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

Hi Gabriela, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I couldn’t be happier, but I actually haven’t thought about being a business owner when I was younger. I’m from Brazil and I worked for Global Companies when I was there, so I learned a lot and I’ve grown a lot professionally. I moved to New York with my husband, he is a lawyer and he was working so hard that we didn’t have much time together. When the pandemic came we were spending more time together at home and we’ve realized we should enjoy our lives. Then I had an accident, and after facing a terrible post traumatic disorder I really thought we should stop living in automatic mode and do something we would be happier. So we had an opportunity to start our own pet care business and it was the greatest decision we have ever made. Being a business owner gave me the opportunity to implement a lot of ideas that I wasn’t able to execute when I used to have a regular job. I’ve worked with marketing my whole career and now I have the chance to apply everything I’ve learned before to my own company. Besides that, we love dogs and they give us so much love every day that it makes our days easier and happier. My husband and I work great together and we have control of our lives. Being a business owner gives us the freedom we didn’t know we needed until we had it.

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

I have a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Brazil, and I’ve worked with marketing my whole career. I moved to New York with my husband who is a lawyer and was transferred from Brazil. We’ve barely moved here when the pandemic came and I wasn’t able to get inside my work industry before that. We have a friend that was a manager for a dog walking company and as I always loved dogs I thought that would be a great experience. My husband was so tired working as a lawyer that we started to think about having our own business to change our lives path. I learned a lot being a dog walker and we were ready to start our pet care business. We are a family pet care company owned and operated and our services include private and group walks, boarding and pet sitting, focused in Midtown Manhattan. We want to be a support our clients can truly trust. Our mission -and main goal- is to fill the dog’s time with GLEE, above all of the things. Glee is a powerful feeling that makes us smile, without control. And that’s how we want to see the puppies: happy, enjoying the moment, and showing that through twinkling eyes and wagging tail. We take care of the dogs with the same love and attention as if they were ours, giving them the best time and amazing moments. Our values are kindness, commitment, dedication, care and fun.

Besides being an entrepreneur I’m also a content creator. I’ve started creating content about NYC when I moved to the city. I am a travel lover and my friends and family were asking me to share some tips. Then I realized I should talk not only about thavel tips but about my life in New York so I could share my point of view about living abroad. I’m also a runner and I love to share my running moments on the streets of this amazing city, besides sharing our job with the dogs. My goal is to share with everybody that we can be more than only one thing, we can feel our lives with everything we love. But we should always give our best and dedicate ourselves, putting our energy in everything we do. I try to share my lifestyle with positivity and a great mood, but also showing the reality of things. I love being an entrepreneur, a content creator, a dog walker/sitter, a runner, and each one of these things makes me who I am

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The story that illustrates my resilience the most is related to my content creator side. I’m a runner and I decided to run my first marathon this year to test my can-do mindset. I thought if I could finish running a marathon I could do anything I put my effort on, so I’ve started training in the beginning of 2024. I was very dedicated and I was showing my followers all of the process, my meals, my training, how I was coordinating my professional life with my training and everything related. I could show that besides not being easy to keep everything together we could do it and I was so happy in the journey. Two months before the marathon I was hit by a bike who ran the red light and I broke my foot. I was devasted, the doctors sad I probably wouldn’t be able to run the marathon. I was always so positive and I was always sharing with everybody how we should use our positive thoughts in our favor, so I haven’t stopped believing I could do it. I’ve did my best to recover, I took good care of my foot, I shared with my followers how we could face the challenges on our path. And three weeks before the race the doctor sad I could run. I was able to prove how resilient I could be when something unexpected happens and I’ve finished my first NYC marathon. That experience means a lot to me. I’ve learned so much in the process and I’m glad I’m a content creator so I can share all about it with my followers.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner is my husband. Everyone says it can be hard to work with your significant other as you can get mixed feelings and fight a lot. But besides that we’ve been doing great working together and I think we are a great example about how good can it actually be to work with your partner. What I learned in the meantime is to separate the roles. When we are working I see my business partner and if sometimes we disagree in our jobs, I don’t bring the disagreement to our personal lives. I try to see two “different” people to not let any professional disagreement bother our personal lives. We’ve met when we were kids and we were best friends our whole lives, before getting married. So I think we’ve learned a lot about each other during the years and that makes it easier to being business partners too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/dogleepetcare/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabyinnewyork/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabyinnewyork