303: Facing Fear with Hope with Nicole Packin
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Summary:
How do you face fear? Fake it until you make it? Nicole Packin, owner of Miami Pet Concierge & The Packin Method, joins the show to share how she worked through her fears and self doubt in starting her business. Nicole ran her business for 15 years, then decided to set up in a brand new location, several states away. She gives us some insight into what it's like operating across state lines and why it's critical to stay fresh and up-to-date as a business. Nicole also shares how HOPE is the key to running a successful pet care business.
Topics on this episode:
What does concierge mean?
Staying fresh in business
Starting a treadmill service
Overcoming fear
H.O.P.E.
Main take away: Running a business takes faith in yourself and trial and error.
About our guest:
Nicole’s career working with animals began in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from the University of Miami with a BS in Communication, Nicole moved to the West Coast to pursue a television career as a writer. While working for William Morris Endeavor (formerly known as William Morris Agency), Spelling Television, and Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Nicole began volunteering for The Amanda Foundation, an animal welfare organization.
Finding her work with dogs a life changer, Nicole moved back to Miami, Florida, intending to learn all she could about animal welfare in her hometown. Immediately, Nicole began working for the Humane Society of Greater Miami. She was involved in all aspects of the organization’s operations and fundraising and helped lead the capital campaign for the organization’s Soffer-Fine Adoption Center in North Miami Beach, Florida.
In 2007, Miami Pet Concierge was developed and began out of both a labor of love and need. After years of working in and around the animal shelter system, Nicole learned that one of the number one reasons pets were being given up or returned was “time,” or lack thereof. With this knowledge, Nicole started a business to help pet owners become great pet parents. With just a little guidance, education, and support, Nicole has had the opportunity to work hand and paw with thousands of amazing domesticated animals and their families, caring for and teaching them how to cohabitate peacefully.
Having moved to Dallas, Texas, to be closer to family, Nicole will begin her new "pet" project in August 2022 with The Packin Method. Dallas’ ONLY mobile Canine Gym will work to better dogs' mental, emotional, and physical health by providing treadmill workouts, massage & bodywork, and dog walks. Combining her years of rehabilitative and animal behavior studies and understanding that dogs need both mental and physical stimulation to be well-balanced, Nicole created a service that would combine both in a temperature-controlled environment and bring the service to her clients.
When not running Miami Pet Concierge and The Packin Method or in school, Nicole is an active volunteer at Canine Companion for Independence and Operation Kindness. She is married and is the proud momma to Slater (Russian Blue mix), Kevin & Jenny (Spinone Italiano’s).
Links:
The Packin Method: https://www.facebook.com/thepackinmethod
Miami Pet Concierge: https://www.facebook.com/MiamiPetConcierge
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, people, clients, dog, business, miami, work, concierge, home, dallas, treadmill, employee, service, running, care, day, focusing, provide, staff, animal
SPEAKERS
Collin, Nicole P.
Collin 00:10
Hello, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is Pet Sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by time to pet and pet perennials. Fear is an unpleasant emotion to say the least it's usually caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous and likely threatening to you. Running a business is full of fear, usually grounded in doubt of ourselves. Today, Nicole packin, owner of Miami pet concierge, and the packing method based out of Dallas joins the show to share how she overcame her fears and doubts in her business when she started 15 years ago. And when she started her brand new service in Dallas. She also shares how hope enters into running her business. And by focusing on respect for not just herself, not just her staff, but also her clients. Help set her above the rest. Let's get started.
Nicole P. 01:04
Sure, thanks for having me. My name is Nicole paconne. I'm the owner of Miami pet concierge in Miami, Florida. We celebrate our 15 years in business on May one yay. We are a concierge service for pets where we provide customized care whether it's dog walking, pet sitting overnight care, puppy training and more. And we are opening up on May one Dallas pet concierge here in Dallas. And in Dallas, we're going to be focusing on canine fitness and wellness and treadmill running and we're going to be a mobile service will also integrate pet sitting but just dog walking and pet sitting but mostly our mobile service which is going to be a canine mobile gym.
Collin 01:48
Wow. That's fascinating. So why I have so many questions there. And one of the one of the first ones was you use the word concierge. What what does that word mean to you? And in what why did you decide to use use that with for your business.
Nicole P. 02:04
So when I started my business, there were there were only a few people doing this in Miami. And most of them were older women who were doing it in smaller parts of the city where they could walk, you know, four by four block. And I knew that from my time working in the pet care arena in the in the shelter system, that people were giving up pets and weren't able to provide their pets because of time. And so when I was looking for a name, I thought, Well, number one, a concierge is all inclusive, we do everything for that person. So think of a hotel concierge, they help you with reservations, they help you with another another pillow. They help you with getting a car, same thing goes for concierge and pet sick and pet care. I wanted to be able to provide not only dog walking, but shopping and pet taxi and advice and puppy training and senior care. And it'd be from the time they get an animal to the end of life all inclusive. What I like to say to people is soup to nuts.
Collin 03:10
Yeah, and laser focused in on that very important current idea of time, right? My clients struggle with time. And so what can I do? How do I structure my business to meet that need? And how do I communicate that to them. And I love that word concierge because it does conjure so much to the person who's reading it and communicates a lot with just that simple phrase.
