371: Stepping Away with Claire Aither
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Could you step away from your business for 6 months? Claire Aither, owner and creator of Pet Sitting MKE, hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and kept her business running. Claire joins the show to share what preparing to leave was like and how she (and her team) worked through the hurdles that came. Claire explains her process of re-entering her business with fresh eyes and how she brought back a better version of herself. From overcoming guilt to renewing her passion for her mission, Claire brings the lessons from her time on the trail.
Main topics:
6 months away
Fresh eyes
Lessons
Staying on mission
Main takeaway: Bring a better version of yourself to your business by learning who you are and what mission you’re working for.
About our guest:
Hi! I'm Claire, Owner & Creator of Pet Sitting MKE. Life long pet owner and animal lover. While studying my undergrad at Marquette University, I started to miss my two puppies back home. To get my 'dog fix' and pay for books, I started walking dogs in my spare time. Since graduating, I have followed my passion of caring for animals by and establishing Pet Sitting MKE as my own small business. Since then I have continued to expand my team and business.
Links:
Previously on: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/263
Instagram @petsittingmke
TikTok @petsittingmke
Follow her hiking stories: https://thetrek.co
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, team, trail, day, clients, business, months, hike, team members, payroll, people, responsibilities, continue, feel, role, leaving, hiking, thought, claire, dog
SPEAKERS
Claire A., Collin
Claire A. 00:00
What am I going to regret more? Am I going to regret quitting because it's raining and I'm going to look back and be like, gosh, I could have done the thing, or am I going to regret staying and hiking through the rain? And every time it was I'm gonna regret quitting more, so I'm glad that I was able to power through.
Collin 00:19
Welcome back to pet sitter confessional. Today, we're brought to you by time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters. Could you step away from your business for six months, Claire, a third owner and creator of petsitting Mk II hike the entire Appalachian Trail here in the US and kept her business running. Claire joins the show to share what preparing to leave was like and how she and her team worked through the hurdles that came along. Claire explains her process of reentering the business with fresh eyes and how she brought back a better version of herself from the trail. Let's get started.
Claire A. 00:52
Yeah, my name is Claire aithris. Collins said I'm the owner and creator of pet sitting Mk II. We are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and we focused on providing personalized care through dog walks and then specialized care for small animals and exotic pets as well in the area. So I the long trip that Colin kind of peaked, I guess that I just went on a six month venture I through hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. So I was my first time taking that much time away from my business.
Collin 01:34
Yeah, that's a that's a long time clear six months.
Claire A. 01:40
And three days.
Collin 01:42
Not that anyone was counting, I'm sure. And so you had six months to prepare for to be away from your business. What? What did you do about that? Sure. So
Claire A. 01:57
to be honest, I was kind of in a position with my business that I think a lot of entrepreneurs have been in, where they realize that when things started changing back after the pandemic, they had been so caught up and burnt out in their business, because they really didn't have much else to focus on during that time. Because we weren't going out every day and things like that, that I was at a point where I was so wrapped up and overworking myself that I realized I needed to set boundaries and kind of take my life back a little bit. So in order to do that, I needed to hire and train my team and then put in place some SOPs and other I guess procedures and training to get my team to a place where they were able to take on more of the work that I was doing. And I would have to do some work in trusting them to be able to fulfill the work that I had been doing prior. And getting them to a place where they felt calm, comfortable and confident running the business without me because I was not going to be accessible in the mountains in the middle of nowhere.
Collin 03:07
Yeah, you couldn't just pop in and take over a visit or really answer on the spot calls or to handle in depth problems. And that's a that's a really scary place to be, especially as the business owner and creator use that word to of describing yourself. This is something that you have created and sounds like you've continued to create things for the business. And like I said, being in that position of kind of being being being helpless while you're away from everything.
Claire A. 03:36
Yes, yeah, it was very uncomfortable. I mean, not only caring, or allowing me to trust my team to provide the same quality care that I had been providing for my pets, but really taking over the business as a whole was something that I'd never done. And so I have such a wonderful team, like shout out to them, that I was able to have an open and honest conversation with them before leaving about all of my concerns. And having just like discussed with them their comfort and taking on larger roles in our business. And actually all of them were completely on board and interested in expanding with the business and taking on more responsibilities. So I really just am so glad in retrospect, to have taken that leap of faith and gotten out of my comfort zone to realize I not only trust all of my team with my clients, both human and furry clients, but also with just maintaining the business itself while I was gone.
Collin 04:44
Yeah, cuz that's the other aspect of this too. It's not just doing the visits, it's who's doing payroll, who's making paying the bills, who's keeping up with all of the accounts, who has the passwords, who also how did you sit down and just figure out all the things that needed to be done without you.
