We recently connected with Kyla Denault and have shared our conversation below.

Kyla, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

20 years. Two decades. That is a long time! It was April 2019 and I couldn’t believe it had been 20 years since I had graduated college. It had been a fantastic career with an abundance of variety of work in recruitment, coordination, and many years in events management. Working mostly in crown corporations of the government of Canada, I had a pension, great benefits, PTO and some awesome perks. But during those years, I never felt complete or satisfied. I always had a side hustle.

My first one was a cage-free dog kennel. It started by babysitting a co-worker’s dog, then another, then another and quickly realized there was a demand for cageless boarding. I was 27yrs old, single and purchased 4 acres out in the country to open up Country Living Dog Resort! Was terrifying and unbelievably stressful. I was working full-time and running a full-time business. I had a friend living rent-free and provided food in exchange for him taking care of the dogs during the day while I worked. But guess what? I burned out and realized that type of business is 24/7/365.

Sold the business in 2009 and then it was one side hustle after another. Selling cedar barrel saunas, organizing speed dating events, selling pet products at festival and markets, doing tea parties etc etc. I loved the creation of an idea, and talking to people about a product that I believed in. After losing quite a bit of money on a “handshake” business with a “friend” in 2012, I said “That’s it! No more businesses!!”

At that time, I had started with a company where I got to travel internationally organizing office openings and regional conferences. I also started onboarding and training new coordinators in offices around the world, which I really enjoyed.

In early 2017 I met a woman at a park that was having issues with her dog. I said perhaps I could help since I owned a boarding facility for 7.5yrs. Then someone else needed help and someone else. Easy Breezy Dog Training was created summer of 2017. In November of that year, there was some major restructuring in the company I was at and my position was eliminated.

I continued doing dog training but really needed full-time work to help pay the mortgage and bills. In April 2018 I started working for an amazing e-commerce company in Ottawa. Such an incredible company to work for at that time but as we came into 2019, I started asking myself, “What truly brings me joy?”

It took me a while to come up with that list, but I wrote: “Helping people, working with animals and creativity”. Now, how can I encompass this in my daily life? April 2019 was approaching and I realized that I had graduated 20yrs prior. 20yrs of working in the corporate world, working for someone else. Was I happy? Yes. Did my everyday job bring me the three things that bring me joy? No.

April 2019, I left the corporate world behind to put all my focus, love and attention on my dog training business. It was the right time financially, the right time emotionally and I started creating a name for myself in Ottawa.

Then the pandemic hit in March 2020, and everything stopped. The world stopped. Holy shit, now what? I kept seeing small businesses close down permanently, the government is not telling us anything. It was incredibly scary, with so much uncertainty and an incredible amount of stress.

Then, EVERYONE got a dog! The influx of clients tripled my business. Trying to find that balance between work and personal life has been a bit of a challenge. Developing a solid passive income is also important because there is only so many hours in the day I can see clients. Publishing my book, Brain Games For Your Dog got my creative juices flowing and I’ll be launching my online training academy in the new year.

It has been a roller coaster ride but there has not been ONE second that I regret my decision of leaving the security of a bi-weekly paycheck.

Why? Because I am doing the three things that bring joy every day.

Helping People
Working with animals
Creativity

Kyla, 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?

I’m all about the fun! Having fun with your puppy or rescue is important! Training can be lots of fun! Setting everyone up for success is important. Clients know they can always reach out to me for support. I am ALWAYS there for them. I’m not really a dog trainer, I train people to train their dog.

I love the outdoors. I’m always out hiking and kayaking with my dog Finlay. Time is something we can never get back. I try to create memories and experiences and go on adventures versus spending money on stuff.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Best advice. It takes TIME! Creating good content, and engaging posts will get attention.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I created a private Facebook Group just for clients. In this group I give additional training tips, tricks, product recommendations and more. I encourage them to share training video’s so I can provide feedback and others can learn from it. I will have contests from time to time to encourage engagement and training.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://easybreezydogs.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easybreezydogs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/easybreezydogs
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyladenault
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kdenault/