589: It’s All About the Heart with Janet Buchwald
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Janet Buchwald, owner of Kisses Happen, shares her journey from a corporate career to running a thriving pet sitting company. She discusses the deep emotional connections between pet sitters, clients, and their pets, and how understanding both animal and human behavior has helped her business grow. Janet emphasizes the importance of clear communication, maintaining professional boundaries, and marketing with authenticity. She also provides valuable insights into branding, SEO, and client retention strategies. This episode is a must-listen for any pet sitter looking to build a business with passion and purpose.
Main Topics Covered:
The Emotional Side of Pet Care – Understanding client and pet relationships
Business Growth & Branding – How Kisses Happen became a trusted name
Marketing & SEO – Why online presence matters for pet sitters
Setting Boundaries with Clients – Pricing, policies, and communication strategies
Client Advocacy & Professionalism – The role of pet sitters in pet health and well-being
Main Takeaway Quote:
“If your heart is in the right place, the money will come. It’s automatic.” – Janet Buchwald
When your motive is rooted in genuinely serving others—caring deeply for pets, supporting your team, and building relationships—the quality of your work is noticeably better. You’re not just checking off visits, you’re investing in every interaction. Clients feel that. Pets feel that. And over time, that kind of care builds loyalty, referrals, and reputation—which leads to financial stability.
It’s easy to burn out when your goal is just numbers—more clients, more visits, more money. But when your goal is service, you can weather the hard seasons. You show up differently. You problem-solve more creatively. You keep going when it would be easier to quit—because you’re not driven by ego or metrics, you’re driven by purpose.
So yes, business still needs structure and strategy. But the heart behind it? That’s what gives it staying power. When your heart is in the right place, the money follows. Not because you’re lucky, but because you’re consistent, trustworthy, and exactly the kind of person people want to work with.
About our guest:
Janet Buchwald is the founder of Kisses Happen, a Nashville-based pet sitting and dog walking business known for its personalized approach to pet care. With a background in marketing and business, Janet built her company with a strong focus on branding, client relationships, and quality service. She believes in advocating for pets, educating pet parents, and maintaining professional integrity. Through her years of experience, she has helped countless clients navigate pet care challenges while growing a thriving, heart-centered business.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet care, emotional side, client advocacy, setting boundaries, business motivation, client relationships, pet sitting, dog walking, professional associations, brand development, SEO, social media, client communication, pet care services, business growth.
SPEAKERS
Janet B., Collin
Collin 00:05
Music, welcome to pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Today, we're brought to you by our friends at time to pet and pet perennials. Sometimes you just need a good reminder about what all of this is about why are we doing this? Why are we running the business that we are today? We're really excited to have Janet Buchwald, owner of kisses, happen on the show, to talk about the emotional side of pet care, how having our heart in the right place is really the underlying force behind all of our business and our income, because it drives our motivations and it fuels our passion to do those things that we need to Janet also shares about her client advocacy and how she's learned to set boundaries and market her business over the years. Janet and I hit our conversation running, so I hope you have a pen and paper. Oh, let's get started. This
Janet B. 01:03
is this comes from age. Now, you know, I'm older, and something that I've learned is that if your heart is in the right place at all times, meaning you're looking out for the best interest of your clients, both human and animal. If your heart is in the right place, the money will come. It's automatic. It's automatic. It's amazing how it works, because if you get too caught up in, Oh, am I making money on this deal? Gee, I don't know. Maybe I should do this. Maybe, no, no, back up a little. Let it play itself out, learn from it, and then go forward, and you might have to raise your prices, you might have to do a little time management over here or over there. My point is, always keep the client in front of you, because that's why you're doing the work. That's why you're doing the job because you have their best interest. I've got this one client, you know, the dogs with the diarrhea and everything and food poisoning, I give her a lot more time than I get paid. I really do. I know that, but I can't tell you the number of referrals that she's given to me. It's more than made up for it. And it's not as though she can't afford it. You know what I mean? It's like I charge her my rate. I always put in more than what I'm charging her for, only because she's been a client for a long time, and I adore her dog, and I'm like, oh, Janet, you know you really need to charge more. You need to do this. And the next thing I know, she's giving me a new referral. And they're all good referrals. I mean, all of them, and and so it's paid off that way. Every client is different. I've got another client. He's real pain in the butt, if you will, single man, older and so forth, and boy, you talk about somebody who personifies his dog. Oh, my God, they are His children. And everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be perfect. Okay, I can do that, but guess what Cal you're going to pay for it. No problem. No problem whatsoever. Just got a phone call from him this morning. He was struggling with food diet. The dogs were either constipated or having diarrhea. Of course, he was feeding them junk food, as far as I was concerned. Um, so I gave him a recommendation. I said, Look, you need to buy this food. This is how you feed them. Don't do this. Do this instead. Blah, blah, blah, blah. He called me this morning. He said, I can't thank you enough. He says you were right, and he's the type of guy he'll argue with you. He says you were right. He says I didn't realize that dog food can be so different. And I says, Yeah, you get what