We were lucky to catch up with Mikayla Cisneros recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mikayla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I manage all the social media myself. I provide lots of daily training and updates of the dogs in my care. I find social media a good way to connect with my client and stir up new potential business via referrals.

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

I am a local dog trainer in Littleton/Centennial specializing in Board and Trains in my home and private lessons. I love getting people to nail down the basics with their dogs including leash walking, impulse control, general manners, and recall. For the super dedicated clients, I love to help them get to an advanced level of obedience both on and off leash so they can be the ultimate adventure partner. I work with dogs of all breeds and ages, but definitely am drawn to the working breeds like German Shepherds, Malinois, Labs, etc. While they can be a challenge, I also find them the most rewarding and most fun!

I’m most proud of how many dogs and owners I’ve helped so far to become the best version of themselves and enjoy all the great parts of owning a dog, and have less of the frustrating moments. I develop strong relationships with all of my clients and I am here to to support you for the lifetime of your dog. My business is about more than just dog training, it’s about community.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Referrals, hands down. If you pour your heart and soul into your work and create long lasting meaningful relationships with your clients, both human and dogs, I find that the right people will continue to find you. I love getting referrals because it means the person that referred them had such a great experience they had to tell someone about it. Referral leads mean more to me than any paid marketing, and I find they turn out to be some of the best clients.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was working for another dog training company for a year prior to starting my own business. Things started out great, but I found that as time went on I was continuously getting taken advantage of and undervalued. I let it go on for longer than I should have because I was still making good money (that I needed) and I loved the dogs, clients, business, etc. I didn’t want to sacrifice my morals and self worth by working for someone who I no longer agreed with, but I also didn’t want to stop training the dogs or go work in a facility. I decided to leave my toxic situation and start completely from scratch with my own business. It was scary and the separation was painful and left me down a lot financially, but it wasn’t worth the fight for me. I decided to cut my losses and move in a direction that felt right to me. Within three months I was consistently booking board and trains and boarding each month, within 6 months I started filling up my private lessons roster, and within 12 months I am so fully booked that I have a waitlist for Board and Trains, private lessons, and I am just starting up some small group classes. It felt like a scary leap at the time, but it could not have been a better decision.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecaninecoachacademy.com
• Instagram: canine_coach_academy
• Youtube: caninecoachacademy