We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natalie Milshtein. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natalie below.
Natalie , appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Natalie. I am a lifetime animal lover. I have been enamored with animals my entire life. I have always felt an easy and close connection with all animals. I was honored to grow up with dogs, cats, horses, ducks, bunnies, and other small animals. From a young age I would bring in stray animals and care for them. I would convince my family to keep them until we could find someone to adopt them. In middle school and high school I volunteered at a Veterinary hospital. In college I spent over three years of my time dedicated to volunteering at the local animal shelter. I spearheaded programs to train the dogs to make them more adoptable to the public, I recruited volunteers, created programs for community involvement, programs to improve enrichment for the cats and dogs of the shelter, promoted them for adoption, fostered dogs and cats, and fundraised.
It was a natural choice to work with animals when I decided to become an entrepreneur. My experience working hands on with animals, the knowledge of their well-being, behavior, and their needs coupled with my passion for high end customer service made for an incredible opportunity for a successful business.
My pet care business, All Four Paws of Florida offers concierge pet care to our clients in Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, and Lake Worth Beach. We offer dog walking, cat care visits, pet taxi appointments, overnight care, hourly care and pretty much anything pet care related that our clients need. We have a focus on customer service and high-end pet care.
I am proud to have grown this into a thriving business now employing 24 pet care givers on my team and serving over 170 clients. I am proud of the high level of professional pet care that we provide.
Any advice for managing a team?
I have taken my experiences as an employee and applied what I found to be effective. I think being appreciated and treated with calm rational leadership is vital to morale. I believe that giving positive feedback, acknowledging peoples’ good work, passing on the compliments from clients, and expressing gratitude bring a human element to employing others. As a business owner I want things to be done in a particular way. It is important that I speak with each person with respect when I give feedback. I like to utilize the sandwich method and give positive feedback first, then the constructive feedback, and then end with another bit of positive feedback. I build people up and speak to them with empathy that I too make mistakes. I always want people on my team to understand that my feedback is not personal against them. It is for the purpose of bettering the overall performance of the business through our high standard of service.
I like to take my staff out to lunch for one-on-one time to get to know them more. I often give gratuity, birthday bonuses, company anniversary bonuses, holiday bonuses, and other forms of appreciation. My team is essential to my business, and I cannot operate without them. I appreciate each person who works for me.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Consistent service and a lot of marketing with other local businesses has helped to build our reputation as a professional and reliable pet care business.
Contact Info:
- Website: allfourpawsfl.com
- Instagram: @allfourpaws_of_fl
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsu9UTNVabOci7EG3jG3ZHg