you pay for. And he says, Well, he says, I'll tell you what. He says, I really, really appreciate you. That's what it's about. So. So, you know, and this guy was always asking for a discount on top of it. He said, Well, why don't you give me a discount? I said, because I don't discount. These are my prices. You either want to pay pay it, or you don't want to pay it. Oh, well, okay, but I think I should get a discount because I've given you a lot of money. I mean, I'll tell you what, I spent a lot of money with you last year, and that's right, there's no question about it. But these are my prices. I got to get these prices. So at one point, he decided he was going to use a different service, and they charge a little differently from me, but from the standpoint of pricing and everything, were equal, okay, and maybe they get a little bit more than I do. Well, it turned out he ended up spending more money with them than he was with me because of the way I package the service, as opposed to the way they package their services. And he says, damn. He says, You are right. And I said, Yeah, I mean. And he says, plus he says you're better. I said, Yeah, you're right. You're right again,
Collin 06:23
you know. And I'm reminded by that, you know, my my dad is a retired mechanical engineer, and we were having some problems with our furnace recently, and, you know, we can, and his specialty is in heating and air, and he's been doing that for like, over 40 years. And, you know, I called him and I was like, hey, this thing is going on with my heater and my furnace, and I'm not quite sure what's going on. And he asked me two questions, and then he said, Okay, I need you to do XYZ to this. And it fixed it. And I remember thinking like, oh, well, that was easy. And later, I was like, No, that was 40 years of experience solving this problem in under five minutes. Like that is invaluable. You can't should have paid $1,000 for that kind of thing. And versus, you know, somebody coming over who's brand new, like we all start in different stages, but I think the longer we're in business, I think the easier it is to kind of go, Well, this just comes naturally to me. Is it really worth what I'm doing? I think it's a constant reminder of I'm better today than I was yesterday. I'm that much more value. Absolutely
Janet B. 07:35
right? That's what they're paying for. That's exactly what they're paying for. They're paying for your experience. And when you're in this business, you have to keep that always in the back of your mind. Never apologize for your prices because they're paying for your experience. And yes, it's an easy job. Of course, you're going to say, well, I could have gotten that a lot cheaper. Maybe, yeah, you're probably right. But when things go south, you want the person who has the most experience to be there, because that person will know what to do.
Collin 08:16
I love on your website. I love on your website. Janet, you have this before, these before and after photos of before, before you started business and after you started business. I wanted to know how kind of your background and how you got into making kisses happen a thing.
Janet B. 08:36
Oh, that's That's funny. I moved here for business. I was partners with four other men. We had a software company, and I was previously working out of the out of Cleveland, Ohio, because one of our largest clients was Cuyahoga County, which is a pretty large area, and also New York City was our client, and so I had been doing that for several years, and finally the President said to me, he says, you know, he says, maybe you should move to Nashville. He says they'll put us all closer together, and it'll be easier for us to meet and so forth. I said, Okay, so I moved here and he had to be out of town. I moved here on a Friday. He said, I'm going out of town, but I'll be back on Monday and we'll meet. I said, Okay. So he came over Monday, and he says, Well, he says, and this is, of course, after I signed the lease, he said, I have some news. It's a little awkward. And I said, What's that? And he says, we sold the business. I said, Say what? He said, we sold. The business, and I thought, hmm, I'm a little too young to retire, and yet I'm a little too old to start over. So I had to come up with a new plan on how I was going to pay the rent, and so the old Janet would have panicked. Well, again, after a few years of going around the block, I have calmed down a lot. So I thought about, you know, Nashville was really rocking and rolling, if you will. A lot of people were moving here, and one of the first things I noticed is that everybody had a pet, either a dog or a cat or both, and multiple pets, and they were everywhere. Whether you lived in an apartment, owned a home, it didn't matter. There were pets everywhere. And I noticed that the city was a very pet friendly city, meaning why people bought their pets in the restaurants stores. Nobody said anything about it. You couldn't do that in Cleveland, Ohio before you could do it in Nashville. I thought, You know what? I love. Animals always have. I wonder if I couldn't open up a dog walking pet sitting company. So I kind of mowed it over and I sat in front of my computer and I Googled pet sitters Nashville. Sure enough, a boatload of these companies appear in front of my face, pet sitters all over the place, and this is back in 2016 and I thought, Wow, a lot of pet sitters. And I started looking at the websites and the way they priced and the services, and I thought to myself, hmm, I think I could do this better. Think about it. You know, I've had so many years experience in marketing, communications, advertising sales and so forth. I really think I could do this better, meaning form a business. So I started doing my research. I researched all the pricing, I researched the names of the companies, how sophisticated they seemed to be, the services that they were offering, and then I researched whether or not there were any professional associations tied with pet sitting. And sure enough, I found two, and I joined them immediately. And they give you a lot of knowledge, part of your fee that you pay every year. And the one thing I knew I had to do was to create a brand, because a lot of these companies, at least back in 2016 they were named like Joe's dog walking or Nashville pet sitting, something like that. And I thought, no, no, no, no, I can't do that. I have to communicate what I'm about. You know, this is how you differentiate yourself versus your competition. And I thought, What am I about? What do I think about whenever I see a dog or a cat, well, what's the first thing that comes to my mind? And the words kisses happen popped up in my head, true. The first thing I want to do when I see a dog, not to say that I do it, but the first thing I want to do when I see a dog is I want to kiss that dog's forehead. I love them that much. And I thought, yeah, that's what I'm about. I love animals, and I want to convey that. So I got my brand, and in fact, I even had a trademark. I've had more customers say to me before they became customers, you know what? Sold me on you. That's what the name of your company. Kisses happen. I understand that. And so that's how I came up with kisses happen. And the brand and my first client, I actually got through pet sitters International, they found me and they hired me, and believe it or not, it was a senior dog. And. That dog had to be put down because of its age, and the client was in Europe when it happened. And before that client traveled to Europe, I knew instinctively that the dog was coming closer to the end of its life. And I conveyed that to the client, and I said, Look, I understand that you have this trip planned and everything. I don't think that your dog is going to make it. I just So assuming I'm right, what do you want me to do? And I said, and don't think I'm going to make the decision for you, because I'm not. This is your dog. And so he says, My daughter lives here. You call her. I said, Great. And that's precisely what happened. And the daughter picked up the dog, and I remember her saying to me, she said, I I can't do this. This. I grew up with this dog. I can't put this dog down. And I said, Honey, not your decision. It's a family decision. So what you want to do is you want to get your parents on the phone, and then as a group with your vet, you come to the decision together, and that's precisely what they did. And when he came back from Europe, he called me, and mind you, this was my first client. He said, You know what he says, I think God sent you to us, to this very day that brings tears to my eyes, because I did it, not so much as a professional business owner. I did it because I love that dog and I knew the right thing to do, and that's how I run my business. I always do what I think will benefit the client and their pets. I'm an advocate, and that's what differentiates me from a lot of other pet sitters. I'm there at the vet with the client. Sometimes I will be the one to say, hey, you need to change that food. You're frustrating yourself. There's better food in the market. Yeah, it's a little more expensive, but you'll thank me. I'm the guy they come to when they have a problem and they don't know how to solve it, you know, having to do with their pet, I'm the one they come to. And again, it's years of experience, and particularly these last 10 years, I've learned so much, and I have so many contacts, if you will, professional relationships here in Nashville, that I'm able to guide them to the right place.
Collin 18:10
Have you heard of time to pet? Doug, from bad to the bone? Has this to say? Time to
Speaker 2 18:16
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Collin 18:36
for new pet sitting software, give time to pet a try. The listeners of our show will save 50% off your first three months by visiting tied to fit.com/confession I mean, you said that word advocate, and I think very often we don't appreciate how much of an advocate we truly are. I mean, you mentioned earlier, we're taking care of creatures and beings that can't talk, and so it's kind of up to us to speak up, and it is hard. It can put us in a difficult situation. You know, in that scenario that you just described, I'm sure that wasn't like, it wasn't your favorite conversation that you had to have that day of, hey, no, what's gonna what's the plan for if your dog doesn't make it like nobody wants to have that conversation. Owners don't, and we encounter
Janet B. 19:26
that a lot with like, hey, I need to
Collin 19:29
have this conversation with you. Just last year, we had a dog. His name was buddy, and man, the owners were. They started using us kind of infrequently, just whenever they were kind of a little bit longer, and then it became really consistent that we were coming over, and then we were coming over twice a day throughout the week, because buddy's health was declining. And finally, we had to sit down, and I had to just have a call with him and go, Hey, I just wanted to let you know that this is what we're seeing with Buddy. This is the struggles that he's having while we're over. Are there. The messes aren't getting any easier, and we are, you know, we have some of these concerns. We just want to talk to you about, like, what's going to happen. And I remember the owner just like, it was really quiet on the other end of the line, and I was like, okay, like, I've I've stepped, I've overstepped my boundary here, this is it. And all she said was, yeah, we thank like, we didn't know what to say. And was like, oh, yeah, I know. And we just, we just need to have this conversation. And that's where we're
Janet B. 20:33
all in we're all in denial. Yeah, we're all in denial with our pets. You really are. I'm in denial. I just lost a dog a couple of years ago, and I was in denial. I was angry. I was in denial. I even with one of the guys who works for me, I said, you know, I'm really angry. And he says, why? And I said, Because I hate playing God. You know when you have to make the decision to put a dog down? Yeah, and he looked at me, and he smiled, and he says, Janet, he says, You're not playing God. He says, God makes the decision. You're just making it easier for your dog. I needed to hear that he he was able to come from the outside and advise me the way I would have advised a client, yeah, and that's how I that's how I know somebody who's working for me. I want to work for
Collin 21:44
this person. Yeah, same thing. Yeah. You know, we we talk about, you know, what, what makes a professional versus not? I think that this is one of the fundamental aspects of what makes a professional pet care provider, dog walker, pet sitter, whatever like, willing to have those tough conversations, willing to put aside being uncomfortable for a little while for the benefit of the pet, and having to step in and go. It's my role. It's my duty, to have this conversation and obviously, in a healthy, constructive, non judgmental way, right? That's really important, right? But, but just going, this needs to happen. And this can be, you know, weight of pets. This can be routines of pets. This can be recommendations for gear, all sorts of stuff, where we get to step in and go based on my experience. And here's some information in research. This is a recommendation that I want to give to you to help Baxter out in this thing that I see him kind of struggling with, and then helping, then walking with the client through that. And it's such a beautiful thing that, like that we get to do through every stage. That's one thing that we focus a lot on, on for us, of like, we're here for every stage of life. And sometimes, sometimes those stages are a lot harder than others, and and that's something that, but that's something that connects with people as they as they have these furry family members. They're with them for life. It's, it's ride or die, baby, and it's like they're looking for people. The clients want people that are going to be with them through everything
Janet B. 23:20
and and support them too. Yeah, yeah. Because today, particularly today, it's hard to find providers, service providers, who are like that. You know, I don't think we spend enough time talking to people, listening to people. Everything is tied up in technology, which is fine. It makes running a business a lot more efficient, but there's a point where we kind of overdo it. There has to be that human touch in there, and if you lose the human touch, you're going to be just like everybody else, right? I mean, I hate to say it, human touch, listening skills, being available, that's so important, and it pays dividends like you wouldn't believe, because those people are going to be for you, believe me, they're there for you, and that's been proven to me over and over and over again during COVID, lot of people I know in this business, lost money. Some even went out of business. My business grew that year. I've had steady growth all through COVID and beyond
Collin 24:58
what he does. Yeah, we. What do you what do you attribute that
Janet B. 25:02
to? Well, the market changed, right? So you gotta change with market. Yeah, now I will again. I had a little advantage, and it's called experience. I'm
Collin 25:15
older that Janet. Oh, come on.
Janet B. 25:19
I'm experienced. I know people. I know business. I've been in business my entire professional life. And I'm talking white collar management, type of you know professions, if you spoke, if you if you will, sure. So the first thing that happened was people were sent home, and they said, Okay, you've got to work from home because we don't want you getting sick. These are professional people at the same time their kids are being sent home to to go to school. So I just, I just got a client. We just got a puppy, and he actually worked for the mayor at the time. I didn't know that he worked for the mayor, and his wife was also a professional, and she was the public health director for Vanderbilt University. I didn't know that either. And their two kids went to private school, and they were working from home because of COVID. So I received a phone call from them, and I think I had only been working with Stella, that was their dog for like, maybe two weeks, and he said, hey. He says, I hate to call you, but he said, We don't need you. He said, we're all going to be working from home. And he says, we really don't have the need for a dog walker anymore.
26:58
And I sat there, and I thought to myself, and I paused. I said, No, John, you really need me more now than you did before.
Janet B. 27:13
And he said, what? I said, Hell yeah, he's why I said, Are you kidding me, as you're all working from home, I said, you think you were stressed before you're really going to be stressed? I said, you're all together all of the time working from home. Think about it. I said, at least with me, Stella's going to get one good walk in. And he thought about he says, You know what, you're right. I said, I know I'm right. Yes,
Collin 27:54
sorry, go ahead.
Janet B. 27:57
He says, I'll see you tomorrow. I said, okay, and I was right. I was right, and that's how I sold it. I said, You guys are crazy. I said, you need me, because eventually, not today, maybe not next year, eventually you're going to go back to work. I said, Now what, what is the dog going to do? Mommy and Daddy are both gone. I said, keep that dog on a routine. That dog will be healthier and happier, and they do
Collin 28:36
that kind of directive. Or guess, like suggestion is really again going really lasering in on that pain point for our clients. And that is a many times we can think, well, I'm, I'm for everybody. I solve everybody's problems in every particular ways. But sometimes, if we can't articulate how we solve problems or the benefit that we give to our clients, that's right, it's it's hard for them to sometimes connect with us, and it was just some, you know, we asked this questions a lot. Why do our clients use us? Do they just use us because their friend has a dog walker and they just want that? Or do they just use us because that's what they think they need to do? Or is there a deeper connection there? And we do have to work on that sometimes, whether that's through our marketing or communication, or how we interact with them, and it's much easier to have that conversation in person or over the phone, sometimes, because it comes across a little bit different than just messaging or texting or through emails too. Oh
Janet B. 29:36
yeah, no. A conversation like that, you don't you don't send a text. No, no, no. Again, this is a feel. I feel you. Yeah, you feel me, and the dog feels us. No, no, you have to connect with the customer. Anybody who says that this is not personal, they are. Are so wrong, it's about as personal as you can get. You see everything when you are in that position. You see the clients at their best and you see the clients at their worst. You see them when they are frazzled. You see them when they are put together. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen clients come to the door with their pajamas on because they had to work late and they didn't get to bed until two o'clock in the morning or three o'clock in the morning. But, boy, I'm there to walk their dog. I mean, you really do see the clients the way their office mates don't see them. So it is a personal connection, and that's okay, that's good, because you're on their side, and your again, your objective is to keep their animals healthy and happy. And believe me, if you can do that, you're making your human clients real happy, real happy. You, you are. You are invaluable to them. Absolutely invaluable.
