhere. I'm walking over people, and it was kind of crazy. And the dogs were outside. Of course, they're not supposed to be outside. So when I get there, they're looking at me like, Can I come in? Why am I out here? What's going on? So, so awkward. I had to get the dogs in and, and I'm doing the routine with the other pets very awkward. And I'm just, you know, slowly go into this routine. And there's people there. And I was just like, yeah, so obviously, you know, of course, I call the client and said, you know, definitely can't do this. You know, when someone's supposed to be there. I think the son was supposed to be in and out. I would never see him. But yeah, I saw him.
46:56
And a whole bunch of other people too, huh?
47:00
Oh, it was great.
Collin 47:03
Oh, my gosh, yeah. Are you talking about? Oh, that's awkward is probably not sufficient of a word to describe that kind of interaction?
Christina Walker 47:14
Yeah, I said some things. I was like, really, I kept going really? Like,
47:18
oh my gosh, you
Christina Walker 47:18
know, like, it was just like, you know, and of course, you know, the animals are like, what's going on here, you know, so but you know, again, you have an experience you learn, with every policy and everything you learn, you know, this was early on in my pet sitting. So when they said, Oh, you may or may not see the sun, well, now, we don't do that. So nobody, we don't do any pet sitting any shared visits or any like that. And we try really hard not to, you know if anyone's going to be in and out of the home, because of those reasons for safety. And, you know, Chris, probably now I probably wouldn't even have gone in there, you know, hey, there's like, 500 cars outside, you know, what I was thinking of the beds, and I'm like, Oh, I gotta get to the beds, what's happening? You know, but it was crazy. It was wild. But, you know, I definitely learned from that experience. And
Collin 48:20
yeah, just talks about, you know, how it just takes one situation like that, to completely change how you operate, and put in new policies and procedures, so that you're, you know, thinking about your health and safety and that of the pets as well.
Christina Walker 48:34
Yes, with every experience, you know, definitely helped to understand our policies and why we have certain things in place and, and some reinforced others. And, you know, I mean, obviously, it's 15 years of business, we've experienced every possible scenario you can imagine, when trying to either share a visit, or someone may or may not be there. And so that's why we just try really hard to just say, you know, fortunately, you know, we just can't do that. We just have to keep consistency, and keep only us being the only pet care provider, and just, you know, makes all the difference. I
Collin 49:16
was also curious, what are some of your favorite resources or tools that you use in your business or that you've enjoyed over the past 15 years?
Christina Walker 49:28
Obviously, time to pet. That's a great one. They're obviously a sponsor of the podcast, too. They're wonderful from within credit card only. And it's very easy to do all of our invoicing, and it's also quickbook integrated. So it's been such a great resource that we use, even with the client communication. There's a conversation piece in there, and we can easily send pictures And updates, so time to pet for sure. Another great resource is by Kate McClellan. She has a marketing planner. And it's basically as a social media content calendar for the whole year. And it even includes some blog ideas and stuff, it's pet business owners calm is where I got it. And wow, that has been so great. Because just thinking about what to post is can be overwhelming. And I usually get in a rut. And so that's where this has really helped keep things kind of flowing and different types of topics, and keep the variety of what I post. And so. So that was been a great resource. And buffer is what I use to schedule all of my social media posts to various platforms. You know, when I get those pockets of time, I can just quickly go in and schedule like I've already got the whole month of November, this is November here. But I've already got like the whole month done. And so I don't have to worry about that right now, because I've got them all scheduled. So that's been helpful. I'm a member of psi, pet sitters International. And they have like a monthly toolbox that they send. And it has social media images and articles that you can share to your clients and calendars. And that has just been so helpful. Again, coming up what to talk about content and stuff. And they also have like the the social media images are fun. So like if it's say it's, you know, pet diabetes Awareness Month, a lot of times they'll have a graphic with that, and everything that I could just quickly share to our clients with an article or something. And lastly, I would say pet perennials is another great resource we use. They do pet sympathy, sympathy cards, and gifts for our you no pet clients, when they when our pets pass away, obviously, that's the hard part of our business. And so we usually send like a like a little heart candle with a card and they will actually hand write the card and everything but you know, with, with everything happening, and we're so busy, I could just shoot them a quick message. And they will get a nice gift with a handwritten card to the client whenever their pet passes. And that has been so helpful to us. And then it gives them something personal, you know, in a moment that they really need it. And there's a variety of gifts too. So we can choose something that's more custom for that client. And it's very reasonable, and they're very prompt. So that's helped me a lot.
