441: Focusing on the Big Picture with Tori Levitt
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Where is your focus on your business? Tori Levitt, owner of Doolittle's Dog House, discusses the importance of setting and communicating clear policies to clients, and how to balance expanding services while maintaining control of your business. Tori emphasizes the necessity of personal self-care and setting boundaries to prevent burnout in this demanding industry. She also highlights the value of continuous education and building strong referral networks with other professionals like veterinarians and groomers. This episode is a blend of practical business advice and personal growth insights.
Main topics:
Taking responsibility
Focus on relationships
Clarity and policies
Getting more education
Main takeaway: Life is like a camera. Focus on the big picture. Develop from the negative. If it didn’t turn out, try again.
About our guest
Hi! I’m Tori Levitt and it is my daily mission to help others. For 14+ years, I’ve combined farm- girl grit and a caring heart to build a business from scratch and successfully grow a viable company known as Doolittle’s Doghouse
My on-the-job experiences with 1000’s of dogs and my team of 40+ pet nannies, has been a journey of joy, albeit with some mistakes I want to help other pet sitters avoid. I subscribe to the adage that “life is like a camera: focus on the big picture; develop from the negative and if it doesn’t work out, take another shot!
Links:
Give her a call: 480-907-6400
https://associationofpetprofessionals.com
https://doolittlesdoghouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/doolittlesdoghouse/wall/
https://www.youtube.com/user/doolittlesdoghouse
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
clients, pet sitter, dog, pet, boarding, fido, running, walk, services, day, tori, nannies, pet owners, talk, referrals, learning, vet, veterinarians, sitting, focusing
SPEAKERS
Tori L., Collin Funkhouser
Collin Funkhouser 00:00
Hey welcome to pet sitter confessional. Today we're brought to you by time Tibet and the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets YouTube channel. Why is it so important that we not only set policies but we clearly communicate them to all of our clients and potential clients. And how do we stay positive when we don't really have those best days in front of us. Today, we are super excited to have Tori Levitt, owner of do littles dog house on the show to talk about her 15 years in the pet care industry, how she maintains her boundaries and prevents herself from being overwhelmed with client demand, and keep up with our self care moments, and why she is so incredibly passionate about education as a business owner. Let's get started. Thank
Tori L. 00:48
you, Colin. So I am the owner, canine concierge and founder of do littles dog house, which is a pampered pet care service in the Greater Phoenix metro area. So for 15 years, myself and my team of nannies have been serving pet owners in the valley. In the interest of cage free boarding, move in house and pet care. We do some furbaby sitting at taxi. I have dog trainers on the team. So we offer private lessons boarding train, and just about anything else that our clients need in the interest of taking care of their pets. By the way, my team are referred to as nannies because we are nannies to the furry children in the family, we are more than pet sitters. And it's it's just a privilege to be here with you and share with your audience. Some of our history journey and just recognize that we're we're all in this together, the interest of pampered pet care, doing what we love making a business out of it. At
Collin Funkhouser 02:09
the end of the day, if it is a business, and you mentioned there about doing just about anything else that the client's needs. How do you balance that with serving the clients meeting their needs growing expanding services without being led by your clients and losing control of your business?
Tori L. 02:27
It's a great question. I think it's important to start with basic services, what you feel you can provide comfortably and capably. And then as you grow and develop a larger client base, perhaps add services along the way, and recognize that sometimes adjustments need to be made with regard to the type of clients you take on and or what services mattered to you the most. For example, some pet sitters may want to focus strictly on daily walks and visits. So this is a great business model. You build to, let's say, eight clients a day that you're visiting, for dog walks and visits. And that's your primary focus. Somewhere along the line, those clients may ask you to move into their house, maybe beyond a 30 minute visit, they have a three or three week vacation plan. So you kind of have to assess what am I able to bring on? In conjunction with how much can I handle in a day? Where are my strengths? And am I ready to grow in that direction? Really
Collin Funkhouser 03:54
starting from where we were we were comfortable with, because that's going to teach us a lot about where we're still deficient. It's going to teach us a lot about what kind of proving the market for our skill sets to our clients. And then it's not just about changing the services, because that's where we tend to focus is, oh gosh, what kind of services can we offer my clients? I think it's also important to remember that what kind of clients do I want to serve? Right? It's it's very important that we have both of those mindsets going at the same time when running the business so that we don't get offset and we're cross talking to the wrong people about the right
Tori L. 04:29