Collin 31:26
Well, I like the example that you gave there of sometimes we come in and our clients are, you know, in their pajamas, or they're home sick and they still need us, or they're hurt, right, because they tore a knee, or they broke something, and they need us to come over. They're in a very vulnerable situation, and yet, yeah, we still get to come over and we still get to interact with them and help them through, through each of those and and that is really great, really great reminder of just how like it's more than just I'm walking the dog today, like you really are helping a person. That's something I've long like. What I connected with when we first got into this industry of there's always somebody, a person, on the other end of that phone. I've never been called for a cat's never called me to come scoop its litter, right? A Dog's never tried to pay me after a walk. It's always a person who's got a problem, concern, a fear, something that needs solved, that they're looking for help like a person needs help, and we provide that through the high quality, personalized professional pet care. But if we lose sight of that person and just start continuing your only focus on the dog, that's where we start breaking that relationship,
Janet B. 32:41
and we kind of right, yeah, the animal and the person, they're tied together and and if, if, if the the person doesn't feel like that, they're getting the help that they need, then they don't see value in your service. If the person thinks they are getting help that they do depend on you, money is not an option, not buying the money. Yeah,
Collin 33:17
they will, yeah, where they don't feel like they may not feel like they're being seen or heard, or that they are being listened to in the and they're working together. And we just say, hey, why don't owner? Why don't you? It can feel like owner, you sit over there, I'm the professional. I'll take care of the dog. I'll let you know when I'm when you're needed, right? Like when it's time to pay, and then you can just come over and and it's like, that's not what this is about at all, and that's really where you get the the Miss, misalignment of expectations and the communication just falls apart.
Janet B. 33:52
That's right, that's right, it. That's why I say this job is so personal. It's, I can't tell you the number of times I belong to a group, right? Professional pet sitting group on Facebook, and I can't tell you the number of times I've I've read some pet sitters writing. I would love this job if I didn't have to deal with people. I hate people, yeah, and I'm thinking, you're not going to be in business for long, I can tell you that, right? No, you can't hate people. You've got to love people. Here's, you know, what we all have in common, all of us, pets, dogs. It doesn't matter animals, while animals people, we are all animals, all of us, we are just on different wavelengths. Some of us are more evolved, even as human beings, some of us are less evolved, same with dogs and cats. We are all animals, which means. We are all in it together. We share the earth together. We are one unit. So to say that you hate human beings or people, but you love their pets, I would argue not actually you don't, because we're all animals. You just have to learn how to communicate and to read humans, because humans are a lot more complicated, in my opinion, than, say, a dog or a cat. They're complicated animals. You still have to read them. Yeah, they do some silly things, but so the dogs and cats just on a different level. Well, so how do you
Collin 35:50
get that across to particular clients, right? Because that's where we start getting the interface of of how I run and operate my business, and what I do and my passion. And how are you translating that into connecting with people through your marketing? I know you mentioned even like how you were developing your brand. What's that process been like for you?
Janet B. 36:11
Well, in my in my case, I started with the website, and I made the website personal. Made it personal. I want clients. When they come away from that website, they're like, wow, you know, she's really into this. She there's a lot of care there. So that's the first thing I want to convey, the kisses happen, brand the caring, the love, that's what the brand is about. So when they call me or contact me, I always start off with a phone call, and I always prequalify if the one thing I don't want to do, set up a meet and greet if they're just shopping. So I will have a conversation with them over the phone. They can ask me anything that they want. We talk about their animal and so forth. And then I always leave it to them. Hey, if you're interested, give me a call back, you know, we'll set up a meet and greet and we'll go from there. Great. My close rate is about, oh, 98% that's the best way to do it. You don't want to go to a meet and greet when it's cold, you know, you just say hello. Let's make an appointment for a meet and greet, and then we'll go through all the questions once I'm there. No, no. You want to question them on the phone to see where they're at on that sales scale, if they're ready to buy, or if they're just shopping, if they're just shopping, let them stop. They may or may not call you, but you don't want to waste your time by going to a meet and greet, and then once you're at the meet and greet, I take the approach. I assume I got the job, and like I said, Yeah, I did get the job, so I'm not wasting my time. I get a lot of referrals, and I can't stress enough about Google and getting a Google review, SEO, Google and websites are very, very helpful in terms of marketing. The Google business page, you really have to fill that out. That's a localized SEO so when somebody goes to the web and they Google pet sitters, if you have a strong profile on that Google business page, you can be one of the first companies to pop up. Whether or not you advertise with Google, I have never advertised with Google, and I'm one of the first companies that will pop up on the first page, and that's because I have a good SEO so if you don't know what SEO is about, I would strongly recommend that you find yourself a person who is an SEO specialist, because they can guide you through that process. It pays back in spades. It really does that that's everything social media is, is good. You know? Set up a professional page, like on Facebook. In fact, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, those are the three social media sites that generate the most traffic in promotion today, if you can join a group, like a pet sitting group, a localized pet sitting group, I would urge you to do that, but don't try to hard sell on that group page, because they know you're you're selling, and you kind of give yourself away, and you're like everybody else. There's a local pet sitting group here in Nashville, and you'll have a lot of customers come on and they say, I'm going out of town. I really need a pet sitter. Is there anybody interested? Well, sure enough, you have many, many, what I would call hobbyists, who will contact that person and say, Oh, I'm really interested. I love dogs or I love cats. Private, message me right away. Blah Blah, blah, blah, blah. You're like everybody else. If you put yourself out there like that. Oh, I'm real interested. Yes, I have a company who cares. What I do is I look for people who have a problem that needs to be solved, and then I will respond to that person and say, Well, this is what's going on. This is what I recommend that you do to solve the problem. And if you need any other information, feel free to private message me, no problem at all, and hopefully this will work for you. And then I sign my name, and then I just put the name of my company underneath my name, and that's it. I've gotten a lot of customers that way.
