393: Working From Your Passion with Stephanie Brown
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How do you know it's time to bite down and go 110% to make your dream a reality? We all find our own motivating forces in our lives. For Stephanie Brown, owner of Happy Trail's Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Services, she found her motivation in her family. She shares how her business has evolved and how it wasn't always easy to leave services behind. Stephanie focuses on client education and fostering relationships through a personal touch. She also gives great advice around implementing a power hour to stay organized in your business and how she's navigated bringing on a manager in her business.
Main topics
Creating out of necessity
Refocusing
Stop offering a service
DO PHONE CALLS
Staying organized
Main takeaway: You have to keep taking care of business while you’re trying to gain business.
About our guest:
Stephanie Brown was born with a passion for animals which was instilled by her mother at a young age. Always having family pets to love and horses to care for she knew from an early age she’d spend her life devoting herself to loving and caring for pets
After traditional college, she found herself back with animals and pursuing a career as a Large Animal Veterinary Technician with one of the country’s top Equine Vet’s. After some time, she found herself caring for patients whose owners had a planned trip coming up and had an “unexpected” pet emergency…so she found a niche, not only her skill set as a vet tech, but to be able to help the “humans” in those pets’ lives, to comfortably leave with ease knowing their pets were getting the best care. Providing the personal touch and keeping both pets and owners happy is when Happy Trails came to life!! Originally started in 2002, as Happy Trails Professional Pet Sitting & Equine Services, the main focus was special needs pets and a strong presence of horse care in every aspect.
Over the past two decades, Stephanie has transformed Happy Trails, now known as Happy Trail’s Pet Sitting & Dog Walking Services, into one of the county’s top Professional Pet Sitting and Dog Walking service providers. The company’s primary focus has now shifted to mostly Dogs and Cats and Hobby Farm care, always eager to help the special needs pets. Winning several prestigious awards including Next Doors Top Company and Morris County’s Best Of awards to name a few! Community care and support is super important and a huge reason for Happy Trails Success, so giving back any way possible is always the goal from providing baskets for tricky trays, supporting local sports teams, dropping off donations for our local food pantry and giving back to our local rescues whenever possible!
Stephanie’s goal is always to provide the best, most professional and loving care and has created an amazing team of pet care professionals that go above and beyond for every pet every time! Happy Trail’s Team culture is heavy on Happiness…as happy team happy pets!!
Stephanie is proud to live and work in Long Valley NJ with her two boys, Zac and Patrick and her husband of 15 years, Alex!!
When she isn’t working in the office or out in the field caring for pets, she enjoys hiking with her rescue pups or competing in Agility with her rescue westie Grayson!
Links
Her website: https://happytrailsprofessionalpetsittingllc.com/
Her email: steph@happypetsitting.org
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
horses, clients, pet, day, website, work, call, hiring, gift, software, visit, service, good, business, happy trails, big, phone call, company, put, fit
SPEAKERS
Collin, Steph Brown
Collin 00:01
Welcome to pet sitter confessional are brought to you by time to pet and pet perennials. How do you know when it's time to bite down and go 110% To make your dreams a reality. For Stephanie Brown owner of Happy Trails, pet sitting and dog walking services, she found her motivation and her family. Today, she shares how her business has evolved and how it's not always easy to leave services behind because we are so connected to them. Stephanie also shares why she focuses on client education and fostering close relationships. And because there's some amazing advice about implementing a power hour in our business so we can be more productive and focused during our day. Let's get started.
Steph Brown 00:40
So I'm stuff like you said, I own Happy Trails, pet sitting and dog walking services, we actually changed our name, we used to be happy trails, pet sitting and equine services. However, we dropped equine services and added dog walking services, not only for SEO, but because we made the transition to not offer as much horse care. I live in New Jersey. So workman's comp was getting a little dicey with how we named ourselves and the type of pets that we cared for. So we had to be a little bit more clear to the public that we do take on hobby farms. And we do continue taking care of backyard little farms, goats and donkeys and maybe a little old horse that's out in the back of the barn. Well, we don't do as much horse care as originally the company was created. I went to traditional college and when I came home, I realized that wasn't the right direction. For me, I didn't want to do what I went to school for. And then after some adjustments, I got into the Veterinary Medical field as a veterinary technician. And I worked with an equine vet, one of the best in the country, he was amazing and such a smart person. And Happy Trails was really born because we would have horse clients that would come in and their horses had a ligament blown or was post surgical and, or some sort of emergency happens as it does with any pet. But with horses, it's just amplified. Everything is so big. So it kind of turned into people had vacations planned and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm going to Italy or I have a cruise or you know who's going to cold wash, you know, cold hose the horse or give his im injections or something. So it kind of kind of just was created out of a necessity because someone needed somebody other than the neighbor's kid to pop over and drop hay or refreshing water buckets. They needed someone who was more educated and, and more prepared for, you know, more serious conditions for horses. So over the years, that was primarily what we what I did, it was just me then. And it grabbed, you know, it turned into riding horses professionally. I had my own horse farm that I ran, it was adorable. And I loved it. I took care of these two amazing horses. The owners of the farm are amazing, but they really just wanted to look at horses in their pastures. And that was basically it. So I got to do all the fun things, and shop for the horses and manage everything. And then they ended up getting a pony for their knee. So I did riding lessons. I mean, if you know anyone that's a horse person, you're kind of a jack of all trades, you know, from riding to taking care of the horses. And then from there, you know, I through this, these years, I met my husband and we got married. And family came very quickly afterwards after we got married. And I kind of had to start refocusing what I was doing once I had kiddos because I couldn't be putting myself in a position with the riding, I was riding a lot of green horses or untrained horses and training them. And I kind of had to reevaluate because if I got hurt what would happen to the family my husband travels. So it would be kind of difficult if I had a broken arm or something like that I had a really kind of take into account which I guess a lot of people do when they become parents, they have to reevaluate because now you have a little person that's relying on you. And then really just after my second child was born, you know, we just needed a little bit of extra oomph to make the company a little bit bigger to kind of help from some some expenses like family expenses for health care and stuff like that, to help my youngest son with some of the challenges he was facing after he was born. So my husband really gave me a tremendous amount of support as to the rest of my family to say hey, you should really get into this petsitting like go You know, balls to the wall, like, do this, like, you're so good with the people and you love the pets. And that was it, I basically just fit down and, you know, put 110% of myself well, you know, aside from what I was giving the kids, everything that was left, I was putting into basically creating Happy Trails and growing