Nicole P. 03:34
Thank you. I liked it. I mean, there was a running joke that because in Miami, I believe that our services are needed, but for a lot of people are the service we provide is a luxury. I mean, not everybody needs a dog walker, but a lot of people choose to have a dog walker, because whether they need it or they they want their animal to have that service. But when looking at the title too, because I wanted to go for a more a higher. I don't want to say higher, what's the word I'm looking for? We would think you an affluent crowd. I felt that you know, concierge that just kind of screams that there was a running joke that my brothers said if they could define it, say it and spell it. That's your that's your client. I never want to disregard that for anybody. But to me, it isn't a fluent word. But more importantly, it's all inclusive. To me. It helps you from like I said, from somebody who brings a puppy home and doesn't know anything or kitten till the end of life if they're going through cancer treatment or just simple, you know old age. You're encompassing everything through that. And to me, it's time and building that relationship that they're with us for the life of the life stages of their pet. Yeah,
Collin 04:53
well and that we're committed to because I think many people get into the industry. I know my mindset was very much like this When we're very early on of while I'm taking care of middle aged, super healthy pets, pretty much all I do, right, and then another three years, five years go by a completely different set of clients and client needs, client information, client services, client expectations, because of what they're going through. And so it's really, it's important to note, remember that this is, when we talk about lifetime customer lifetime client, we really are going to walk with them through every stage. So that's something that's on us to be prepared and equipped for that.
Nicole P. 05:31
Absolutely. And if you think about it, especially for the companies like ours, that have been in business, even a couple of years, there's a couple of weeks, six to eight weeks, every year where there's a transition, whether it's an influx of new animals, or your old timers cross, and you see it and it happens every year. And imagine the beautiful, it's, it resonates because it's beautiful, because I can tell you, there's a number of clients that I've worked with, from the time the animals were six 810 weeks, that I've watched everything through their life through the time that they've crossed, which says a lot about the relationship between us and the parent, but also the trust that they have in us. And just it's a special, that's a special thing to see and be a part of,
Collin 06:23
it is absolutely something that we should never take for granted or take lightly. Like we have our really good days and is a very fun job in our activities are very joyful. But we have these other moments that are very somber, very, and that we that we don't have a lot of people talk about that, unfortunately. And we have to both be prepared for that and grieve and go through that processing in our own way, as help the client to
Nicole P. 06:51
it affects us. I mean, I can't I can say, you know, through the years that have been clients that have been fearful to call to tell us that their pets have passed, and we take it to heart too, I cry for them, I cry on my own. I'm a blubbering mess when that happens, but it's, you know, I will, I would never give it up. Because I think we have the best job in the world. It's not a job. We've had the best, whatever it is,
Collin 07:18
I've experienced, it's hard to put into exactly a concise term about what we do. What, Nicole when you think back over your time in the industry, you know, and what I know one thing that many companies struggle with is saying New staying relevant and fresh, and and in their approaches and their ideas about what they do. So you know, 15 years on into this, how have you managed to do that.
Nicole P. 07:45
I think being true to ourselves, being authentic, and being able to provide new information with our clients. Everything's changing. You know, 15 years ago, the pet care industry wasn't bringing in billions of dollars. People, especially the younger crowd, millennials and younger, they weren't happy, they weren't bringing in pets into their home as much as they are now as their starters before becoming parents. Empty Nesters were not bringing home as many pets when their kids are going off to college. So things are different now, information is at our fingertips. Education is key. And I think being able to be a resource for your clients from again, the beginning of the time they bring home the pet to end of life and being able to be a resource is is very, very, very important. Also just being available, and most importantly, being consistent. We have been consistent. And you know, in Miami, I have the reputation of being good at what I do. But tough and tough not being mean. But being specific about our core values and the way that we provide care. And I think the consistency and the continuity. And in the open door policy and just being being open. We are very transparent in the way that we care for our pets. But it's back to your the long end of it is just being relevant and staying up on new information and being able to provide that. I think it's
Collin 09:26
important. Yeah, well, and what I hear when we walking through that it's being being client and owner focused through it all. So why would you need to be up to date on all the resources because you're listening to your clients? Yeah. Are you trying to be consistent because you're listening to your client? Why are you being true to yourself? It's because you can provide the best service to the clients and when we keep them at the center. They're actually what bringing in all the new issues, new concerns, new needs, and if we're not focusing on them being attentive and an open to what they're trying to communicate to us, we will will miss the boat completely. And absolutely.
Nicole P. 10:04
You know, I think that the one thing that I learned from all the time are the clients that are long timers. You know, we have clients that have been with us since day one. And they have gone through the loss of pets and new pets, and now some of their pets are even getting into senior ages. And so it's important to ask them, you know, we will ask our clients, why do you stick around? What do we do that you that keeps you coming back? What can we do to better ourselves? Because the better the communication, the better we can provide? And if they don't tell us, we don't know. And I'm a huge that's important to me. I take everything to heart, I'm relatively sensitive. But I want to know, because if I don't know, I can't fix it, or I can't better it.
Collin Funkhouser 10:51
Yeah, that gets the difference between having a consistent client in a loyal client. Just because somebody uses you every week doesn't mean they're the most loyal client it corrupted. So asking him that tough question of, Hey, why are you still here? Like that takes a lot of vulnerability on our parts. So why do you use our service? And we've got to be ready to do to hear somebody who go well, because you're what I'm used to, or well, because your prices are cheap, or well, you fit with my schedule, that might not be the answer we want to hear. Because we want to hear oh, you're you know, you're the best it Oh, my goodness. But we have to be open to whatever they tell us and then go okay, now now. Now, what do I do with that?
Nicole P. 11:30
I do usually yearly, I'll send out a form. And I'll ask questions. And I said, you don't you can do this without telling me who you are. But I'll ask them, you know, do you feel XYZ however, whatever the questions are, and I literally bite my fingernails off, because I get so nervous when they start coming in. And you know, the first time I upped my prices, you know, the services are great, but the prices are ridiculous. And you take that to heart, but then you think to yourself know your worth and your worth don't forget Know your worth. But overall, the only way that you can strive to be better is by asking questions, and getting honesty, and occasionally it's going to hurt. But you got to kind of pull up your bootstraps and and keep moving. And then there are some that are just going to tell you that you know, you're perfect. So you take those ones, and you just smile and move on. But you got it.
