We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ilya Levin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ilya below.

Alright, Ilya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I named my company, Train Like Pablo, after my first dog Pablo. He’s a Rottweiler I adopted while I was in college and he’s the reason I became a professional dog trainer. By working with him I discovered my passion in life. While I would train Pablo in the street, so many people would call to me and ask me to train their dogs just like him. Once I officially set up my business, I couldn’t think of a better name other than Train Like Pablo.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always been a dog and animal lover and finally adopted my first dog, Pablo, while I was in college and he’s absolutely my best friend and partner in crime. At the time I was studying public health and planned to become a physical therapist, never thinking about training dogs. I had worked with dogs in shelters and dog sitting and walking and started training him myself with what I knew and could find online.

When he was about 1 year old he was attacked in a park and developed severe reactivity and seemed to have lost his basic obedience I had done with him the last year. Everything I tried with him was not working so I decided to seek out professional help. Long story short, after hiring various trainers without success, I finally found a group of trainers that were able to help him. I learned as much as I could from them, and once he graduated from the course I continued his training on my own, training him in public settings and eventually expanding his obedience to off-leash.

For the time being I was only training him for his and my own benefit, but eventually people would approach me in the street and ask me to train their dogs like him. At this point I was enrolled in a Master’s of Public Health program and had no intention of switching career paths. Eventually I decided to take on a few dogs as a side job. As more and more people requested I train their dogs like I had trained Pablo, I dropped out of school, officially set up my business, and never looked back.

Although I’ve changed the way I work with clients throughout the years, my goal has never changed: to help strengthen owners’ bonds with their dogs through obedience and behavioral training. I work with dogs of all ages, breeds, sizes and behavioral issues, and with the help of a committed owner, every dog can have an incredible, happy normal life.

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

I have always felt I was personable and able to get along with most people I met. While this wasn’t a specific skill that I had to work on, I definitely believe it is a large reason I’m able to maintain a positive reputation within my market and my community. One factor I think I bring to the table is that I was introduced to the dog training world as a customer before I became the professional. When I meet new potential clients or even speak with people I’ve worked with for a long time, I am able to understand how they’re feeling and don’t just see them as a medium of income.

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

I’ve had three main ways to gain clients throughout my professional career. The first is how I got my first clients which was to go around southern Florida with my dog Pablo, and do advanced training with him in public areas while I wore my work shirts. By doing that people would see me and approach and ask for a business card.

The next is a service called Bark. This is an app and website where potential clients for any type of service can put out a request with the details of what they’d like to do (in my case dog training), and I can reach out as the professional in the area.

The third is just word of mouth from my current clients. This will either be to people they know who are looking for a trainer, or more often people who see the way their dogs are trained and ask who trained their dogs.

Contact Info:

• Website: trainlikepablo.com
• Instagram: @trainlikepablo
• Facebook: Train Like Pablo
• Other: My Google Business: Train Like Pablo