We recently connected with Lauren Klein and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Before I started my own training business, I had been working in a large, successful training facility in different positions. I started out as a kennel tech, taking care of the dogs, monitoring play groups and of course, A LOT of cleaning. The job wasn’t glamorous, but I did the best that I could every day and enjoyed being with the dogs. After about 6 months of cleaning, my boss took notice of me and gave me a chance to start training. I had to learn many more skills, including sales and working directly with clients. That’s when I learned just how many moving parts are involved with the business and I saw how a lack of communication, praise/appreciation, or simple mistakes on the bottom level quickly affected the rest of the business.
I hadn’t ever dreamed or thought about owning my own business until I moved back in with my parents needing a total “fresh start.” I had gone through a break up of a long-term relationship and drove from Chicago to North Carolina with my two dogs and just what I could fit in my Chevy Sonic, a very small amount of savings and nothing really left to lose. When I arrived at my parents house, I started looking for trainers that might hire me, but quickly realized that I didn’t want to change my style or quality of training to fit someone else’s ideas. I thought I had more to offer, so I took a part-time job at a doggie-daycare and spent ALL of my time thinking about how I could make my own business work.
I majored in Art History and studied Studio Art and Education in school so I had no experience at all in business. Without knowing where to start, I think I typed “How to start a dog training business?” into Google. To my surprise, there were many people out there that wanted to help me start my dog training business, but at a price that I absolutely could not afford. I was able to consume as much free content on YouTube about starting an LLC, filing under the state, and the “business end” of the business, but that wasn’t the hard part. Because I just moved states, I had no network, no contacts, and no connections to anyone around me. I didn’t have any type of reputation yet and I needed to figure out how to reach people that were interested in what I had to offer, and convince them that even though my business was new, I was a capable and qualified dog trainer. I spent all my savings on an IPad, a website, a few T-Shirts, and some matching training gear for my dogs so we’d look more “official.” I created a few training options that I thought I could reasonably achieve while working part-time and based my pricing off what we asked for at my prior job. This part was absolutely terrifying for me, because when you first start your business, you really have to consider what your worth and stand behind that price.
People certainly were not lining up at my door, but I started to film some and post some videos, just emulating what I came across online. They were not high quality, they were not beautiful, but it kept me in the right mindset. I looked into and posted in local Facebook groups and eventually I got one or two interested clients. It was exciting and terrifying, and all I wanted was to do the best job I possibly could. Once the client agreed to work with me, I was able to let my experience and knowledge take over. Training was the easy and fun part of the business for me, and very slowly my complete sense of self-doubt and imposter syndrome began to get less and less overwhelming. I never once thought about giving up and was prepared to make whatever changes needed to solve a problem. I was quick to get rid of things and ideas that weren’t working like I thought, and brave enough to try just about anything that might work better when it came to marketing and networking.
After a few short months, I moved again to another town and into my sister’s one bedroom apartment. I got two more part-time jobs, but always kept the business as my primary focus. With a little more experience now, and a stronger vision, I start volunteering as much time as I could with the local Humane Society. I worked with dogs at the shelter and posted informational videos on their very large Facebook page, and offered free lessons to adopters and foster. This was really the key to getting my name out there and becoming a familiar face in the community. I am forever grateful that the shelter allowed me to freely post and to this day are a great source for referrals.
After some time, I was offered a job with another trainer. I was tired of working so many jobs and not still not making enough money to support myself, so I decided to take it. It was a great opportunity to work with another trainer that I respected and related to, as we chad both started our businesses around the same time. I’m grateful to have had that opportunity, but in the end I had a feeling that I would still be able to do better work under my own time and with my own personal vision. I was still volunteering with the shelter and fostering at the time, so I felt I would have enough of a good reputation to get started on my own. I finally had been able to move into my own place and that’s when I decided to go ALL in.
I rebranded, came up with a new logo, name, website and program list and hit the ground running. There was nothing more terrifying to me than giving up a regular job, but I knew if I wanted to make my vision a reality, I would have to put 100 percent of my focus into it. I began posting around and this time, past clients and new inquirers started to flow my way. It seemed like my timing had been just perfect, and I had created a strong enough reputation and network within the community that most people were willing to go along with my suggestions for their desired results. Although I still have moments of self-doubt and imposter syndrome, I’m starting to be able to take a step back and see that everything I’ve gone through so far has set me on the right path. It’s been a lot of work, trial and error, but I started with nothing and now I’ve created something I’m very proud of and love doing.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into the dog training industry after giving up an entirely different career path. When I finished college with an Art History degree, I went through a few different starter jobs before deciding to pursue a Master’s in education and teach High School English. I had to take several more English classes on top of the education classes and in a matter of months I burned out. I was just about to start the final stage of my teaching program, student teaching for a year, when I decided it wasn’t the right path for me.
I needed a job while I figured out what my next steps were and saw online that there were openings at a “Dog Community Center.” When I was little I was fascinated by the agility dogs and really anything dog related that I saw on TV or learned about in books so I got a job as a kennel tech and the rest is history!
When I started training, the expectations were the same for every dog. I started to see that a lot of things that my clients were struggling were not really being addressed in the type of training we did. When I started my own business, I decided that even though it wouldn’t look as good in videos, I would prioritize the specific need of my client over a “professional looking” dog. Some dogs don’t learn any commands with me, because that’s not the skills their owners need. I love to problem solve and think outside the box, so although I think it’s important for me to learn from other trainers to help improve my skills, I really try not to emulate anyone else in my work. I stay focused on what my clients need, what their dogs need, and how I can bridge the gap that is between them.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I started training, there was a lot of pressure on us to make sure the dog “performed” well when they were returned to their parents. The “Go-Home” lesson was an anxiety-inducing moment that felt like a final exam. Some dogs worked beautifully under this pressure, but some fed off the anxiety of the situation and even though they had been working well up to that point, sort of crumbled in front of their owners. If the dog made a mistake in that first performance, I felt that I had failed and didn’t do my job the right way.
With more experience, I’ve absolutely learned that although a little show of skills is important, I give a very honest explanation of what their “Go-Home” might look like. I set the clients up to expect some failures, and make sure that they aren’t expecting more than I can offer. This takes an immense amount of pressure off of me, and in turn helps me not to expect too much from the dogs. Everyone wants a well-behaved but most people don’t want dogs that look like robots. They’re understanding of their dog if it makes a small mistake here and there because they love their dogs. If a client wants perfect obedience from a dog that isn’t set up to handle that pressure, I make sure they know. If they don’t like that answer and don’t want my services, I refer them on. The ability to allow certain clients to pass me by in order to keep a certain atmosphere of love, understanding, imperfection, and growth is my new and most important skill.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The nature of my business requires a lot of word of mouth referrals. I’m not selling any products, so a wide reach is not my goal. I’ve found that by working very closely with the local Humane Society, not only have I been able to offer free help to keep many dogs in their homes, but I’ve also become a well-known resource for people that are very interested in helping animals. Giving my time and knowledge to a good cause has eventually led to many good leads. Giving some training away for free has been the best way to get to know many people in my community, help more dogs, and gain a good reputation!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://K9Reflection.com
- Instagram: @k9reflection
- Facebook: K9 Reflection
- Linkedin: Lauren Klein