Collin 52:53
Well, I love how each of these resources is taking something off of your plate. And in making you able to focus on the things you want to focus on the social media aspect. I know that that's something that Megan and I struggle with is like, Okay, what do we post tomorrow? What do we post today? Oh, I forgot about today's post, what do we like I know I'm supposed to what do I do, and to have these kind of resources that go, you go, this is what you're gonna post like, Great, awesome. I didn't want to be that concerned about it anyway, I could focus on these.
Christina Walker 53:27
We also use only call receptionist. And that has been really helpful with our phone calls. I think I mentioned a little bit about that. So I'll leave the link on there for Omni call receptionists because you can use it, we use it all the time, we have it connected 24 seven, and then they can live transfer a call to us, but you could just turn it on and off like after hours. I mean, it's completely customizable, like however you want to what you want them to say when they answer the phone for you what information they take. So that's been so helpful.
Collin 54:06
Yeah, cuz that was my next question of how how customizable was it but it sounds like if you can give them a script and get information and they you know, information about the business and that kind of stuff like wow, how awesome is that to be able to provide that for your cut your customers to like not just your peace of mind of going okay, I don't have to worry about phone calls because somebody else is taking care of that. But also knowing your clients are getting taken care of when you're not able to or whenever you're when you're unavailable
Christina Walker 54:32
it's really helped with with new leads to because that was my biggest thing when I had calls coming to my cell phone you got you get all the spam because I get so much spam calls. I mean, you know, the hang ups all day long. That was stressful. There's nothing more stressful than saying hello top dog pet sitter, how can I help you and then click, you know, or, you know, it's a sales call or whatever. So I don't I don't get any of those types of messages anymore. That goes to them. And, and then especially the new leads, that has been huge because when someone new calls, they will answer professionally with your business. And they'll they know our service area too. So if someone's not in our service area, they'll tell them, we don't serve as that area, I don't have to deal with calls for, say, boarding or grooming or thing services we don't offer, they'll tell them, we don't offer that service. So I'm not having to get those calls, because that was another thing on my plate, I will be getting calls for, you know, for boarding. And then I'd have to call the person back and, you know, and say, Oh, we don't offer boarding, but here's some resources, which was fine. But it was another thing I had to do. So now they can handle all that. So and then they capture you know, where they're located. You know, how many pets they have, you know, days of service, just basic stuff, if I know. And so that makes all the difference, you know, capture, like you said, customizing exactly how you want it, if if you don't want them to take tell them anything or say anything, that's fine, too, they can just take out, take a message and send you the message, but it really helps, you know, capturing those those things.
Collin 56:06
And you know, that I was thinking about, like those days where you're really busy. And you're like, I don't have time for this phone call. Hello, how can we help you? Like, cut all that out? Send it to somebody who's gonna be really nice every single time.
Christina Walker 56:20
Absolutely. And even if you get that random call early in the morning, because that's another thing. I mean, even though I'm up early doing pen sets, I always I you know, I have 10 o'clock as my when they send me the calls.
56:34
So,
Christina Walker 56:35
you know, if someone calls it the six o'clock in the morning, and they want to tell me all this stuff, they can tell my receptionist
56:42
because I'm still getting ready or whatever, you know.
Collin 56:45
Yeah, absolutely. Again, pulling back more control for your business and going These are my terms. These are my conditions. And this is what I need to keep my sanity and have healthy boundaries. Christina, I have really enjoyed this conversation. I can't tell you how much I've loved learning about your experiences and how you set up those those boundaries and your focus on the little things and consistency in your business over time and how it's paid off and how you're starting to see that, that pay off in your business. If people want to get in touch and learn more about you and and maybe pick your brain for more about how to be consistent and what that looks like. How best can they do that you can get
Christina Walker 57:24
our website, top dog pet sitter comm shoot us an email info at top dog pet sitter.com. or give us a call 678-665-2213. And my receptionist will either pass you through to me or take a message.
Collin 57:42
I love it. That's awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Christina Walker 57:47
It was such a pleasure. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Collin 57:50
When it comes to setting boundaries, it really helps to focus on the mindset. And the little things, the mindset that the change is needed the mindset that says these boundaries are important to me, and I must hold them so that I can be a better, healthier, more vibrant person, not just in my personal life, but also in my business. And then the small things, looking in every nook and cranny in our lives and in our business for small things to start doing right now, to build up those boundaries, whether it's having a call center, or take your calls, or whether it's having off hours or notifications turned off from certain times. Each one of those is another brick in the wall of boundaries that we all need in our lives. We want to thank our sponsors tide pet and pet perennials for making this week's show possible. Check out the show notes or head on over to pet sitter confessional.com forward slash 147 to see the notes and all of the links that we talked about in this week's episode. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for listening for coming and showing up every single week. You have no idea how much it means that you share that you're engaged that you're involved in this wonderful community. Megan and I will be back again soon.