and getting a reputation. And within a year and a half of marketing, you know, I had 160 active clients, that was just me. And your, there was a lot. And it was, it was something where I felt like, I was doing this for my family. And I was very much so but I was also seeing so many people were let down by somebody who wasn't educated or wasn't a true animal professional that also loved the pets, but also kind of knew what they were, they knew what they were doing. It wasn't something where you can have a nice kiddo down the street that, you know, is such a sweet boy. But then, you know, maybe when he comes in your house, he doesn't know what gas smells like, he doesn't know what to do if your pipes are frozen, like what would you do? Like, oh, the sink doesn't work? Oh, well, and leave versus, you know, somebody like myself, I have all that information, I know where the water shut off, as I clearly know, gas get out of the house immediately. But it's just a lot of stuff that even the most good wheeling person might not realize. You know, and then it was just such a joy to be able to give give people the ability to go away or work a long day and still know their pets are being cared for, to the best of anyone's ability and not hoping that kid shows up or I hope that little lady, you know, down the street doesn't drop the leash, and my dog gets loose again, or something. So um, that's kind of where we were at. And I was probably working from sunup to sundown, doing pet sitting dog walking all the things scooping litter boxes, doing everything, jack of all trades. And then I finally felt like, Alright, I'm ready to hire. And that's a whole new full time job to have in the staff and the team and I, I would never, I would never turn I would never be able to be where I am without the team that I have. I'm very grateful for every person over the years that has worked with me because I feel like they are. They're truly doing it for the pets. And they really do want to make their pet the pet stays better, which makes their day better
Collin 07:34
part of that that business journey, right is part of that evolution of doing new things, stopping old things becoming a different person. It's really interesting how you started off by talking about how you had to do a name change, and you drop that equine. And you said it was for SEO but also for that worker's compensation aspect as well. When you made that shift, given your background with horses and your experience with them was that was that hard to move away from that business and that line of work that you were doing?
Steph Brown 08:06
You know, it was kind of it happened at the right time. So it was I did change the name as I was creating my team and I knew I wasn't hiring horse people I was hiring pet people that worked in rescue and other maybe bigger companies and none of them the the enormity of taking care of horses right like to lead a horse from the barn to the pasture, there's a million things that can go wrong. And like, I would never put that responsibility on a team member just because back in the day, you know, I had you know $150,000 horses that I was taking care of and like that's not something you know, not saying all pets are priceless. But that's something where these people have investments they're showing all over the country if not the world and like that's something where I wouldn't put that on any just anybody and I was hiring the best of the best but I still we all kind of hold on to that thing. Any business owner I feel like we all kind of have that little niche that we enjoy doing. So I was fine with taking the horse section. And anyone that calls it would be somebody that only I would be taking care of if we needed to touch the horse or lead the horse or do anything other than dumping grain or fresh hay or water which we have a lot of that we have a lot of retired horses that just like live in a runnin and like we just have to make sure their water is good and their hay and their grain. So my team can do that as long as they're not actually leading or you know doing in a way that could get hurt. They get stepped on they could get anything like that or god forbid horse got loose or something. But that is kind of how I've made peace with it because I do love horses but it is something where we really transition to so many dogs and cats and we have small animals we've got rats and guinea pigs and a lot of that so we My days are still filled with seeing all these horrible pictures and getting to meet all these amazing pets. But the horses, I feel like that's best for somebody who was like me 20 years ago, you know, and like, able to just be able to be somewhere because if you go to a horse farm and the horses collocating, you can, you can't just get them in your car and take them to the vet, you have to wait for the vet to come. And that can take hours, that could be there to be in horses hours. So it isn't really conducive to what I'm trying to build with a team to then have something that it just it wouldn't be fair to the horse owner, it wouldn't be fair to say, Alright, listen, you know, we found another visit. And of course, we can delay or have another team member come. But it's just something where that's just too big. And I wouldn't want to leave that horse for a second if it was ill in the that was coming. Because in the past, I would have never done that. So I feel like responsibility wise, it was just the right fit at the time. And understanding
Collin 10:52
when when it's time, I think that that's a big aspect of knowing when to drop a service or to change a service or when your business is just no longer good fit, like you said for what you're trying to build. And especially when you get to that point where it's bigger than you because you do have staff, or maybe you don't have the time because you are too busy to now be able to dedicate those multiple hours waiting for the vet to come in, because of the other clients. And that isn't that isn't as a point where we have to reach and just admit to ourselves and go, this is no longer a good fit for me anymore. This is no longer I am not serving my clients well, by continuing to do that. And now that I know, with some other people and just myself too going, that can be kind of an identity crisis, you know, going on, I was the horse person that was me. And now I don't have that anymore. But But it sounds like you said you made peace with that, because you're able to focus on everything else that you are now able to do. Because you said no to that.
Steph Brown 11:51
Right. And it is something that you know, since I can when I had he kind services and I have it on my website, and I had all that stuff, people were calling and they were upset because I was like too specific about like, Well, if your horses in the backyard and I want to touch it, we can take it, they got to be like to nitty gritty. So we do have hobby farm actually in the middle of updating our website to get even clearer. But we have hobby farm written there. So we have tons of chicken clients, we have tons of goats and sheep. And like, because we are somewhat more rural here in New Jersey, there's no exit anywhere near us. And it's just something that, you know, we just, you just can't I really do believe, you know, to anyone that's listening is your website is so important, because it really does. It prereqs the person who's going to call you I mean, if they're good about details, but like, you know, you can really make that ideal client, by the, by your website, like have that, like dictate basically who's going to call you and of course, you're gonna have people that don't read that just gonna go call you because they do that. But you know, it does really help tremendously. But it was hard to drop equine services. But between everything else, it was like another thing that I had to do that only I could do. And it wasn't really helpful for the client, like you said, with time and everything else. It was just, it wasn't fair. So we've just shifted, like you have to do when you own a business, it's a pivot. And we'll just keep doing that until you know, we always want to make sure we're providing the best care. So that's the most important thing.
Collin 13:21
When you made that shift and refined it more into hobby farms. Was that something you were already surveyed servicing a good number of clients with at that time when you decided to refine into that? Or were you trying to push into that market to serve those new clients?
Steph Brown 13:36
We have a good deal of them but we found a lot of them by us calling and saying oh my god, do you guys take care of chickens? Like do you take care of what you feed my goat? Like they were just so surprised that they found someone that would do this and I'm thinking my goodness of course like you know, so it is something that it has grown and I do market it because you know if somebody has a cat and a dog in the house, they got three hens in the back that just need their eggs collected. They're able to get everything done in one visit. Like it's not like oh now the neighbor has to collect the chickens eggs, but they're gonna take care of the dogs and you know, it's like well what's the point of the night and the neighbor you know, just being a one stop shop and being able to have like everything taken care of under one umbrella so the owner has less to worry about if they're going away
Collin 14:22
yeah, that's that's huge number of visits that I've been on where it's they've got the neighbor across the street checking the mail and they've got someone else a friend coming over to water the plants and then they just want us to take care of the dog or just the cat and being able to step back and go no, no like that. That is all that we we will do all of that because it is a lot of burden and then they get more hesitant because they're going oh I'm having to coordinate three people. Why don't I just cut out the service that's costing me money and blah blah blah when you can step in and go all of your problems. I will say
Steph Brown 14:53
we people are blown away I mean we have you know we also market this I mean this is was always like a no brainer like What are your plants? Like? No problem. We don't nitpick, we just make sure we have enough time. Like we don't add on charges, we just make sure all right, well listen, if you've got like an acre of gardening, I can't be out of here in 10 minutes and still walk the dog. So, you know, we market like we have clients such as us as to what are their gardens, they go camping with their dogs, well, they can't take their garden with them. So you know, they'll have a 30 minute visit where, you know, they can use a time sprinkler, because that would be the most common sense is just put your sprinkler on a timer. But you know, they would have us, you know, it's people like, that's a great thing to mark it as a pet sitter, like, we'll take care of everything aside from home security in mail, and we tell people never to cancel the mail. That's a huge red flag. If the mailman skips your house, it's like, well, they're gone for a while. So yeah, you feel you know, fixing that for clients. So they get one report card, they know their mails and their garbage is out this that whatever, it just makes their life so much easier.
Collin 15:53
Yeah, I know, I remember the first time we had a request to just water a garden. And I was like, Well, I guess I'm sending an update with a picture of a tomato today. But, but that's still important, because that is a prized possession of theirs. They invest tons of money, they people who garden like that love their gardens, and they want to make sure it's taken care of. And I don't want to just say why watered but I want to give status updates. How are those pictures? How are the foot plants doing? What did I harvest today? Why am I doing that? Do they have donated? Is that something the neighbor is going to come by and pick up? Or can I take the tomatoes? Like
Steph Brown 16:27
it's the best when you take it?
Collin 16:29
It is. But you mentioned about how you're refining that on your website? What does that process look like for you, Stephanie, as you try and figure out what you're going, what words you're going to put on the website and how you're going to structure that?
Steph Brown 16:43
Well, I'm sure my my, my website, person, my my host, I guess you call she's probably much happier for this update that I'm because I now finally have content where when I first created the website with her in 2017 She's like, Okay, I need content, I go content, what do you like? Because you see everybody's like websites that have like all these amazing paragraphs, and I'm thinking oh my god, that's right, that's customed to every single. So my my process was like, I didn't have like blurbs of like what you do that you're just so used to like now you have saved drives of like, you know, responses to emails and stuff like that. So you know, it really is just short and sweet. Because we know that you know, a lot of people when they get on the website, they just want to see the highlighted part. So it's a lot of it's dropping the dropping the equine care where we recently dropped nail trims because we had a very terrible experience. But we had done nail trims for the last 10 years and like, so I'm like, Alright, I gotta get off the website. I got to get it off everything. So it is it's kind of fun, though, when you get in your mindset, like I had said before about, think of your website as like a dating app. Not that I've done that. But it's something where you're trying to attract that perfect client to call you. So you want to put like blurbs that are quick to read. So like they'll instantly like know that, you know, oh, they don't charge prepaid or Oh, they'll do the garden or oh, they don't? I'm trying to think there's like nothing we don't do. I'm trying to think of what would be on my website where they would say, we don't we we won't stagger cat care, like some people want us to come like once every three days. And I'm like, alright, well, we require daily cat visits. And, you know, that's not something we don't that's non negotiable. So I have that, I have to probably highlight that more. Now I'm gonna write that down. So it's something that, you know, that would rule someone out that's kicking the tires, right? Like that's something where we post our web our prices, like our starting app prices, because I want to make sure that they know that, hey, this is not a kid that's coming for $10 a visit? And is he going to show is he not on row. So it's something that it really is when you kind of change your mind of like, let's let's send the perfect client, the one that's going to, you know, use this repeatedly and refer us and you know, just be a joy and really appreciate our service. So that that's been kind of fun to do, and I'm just in the middle of doing it in all my sticky notes.
Collin 19:21
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Collin 19:43
looking for new petsitting software, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show can save 50% off your first three months by visiting times pet.com/confessional. Well and knowing the the end goal, what's the action you want that person to do? You mentioned several times about you want that you want them to call you and be on the phone with him. Is that what why is that? Why do you want? What do you personally want that phone call?
Steph Brown 20:10
So I think I think a phone call is I mean, we of course do everything online, you can become a client online, and then we finally meet and, and that's great. And like, that's certainly efficient for a lot of people, especially when they like to do things 11 o'clock at night. But I feel like even before our meeting today, you know, I had three phone calls. And it's just that you can get a sense instantly of what a person is doing. And I really feel like since I posted my prices, a couple years ago, you don't get those people that feel like they're going to nickel and dime you like, oh, you charge 15 Well, you know, someone down the street, and well, that's great, though, use them, like, you know, if they're gonna use, you know, you don't get those tire kickers because they, they, they know what your prices are like, okay, you know, you're starting at $30 a visit. So I'm not going to assume this is going to be you know, $100 for two weeks of vacation. So I feel like getting them on the phone you get, you get a sincere person that knows about you, whether it's through a referral or your website. And it's just they get to talk to me, like they can't talk to me on my website, I tried to be different on my website, not so boring, and blah, blah, blah. But it does get blah, blah, blah, because you're trying so much information you're trying to like give them like quick little snippets here and there. So I really feel like you can get more passion when you call and talk to me. Because the phone just goes to me not my manager or not anybody the phone goes to me unless I'm away. But even then it goes to me honestly, I should turn it off and have it sent to one of my managers. But I am. This is my baby. This is like, this is everything to me and my family. So it's something where I like to be the first person that they get to hear from because this is you know, like any business owner, this is your baby. And you're so proud of what it is. And you're so excited to talk about it and see how you can help that potential client,
Collin 21:59
recognizing that there's work that's happening, it's not just the phone call, right? As you mentioned, it's the website, social media, it's them pre selecting out of when they see oh, they say hobby farms, while I have something a bit more serious, or I do have a show horse or a racehorse or things like that, they they're not gonna be making that phone call. And the language that you would put on there, the highlights that you do, the photos that you have on are going to guide that client through that process to where they get to that phone call, they get in touch with you. And for a little while, I kind of entertain the thought of trying to put together one of those phone trees of like, Thank you for calling us if you want to learn about our prices, press one, you know, to learn about this press two. But I realized that I ultimately want to be on that phone call with that person, I don't want them to just go to a robot saying this is their price. Because I there's more to it than that there's more that you can explain there's there's more questions that you can ask about them, and have actually have a conversation with them. Instead of just perpetuating the tire kicking down to the phone call right and really trying to get to that point where you are, are talking to them? Because then I want to know what what's the tone of this person's voice? What are they coming with? Like? Are they Is this someone I'd want to work with all that can you can do with a phone call. And then you don't even have to waste your time going to meet and greet if it's not going to work out?