thing. Exactly. And the clients are on both two and four legs. Yes. So to elaborate when I first started back in 208, I was a successful mortgage loan officer and I got caught up in the swell of the real estate crash 2008 trying to figure out Whoa, what does this mean for my future and At the same time, a friend asked me to watch her dogs. Easy. We all do that for our friends, right? So I had two dogs. She had two dogs, I had four dogs running around and I thought, this is fun. I should charge for this. Here I am 15 years later. So Colin, before I knew it, I had 10 Dogs per day on any given day, I was just starting with cage free boarding, little ol me, my then 10 year old son, and all of his boy scout friends that would come over for the weekend. And 10 dogs, pole vaulting over each other in my home of all ages, sizes, dispositions, and I learned so much from the dogs themselves and those early years. So I started off strictly with cage free boarding. Now I have a menu of services that I'm able to offer, having built a team of pet nannies to work with me. And along the way we've made adjustments. So 2008 cage free boarding in Torrey Levitz house with a bunch of Boy Scouts to help walk the dogs. One Christmas, two to three years in. I have 12 Dogs staying with me, it was too too many. I ran out of room in the bed. I literally in my own bed had to Rhodesian ridgebacks a Weimer, Reiner, my own Havanese a shitzu. And I think an elderly poodle in the quilt somewhere. I was up against the headboard. I thought okay, this is Coco, I need to figure this out, make some adjustments. And at that point, I realized it's time to hire. Surely, there are other people out there like me, that want to cater to dogs in the home. Whether or not we allow them to sleep in the bed with us just the opportunity to share our home with other people's dogs. And I went out carefully started hiring one by one, and just made adjustments along the way to perfect our services, our protocols, our policies. And I did at that point realized too, I needed infrastructure. I needed to automate, I needed a client contract, to set those expectations, if not liability responsibilities, waivers, it said etc. that while I was learning on the job, if I needed to take my education to another level, I did join an association in those early years, in order to gain those resources that I critically needed. In order to continue to scale and manage the growth of my business.
Collin Funkhouser 08:28
It is finding those resources at each stage that you need it to what's appropriate for me, what am I lacking. And that takes a sense of being humble enough to admit we don't know everything. Unfortunately, sometimes that is forced upon us when we find ourselves in a situation before we're ready for it. But a lot of times we're able to sit with a little bit of planning, identify those, those weak spots that we have and try and figure out okay, how do I how do I cover that right? What do I need to get that taken care of? It sounds like that was kind of a process but you were going through as you were growing and expanding and feels like you've got this eight legged monster running around going now Wait, wait a minute, how that's not let me let me figure this out. Because this doesn't feel good, right.
Tori L. 09:15
I think the first thing, it was important to recognize, oh, like how many owners want what I have to offer? Obviously, the trends in pet ownership have changed measurably recognizing that pet owners are treating their dogs and cats like children and this is the good news. The good news for pet sitters. It's easy to cater to that. Recognizing that 65% of households own a pet with dogs leading the way. So you have a huge audience out there. It's just a matter of finding them. And in my case, they found me they just kept coming. I was delivering services that they wanted, that they could get elsewhere, I was offering an alternative to pet resorts, kennels in cages. And that alternative was far more caring, loving and hands on. And that's what people want it. So catering to both the two legged client and the four legged client, offering what they want, what I was able to provide and doing it was such positivity and passion. They kept coming. But
Collin Funkhouser 10:35
how much of this was from your, your mortgage days versus just an idea or perception of what you knew to do kind of inherent to how to run that service?
Tori L. 10:48
Thank you. That's a great question. Because as a mortgage loan officer of 30 years, and I just indicated how old I am. I stopped focusing early on in that career I stopped focusing on how much am I going to make on this transaction? How much will this loan amount equal in a paycheck, and score points with my manager and the Board of Directors regarding hitting my quota. Instead of focusing on hitting quotas, how much am I making, I focused on the relationship recognizing I am here to help families realize their financial goals need in the dream of homeownership. So I'm going to build that relationship knowing that it's not just about this transaction, it is going to be a relationship for life. They're not going to live in this house forever. You're going to sell upsize, downsize. And eventually, as I grew older and honed my skills as a loan officer, I started doing loans for the kids in the family. That's when I realized, Okay, I am no longer younger than my applicants. Okay. Back to your point, stay humble. So I took that approach to building a relationship, not sweating the money as much how much am I going to make today. And in addition to that, critical thinking skills, and an acute attention to detail, you sit down to take a person's loan for a mortgage, you're digging deep. So an acute attention to detail, critical thinking, trying to think ahead. How am I going to get this family approved for the loan amount they need to buy the house they want, while building the relationship with the client. And the real tours that were out there. Putting buyers and sellers together, I need to develop a relationship with them. Because they were my referral source, therefore my bread and butter. So it wasn't that difficult to transition from that mindset into how can I build a relationship with this pet owner, and who are my resources for referrals? Primarily, a happy client. That's the two legged it's going to run out and share with their friends what kind of great experience Fido had, and making sure Fido is getting the best experience possible and finding other resources for potential referrals. Networking. Instead of Realtors, now I'm calling on veterinarians, groomers, daycare, operate, doggy, daycare operators, other trainers, etc. so on. So as desperate as it sounds to go from mortgage petsitting was really very synchronistic.
