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

Chigiy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

I work 24/7 running a dog boarding business. I started my business 15 years ago so I could stay at home with my kids who are now grown. I have kept it small, since I am the sole proprietor and I want to keep the business in my home where I can also write and make art. Some people say that they work 24/7 but I actually do. My business model is keeping my client’s dogs in a loving, cage-free environment. The dogs have the run of my house and my yard. Some of the dogs even sleep on my bed at night. Because of this, I am usually woken up several times a night. I truly do care for my client’s dogs like my own morning, noon and night. I am home all the time and I can get a little stir crazy. I have an eleven year old car with less than 50k miles on it because I never go anywhere. Rarely leaving my house is the only downside to what I do. I love my low tech job. I love loving dogs for a living. What could be better? I went about 6 years working constantly without a vacation and it was terrible for my mental health

Now every year I take a long vacation. I let my clients know the dates. Sometimes I will even help them make other arrangements for their dogs. At the end of my vacation I miss the dogs, I miss my work. I come back happy and refreshed and better at my job.

Everyone who owns their own business needs to take time off as a matter of mental health. Vacations, no matter how short, need to be scheduled like anything else. Everyone needs down time in order to better at their profession.

Chigiy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Some people are born knowing exactly what they want to do. Some people search most of their lives trying to figure out what they want to do. I am the latter.

Some people work really hard towards a goal and achieve it. Some people stumble along, trying different professions and then fall face first into something that they love. I am the latter.

I have led many different lives and worked many different jobs. From stunt doubling to real estate sales. When I had my first son, I quit working to raise him. I had another son two and a half years later. twelve years later my marriage started to fail along with my husbands business. I knew I had to go back to work. I knew I wanted to work at home so I could be there for my sons. So I started an in home dog sitting business. I knew a lot of people with dogs and my business took off right away.

I provide a loving cage-free environment for dogs and long term dog sitting for people who are on vacations or are remodeling homes. People talk to me all the time about growing my business. The truth is I’ve never been happier. I am content with the way things are. I LOVE my job and the business that I created. I always say that dogs are my favorite people. No offense. I am the soul proprietor, if I grew my business I would have to hire people. I love how simple my business is. I love dogs. I love my family. I love being able to stay home and create art, write, garden and cuddle dogs. It’s all I want.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When my marriage started to fail I knew I needed to go back to work. I was raised by a single working mom, so I missed out on having a mom at home when I got home from school, so I also knew that I wanted to do something at home to be there for my kids and I wanted to continue to make art and garden. I had a large yard and I decided to start a dog sitting business. I am fortunate in that my business took off right away, there was virtually no overhead and I was able to spend time with my kids.

I separated from my husband and suddenly had two dependents. Covid happened and all my clients stopped traveling. My income was suddenly nonexistent. I was terrified. At the same time all the dog grooming studios closed.
So I went on YouTube and taught myself how to groom dogs. I told all my clients that I would groom their dogs for free during my training period and I just went for it. My new business, illegal as it was, was successful. I was able to pay my mortgage and take care of my kids until people started traveling again.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I am in the low tech industry of dog sitting. Taking care of people’s dogs is like taking care of their kids. They need someone they trust enough that they don’t spend their vacations worrying about their dogs. I provide a clean, safe, loving, cage-free home for dogs, including two of my own. I do not market or advertise my business. My business is based on trust. It is all referrals and word of mouth.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Chigiy Edson and groomandboard