Claire A. 05:01
Sure. So really what I did is start doing some, I'm a very visual person. So I started kind of thinking like, kindergarten, ask exercises, which is a little silly. But I made an entire list of all of the things that I do on a weekly basis. And I went throughout my week, like, okay, payroll on this day, I'm responding to emails daily, I am answering the phone or updating client profiles. And then what I did is I made a chart of each of my team members that I had, and I sort of cut out the squares or the pieces of paper with each responsibility that I had been doing. And I tried to reallocate those to whom I think would be an appropriate fit for completing that task while I was gone. And so then I was able to see, okay, this, you know, team member a, for example, I think I would trust her to take on these tasks, and she would be great at doing them. And then team member be my excel in a different area. But if I was overloading team member a with much, I could see visually that, Hey, maybe I need to restructure this and take a few of those tasks, and maybe give them to team member B or team member C, and then sort of build a new role for each team member out that way. I love
Collin 06:29
that aspect of doing it visually. Because as you were talking about that I was thinking of just how easy it would be to just overload people of just keep going, Okay, well, you can do this and do this and do this. It's easy to say that and we're our brains don't quite catch the number of times we say and you can, but when you see it physically in front of you as a stack of paper, or a big long list your brain, that's when you realize going oh, wow, that's a lot. So maybe I need to check in with them and go Is this too much? Or you just preemptively take some off the table and distributed out between the between the staff members?
Claire A. 07:01
Yes, absolutely. I think too. I'm very fortunate to have a team that is solely comprised of a lot of people that are close in my life. So we're able to have really open and honest conversation. I had our main Walker, I had hired her or given her a promotion, I guess you could say to be team supervisor and take on a team a more managerial role. Is that a word? Manager real? Yeah. management role.
Collin 07:35
It is today, there you go.
Claire A. 07:38
More a bigger role in management. And then my I'm in a similar position with you and Megan, where my partner and I, we've been together five years we live together, he's seen the ins and outs of what I do. So then having a team meeting prior to leaving, and really explaining to everybody, this is your role as office manager, this is your role as social media coordinator. This is your role as team management. But I want you to continue to communicate together as a team and operate as a team. So if there is a need for somebody to take on a task, while you go out of town for the weekend, or while you are feeling a little stressed during the fourth of July, and you need help, you know, extra help with something, just continue to communicate and collaborate together. And I'm all having close relationships and dynamics really was beneficial as well.
Collin 08:35
Yeah, the dynamics suddenly changed when all of a sudden now everyone has slightly different new roles, added responsibilities that require an inherent increase in connectivity between one another in sharing of information. Knowing that not you know, now what each person is now a lot more inter integral to the continuation of this company and kind of relaying that, that seriousness to them. Claire, when you were when you were putting together the roles, were you having a back and forth conversation with the with your team members? Or did you come to them with something kind of completed and present it to them and go, What do you think about taking this on?
Claire A. 09:13
So it was a little bit of both, where I had individual meetings with them prior just kind of setting the stage and the tone that like, hey, I really want to do this thing being the Appalachian Trail, and that's going to require me to leave for six months. There's no person that I trust more, you know, then you to take on this responsibility. But if that's something that you're not comfortable with, I'd love to discuss what you think you'd be willing to do and where we can kind of compromise and adjust from there. So I had talked to my office manager about doing payroll, for example, and that was something that they weren't comfortable taking on. So then I outsourced and I found a wonderful person, my bookkeeper actually was willing to take over payroll position, and we just adjusted accordingly. And it's working super well. So I wanted to present them with an opportunity to grow within our company. But I didn't want them to feel obligated if that's not the the path that they wanted to pursue within.
Collin 10:21
Yeah, you want to have you want to allow them space to say no. And I think that that can be really hard to do when you're excited about something and you're eager for them to do something, or it's a real need in the company. And there can be some extra, there can be some false expectations on their part to go a lot. I guess I have to say yes to this, because my boss is coming to me, and I don't want to disappoint them. But I don't really know sure about this. But leaving that space of going, it doesn't matter, yes or no, this is what I would like. But you, you have the final say, and really leaving it up to them, because that's going to set them up for a lot more success, because that means they're actually taking on the things that they want to take on instead of sitting it going. burdened by this, you know, in that way, you know, you look up and payroll hadn't been run in three months, and everyone's in an uproar, I kind of kind of
Claire A. 11:07
absolutely, yeah, I wanted them to feel really supported and everything that they were doing. Even if I was away for so long, I didn't want anybody to feel insecure about their role. So really instilling within them a sense of confidence to know, hey, I trust you with this task, I know you're going to do great, whether that be client interfacing or things like that, I'm not going to be able to make the decisions on a day to day. So I know that you know what to do in these situations. And I want you to make the decisions. And I think that that gave them a sense of empowerment to to recognize, like, Hey, I do got this, like I do what I'm doing, I've been doing this long enough where I can take on a bigger role if they again, if they felt comfortable to do so.
11:54
And just giving that that that shot, did you have additional training or oversights that you gave to people for certain tasks they were doing? Or did they just kind of shadow you on what you were doing? So
Claire A. 12:07
I really hadn't had like standard operating procedures in place. I'd had like a training guidebook when we hired on new team members. But all of these things that I'd been doing myself, I never felt necessary to like write down what my tasks were. So I went about not only like a physical, standard operating procedure to give all of them for each task that they were doing. I'm again a very visual person. So I would make loom videos for them to refer back to. So they could see oh, what were they clicking for payroll again. And then they can see my little face and hear my voice clicking them through every step of the way. I also have a business coach that I love that they never actually had to reach out too. But I kind of set up with her, Hey, if my team is in crisis, God forbid, like are you? Would you feel comfortable helping talk them through these things? And she said, Absolutely. And so having somebody else that maybe has like a different perspective, or is able to like provide a different sense of security for them to know that they have somebody else in their back pocket to, to rely on helped as well so and then they could shadow and train with me as well. So I wanted to provide them with as many resources in advance as I could just so they knew that like they had things to refer back to.
13:41
So you're going also not just you creating things, but boy, what do I rely on? Do I have somebody who I always reach out to a business coach or a friend or a close person or another business network? Well, may I need to make sure my team are connected with that same support system, so that they have those same connections, right, and allowing them to continue to feel supported, even if you aren't there?
Claire A. 14:05
Absolutely. And I think that the nature of our business, because it's mostly check ins and walking, we don't have a physical location. So we don't have a daycare where all of our team is constantly seeing each other on a day to day basis. So really instilling like a an emphasis on teamwork within our team and getting everybody together a few times prior to having left, making sure that they knew each other that they felt comfortable communicating and asking each other for help if it was needed, was really big, because again, like the nature of what we do is we're not together as a team all day you're off walking fluffy while I'm walking Fido for example. And so that really was a game changer for us. And now we're continuing to do more team group activities together and a team building trainings and things like that. So it's, it's been a lot of fun. Yeah, that's
Collin 15:02
an interesting aspect that I hadn't thought about it like you had brought on everybody. So you had a relationship with every single person. And then now you're stepping back and going, Okay, now talk to each other, do it do the thing, right? going, well, if I really need, I need these people to feel comfortable reaching out to one another and doing that. So I do need to get them connected and get these building some of these relationships together before I go so that they feel okay to reach out. Because otherwise, if they don't feel comfortable, they feel insecure. They're not sure who that person is, they're not very likely to reach out. So really trying to foster that, and start building that up before you leave. That's, that's really, that's huge.
Claire A. 15:43
Yeah, it was a game changer. And it's completely altered for the better the way that we operate all together.
Collin 15:49
Yeah. And I'm also curious about you, like, you're handing over responsibilities, but that also means you're handing over things like passwords to accounts and giving them access to now like deep things of the company, did you have any insecurities about that process now.
Claire A. 16:06
Um, I did not in the sense that I didn't trust anybody, but in the sense that I'd never given up those responsibilities before there never was a need. So I, there's so many tools that you can use specifically for passwords. There's like LastPass, or other different software's that you can use if if you know sharing passwords or something like that is something that you're insecure about. But ultimately, at the end of the day, I had to trust that my team had great intentions and was was going to continue what was best for the business because I wasn't there to monitor them and to shadow them and, you know, peek over their shoulder micromanage. And, honestly, I'm so glad that I wasn't because everything went seamlessly and it's given me such a greater sense of confidence within my team. And it's allowed me to give away some of the responsibilities that had such a chokehold on me before because I didn't trust anybody else to do them that I know, Hey, it's okay. You know, there's so many wonderful people on our team that are willing to help and take on a greater role that there's really nothing that's holding me back from allowing them to do so other than my own sense of insecurity. And just overcoming that has allowed me to take a breath and allow me to continue to have a life outside of my business as I've come back.
Collin 17:30
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17:34
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Collin 17:55
If you're looking for new pet saying software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show can say 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confessional. We mentioned insecurities. Did you ever feel guilty of for leaving for six months and still having people working? Because I know there is as as we grow in businesses and we bring on staff, there can be this feeling of Well, I I still want to earn my keep right? I don't want to just feel like I am benefiting from others work and labor. Did you ever struggle with those thoughts?
Claire A. 18:31
I think I did a bit in the beginning, I wanted to make sure that my team felt again supported compensated appropriately for their new roles and the responsibilities that they were taking on. But I still felt some sense of like, impostor syndrome, or like, Am I really deserving of like six months off, that's a crazy amount of time. And I, I just had to kind of come to terms with the fact that I really given my entire soul and being the last two years of the pandemic, especially to my business, I devoted countless hours, you know, sleepless nights, stressed out burnt out days, to getting my business to a place where I'd be able to do this. And so it took a leap of faith. But now I feel like so empowered to be able to like do more outside of my business. That I think it was just like a blessing in disguise for me to take a step away.
Collin 19:30
And then what was it like, stepping back into that you've been out in the wilderness for six months and three days again, not that anyone was counting. And then you're right, you you arrive back into to work one day, right? What do you what was that transition back like into it?
Claire A. 19:45
Yeah, so I was curious to see how it would be because I knew a couple of our team members wanted to were willing and wanted to take on some responsibilities, payroll being one where they said we'll do it but I don't really like those. I don't know. Can I do this long term? Can you take this back or find somebody else to do this, and I was more than happy to because I had the free time to, or I didn't have I come back from six months off. So of course, I was willing to help. I, I, it was weird, because all of a sudden, I wasn't working myself, like, you know, 12 hours a day, 14 hours a day, seven days a week, it was a little uncomfortable. But it made me so confident, I remember the first time that I had, like, reached out to a client that I hadn't seen in a while, and our team manager was taking a day off. And I said, Hey, I'm going to be coming at this time today. Like I saw, there's some updates on your profile, I just wanted to check in is there anything else that you know, I need to know, that's been adjusted in the last six months, and they were kind of like, oh, you know, like, you know, my dogs gonna be excited to see you. But like, we really love the team manager, like, Sure. And for a second, I was a little hurt. I was like, I love this dog, I was the one that's only cared for for a while. But then he made me like, I had to kind of switch my thinking on that for a second and say, You know what, that's really cool that I've been able to, like, have such a such a great team that has provided the same quality care that I've tried to instill in them to each of my clients that they want my team members or my team manager to take, take on the care of their pet, instead of me or in, in addition to me. So realizing that like this business is now bigger than myself Is it was a little weird at first, but like, it's, it's wonderful. It just makes me feel like I've really built a strong foundation for this business to continue to thrive and keep growing. And yeah, so it took a little bit of adjusting, but it's nice to know that my team is able to take on more, and I'm not going to detract from the work that they were doing. I think it would be counterproductive of me to come back and say like, Well, I'm here now. So all that, you know, extra work you were doing, it's mine again, some of them like the roles that they take on and I didn't want to, you know, say Oh, you're no longer the team manager, I'm back. It's me, I'm the big dog. It's just been it's been fun. It's been an adjustment. And it's also in turn allowed me to do more things that I enjoy, like checking on the pets were for a while I was solely doing the business operations. And now I'm able to get enough time in my day to not only do the business operations that I have been doing since I've back, I've been back but also get to check on dogs and go for walks and do things that were really the reason that I started this business because that's what I was passionate about. So
Collin 22:57
yeah, getting reconnected with with that passion. Again, I like that of going well, these are the things that I was excited about. And then all these other responsibilities came along with that as I grew as I was more successful, as I brought on staff, all of them, I had things that I had to do not things that I wanted to do. And this exercise of removing yourself for six months and three days is allowing you to now reconnect with a lot more of the business and the base. And that's really cool to hear that you had staff members that were wanting to keep on those roles that were willing to do that. And that that was something that was now filling them. And you were benefiting from their expertise and their things that they were they were learning and, and and teaching you I'm sure when you got back. Yeah,
Claire A. 23:39
I mean, it was fun to know, like we had, in the beginning, we had said, You know what, we're going to take this hiatus period where we're not necessarily going to take on a bunch of new clients while I'm gone. Because I didn't want to task my team with hiring while I was away, that was something that I didn't feel comfortable with. So I in an attempt to well also down we allow our clients to book as frequently or infrequently as they need. So there's a fluctuation in our scheduling a lot of times and I didn't want to get to a point where now all of a sudden we have way too many pets that need care and too little team members. So we just we just decided to kind of teeter that off and slow down for the six months that I was there. But I was gone for less than a month and I got a call from my team manager when I was in town that was like hey, do you think we could take on a few more clients like we have the space to do with the team wants to I was like you know why? If you think you can handle it all you guys know the drill go for it and then to come back and be like, oh, there's a dog on my schedule that I've never met that I don't know like it was kind of fun again, it was like oh, you know, everybody knows the drill with again, we don't have a fluffy I always use fluffy as my example dog but you know, oh, like I've never met fluffy before but like oh fluffy, so easy. Everybody knows fluffy. You're just New Tech fluffy was like, fun it was. I don't know. Except, I guess
Collin 25:04
it was like you were a new hire to your own company coming back.
Claire A. 25:08
It's yeah, like almost like Undercover Boss, but I wasn't like, I don't know peeping on everybody. I was just excited to do the work.
Collin 25:17
Did you Was there anything about the business that you came back in and you either didn't recognize or that you were seeing with fresh eyes after being away for so long.
