We recently connected with Kyle Roe and have shared our conversation below.

Kyle , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I’ve always grown up with animals, but really took a liking to dogs. I grew up in MA, but ended up moving to Kansas at the end of 2020 leaving everything I knew behind. Before I made this move, I purchased ‘my’ first ever dog. She was a black and red long coat German Shepherd who I later named, Naga. She cost more than my first car! It was hard getting plugged into Kansas where I really didn’t have any friends.. With all of my free time I had it would be spent with my girl Naga. I grew up working with my family dogs, but took it to a whole other level with Naga. She ignited my love for communication with animals and people and especially the visual cues we learned from one another.

I realized Kansas wasn’t for me and decided to move to Texas solely because of a Texas license plate I saw that spelt out “KYL” and feeling called to move. I got a job with a dealership that made me feel mentally drained all of the time. I felt guilty not only because I wasn’t passionate about what I was doing but also having to leave Naga at home for 10+ hours while only being able to see her on my short lunch break. I knew I couldn’t live my life like this and quit in April of 2023 to start a business I’ve always wanted to pursue. This business would be called Ruff Roe. It was the first name I came up with and stuck with. I had my brother create my first logo which was very sad at the start but has since been revised a couple times. I was only gone for a week until my managers asked for me to come back which I did due to fear of not being able to make rent and other expenses.

In September I decided to take a trip to Japan to see my sister who was overseas and see my niece who I had never met. I booked this trip despite my managers approving the time off due to the fact I was tired and wanted to leave. My GM ended up approving the time off, but was replaced when I had gotten back. I got sick with covid and was (thankfully) fired when I returned to work. I went about 3 months looking for work and despite every place saying they were hiring I couldn’t get any leads. I was feeling discouraged and finally gave into unemployment which I did as a last resort. 1 month into being unemployed I had left my number with an optical office and they called me back the 3 months later, the day I exhausted my benefits and the day I had decided to pursue Ruff Roe 110%. This would be the first part time job I ever had but it provided me with much needed funds and the time I needed to put towards my business.

I got to work and also had daily prayer. God blessed me every step of the way with clients and referrals. Ruff Roe had slowly began to grow day by day, and month to month business just kept growing. A year later, I now pursue Ruff Roe full time and couldn’t be anymore grateful!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into my business solely because of my dog, Naga. All the colors in the logo are inspired by her! My community has been the biggest supporter in helping propel and launch my business. I do everything pet related from training dogs alongside their human to pet sitting animals as big as horses! I have a wide array of experience with all different kinds of animals and always look to increase my knowledge. My dog training program usually focuses on the importance of learning visual cues and getting owners pets to pay attention to more than just verbal cues. Training is what I’m most passionate about, but also do enjoy playing and loving on all different kinds of pets. Ruff Roe just most recently got into the e-commerce area of making/selling products which is an exciting new venture we’re happy to take on. I think what sets us apart is our primary focus is clients over profit. We always want to make sure we’re helping people first even if they means giving discounts when feeling led to or offering free services to get pups adopted. I have a soft spot for GSDs so a lot of the time if I see one needing to be adopted I will offer a free at home training as an incentive to get the pup adopted.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Tell everyone you know. When metting new people I like to get to know what they’re about but also always make sure to let them know that I have a business and all it’s about. It’s pretty easy to market myself because almost everyone has a pet, but even if animals aren’t your field you can still tell people what you’re about. People are attracted to passion and confidence so if you have both of those things people will most definitely make sure to refer you!

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

Going back to when I was unemployed, I had to figure out ways to make money when my benefits were exhausted and bills had to be paid. I had to sell lots of my belongings and find work to do for people on Facebook, but trusted God through it all. Fast forward a year later and I’m so glad I didn’t let that small and TEMPORARY inconvenience mess with my mental. By the grace of God I never missed a payment on anything and business is currently doing amazing! Super thankful for my community in supporting my small business so quickly!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ruffroe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruffroe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076210785027

Image Credits

JC-Originals Photography for cover photo