373: Embracing Change and Growth with Gricel Arroyo
Time to Pet. Go to timetopet.com/confessional for 50% off your first 3 months.
Pet Perennials. Go to https://petperennials.com/pages/register-for-a-business-account
How do you handle transformation and change? Gricel Arroyo, owner of Arroyo Pets, shares her journey of adapting to her business over the past year. Starting with a focus on nail trims, she gradually expanded her services, with other grooming services now accounting for half of her business. She highlights the need of being open-minded and learning from one another's experiences within her team. Becoming an employer has been a learning experience for Gricel, as she considers herself more of a team leader and mentor than a boss. She also delves into how she has changed as a person, learning to cope when things don't go as planned, and understanding that she cannot control everything.
Main topics
Transformation
Building a team
Working with her sister
Staying open-minded
Main takeaway: When faced with change, reframe your thoughts and focus on what you can do.
About our guest:
My name is Gricel Arroyo and I began my journey as the proud owner of Arroyo Pet January of 2021. My primary focus then and now-protecting pets by providing professional hygienic mobile/at-home services. My business idea came about due to covid-19. I wanted to help my community members who were struggling with caring for their pets during a pandemic and have not stopped since. I have 4.5 years of veterinary experience and I attended Illinois state University, graduating with a bachelors in Animal Science. Not only am I running a small business, I am also working a full-time job while I grow Arroyo Pet. This past year has been an incredible experience and I have no doubt things will be amazing for me next year! I am also proud dog owner of a gentle 9 year old Golden Retriever named “Zeus” and a spontaneous 3 year old dachshund mix rescued from Ecuador named “Salinas”.
Links
Previously on: https://www.petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/252
Email Gricel: arroyo.gricel@arroyopet.com
Her website:https://arroyopet.com/
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, & TuneIn
Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
clients, learning, people, business, team members, pet, service, grooming, thinking, team, dog, gift, person, hiring process, big, grow, day, schedule, happen, understand
SPEAKERS
Gricel A., Collin
Collin 00:01
Welcome back to pet sitter confessional were brought to you by time to pet and pet perennials. How do you handle transformation and change in your business? Gricel Arroyo, owner of Arroyo Pets rejoins the show to share her journey of transforming her business over the past year. While she started with focus of nail trims, she was gradually expanded her services with now grooming accounting for more than half of her business. She emphasizes the importance of upselling services as possible solutions to her clients and she highlights the need of being open minded and learning from one other's experiences within her own team. Becoming an employer has been a learning experience for herself as she considers herself more of a team leader and mentor than a boss. Her primary goal is to create a better workplace where people feel heard and can grow within her team. She also delves into how she has changed as a person learning to cope with things that don't go as planned and understanding that she cannot always control everything. Let's get started.
Gricel A. 00:59
First of all, Collin again, thank you so much for having me back. Again, my name is Gricel, I am the owner and founder of aerial pet LLC. We're located in the area of like the Chicago suburbs, and we offer mobile grooming services, pet sitting, drop in visits and dog walking is what we do.
Collin 01:18
And you actually started out by providing just the grooming services, is that right?
Gricel A. 01:24
So I actually started with just the grooming services, right. And it was very minimal, where it was just nail trims and baths. And now I've expanded to doing actual Grooms and something that I never thought I would be doing. But now I enjoy it. And it actually is, you know, half of you know what we do? And you know, it's just been expanding even more now.
Collin 01:48
So it's went from nail trims to now about half of the total company services were Did did you go for a specific training? Did you shadow was it just experienced? What? How did you make that transformation.
Gricel A. 02:02
So it was just experience. Again, one of my first jobs was at PetSmart. So I was at the grooming salon, I did minimal grooming I did want learn from the people that I worked with. But the the rest of that training came from my own experience watching my own YouTube YouTube videos, and just learning on on the go to just being very transparent with my clients and letting them know, Hey, I'm still I'm still learning in this. So if it's okay, and you would like for me to groom your dog, you know, that would be awesome. And yeah, most of our, our, my clients have been amazing. And I'm still working towards, you know, reaching that goal of going to a grooming school. But as of now, it's just been with my own personal experience. But that's
Collin 02:45
just a fantastic place to start. And again, I like how you're communicating that with clients to of keeping them in the loop and seeing that progression as well. And kind of I'm sure taking on new challenges and seeing how you can adapt and change with the needs of the clients that you bring on to.
Gricel A. 03:00
Yeah, and it's been great just because, you know, even if we do overnight sitting or dog walking for a client and mentioned, hey, I do some grooming, if you'd like for me to groom, you know, Kelly or our max, you know, I'd be more than happy to and it's been really convenient for them to you because they don't have to worry about scheduling a grooming appointment while they're out on vacation. You know, they come back, I groom their dog, and they're good to go.
Collin 03:27
Well, that's an additional add on on service. I know many people, myself included, sometimes struggle to make that pitch to somebody of how else you can help them. How do you approach people once they've booked a service? How do you approach and start having that conversation of other things that you can do for them? Yeah.
Gricel A. 03:47
And I think that's where my Vet Tech experience comes into place. Because you know, when I do meet a dog, or I do a service, I observe the dog, I look at the dog and I look at like, you know, I'm seeing that their nails are looking a little bit long, I actually do nail trims as well, would you like for me to take care of that while you're gone? Or, Hey, I've noticed that, you know, their coat seems pretty, pretty, pretty bad. Or it's a little matted, like I can brush them up for you or I can actually do the full groom for them while they're in their home and I can bring all my stuff while I do the pet sitting. And you don't have to worry about even taking them to the groomers before after your vacation. So that's kind of like how I approach them as I do you see that the dog has a need for something and it's like, Hey, I noticed this. And then that's where I recommend because they've already trusting me to take care of the Dog in their home. You know, now they're listening to you know what else I have to say it's like, okay, my dog needs us might as well just take care of that as well.
Collin 04:45
Yeah, each additional touch point is a little bit easier than that first, as you mentioned, like the bulk of the work was getting them to trust you with the care of the pet in the home. Now you can start looking for other ways to help serve them and each one of those is just comes up little bit easier to nap more natural to the client, as they grow to trust you and understand what you're what you're offering them.
Gricel A. 05:07
Exactly. Yeah. And And again, all my clients, I think most of them have been pretty open to that idea. And they think me at the end of the day, like, oh my gosh, yes, like, thank you so much for bringing that up, I was actually going to take care of it after I come back. But if you can do it, you know, go right ahead.
Collin 05:23
It really helps create a very, very magical experience for that client of they truly can have everything taken care of, they just have to, they live from their mind, they step out the door, and then they come back and the dog is happy, groomed, everything's taken care of and the client didn't have to lift a finger to make that happen. I, I love that experience that you're able to give your your clients.
Gricel A. 05:44
Yeah, it's like I said, it's been it's been very convenient on both ends, right. And I remember last year in our interview, I was like, Well, I don't know, I, I said, I don't know if I even wanted to get into grooming and stuff like that. But now it's again, 50% of what I do.