Collin 12:27
So you started back in 2007 in Miami, and now you are doing something still in pet care, but in a totally different state in a different city with the with the Dallas pet concierge. So tell us about where that originated from.
Nicole P. 12:48
Yeah. So I was always going to create a mobile service in Miami. However, my husband and I wanted to make a change in our life. And we wanted to leave Miami but we weren't quite sure where originally we're gonna go to Colorado, but COVID hit. And so we kind of backtracked on that. And kind of after some soul searching, we chose Dallas because we have family here. And my husband has we are I should say we have two young nephews that are three and one. And at the time when we were making decisions. They were too and just born. And we wanted to be a part of their lives and be in your family. And so Texas is a stepping stone for us. I don't think we'll be here forever. But it will be a transition for maybe, you know, 1015 years. And our goal is ultimately being in the cold mountains at one point. But we chose to come here to be close to family. And also Dallas is a melting pot. There are so many businesses here. It's a city of culture. It's a city where small business is welcomed with open arms, especially new businesses with new interesting services and products. A lot of test businesses are here. And so it happened very quickly. We were trying to buy a home in Miami and it wasn't working. And we found a house here and within 30 days made the decision to move. So it wasn't it didn't happen over the course of a year or two. It literally happened within 30 days. Wow.
Collin 14:24
So So you mentioned that you would always were always interested in or operating a mobile service what what's appealed what's appealing about that to you?
Nicole P. 14:33
To me, I feel like the reason why I want to do mobile is I want to be able to bring the product to the client. Ultimately I would love to have a brick and mortar but you become used to being able to work from your home and not having the the the you know the responsibility of of all that goes into a brick and mortar. And because Miami is such a warm and right unique climate and Dallas is a very warm and rainy climate, I felt that being able to provide treadmills services for activities such as exercise, rehabilitation, Senior Care, and behavior modification in a climate controlled atmosphere in front of someone's home would be a, you know, it would be a really great service to offer. Especially when I was in Miami, there are days when it's 90 degrees, and the heat index is 110. And it's you know, storming. from three to five, you can't exercise your dogs, you know, the pavement is 135 degrees, you're gonna burn their feet. And I know from experience that my dogs get a little kooky in that because they want to get out. Same thing here. But being able to provide a service where I'm in control, I can bring it to the house, I can have it more one on one, and be able to provide that that one on one more spa experience of versus like a person's gym. My background is physical fitness and rehabilitation and massage therapy for dogs and water therapy. So I want to be able to encompass all of that, to be able to provide a well rounded dog. Hmm,
Collin 16:25
yeah, it's that reliability and consistency of service, kind of, like we talked about earlier of rain or shine, rain or shine, I was gonna say snow, but Dallas doesn't really get that either. Every now and then they do.
Nicole P. 16:37
And he did this year for two to two days. But, you know, it's, you can't I mean, whether you need a heater and air conditioning, it's every day of the week, every day of the year. So you have a consistent, a consistent service. And as we know, people love to be able to go to brick and mortar facilities. But how often do you go, you go a couple times, and then work takes over, or I have a haircut or my kid is ill, you don't have that problem. Now we can just show up at your doorstep and exercise your dog and as we know, happy dog is an exercise dog. So that's that's the idea behind the concept. Yeah.
Collin 17:16
So I love the idea of the mobile treadmills service. So our How are the treadmills set up? In the I'm assuming they're in vans that they're coming on and correct and all that stuff. So how do you? How did you I don't know how you went about picking and knowing which was the right treadmill to use or what are the options out there.
Nicole P. 17:36
So there are a lot of options. And when when we first started researching it, you see a lot of treadmills, and there's a misconception behind treadmills. That are they're used for fighting. And they were, you know, they were they were used to be able to build up muscle and strength and endurance for dogs that were in in that type of whatever you want to call that because it makes me feel uncomfortable. But there are different companies in the United States. There's a company in the Netherlands that create Treadmills for dogs, you can get them that are electric and you can get them where they're monitored and they work. The dog essentially creates the most emotion. So we purchased them from a company in the United States. And I have one right now in my room and a room downstairs and I practiced with my own dogs. And in Miami I practiced with a number of clients to be able to you know get get better at it. But basically, we we've researched between utility vans, like a you like a Amazon truck, and trailers and all different types of vehicles and we came up with the typical Ford Transit van or Mercedes Sprinter van. Yeah, and depending upon the size of your treadmills and depending upon how much space you need around it, they can be bolted in so they cannot they can't move. And so we have a van with two that are bolted in and there's a chair and I have leashes and harnesses and they'll be able to be either lifted or pop up on a step or a ramp. And then you get them on the treadmill and you teach them how to use it and then get on it and do it.
