We were lucky to catch up with Ashley B recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
Vacations for me are an absolute necessity! I have to force myself to make the time to take vacations because when you own a business and don’t have any employees it means you have to completely shut down which of course means no income. The best months in my industry to travel are January, February and October because those are our slowest months, which works out because generally those months are when you can find the best deals to travel since less people travel during that time. Traveling is so important to me because that’s when I really get to focus on and treat myself, so when I get home I’m refreshed, reenergized and excited to work again because I do miss all of the dogs! When I travel I have two rules: 1) I can’t eat anywhere (like McDonalds or Starbucks) that I can get back home and 2) I have just one scheduled activity for a day and leave the rest up for exploring. I love experiencing new cultures, meeting different kinds of people and trying new foods!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I got into the pet business because I’m a huge dog lover, so when I was living in San Diego I started dog walking and pet sitting, then when I moved back home to Texas I switched to boarding because I had a house with an awesome yard and profitably it made more sense. I offer dog boarding so the dogs stay with me while their families need me to watch them. In regards to problem solving, some dogs have different needs than others whether it’s behavioral and they need to be kept separate from other dogs or any kind of medical needs that require extra attention. What sets me apart from others in my industry is the level of communication I give to each of my clients because I send a lot of pictures, videos and updates every day and I also do a lot of fun things with the dogs like doing crafts, making ice cream or frozen fruit bowls, for Easter I’ve done Easter egg hunts and for Christmas I got a Santa suit and had a photographer take pictures of Santa with all my boarders and fosters and then we set out milk and cookies for Santa that the dogs ate. I’m most proud of the level of success I’ve achieved and it’s due to the trust I’ve built with my clients. I have clients that drive up to 2 hours one way just to bring their dogs to me because I’m the only ones they trust to watch their babies which means so much to me. I’ve grown so much that I moved out to Weatherford because I wanted more space for the dogs so now we’ve got an acre that the dogs just LOVE and I’ve got a pool for them and fun sprinkler activities and toys, but mostly they just love to run and play together!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Really it took just a handful of clients who took a chance on me. 85% of my clientele is from referrals from my other clients and it’s because I’ve built a really solid foundation of trust with them and I think it’s apparent how much love and care that I put into the dogs. And sometimes that means turning potential clients away because some dogs aren’t a good fit for the boarding environment, which is ok. Some dogs will do better in a one on one situation where someone stays in their house, and I tell them that. My goal is for all of the dogs to be comfortable and have a good time here, and that’s not the case for every dog so I try to steer people in that direction if it’s best for the dog.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Fostering! I’ve always wanted to foster dogs but wasn’t able to for different reasons. Then a year ago I found out about Dogs Matter, an organization that temporarily fosters dogs while their parents go to treatment for addiction. It’s not a traditional rescue because we reunite the dogs with their owners (check out the reunion videos on social media, but have your tissues ready!), but we have had a few that we’ve rehomed when their parents weren’t able to take them back. When I first heard about DM, I was so happy that I was finally in a position to help because it combines two of my all time favorite things: mental health and dogs! I’ve been fostering for exactly a year now and I definitely had some misconceptions about fostering that were cleared up right away haha. I definitely had this vision that it was just going to be rainbows and butterflies and that all of the fosters were going to be perfect angelfaces. Rescue dogs come with a unique set of needs and many of them come from really traumatic backgrounds, I have to work with those dogs to show them love and stability and as much patience as I can. Fostering is so incredibly rewarding and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve done. Being a part of the reunions and keeping up with their now healthy and sober parents, seeing them be the best dog parents they can be is wonderful! Mostly just walking into this situation, wanting to help and thinking it was going to be easy and not realizing that these sweet dogs who truly have so much love to give were going to be well behaved and not having any anxiety or trauma was just really naive of me. I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to get to provide a loving and secure place to decompress and really be given the chance to just be a dog has been so rewarding, and I may have cried a few times but who can’t handle some tears, haha. I had one dog, Curly, that ended up being rehomed to me because his mom unfortunately wasn’t able to take care of him anymore. He was a senior shih tzu that was blind and poor buddy developed a tumor, so I knew I would get to love him in the last part of his life. The vet gave him just a few weeks left in September of 2021, but I was able to give him 8 more months where he got so many treats, and he so spoiled and keep him as comfortable as possible. It was so unbelievably hard saying goodbye to him because he really became a part of our little family in the time he was with us, but knowing that I gave him a good life is what made it worth it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @perkytailstx
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/perkytails
Image Credits
Jenny Stokes, Smooches and Pooches Photography Ashley B