Collin Funkhouser 14:01
Well, and kind of what I'm hearing a through line two is, is also knowing the system, right? When you talk about how do I take this person and match it with the home given all these things? What has to happen? What needs to be in place? What are my options? How do I put this puzzle together? We do that all the time. Whenever somebody calls us looking for our services, what are your wants? What are your needs? What are your expectations? Now? What do I offer? How do I offer that? What can I put together? What how do I create and craft this to meet your needs and not just meet but hopefully exceed them? All the while focusing on I want what's best for you, I want what's best for you. And I'm going to I'm going to tell you whether that this is going to work or not. I'm sure you had many of those conversations story of going, Hey, that home Oh, it's a beautiful home. It's great that we can't make that work, right that's not going to work for us. Being able to deliver that bad news in a way that is still productive. All the while also thinking about because it's hard because you you are driven to Go, I have to make the sale or as a business owner, I've got to close this deal on the phone otherwise, right? Otherwise, I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not going to, you know, pay for dinner tomorrow or whatever. And we're driven to just take on things, instead of stepping back and going, you know, what, what's what, what really is best for them? What's best for me? And how do I build this relationship, and that helps us to win, we have to go. Now I have to tell you, not just that I can help you. But But let me build this relationship, make sure it's a good fit. And so when I tell you the price, like it's not a, you know, I'm going to be okay, whether you accept that or not, because that's just what it is.
Tori L. 15:34
You don't come out the chute quoting your rate. But you asked the question, what of your past boarding experience has been like when you've traveled and couldn't take Fido with you? And let them tell the story? Also, keep in mind that I know we get focused so much on am I charging enough? Am I charging too much Oh, I if I've lost a client because they balked at the price, et cetera, so on. I think it's important to absolutely stick to your guns. You know what you've know about the competition, you know, what makes you different, more unique, and in your own mind better, and I know that you are and go with that and go with faith. But keep also in mind, people will always spend money on their kids and their pets. How Many dog owners have you talked to that will jokingly with half truth behind it tell you that they're eating ramen noodles so their dog can have filet mignon? Yeah. People are sparing no expense for their pets and their children. And they're one in the same in many regards. So if you look at the, this billion dollar industry in totality, like pet sitting and pet care is just a part of it. But look at what people are paying for health care, veterinary, diet, accessories.
Collin Funkhouser 17:15
Lots of accessories. Well, I think it's, it's important to to remember that your clients price is not your price. Exactly. And that's, that is really hard. I mean, I'll, we had a client recently that that traveled, they were going to Japan for a month and a half. And they want us to come over four times a day. And I when I when we put it together, and we looked at this price, and it was almost $4,000 I was like, Well, I hold like I bought I bought a whole car for less than that one time. Like what is what is the what is this number like? I just sweat was happening. I was shaking, typing out this note like it was bad Tori, like I was not okay with it. And we bought we looked at it. And we were like for a month and a half of care. Like my first visit is like my last visit is way more complicated than my first visit for that length of time. There's no way I can discount that. I who am I undervaluing myself my staff. Exactly, exactly. I mean, and we sent it off. And we were like, well, that was a big joke. I'm glad we could all laugh about that. And they came back and said, Do you need to pay it all up front? Or can we or you know, do you take a deposit? And they just pay it up front?
18:29
I was like, wow, look like what is it what people will pay
Collin Funkhouser 18:34
the value that they perceive. And I just stared at this text being like, what, what's going on in the world, like it was a lot.
Tori L. 18:45
I couldn't agree with you more. And so it's important for every pet sitter out there to remember to stick to their guns that you know, stick to your values stick to your rate, you cannot discount for one without discounting for others. So if it comes down to a barter, a client is asking you to discount cut the rate? No, I don't want to spend $4,000 For four visits, maybe it's only three visits a day that they can afford whatever. But when they ask you to start having your rates, then you're opening yourself up to having to do that again and again and again with other clients down the line. And that's not fair to you. And it's not fair to the future clients that are willing to pay full price because
Collin Funkhouser 19:41
they are out there. Right. And I think that's part that's a lot about what it means to take this job. Seriously.
Tori L. 19:47
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think it it's serious, fun. We're having fun, caring for other people. to pet You've heard it said before, we'll all agree. Pets are easy. Client Management is what takes a little more finesse. And that depends on how long of a day you have had when you're taking that call. And you know, you should have let it roll to voicemail. It's serious, fun. In the standpoint that petsitting is an opportunity for a lot of folks to pursue their passion. Definitely a passion for animals, you gotta love animals, or you don't belong in this business, you have to be okay. With dog hair on your clothes, you have to be okay with dogs that are going to vomit on your carpet, et cetera, et cetera, right. And yet, it is a little more than just daydreaming about having a cute little shitzu in your lap that you're petting all day, between meals. Every dog and cat has their own personality, proclivity and unique needs. And it's easy to uncover what they are, if you're asking the right questions up front, and you're fully committed, and paying attention to what those needs are.
Collin Funkhouser 21:26
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21:30
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Collin Funkhouser 21:51
looking for new PET scanning software, give time to pet a try, listeners of our show could save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to att.com/professional. clients ask for all sorts of things. At the end of the day, they're going to ask for a lot. And it's our job to determine whether that's a good fit, because you know, that just because they asked for it, or they say they need it, it doesn't mean that that it's right or that it should happen or that it needs to happen that goes everything from the the pricing structure to Oh, can you leave my dog in the front yard on this yard chain all day long? Exactly. That's right, and knowing where those boundaries are.
Tori L. 22:29
Exactly. And I'm glad you brought that up. One. One thing that I learned in those early years of on the job training, all in Westminster parade happening daily in the Levite household. I I learned so much from the doctors themselves. It was crazy. Which is where do liberals doghouse came from I was running around really interacting meaningfully. And I thought, you know, just like Dr. Doolittle, I too can talk to the animals. The love language that a dog speaks is so pervasive relative to their innate innate abilities, as they are communicating through their body language vocalization, eye contact, and you get it. But at the same time when you have a client, I agree with you asking to do something that you don't agree with. You mentioned the dog being tethered to a tree all day. Those kinds of clients aren't calling me. My website doesn't attract those kinds of clients. And I would want nothing to do with that type of client. Absolutely not. I mean, stop me from calling Petkova County Animal Control if I find out that what you're doing. Yeah, if a client or let's say drops their dog off with a retractable leash, I'm not using that. I have my own six foot nylon leash that I really prefer to walk a dog with. If the client suggests that a shock collar or a prong collar or choke collar is what we need to do to control that dog. I have a problem with that. So how do I address the ill mannered dog that needs to be walked? As an example here what clients are asking us to do? I am not going to walk the dog with a punitive accessory. I will share with the client. I am happy to include a daily walk as a complimentary add on to my service provided it will be a safe and joyful experience for both me or my nannies and the dog. So If we are getting drugged down the street taken to the concrete by an ill mannered dog, the answer is not. Where's the shot? Caller? The answer might be, I can't walk your dog, but I can do everything else you need in order to provide a safe and joyful experience while he's boarding with us. There might be some other workarounds. Let's put a backpack on this dog. Let's see if that helps. A doggy backpack. These are sold Petco, Pet Smart, etcetera. Put a backpack on the dog, wait, either side with a small bottle of water, now you're giving the dog a job. You're giving him something to do during that walk, and it's going to slow him down a little, you're not waiting him down to the point where he can't move. You're not breaking his back. But you're finding a workaround that is keeping the dog safe, allowing you to walk him and achieve his exercise and mental stimulation needs. And now your clients happy.
Collin Funkhouser 26:07
It is such a different perspective to take that and go instead of going oh my gosh, why do all these people keep calling me and they keep asking me to do things that I don't want to do? Right? They call me they want to use the squirt bottle on the cat or the call? They want to do this? And why do they keep calling? Well, the taking that step back and going but a they probably don't know any better. Nobody's sadly, they've never encountered a professional pets that are passionate, professional pet service that will go, Hey, I hear you use this. And let me talk to you about some of the options that we provide that are actually better in the long run for how we do this. No, look, nobody's ever done that to them. That's That's my understand. That's what I've encountered. Every single time I have that conversation with a client who asked us to do something is going well, did you know there was another option? And they look at you like, what? No, like, how, how long has there been an option and usually about 30 years, but that's beside the point. It's just going, Hey, let me talk to you. And this is where you're going. This is a partnership.
Tori L. 27:06
And okay, so that goes back to the point of education. So your pet sitter, get out there and educate yourself with regard to all these resources, options and alternatives. So that you can not only grow your business, do so safely and manageably, but help the client in the process. That's part of the relationship building. Teach them about the things that you've taught yourself or through resources that you've drummed up. Now, you are not only the pet sitter for Fido, next Friday to Thursday, but you are that client's confidant, they're going to start asking you, Hey, do you happen to know a good groomer? Hey, is there another Vet, you can recommend we're not comfortable with ours, et cetera, so on so they, they keep tapping into you. Because you have created a Wikipedia of yourself that is helping those clients strengthen their bond with their animals. And who?
Collin Funkhouser 28:16
Yeah, exactly. And yourself and it. And part of that is, is whenever you start educating them, that information they take with them that goes out into the broader public, they're talking to their friends, they're talking with their vet, their groom, or their or their trainer about this information that you're sharing them. And then it gets back to the fact that it kind of all tricky, trickles back down that, oh, you're the pet sitter, you're the company that gives that kind of advice. And what I know a goal of ours is we recognize that we're not the only person in the world of this pet owner, right, they do see a vet, they do see a groomer, they do see your trainer, they probably do see a kennel in a boarding facility from time to time they see you know, a nutritionist, they all these people, one of our goals, we want to make the lives of those people better. So we want to help educate them. So they go to the vet more, they go to the groomer more, they go to the trainer more. And then what happens there is that well, then they keep their pet longer. And then it's easier to maintain that. And so that's the education isn't just for, oh, let me show off how much I know or let me do this one thing or let me do this. It's no, it's to help them live a better life. And at the end of the day going, they probably don't know any better. I'd have some information. Let me share it in a kind way. And then at the end, that's all I can do. If they did choose not to use it. That's fine. At least I've spoken my piece, and I can walk the other way.