Collin 19:32
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Collin 19:53
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Nicole P. 20:19
a lot of people are loving it. Because they, you know, it's not a new concept. There are a couple of people that do do this around the country. However, a lot of people have not heard about it. Yeah. And, you know, from talking to people locally at dog parks, or veterinarians, or just in general, the reason why people like it is it's controlled. And so you can monitor an animal's speed, you can monitor an animal's gait, you can, you know, monitor anything. So you're not just letting them get on a mechanical device that's plugged into a wall and letting them run 15 miles an hour. You know, I have a right now my, my puppy is 17 months, he's 105 pounds. He's Benoni. And he is a gangly, tall guy. I mean, he's that he's a tall, gangly guy. And Kevin needs a little bit of extra because there are times where you just see his brain active, what are going to do, but kind of like a kid, you know, they that have pent up energy. So he will walk over to it, and he'll just pace around it. However, I'm not going to place him on it and just let him gun it because his bones aren't fully fused, you have to be careful. So when he gets on it, he's his pace is about three miles an hour, maybe a little bit faster. But he only is on it for about 20 minutes. So a workout on a treadmill for a dog between 20 and 30 minutes equals about a two hour run for a person. So you get a lot of bang for your buck in that time. And so if you have a senior dog that might be a little bit older, you can monitor them, and you can keep it close. Think about an overweight dog, maybe they need to lose 1015 pounds, they can't go outside and do that 90 degree heat, they're gonna they're gonna overheat. So now you have a controlled, they're monitored. And they're in air conditioning, where it's healthier and better for them. It protects their paws and their pads. It might not sharpen their nails the way that some people like it, but it's a controlled atmosphere and more one on one. So yeah,
Collin 22:32
it ya know, it's focusing on those particular things. And you know, you have exactly again lasered in on this, you know, when you with Miami, you're talking about people's time, and that's still a big component of this of going, it is difficult to get to go places consistently and have to drive and pick up and drop off and worry about scheduling and all that knowing okay, this van can pull up, the dog can come out and do this and knowing exactly why they're doing that. So is it? Is it an elderly dog? Isn't overweight dog? Is there some medical condition here? Is it a dog that the breed just needs that kind of thing and going hey, here's a better option, I know, walks wear you out, because you got to be going out for two hours or more to get this talk to the point where they're kind of tired. Right? What if we just did this?
Nicole P. 23:14
Well, here's the other thing. You know, there's different exercises that work just like people swimming difference is different for person than running versus a treadmill versus weightlifting. The same thing with this, you have a dog that goes to the dog park, they're stopping and starting, they're socializing, their their body slamming their neck grabbing. So that's a different type of exercise, versus a dog walk, which is stop start, but you know, sniff and a little bit consistent, but they're stopping and starting here, you can get a consistency, where they can just continue the pace. But now it's mental you now you're working their brain, because they're on this thing, they're pushing it themselves. And a lot of them will get almost into like the zone. But I want to, you know, reiterate that this isn't to take away from them going outside and sniffing and being a dog. And it doesn't take away from going to the dog park. Should you be a dog park goer. It's a compliment to to everything, everything from the massage therapy to the treadmill running. It's a it's a compliment. And you know, think about an animal that has an ACL tear and they haven't been able to walk for, you know, two to six weeks or even two to four to six weeks. Now you can really monitor at a slow pace at their pace and help them or you have a visa who's a hunter and they're just their brain is on fire. Let them burn it out. So there's a lot of different ways to use the treadmill for benefits all areas of a dog.
Collin 24:51
Yeah, recognizing that the treadmill is is a tool in this dog's life to give it what it needs for its particular reason and for the pet particular purpose that the client is asking for. And knowing it's not an all one size fits all kind of thing. And same thing with, with just with the with the outdoor walks, or with the play yards or with a daycare, that's a very particular very particular set of skills that the dog will have and will, you know, is focusing on things for the dog. And I know when people may hear about a treadmill service, or especially people who are in the industry go Oh, is that is that competition for me and my dog walking service. And it's, it's not because it's, again, this very complimentary set, it's for a particular need for very particular kind of dog.
Nicole P. 25:36
And the other thing is, it can be worked, any dog can work on it, but you don't do it every day. You know, the most you want to do, it maybe is two times a week, because it's very enduring, it helps their endurance, it helps strength, it helps, you know, mental part, everything, but it does not take away from a dog needing to go for a walk, let's be real, a dog needs to go out and sniff every blade of grass and sniff other pee on the on the trees and, you know, smell the air and roll on the grass. So this does not take away from that. It's a complimentary, and it just it can help, especially for animals, working dogs, agility, dogs, dogs that are high energy, it can really help with that.
Collin 26:20
Yeah. So when it comes to how you're marketing this service, as opposed to the more traditional, you know, outdoor walks, what are some differences that you're seeing and finding as you're trying to communicate these to people?
Nicole P. 26:31
Oh, good question. You know, I, even in the 15 years with Miami, my marketing has been very basic. It's been word of mouth. It's been developing relationships with veterinarians. It's been keeping the relationships with our current clients up to date and continuing. And it's just talking to people, you know, I, I was a frequent goer, at a field in Miami where people would exercise their pets, and simply just having my logo on I didn't say, you know, hi, Colin, I'm a dog walker, who's your dog walker? Just it's Oh, what's that? What's what's a pet concierge. But also when you're with your own animals, and people see that they recall is good, or they're really good in their crate. Or they sit when you know, they're not jumping on people at the dog park or someone their animals injured and you're able to provide them with something from your medical kit in your car. There's simple things that you can do to show or or express that you're knowledgeable in it with the with Dallas because I don't know any veterinarians here, I'm starting from scratch. I don't have any clients here. This will be where marketing will definitely take place. And I'll spend some more on marketing. We you know, we we sponsored the local baseball team. It's like Friday Night Lights here with baseball, and they are competitive. So Oh, yeah, there are big time baseball in the cities. Like I said, I never really did a lot of marketing. I just I know that sounds very strange. There are there are companies I know that spend so much money on marketing. And I've I've been very, very particular about where I've spent those dollars. But yes, so I learned through the grapevine that the Plano senior high school baseball, there's three high schools and they are super competitive. And companies like Papa John's and big companies come out and sponsor them. So I thought, all right, I'm going to do it. So I have this huge banner, and we're gonna go do a dog night and the baseball field is literally I can see the lights from my house. So we go up and my husband eats a hot dog and we go sport, the baseball team. And so far, that's been interesting. We're part of the chamber, of course. And honestly, it's gonna be just pounding the pavement, going to different company, the vets and driving the van around, and just talking to people. I have always been the type of person that when I just feel in my gut, something's right. And it's going to work. I have no fear. So I'm going to just go out there and make it happen. Oh,
Collin 29:21
where does that? Where does that come from? Because I know fear is a very big limiting factor for a lot of people.
