We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Crystal Barber and Tiara Barlow N/A a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Crystal Barber and Tiara Barlow thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?
Georgia Pet Nanny is a comprehensive pet sitting service. We take the word comprehensive into account, with not only our list of services but the way we execute our services. We want to continue to be set apart and we also transcend that into customer service for our clients as well. We offer a refurral program to all of our clients which allows them to receive a discounted service once someone they refer to us, books with us.
Also, from time to time, whether for a special occasion or our business anniversary, we also provide our regular clients with small gifts to show our appreciation of their support and continued business. And of course we include a few treats for their fur babies too!
We remembered a time where a client had to travel but it was during her fur babies’ birthday. A birthday post was sent to the client after one the visits and her fur baby got a new toy. That client was so grateful of the gift but also felt bad because she had forgotten her babies’ birthday.
Our client’s and their fur babies do become a part of our family. We also want them to know without them we won’t be able to do what we love to do!
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?
Georgia Pet Nanny started as just a thought Crystal received from God while driving on the way to work as a veterinary assistant for Banfield Pet Hospital.
She wanted to create an in home service for pet parents to have reliable, passionate professionals come in to their home to care for their fur babies while they are away. God spoke to her and said, “Why not start a pet sitting business?”
She, of course, needed a trusted partner who shared the same passion and devotion. Tiara, who is a wonderful registered veterinary technician, was ready and willing to start this business, and thus, Georgia Pet Nanny was born. All praises to God for allowing us the opportunity to expand upon our experience and provide such love and care to pets in need.
We have collectively worked hard over the years to make sure the pet parents and their fur babies have a stress free experience. We believe in keeping fur babies in their own environments as we know it can be a stressful time for pet parents and fur babies to be away from each other. At least keeping the environment as a constant part of their routine, the fur babies show to adapt and are comfortable during their time with us.
For the pet parents, we send updated reports, including pictures and videos, after each visit to ease our clients’ minds.
We know that each fur baby is their own individual being, and so we work with the pet parent to ensure that the care is to their expectations.
Our services ranged from visits, drop-in potty breaks, minor grooming services, medication administration, and pet supply runs.
Tiara is a registered veterinary technician with almost 15 years of experience. We are able to care for pets with chronic but stable diseases that, in other situations, might become exacerbate because of stress.
We currently service Gwinnett, Dekalb, and Rockdale Counties in Georgia.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Resilience is the ability to be able to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties. As you navigate through the world of pet care, there are many challenges and difficult tasks to overcome. And this takes not only resilience but passion and dedication as well.
Since we started the business, which will be 9 years in May, both of us as co-founders have maintained full time pet professional careers including management for several years at a time.
Being able to work a full shift and complete pet sitting appointments before, during lunch breaks or after work presented some challenges for us. We’ve had clients in other counties which required a lot of driving for the both of us.
Both mentally and physically we had to push through but we had a goal in mind and we wanted to elevate in our careers and grow our business successfully. Having resilience allowed us to do just that!
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I was working at the Banfield Pet Hospital as Registered Veterinary Technician and Crystal was client at the same hospital when we first met.
My manager at the time saw something in her and hired her as a Veterinary Assistant.
Who would have known that was one of the best decisions he made because Georgia Pet Nanny probably wouldn’t have been created.
Crystal has an impeccable eye for detail, hard working and high standards when it comes to pet care. Which she demonstrated every day she came in to work. The way she connected to clients about their fur babies it wasn’t long before they were asking her by name.
When she came to me about the idea of creating a pet sitting company, it was a no brainer.
Contact Info:
- Website: Georgiapetnanny.pet
- Instagram: @georgiapetnanny
- Facebook: @georgiapetnanny
- Other: Email: [email protected] Phone number: 678-208-8815 470-636-3097