We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmine Robinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jasmine, appreciate you joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

My most fail and absolute heartbreak was not bringing my best friend, Esco, into present day. Esco was a true partner for life, he was also the dog I let get away. Being an overwhelmed, fatigued, and people pleasing 20-year-old trying to juggle family complications, forgotten friends, dropping out of college, and the detrimental need to show up for work every day, took a toll on me. I chose to lose myself in my work and only focus on a future for Esco and I, as he was the only one who I could count on being there for me no matter what. I ended up landing a really great job, one I enjoyed! It allowed for plenty of time to spend with Esco and I was able to shower him with new toys and treats all the time. Esco and I was loving life, until I had to rehome him and I. Unfortunately, we had to depart after a short time, and I was forced to do the only thing I could at the time: have him stay somewhere, not even I wanted to be, but it was somewhere he and I were both used to. My job needed me more, and the days would pass way too fast. I tried to visit him as often as possible, until one day he was no longer there. The one person I trusted to keep Esco safe just gave him away. I was devasted! The heart we both shared broke into two. I longed for another bond like ours, but I couldn’t bring myself to get another dog, even though everything in life was finally falling into place. A couple years passed, and I was finally able to stomach the thought of getting another puppy. His name is Nipsey. Of course I didn’t stop with just Nipsey, I had to get Nola too. Nipsey and Nola are both from separate litters and would have a litter of their own together and that was when I added Luna to our pack. I now have three dogs whose health, happiness, safety, and endless amount of love falls all on me. I know the way to their hearts is endless head scratches, belly rubs, but most importantly, through their stomachs. Because of that, I created Awe Paws LLC. Awe Paws makes treat time enjoyable with all natural ingredients and paw-begging flavors Nipsey, Nola, Luna, and all other fur-babies cannot resist!

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

My name is Jasmine, and I would describe myself as a passionate, disciplined, gentle, and warm-hearted person. I can normally be found spending time with my three dogs: Nipsey, Nola, and Luna. Just like majority of other dogs, they love treats! It all started three summers ago, Nipsey, Nola, and I were soaking up the sun in our front yard, when they heard the ice-cream truck for the very first time. I’m a kid at heart and I ALWAYS stop the ice-cream truck. Living in Detroit, our ice-cream trucks are a little different, they sell soft serve cones, sundaes, banana splits, and slushies. When the truck made its stop over to us, I ordered three vanilla soft serve cones. One for Nipsey, Nola, and I. To say the least, they loved it! For the rest of the summer, my dogs and I enjoyed an ice-cream every day there was sunshine. When the summer started to near an end, the ice-cream truck visits stopped, and I was forced back into buying store-bought treats. The treats became unsatisfactory and felt unrewarding. I then thought how cool it would be to make my very own dog treats and bring the joy back into receiving them! That is when I created Awe Paws LLC. At Awe Paws we welcome “awe” paws, meaning both cat and dogs. We make treats who vary in size, taste, and design! Some of our popular flavors are salmon, tuna, chicken, beef, banana, watermelon, blueberry, carrot, and peanut butter. With our delicious flavors, we make treat time more enjoyable and will have your fur-baby pawing for more! Our treats can be purchased through our Instagram page: @awepawsllc, by emailing [email protected], and are available on Amazon.com.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

For eight years I worked with a company and of those years, I actually owned my LLC for two of them. During my first two years of being a business owner, I was not able to fully invest into myself, although all signs kept leading me to do so. I couldn’t bring myself to making the full transition from what was guaranteed income, to maybe not an income at all. It was a risk I was not willing to take. I had responsibilities far too big to gamble with. With the added fear of failing in the back of my mind at all times. That is until, the company of eight years let me go. I immediately did what most others would do, and I started applying to all sorts of jobs on many different hiring platforms. But something didn’t feel right. It was then when I decided to say, forget working for someone else and getting distracted again, I’m going to do what I love verses what I needed this time. It was tough going from what you know to the unknown. However, after managing for so many years, I knew I developed many skills along the way. The same skills I would use to officially run my small business. It was finally a risk I wanted, and I took! I now wake up every day genuinely happy and at peace. Every day is different when it comes to business. Some days are busy, and others are not. It’s something I am still getting used to. But I wouldn’t want to trade this lifestyle for anything!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Coming from a background of managing people, I have learned we are all polar opposites just trying to attract in the ways we are given. We spend an average of 33-50% of a day, roughly five times a week, with a blooming diversity of others. Others who come from all sorts of backgrounds and have an endless supply of experience and knowledge of all sorts. Most companies will hire someone to do one job. They are provided with specific peers to reach out to for assistance and are only given enough tools for one job. Eventually you reach your full capacity, and you are given two options, either stay where you are, or take on a different role. With me, I encourage, uplift, and challenge others to do “my job.” My job has no limits, no caps, and no seclusions. I want others who have the same passion as me, because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be here, to be able to do what I do. This helps build mental and physical organization, effective communication on all platforms, conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques, vision and strategy when it comes to adaptability, and a higher level of integrity and initiative. With investing into each other and allowing us to grow, we become stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally together as one. I found the only way to make this happen, while keeping a team engaged, is to have fun while doing it! Make dad jokes, laugh about trending topics, look at each other’s most embarrassing class photo, create contests, and reward your team. To say I keep a “family-feel” atmosphere may sound cliche, however, it’s true and I have found it to work. I hope others will too!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @awepawsllc

Image Credits

Jasmine Robinson
Vistaprint (for the pen)