Nicole P. 29:29
Fear Well, I know for me, for fear was I left a lucrative business and different life to come into what I'm doing. I worked in the television business in Los Angeles. I was in my 20s and you make a lot of money, and you get a lot of responsibility. And it's a different lifestyle altogether. You know, it's what you see in the book. Send on TV and things like that. And when I left that, because I found my passion, and I felt like at the end of the day, I was doing something rewarding and good. What brought me fear was everybody else's doubt that what I was doing was silly, that it was a hobby, that I was too smart for it. Why would you do what I mean? Why would you walk dogs for a living? That's what dumb people do. And I think the fear for me came from Wait a second, I'm educated, I'm passionate. I think I'm good at it. And I love it. So why is it stupid? Or why isn't it we're not right for you. I don't question you if you want to go, be an attorney, or a plumber, or a teacher. And I value what people's passions are. So my fear, and I can't speak for everyone is not succeeding at a dream that I have. So believed in that people were doubting. And that's probably just from me, being as a kid, I always cared what other people thought. And I think that we should, we should just believe in what we think. And sometimes that's where fear comes from.
Collin 31:17
Yeah, and instead focusing on that passion, where's that passion leading us and in putting a big emphasis on that in our lives and putting that first and going, no, like, this is where I am. And this is where I want to go. It doesn't matter what you know, anything else about it, like, that's just it just pursuing that?
Nicole P. 31:37
Well, you know, when you, you know, I can like as a kid, you come home and you get an A on your paper, and you want everybody to celebrate, it's the same thing when you when you you know, whether you get a promotion, or you change jobs, just because I left working in the television business to go work with dogs, doesn't mean that it's not as exciting, or it's not as rewarding. But to me, I thought I was just winning the lottery, you know, I was getting out of corporate America, I was getting out of, of, you know, these terrible artificial lights, I got to go actually make make a difference in something's life. But to each his own, it is what it is. But that's where my fear came from it also, for me, I I'm the youngest of four. I'm the only girl. And I'm younger by five, six and nine years. And I have three highly intelligent brothers, they went to Ivy League schools, and they're very successful in their professions. And I always was, I always competed with that. So my fear is my own issue, wanting to be as good as they are. But it's funny, because if you ask them now, they'll say you're more successful than us, because you're the only one that had the gall and the drive to go do something on your own. And it's taken me 15 years to kind of think like, wow, you know, you pay other people's bills. You're, you're responsible for people's livings, you actually bought your first home because you worked your tail off, no pun intended. So it's, it's taken me a long time to kind of realize that business ownership isn't for everyone. I have just like I said, we just said, Where did you get the idea for the treadmill? And how are you marketing it? It's gonna be my heart marketing, and people are gonna know that I love it. And I have faith. Yeah, ya know,
Collin 33:37
and knowing that we don't have to overcomplicate it, right. When it comes to marketing, when it comes to messaging, what you bought, it basically boils down that to is like, it's all about relationships, right? Yeah. And I'm gonna be out there and talking to people and, and really working this and it does take that's a big part that a lot of people don't realize is being an entrepreneur running your own business has so much faith involved in it that if I do these things, if I'm doing then this will come from it. Correct? Is there a logical really step wise procedure opportunity there? You could kind of maybe lightly lightly pencil it in if you want it. But at the
Nicole P. 34:12
business plan, look at this exactly what the other thing is. So what you have the hiccup, so what you hit a bump in the road? You just you learned from that? I mean, how many things have we done over the years that were not great that we've just you've learned from trial and error, and I'm a big believer of that. Ask questions, ask what works and what doesn't work. Again, going back to asking your clients, I do the same thing with my staff. Why do you like working here? What makes you choose us? How can I make your job better? And it's important to ask those questions. And so I'm going to be asking the same thing. How can I help you with your dog's behavior issues? Well, here's an idea. Jump on my treadmill. So we'll see asked me in a year how well I doing, I have faith that I'm going to be knocking it out of the park. Yeah. That's me being very confident, which is, is. That's something that I lacked. So I'm trying to be as confident as I can, because I definitely not that confident sometimes.
Collin 35:18
Because there's a little bit of that, like, ooh, fake it till you make it, I don't really feel like that's what this is, what it is, is is believing, right that this is going to take place. Because if you don't, then you take different actions, right? If I believe it's going to fail, I'm not going to be pounding the pavement, if I believe it's going to fail, I'm not going to be talking to people, if I believe it's going to fail, I'm not going to be making the investments that I need to. So at some point, we do have to recognize, I need to believe this is going to work because my actions will flow from that belief. And those absolutely will help me get to where I need to go.
Nicole P. 35:51
Absolutely. I mean, when I started Miami, pet concierge, I quit my job. I had $5,000 in my bank, for everything, car payments, rent everything. And I had paid off a big, you know, you live in Los Angeles, you tend to get into debt, because you want to live that lifestyle. I was living with my mother, I was 32 years old. And I had moved back from California and moved in with my mother quit my job and said, This is what I'm doing. And yeah, people thought I was nuts. But within six months, I had my first employee, and that's the rest is history. So I think that if you have a passion and a goal, and you just work your tail off, you can do it and there's going to be hiccups. And those hiccups are just going to be learning experiences. And don't get me wrong, there are going to be days where you're going to go in fetal position and cry. And you know, you wipe off the tears and you blow your nose and you move on.
Collin 36:44
Yeah, well, Sophie is moving on. And sometimes that means having a good support group. Sometimes that means knowing who to reach out to sometimes it means just taking a day, to grieve and to really feel that that loss and that Hiccup and that setback and just kind of embrace that and know those emotions so that you know how to move on from that in the future.
Nicole P. 37:05
Correct? Absolutely. And that takes time, especially reeling in the emotion.
Collin 37:11
Well, so for this for this transition for you, you know, going from Miami to Dallas, what would you say is your biggest lesson, setting up a brand new business after operating for 15 years, you know, in a brand new territory.