Collin 06:01
So you've had the growth of the grooming it for your business, how else has your business changed over the last year?
Gricel A. 06:08
Um, honestly, yeah, from the last time that we talked, you know, I've, I was on my own, I was thinking of hiring. And that's one of the things that changed from last year is now I have about five girls on my team and myself. So there's total of six of us now. And it's just been a very, very incredible journey for me lots of learning experiences, rates, things that went bad things that went amazing that I've learned from. And with that being said, with having five girls in my team now, we've helped about 169 clients last year, which helped to triple you know, that our total end of the year profit compared to the previous year, of course, with just being myself. Yeah, so it's been an incredible journey.
Collin 06:54
That's quite the growth over a year to bring on five staff and to be bringing them under your wing? How? How have you gone about training them to be to be like you, because I know, that's always a concern of, well, nobody's gonna be like me, people want my services, and you obviously have high standards for how you treat clients and how you want things to be done. What's that been? Like?
Gricel A. 07:16
It's been, you know, there's been up and up and downs, right? The first person that I hired didn't end up working out, right. But, you know, for all the other people that I've had hired, I kind of created a structure of like, what I would want for them to know, before even coming into this position, right? What are my expectations? What are their expectations, and honestly, like learning from your podcast, and other podcasts, you know, I've learned to create kind of like a question year for them during an interview process. Because that was the mistake I made, when I hired my first person, there wasn't much of like a hiring because it was someone that I knew. So they just added, you know, you know, I added someone else in my team, and that was it. But I created an actual hiring process a questionnaire. And with the training itself, you know, I wanted to make sure they felt comfortable speaking to our clients, and actually comfortable taking care of an animal. So I go with them for the first, you know, two to three visits with them, just to make sure that we go over all the important information, how to use the software that we use to communicate with our clients, and most importantly, what we need to do to take care of the animal. And from there, you know, I make sure that we go through any CPR training, so I do get them CPR certified as well. And then from there, I kind of created like a checklist of, you know, what, what you should, should and shouldn't do during a visit and kind of like a little checklist, so that they don't forget what to do, because I know, it could just be a dog walk, right? But there's little things that make us go above and beyond for our clients and shows them, you know, hey, we truly care about what we do. And so I just kind of created that and had that for them during the hiring process as well.
Collin 09:06
Yeah, people people don't know what they don't know. And they assume that they can just conduct a visit or to conduct a walk, like they would walk their own dog. And there's no harm in that they get to bring experience from that. But we have to take that and go, Okay, we need to build upon this. I was getting a coffee in between visits one time and talking with the barista. And they were like, Oh, well, I mean, what do you mean, you train your staff and I was kind of listing off all the little things we do for walks and they stopped and went, Oh, okay, I think I'll go back to making coffee. It's like, yeah, that's about it. Yeah, and that's okay. Right. But that's, that's our responsibility now to go. If I always want you to do something, I have to tell you that right. That's not something that's going to come naturally to most people and to develop that process and that way of the checklist are a big deal, so that they can They might not use that for the remainder of their time with you, but at least it's there to support them while they need up.
Gricel A. 10:06
Exactly. And like you said, it's things that are just common sense isn't common sense, right? And it's just more of like helping them out and making sure that you know, you bring on like what you expect from your your employees. And I've grown, I've grown so much for a reason, right? And, and I would want people to do the same, you know, when they join my team is, you know, having that expectation of like, Hey, I'm not just walking a dog, I'm doing all of this for our clients, because now it's our clients.
Collin 10:35
I love that you said that I've grown so much for a reason. It's because of what you do and how you do things. And now you need to take that and help other people help other staff members continue to do that, that kind of becomes that that secret sauce of the business. And we as owners have to sit and go, Okay, what is that, and whether we're so low, and we're trying to refine our processes, or we're bringing on staff, and we need to make sure people stay consistent. We have to recognize that we have this business, and it's working, and we're needing to do these steps because of something that we're doing right. And now we need to try and capture that and help other people understand what that
Gricel A. 11:12
is. Yeah, exactly. And it's hard. It's difficult, right? Because you're, you're working with someone else, that's a completely different person. And that's kind of like, how do you handle? Like the change of bringing someone on your team? It's like, okay, well, you have to think they don't think the same way that you do. And, you know, you have to, you know, just understand that they may have things that they do things differently, which is okay, right. I always let my team members know, like, you can always let me know, if you suggest like, give me feedback, give me any suggestions like, Hey, I could, I think this would work a little bit better if we do this, right. So being open minded to learning from my team members to is very important. And something I've been doing since I've, I've hired all these people, it's just, you know, they have their own experience as well, for a reason. That's why I hire them. And I want to learn from you and vice versa. It's like, Hey, we're here to help each other out to do this, you know, this is our end goal is to help this animal.
Collin 12:14
Do you ever feel like you're asking too much of your staff? Like you're you focus on too much of the details? Or they're, it's too demanding as far as what you require of them?
Gricel A. 12:25
Yeah, so I do have that feeling. Sometimes it's like, I in the back of my head, I'm thinking, Is this too much? Or is this just me? Or, you know, can I only do this? Like, are they going to get tired of this? So yes, I do have that thought sometimes. But, you know, I created like, like, for example, the checklists, it is a few pages, like two to three pages long, but it's long for a reason. And, again, I don't want people to forget anything. It's like, oh, shoot, I forgot how to do this. Or, you know, they get locked out of the home while it was on the checklist, make sure you check the doors and windows at all times. Or oh, I forgot to give the dog medication. While it's like, okay, that's why it's on the checklist, make sure you go through everything before you head out during a visit. So yes, I do have that thought sometimes where it's like, okay, maybe someone will get tired of this. It's, it's not what they expected. But, again, that's kind of like where the hiring process, you know, goes first, it's like, okay, I ask them these questions. And at the end, it's like, Are you sure do you still want to apply for this job. And I remember you, Colin mentioned and that to me, or during a podcast, it's just not that you're steering them away from hiring. And I think also, Doug, it also provides some feedback on that is that you don't want to steer them away. But same time you do. Because again, you don't want to get the wrong people that they just expecting just to go walk a dog. And that's,
Collin 13:53
well, it's true, we get a lot of people that apply, and they love animals, right. And that's, that's great. We want people to have that passion for animals, but we have to it's, we have to craft that process to help them understand that it's more than that. And that's actually very challenging. So getting people who love animals and love a challenge is is difficult. And that's the balance that we have to walk through of going. I need somebody who's passionate about animals, but understands that it's not always puppy cuddles and Kitty kisses every day. Like they're actually actively seeking out a challenging aspect because it is challenging to do what we do, and to do it reliably. And predictably and exceptionally every single time.