Collin 42:18
I like, well, I like how you said I'm I'm looking for a problem to solve, and that's fundamentally what this is. And sometimes the client doesn't even know kind of what words to use, and they may just say, Oh, I just need x, y, z, identity, right? I we get that all the time, and I and I listen to them, and then I found that if I can repeat back to them, kind of my interpretation of what I'm hearing, right? If they say, Oh, I just need a potty break because I'm going to be gone at work, I'll say, Well, it sounds like you're concerned about your dog not getting the outside time that they need while you're gone for a long time, you know, during the day, kind of giving them some more of that language. Because that's what I saw. Like we solve that concern. I don't just solve a potty break sure, like anybody can do that. But if it's a it's deeper than that, because it is an emotional connection with the clients. And you know, you said that you you wanted your website to be personal. I love how on your front page or your website you have this you might be our customer if, and you list off right, five different things, and, and,
43:29
because, yeah, that type of thing, right?
Collin 43:31
Your dog is really a person who happens to be hairy. Your pet eats better than you like you're trying to get the person to go, oh, oh, that's, that's me.
43:40
That's me. Yeah,
Collin 43:43
exactly right. Kisses, happens, gets me. And when clients can do that, it's kind of like, you know, like you don't really need to sell hard after that, because the client no already in, right? It's much softer sell than we originally, you know, take it for it. I
Janet B. 44:01
have a lot of vets who are clients, and they found me through the web page, and it's like, what they all say to me is, I love your philosophy, and which I find interesting, because I don't see my website as being very philosophical, but I think I know where they're coming from in that. You know, as humans, we're crazy people. I mean, we love our pets, we love our pets, and we are there for our pets from the moment we get them until they leave us, which is far too short of time. And I think a lot of vets or other people in the pet industry, the pet services industry, I think we all go through a lot of the same emotions. Called compassion fatigue, and we accept it. I mean, it's part of the job, and we have to learn how to manage it. But, you know, pests, dogs, cats, whatever they will break your heart. It's guaranteed Chase. You just have to roll with it. I have this one friend. She's She works for a rescue in Kentucky, and she's done that for like, oh my 2025, years, and we've been friends for years. And I said to her one day, I said, Oh, man, I'll tell you what. I don't know that I can get another dog or I don't know that I can get another cat this, this last one just tore me up. I'm still crying, blah, blah, blah, and she'll listen. And then when I'm all through saying how I feel, she says to me, think about the years of joy that they give to you compared to maybe a few hours of Pain. And that fixes my problem, that's the way it is. And I think people who really love pets, or they have pets that they love, they understand that concept. You know, they know that our dogs and cats don't live long enough, but boy, they give a lot of joy. They give a lot of joy, and they don't ask for a lot in return.
