Six chapters, starting with a layoff and a dog who got asked to leave training class.
Someone asked me recently to describe my business journey. I divided it into chapters, each with a representative word: Foundation, Connection, Validation, Pivot, Discovery, and Flow.
I am sharing them because they explain something more useful than a timeline. They explain why we operate the way we do, and what that means if you are the one handing us a key.
1. Foundation
I started this business in 2009 after being laid off from my corporate job. I wanted to do something I already knew a lot about, and that wouldn't cost much to start. I saw a need in New Bern for a professional pet sitter, so I joined Pet Sitters International and signed up for a start-your-own-business course at the community college.
Then I kept going. More classes, business roundtables, local networking, a professional bookkeeper, a CPA. I thought I knew a lot about animals when I started. I knew enough to begin. The Certified Professional Pet Sitter exam showed me how much more there was.
I built slowly, brick by brick, because I wanted to do it right.
Why it matters: A business built carefully is a business that is still here years later, answering the phone when you call.
2. Connection
I built this around relationships, not transactions. I wanted to know my clients and their animals, and to care for them the way I would want someone caring for mine.
Little by little, the confidence grew. Clients stayed. Relationships got stronger, and so did my knowledge and my reputation. I learned from Pet Sitters International, local business groups, the college, other professionals, and the people I met along the way.
Why it matters: You are not a booking to us. That is not a slogan; it is how the business was built, beginning in the first year.
3. Validation
At a Pet Sitters International conference, several people encouraged me to apply for Pet Sitter of the Year. My first thought was, “Me?” Then I decided that even applying would make me level up.
So I went through their best practices line by line and compared them to what I was actually doing. I changed anything I could improve. Some of it was small, right down to my voicemail.
When I was named Pet Sitter of the Year, it confirmed that I was on the right track. But the truth is, pulling the business apart and improving it mattered as much as the award did.
Why it matters: The standard here did not come from me deciding I was good enough. It came from measuring against people who do this well and fixing what didn't hold up.
4. Pivot
I had that validation, and then COVID changed everything. Like every other pet sitter I know, I had to ask where I went from here.
Pet sitting and dog walking had already been one pivot in my life. Now I had to be willing to do it again. What carried us through was building the business carefully and staying debt-free. That got us through COVID and major hurricanes without disappearing.
Why it matters: Storms come here, and so do emergencies nobody plans for. A business on solid financial footing can still show up for your pet when things get hard.
5. Discovery
The Goldman Sachs cohort broadened how I thought about entrepreneurship, but the real turn came from Davy, my German Shepherd. When they asked him to leave training, I didn't understand what was happening. On the drive home, I told him I would find out what the solution was, even though I had no idea yet what it was.
That search led me to reactivity, new trainers, different ways of understanding dogs, and eventually to professional dog training, Fear Free, Family Dog Mediation, and ACE Free Work. Davy did more than change how I trained him. He changed the direction of part of this business.
Why it matters: Every reactive dog we work with now is here because one dog stumped me, and I would not accept that nothing could be done.
6. Flow
Flow is my word right now. For years I wanted this business to hum. What I have learned is that flow does not mean nothing ever goes wrong. It means the different parts work together and I can adapt without losing direction.
Pet sitting, dog walking, training, continuing education, and Jeanne’s Canine Corner all fit together now as parts of the same work. Jeanne’s Canine Corner is where I share what I have learned and the stories behind it, in the hope that it helps people notice and understand their own dogs differently.
Why it matters: You are not hiring a service that stopped learning in 2009.
I have never regretted starting this. I still wake up thinking about what I am going to do next, and somewhere along the way I went from a solo pet sitter to a business owner with a team.
If you are another pet sitter reading this, chart your own path and grow at a pace you can sustain. You do not have to build fast. Build carefully, keep learning, and do it right.
And if you are looking for someone to care for your pet in New Bern, that is what you are getting. We've built everything since 2009, one piece at a time.
Call us at (252) 635-2655 or visit the contact page at crockettscrittercare.com.
Jeanne Crockett
Fear Free Elite Professional Animal Trainer | Canine Reactivity Specialist | First ACE Free Work Trainer in North Carolina
Crockett’s Critter Care | New Bern, NC