Tori L. 29:39
Absolutely. And I think for every pets that are out there certainly looking to grow a business need to face to face with those veterinarians, those groomers, those trainers if you don't have any personal aspirations to train A dog get to know some trainers in the area that you can trust. So you call on them. You refer your clients to them. They refer their clients to you. So, this was fun for me early on. Armed with a fistful of brochures, and business cards, I would target veterinarians in the area. But I looked at who offered boarding. And those that didn't, became my target referral partners. So I would walk into the vet's office, walk to the front reception area. Hi, do you offer boarding? No, I'm sorry, we don't. Great because I do. Hi, my name is Torie. I'm the owner of do little dog house, we offer cage free boarding in a private home with my pet nannies. I am happy to make your acquaintance. We have clients that are moving into town all the time, they need veterinarians, I would like to establish a referral relationship with you, we are not going to trade money, we are going to simply trade referrals in the interest of professional pet care. Here are, you know, some brochures and business cards? Do you have any questions? Et cetera, et cetera? Let's get to know each other. Yeah.
Collin Funkhouser 31:30
It's that aspect of when you make those connections, it's really doing being strategic about it and going, what don't they have that I can help with? Maybe where are they trying to go that I can help with? And always reflecting back to them of not just hey, you benefit me now. Right? Like I need you to send people my way. Thanks by that little phrase of people are always asking for VET recommendations. And I'd love to get to know you more about that. It's a reciprocal process that goes out it comes back in. And in that because of that conversation. You don't it making it one sided. Of course, people are going to shut down they're gonna go no, they're just asking for stuff from me, right. But, again, this comes back to that partnerships, this relationship
Tori L. 32:15
that we're building, and you take it one step further. First chance you get to refer one of your clients to that veterinarian. You make sure that client knows, Hey, be sure to say hello to Dr. Veterinarian on behalf of do littles dog house, give them our best. Give Stacy at the front desk a hug for us. And then when the clients are calling, I always ask how did you hear about Jules? Yeah, the minute they tell me, Oh, you're on the referral roster for XYZ vet company and clinic. I send a thank you. Just a simple written. Thank you, dear staff, a pleasure to cater to Mr. And Mrs. Smith, and our mutual client Fido. So appreciate that. God bless. Let us know what we can do for you keep up the good whatever. You have to acknowledge those referrals, make sure you get credit for it, make sure that you're asking the client, how did you hear about us? Thank that referral source. And just keep asking for the business. Are you out of brochures?
Collin Funkhouser 33:34
any follow up is really important. Just doing one dump of a bunch bunch of flyers, you know, that's not going to be enough, right? And it's not just you're coming back to refill that you're coming back in to say, Oh, hey, cool. Oh, hey, I haven't met your new Vet Tech. That's amazing that you brought somebody else on how is so and so's doing great to see like, Matt having that face it and that presence with them is also important.
Tori L. 33:59
Absolutely. And then on occasion, you walk in with a bouquet of cookies. Yeah. Your referrals are so sweet. Thank you so much. And it's like okay of cookies for the staff and the veterinarians blah, blah, those little things. You don't have to do that every day. You don't have time to but every now and then that goes a long way to maintaining those relationships with your referral partners. And certainly should extend to your clients with regard to every opportunity you have to do something a little special, maybe in the course of the conversation. When they're calling to book a service. They're letting you know that they are going on a cruise to celebrate their anniversary. Send a card in the mail. Happy anniversary. We're so excited that you have been together for X number of years Mr. And Mrs. Enjoy your cruise. Fido is in good paws with us. Little things like that are important to sorry,
Collin Funkhouser 35:03
I know on your website you didn't you when you introduce yourself, you didn't mention your title that you have on your website, as head Wrangler. So I'm, I'm curious these these days, you're 15 into this, what kind of things are you wrangling?
Tori L. 35:19
Well, if we have to take that in context, so the photo above that little thumbnail of me and the title head Wrangler, which I just created at the time, the context was at a nanny appreciation party. So again, my nannies, my sidekicks, if you will, I throw a party for them, just to thank them. For everything they do. They're my boots on the ground, I may be the voice on the phone. They are face to face with the clients I may never meet personally, but for on the phone, and I treat them like gold. Because they are the backbone of my company. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be able to cater to the 1000s of dogs and cats we have in our quote, corral. So that was at a nanny appreciation party in the backyard as a western theme. In the picture of all of my nannies that were able to attend the appreciation party that day, we're all in western gear in front of that false Western Front. And we're wearing cowboy hats and boots, etc. I think I'm holding my hat, and I came up with head wrangler to coincide with the graphic that was being used. And head wrangler can mean a lot of things. But one definition is someone who controls and looks after the animals. So head Wrangler is me and acting our clients and their pets with my team of nannies, or professional care and control.
