We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Powell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes I absolutely take vacations! Although maybe not as many as I’d like. I understand though how it can feel impossible to step away from those work obligations – you are the one keeping the business or the project afloat, you’re not sure if you can afford it, you don’t want to let your clients or your team down, you are the only one that can do what you do… ! I feel like here in the U.S there is also a stronger ‘live to work’ culture in comparison to Europe for example and a sense of needing to prove to everyone around us how successful or committed we are. I know for me, I have just entrenched myself so deeply into a cause before that I have found it difficult to loosen my grip on it, out of fear, or out of wanting to remain in control of the outcome.

But that stepping away – turning off the devices, getting out of our daily bubble, spending quality time with loved ones is important for our well-being. It allows us (or forces us!) to rest which prevents burn out and it helps us gain perspective, which can in turn provide us with new opportunities for creativity.
A vacation could be two weeks overseas, a weekend out of town or even a day out in nature. I think our bodies and minds crave that and no matter how much we might push against it initially, we can admit later that it was worth it and more importantly that the world and our business did not fall apart because of it.
I handle this by planning ahead, making sure my clients are given plenty of notice, pre-setting all of my automated responses and making sure I’ve answered any queries or pressing concerns before leaving. Anything that happens while I’m away simply has to wait, otherwise you wouldn’t be committing to the break.

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

My name is Jessica Powell, I am Britain born and raised and I am a private, in-home, reward-based dog trainer, coaching pet parents on how to improve/repair their relationships with their dogs and resolve their dog behavior challenges. I work with a variety of dog breeds and age groups and offer services that include basic puppy training, exercise/enrichment routines and adult dog manners, as well as solutions for more complex issues such as fear, reactivity in the home/on walks, over-exuberance with visitors, counter surfing, destructive behavior and more. I also offer public speaking and educational services. I assist my clients with handling these issues from a unique perspective; it’s not cookie cutter, old school obedience, it’s an holistic approach to the dog’s whole life. It’s games and play vs drills in order to engage and motivate, tapping into the nature of the dog and the goals of the human, and teaching people how to truly problem-solve around real life concepts that will optimize their day to day with their fur child.
I actually spent many years not realizing that I could have a career with animals that didn’t involve veterinary medicine and that despite my passion for animal behavior, welfare and saving the planet, that maybe this would be all it ever was. I pursued creative things like music and dance and practical career ideas such as working with children. But I went to live in Australia for a year at twenty-two and the landscape, biological diversity and wildlife absolutely blew my mind. It was from there that I discovered I could do a degree in Animal Science and that there were in fact many career options for someone with my interests. I put myself through college in England, frequently visited Africa as part of my studies and was determined to work within the field of wildlife conservation and human-animal conflict resolution.
While my life hit a crossroads in my late twenties/early thirties and that path took a sharp turn, I am so happy to have been able to take lessons from those experiences into my work with dogs and people -it’s been such a wonderful and diverse journey.
My first step into the world of behavior specific to canines and to training was in a open-door shelter here in L.A. I spent six years in the trenches that resulted in a wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as some pretty heavy scars on my heart. The animal welfare industry can be really tough emotionally to work within, but despite this, I’m so proud of the training and enrichment programs I created, the lives of the dogs that I hope I made a difference in, the public group class curriculums and the interdepartmental relationships that I had within that particular organization. I still have a strong passion for the plight of homeless animals here in L.A.
Developing my own business has been my ‘baby’ though. I so enjoy the personalized educational role I get to play, providing a compassionate, supportive learning experience to my clients and seeing people light up via the success and the bonding that they experience with their dogs.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like the need to pivot has in some respects become second nature to me because of the amount of times I’ve needed to do so, both personally and professionally. In my younger years for example, I was making a lot of money as a nanny with high-class families – I travelled all over the world and just when I developed a social circle or a life of my own in one city, I was put into a position where I had to move and start that idea all over again. It was also during this time that I discovered how a career with animals was so important to me and jumped head first into going back to school at 26 years old, despite the unknown and often unpaid path ahead of me! Before coming to L.A and beginning my life as a dog behavior professional, I had been spending a lot of time in Africa researching wildlife population dynamics and poaching trends and I was offered an internship in the Congo where I would be working in close proximity to families of Lowland Gorillas. It was literally at that point in my life where I had to choose between bush life and city life, wildlife and pets, raw excitement and normalcy. This was a huge mental and emotional shift for me.
More recently, came the pivot from the shelter world to the private sector. While they both involve dog behavior and working with my community, the change in dynamic was huge. I was in a position where I had to immediately hustle, go into financial and emotional survival mode, think on my feet and get s**t done as I took on the new role of being a business owner!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think building a reputation continues to be a working progress and even when you ‘build’ a good reputation, you have to maintain it! Marketing, building relationships within the community, client rapport, even professionalism with those that might be your competitors are an ongoing endeavor that every small business should be continuously assessing and making time for. When you’re also working inside people’s homes like I do and the client is placing themselves in a potentially vulnerable situation with their own learning, and accepting responsibility for needing to change some of their own behavior so that they can change that of their dog, you have to establish trust. My reputation is based on my training methods – people want to see that you truly care about what you do, that you understand how much they love their dog and are going to handle them in a respectful manner, as well as being left with great results. It’s based on my ability to offer a personalized and supportive approach – making time for people where they need it and it’s based on many of the easy, but powerful wins my clients get to feel throughout the training process. I think that’s what makes people then want to share their experiences with others which is what leads to referrals or further business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.proudpawsdogtraining.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proudpawsdogtraining/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proudpawsdogtraining/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-powell-5294a9135/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/proud-paws-dog-training-tujunga-2