Steph Brown 23:16
Right. And I feel like a lot of times, I mean, this is just my experience, obviously, all of this is just from my experience. I feel like when people a lot of people will call and they're skeptical. They're like, wait a minute, this is like legit, like you're really going to. And then I love that moment when you're talking with someone that's a little like, all right, let my husband know, we have to go on this vacation. I gotta find somebody and the kid who normally does it, he's going to college that week or something. And I love the transition from that skeptical person to like, Oh my God, you're like everything I've needed, like, Where have you been? Because, and that is like, why I do it. Like, there's so many, you know, I mean, there's so many hard days in this business that like make you think like, Ah, this is this has been a day. And it's those moments that like restore my energy and like make me excited, like, I'm like, wow, that like that person is gonna get that puppy now because they know they've got, you know, they've got us as the village to help them raise that puppy. And that's like, literally, you know, that's what keeps me doing it even on the hard days. You know, and that is something that's so important. And like you said, with that funnel system with the phone call, is I feel like you'll lose so many people like even though, you know, you have a team and and you're, you know, you're up here technically and you've got the people that are working with you. I think that when people call and have an automated thing, like I think even with my software, it's tough because I'm like, No, it's still me behind the software, but it's not like you know, they're not leaving cash on the table for me. They're like, you know, everything is through a system and maybe they don't know every one of my team members. I feel like when they get to talk to me, it's the know like and trust. They're, they're hiring Happy Trails because they met with staff or they talk to me on the phone and, you know, it's it's that trust, you know, we're being in the community You living where I work and having my kids in the same schools as their kids, it's like, you know, well, you know me and you trust me. So anyone who works for me is going to be just as awesome if not more awesome, because they're not running a business at the same time as walking your dog. So it works out, it works out really well. So I think that that you made the right choice without doing the funnel system with the phone, it would be easy, or at times, but it might turn people off instantly, like, you know, because how much you hate if you call your pediatrician and they say, Hi, thanks for calling. Please hold and then listen to that music. Like it's just, you know, people want to feel like they, you know, I don't know, they're talking about their pets, which they love. So they want to talk about them. So, you know, I think you made the right choice.
Collin 25:42
And that yeah, I appreciate that. Because it, it was tempting of like, oh, I can't take another phone call today. What if I just automated this part of life? And but at the end of the day, it's like, yeah, like, I want to hear that joy that inflection in their voice where they go, You mean I? I can or what do you what are you talking about? Yes, yes, we have everything and just walking them through that. Because while you know, we have staff, and we have staff too, and people can feel like it's big, and it is impersonal at that point. And trying to find those touch points and make them really have those high quality to make it personal, again, I think is really important as we as we go through this, because we haven't experienced that when, when we're hiring, we get people who are skeptical that we're, we're a business or like like, you're Wait, you're gonna hire me to do what? It's very interesting to sit down and go, No, yeah, that's what that's what we do. But But trying to find those points to make it a personal business, again, when you start to grow is is an intentional act that we have to do. Yeah, it
Steph Brown 26:47
is something where that personal touch because it may, you know, I had a client call the other day because she had a bunch of last minute visits. And it was just, I didn't mean to, but it was a new person every day, it was just because of the way the flow of the schedule was and her preferred time. And she actually like she wrote me a message, which is probably the worst again, going back to dating. She's like, Hey, can you call me when you get a minute? I was like, Oh, do you go to like, not sleep? Like I can, of course, she sent that message at like eight and I was like, Alright, I can't call her at night. I gotta wait till tomorrow. So you're just up all night, cuz you're like, Oh, my God, like, and this is a longtime client. And she was like, hey, you know, I was just like, looking over. And like the last like, five days, I had five different walkers. And like, she's never met any of my walkers her husband has because he works from home. But like, it was just so jarring to her. She's like today, like just have my information like, you know, and it was like, but she was so it was with such grace that she did let me call and talk to her because that is Oh, like I didn't even realize that I didn't mean to and I didn't say it like that, of course to her. But like, you just get so like your routing, you're doing this and you know, anyone that you send there is going to give them as much love as possible. And you know, the pets are good with new people. And they just want a great walk and, and it was like, you know, but she talked to me for like an hour. And we were just chit chatting. And it was that connection. Again, it was like we really haven't connected since that meet and greet three years ago, then the pandemic, we took a little break. And then she's getting back into it. And it was just really nice to talk to people. And like that she gave me that grace of saying, hey, let's talk versus messaging because I'm like, Why can't she just message me like, I can't live like this, what is she mad at? You know, like, it was just, but at the end of the day, I'm so glad I got to connect with a client, I think you know, that is so important, especially as you're bigger. And if you have software and you have team members in the home and stuff like that, I think it's still nice for them to connect, you know, I would love to host an event someday to connect like to actually meet with these humans, but we'll see what's in the future for for Happy Trails, but I always have great ideas and I write them on post, it's gonna have a bunch of confusing messages to myself.