Gricel A. 14:33
Yes, and like I said, it's it's been working out great. All the girls that are under my team have been been very open by themselves as well. But also very honest with me, it's like hey, like I realized this, I think this would work out a little bit better if we do it this way. So that's been just a very big thing for me. And my learning experience is just, hey, other people are gonna have other opinions and I'm very open I did. So I'm here to learn from you as well. So that's just what I've, I've realized, like, hey, I need to listen to other people. And they might have something good to say.
Collin 15:10
They do. As you mentioned, we hired them for their experiences, we hired them for a reason. And recognizing that there are more to that than just the walker, they're more than just a robot over here performing functions. Like there's, there's a reason and a purpose that they're on our team. And we can lean into that. And that helps us, it helps them see themselves as more connected and invested in the company as well.
Gricel A. 15:35
Yeah, and that's, that's a huge thing is being connected. You know, that's the reason why they want to join. And it's great to hear when you know, I work with them, or I read messages on time to pet where it's like, oh, you know, we're so happy that you chose us, you know, the word us or they chose Arroyo pet like that, that makes me feel great, because you know, they do feel connected, then they feel happy that they work with me and the overall company. So it's a big, it's a really good feeling at the end of the day that you're doing something great with your team.
Collin 16:10
That word, company, right. I know that. That sounds weird to me. I'm not sure if how has that been for you to adapt your your thinking and how you've approached Arroyo Pat from it was was you and now you are a company, right? It's, it's, it's bigger than you how, how have you adjusted or what's been your thoughts around that?
Gricel A. 16:29
Yeah, company has been a weird word. I don't really use it. I like to think of it as like, just a business a small, like a pet care business. Because when I think of company, it's like, okay, I'm thinking, you know, big, big companies out there, right. But yes, I also I'm thinking and while I am, you know, business, I am a professional business here, and I've been growing, it's not just myself. So it's just been just so many changes going on, right? Compared to last year. But now this year, now. It's like, okay, I'm officially, you know, almost two years in business. And now thinking about, Okay, what do we need to do? You know, what's our goal? What are we going to expect for this year? What are, you know, our end of the year goals and profits and everything. So that's kind of like where my mentality has now grown as and to that aspect? Okay, how many people do we need to reach this year? So having that because last year, when I was only myself, you know, I was just thinking of, okay, who can help me just take care of dogs? And now I'm thinking, Okay, we need to do more dog logs, what do we need to do this month? You know, and stuff like that. So that's kind of like where my mindset has changed?
Collin 17:45
Yeah, it happens naturally to have now you have more on your plate, there are more things that you both a have to focus on and be get to focus on, because of the growth that you've experienced. Yeah, I know, it's kind of weird to sit here and go. And when before we started hiring, so two years ago, when before we hired, it was like, I wasn't worried about, you know, extensive route planning or things like this are what they are. They're, you know, what scheduling looked like? Because it was just us. It was just me. And I didn't I didn't mind. So now, now going out. But now we've got these other things that we're doing. It's it's a bigger picture, kind of thinking that just happens naturally as you scale up.
Gricel A. 18:24
Yeah. And like you said, the routes now I have specific people working in this area, because I've expanded to a couple of other towns, with the other team members that I've hired. So it's like, now you're thinking, okay, these two girls can work in this area. And I have these two here, who can work in this area. So it's like now planning like a map all around the service areas, and knowing who can help and which. So it's been it's been great, you know, but just keeping things organized to is a little bit like you said, you have more on your plate. But it's, yeah, it's an automatic thing that you do you start thinking about now. And I started doing that now for planning, like the goals for this year, is, you know, what did we do last year that really helped and what can I do for this year to make things a lot better?
Collin 19:15
Have you heard of time to pet Chris Ann from raining cats and dogs has this to say
19:19
becoming a time to pet clients has been a game changer for us. We can give our pet services clients real time, cloud based information they never imagined they'd be interested in. And most importantly to me personally, I can better manage my company and look forward to more and not a small thing. Time to pet is responsive to my requests for new features and modifications to existing ones.
Collin 19:43
If you're looking to new pet six software, give time to pet a try listeners of our show can save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confessional. You personally you know as you've gone through this, you've been bringing on staff and you've you've mentioned a little bit how you're Working to learn from them and make this much more of a collaborative effort. It sounds like so do you see yourself as a, as a boss, as a mentor or something else?
Gricel A. 20:10
I see myself as a leader, like a team leader and mentor, I don't see I don't like to call myself a boss. You know, when I tell them? My girls like, well, yes, I'm your boss. But I don't like saying that, like, we're here for each other. We're here to help. We're a team, you know, I'm just your team leader. But we're a team overall, I need you as much as you need me. So that's, that's a huge thing for me is letting them know, like, you can come to me if you have any issues with anything, just let me know and be honest. And I'll do the same like, hey, if this is just not working out, I'll we'll we'll talk we'll, we'll communicate, we'll figure something out. But again, I cares, I care about them, because they're here to help. They're here for a reason to also help our clients and their pets. So that's the biggest thing is just, you know, coming down as an actual team, I'm not just your boss.
Collin 21:02
That changes the atmosphere to and that relationship makes it easier for people to approach you with questions with suggestions, because I know I've certainly been in positions in the past where you were not allowed to discuss how you'd like to do something different, or it was it was verboten to speak ill of the policies and procedures and, and, and now thinking about that going well, I want people to be able to critique this, they know that the I believe they help make the company better the business run more smoothly. And then I don't know everything. Yeah, at the end of the day, Megan, and I make the final decision, we make the final call, but we appreciate input. And that helps everybody at the end.
Gricel A. 21:47
Yeah. And I think that's what my goal was when creating a business is. And when I started thinking about hiring people is, you know, I worked my nine to five job, right? And most of us worked our nine and five jobs before having our business, right. And you do feel that way, when you are talking to your boss, and they ask you Okay, what else do you have? For me? Well, you don't want to talk to them about well, I don't like this, this and that, you know, like, and you guys, I feel like you don't really listen to us and care about your employees. But you don't say that, right. And nowadays, I feel like especially people coming into a new job, you have these expectations, and younger people also is that, you know, you really want to be heard, right. And it's not just your job, I understand, I always let my team members know, I understand you have a life from from a real pet. And I want you to know that I want you to understand, like, I appreciate your time. But I also want you to have time away from here as well. So learning how to separate those two things is very important to me. And that's why again, I'm very open to them always coming to me if they have any questions or suggestions. Well,
Collin 22:57
that that starts with us understanding that we ourselves have a life outside of the business, right. And part of being a leader is setting that example that you want other people to follow. And so we first need to set those good boundaries for ourselves and make sure that we are feeding other aspects of us. So that so that's that kind of advice really goes for whether you are solo, or whether you have one member working for you or whether you have a team of 100 it's what am What am I actually communicating when I'm saying what hours I'm working, how I'm doing things because that's what people start to feel and vibe off of, of going Oh, well that's, that's the expectation because that's what that's what the boss, that's what the leaders doing. So that means I need to follow suit, that a lot of those unspoken expectations can kind of creep in that way.
