We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alyson Gonzalez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alyson , appreciate you joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

One aspect of owning/operating a yard card business is getting to know all the backstories of the folks you are celebrating. It’s an honor to be included in their celebrations, and sometimes just due to the requests we get, or if the customers are outside during the install or the deconstruction, we learn so much about the customers we serve. One of my favorite celebrations was celebrating a young man who had just finished up chemotherapy. His friend was celebrating him and the amazing way in which he looked at life and how his response to his health challenges was inspiring to all around him. Spreading joy is great fun!!

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

My path into business ownership/entrepreneurship came as much as a surprise to me as it did my friends and family around me. I’ve been a band director for over 20 years and had never considered starting a business. When challenging circumstances hit my family we knew we needed to find an additional stream of income. We initially started our pet sitting business, Chico & Chums, to supplement our income and to serve the families of Round Rock. When the pandemic hit and everything shut down – no traveling was happening, everyone was working from home – the pet sitting needs of our customers stopped and it was apparent we’d need to pivot again. I was seeing the boom of all the “Happy Birthdays” sprout up in yards and thought this would be a great business – it’s the business of spreading joy and certainly we could use a bit of that when everything was shut down. We were already accustomed to driving all over town for the pet sitting so thought this would be a great alternative. I love creating custom displays for our customers including the interests of the recipients. It’s so rewarding when our customers send videos or pictures of their loved one’s excitement over their display. I want my customers to know I always think of the recipient as my “child, grandparent, anniversary, etc…” and create with that love in my heart for the people I’m serving. I truly enjoying getting to know my customers and it’s so fun for me when I get to celebrate their loved ones year after year and see their children grow up and how their interests change.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Because my business serves the cities/neighborhoods I live closest to, I have loved getting involved and getting to know the community better by offering my services as donations and gifts when I can. Helping schools or churches celebrate and donating my time and displays has helped get the Yard Card Queen name out to the community. My name has grown quickly in the neighborhoods I serve through word of mouth. I’m dependable and always try to deliver more than what is expected. Exceeding expectations is important to me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I feel resilience is such an important quality for all of us to develop. There have been so many times in my life when I could have packed it up and quit, but pushing through and finding the ways to break out of hardship has proven fruitful. We cannot control all things in life, but we can certainly control our reactions to life. When the pandemic hit, I knew we needed to act quickly. Staying open to new opportunities and not shutting down ideas simply because of fear has helped my strengthen my resilience. Starting Yard Card Queen was a leap of faith, but it has been so rewarding. Now that pandemic restrictions have eased, my education career has advanced, and our pet sitting business is booming, I’ve had to be creative with time management to make all the pieces fit together. Keeping a clear mind and purpose has helped me strengthen my resilience in order to balance all of life’s situations.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yardcardqueen.com/round-rock
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ycqroundrock