Collin 28:52
Well, we've thought about hosting a client Appreciation Day, as well as just inviting everybody out to to get them together. And I think that's for a couple reasons, it genuinely is to say thank you to do something for them at a bigger scale. And then there's also the aspect of letting them kind of see the bigger community like that they are a part of like, connect with other pet parents and getting to meet more of our staff, like in person be like, yeah, when you're hiring us like, it is a it is a team, right? It is a community of people is a village that's here for you. And you're not alone. Yeah, yeah, it is. It is a family and and then when you're when that way, when you're talking to them, right? You can you can just reconnect with them. And that connection point starts from that very first phone call or for that very first inquiry, but I know sometimes people contact you for but as they do for us for services that you straight up don't offer, or they're confused about it. So how do you guide somebody through that? And for us, the big one is they call for kenneling or they call for boarding and we don't offer that and I always feel like responding to them kind of falls flat. So how do you take that approach.
Steph Brown 30:00
So we do the same, you know, the same thing like boarding, or they want one of our sitters to sleep in their home. And we don't do that. And they seem very confused about that. In the New Jersey, you have to pay hourly for sleeping hours. So I tried to explain that to them, like, hey, we have employees that would cost you like $300 for an overnight. So I think we're doing you the service. But no, I always, you know, the bet. The nice part about my community is I've actually started a network for local pet sitters professional, well read good reputation. I mean, I don't check, you know, their itinerary of all their insurance, like, you know, I'm working with some people in the area that I've just been doing it for 100 years. And like, they're, they're amazing. And I love what they do most of the referrals. So I have a big referral list. There's another pet sitter in town that does do in home boarding, I'm friendly with a lot of the more local boarding facilities, because we provide pet taxi for them, which they don't provide pet taxi, I think that would be a great add on service. But anyway, I'll take it. And we, you know, I have a really strong network of referrals. And I'm just always happy to refer people out. Now, there are some people that looked at the amount of time I do talk to people who are not the right fit. And, you know, they'll follow up with me for more referrals. And it's kind of like, at a certain point, you're like, Okay, we're just not the right, you know, Google, go check them out. You know, and I, but I do find that I've actually gotten referrals from people who we weren't the right fit for, but they were so happy with the help that, you know, navigating them to find the right way. And they actually remember that and told someone or something, and that has come up. And especially in our area, we've had a bunch of new people from the city of New York City, come into our little country area. And they're so used to this type of service. And like, you know, the cities and stuff have a lot more of a dog walking type of stuff. So this is like their, their MO. So they've referred so many people, so and I've actually gotten that two or three times from someone who said, Yeah, my friend called you weren't the right fit for her. But she was telling me all about how great you were. So it definitely helps to refer because somehow it'll come back. Well,
Collin 32:11
it's a kind of reminder of also, when you get a bad review on someplace responding to it, knowing that you're not really talking to that person who left the review, you're talking to the person who's going to come back and read that. And when you have somebody on the phone, to really intentionally take that time to educate them as much as possible, because whether they're a good fit for you or not, they will tell somebody else, right? Or they might it's another opportunity for them to go, Hey, like you said this, this, they weren't a good fit for me because of XYZ. But your your problem sounds like it'd be right up their alley. And knowing that every little bit is going to help in that. And at the end of the day, it's going well, I can only do so much. I'm not here to strong arm you into my services, I'm not going to force you to use me because I just be weird. But I can explain I can explain this. And then leave it at that and know that you that was all you could do at that time.
Steph Brown 33:02
Yeah, and it really is, I mean, you are leaving a lasting impression, even if you aren't going to be the right fit. And if you're kind of like blown them off, like oh, well I'm not gonna make my like that transcends on to your company. And that means like, if you are there behind you at like a Dunkin Donuts and like you've got your logo and stuff, they're gonna like me and I spoke with the owner of that company. She's a bitch, like, you know what I mean? Like, it just doesn't, I don't know, I clearly always want people to like me, and I struggle with that on a lot of things. But I really do feel like you know, you never want someone to have to say something bad about your company. Same thing when you when you reach, like a bad review, and I've knocking on wood, I've had one and he's from the Midwest, and we've never taken care of his pets. But I literally responded saying, oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. It's such a terrible experience. That's not us. But I really do encourage you to reach out to that company personally. And maybe I'm sure if they're in the industry for loving animals. This was not like, you know, the guy was just I think it was just a spam. But it knocked me down the four point A thanks a lot, jerk. But it was something where that response because somebody because if you go on Google, if you're like me, I go for the bad reviews. I just want to see everything bad that can be said and and it's always good if you see a response. So even if it was you and it was something you did wrong. I mean, we're certainly not perfect. I'm just so far very blessed that any imperfections we've had was managed before Google got involved. But it is something where your response is so important.
Collin 34:27
Remembering that we are we are very public. We are very public. And we're very public in an area where our owners and our clients are highly passionate as well. So that that is something that we can never forget or take for granted. And that well maybe not something won't happen. No. They're passionate about this. They are going to say something and so providing them outlets for that, whether that's quarterly reviews that you asked for them or feedback throughout the day or whatever, but knowing that that that's something that we have to consider and that is part of running this kind of business. So is just being highly aware of this public relations aspect now, of what we're doing? Yes, definitely.
Steph Brown 35:06
I mean, I'll see it even, you know, we do referral bonuses. Like we'll give like a little something like a little credit for clients who refer us and even on social media. So like, when someone's on like a Facebook page or something, and they're looking for a pet sitter, they'll tag either me or the company, and then I started watching it. And like, you'll, you'll see people fighting over their pets, or Oh, yeah, well, so um, so I love her well can't beat Happy Trails. And it's sweet, because I know all the, you know, the other pet sitters, and they're phenomenal in my town, too. So, you know, we're just the only one that's like a company with staff and a team and like, we're like, knock it, you know, we're totally like, messing people up, they're like, wait, you have a team, this is a job. This is crazy. You know, like, I know, it's like a 60 hour work week. But it's something where like, people are passionate about their pets. And like, you know, passion can be really, really great. And go really, really wrong. Sometimes you just have to, like really kind of, you know, we try to always bring our absolute best, but anyone can make mistakes. And I'm the first person to say that we are not perfect, we've made mistakes, but it's how you handle that mistake, you know, like owning it, understanding somebody's upset, and then just how can we fix this? I'm so sorry. You know, and just being like, sorry. They're upset. Yeah,
Collin 36:21
being being honest, when you make a mistake, and trying to make it right in whatever way that looks like for you and your company. And recognizing again, like, I have off days, my staff we're gonna have off days. So we're always trying to do better and do something different if it's not working out. And that's getting feedback, that's just sitting some time and doing some brainstorming of like, Okay, this one thing continues to happen. What, what do I do about that, and that part's that part's hard if the sitting and giving time to marinate on things when we're so busy. And so, you know, with you, and everything that you have going on with your staff and your working with SEO and your website? And also, how do you carve out that time and stay organized, so that you have time to do that kind of thinking in your business?