Claire A. 25:27
Um, I think more of that was more personal in the way that I was approaching things I've been really okay and more comfortable setting boundaries and saying no to things that I'm not able to take on. We've gotten some very nice requests that I, I know that prior to having left, I would have tried to take on instead of saying, hey, you know what, I don't think this is going to be a great fit for what you're looking for. And what we're able to do as a business, I'm going to refer you to somebody that I think would be a better fit, and then also slowing down. I mean, you're in the woods, you don't really have too much to worry about while you're hiking. It's just, you know, food, water, staying warm, and you know, just the bare basics. And so you have so much time to process and make decisions, and it's not always go, go go. And so kind of translating that back into my day to day here, I'm able to take on tasks in a different way and see things differently and sort of slow down in my thinking so that I can really show up and, again, focus on personalizing that care, which is what we have such a huge emphasis on each client individually, rather than operating so quickly and such on a time based schedule.
Collin 26:56
It really forces you to do that. Whenever you're in the woods. It really, really does have there's not a whole like you said there's not a whole lot to focus on. There's just a lot of quiet times conversations. You know, you were out with this with your dad. Right? So you were getting a lot of the bonding time with him and focusing on you know, how, what's our pace? Where are we headed? How am I feeling how my feet look like? You feel a lot more in tune with yourself as well? Because now there's just what like I check on how's my back feeling? How's my arm? How's the is this feeling weird? How's my breathing? We're going up hill, there's, you're just really you, you're forced to be in the moment? Because there's nothing else going on?
Claire A. 27:35
Yes, yeah. And I think really refocusing and re centering your thoughts to be in the moment has allowed me to not be so anxious. I had such a tendency to try and create, like, hypothetical worst case scenarios in my head and how I would address all of those. So I felt in control of the situation. But something you learn quickly in the woods is that everything is beyond your control. You can check the weather a million times, but you don't know it's gonna rain until it's raining, really, so you can try your best and a lot of the times it's just adapting to what is thrown at you, instead of trying to brace constantly for every curveball and, you know, control everything. I've got a a good I feel like I'm in a good position to really like slow down and handle thing. issues or not, not necessarily issues but just different events throughout the day. When they come to me when when you know, I don't know.
Collin 28:40
Yeah, well, and you were you were you were out for for six months. Just how how was the hike? What was it like being out there? It was,
Claire A. 28:47
I'm not gonna lie. I keep saying this. If I had to sum it up, it was the most challenging, excruciating thing I've ever done. But it was definitely the most rewarding. It's such a test, not only of like, physical fitness, I think that's such a small percentage, but it really is a test of mental fortitude. You You can go in and get into shape. I thought I was a hotshot like oh boy, I walk you know 15 miles a day anyways with dogs. Walking does not translate to hiking up and down mountains all day. Let me tell you so you can just hike into shape but it's more of the you know, I have to get through the mental hurdles of everyday looks the same. I'm exhausted. I'm a little malnourished here. I'm, you know, it's been raining for five days and everything I own is soaking wet. I'm putting on socks that were literally frozen solid from the night before. Like, there's a lot that tests you but it gave me such a great sense of confidence in myself that if I can overcome these like crazy feats on it. day to day basis, there really isn't much, much more strenuous things here in the comforts of like my life in the city that I can't handle.
Collin 30:11
Right? It does make you appreciate something when you're like, Oh, I'm at the red light again, at least my socks aren't frozen this morning. That's kind of nice as
Claire A. 30:20
I remember the first walk, I was taking with a dog when I came back, and it was pouring rain, and I just smiled, because I knew at the end of the day, I was gonna get to put dry clothes on.
Collin 30:31
That perspective really does help a lot in life as we look to and it's not going it's not putting like rose colored glasses on our situation, but it is just embracing that and going I have done more than this. This was this will not be the end of me right now i can i can do a lot more because of this challenge. And and really proving that to yourself. And it takes sometimes putting ourselves in those situations to discover that, did you experience a point where you were ready to just throw in the towel and didn't want to go on? Was there any those kinds of experiences?
Claire A. 31:04
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Colin, I had, I think as everybody does, I had a handful of those where I was just I was done. I was fed up. But I, I'm a very stubborn person. And personally, for me, it was, oh, goodness, am I What's more uncomfortable for me, you know, my frozen socks, or, you know, my hunger or my discomfort, or going home and having to tell everybody like, I tried, but I couldn't, you know, and so that kept me motivated to be like, you know, what, it's gonna be way more uncomfortable for me to say, I quit and admit to everybody, and I kind of used that maybe not the healthiest. But I use that as motivation for me to keep going and power through. And I'm so glad that I did. The reason that I did the hike after I asked a friend, hey, like, Should Do you think I should do this? I really want to, and they said, What? Are you going to regret more? Are you going to regret, you know, stepping away from your business for six months? Or are you going to regret missing the six months of opportunity to spend with your dad on like, the adventure of a lifetime? And that's what made me pull the trigger on? Okay, I'm going to do this hike. And I use that same thought every single day like, what am I going to regret more? Am I going to regret quitting? Because it's raining? And I'm gonna look back and be like, gosh, I could have done the thing? Or am I going to regret staying and hiking through the rain? And every time it was I'm gonna regret quitting more. So I'm glad that I was able to power through.
