We recently connected with Elizabeth Burr and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

Seven years ago I told my husband that I wanted to quit my high powered corporate job and walk dogs for a living. He looked at me like I had lost my mind but this is a conversation happening in more and more households across the US. The pandemic did three things for the pet industry, specifically the pet sitting and dog walking industry.

The first unfortunate thing it did was kill off a lot of the small independent pet sitting companies. Mine is an industry dominated by women solopreneurs. When covid hit many of them simply didn’t survive.

The second fortunate thing that happened is people started adopting pets! You’ve heard of pandemic puppies and covid kittens. People who were now working from home and eager for companionship, adopted animals at record rates. When people started returning to their normal scheduled, this surge in pet ownership created a huge need in the market for quality pet care.

The third very fortunate thing that happened is that people started to reevaluate their chosen career paths and wonder about what they could do that would bring them more meaning and more joy.

That was me.

From an early age I did what everyone said I was supposed to do. I went to college, I got a job right out of school, I worked hard and made my way up the corporate ladder. By 2013 I’d achieved the dream; over 500 people reporting to me, the corner office, the title, the money, everything I thought I wanted. In 2014 I got fired.

I was devastated. My career had defined me. Eventually I accepted a position for a fraction of the money and responsibility. I told myself that I had gotten back up. The truth was I was hiding, hiding from failure and hiding from success.

Fast forward 2 years, I seem to be back on track. In the middle of our open plan workspace there was this big screen TV played a continuous loop of PowerPoint slides with values, goals, mission. I’m staring at the slide and suddenly I felt ill. not only did I want to hurl I was gripped with the absolute certainty that I was in the wrong place. I started searching, not for a job, but for a path. I realized that those mission, vision and values streaming across the TV in front of me for 8 hours a day, were great, but they weren’t my mission, vision and values, and they never would be.

In June 2017 I launched Preferred Pet Partners. One year later I left the corporate world. In less than two years I built Preferred Pet Partners into a company with 6 figure revenue and a 10 person team serving hundreds of human and furry clients.

When the pandemic hit, my pet business survived but I was struck by how many didn’t and I wanted to help! It was during the pandemic that I started coaching other pet business owners.

The current gap in the market between needed pet care and quality providers has created an incredible opportunity for women to pivot, do something they love and not go down the same road. I want to help them do it!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Many years ago I was sitting in a corporate office and I was suddenly gripped by a feeling that I was in the wrong place. I couldn’t shake the feeling so I starting looking around for something else. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for but in my search I stumbled on entrepreneurship and specifically pet businesses. I was skeptical at first. I mean do people really earn a living playing with animals all day? Plus, I was well past 40 years old and hadn’t run my own business before. I had 30 years of experience running organizations and managing people but the thought of starting my own business was still daunting. I realized though, that I wanted and needed to make a change so I took the leap and never looked back! I ran my pet sitting and dog walking company with 10 employees for 6 years and during that time I started helping other pet business owners. That desire to help others find their path has grown into my full time job now as The Pet Business Coach. I offer one on one coached for people who want to launch grow and love their pet business as well as courses, products and tools to help the pet business owner.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2020 when the pandemic hit I had been running my pet business for 3 years. In March of 2020 I watched as people went home to wait out the crisis. My business depended on people going to an office each day and taking trips. In 2 weeks I saw over 80% of the bookings disappear. I had to put many of my employees on furlough but I never let a single person go permanently. Many of my amazing clients even offered to still pay for their now on hold dog walking and pet sitting. My employees and my clients were awesome and we recovered, breaking even that year and slowly gained ground after 2021.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

My all time favorite book is The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber. In it he explains the difference between being a technician and working in your business verses being an owner and working on your business. In my work with pet business owners I’ve seen a trend. Women get into pet sitting and dog walking because they love animals and want to spend time with animals. When the business starts to grow they realize that they have to shift from being a pet sitter (the technician) to being a people manager and a business owner. This is often a difficult transition to make and burn out rates in the pet industry are high. I love helping people learn to pivot and this book is extremely helpful!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizathepetbusinesscoach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petbusinesscoach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pet-business-coach/?viewAsMember=true
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElizaPetCoach