Pet Sitting Business Coach

Podcast Episode #111: Dealing with Depression and Anxiety as a Pet Business Owner

In today’s coaching session, I’m working with Cora, a pet business owner who sometimes struggles with occasional bouts of depression and anxiety. When it hits her, it causes her to suffer – and her business to suffer.

When she’s not experiencing depression and anxiety her energy level is high, her response time to clients is quick, and she’s able to bill clients in a prompt manner as well as other necessary business tasks.

When she’s going through a challenging time, things look very different: it can take her a week or two to return client calls, it can be like slogging through quicksand to bill her clients in a timely manner and she has very little energy to run her business.

She feels physically and mentally stopped.

Now, you know this (but I have to say this to protect myself and to protect you listeners): I’m not a therapist nor a medical doctor. I’m a business and life coach.

If you are suffering from depression or anxiety, please see a medical professional.

In today’s coaching session I’m not trying to diagnose Cora, nor cure her anxiety or depression. I can’t do that nor would attempt to do that.

I am simply having a conversation with Cora about depression and anxiety and how it impacts her business and her life. I’m not trying to fix Cora’s depression or anxiety but rather to help her navigate her business during this time.

Again, if you’re struggling with depression or anxiety, please get help from a medical professional.

I want to say a huge thank you to Cora for having the courage to come on this podcast and be a voice for those of you who suffer from depression and anxiety and are also trying to run your business, raise your kids, and/or navigate your personal and work life.

Even if you don’t experience depression and anxiety, you may know someone who does, and this episode may help you feel more empathy and compassion for this often silent illness that can be crippling in ways that cannot be seen.

Click to listen to Dealing with Depression and Anxiety as a Pet Business Owner.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

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Episode #100: Podcast Coaching Updates

The podcast is 100 today! 

To celebrate this special 100th episode, I invited the pet business owners I coached on the last 7 episodes to be on the podcast.

Today you’ll hear 5 of those 7 pet business owners share what actions they took after they got coached by me on the podcast and where they are at now in their businesses and personal lives. (The two who couldn’t make it for today’s episode really wanted to be part of it, but one had COVID and the other had internet issues.)

Click to listen to Prosperous Pet Business Podcast Coaching Updates.

A heartfelt and very special thank you to the pet business owners who are on today’s episode: 

Susan Hurst from Susan Sits Pets (Episode 93: The Compulsion to Overwork)

Kaitlyn Argiro from Pawsitivity Pet Services (Episode 94: How to Step Away from Your Pet Business) 

Carly Neufeld from Cute Critter Care (Episode 96: Where, When and How to Get Client Reviews) 

Kelsey Olsen from Kelsey’s Groom Shop and Boarding (Episode 97: Automate Your Business) 

Stephanie Hickey from Bossy Paws Pet Sitters (Episode 98: How to Fix Many Pet Business Challenges) 

Apply what you’re learning on the podcast with online courses that help you start and grow your pet business.

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Podcast #97: Automate Your Pet Business

My coaching client today is Kelsey who runs a pet grooming and dog kennel in Nevada. Kelsey is experiencing a lot of stress with employees who say they will do something but then don’t do it. She’s also struggling because she’s short staffed and is having a hard time finding quality people.

Kelsey reached out to me for a coaching session that she agreed could be recorded for the podcast. Like most pet business owners who have employees, Kelsey’s staffing issues have become magnified due to being short staffed during this pandemic and not having quality staff she can depend on. It becomes clear that automation can be her best friend with her current staff and you’ll hear the coin drop for Kelsey when she starts to realize she does have the power to change her business for the better! You’ll hear exactly how she can do that – and how you can do it too.

Click to listen to Automate Your Pet Business.

Apply what you’re learning on the podcast with online courses that help you start and grow your pet business.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

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Best Year Yet Software Demonstration Webinar: Nov. 27 (Two Time Slots Available)

Curious about how Best Year Coaching works?
Here’s your chance to check it out.

I’m offering two 30-minute demo webinars on Tuesday, November 27 to demonstrate the amazing online goal setting/tracking software that I use with my Best Year Coaching clients.

The software + my 3 hour goal planning session will enable you to immediately begin living into your best year ever.

I’ll be doing a 30-minute demo on Tuesday, November 27 at 3pm PST/6pm EST:

Click this link at 3pm PST/6pm EST:

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/join/378187271

Access Code: 378-187-271

 

And I’ll be doing another 30-minute demo at 6pm PST/9pm EST later that same day (Tuesday, November 27):

Click this link at 6pm PST/9pm EST:

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/join/764528223

Access Code: 764-528-223

 

If you haven’t yet used Go to Meeting, I’d encourage you to click on the link above now in order to download the software (it takes only 2 minutes) so you can dive right in at one of the times above.

If you wanted to attend but aren’t able to, no problem. Shoot me an email and I’ll happily send you the replay link so you view the demo at a time that’s convenient for you.

Also, if you have a friend or family member who may be interested in creating his or her Best Year ever, please forward this blog post. All are welcome.
Looking forward to showing you this incredible software that helps you create -and live into- your best life!

Warmly,

Kristin Morrison
Certified Best Year Yet! Coach

PS–Please note that there are limited slots available for the above demos so please login early to insure your spot.

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Pet Sitting Success Story

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I love getting updates from pet sitters that I’ve coached throughout the years. I got this follow up email yesterday from Tanya Grant, a pet sitter in Pennsylvania who first contacted me to work with her around her business expansion about four years ago.

Since our initial coaching session four years ago, I’ve coached Tanya in her pet sitting business at various times when she was ready to make the next leap forward.  Tanya has been incredibly great at promoting herself and her business–she periodically sends me TV clips where she has been interviewed by various news channels!

It’s so soul-satisfying to receive reports from the pet sitters that I’ve worked with throughout the years. Thanks to all of you who check in to let me know how you and your businesses are doing.

I feel like a proud momma hen!

“Kristin, I always like to update you on my progress.  You deserve to know your efforts have made an impact in my business (aka my life). 🙂 Speaking of that…Top Tails Pet Sitting did well over six-figures in revenue in 2011.   I have told you already but will say it again – without a smart and informative entrance and introduction into the professional pet sitting industry plus a proper foundation my business would not be as successful as it is.  Of course, all of your additional support along the way has helped me stay on this path of wonderful achievement!  I will for sure see you in San Antonio next year <at the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters conference> and promise to do a video testimonial.  “See” you on your conference call on Tuesday night.  Even at my level, listening to your conference calls keep me motivated and striving to always be better in so many ways.”

Tanya Grant
Owner, Top Tails Pet Sitting
Pennsylvania 

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Coach Kristin to Speak at the APSE Conference

Freedom!
Freedom!

Hello pet sitters,

I will be speaking at the Association for Pet Sitter Excellence (APSE) Conference on October 25 at 1pm EST. It’s a virtual conference, accessible by the Internet.
🙂

The topic I will speak on will be about how to “Consciously Create More Freedom in Your Pet Sitting Business”.

It’s a topic I’m passionate about!

Many business owners think freedom and owning a business cannot exist together.

But guess what?

They are wrong!

I’ve created a pet sitting business that also gives me a lot of freedom and I look forward to sharing how you can put freedom in your pet sitting business (and in your life).

“See” you at the conference!

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It’s Not About the Money

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I’ve been on nearly a hundred pet sitting business coaching calls in the past few weeks.

It’s been really great to work with some of you after being gone for so long.

As much as I love traveling (and I really, really love it!) I do love coming back and diving into my life here. It is so gratifying to work with pet sitters from around the country who are hungry to grow their businesses so that they can lead rich, meaningful and fulfilling lives both professionally and personally.

I was talking with a friend the other day about money. We were engaged in a discussion about her recent business venture which resulted in a big profit. My face lit up with happiness over her financial success.

She smiled and said to me, “Kristin, you love money.”

I thought about it for a minute and then I said:

“Yes, it’s true I do love money,” I replied. “But money in and of itself would be so boring and unsatisfying. It’s flat and kind of an ugly color green. It’s what money gives me and my coaching clients that is really where the excitement is for me.”

Mostly it comes down to freedom. To me, having enough money equals freedom. The freedom to travel around the world. Money provides the resources and the time to be able to live my life in a way that feels really right for me. To live my life in a way that really suits me.

What about for you? What does money equal for you? For everyone it is so different.

Part of my coaching involves determining the WHY of money for the person I’m working with.

When I can help them see what they can create in their lives if they have more money things usually happen pretty quickly. They begin to do the action steps I’ve given them. Their bank account grows. They are able to hire more help and create more space in their life.

And what my coaching clients want from money isn’t more things. Sheesh. We all have enough things now, don’t we?

Some of my clients want enough money so they have more time.

Time to sit with their kid on their lap and eat cookies together in the warm sunshine.

Sometimes it’s all about taking the trip they’ve always dreamed of taking. Having enough money and time to go on that Alaskan cruise or that trek through the jungle in Peru which will inevitably bring them closer to their spouse or themselves.

Sometimes it’s about wanting to create stability: being able to buy a house or provide for their family.

It’s not about the money.

It’s what is created from the money.

If you want to make more money in your pet sitting and dog walking business to provide the kind of life that is meaningful for YOU there is still time to sign up for Tuesday’s teleclass: Get Pet Sitting Clients NOW: Marketing that Works.

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Hello from Coach Kristin (still on my travels!)

Hello dear pet sitters,

When I was planning my trip I had anticipated writing many Six-Figure blog posts and keeping all of you in the loop about my traveling adventures.

Once I started my travels I quickly realized that the purpose of this trip, for me, was to not be tapped into work at all except for the brief emails with my managers who are running the pet sitting portion of my business.

I’m definitely looking forward to diving into work when I return to America: taking over the reins of my pet sitting company from my managers who have done such a good job managing in my absence, scheduling one-on-one coaching sessions, facilitating my group teleclasses and working on and completing my book for pet sitters.

But for now…I’m in Bali and really enjoying taking cooking classes, learning Indonesian from a local man, and meeting many other local Balinese and fellow travelers.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that I’m looking forward to working with you again when I return. I’ll post the exact date I’ll be back in action on this blog in a couple of weeks.

Happy pet sitting,
Kristin

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Unplugged and Unleashed!

Hello pet sitters!

I’m sitting at an Internet cafe in India and just wanted to check in.
I’ve been away for three weeks now: first in Bali and then a week ago I arrived in India.

This has been an incredible (and in some ways life-changing) trip so far and I still have 7 weeks that I’ll be traveling.

I met some incredible local people in Bali who really took me under their wings and invited me to temple ceremonies and to share meals together. Meeting these wonderful local people helped me really immerse myself in Balinese local culture in a way that I never anticipated.

The inner and outer beauty of the Balinese people was lovely to experience. The natural beauty and lushness of Bali was also a real gift.

I’ll be heading back there in 4 weeks to experience 3 more weeks there before I head home in April. I’m thrilled to go back to Bali as, in some ways, it feels like ‘home’.

India…is another story.

I arrived in Pune, India a week ago and there was a bombing at a restaurant that I was considering going to the same night it was bombed.

Instead of going to the restaurant I chose to meditate in the ashram I was staying at.

Had I been in the restaurant I would have been either injured or killed as everyone who was there experienced some type of injury.

The last count, according to the media reports, was that 11 people were killed and 60 people were injured. Everyone who survived the blast lost all or partial hearing in the bomb blast plus many other injuries.

I’ve never come this close to major injury or death and having this experience has helped me get in touch with, on a deeper level than ever, what is really important in this life.

I’ll be leaving Pune tomorrow and going to a beach town south of Pune (13 hours train ride from Pune).

Relaxing near the water after all the activity of Indian police and Indian army, not to mentioned the frayed nerves of the tourists and locals, will be a good thing!

On a lighter note, I have noticed how challenging it is for me NOT to go online on a daily basis. Even though I have not done any Six-Figure blogging or any work-related Internet activities, I have done A LOT of personal emails and personal Facebook checking while I’ve been away.

I’ve been exploring what it is like to not log on for one day and let me tell you: it is challenging.

So my next edge is to try not log on for a couple of days at a time.

It’s harder than it sounds! I encourage you to try it.

I notice even though not logging on for a day is challenging I feel so much more involved in life when I’m not logging on for 24 hours at a time.

Even today, I’ve somehow managed to be online for nearly 2 hours! 2 hours that could best be spent exploring this city that I won’t be in for much longer.

And on a final note:

Though I deeply love my work (working with all of you is SUCH a gift as is running my pet sitting business) I’m experiencing how deeply restorative it is to my soul it is to not work for a long period of time.

I wish you all a wonderful rest of February. I may or may not check in again in March.

If not, I’ll be back in action in April when I return from my travels!

Take good care,
Kristin

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January Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Business Tips

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It’s usually pretty slow in the pet sitting industry in January. After the hustle and bustle of the holidays that have just passed this can be welcome relief. For others you may be wishing/needing new business now to keep up with expenses that ocurred over the holidays.

No matter where you are: busy or not busy, glad it’s slow, not glad it’s slow, there are some very specific tasks that you can and should do this month to insure business success all year long.

Here they are:

1) Pay your Q4 2009 estimated tax payment by January 15 for both State and Federal taxes. It’s important to get in the habit of keeping current with taxes for each calendar year or you will be faced with hefty penalties and interest if you have not paid enough for 2009 taxes.

2) Begin to set aside money now for your Q1 2010 estimated tax payment that will be due by April 15, 2010. How do you do this? Put an envelope on a bulletin board in your office. Get in the habit of putting a minimum of 10% of whatever total from checks that you receive into that envelope. Next create a tax savings account and every month deposit that money into your tax savings account so when it comes time to pay your quarterly payments you will be breathing easy because guess what? You have the money.

3) Place an ad for staff now and spend leisurely time hiring the perfect staff members. This time of year is the best time to hire people–you are not in a hurry and probably don’t desperately need staff members the way you did, say, over the holidays. You want to hire people when you don’t need them. That way they will be ready to go when you do get busy and your judgment will not be impaired by an intensity of need to fill particular pet sitting jobs.

4) Get those 1099s out in the mail to your staff by January 29, 2010. The government will charge you $50 for each and every 1099 that is not sent out by the end of January.

Next make sure to send your information to the government no later than the end of February or same thing: you will be charged $50 for every 1099 that is received by the government after the end of February. Ouch!

5) Write your goals for this month and for the New Year. Setting goals is one of the most powerful actions you can take in your business. It sounds simple, right? It is. The simple act of writing your goals will help you take actions that will enable you to create what you want this year.

I did it last year at this time as I do every year. But last year I wrote:

I will go on a two month trip in 2010.

I saw that goal there day after day on my bulletin board (it’s very important to post your goals where you can see them) and I began to take big and little actions to support that vision.

A year ago taking this trip was just a pipe dream.

Six months ago I started seriously considering it.

And now I’m going.

You can read more about setting and achieving business goals in my goal setting for pet sitters blog post below.

6) Take the word ‘recession’ out of your vocabulary. That’s right. I know…you turn on the news and it’s recession this and recession that but STOP. Don’t allow yourself to go there or engage in conversations that take you into a downward spiral about the economy.

I can tell you this: for myself and those pet sitting clients that I drilled this into last year: we all had the best year ever!

In a supposed recession.

Why? Because we refused to engage in the conversation of the recession and instead focused on what tasks needed to be done in order to succeed in our businesses.

YOU can have a financially successful year no matter what the media says.

Here’s how: turn off your TV when negative economic news comes on, let friends and family know that you are committed to having the best financial year ever and that you don’t want to talk about a poor economy, when you do get discouraged remember that there are hundreds of other pet sitters across the country who had the BEST YEAR ever in 2009 and that you can create that experience for yourself this year.

Happy 2010 everyone!

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