Collin 32:41
Yeah, I mean, there's that the proving it to yourself that you're capable of it. And then you also have that other aspect of like, yeah, I get to be with my dad, like, this is going to be something that's totally unique. That is going to be like you said, once in a lifetime opportunity that we're always going to have because of this and building that relationship with him.
Claire A. 32:58
Yes, yeah. And having him there kind of held me accountable to because that's, you know, am I gonna regret having the same dad you're doing that you're doing the rest of the hike on your own, you know, that we had conversation prior to leaving about no hard feelings if one of us has to or wants to get off trail? You know, like, if the other one wants to keep going or the other one wants to follow suit. Like, no matter what, no hard feelings. We're going in this together. And hopefully we're gonna end it together. But yeah, to be able to share that with him is just so wonderful. What about your
Collin 33:33
best experience out on the trail was Do you have a moment that really sticks in your mind?
Claire A. 33:37
Oh, goodness, um, I guess there's not one distinct moment that stands out above another, but just the culture and the support that you receive surrounding like a hike like this. Everybody is willing to help you complete this major feat. And there's a thing called trail angels, which are people that have either previously hiked or live relatively close to the trail, or something that they provide, they have a tendency to provide you with whatever you need, when you need it most desperately. It's so weird. There's, it's called trail magic. And so sometimes you will come to a road crossing, and you'll just be exhausted and low on food and there will be people there cooking hot dogs out of the back of their truck. And it just kind of not only like invigorates that like, sense of like, oh, this is really cool. Like, you know, they really are meeting my needs when I really need them and it gives you an extra sense of motivation. Just like okay, my you know, my body is fueled and we've got like other hikers surrounding us some more a greater sense of like camaraderie and support together, but it really does re instill like your faith in humanity to you know, anytime that you need something, someone's willing to help you with it. Whether that'd be, I'm not, I don't condone hitchhiking, but that is part of the culture of hiking the Appalachian Trail. Whenever you need a ride into town, people will pull over and they'll see you, you know, dirty, smelly, the most raunchiest stinkiest. And they're like, hey, you need a ride cop in me and my dog, we're going to the pet store, we're gonna, you know, we're going to work whatever you need a ride, I'm happy to help you. So there's just so many small moments like that where I realized when I was in my like deepest down in the dumps moment, there was always somebody there to lift my spirits. And I think that just really keeps keeps you motivated. And moments like that are what I really am going to treasure forever.
Collin 35:45
Yeah, getting exposed to those those those ways of operating. Right, it was kind of I'm sure, it was kind of a culture shock and a way of life shock and a pace of life shock, as you mentioned, going through this path, fast paced, and others just plodding along a trail, and you have to adapt to that. And you're overcoming the challenges. You're embracing the successes, and you're you're learning and growing through that entire time that you're away and, and being out there for. For that amount of time you do you don't come back the same. Right? And and I'm sure, as we, as you mentioned, like coming back in seeing your business with some fresh eyes, seeing how you've changed and how you're different. What what are the things that you? What do you think you are now bringing back to your company, that's going to help make it better?
Claire A. 36:29
I think, just like reigniting that spark, and that interest and bringing that energy, but also recognizing that, like, I want to continue to build this team in a way that like we all are interconnected, that wasn't something that we had, again, an emphasis on in the beginning, we did operate as a team, and that we were always helping each other. But we didn't really we didn't, like have the same sense of relationship that we do now. So I want to continue to like, have team events and really, like, build that sense of camaraderie together, bringing back a better version of myself, where I'm not burning the candle at both ends has really been, I think, seen, my team has already said that they recognize that like, I'm able to help them in more ways than I was in the past because I was taking on more work than I do. And so by being a better version of myself, I'm able to lead my team in a much healthier way than I was because I wasn't addressing my own things, and I didn't have the time to address anybody else's. So just by giving myself the opportunity and the grace to again, slow down and not be burning the candle at both ends has really allowed me to continue to support my team much more adequately to be a much better leader. I think.
37:58
The National Association of Professional pet sitters envisions a future where pet care professionals and pet parents collaborate to make a significant impact on the welfare of pets and the pet industry through education, certification and community outreach. Together, we can make this vision a reality naps is run by its members. For its members. It's a volunteer driven Association. They actually offer a trial membership and various webinars to showcase the mini naps member benefits offered visit naps website at Pet sitters.org for membership details and more information. So do you feel like you're better able to fulfill the mission of pet sitting Mk II now?