Gricel A. 23:46
Yeah, exactly. And, and that's why again, it's just very, very important for me to just be open to them. As soon as I hire them. It's like, okay, hey, this is this is how I am, I want you to understand, like, I'm very open person and take any type of criticism, you know, and just let me know, if you do have anything for me, again, because we're here to help each other out at the end of the day. And also mentioning like, hey, you know, I do offer, you know, for you to grow into the team. So if you are ever interested in growing in the team, it's not just about you're going to be walking dogs or doing a drop in visits, if you want to do more. There is that opportunity to grow here as well. That's just something that I want to offer to everyone. Of course, my goal is to have this as a full time job for everyone, right, but that's what I'm working towards and I and I'm open to again, anyone who would want to do a little bit more to just come to me and we can definitely work something out.
Collin 24:47
So when you say growing the team, are you saying growing with with added hours or added responsibilities or what does that growth in a team look like for you?
Gricel A. 24:55
It'd be more of a adding responsibility. So if they're interested in doing more Let's say social media marketing, that's something that they really enjoy doing, I'm not the best, if they really liked to do that, then we can definitely talk about, you know, potentially doing that. Or if they like more admin work, you know, if they are more interested in, you know, learning how we schedule things and, or how we communicate with our clients or scheduled services, or, you know, if they're more into, hey, I'd really like to see how you, you know, you're onboarding your clients as well. That's another huge thing. So those are just a few few things. If my team members are open, you know, we can definitely, you know, set something up with having more responsibilities.
Collin 25:39
It's not that you have to do that for every single staff member, because some people don't want any more than that they're really happy with, with what the responsibilities are currently. And you know, they may want some extra trainings here and there, stay fresh on knowledge and experience. But you then have other people who are going okay, now, what else can I do? Okay, what else can I do? What else can I do? And it's those people to try and come alongside. And that's where that mentorship now is. That's where that role kicks in. I'm like, Okay, I see you have an interest in social media marketing. Let me work with you and guide you through this process, and allow you to grow like that.
Gricel A. 26:17
Yeah. And I had a couple girls that they were honest with me, like, Hey, I'm not I'm not interested in anything like that at all. I'm like, Okay, that's great. Thank you for letting me know. And you can continue doing with what you'd like to do. If you want to just walk dogs to the visits and overnights that's perfect. I don't mind that at all. But one of my team members is actually my own my own sibling, she's my younger sister. And she joined me part time. And she decided that she did want to kind of move up a little bit and have a little bit more of a responsibility. So she actually services in an area where I don't really travel too just due to distance. But she's taken on more of like a manager role where if I do and, you know, I've hired someone new in that area, then she kind of takes over and doing, you know, the trainings, and meet and greets with her with anyone who joins. So that's been a really great opportunity, working with my own sister and having someone that I can really, really trust as well. So that's one way that you know, I've kind of given more responsibility to someone else.
Collin 27:21
Yeah, well, that's really nice. I know, some people may be listening to that going, Oh, working with a sibling, that maybe what advice would you give to somebody who who's thinking about that, so that it makes sure it works well, and you maintain healthy boundaries and relationships?
Gricel A. 27:39
Yeah, it was a little bit difficult at first, but I think we're both learning how to work with each other as an okay, this is, you know, sibling talk, and also just work talk like, okay, we're talking about work, hey, we need to take care of this. And, and she's very mature person with, you know, with, how old she is and the age difference that we have. But I think that's what allowed us to really work well with each other is that we both understand what we're here for. She joined me for a reason. And she's here to learn from me and not saying like, Oh, you're always telling me what to do? Well, no, she's just very open to suggestion and learning. And now that she's taken kind of this, this manager role is now she's okay. She's like, Okay, I need to do this. And she's very just passionate at what she does. And being in the team is something that she's very proud of. So she's always marketing, always handing out business cards. And so it's just, it's been amazing, because she truly does enjoy being part of our team.
Collin 28:41
Yeah. And I think that's that those clear expectations and having that conversation and making sure both parties know, what they're here for knowing why this is happening, and making sure that they're going to be a team player, and that you're going to be a team player in that. And that it's that that that work relationship is still set up appropriately. When you when you're working together.
Gricel A. 29:03
Yes, it's very important to separate that. For sure. It's, it's difficult to have have like that relationship where hey, we're together at a family event, but we're not going to be talking much about work, you know, it's like we're kind of divide that time. So that's just that one thing is is very important is to have those expectations kind of set up right away.
Collin 29:25
You've been experiencing a lot of changes with the business, with growth with staff with increasing number of services, but how have you changed or self reflecting over the past year? I've,
Gricel A. 29:38
yeah, I'm, I'm a very headstrong person, my my horoscopes in Aries so I'm very, if anything happens, and I'm very headstrong right away, and that's one big thing that I've I've learned how to cope with is you know, if things don't go the right way for me, I have to kind of just Sit back, I'm still working on it, but just sit back and just reflect on what's going on. And think about what I couldn't control and what I could control in that situation. But just learning how to relieve any stress, because I, I can't control everything, I can't control things that happened. And just understanding that is a big thing that I've learned this past year, things are gonna go wrong, you know, and then that's normal. But things go wrong for a reason. So that's like, another big thing for me is understanding that things happen for a reason. And we just need to move, move along and just just learn from that experience and, and kind of take things as a just suck, just I don't know, it's just absorbing all of that. And just thinking about like, Okay, well, what can I do differently? It's okay, if this happened, but this is what we're gonna do now. So it's definitely been a huge learning experience for me from last year to now this year.
Collin 31:01
Yeah, well, that's, that's a, that's a, an experience that I think a lot of us have of being in control, having control, liking that control that we have. And then things start to happen that fall outside of that. And it's our reaction to that, that's going to dictate whether we're going to learn from that, or whether we're going to pull back and change something completely different. And that's not easy, right? For those of us who are used to having immediate hands on control, and direct manipulation of what's happening, to be to be removed from that all of a sudden, I think a lot is it's we feel powerless and helpless in those situations.
Gricel A. 31:41
Yeah. And also learning how to just putting myself in other people's shoes as well, either with working with a team member or clients is, you know, I understand both sides, both opinions, right? If we're coming into a conflict there with someone else is, you know, thinking about, okay, what are they thinking? Where are they coming from? That's another big thing for me. Because at the end of the day, if I'm working with a team member, you know, yes, I am a boss, right? I don't like to use that word. But yes, at the end, I am a boss. And I have to make sure that we respect each other and, and things are done, you know, the way the way that I asked for a reason. So that's like another another thing that I've I've learned to change my point of view is, is again, first of all, I'm putting myself in someone else's shoes.
