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

Devon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

Covid hit in the spring of 2020 something a lot of us remember. I, like the others, were laid off from my job and ended up having to pick up a temporary something in its place. But I wasn’t happy, I didn’t like what I did, and I felt zero passion for life. A friend of mine mentioned that she knew someone that trained dogs, and seeing as I had trained horses and worked with dogs before, but not in a professional full-time setting, she felt called to link me up with them. The owner had a trainer working for them, and I jumped right in shadowing and learning all I could on top of the knowledge that I already knew. Being humble and curious to learn more, I’ve learned are the two greatest things that you can bring to the table.
It wasn’t long before I jumped in hands on myself, and started learning from my own trials, tribulations and mistakes. I’ve always been a hands-on learner, so learning through experience was definitely something that God made sure I had since childhood. All those horses and dogs I trained, all that knowledge was there to aid me in my dreams in that very moment. I got to learn and watch her train dogs in real time with severe behavioral issues like human and dog aggression and severe fear and anxiety. I asked lots of questions and listened to the answers, but most importantly, I learned by researching and doing it hands on myself.

The trainer that I shadowed decided to leave the dog training company very shortly after I began and move on, and the current owner had no intention of filling her role with another experienced trainer to learn from. So, it was up to me to figure things out, to teach and educate myself on what and how to work with dogs. But man, when you’re on fire for some thing in your life, because your insides know it’s your hearts calling, you will find a way to prevail and love the grimey work along the way. But oh man, sometimes God definitely has a way of making things burn to the ground and die, only to birth something even greater in its place. As things would have it, I was again jobless after changing careers and finding my passion as a dog trainer. But when you love something, and it’s what God wants you to do, the way is clear.

Triumph was born after the death of a dream in both my personal life and business. I had worked for another dog training company and planned to take over, but it fell through. I was left abruptly jobless, had ended a long term relationship, and as a single mother of two young ones, felt lost and alone. I was incredibly unsure what my next move was. So, I got quiet, and finally got on my knees and started praying to the big guy. Then one day someone told me just because one dream dies, it doesn’t mean a new one can’t be birthed in its place, we may just have to change our perspective and be ok with a hard pivot along with a leap of Faith. Then it came to me, what’s stopping me from paving my own path from scratch? I have all the resources, gifts and tools I need for my mission in the world, I just have to choose to use them. It was in that moment, I decided I would start my own company for the first time ever. I went online, created my LLC and website name, then taught myself how to code and get a website up. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and then I birthed Triumph. Let’s talk about my company name and how it originated, it’s a key piece to our logo and who we are as a company. Why did I chose that word? Our company logo is a large golden Phoenix rising from the ashes. What a symbol, to fail and rise again. Triumph is a synonym for victory. Its means to prevail despite the difficulties we may encounter and to do it with utter joy. A motto, if you will, to remember to always keep rising despite our failures and have an arsenal of humor to carry you back to center. That’s life, that’s business, that’s the journey of us humans. I knew I loved serving animals and people, I knew my passion and heart was in it to win it. That’s why I knew it was time to birth something new and take a leap of faith and trust God would give me the perfect wind to take flight… and oh man did he take me high. He showed me how proud he was for honoring my truth, my heart, and rising despite the crushing failures I was feeling. It was a heavy time, letting go of a lost dream with a man I was supposed to spend my life with, and my career direction. I was told to have faith to start the company and just simply be me everywhere. I walked around and simply trained my dogs. People approached me, and every single client I had since the birth of the company two years ago, was a referral. I realized that my community and support was way bigger than I could ever imagine.

Sometimes we think we’re alone, just to discover that we are supported more than we know. Sometimes it’s not always from family. Sometimes it’s from people we would never imagine, you just have to stay curious, stay open, HEART OPEN.

Devon, 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?

As a little girl, from birth on, my family had horses and dogs. We had over 60 acres in Tennessee and I loved every second of life immersed in animals and nature. But my real passion ignited when I was 3 and received my first “horse” named Joe (he was a Shetland pony) for Christmas. I learned a lot about trust, a lot more about truth, and little did I know, everything about myself. Animals saved my life. I came from a rough childhood, I mean, who of us haven’t at this point, but I was utterly alone except for my dogs and horses, and they became some of my greatest teachers.
Fast forward to 18 when I had my first child. I was lost and looking for meaning in life. Thought I found it, had another baby at 24, and then, some thing inside started to whisper and shift. It started to tell me what I was doing wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. It was the most suttle whisper, but within my heart, I began to hear its song. Fear and pain are funny that way, they keep us in our cycles, and sometimes are too loud for us to hear our song. So from there, I bounced around gathering tools from different jobs, experiences, and relationships that would later help empower me, alchemize my pain, and fulfill my purpose by following my dreams of becoming a well-rounded dog trainer specializing in rehabilitation of aggression and severe fear and anxiety cases.

The lives that have been saved both canine and human, is the most rewarding feeling that I have ever had. This is the place I get to be of service and fill my heart doing that which I love. From dogs that spent over 200 days in isolation because they couldn’t come out and socialize with other dogs until we came along, to the countless lives we’ve saved just because sometimes dogs and humans need a second chance. I watch people step into their power, step into their hearts, and step into who they truly are from working with their animals. Training animals is one of the most underrated forms of healing modalities out there, and I hope one day I get to show everyone that gift!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

See previous page- pretty sure I wrote there, what should be here. And should’ve wrote more about myself.

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

That I needed to know everything and be perfect before I could fly.

Life isn’t perfect, and neither are dogs, horses or children, they teach us how to let go while simultaneously holding on. I thought my personal experience, and the fact that I didn’t have some title or certification, that I wasn’t good enough to start my own company, or that I had the knowledge and wisdom to serve the clients to the fullest degree that I wanted to. But what God has taught me is that my whole life has been a classroom, my whole life has been the teacher, that each person’s path is going to be different. The most valuable lessons you can ever have, is wisdom from personal experience. And that, I have a lot of.

I’ve managed two relationships with two separate fathers of my children, both are amicable with the new wives and them. This is where I learned to put my ego down. I’ve had to let go of one of my child, to grieve their death and the possibility of them never returning. I sat and loved them unconditionally from afar. That’s willpower, courage and strength. So, I’ve done relationships, and I’ve done them with humans and animals to the edges of so many cliffs. The one thing in common is that we get to set the tone for the type of relationship and life that we would like to have, and walk away from those that don’t respect it.

Contact Info:

• Website: Triumphdogtraining.com
• Instagram: @iamdevonzander @_triumphdogtraining
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TriumphDT?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Katie Levine took the triumph photos :)