Good Bye Jimmy Choo! Hello Asics!

“Why did you decide to do THIS?” And by “THIS” people mean pet sitting. I hear this question ALL the time. When I first started Cubbie’s Bone this question used to make me second guess myself, but after 4 and half years of pet sitting it doesn’t bother me anymore. I actually enjoy telling people of my transition.

I spent 10 years in corporate America as a Human Resource professional, which really means I was the company baby sitter. Although I was supposed to be responsible for recruiting quality professionals who would contribute to the success, and profit, of the company, I spent all my time making sure everyone was “happy”; no one misbehaved and to discipline those employees who didn’t behave. Baby sitting adults can take its toll on a person. They are often worse than children! The drama of dealing with corporate America and living out of a suitcase were making me age faster than I cared to. Before the age of 30, my hair was graying at a rapid rate, I had high blood pressure and I just wasn’t happy. When I had about all I could take, I walked into my boss’s office and told him how I felt. I would love to say that all my grievances were addressed and I stayed on to continue my track up the corporate ladder, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I was given 2 options: deal with it or move on. I chose the latter. After going on several HR job interviews and never quite “feeling the love”, I accepted what my heart had been trying to tell me…a corporate job just wasn’t for me anymore.

That’s a pretty scary realization to come to when a corporate environment is all you’ve ever known. What could I possibly do for a living besides HR? My creative skill set was “ok” but nothing spectacular that I could earn a living on. The legal, health and computer professions were all stable industries to get into but none of those were of interest to me. Hmmmm……What did I like to do? My list of hobbies is long and not many of those hobbies could have made good businesses, but one hobby could. Animals. Animals + pet sitting = new career. I pet sat for free for family and friends and I had always had a small zoo of my own. I grew up with pets and sometimes preferred their companionship over that of people. Why not do it for a living??? I had finally figured out what I wanted to do. Discussions and support of family and close friends helped me finalize my decision and just do it. Starting your own business wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. There was a lot of work involved and work that I wasn’t getting paid for. It wasn't long before I started missing that comfortable corporate job… you know the one I’m talking about. The job where you work inside a nice office building, earn a steady paycheck and get to wear nice clothes and shoes, especially those Jimmy Choo shoes? Aaaahhhh…the days. Fortunately for me I had my dad to keep me grounded and focused. He started his own company and knew all the feelings and obstacles I was having as a new business owner. Anxiety, stress, worry, money, city government, insurance, employees, blah, blah, blah.....you name it, I felt it. He quickly became my mentor and one of the many that helped me through my growing pains. It took a while but things started to fall into place and once they did I had to hustle to keep up.

When I got my first client, I was scared like a kid on the first day of school. Although I was doing what I wanted to do and something I was good at, Cubbie’s Bone was MY baby. I had poured every ounce of myself into making it become a reality and here it was….the day I had been waiting for. My first Meet-n-Greet. I wore one of my new business tees, threw on a nice pair of shorts and my brand new Asics and headed to meet the Stubbs family. We instantly bonded and that first Meet n’ Greet gave me the confidence to do tons more like it. The Stubbs family will forever hold a special place in my heart because they took a chance on a small business just starting out and let me prove myself as a pet sitter. To this day, they are still part of the Cubbie’s Bone family.

We’ve come a long way since 2005. A lot of walks in cold, wet weather; walks in hot, humid Houston weather; strange pet & home requests of clients; crazy schedules; working holidays; dog bites, cat scratches, dog poop, cat poop, the list goes on. So who would do this job you ask? A person who loves animals and I am one of those people. As Cubbie’s Bone celebrated its 4 year anniversary in June 2009, my dad asked me “is it worth it?” and without hesitation I said “forget those Jimmy Choos! I LOVE my Asics!”