Collin 46:52
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48:16
it all, it falls into place
Collin 48:19
and, and that's where the like reminding myself ourselves, like, why am I here? What am I? What am I doing with this business? Whether I've been in business for a day, a month, 10 years, 30 years, whatever it's been, what's my grounding in this and really connecting it back to that, because the rest of the stuff will come like, yeah, it's frustrating. Yeah. Admin work is not fun. Filing taxes is not fun. Coming with social media posts cannot, you know, it's whatever, like, invoicing all that stuff, like, but all that serves a very particular focus and purpose of the pets and their people. Like, that's if we keep working towards that, refining everything to to get to that edge, that's really where we start to see that differentiation from us and others, and see our, see the, see the business being built,
Janet B. 49:15
right? And you have to maintain your values. That's, this is something I want to bring up. Yeah, I read certain posts posted by pet sitters. You know, this client has done this, and I'm really against this. I'm struggling. I don't know how to approach the client and so forth, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. My feeling is you have a set of values. You want to attract clients with values that are similar to your values. If you come across a client where their values are completely outside of your values, my advice is, walk away. Way, I don't care how much money they're willing to pay you, and I say that only because you're going to be miserable and you don't want you don't want to be miserable. There are some people out there for whatever reason they have a dog or cat, but they don't give a damn about their dog or cat, just like if they had kids, they wouldn't give a damn about their kid. So you you don't want to work with a person like that. You want to work with a person who is as passionate about their past pets as you are about their pets. That's your goal. If you can reach that goal, you're going to be a happy camper. You're not going to have a lot of difficulties with clients, because you're all on the same page. You know, it's not a bad thing to walk away from some clients. I've done that. I've seen situations. And again, it's not about how neat their house is. It's about how they feel about their pets and how well they take care of their pets. It's so funny. I tell the story. I used to have a client, they have since moved away. They were hoarders. They basically had a lot of stuff in their house that you couldn't just you couldn't believe, mostly books. They were everywhere. And when I first walked into the house, I thought, huh, they had two cats, by the way, I thought, huh, I don't know that I want to do business with these folks, but they were a nice couple, and I noticed almost immediately, just by the way they were talking to me about their cats and everything, how much they love their cat. Oh, my God, their cats were everything to them. And they were, they were the intellectual type. The one guy was a computer programmer, and the other, as his wife, was an educator. And so they they knew things they know things about their cat, and they knew what to feed them, you know, and how to care for them. They were experts at it, and the way they cared for their pets were so much cleaner and better and more wonderful than the way they cared for themselves, if you can believe it. I mean, it was hilarious. It was absolutely hilarious. So I took him on as clients. Never regretted it. Never regretted it at all. You
Collin 52:50
know, that's that when we typically talk about holding to our values, like that does that does get into so many different aspects of the business, and sometimes it's oh, well, I don't feel like that person likes me, or they don't like my cancelation policy, or they don't like this, but sometimes it is fundamental to like what like. We get a lot, right? We still get this in 2025 Hey, can you just come over once a day for my dog right there in the backyard? They'll be
53:18
fine. Or, oh, no,
Collin 53:21
deal breaker. Come over every three days for my cat. It's like, that's a value, like, that's a value Exactly, right? You've got to understand that what you allow or don't allow, or how you speak up that will influence the rest of that relationship with that client and you and that's not saying that, you know, we certainly do get those requests. We educate them about why we won't do that, why it's important, and things, you know, things like that. And then it's up to them to decide. But I'm not going to say, Okay, well, I'll take it this one time, and I'll see if I can work with them, and I'll blow No. It's like, no, here's the line. And because I want that good relationship somebody who really does value what we're offering. There you go. You're exactly right. Yeah, you got it. I mean, I've had those conversations, you know, where we only need to once a day, and I kind of look at him and, no,
Janet B. 54:19
no, I don't do that, or, Oh, the cat's fine. You just need to be there every three days. No, yeah.
Collin 54:27
I mean, I've done, we've done so many. Mean greets where it's like, oh, here's the dog, here's the dog, here's the dog, and I'm standing there, and all of a sudden, like a cat walks through the living room, and you go, Oh, my god, yeah. What about that? And they go, oh, oh, the cat. Oh, no, it's fine. Just focus on the dog. And it's like, no, I'm not doing No, no, no, yeah,
Janet B. 54:47
yeah. More intelligent talk. Is that what you're trying to tell me, I mean, oh, if the cat is so great, why don't you have the cat Take care. Are the dogs I said that. I mean, and I will be laughing. I am actually laughing big, and they start to laugh too, and then they and then it's kind of funny, because I just broke the ice. I had a client like that. They had a cat, and they had three dogs, I think three or four dogs. And they said, Okay, we need you to come take care of the dogs. We're going to be out of town. And I see the cat. I said, Well, what about the cat? Oh, the cat will be fine. I says, So are you telling me that the cat is more intelligent than the dogs and they'll go, Well, yeah, pretty much. And I said, well, great, the habit can't take care of the dogs. You'll save yourself some money. They would break up. They start to laugh. And they said, Okay, well, yeah, you could clean the litter box, and if you want to, like, yeah, maybe that's a good idea. No,
Collin 55:59
you don't say, right?
56:05
I'm here anyway,
Collin 56:06
right? Oh my gosh, yeah. Like, and that's what we've had to tell people too, of like, like, it's the same price, whether we're here for your dog or for the cat or, like, or for both of them. So let's just, let's just go through the pets care too, like, make sure we're all and that's where you just have to take that step back and go, here's a little bit of education. Here's about what they're getting and why it's important, and, and, yeah, then they have to decide whether that's something that they want to work for. And, right, right? You know, you then we have to be okay if they decide, if they go, You know what? Actually, that's too, I don't, I don't need that. Then, okay, I'm not going to get my legs hurt like, Okay, I understand. I've done my part to educate you and be an advocate. I can't force your hand in this. I can't make you
Janet B. 56:51
Yeah, and you don't want to. I mean, you respect their space and their decision, and then you just move on. And you've also saved yourself a lot of grief, heartache and all sorts of conflicts and and it works out for everybody. Yeah. Well, Janet,
Collin 57:10
if somebody is interested in, you know, getting getting started, what advice would you give to people who are kind of getting into the industry, given kind of what some of your lessons have been over the
Janet B. 57:25
years? Well, I would say, and again, this is based on experience. If they were seriously thinking about starting a test, sitting service or company, the first thing they should do is volunteer at their local shelter or rescue. And what they do? Why? Why is that beneficial? They teach you a lot. They teach you how to properly walk a dog. They teach you about food. They teach you about behavior. Depending upon how active you are, they will put you through training, and you learn a lot through interacting different animals, and you learn a lot right away, and that's going to show you whether or not you really want to do it, so you don't waste a lot of time. I actually did that when I first considered opening up my own business here in Nashville. I volunteered with the Nashville Humane Association. And you know, again, it was just an idea that I had, but I am so glad I did that, because I did learn a lot. And in fact, I ended up hiring one of their people after I started the company, he contacted me, and he's still with me today. So yeah, I would do that first, and then if you decide you do want to pursue it, then I would really urge you to do your research. You want to know who's out there, what they're doing and how they're pricing, and because you don't have a prior reputation in the market, then I would say you really need to create some kind of a presence, whether it's through a website or through social media. Join a professional association and sign up both associations now have a pay. Page where you can put your business list, your business in a certain zip code. And if somebody is looking for a pet sitter, they might find you on one of those pages, if you will, one of those two Association pages and start doing, you know, I really think you should have a website, but some people can't afford it right away, and that's fine, but you can. You can get something like Wix or companies that sell you templates to create a website that way, to get you started, so you don't have to spend a lot of money in order to start a pet sitting company. You really don't. Some people, they go all out and right away they want to get the software so they can do all of their books and scheduling and so forth. Yeah, that's down the road. When you're starting out, you want to keep your expenses as low as you possibly can, because you have to generate business first before you start getting the bells and whistles in the future. So that's what I would advise people to do, volunteer, see if you like it, and then if you like it, go for it,
Collin 1:01:37
and build into that. Right? I think it is really important to know that we don't have to start out with everything, and we have to learn what we like and we don't like. Just because somebody is using one particular software over another doesn't mean it's going to be a good fit for us. Learn what current points you have before you try and solve them with things that you don't even know about. Like it. It is growing into that process and knowing that you know, the I need a business with just starting out needs very different, has very different problem sets and has very different needs than a business that's been in business for 20 years and is approaching seven figures, right? Like that's just very different, right? So try not to emulate and do your best to focus on what you need to serve your clients well,
Janet B. 1:02:22
that's right, you don't have to be in order to be successful. You don't have to have seven figures. You don't have to have six figures. You know you you can. You define your own success, you define your own business, and the only way you can do that is through time. So you take it one day at a time. I tell people, my first year in business, I made $600 and now I'm approaching seven figures. So you know, it's the way it is.
Collin 1:03:00
Janet, I really want to thank you for your time today and coming on to share your story and encouraging us to focus on the things that matter, the people and their pets, and how to get connected with them and nurture those close relationships through that personal aspect. I know there's just a lot more here, and so if people want to get in touch with you, follow along with kisses happen. How best can they do that?
Janet B. 1:03:26
They can send me an email info at kisses happen.com, or they can text me, you know, through my cell phone, which I think you have. Yes, my website. This list my website too
Collin 1:03:43
cool. Yeah. I will have Yeah, and I'll have all those on the website and in the show notes, so people can get connected with you and start, start seeing all the cool stuff that you've got going on. Janet, this has been just an immense pleasure, and I'm so thankful for getting to talk with you today about this. Thank you so much
Janet B. 1:04:00
fun, too. I love talking to you. I had a lot of fun.
Collin 1:04:05
That was fantastic. That was great. That was wonderful. Janet, thank you, Collin. I appreciate it. If your heart's in the right place, the money will come. It's just automatic. And love when Janet reminded us that having our heart in the right place, is what this is all about, that we got started in this business to help people and to help their pets. This really is an aspect of our business that we have to keep fresh. We have to keep top of mind. We have to keep replenishing day after day, keeping our heart out exposes it to what weather and tears and and frustrations and all sorts of things, meaning, it's easy to put it away and hide it, but at the end of the day, pet sitting, dog walking, pet care is all about our heart. It's what drives the business. It's what keeps us. Knowing it's what allows us to do hard things when hard things are necessary. So
Janet B. 1:05:06
how is your heart today? Is it in the right place?
Collin 1:05:11
Take a few minutes and reflect and just consider and think about where your heart is, and if it's not in the place that you want it to be, reach out for some help, gather people around you, to encourage you take some time off, even if it's just for a couple hours each week, to make sure that you are feeding the holistic you so that you can show up as your whole self to your clients and their pets when they most need it. We want to thank our friends at time to pet and pet perennials for making this show possible. We really want to thank you so much for listening. We know you have a lot on your plate, and there are a lot of things that you could be doing, so it means so much that you choose to show up and listen every week. We do hope it is beneficial and helpful to you. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll talk again soon. You.