Collin 32:28
That's, that's huge. And it goes for whether you have a team or for your clients a lot of times to is before you react, because again, where I'm going to go, that didn't go the way I would have done it. My first reaction is to Okay, I'm gonna exert control, I'm going to take away things so that I can get control back. Before I do that step, I have to sit there and go, Why did they do that? And just think of a couple scenarios before you respond. Because at that point, you're you're empathizing with that person, maybe they did it because it was they were emotional, that they or they just got some bad news, or they misunderstood in the natural way where somebody would, because they didn't have all the information. And just putting yourself in their shoes, allows you to now interact with where they are. And you avoid a lot of cross talk of why I'm saying one thing, and they're saying another thing, and we're not hearing each other. And then when you take that moment to just stop, breathe, and empathize, and then move forward, it really cuts down on a lot of those misunderstandings that come up, especially when you don't even like when you don't think about it, that's the worst thing is when you're not thinking about it, then you don't see the mistakes that you're making. You don't see how you're crosstalking and then both people just end up frustrated.
Gricel A. 33:39
Yeah. And I'm, yeah, that's very, very true. Because I always go to the people that I depend on or just like to talk to, it's always like, Okay, where did where did I go wrong? Because I want to know where I went wrong. And, you know, where, where could I have? I could have where could I have learned from this? You know, what could I have done differently? And I'm very open to positive feedback, negative feedback, and using that to my advantage. So just very open to the criticism as well, because, yeah, I'm learning I'm listening to what other the other person has to say, but also like, okay, like, maybe they are right, maybe I'm wrong, you know, and that's okay. Just again, learning how to just sit down and think about what's going on first, instead of just talking about
Collin 34:30
what do you say like feedback, you know, a client may contact you and they've got a really, their reaction seems very, very harsh for some particular reason of like, you know, you have a staff member, you did a dog walk and the client reacts and says, I can't believe this, this, this happened, and I never do that again, and you're looking at everything you're going, I don't where did they get that? That doesn't make sense what happened? And it could be well, the dog walked in some wet grass and they had company over that day and they were upset that they had to spend some time cleaning up their floor. Horses before their company. So emotionally, they were talking about something different, they were actually talking about the dirty floor is not necessarily the wet dog. And you have to sit and go, well, I need to try and understand where they're coming from before I react. And just before I act harshly, because we, you know, if I react harshly to something, and they're reacting harshly to something, nothing's going to happen, right? Yeah.
Gricel A. 35:21
And that's another thing that it's a huge learning experience for me is learning how to just manage both if there's an issue with an employee and a client, learning how to talk to both parties and understand what happened, and making sure that everyone's being listened, because I'm not going to go to my employee right away. It's like, Hey, what did you do? Now? It's like, I'm going to listen to both sides and understand, okay, what happened? And what can we do? You know, I want to make sure both my client and my employee are being listened, I'm not pointing fingers, and moving forward with okay, this is, this is what went wrong. This is what we can do. And, you know, if you allow us for, let's just say, an issue with the bylaws and other opportunity, you know, I want to make sure that you, you, we understand where you're coming from, as well. And it's like, okay, I completely understand and this is what we can do. And just things like that. It's like not not pointing fingers right away and understanding that I'm here for both my my clients and my employees.
Collin 36:23
Yeah, and that we need to be having our our staffs back, right, we need to, instead of going with an assumption of guilt go in with an assumption of innocence, because we okay, we're assuming they followed all policies and procedures, asking the questions, listening, and then we get to sit there and go, Okay, based on my information, this is where that falls are based on my information, staff did absolutely nothing wrong with our policies and procedures, I understand, you know, you're still not happy, and we'll work on that moving forward. But making sure that you your support your team in those moments as well, so that they don't feel like every time something happens, they get thrown under the bus just to appease the clients. Right.
Gricel A. 37:02
And, and vice versa, too. It's like, well, yeah, anything went wrong on the clients and, or my employees and right then, okay, this is what I need to learn. Okay, I need to understand what did I miss and the training to what went wrong? Was something unclear, and communicating that with my employee, okay. You know, that this happened for this reason, or what did I miss and that explaining during your your onboarding, or hiring or training, you know, all those steps. So making sure that that doesn't happen again, with the same employee or with anyone new coming in? Because I don't, we don't want the same issue to to just reoccur. Right. So that's another way that I've learned is okay, it's just learning. You know, what, what went wrong? not pointing fingers not being upset right away. But like, Okay, I'm here. I'm here as your team leader, I'm not here. As someone who's just going to talk to you that you know, you did this wrong, you shouldn't have done this. Now. I'm here to okay, what can we do to fix this? What can we do? You know, so that's, that's huge.
Collin 38:04
And I know, it can feel a little defeating at times for when things happen to that that first question of what could I have done more of of it? I've had those thoughts coming and going? Is it always my fault? is it always me that I am? And the answer is no. But you have to start with that. That's where you start? And go. Did I have, as you mentioned earlier, grisaille going? Did I have any control over the situation? Any control in any way? Okay, if I did, what does that mean? If I didn't? What does that mean? And move from there? But starting with that question, gives you so much more information and knowledge for how to improve the next time.
Gricel A. 38:42
Right, and not taking it personal. That's another thing is, yes, this is this is my business, this is my team, right? But things are going to happen. And it doesn't mean that this is something that is based off, like who I am, and how I run my business, you know, things are going to happen regardless, and, and just not taking it personally, this is just a big thing. It's like, okay, I'm not, they're not saying this to make me feel a certain way, you know, or vice versa. I'm not saying things to make another person feel a certain way. It's just, you know, things are going to happen, and not knowing how to resolve those things is huge.
Collin 39:17
And resolve them as the business right? Business needs to resolve this. And not that not taking it personally, it's really hard when you get critiques. And when you get feedback. And you just want to latch on to that. And I know, I'll go well, I know how Colin would respond to this personally. But the business needs to respond in a slightly different manner and knowing how to navigate those not saying that we were not or shouldn't be emotionally invested in how things take place. There is the business there that they're interacting with. And that's our responsibility to know how to walk that line.
Gricel A. 39:51
Yeah, and at the end of the day, it's it's a client service business, right. We are still in that client service. Um, so, you know, I've learned I've worked in the client service industry before. But also setting setting those boundaries, I can set those boundaries for a reason. And, you know, there's things that I would I would do differently if I worked in the client service industry in my nine to five job like where, you know, okay, I could just ignore a phone call because I worked in a phone call center, and it's like, okay, well, I can't really do that. But also I can set boundaries like, well, I don't answer phone calls at this certain time of the day or weekend. So that's another thing is just having those boundaries for myself and my team members to to avoid any issues.
Collin 40:37
It really does help go a long way. And again, that's where that leadership that example that you set for your team so they know what to expect, whether you're going through times of change or signs of stability, so that they it's predictable for them so that they can gauge how you're going to respond and know how they should respond. Likewise. Our friends at Pet perennials make it easy to send a heartfelt condolence gift directly to someone with a broken heart have this awesome direct client gift model that takes the effort off of us and ensures a thoughtful, personalized, simply gift reaches our client or employee on our behalf. All gift packages include handwritten card, colorful gift wrap and shipping fees across both the US and Canada. They offer an array of milestone gifts and greeting cards that can be sent to celebrate birthdays, extend, get well wishes, and welcome new and rescued pets. They also have gift choices in case you need to send a sympathy gift in memory of a special human client or celebrate a pregnancy engagement or wedding of a pet lover. If you're interested in this register for a free business gift perks account to unlock the all inclusive discounted package prices, since the services use on an as needed basis, there are no monthly or annual obligations or minimum purchase, Learn more at Pet perennials.com. And check out their business programs or register for free perks account using the link in the show. A lot of this change that we're talking about that you've experienced really requires approaching it with with an open mind about that.
Gricel A. 42:00
How do you do that? i That's big because you really have to reframe the way that you think right. And you have to become aware of like any negative thoughts that you might have, as soon as you go through those those changes, especially if they're negative changes. Again, I'm a very headstrong person that thinking oh, no, like this, this, this happened, this is all gonna go wrong. I don't know what to do anymore. Just understand that those things are going to happen for a reason. And, and I think it comes back to asking yourself how much I can control in that situation? What can I do at this moment, to change or to fix something, but if I really can't control anything else, then I just have to let it go. That's the big thing. For me. It's just just let it happen. It's okay. And that that definitely helps me kind of control my stress levels and understanding that this is just that my role and how much I can change and can help me put into his perspective again, like, Okay, this is just gonna happen, regardless of what I do. But just learning from that experience, too.
Collin 43:14
Yeah, and it's not a it's not a defeatist attitude, right? That's the really important thing. It's not, oh, well, I don't I it's just going to happen, it's, I have to let go of this. Because if I don't, I know that there are going to be there's going to be some mental health issues that I'm going to struggle with, there's going to be some physical ailments that I may deal with my stress levels are going to go through the roof, I'm not going to be able to function and actually do what I want to do. If I hold on to this stress. If I hold on to these anxieties, I have to intentionally let those go and trust that whatever happened, you you've said that phrase of it, what it's meant to happen. It's this is meant to happen. I don't I might not know why. But I have to the what I have right now is trust that it will work out in some way. And I'll and I'm going to be okay.
Gricel A. 44:08
Right. And, and that was big when I had my first employee kind of just quit on me too. I thought it was the world. It's like, okay, like, why why did this happen? I don't know what to do. You know, at the end of the day, I thankfully I, you know, my family members helped me out, you know, after she left the team and left me with all the services to do on my own, you know, I thought everything was just the end of the world. But you know, now I think about it. And at last, you know, doing my end of the year review, I'm like, wow, like, Well, it worked out for a reason. You know, this happened for a reason. And I have five other people on my team and I thought I was never going to do that. So again, being you know, in that moment, of course you don't think about that, but just I would very like just recommend that to people. It's just like, okay, things are going to work out for a reason and it's going to be hard. It's not easy. Not easy. I'm not saying I'm perfect. You know now, but you know, it's just a big thing to really understand like, well, you can't really control everything. And especially, we're in our, in our industry, you know, we're working with animals, anything can happen. And just understand that it will if you did everything right, you know, you go through all your trades, and you did everything, the best that you could, you know, there's only so much you can do as well.
Collin 45:23
Yep, it is only so much you can do, I think back to early 2022. And one of our biggest clients over the previous year, just stopped using our services, cold, cold turkey, just to say, No, thank you, we're done. And, man, that that really hurt. That was there was some moments where it we were looking at each other going, that that stings, that was like a big gut punch to us reflecting on on that. And it was because, you know, he, he just his life changed. And he didn't need us anymore. But we in those moments, we took that really personally. And it was kind of how it was presented as well and was just like, oh my gosh, this feels awful, because it was like starting tomorrow. And we weren't we had those moments of like, what does this mean? Because this is really keeping our business afloat right now, and this is really important to us. And now you're on looking at well, you know, because we didn't have that person anymore. We were actually able to do a lot like that freed up a lot of our resources, our time and attention. And we're able to grow a lot because we didn't have that client anymore. And in the moment, boy, we did not feel like we were going to have that kind of growth. But we did take that time to go. Okay, well, that happened and kind of just accepting that, and then going now what? And then looking at moving forward.
Gricel A. 46:43
Yeah, moving forward. It's like, well, I decided, as soon as that person quit, I was like, Okay, what do I need to do? This is where I need to expand. And I started just contacting people I, you know, just okay, what do I do with a hiring process? I know, I was meeting with dog dog, the dog guy, I was like, Okay, what do you do for your hiring process, and it just, you know, it really helped me just learn so much, and whatever I need to do to like, what what type of people I was looking for, for my team. And that was huge. And that really helped me kind of expand the way that I did is finding the right people and having those standards. Before any, you know, I consider anyone that was huge. So I again, I take that as a huge learning experience of that person did quit on me, but it actually worked out great at the end, because now I have, you know, this hiring process where I am just making sure that I select the people that I truly want in my team.
Collin 47:41
Yeah, because that person quitting spurred you to go okay, what what do I need to do? What do I need to know? Who do I need to talk to to make this work? And that's where we take that acceptance and we turn it into action. We go now I'm How do I make sure this never happens? Again? How do I make sure that this is the best? What don't I know? How can I make this better? And that's how we grow and we can look back over just a year ago and go, Wow, that's a big difference. Because of that thing. Now I'm here.
Gricel A. 48:11
Right? And, and just moving forward to this year. Of course, things can always go wrong, right. And we don't we don't know what's going to happen. But I think that's just a big thing for us being business owners is that we, we we understand that the things are going to go wrong. But I think we're also prepared for that. Now that coming into being a business owner for almost two years, I'm way more prepared than being a first time business owner I just kind of would collapse if something happened. I will I don't know what to do anymore. But now it's like okay, it's not just me now. Now I have five other people that depend on me as well. And all these clients and all these pets that I'm helping so it's like okay, now I have a little bit more on my plates, more people that depend on me. So what do we need to do what what's what's the action step? Like you said, Okay, what what have we learned from our past? And what are we going to you know, what those experiences used for this year? That's a huge thing for me yeah.
Collin 49:10
Well So over the past year you know, you've tripled your your company growth, you've added all these team members, you do have a lot more responsibilities and things on your plate. How do you keep that from being a burden to you?
Gricel A. 49:22
It's hard I have I've definitely reached those moments of burnout I'll be honest there and then I'm sure other people in the in the industry as well. It's not easy separating, you know work from your own personal life. And I'm still working on that I'll be honest with you I've had I'm still having issues of when and now that I have a little bit more on my plate. I feel like I have that. That need of of getting back to to clients, you know, at a certain time of the day or on my weekends where I was supposed to have my Sundays off while now I'm still working on my Sundays. So it's been a little bit of a rough journey now that I've I've expanded and I'm a little bit busier, is knowing how to separate that my time and having those boundaries. So I'll be honest with you, I don't think I found the right. You know, just just separating both work and my life just now at this moment. So it's a little harder, I'm not, I'm still, if you have any suggestions, I'm open to that. But I've still I'm still struggling with kind of separating that
Collin 50:27
it depends on your own personal personalities and how we respond to things how what kind of boundaries and structures we're going to set up. And, and kind of the business that we're running, whether it's just five days a week, whether it's seven days a week, whether we're mostly, you know, in in home, or adventures, or whatever that looks like and finding what's going to work for us. And that's, that's probably one of the least satisfying answers in the history of answers of quite well, you have to figure out what works or what works for you. But that's the only, but that's really the only way it's going to stick. And so whether it really is I know, for us, a big thing that we've done is, for a while we had our Google My Business listing hours set to the hours that we conducted service, right, which makes kind of makes sense. But I don't really want to be called for a potential client at 930 at night. So setting the Google My Business hours to reflect our office hours of when we're actually going to respond to help set some of those immediate expectations has been beneficial. And then, you know, having multiple team members in their building, and just a little bit of resiliency there so that everyone's not always reaching out to us directly giving them access to other sitters to go, hey, there are resources. Well, if you don't know where the XYZ is, you actually need to go talk to your team first. And then obviously, we're monitoring and if they don't respond quickly, or if they don't have the right answers we can jump in. But it just builds a little bit of boundaries there. And it builds a little bit of team camaraderie as well. So they have a lot of they have a lot of institutional knowledge that I know we don't have. So pointing people pointing staff members back to other staff, and going, these people are who you need to talk to first and then I can come in and oversee or direct if need be. But that's helped give us a little bit more breathing room and clarity, as we've had multiple team members interacting with, especially those who are on the same clients repeatedly or who encounter the same problems. They they're going to have a lot of resources where they can give one another. Because then the next step obviously would be okay, maybe I need to get a manager in there. But that is that in between step going, use these people, right use use your other team members, because they're great resource to help limit a lot of that contact that you're getting back and forth.
Gricel A. 52:39
Got it? Yeah, I think I think the reason why I struggled with that, too, is because the people that I'm hearing, they're still new, so they haven't met like everyone in like in our clients and how they do things. So I think that's why they struggle. It's like, well, they come to me, because I know all of our clients right now, what did you do for each each animal that they're taking care of? But I think with time, you know, that's where, okay, this this employee is experienced, and most of our clients in this area, you can go, you know, you can go to them, if you have any questions before coming to me, I think that would, that's a really great, great thing to do. But, you know, if I'm continuing to hiring people, it's like, okay, it's like, I have one person who I have, I've had for a while that know most, you know, most of our clients in the area.
Collin 53:24
Yeah. And then that person starts to naturally become that manager role that you can start talking about, okay, here's a possibility for you to grow to right. Not just I'm looking to you for a lot of resources, and the rest of the team is looking out for you for a lot of resources as a something that you're interesting. And then providing no one thing that we've done is to help limit the amount of back and forth questions is providing like really digging into I shoot a lot of loom videos for staff like really detailing out like me going, Okay, you walk in the door to the left is over here, and requiring new staff members to watch that before they go on that first visit or before they even when they go back to a visit. So there's not a lot of this coming back to us for updates. It's okay, this is recorded in here for you. But it is it is still going. Now it's nine o'clock at night. I've got staff members out there walking, I need to be on call, right? That's right now, in this growth phase, there is still that need to some extent to go. I'm the backup or I'm the resource if somebody runs into something at 10 o'clock at night. And that's just kind of those pains of growth when you're in the middle there and going okay, well I'm might not be happy about this right now. But I know it's not forever because we're just this is transitory. I'm moving on. Right again, always looking towards the future.
Gricel A. 54:36
Yeah, exactly. And, you know, once you do have that, that manager on, I think that's where I kind of will depend on my sister too. She's, she's taken a huge role in that as is now I can have her you know, I know she'll be with me for a while. And so now I can kind of I just hired someone new in her area. So she's taken on that role. It's like, okay, yeah, so I'll take care of it. I'll make sure she gets trained the correct way. I'm so that's kind of a huge relief from for me not having to travel an extra 30 minutes, you know to that to that area of service. So that's a good and again, a goal that I that I will have for myself with the other areas that I helped service in. So that yeah, that's a really good idea.
Collin 55:17
Well, just having that, because now all of a sudden, you don't have that mental burden, because that that weight of going, that's 30 minutes out there, that means I can't do XYZ means I've got to do this to my schedule, and I've got this throws off my entire day. And now all that weights gone. I mean, it's still been there for a little while, I'm sure as your sister is getting adjusted to that position in that role. But now Now you can redirect your time attention to other things, and you don't have that weight there. And there's all these little pieces fall into place over time. And as you learn more, you grow more and as you grow more, you learn more, it's just this repetitive cycle. Yeah,
Gricel A. 55:49
and the way that our schedules work, it's like, okay, you we schedule things because we have to drive a certain distance, right? It's like, oh, it's so relieving to have like, Okay, I don't have to worry about this today. And I can do my grooms. I can do a groom and extra one for an hour. You know, it's, we really do depend on the way our schedules are set up. And that's the big thing is, is, you know, if an appointment rescheduled or we added an appointment or a service, it's like, oh, man, okay, now we have to move everything around. So that's like another thing to learn from as well.
Collin 56:21
Well, as part part of that is the uncertainty of of our business and just uncertainty in general. We don't know the future, unfortunately, let me know if any listeners or viewers, they'll have a magic eight ball that you can tell me for what's going to happen. Come talk later. But part of of being a business owner and being being that team leader is looking to towards that uncertainty, and yet continue to move forward. So how do you how do you embrace uncertainty?
Gricel A. 56:50
It's just taking every opportunity as for like, just growing and learning. And there's always a calm after the storm, right? So it's like, oh, man, you know, things are just not going the right way. For me, just, you know, the past week, for example, it's like, okay, just this is going wrong. Now this it's like, all right, like, there's just something to it that is just happening, right. It's it's happening for a reason. And just the way that I've I've dealt with the the uncertainty is just preparing for it just organizing, as much as I can scheduling stuff as much as I can if and if things don't go as planned, then okay, we have I have a plan B. So for example, I know my March schedule and February schedule are gonna be a little bit hectic with overnight sitting. And I'm having more requests. So it's like understanding, okay, what if this goes, if this doesn't go as planned? Or I Who do I have my plan B, who can take care of these animals, and being very open, and just communicating and transparent with my clients, okay, like, Hey, I'm, I'm in the process of hiring someone, and, you know, I'm going through training with them. And if you would like for them to take over the service, I do want to let you know, they're fairly new. There have only been with me for about a week, are you still open to that? So that's actually one thing that I did do with the client is like, Hey, I'm not I'm not available for this specific date instead of days for overnights. But hey, this is what I have going on. I'm actually hiring someone. They're in my hiring training process right now, would this be something you're open to? So because I just don't can't control that? It's like, oh, I'm not sure who can help with that. But I have this suggestion for you. And thankfully, she was open to that. And she's like, Oh, well, I do appreciate your transparency and letting me know, and if this all works out, then I yeah, I would love to have her take care of my animals. So you know, just understanding that things are not going to go as planned. But having that backup for myself is huge. And it's like, okay, well, alright, this didn't go the right way. Or what can we do? What's the next step? So I've always just been preparing and organizing things ahead of time.
Collin 58:59
Well, and that big word that you said, transparency is huge, right? That when we look at when we look at uncertainty, it's uncertain, because we don't know. So the only way we can start to bring clarity to that is to be transparent with ourselves, with staff, with clients about what's going on. And I love that you're communicating with staff, with your clients going, hey, you've asked this of me, that's not something I can do. But I can do this. What do you think? And, and really just putting it out there and that takes being vulnerable and takes being okay with them saying no, which is was always an option. But at least you did that right. At least you knew you were giving them as much information going into it as possible to set some expectations because what the last thing you'd want to have happen and say, yes, absolutely. And then they're not happy with something or that something happens. And now you can just go this is this is where we are and and letting that be the deciding factor.
Gricel A. 59:55
Right? Yeah, it's huge being transparent and they appreciate it when you are transparent with them. And she was very thankful. It's like, okay, great, like, well, let's, let's go ahead and then I'm going to finish off the training with her. And let's just kind of move forward from there, if that's something that you're so open to. And again, just different things that can happen, of course, people are going services are going to be canceled, you know that that can happen. I've seen Sir Any, especially when you have your whole schedule booked up for let's just say for spring break, because I know, a lot of us get busy during March season, it's just learning, okay, if things don't go the right way, and we have a service already scheduled, I want to make sure that my employees are covered too, because also have that expectations, like, alright, I already have this set schedule for myself. And if a client's you know, cancels a service, and it's like, okay, well, my team member was kind of depending on that, you know, they have to make a living. So it's like having a backup for them as well. Of course, I can't always provide that but also offering and well, that's where the cancellations fee applies, right? It's like, okay, well, we don't have the service anymore. But that's the reason why we, we still charge for a cancellation fee, because I want to make sure my team members are also covered in situations like that.
Collin 1:01:12
Yeah. And obviously, we can't think through everything. We can't think through all possibilities. We can't do. But that goes back to the how do you handle change? Well, that's part of change isn't going, Oh, I had no idea that could happen. Well, okay. In the moment, that sucks, I hate that it did. What can I do for next time? And growing from that? Because uncertainty brings growth when we're prepared for it? Because then we know how to respond next time.
Gricel A. 1:01:36
Yeah, yeah. And then again, that's all the uncertainty I had last year that I've learned now coming into this year, and now having five people that you know, I work with, and just learning how to just prepare, of course, you can't prepare for everything. But just having some type of experience and having, you know, a certain way that you deal with things is huge. And I don't know, I feel like it's made a huge difference with having my team members, and they appreciate it, too. And they're like, Okay, I know that at the end of the day, they can come to me, and I can definitely help them out.
Collin 1:02:08
Also, after having experienced so much change in growth over the last year, what are you looking forward to for the next year,
1:02:15
I'm looking forward to,
Gricel A. 1:02:18
I imagine planning actually having an official website, that's something that I don't have for us yet. So I'm very excited to set something up here pretty soon, not only for my team members, but also for our clients and new clients looking at our website, that'd be something that I would be very, very happy to have as soon as I can. Just because right now, we're really depending on social media marketing, but I really would want an official website. So that's one thing on my bucket list for this year that I'm looking forward to. And also just expanding a little bit more, just maybe adding a couple more people on my team and, and that way, I have a little bit more of a break. I'm excited for that. So that way, I'm not always doing all the visits and being the backup for everyone. So that's another thing I'm excited about is just kind of having my own free time as well. Because I didn't know we just talked about, it's very important to have that. And another thing is just growing within the team to just building just a stronger relationship with my team members, and for my team members to this job is a very independent job. So you don't really work with your team members. So I'm kind of just looking forward to having just a few, you know, dates planned for the for the year for everyone to kind of come together as a team and meet everyone, because not everyone has met yet. So that's like another thing for me just kind of having some some date set for us to kind of do some team activities together.
Collin 1:03:52
Yeah, oh, that'll be a lot of fun. We did a holiday party for everybody. And it was very much like a, they've been communicating through the software and through slack, like all the time sharing photos interacting, talking with each other, but it was like, Oh, hey, I've never met you before. It was kind of it was a nice thing to have. It was the first time that we've been able to do that. And yeah, I think that that's really that part of this kind of service. This kind of business is very difficult to crack as to how do you have a cohesive team? How do you have camaraderie? How do you have that unity? Have you ever seen anybody? Right? You never interact with anybody? It's a it's a very unique problem, given that how the business is structured and and having those kinds of opportunities for people to get together for various reasons, I think goes a long way.
Gricel A. 1:04:39
Yeah. And and again, having that camaraderie like you said, I want to make sure everyone feels like they're the you know, part of a great team. And we're all here to help each other out at the end of the day. And we're doing such a great thing. All of our clients love us and it's just like it brings a smile to my face because I want my team members to feel the same way. It's like okay, and it's So good to hear from them. It's like, Oh, I love this client, or I really like this one pad or when we hear from our clients like, Well, I really love this, this person and your team. It's like, okay, we're doing, we're doing something right here, wow. And it's a really good feeling.
Collin 1:05:12
That's exciting. That's a lot of things to be looking forward to grisaille. And with everything else on your plate, I know, that's a lot. And I want to really want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today. And to walk us through embracing trend change, and personal growth, and the importance that that has and how it impacts not just us, but our staff, and our clients as well. But I know that there's a lot more here, and you're always doing something. So how can people get connected with you and follow along with the amazing work that you're doing?
Gricel A. 1:05:44
Yeah, no. And Collin, it was my pleasure being here with you. So thank you, as well. And we again, our social media, as on Facebook, and Instagram as a real pet. And now we also have our Tiktok handle of area pet 21. So if you want to go visit us, we are pretty active on there. And we have great videos and pictures of all of our friends. So check us out. Thank you.
Collin 1:06:07
We'll do it. I'll have those links in the show notes yourself. As always, this was just such a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Gricel A. 1:06:13
Thank you, Colin, you know, help you take care.
Collin 1:06:15
How do you transform? And how do you handle transformation and change in your business. But when faced with change, when faced with things that come along, and are going to impact you and your business, we have to take control of our thoughts of our mindset so that we can focus on the things that we can do that are under our own control. And while we may need to know what's going on in other areas that we don't have control over that cannot be part of our concern and our focus that takes energy away from our ability to continue to work, to continue to think of new things and innovate and create than our business and push through the change and find good transformation in our business. We want to thank today's sponsor, time to pet and pet perennials for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. If you ever have any feedback or thoughts on a show, we'd love to share it out and you can send those to feedback at petsitter confessional.com. Or if you know of somebody who you would want to be interviewed, including yourself, please don't hesitate to reach out as well. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