Collin Funkhouser 37:22
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Tori L. 38:29
That's so great question. My proudest moment was discovering Pet Sitter software to help automate the day to day client affairs, reservations, scheduling, pet details, etc. So as a mortgage loan officer, graduating from a su in 1984, once again, I'm dating myself and that's okay, I'm comfortable. Um, back then. Banks hadn't automated the cell phone hadn't been invented yet that came out a couple of years later by Motorola big brick size of a man shoe that was the first cell phone and we were taking loan applications by hand on paper. So and I made house calls. If I were running late to an applicant's appointment, I pulled over to the side of the road with Fistful of Quarters and used a payphone to call. Now fast forward. Those early years, I am keeping track of client details on paper. This is where I started, right as a professional, and I have all of the client profiles on paper alphabetized according to the DA ixnay so I got a call from Judy Smith Fido I'm running to my cabinet pulling out in the F file, Fido Fido. Okay. That was insane when I found the current software system we are employing, which is Pet Sitter plus, which I highly recommend. And I know there are a number out there and they're all worth their salt. I'm sure that's when the clouds parted. So that was an internal policy and internal procedure change that had to happen to make my life easier. boots on the ground. policies include set timeframes, set timeframes, if your boarding there has to be a specific time for drop off and pickup, you do not have to make yourself available 24/7 I am not a morning person. You don't want to see me at the crack of dawn it's trick or treat scary. Nor do I want to open the door so you can pick up Fido when I it's PJ and Night Cream time for me. So setting those boundaries and sticking to them. Now you know,
Collin Funkhouser 41:22
something that you're really big on Tori is is being positive and staying positive. For us personally, you know, how, how do you stay positive and when you say being positive, I want to caveat that because a lot of people think, oh, that just means you know grin and bear it. That just means push the stuff away. That just means I'm going to ignore my personal feelings and just put a smile on and go about my day. When you hear a renew encourage people to be positive and to have other than being an obvious possibility for a pun of being pause, additive. How? How do you approach that in your day to day and encourage the your your team?
Tori L. 42:01
Faith in prayer, faith and prayer is foremost. For me with regard to my perspective, my attitude, I am extremely authentic. I'm honest with myself with my team. I am extremely dedicated. And that dedication also includes it's not that pet parents fault that I didn't ask the right question that they assumed it was okay to drop little Maggie off. And he that's on me. I didn't ask the right question. So my biggest mantra, I try to remember this all the time. Life is like a camera. Focus on the big picture developed from the negative. And if it doesn't work out, take another shot. So I have to develop from every negative and look at it as an opportunity to learn to improve and not repeat again. And accepting the responsibility for that decision. That choice that policy etc. Also means it's not the clients fault. I am not going to wreck their vacation. They've just taken off their go into the airport. They've dropped the dog off in here that's on me. Now. The last thing I'm going to do is take my frustration out on them. I had to laugh at myself. I think it was it was almost comical because here's this big golden retriever on one side of a baby gate. Just drilling, drilling drilling. Now fortunately, cruiser wasn't pole vaulting over the baby gate to get to Maggie and she's on the other side. He's just sitting there drooling. A river of drool and Maggie's on the other end all five pounds, doing a dance comm Gabby dance. So looking at her little five pound body stretching and he's on the other side drilling, drilling drilling. And I recognize that nobody's going to scale the baby gate I just have to keep them separated and do some rotation to get outside for our nature breaks. Keep Maggie under lock and key and and find the humor and that so I kind of sat there and run my hands and oh my god, what are we gonna do now? I found I'm sorry that I just I find laughter to be a great release and I'm laughing at myself more often than not just you've got to take yourself serious as a pet sitter, but not so serious that you fall into a state of despair, despair, Woe is me. Have your moments your boohoo moments. Talk to your friends, talk to your comrades. Go on Facebook and talk to each other, but just don't live there and that negativity, you allow that negativity to pervade everything going on inside your thoughts. And in your heart, that you're going to drain yourself. And you've got to just stay really positive against true faith, prayer. Laughter And recognizing that every, quote mistake is actually an opportunity to simply learn and improve.
Collin Funkhouser 45:32
I was working with one of our staff members today actually training them on, on communication to clients. And, you know, we say, you know, we always keep it communication positive to clients. And I know that many people may hear that and go, he just sugarcoat things, or you lie whenever you say things, or you don't tell them I've got no, no, no, no, no, right? When we say positive, it's, Hey, we noticed this problem, here's what we're doing about it, or we saw this thing, here's what we think we should do. Having that solution, learning from it, growing from it, that is positive, right? That positive is always moving forward, trying one more time doing one more thing, and not just going well, that didn't work out, I guess I'm going to sit over here, right, because that's not doing anybody any good. And that's what anybody wants. Somebody wants to interact with that kind of person.