Claire A. 38:38
Yeah, for a while we were just so caught up in our growth that I think it took me a minute to realize until I was burnt out that I wasn't really fulfilling our our mission to provide personal care and personalized care to the fullest degree. There was a sense of like loss in that we were just running and going and going that like sometimes there would be times where you were so focused on clocking out right at the 30 minute mark versus like, actually having a you know, more personalized, intimate relationship with like, the pet that you were providing care for. And then in turn the client that you're providing the care for as well.
Collin 39:26
Yeah, agreeing back in that mentality of slowing down, and really assessing and being in the moment around you and not just sitting there focusing staring at your time going and going three to one clock out, run to the next thing going, am I actually doing what I'm here to do. And if I go over a minute, if I go over five like it's, it's all going to be okay at the end of the day. Yep.
Claire A. 39:49
Yep, we changed. I can't remember if I touched on this in the last podcast, but we changed our entire operations before we were leaving to allow ourselves grater clock in and clock out windows are bucking windows. And then we change from a system where we previously had been doing like a 15 minute visit a 30 minute and a 60 minute to now having sort of mimicking that, that being a small and medium and a large and it's an approximate time. So that way, you know if fluffy is having a great day, the weather is great. She's really straightened today, she's in a good mood, we're able to do 45 minutes, and that's to our clients benefit. But if our you know, if it's storming out and somebody's anxious and doesn't want to get out, we might cut it a couple minutes short and say, hey, you know, fluffy really was not comfortable with us in our space today. Instead of overwhelming her, we want this to be beneficial for both of us. We cut it short a few minutes today, and then hopefully we'll continue to spend more time with her next time. And that really was a difficult transition for our clients at first because they really wanted to make sure that they weren't getting you know that they weren't getting the most bang for their buck, I guess. But realize that we hire pet lovers, not just people that want to pet sit all of our team wants to spend as much time with these pets as they possibly can. So it's it's been more of a benefit to allow us a little bit more fluctuation and flexibility in our schedule.
Collin 41:24
Yeah, then you don't have that that stress. Because I know we have definitely have clients who've been like, well, it looks like you clocked out at 28 minutes instead of 30. Is there a reason I didn't get my full 30 minute visits? And you're like, well, like he's like the storm things are happening. It's two minutes. Okay. Right, like so I think what that does just relaxes everything just a little bit, you get to ebb and flow with more importantly, how the pet is doing, and what their needs are actually that day. And I can see how some clients would take some time to adjust that, because we've definitely experienced that ourselves of, of what it means to for that visit, and really taking it back to an approximation based on pet needs. So that you now have the ability to step in and go look where there were professionals will spend the appropriate time to do the appropriate things in the appropriate manner. And having clients that that understand that I can see it'd be really important.
Claire A. 42:19
Absolutely, yeah, we are. We're we have such an awesome client base. We've been very fortunate in that regard, where change is obviously difficult for everybody. But once they realize that really not much is changing. It's just, you know, more than logistics on our end. Everybody was really relaxed and super supportive of those adjustments
42:40
and the whole team thing too, and I'm sure it helped with you knowing you're going to be removed that there's a little bit more not certainly levity, but less time sensitivity for things so people weren't as stressed moving from visit to visit.
Claire A. 42:55
Yeah, we it's difficult we had been operating. I mean, when it was just me, it was easy to know, I walk these dogs at these times on these days. But when you have when you're hiring people, especially a lot of our team members are part time or what we call floaters, where they have a job that has fluctuating schedules each week, if your dog really takes a liking to team member a, but team member a doesn't have availability, even though you typically book with team member a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but now you need something Saturday at 9pm. It's kind of unrealistic for me to say, hey, team member a like, you know, don't worry about your other job. I need you to do this one walk at this time because my client has one weird request this week, you know, yeah.
Collin 43:44
Yeah. When you reflect on this, this experience, what are you? What are you looking forward to? Do you have another another another trip like this planned up? Or what do you what are you excited about?
Claire A. 43:55
Oh, well, I haven't really announced it. So I doing it again here. I really thought that I was gonna be one and done. Like, I was like, I'm gonna get this out of my system, especially while on trail. I was like, I'm never gonna do this again. Oh, great. But it's definitely type two fun where you look back and you're like, gosh, that was the best experience of my life. And so there are two other extended thru hikes in the US, the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. And once you do all three you are you've Triple Crown does what the lingo is. Okay, so my goal is to work all this year, continue to build the business and get everything structured. And then I'd like to, I'm leaning more towards the CDT next but I'm hoping in 2020 for the CDT is in my cards and then the PCT and 2025 So
44:58
yeah, that's it's like because You know, and then once you have this experience, it's just you're that much further along for the next time, right and building and not know, just you have the competence and there may be staff turnover, there may things that change, but you know that it was done, it can be done with the right systems and the right support. So it's, it's a lot of like, proving it to yourself that it's possible and your team proving it to themselves that it's possible and working together through all those things that need to be done to make it happen.
