We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cecilia Gonzales. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cecilia below.

Alright, Cecilia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

We have done everything from sit with a deceased owner’s pup while they were away and handled all arrangements related to situation and personally creating memorial plaque for pet parents to personally driving to pet parent’s home to help carry ill dog to vet due to size and illness of dog. We have given pet parents the ability to care for their injured dog at our facility complimentary due to home situation as well as assisting with personalized care.

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

We always have had dogs that we rescued for different reasons or circumstances and when we realized we needed to fill our family building we decided what better business than a doggy daycare/boarding and eventually training business? Our doggy daycare and boarding facility is different from the norm because we actually have a cage/kennel free boarding setting! Our guests are part of packs during the day and have daycare routine and at night all the pups and our overnight boarder hangs out with the guests watching movies, going outside for potty, and returning to the parlor for nighttime where dogs rest with our boarder on a bed, or a chair they see fit, or they are crated like mom and dad are doing at home, but all the while someone is with them all night to help with any unforeseen circumstances our guests may need whether it be to go outside to potty or just reassurance that they are safe and all is well.

Our team assess our guests prior to being approved for daycare and boarding as it is a pack mentality and we require all our guests have nice manners and temperament for a enjoyable stay for all. We are most proud of the community that Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace has built around us with our pet parents and our team and vendors!

All of our guests require full immunizations including the canine influenza as well as the standard vaccinations normally required at doggy daycare and boarding facilities.

We have Enrichment Programs every Thursday allowing prizes for our pet parents as well as our guests! Pictures are taken in a holiday setting or specific theme where pet parents can have the option to purchase a framed pic of the day! Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace also participates in community events in Arlington as well as neighboring cities for special events.

Our staff love dogs and our pet parents always let us know how comfortable and confident they are when leaving their fur babies at Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace because they know they will be loved and made sure to have an enriching and fun day!

We would not be loved by the community without our pet parent’s support as well as the amazing job or dream hustle our team does at Pixee’s for our guests as well as our pet parents and one another on a daily basis.

Pixee’s Paws also offers dog clothing, dog merchandise, as well as personalized items ranging from tumblers, mugs, slate photos of dogs in tandem with dreamitimakeit!

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

Gayla’s occupation by trade is nursing and she was able to relay a lot of her knowledge of care for our guests and assist urgent care needs as we assessed taking them to the veterinarian or assist pet parents about condition that may be happening to better relay to veterinarians. Gayla has always been an action person and has dropped everything after hours to assist pet parents if they needed help with their dogs due to illness or needing assistance getting pet to emergency animal center. Gayla has taken customer service to the next level with helping pet parents and their fur babies related to everything from medical to training and just basic care for dogs.

Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace does a lot of additional services without charging pet parents for every single issue related to the issue at hand. And from the beginning we knew we could not be like the industry and charge for snuggle time or time out of a kennel, which works out ok since our guests are not kenneled all day. Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace has webcams available for pet parents to watch their babies while away as well as non stop pics of their fur babies from our team.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Gayla and Cecilia knew each other in high school which was a Christian private school. Years later, they reconnected on Facebook and surprisingly friendship turned in to love! We always say we make one brilliant person or brain as we both bring attributes to run everything for Pixee’s as well as our new non-profit, Lighthouse Dog Rescue. The history of knowing one another and our core values helped us as we both have a spirit of giving and helping others. Because we both have same mindsets of a giving nature it helps us be stronger and better stewards for our business, and all related to it that comes our way as well as the community.

We enjoy helping others, most especially dogs, and we know we couldn’t be a successful if we didn’t have on another to rely on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pixeespaws.com
• Instagram: pixees paws pet palace
• Facebook: Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace
• Linkedin: Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace/Cecilia Gonzales
• Youtube: Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace
• Yelp: Pixee’s Paws Pet Palace
• Other: Threads, TikTok.