Tori L. 46:27
That's right, and recognize that for the most part, your clients are traveling for pleasure. They're on vacation, they don't want to hear that their dogs being a brat that the dog is out of control, the dog woke me up at 3am. It just, it just roll with it. If it's super serious dog is in distress, I'm running to the vet, of course, you've got to share that. But I agree with you putting a positive spin in suggestive mode, as opposed to coming out the gate because you're frustrated, and you're not taking the time to think about what you're saying, which might be in text, email, or conversation. So we as children, we were taught to count to 10, count to 10. Before you react, if you're getting yourself into a negative moment, and you're frustrated, right? Yep,
Collin Funkhouser 47:27
I count to 10. If that doesn't work, I could do it again. Right? Exactly.
Tori L. 47:32
Wait, wait, you don't have to reply. Instantaneously, to every single piece of data coming in front of you. There is an art to communication, learn how to control it. So are you communicating via text only? Are you communicating through email? Are you communicating by phone and know when to employ those techniques to your advantage? Texts are the best way to send a short and sweet message. But texts are often misconstrued. The brain cannot possibly process all the data that's coming at us in a moment and in a day. So we're, we're all on the fly. And we're trying to feel those texts get back to that client right away. And we're trying to feel those emails and we're out in the field and we're in and out of our car. And suddenly, something happens the dog barks or the client asks for an extension, hey, we're running late. You know if that's going to blow your mind at the moment, because you are allowing yourself to become overwhelmed. Breeze, don't reply, don't reply when you're angry, count to 10 and if you can wait a little longer before you reply,
Collin Funkhouser 48:52
well, that's the you know that's an an outflow of just that general concept of when I'm feeling negative when I'm not feeling present when I'm not feeling how it was a really rough day, right? Instead of just going well I guess I just need to be happy and you smile, just taking those few moments to collect yourself. Find some things to reflect on to focus on to meditate to pray, whatever that is basically your your focusing away from the world around you back into the here and now on you. And going those mindfulness techniques of what am I thankful for? What can I be happy about what you know, what joy do I have right now at simple questions that can make a huge impact on you that are important not just for your longevity and your mental health, but also in how you respond to those situations of before I've seen that shoot off that texture before I make that angry phone call. Let me just go through my checklist of why I'm happy today or what I'm thankful for or or breathe 20 or 30 times. And then with a clear mind I can progress and I do want to add that if you have not taken a moment to reflect on how you like to the difference between how you Like to message and how you like to receive messages or your clients do. It's really important to know that to know how it is, and what your hierarchy of communications are, What messages do you send through text? What does go through email? What does does go through your app? What does elevate to a phone call, and knowing each step along the way, so that when you are stressed out when it is an emergency, you don't have to sit and think through that ladder, you already know what to go to.
Tori L. 50:26
Absolutely. And when I feel myself escalating a little bit in frustration, I'm feeling overwhelmed, etc. I can hear it in my voice. And that's when I stop talking. Let those calls go to voicemail. Yeah, don't reply to the text. Walk away. I'll have some ice cream, whatever it is, and it just regrew on whatever level is necessary. I also think it's important to take time for yourself. For me, it was necessary. Pretty much work 24/7 In those early days, client called at 10pm. I ran to answer the phone. While the toilets flushing, I am running to catch the phone. Wow, that's okay. I had to earn my stripes. I had to dig in and work my tush off to build clientele. I cancelled a lot of personal plans. My friends just got used to Oh, okay, Tori can't join us for dinner because she's got a dog being dropped off that, you know, wasn't coming when we booked our girls night out whatever. My friends got really used to that. There was one Thanksgiving, for example. I had to Sharpay spoke to stay with me. They were they were siblings. I knew that, um, had had them before. Easy peasy. And I was invited to dinner. To my neighbors who lived right next door. Last minute, I get a call from a client who has a very active, energetic breed. And she needs boarding over Thanksgiving. I said yes. Well, the dog arrived. And didn't stop until 8pm. That evening, now once took a break all over the sharpei thank God, the sharp haze were accommodating. Nonstop. So hyper, there wasn't anything I can do to get her to take a little rest. So I let my neighbors and good friends know I won't be coming for Thanksgiving. 8pm I scaled the block fence between us. And I go over there to grab a cold drumstick. This was not fun. Yeah, take time for yourself. Learn to say no. You don't have to accept every client and you don't have to work 24/7 You may need to put a little more sweat and, and toil into the initial infrastructure and building your business. But get to a point where you're comfortable to take time for yourself. For me that's we met. Yeah. And
Collin Funkhouser 53:45
I think that that goes into a lot an aspect of a story of a lot of people are trying to grow their businesses, they're trying to expand, they're trying to do things. And I know when people when we typically think of that we're focused on the marketing, the policies, the procedures, the hiring, from your experience, what are some things that people may typically not anticipate needing to be prepared for or to have on hand as they grow their business?