Nicole P. 37:24
My biggest lesson is letting go. And that means and it started stems from I had all of my processes and my procedures and everything in Miami done. I've had, you know, my manuals done, I had all that done, so that I could make a change whenever I wanted to make the change if I wanted to make the change, but more importantly, to make sure that everything was a well oiled machine. And in the last year or so in Miami, I wasn't really working in the business as much because I had so much faith in my staff. And I learned many years ago from business coaches that said, Delegate delegate, delegate as much as you can delegate, and stop trying to do everything because you're not going to do everything well. So do what you do well and allow the others that do those things better than you let them do it. And I believe that every one of us that are in this business, and anybody that's an entrepreneur at some point is a little bit tight Bay, and we all want to do everything ourselves because because we can only do it the best I hired. And I promoted, to be able to put my staff in place and my team so that when I did transition to another state, I had faith the business was going to run on its own, especially in the virtual world. So my business in Miami is running without me. I have a staff that has basically said boss, stop, stop call, like stop answering the text messages, you don't know what you're doing, or don't invoice anymore, because you're messing it up. And to be able to get to that space is it's it's really a rewarding and it's almost a it makes me emotional, because I never thought I would get to a place where I would allow my baby to be handled by other people. And I have a staff that just I mean, they they're amazing. And most importantly what I did was I took my role and I split it in half. So I created a director of operations that was responsible for all my staffing and my scheduling and the day to day. And then I took the customer service aspect of my job, and I promoted someone to customer relations, Director of Customer Relations, so she's responsible for all onboarding and customer satisfaction. And so now I have that those roles separated. And then I promoted one of my staff who came from hospitality to a manager of employee culture. And she's responsible for all of our training, and all of our day to day and maintaining higher education and that our, our staff is happy. So instead of me being the three phases of the business, I now have three phases doing the business. And then from remote, I have access to all the emails, all the texts, all the calls, and I jump in when needed, and they communicate with me all the time. But I can see everything and I can hear everything. And when they need me to, you know, to help guide them. I'm there but at this point, I've been asked to just kind of sit back and be quiet because they don't want to be micromanaged. They want to be able to do their job and as they succeed, it's a very rewarding experience. So that's how I created my little method to my madness to be able to be in Dallas right now why Miami's running
Collin 41:10
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Nicole P. 42:35
So it's interesting to be back in the field. But it's, it's a different because I now get to drive up to a home and work with an animal in a more intimate setting one on one, doing something completely different now. And having spent the last 10 years building my education, you know, I I am I'm a I'm a massage therapist and a water therapist and graduated from frenzies canine fitness program. And then also I did a master certification at the University of Washington for animal behavior. What I found in Miami is when I started my business and then became more educated, it was hard for people to kind of separate the dog walker from the person who's not educated. And hear people only know me as the one with this as as the one who now is educated. Does that make sense? Yeah. So you know, it was it was hard to kind of break the barrier of entry per se for veterinarians where they were like, oh, that's Nicole. She's a dog, Walker Jones and my new pet concierge. And then you're like, Oh, well, I provide massage therapy? Oh, well, I don't I don't believe that or that's too forward thinking or that's too woowoo. For me, we're here, I can walk in and say Hi, I'm Nicole. And I'm a certified massage therapist. And I have these credentials. And this is what I'm doing. And this is how excited I am. And I run a business in Miami and they don't know anything different. I don't have to prove myself the way that I had to break the barrier in Miami. In a different proving. Yeah, I don't know if I'm confusing you because they know me as the pet care provider, but they didn't know me as the dog runner. Does that. Does that make sense? Yeah,
Collin 44:23
they know you, Nicole with 15 years of proven track record experience with all this new education and knowledge. It's a very different interaction when somebody comes in and it's day one, right? It's a very different interaction people view us differently and and I think along the way, that means that we are interacting with people differently as well. We have different conversations. And it's part of of building and building and that's one reason why continuing education is so important is just not so that we can like it's it helps build our confidence and we've talked about that a little bit. It helps us give better care and it helps Are you okay? Give us a little bit of bone a few days to people who were talking to to go, No, I absolutely, always stuff and
Nicole P. 45:08
it's just you hit the you hit the head on the nail on the head, I was just at that backward, is in, you know, in Miami, I felt like I had to sell myself. Not to my current clients, but to the new people, not on the not on the pet care side. But on the physical therapy side, you almost had to well, you know, I own this business that did that. And you almost felt like you had to sell yourself which I just who wants a salesman? You know, it's it's, it's an I don't I don't knock salesman, but sometimes you can oversell, we're here. I can simply just say, This is what I do. Yeah. And people are, are immediately intrigued, because they haven't heard of it. And then you just are able to confidently speak about it without having to say, you know, yeah, I am that person. But now I have this, you know, now I have this education. And, and now I can just say, No, this is why I am. But going back to being on the pavement, it's different. Because I'm in charge now. And I can pick and choose. And I can shut the door at the end of the night and not have to have the phone on. But more importantly, I get to enjoy it again. Because you know how running a pet sitting businesses, you kind of are behind the scenes, and you don't get to see the animals as much. But now I get to use all of this education and wealth of information to be able to provide. And I said, I keep saying intimate and I mean that in the sense of one on one, being able to really work with an animal and see them progress over time and be able to be a part of that, whether it's, you know, their hyperactivity or post, you know, post stress or anxiety or fear from being in a shelter, or simply being able to exercise a dog that's a working dog or a dog that's had some type of medical thing. I want to slow it down a notch. I don't want to be doing 16 jobs a day like I did when I was starting, I want to be able to really focus. And I'm excited about that to bring something new to the Dallas area, and hopefully beyond.
Collin 47:13
Oh, that's very exciting. And
Nicole P. 47:16
I'm really pumped about it. I'm so excited about it, because it's been a dream. To do this for a long time and to finally be able to put into fruition is a very exciting thing. Yeah, well, and to be able to talk about it, because I did not tell anyone for a very long time.
Collin 47:32
So it just bursting through now it's just yeah, well, when the guy not part of what you've really focused on and honed in over your years in pet care is, is providing hope. And it's very special acronym to you as well. So I'd love for you to kind of put to break that down for us in what it means for for us in the pet care.
Nicole P. 47:53
So I believe there are four areas of service or of providing pet care and dog walking that we should focus on. And, you know, it can be in the hope. And I came up with the acronym. And hope to me is homes, owners, pets, employees, and they're all relative. And they all mean something and they will all work together. So if you're working in a home and you respect the home, you're respecting the owner and doing what the owner needs from you. And then you're respecting the pet and you're you're respecting the your employees. But you know, we're going into people's homes. And you learn a lot about people when you go into their homes. You know, you see things you hear things, you read things. It's very, you know, you're exposing yourself when you allow someone into your home. So there's a trust issue when we go into homes. And I think it's important that when when we sell ourselves to our clients, we explain that we train our staff to respect that that environment, from everything from you know, the second we open the door to the time we leave to, you know, making sure that the path we take in the house, we reverse backwards and make sure that we we are respectful and do everything the way that they want. And that's in regards to the owner. I mean, the owners have their their ways in which they want things done. And we need to honor that because it's their home, and it's their way. And we may not always like it, and we may not always agree with it, but it's okay to educate them when it's appropriate. But it's their home, and it's their way. So I choose hope in the way that I train my staff. So we break it down in four and four days we talk about the importance of the house and how we go into a home and how we do things in the home. And then we break it down on the owner and what is expected of us and what they're paying for and the value in which we give them And then we go into the pets and their care and the importance of following what the owners want for their pet. And how we provide a benefit for the pet and how we can educate and help set the pet up for success, which is, is really important. It's all about setting everybody up for success. And then we go into our employees, how can we make this process of being a pet sitter or dog walker, or a kennel cleaner at a daycare, or a treadmill runner, or whomever it is? How do we make their experience better, because they all work together. And if one fails, or one isn't working correctly, then we're going to have issues with the other, you have an owner that's unhappy, likely the employee is going to be blamed. If an pet is injured, likely the owner is going to be upset if a door is unlocked. It's all relative. So to me hope is the acronym that I choose to go deeper into how we train our staff. I think that in these days with the Wags and the rovers and the hobbyists, it's really important to speak about these areas so that our clients and prospective clients understand the importance of what we do, how we go about doing it, and the level of respect we have for them and their care needs.
Collin 51:28
Yeah, it's because we've got to talk a little bit before we started recording here about how what we do is not rocket science. It's not overly complicated, but we take it seriously. We put our you know, we take it definitely seriously what we do, and taking something like hope and looking at and looking at each one of these facets of the position of the job of our service, and outlining and going. This is why we do it. This is what we do. And this is why it's important means that we are thinking through every aspect of our job, every aspect of what we do in a particular day. And going, this is important. This is important. This is important. Yes, just writing it down like that sometimes can help us as the owners as the people running the business go, oh, yeah, that is I do need to focus more on that.
Nicole P. 52:19
I think it's a culture I like I like the title of employee, I mean, excuse me, company culture. And for us, I think company culture is important because everything we do has a trickle down effect, whether it's positive or negative. And so if we, if we provide our new staff members with all the information that they need to know, as simple as you know, how to hold a leash, or how to enter a home with a bolter, or simply, you know, washing bowls, because how many of us have walked into a home or bowls haven't been washed in months to you know, I mean, there are simple things that we need to teach our employees, but also how to keep our employees happy, you know, doing things like we do a monthly, we use precise pet care. So I'm sure like time dependent, precise pet care, you have your journals. And so once a month, we do the photo of the month, I choose five, because some of them are hilarious. And then we all vote, nobody knows who chooses to, and they win a gift card. And we have employee of the month every month. And you know, we do all different kinds of things to keep the employee culture going. Also, education to me that, you know, by now, that's really important. But if the employee culture isn't a positive one, then they're gonna be angry or bitter or annoyed or have a chip on their shoulder and they're gonna go into a house, and they're gonna leave the door open, or the cat's gonna get out, or they're not going to pick up the newspaper, or they're not going to feed the dog. Right. And so it's there's just a trickle down effect. So, one night, I was thinking about this, and instead of saying clients and pets and houses and whatever, I was like, Ooh, spells hope. And that, to me means I hope that everybody in this industry takes the time and does their due diligence to make sure that they're providing their the homes of the owners and the owners and the pets and their employees, the proper information and skills and and respect and value that pet sitters should should provide uh, you know, that's kind of what I came up with.
Collin 54:37
Well, we keep this word respect. And I know when I was talking, I was giving a presentation to some businesses, and I was talking about respect and as pet sitters, we respect people and that's one of our core tenets of our business. You will be respected as a client and gentleman came up to me afterwards he goes you know, that's a word that not is not out there a lot. We don't see that word a lot in in business and in And it really struck me that was the one thing of my entire talk and all my funny stories that he took away was that that impacted him because he's like, I don't see that a lot of a lot of companies don't use that word respecting you. And when you break it down out like this, when you've done a call of hope of going, we care about their home means we're going to care for but not gonna go snooping around we care about the owner means we're going to listen to them, we're going to take their concerns and fears into consideration and help educate them as well. The pets following instructions, giving the best care possible that means we have to be educated, and then our employees making sure they're well cared for. So it all flows upstream, downstream through this. And it mentioned, one thing that I hit on recently was the importance for our foreign staff the importance of like washing out wet food containers, when we're done with them. Of like, something that's simple and trying to sit down go, Well, have you ever walked into a home after that food containers sat in there for for a week and a half in their trash? Yeah. You want to go back on vacation? Right? respecting them, right?
Nicole P. 56:04
It's just it's making the little adjustments. You know, there are there are little analogies, and there's little things that I have that I talk to my clients or excuse my staff about during training. And sometimes they look at me like I'm crazy. And I'm like, no, no, no, there's a method to but listen, and then you'll hear them repeat it. And you're like, yes. But to me, it's a two way street, though. Because we want to be valued and provide value, and we want to respect and be respected. And so if I believe in one of my biggest values, and in Miami pet concierge, and now Dallas is there's that old cliche saying that there is no I in team. And I really, truly believe that because I am very aware that Miami pet concierge is hitting its 15 year mark, because I have a team. And it's not just about me, I rarely do I talk about I when I talk about the business. And if they you know, I want them to be happy. But I also want them to realize that this is a job and I want to respect them. But I also want respect that. And I always feel like if I'm not going to do it, then I don't expect you to do it. So I will pick up poop. And you can pick up poop, you know, it's it's a two way street. And so leading by example, and having a mutual respect, and having a transparent relationship with communication, I think is is very important, at least for me and how I run my business. But also the two way street with valuing the client and the customer.
Collin 57:38
Absolutely, absolutely. Because that golden rule treat others as you would want to be treated respect, absolutely and respected. And if you're many of our listeners that do not have a team. And so they may go well, how do I apply this to me? Well, you still have people in your life that support you, you still may have a tax accountant, you still may have somebody who advises you may still have somebody who you know, does, you know, a number of things, or a virtual assistant that's in your life or just family members who are rooting you on for, for what you're doing in your business, you have a team around you, whether you realize it or not. Sometimes it's intentionally built through hires. Sometimes it's just the community of people around you and this all interplays with that, too.
Nicole P. 58:15
I absolutely agree. I mean, a team but even if you're by yourself, you're a team. Yeah, you're, you're your own team. So you know, and that goes into, you know, I am asked often by, by people that are starting out, or they have smaller teams, how can I grow. And to me, the most important thing is respect yourself, you got to take care of yourself, you have to provide yourself with some type of some type of wellness, whether it's meditation, or going for a run or having that glass of wine at the end of the night, whatever is your you have to get out of it. So, you know, I got married four years ago. And one of the things that I implemented is a hard stop 630 hard stop that needs to that I'm done. Because I want to respect my my personal life. Now that doesn't mean that my phone isn't on. It doesn't mean that I'm not checking it. It's just I'm not in in the phone. And I need to now focus myself on on my family. And so that's to me, you have to respect yourself and as a solo entrepreneur, I know and I'm sure you remember, I didn't respect my self or my time parameters or anything. I never
Collin 59:31
know what why would you why would I respect myself? I mean, how many
Nicole P. 59:34
birthdays Did you like? I miss birthdays, countless birthdays and weddings and bar mitzvahs and Christmases and how many did you miss? Oh, I have to work I have to work. So as a solo entrepreneur, my biggest advice would be set up your parameters hard stop. Give yourself time to say No, don't say yes to everything. You're going to make yourself sick and crazy.
Collin Funkhouser 59:56
I love that so much Nicole. I really have enjoyed our time talking and I know we have just barely scratched the surface with everything going on and we are definitely going to I'm doing a gonna do it right now I'm going to send you an invite for one year. Follow up with how. But with everything that's going on in all of your expertise, I know that there are a lot of questions that people may have and want to get in touch and pick your brain on that. So how best can people get in touch with you follow along with the new fun journey in Dallas and see everything that Miami has going on to?
Nicole P. 1:00:31
Sure you can reach me at either Miami. Excuse me, Nicole at Miami pet concierge or Nicola Dallas pet concierge. And on Facebook and Instagram are either Dallas pet concierge or Miami pet concierge. You can find us either one they linked together.
Collin 1:00:48
Perfect when I'll have links to those in the show notes and on the websites people asked are following along, Nicole, this has been I've thoroughly enjoyed this. I can't tell you how much. I've appreciate your time and coming and sharing with us today.
Nicole P. 1:01:01
Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. I hope I wasn't too chatty. But if anybody has any questions, though, they can call anytime. And thank you so much. I love what you're doing. I think the pet care world needed somebody like you and Megan. And I love it and keep doing what you're doing because you're doing awesome.
Collin 1:01:20
Hope overcomes fear because it is the belief and something better yet to come. When we focus on the home. It means we are trying to make it better. We're respecting that. When we focus on the owner, we are putting them their needs their concerns their own fears. First, when we focus on pets, it means we are devoting our time attention and talents to their care and their betterment. And if we have staff, it means that we are trying to make their lives better, as well. When we are afraid of things happening means we do things about it. If I'm afraid of messing up at somebody's home, I need to have policies and procedures, training and operations and oversight to make sure nothing goes wrong. If I'm afraid that something's going to happen to the pets. What do I need to be trained in? What skills should I have on my disposal to take care of that. And whether we have staff or we don't focusing on people, focusing on yourself. Having faith that things will be better when we work hard and put in the effort. Most importantly, having faith in yourself that you can do the hard work that hard things are possible with help and support. If you're struggling and you need help and have questions, please reach out to us feedback at pester confessional.com. Also, make sure that you have joined our sitter confessionals, a Facebook group, there's an amazing array of people there that would love to help support you encourage you and give you advice as you run your business. You aren't alone. Running a business is fearful. There's a lot of doubt that goes into it, but you don't have to go through it by yourself. I hope that you understand that. We want to thank our sponsors time to pet and pet perennials for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you for listening today. We know you have a busy, crazy, hectic summer and it means a lot that you would spend your time listening to the stories listening to this podcast. So we hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