Steph Brown 37:06
Oh, well, I definitely haven't mastered this, um, I think we're all struggling to find time. And then also, you know, spend time with our families, like, you know, eat healthy exercise, you know, it's all that stuff. It is something where, like, I've been trying really hard to make, like Mondays and Tuesdays, like my office day, like, that's the day, you know, my, that's, you know, I'm my project. Now I was working on my website and doing SOPs and trying to make a client staff website that they can log into, so I can have accessibility and all that stuff. So I have projects. There are projects that just seem to sit that I'm not as excited about. But it is really important that you set aside a few hours every week to just have the time to do stuff because most of us business owners, were those crazy creative thinkers where we're going to think of something while we're driving the kids to practice with all this awesome service, I got to do that and you jot it down. And then like, where does it go, you know, like, Oh, I gotta remember to go ask, you know, so and so if they can work this week in March or, you know, like you have so many thoughts going in and out that I've really just learned to have a pen and paper, everywhere I go. I'm sure you can do it on your phone with notes. And I'm not that old. But I really feel like I'm not as tech savvy as some people. I always have a pen and paper. And I'll just jot little things to remind me. And I'm hopeful that I will understand what the shorthand meant when I sit down in my office on Monday or Tuesday. But it is something where I think just just setting time aside even if it's just an hour a week, it's going to be I call it like a power hour where you set a timer and you're like okay, I'm turning off my phone. I'm turning off any other alert and I just gotta get this done and maybe it'll become a power two hours like you know, you can build on it depending on how busy you are. But it's it's it's not a perfect science. I am certainly do. As I'm saying not as I do, because I'm not always very good about doing it. I get very scattered and I'm pulled in 18 different directions.
Collin 39:09
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Steph Brown 41:12
I tried to I you know, with the power hour and now like feeling like so overwhelmed, like you know, as a business owner you do because like you'll be having your power hour and then somebody can open a lockbox and you gotta go over there with WD 40. Like, you know, you're constantly pulled aside, but I try really hard to think about when we shut down. And like I tried to think about like, how terrible that felt when like I had nothing to do about anything like I literally had my Fitbit checking in on me like, are you still alive? Like, I'm not sure you haven't moved on as I'm eating like chips and watching some sort of show on Netflix. But it is something like I try. Because I do definitely have anxiety as maybe most business owners do. Maybe that's just what makes us business owners is we're very, you know, we're very type A and anxious. And, you know, you're always worried that the other shoe is going to fall or there's something you're forgetting or something. So I do try to remind myself in the craziness, like when my website person is like, hey, wanted me to hurry up with these updates, I just need a couple more things. I'm like, Oh, crap, that was a week ago, I gotta get on that. But I was pulled away. I think just remembering like, listen, it's gonna get done. There's gonna always be fires every day that you got to put out. And those are the ones that you got to do immediately. Yeah, and then the other stuff, just be grateful that you have stuff to do the next day and the next day, and you've got tons of power hours ahead of you to work on your business, because I think we all kind of realized in 2020 how quickly it could all go away. And we were unsure. So I'll take this over that any day and just be grateful that I've got hours and hours of power hours coming up. And I need to get my stuff in gear and get them completed. So try to look at it that way to try to be positive. Yeah,
Collin 42:53
knowing there's, there's, there's there's time, right, there's the negative where you go, oh, there's only so much time in the day, but going well, there's tomorrow, right? And I've got time it's on my calendar, right. And that's the other part of like, when you start putting it on your calendar, all of a sudden you go, okay, like I've got a little bit more time like, this past two weeks has been a bit of a crunch time for us on a couple projects and just sitting down, throwing it on the calendar, allotting certain time you go, Oh, I, I actually have enough time to do this. But when it's all in my head, I get super consumed and freaked out that there's no way I could accomplish any of this. But I see I'm not going to spend 77 hours straight on this project. Okay, this is more reasonable.
Steph Brown 43:33
I know visual, it's so important, you know, you really like calendars are so helpful jotting things down. And when you can actually see all right, well, I actually can carve out an hour and a half on Wednesday. And you know, you can really kind of see it, it's like it's doable. It's like, okay, this is good. Like, there's worse things, I'll get this done, you know, and sometimes having a deadline is a good thing. Like, I feel like when there's so much in our business that like you know, where we're the direct result of like, what needs to get done, like for SEO or our website, and that kind of stuff is like, well, that's only going to help us get busier. So I really shouldn't be dragging my feet. But at the same time, you're like, Oh, I got this mat in the fire and this and that, you know, so it is it is hard because we're essentially our own worst enemy and certain things
Collin 44:16
well, and recognizing that I'm going to do all this effort. And that's, that's so hard if knowing the lifecycle of that business of the ups and the downs, the busy and the slow seasons of going, I want to going off I want to build this, then asking if I get 10x What I have right now, can I accommodate that? Are my habits appropriate for that? Do I have the systems in place? I think about that a lot. When I look at our total client list and I go, my goodness, if if 10% of these people needed us tomorrow, like what would what would we do? And trying to understand the capacity and our ability to handle and manage and keep because if you have staff all of a sudden you're trying to keep I don't know If you do this definitely going, okay, so and so is that this client so and so as of this client, what are they going through? And did we do the thing and you start trying to become outside of your abilities and going, I can't, that's not scalable for me. So, put systems in place, trust the systems and then go, maybe I need to adapt these as I get bigger. But I have to start somewhere.
Steph Brown 45:20
Right? And it's definitely, you know, I'm, I'm at that point in my business where I have a longtime employee, she's going to be coming back in March, and we're going to be learning assistant management and like, having her like, she's, she knows the behind the scenes, and, but now I'm making like, literally a job description, because I was like, Well, I have to, like, let her know what she's responsible for. It's not like before, you know, it's like, you know, you're out of the office, you're in the office now or her office. And it's, it's making that like, kind of trying to make it so her day is somewhat structured, because you think about as I mean, you're probably a lot more organized than I am. But, you know, I feel like I'm just like, Alright, what's gonna hit me today? Let me see, what am I doing today? You know, you have meetings, but then the rest of the day can kind of, you know, you got to figure out what needs to get done. So, but I think, yeah, looking at looking back at what I was to now, it's just like unrecognizable. And, you know, it's by, you know, there's just so much more support, like I was kind of saying before, with pet sitters and companies, like I think that's a great thing. And, and I think your podcasts are great. And I think it's just so wonderful to have this community that I feel like is really come out in the last five years or so of just like this connection and community and just being able to talk about it, because we have a really weird job. And it's not something that like, you know, we we were not like accountants or anything, I'm not saying that's not a weird job either. But it's just something where it's really important to network and talk and get together and connect with people who know about this weird job at all different levels.
Collin 46:53
It is to be to be connected. So you know, especially for like, if you're bringing on the the manager, the assistant manager going, what does that look like? Right? Because that, you know, 20 years ago, that really wasn't a thing, having an assistant manager for this kind of company, and going How do I create that? How do I craft that? How do I develop that in a way that's going to make sense for them and still be beneficial to my company? Getting a manager is something that some of us are, you know, we're still several steps away from or it's, you know, we're looking for how did you know it was time to bring on a manager and now an assistant manager for you.
Steph Brown 47:27
So um, it's basically she's, she's going to be, I only have one she's my she's, I should just call her my manager. And I'm like, trying to gain the position while I'm doing the, the job description. She was one of my first hires. And if I could tell you the amount of interviews I did for my first hire, it's, I could write a book just about that. And I didn't do phone interviews. So it was literally me sitting in Starbucks for like 37 interviews, and I saw some people learn some things. Anyway, long story short, she was my first hire, she came from another company that was much larger at the time. And she's just been a dream to work with. I didn't know how to have an employee I took, I took a class, I took the boss's class, I did do as much education as I could, but you don't know until you're doing it. And then she reminded me once she was like stuff, I haven't had a day off in three, three weeks. Now. In my defense, it was like a visit a couple of visits. And it wasn't like she was working nonstop. I shouldn't say like that. It was just funny, because I was like, oh my god, we didn't have structured time off. Like, you're just so used to working every single day yourself that you forget, hey, this is a job for them. Yeah. to Now she's helped me with hiring and training. And at this point, I'm going to be pulling her from the field and having her strictly behind the scenes. So you know, all the stuff that like the messaging, the clientele, the scheduling, all that stuff, like all that extra stuff, she'll be helping out tremendously. And up until next month, she's only been helping, like, if I go away, like I'll go away, and I'll hand the reins to her. But I definitely think if you're ready, when like things are slipping, like if you're in a meet and greet meeting new clients, and you're not able to check on your phone, and somebody has an emergency or you know, and you have your phone off because you're giving full attention to this meet and greet that you're trying to win over. You know, you need to have, you can't have so many balls up in the air that you can't take care of business while you're trying to gain business or go away or something like that. There has to be something it's not fair to your clients if if their dog if they need to cancel a walk. And maybe that message came through I was in a meeting and that sitter has shown up because maybe she missed the message yourself. Then that's something like Well, hey, I wrote the message. You told me to trust the software and now you're not listening, you know. So it was really just something where it was in the best interest of my clients to have that more connection because I like rapid connection with my clients. During our office hours, but I don't feel like they should wait hours for a response about some question they have, or something, I feel like, I feel like that would make my company feel like we're too big. And we don't, we're not personal. And you know, and since Nicole has been with me, my team members been with me forever, she would make perfect sense. She knows how to route people, she knows our clients, she knows how we work out. So it was just a natural organic thing to have her come into this position. I don't know how you hire just a regular manager, I'm sure it can be done that doesn't know this crazy world, or the routing and how you do all that. Um, but it is something that I'm very blessed. I'm very lucky for her. And I tell her that all the time. So I'm grateful for her.
Collin 50:44
Well, you said that phrase of, you have to keep taking care of business while you're trying to gain business. And that's very interesting to perspective of, I can't let I can't drop the balls over here, whenever I'm still running the business. Even if I have to do I as the owner, I have to take time away to do business things. But that doesn't mean that the pet care stops, or that things can just drop by the wayside. For the time being, we do have to find a way of keeping everything in the air at once. And that's just part of it. And whether that's through systems policies, office hours, whether that's through boundaries that we set, or those who bring on staff, whatever we do to get when we get to that point where we feel like I'm I'm about to drop something, right, there's something that is about to slide off my plate, and I don't know what it is, but I can't let that happen. We might then start going. And hopefully we recognize it before we get to that point. But many times we look up and it's our it's our 1314 days straight of five hours of sleep, and we go, oh, this probably isn't sustainable. What do I need to do? And just recognizing that I have to do something in this and that could be the manager that could be like I said, policy, software, whatever that is just taking a big step back and going. Something has to change.
Steph Brown 51:58
Right? Yeah, the software. And again, I'm i This is all my experience. I'm in no way. I'm telling you software hands down. I mean, I know people are some people are really against it. Depending on even if you want to stay solo, like I was solo with 150 clients, man, I'm telling you, that just organized me because I wasn't putting sticky notes on my dashboard telling you where to go when or have a big paper calendar that very easily I could have just forgotten to write. It gives the clients full accessibility to their schedule. So when they schedule a trip, and they forgot that dinner visit, they forgot that dinner visit, not you, because you can't forget a visit if it's on the software. So there's just so many things that, you know, we've all done it, we've all missed a visit, we've all done this. And once you get that software, that's never going to be the same, like you're never going to have to have that do not forget to visit sloughi today, like Oh no, that's next week, because I haven't on my software. So it is something where the software was hands down. I'm so glad I did that when I was solo, because I can't imagine converting now, and I don't want to put people through the hassle. So my software company, they know they've got me, so just be kind to me and don't don't change the prices too much. But um, you know, I'll they're, they're amazing. And I'm grateful for them. And they are what you know, is having me in a six figure position and you know, onward and upward. So, I think software is the first step before losing your mind.
Collin 53:30
It is even we have several clients who've been with us for several years, and they'll still text us their dates, or they'll email their date. And that is that is one of the most terrifying things when I see that come in. Because it's like no like this, I will lose this like you have no idea like
Steph Brown 53:47
attacks can get lost. But also, if, you know I definitely think I'm so sorry. I think that this the that stress of like a client texting you. Like when they do it themselves, they're picking the dates, they're picking the visits are picking all that stuff, there is absolutely no blame that can be put on you forgetting because then you send them confirmation and then you send them an invoice and they they can take the time to check it through. And that's really the biggest thing to me is aside from having all the information right there. But it's also the accountability that you have triple checked, your visit dates like no fluffy it's gonna go unfed on my watch. Unless it was a human error. And we've even had people skip a night check and we'll be like, Oh, hey, is your son coming? Because we always make people let us know if there's other people not sharing care. That's a whole nother topic, but somebody else that might be in the home at the time. So we've actually caught a few mistakes. But um, we're not 100% Like we send it to you to check over and we assume you know the date you need and we leave it at that so you know we tried to catch them but I've we've never had any issues but I could see where, you know, you know, somebody could very easily forget when they were coming home or something and add an extra visit or or need to add on. But the, the actual dates are away, they should really know what they need. So I feel like the texting would scare me to death, it really
Collin 55:17
does take that onus off of us to keep everything in line. And that way we don't make a mistake booking and then we again, the double checking everything uses that as part of that process at that point of making sure it's off of our brain, whether it's again, that whole of its creative and thinking of ideas, or I'm trying to hold information in my head, that's not really what I'm supposed to be doing. I need to be focusing on other stuff. And it that way, it's not our responsibility to to get that booked for them. And I'm sure you know, maybe we've booked for people who have technological issues, or they have some concerns or last minute stuff. But by and large going, I want those to be the very far extreme edge cases, not the norm for how I'm operating.
Steph Brown 55:55
Right, exactly. Yeah, that's kind of how we are we don't do any tax, like, I think I've lost clients because I will because I'm just like, you can send me an email, I just, I feel like it's just how we work. And then that's someone where I can refer some one of my amazing sitters that I network with in our town that I know does a new software. And I'll happily refer you because I just want it to be the best fit for the humans. And if they're gonna balk at the system, totally fine, different folks, you know, different with different strokes for different folks. And that just means we're not the right fit. And that's totally fine. There's nothing wrong with that person. There's nothing wrong with a person who doesn't use software. But I'm just saying that that's why that's, you know, we all offer different advantages. So there's something great about each person that I can recommend for this potential client that might not fit with
Collin 56:39
software, thinking back over the years that you've been in business and that you've been running this definitely how would you say that this is you have personally changed over time. Oh,
Steph Brown 56:51
I never thought I'd be a boss. Like, I never went to school and thought like, one day I was going to be a boss. Like, that was never anything that was not on my radar, I went to school for social work, like it was totally a different kind of world and I thought I was gonna go into and then it just kind of happened. And, um, I don't know, I I definitely find it's a whole new world to kind of manage people. And you know, I've done a really great job of hiring I've had a couple oopsies but nothing bad with the Pats, it was just like, oh, they didn't understand this job like this was, this was a different type of job that they thought so I got better at describing the job and, and scaring potential hires away so that they, they really knew what this job was about. I think it's changed me in my, I'm definitely a lot more secure about the services we do offer. And I've gotten a lot easier to say no or not the right fit. Instead of it's like, I gotta have every client. Now I want the right client like I don't want, you know, it has to be the right client, because it's better for the pets, it's better for my team. And there are people that instantly in five minutes on the phone, I'll be like, I'm so sorry, I just don't think will be a good fit. And I don't lose any sleep over it. So I that's definitely changed because I am a people pleaser. So to think that I wasn't making someone happy and had to turn them away. i That's That was a change for me. But I think again, having that list of references. And then if it is somebody that you really don't think is a good fit, maybe there's like somebody else you send them to that, you know, you're not maybe not as close with that, maybe give them a little heads up about what's coming down the pike. But other than that, I think that just being a boss has changed. Kind of my overall feeling about I don't know, it makes it's just something I never thought I was ever going to be. And here I am doing it. And it's just, I love my team. And I've had Horrible Bosses. So I just tried to be the best boss I can be and fair and, and communicate and communicate a lot of what I want. And so far, so good six, almost seven years in so I don't know, I think that's what's changed the most is just my overall confidence even going out in my community, like I'm confident and that I provide the service for my small town. And I'm proud of it. This is my my kids are so proud of it. And it's just something that has really, you know, I'm very proud of the service that we provide. Even if we've had a hiccup or mistake here and there, you know, I've come to terms that we're all human and mistakes can happen.
Collin 59:23
Well, Stephanie, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy day, to talk with us and share about your experience and how we need to be focusing on making those connections. And that the other day, we need to be building something that we are proud of, because that's a reflection of us and our passion that we have for those pets and our businesses. I know that there's a lot that we didn't get to and there's a lot more Oh no, there's just there's just a lot more that we could talk about. And so for those who want to get connected and follow along and pick your brain on some questions, if possible, um, how best can they do that? Um,
Steph Brown 59:58
email is probably best Good Stuff Ste p h at Happy Cat sitting.org. I'm always loving email, that's always nice. We do have a Facebook page. Happy Trails professional petsitting. And we do have Instagram, it will be at Happy Trails petsitting LLC, I believe. I want to check that one out.
Collin 1:00:24
I'll double check that before I put it in the show notes. But yeah, I'll have those for people to click on their website and everything else I can get connected with you, Stephanie, I have just I've really enjoyed getting to get connected with you and talk about your journey of pet care. And I've loved every minute of it. So thank you. Thank you so much. Oh, great. So how do you know when it's time to give 110% It's when your passion depends on it, we reach a point in our lives where we can't not take that next step. At some point, we were all doing something different. Before we started pet sitting, maybe we had it on a side gig, maybe we realized we need to earn extra income. Maybe we just decided it was a passion of ours or felt that in our bones. But at some point, we looked at ourselves in the mirror and there was an internal flip that switched when that we said I can no longer not pursue this. And so our passion depended on our hard work and dedication towards our business towards getting it off the ground so that it would be successful. Now that operates very differently for all sorts of people wherever you're coming from. But when your passion depends on you working hard, that's when we put in the effort. And that's why it's so important to be connected to that purpose, day in and day out, so that we can know when it is time to put in the effort. And when it's time to take a rest. We want to thank today's sponsors, time to pet and pet perennials. And we really want to thank you for listening and we'd love to hear how you invest back into your business and really what motivated you to get started and keeps you going. You can send that to feedback at Pet Store confessional.com Or give us a phone call or check us out on social media. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend. We'll be back again soon.