Tori L. 54:11
Personally, I think it's important to consider a website, that is your business card right there. And it's the perfect place to park your policies and bark about yourself. And it doesn't have to be fancy, just a few landing pages with contact information that will help establish your credibility, your dedication to your business, whatever you want to call your company name, your branding, et cetera. I get that there's a little expense involved with that, but I do think it pays itself in spades. As you nurture that website. Our website is our biggest lead generator, because of course I'm asking new clients, how did you hear about us And the majority is by a web search. So I think that's important. That's not something that I anticipated upfront, I'm just running around, taking care of everybody's dogs and trying to figure out, Okay, now what? So, the website made a huge difference with regard to my presence and ability to grow. And I didn't realize how important that would be later. It's critically important to me now. It's, it's grabbing leads. In addition to client referrals, and presence on Facebook, and all those referral partners, we talked about getting on the preferred list for the veterinarians in the groomers etc. But the website is our biggest lead generator, I didn't realize how important that would be early on. And it is really important to me now, getting good software, I didn't realize how important that would be early on, until it became just a massive amount of white paper that I could no longer control. And so those two things that I feel are worth the investment, absolutely worth the investment. Education. We never stop learning. We can all have our glory moments, when we're kicking up our heels patting ourselves on the back, we're the greatest thing since sliced bread, because we're nailing it. And that's what we're hired to do. And we need to know that we're nailing this, right. Gotta be your own cheerleader. But at the same time, there is so much to learn. A pet sitting industry is so vast, there are so many topics out there, trends are changing. There are things that I'm learning today, that never occurred to me five years ago, gee, How worried should I be about Fox tails, getting in a dog's paw while we're walking, it's after someone that was just a random example. But it we never stopped learning. And I think it's important to constantly stay educated. So yes, you're tired. At the end of the day, you just walked eight dogs you just had, you know, eight dogs picked up in your home, whatever's going on in your world. Take time for yourself, self care, set boundaries, and never stop learning. So seek out those resources to educate yourself so that you are better prepared to handle that situation that's around the corner you've never faced before.
Collin Funkhouser 57:44
Sorry, I absolutely love that. And I'm so thankful for your time today talking to us about your experiences, some of the ups and some of the downs and growing and always learning and staying positive by reaching forward to something else. I know there's a lot here and we know there's a lot more as you mentioned, there's always something new so how can people get in touch with you and follow along with all the cool stuff that you're doing these days?
Tori L. 58:13
Because as I shared with you I am very hands on very hands on. My nannies, by the way are my family. I'm having a soiree on Sunday and they'll be coming over for pie and ice cream. I am so hands on but I would encourage anyone who has questions or needs a little assistance. They are welcome to call me. My phone number. This is my business landline dedicated for do littles doghouse that I am present Monday through Friday. Remember I take weekends off for a 0907 6400 My email is my name to your eye at doula tools, dog house.com. And let me spell that it's a mouthful. D is in dog, o l i t t l e s dog house.com. And I'm also launching a trade association for pet sitters. So I really looking to expand on my experiences my desire to help others packing 15 years of professional pet care into the association of pet professionals. That email address is info at association of pet professionals.com and I am here to help anyone I can in any way. I'm simply looking to be the best I can be in this wonderful journey of pet care, and I want to help others be the best they can be That's simple. Awesome.
Collin Funkhouser 1:00:03
I love it. I love it. Tori, I will have links to everything in the show notes on our website so people can go and check out your your business, the do littles dog house and the Association of pet professionals and get connected with you right there. So, Tori, this has been wonderful, thank you so much for your time today.
Tori L. 1:00:21
Thank you, Colin, I appreciate everything that you are doing in your pet sitting jury, and with Pet Sitter confessional to help pet sitters achieve new heights, bigger and better. When
Collin Funkhouser 1:00:36
we talk about raising the bar in pet care. It's a phrase we hear thrown out all of the time. What I think it really means is that we are taking ourselves more seriously, and we are viewing ourselves as a professional and we treat ourselves as such, it means we do invest in that education, it means we do set those boundaries. Why do we do those so that when we show up for our clients, because we're always going to show up, but when we show up for our clients, we are at our best. We know those few moments that we have with that pet during the visit, that those are utterly critical. And we have to make the most of that time with them. That's a promise that we made to the clients when they hired us. We have to show up well rested, well educated and in the zone ready to do those visits. That is a major aspect of what it means for us personally, to be raising the bar is to show up ready and more than prepared but energized and ready to go. We want to thank today's sponsors, time to pet and the peaceful pet music, calm music for pets YouTube channel. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. And we'll be back again soon.
