Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Courtney Lee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Courtney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

As a young professional, I look at many friends and family having children and seeing the fundamental and educational differences that I had as a child. It amazes me that from the very beginning of a child’s life that they are put in front of a screen – whether or not it is for education – it most likely is to give the parents a break. From there, children seem to have a harder time socially from my experience. I wish from young ages that children would have a more balanced education – not just in your standard math, history, science, etc. but also teamwork, household chores, sports, music, art. If we like seeing our children in front of a screen so much, they should also be able to be more hands on. Don’t get me wrong – we all LOVE technology and for a few of these children they could develop an entire career in technology, but that can’t be for everyone. One of my favorite things I had to do in college for my degree were four practicums and one internship. I was able to dive deeper into different fields to see what I enjoyed in my life. We need to do more for our youth and immerse them in discovery days with what our world has to offer.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My story begins with my name. I have an Aunt Donna that I started calling Auntie *with an accent* when I was younger as a joke. When I moved to South Florida seven years ago, I had two roommates that always called me “Co” and I called them Auntie Em and Jo. Eventually, it became Auntie CoCo and I loved it! No one had ever called me that, so I thought it was super cute. Growing up, I was ALWAYS a babysitter (and don’t get me wrong, I love babies and now love being an Auntie Co to human babes), but somehow dogs spoke to me. I began with my first client from my roommate’s co-worker who had two chihuahuas (Lemon and Chester) that traveled for work, so she needed a sitter – somehow I became a topic of conversation and BAM, I had my first gig! Another opportunity came from my work where I had a VP who needed a dog sitter, she didn’t think I was serious about dog sitting and I said, umm yes! Now, I have been watching her pup for years! The rest is kind of history. I worked on building my Instagram and Facebook. I have some additional support with friends who enjoy animals as much as I do and I trust them to take just as good of care of someone’s baby as I would. It truly is a challenge finding someone who not only has to trust me as a sitter, but to allow me to trust someone else with a client’s baby. Regardless, I have loved the journey I have been on with house sitting, dog sitting and cat sitting (I even hamster sat) that I look forward to the year’s to come.

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

Being a pet sitter (or house sitter) is extremely rewarding in that you enjoy all the cuddles, love and affection and know that you have peace of mind for a client that their baby is in safe hands. In my business, referrals are everything. I am only a part time pet sitter as I have a full time job, but I still manage to average about 3-5 new clients/repeat customers every week. It may not seem like a lot, but as an independent owner – it adds up! Moral of the story – be nice to people. They will have your back and refer you to other friends and family.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Being an independent owner (sometimes I do have back-ups if I am very booked), I have a hard time telling people “no.” By nature, I am not a confrontational or mean person and that has definitely hurt me. I am a part time pet sitter and I have had two major issues with clients that thought they owned me – I wasn’t allowed to pet sit for anyone else, resistance to signing my waiver (eventually they did) or barely leave the house. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation to feel like you have been scolded by your parents and even discounted the normal rates I charge because it was so many days in a row. I have now learned that my time is precious and so are your animals. We may not be the right fit and that’s okay – there are other sitters out there. I do this because I love your furry animals. It’s the same concept as needing a new hair dresser or nail technician or doctor, sometimes you just feel more comfortable with someone else. The same works on my side as the one performing the service and I have learned that if you put me down or make me feel uncomfortable, I do not have to work with you to put myself in what could be a dangerous situation.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auntiecocoscare/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=auntie%20cocos%20furry%20friend%20care
• Other: Email: auntiecocoscare@yahoo.com

Image Credits
Just Auntie Coco :)