We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kimberly Artley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kimberly, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Thank you, I appreciate the opportunity to share my story!
My business is more of a mission than anything, and it’s all thanks to my first “solo responsibility” dog and best friend – my beloved dog, Lobo.
Lobo lost his life at just 3.5 years of age. He wasn’t sick or terminally ill. He wasn’t old or unable to function. He had behavioral issues. Behavioral issues I didn’t understand and couldn’t get a handle on ~ although I’d spent thousands of dollars (that I didn’t have) and worked with several trainers trying to do so.
Anxiety. Aggression. And over-protectiveness.
You see, I was going through a divorce at the time. I lived out of garbage bags in a room with a mattress on the floor. My life was in total upheaval. Who once represented a source of calm, safety, and balance, was now anxiety-ridden, stressed out beyond belief, and in deep, deep struggle. Our home life was constantly changing, and there was zero security or stability.
Anxiety (me) was (unknowingly) teaching, nurturing, and reinforcing Anxiety (him).
Anxiety wasn’t just a state of mind, but a state of living our day to day. Fear. Uncertainty. Feeling insecure about and in… “life.”
Aggression became the off-loader. His diffuser. And a way to create space around us in an attempt to secure a level of safety. It was a response.
Over-protectiveness. His “job” became protecting me, protecting us- our pack; simply because I didn’t have my shit together.
There were a lot of contributing ingredients to his behaviors that didn’t get addressed simply because the awareness and the education wasn’t there. The trainers I’d hired were just popping him full of “treats” and working on “obedience” directives, which did nothing to address his emotional state. His *behavior.* His choices, patterns, and responses. Trying to address behavioral issues through obedience training is like trying to address a child’s anxiety issues through teaching geometry or how to spell. Working the brain (mental) body, but not the mind or the emotional body. Contributing ingredients. Nothing to help regulate the nervous system or heal the impact from constantly living in “survival mode” and the daily feeling of being unsafe in life.
After all of that “training”, Lobo ended up biting someone. Hard. And was no longer welcome by the owner whose home I was living in. I’d exhausted all my options up to this point, from training to trying to find a place for him to go until I got my feet on the ground; and now we had nowhere to live.
Lobo was one of my greatest teachers. I often refer to him as my “game-changer” dog. The dog who changed the trajectory of my entire life, and connected me directly with my true north… my calling and purpose.
Looking back, I can see how everything that came before was preparing me for all this would evolve into. They say everything happens in its own time and in perfect divine order…. even if that order doesn’t appear or feel so divine at the time.
Lobo’s story is such a common one; and is what PackFit was built around. His story is also responsible for the unconventional, holistic (whole dog, whole scenario) behavioral approach I take in working with people and their dogs. What usually starts out being “about the dog”, actually becomes “inadvertent life coaching.” This is what I call the work I do. If there’s anything all these years of being immersed in the dog world has taught me, it’s that dogs teach us far more about ourselves and being human than we realize.
Kimberly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Certainly….. my name is Kimberly Artley, and I’m the CEO of PackFit Dog Training and Behavior. I’m also a digital course creator and published Author. I specialize in canine behavioral challenges such as: anxiety (social, separation, and general), aggression, “reactivity”, leash pulling, “selective hearing”, destructiveness, and so on. I never want someone in need limited to receiving due to lack of funds, so I’ve created multiple ways to get the information they need (ebooks and books, digital courses, virtual and in-person training, etc.). What sets me apart from everyone else is the unique, holistic approach I take. Training and developing the whole dog, speaking to the whole scenario, and addressing the various ingredients contributing to, influencing, and impacting it. I draw from all aspects of my background in human psychology and behavior, health and development, nutrition, stress management, and communication, and blend it with canine psychology and behavior, learning, communication, nutrition, etc. The most rewarding thing about this work is the ability to create positive shifts and transformation in the lives of those at both ends of the leash. The most common feedback I receive is that the client experience was “absolutely life-changing”. Behavior is information. This is true for both humans and dogs, and it’s my goal to help people better understand what their dog’s trying to tell them.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
This is an easy one. That people can’t be trusted and have an agenda. This has been a theme and learned experience throughout the course of my life, and I’ve been working (very) hard to heal this.
This trust “issue” was significantly highlighted when I entered the business world. I’ve had concepts, program names, and key terms I’d come up with “stolen”, used, and passed off by others as their own. That’s the tricky thing about sharing our ideas, work, thoughts and insights with the public. I even had someone I was in a personal relationship do this. I’ve had to do a great deal of reflection and healing around this. Getting curious instead of making assumptions and allowing my anger, resentment, etc. to draw conclusions. Reframing thoughts and becoming more cognizant of how I allow things to impact me…. I’m, admittedly, still working on this!
What I know is this. How people behave. What they choose to do (and not do). How they respond… it’s not about us, and all about them. What they do is on them. What we do is on us. What they say is on them. What we say is on us. So, how I respond to these situations is on me.
Starting a business has been the most reflective, humbling, punctuating experience I’ve had, as it shines a light on all the areas we’re avoiding, denying, resisting, suppressing, numbing…. Mark my words, they’ll *all* be called up and called forward. Talk about a crash course in therapy!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
After nearly 15 years of being a healthy, strong, thriving business- my beloved business crashed. This, I believe, was due to a few things. COVID, inflation, and other traumatic events that occured.
When COVID first hit, I took a 100% hit and was without income for 3 months. Then, it slowly started trickling back; but the biorhythms of the business I’d come to know and depend on were totally disrupted. I ended a 5 year relationship with someone who misled and betrayed me in every way a human could to another human, then inflation started happening and business slowed way, way down. After 6 more months, after a most exhausting fight with lymphoma, my deeply loved dog – Chip- passed away. This absolutely devastated me, and I fell into a deep, inconsolable state of grief, depression, hopelessness—- the works.
It’s been over a year now, and my business still hasn’t been able to recover, financially. 2022 was a very, very dark and heavy year.
2.5 months after Chip passed, I loaded up my other dogs in the Jeep- and we drove across the country (from D.C. to Oregon…and back) to pick up our new pack/ family member. It was a trip that needed to happen for many reasons and on many levels, and it did not disappoint.
When it comes to small business, I don’t agree with the saying: “It’s not personal, it’s business.” When you have your own business— this thing you pour your heart and soul into. This entity that becomes a deep part of our identity, yes it is personal. Very personal. AND it’s business.
What I see now is more people relying on free social media content and “YouTube Training” rather than hiring personal help. This, and dogs are also being discarded at astounding rates for many reasons. Shelters and rescue groups are bursting at the seams as of late. It’s utterly heartbreaking.
COVID changed the business landscape for many. What used to “work” before, isn’t necessarily working any longer. So we’ve got to reflect, reassess, readjust… maybe even reinvent.
This is another thing being in business will teach you… it’s a dance. You will always be stepping forward, backwards, and to the side. If you want to be “successful” in business, you’ve got to learn how to “do-si-do”…. and find partners who’ll dance with you without stepping on your toes.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.packfit.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/packfit1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PackFit2014/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-artley-09443126/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Packfit1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEZQkROrU9UWcKy_jUrGElg
Image Credits
Photographer: Amanda Ghobadi @ The Branding Babe