Claire A. 45:28
Yep. And we, I think we as attendants, that are we as entrepreneurs have a tendency to get really anxious about things. And then once you make the switch, or the train change, or the transition, you realize, like, I have been stressing about that for so long. And it was so much easier than I anticipated. I wish I did it earlier. Whether that be like price increase, adjusting the way that you operate, taking six months off, once you really do it, you realize, wow, like that wasn't that hard. I just was stressing myself out. So continuing to just take those leaps of faith and learn from them is really all we can do.
Collin 46:07
Yeah, it is because we stress out about starting, but then we have to recognize that I do have to start and we've talked, we talked about that last time, as you're kind of gearing up mentally to take this leap to try this new thing. And to what was that going to mean? And, and that stress of going? I know this is good for me. I know I want to do this. But I'm also held back by my fears, my anxieties, and then reflecting on it after you've accomplished it and gone. Oh, that, you know, that was hard. There were some not fun times, if we're very honest about this. But man, that was good. And that felt good. And I'm proud of my team. I'm proud of myself for doing that. And now it's You do look ahead to the next trail to the next thing. Two more down the road. Go what's next, and you start kind of taking on new and bigger things.
Claire A. 46:55
Yeah, it's a muscle, you just gotta keep flexing it gotta keep it engaged. And the more that you do it, the easier it gets.
47:02
Yeah. That's really exciting, Claire, and I know, I can't wait to hear how you doing that. And we'll look forward to more like I guess like trail gear reviews from you to get your feedback, I'm kind of packs and socks, I guess, whatever that comes from that. But when you when you think of, of muscles, another muscle that I think of a lot of like feeding self of reading learning things. Where are you going these days to learn to read to grow from for you and your business?
Claire A. 47:33
Yeah, outside of your podcast. There's a few other podcasts that I've been listening to and books as well, that kept me really entertained on trail. I don't know if this is exactly what you're asking. But two of my greatest reads this year that I think really provide me a lot of perspective in my own life. And just on the natural world in general is the book of eels and why fish don't exist. Those are two of my now absolute favorite books. They just are give me great insight into again, letting things whether that be positive or, you know, tumultuous things come to me instead of trying to have such a great sense of control, because life is just fluctuating and the natural world will never fully be understood. And instead of trying to have such a great grasp on like, again, controlling it just allowing it to happen is really what is going to make us live the best version of ourselves and, and grow naturally. So
Collin 48:42
I'm adding those to my reading list right now. Very, very good.
Claire A. 48:48
Very entertaining, especially, I mean, they both have aquatic themes. But if you just like animals in general, very interesting reads I would definitely recommend.
48:57
Okay, that's awesome. Well, well, Claire, I want to thank you for coming back on the show and sharing this experience and challenging us to look ahead and see what we can do what we can take on and that big things are possible with a good team and with a lot of support and patience. But I know there's a lot of lessons that people can draw from this. If they have questions about how you implemented or more experiences they want to get trail recommendations. How can people get better connected with you?
Claire A. 49:23
Sure. So my business Instagram is at petsitting MK e psych petsitting Mike but without the i We've got a Our website is www dot petsitting mk e.com. Otherwise, I have started doing trail talk reviews and that's at v dot track. That is a thru hiking organization that they have a podcast they have bloggers they have other I'm like writers and through hikers telling stories and sharing gear reviews and things like that. So I've started creating content for them as well. So in send you some of that,
Collin 50:10
that's very exciting. I'm, that's, that's a really cool outflow of this experience that you've had is continuing to branch off. And now sharing things not just about that setting, but also going, Hey, there's this other thing that I'm interested in, and I have experienced with now and I can share and I continue to help others. So that's really cool. Claire, I, I love hearing your story. And I'm so thankful for catching up with you today and everything. So it's been a real pleasure.
Claire A. 50:34
Thank you, Colin, same here. I'm so excited. What would a
Collin 50:37
better you look like? Do you even know how you would find out and what the questions you would need to ask to get to that point? I think for most of us, what we really need is a big chunk of time or a consistent chunk of time in our lives, to reinvest back in who we are the to reinvest in our own interests and to get reconnected with our passion with our why so that we can be consistent with the mission. You see, when we find time for ourselves, we find more fulfillment and all the things that we do because we realize that what we do, doesn't define us. And so the good and the bad of what we do doesn't begin to impact who we are and how we see ourselves because in the end, we know it's all going to be okay. We'd love to know how you get reconnected with that and what a better you would look like you can send that to feed back at Pet Sitter confessional.com. We want to thank today's sponsors, tiny pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters for making today's show possible. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
