Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Rigby.
Hi Shannon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
After getting my degree in psychology from the University of North Texas, I was at a crossroads. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go further into debt to get my masters when I wasn’t passionate about the career options ahead of me.
I ended up moving back to Wimberley, where I had attended high school, and opening a retail shop with my mother. While there, I started dabbling in feral cat rescue. I had always been an animal lover, and this filled a need I had to care for others. Eventually, I started being a hobby pet sitter for friends and family, before officially kicking off my business, Puppy Love Pet Sitting.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been struggles. Being a solo pet sitter, I would often go weeks and even months without having a day off. I worked every weekend and holiday. In 2020, with the rise of COVID, I began homeschooling my three sons. I was suffering from burnout and compassion fatigue. I began to see that being a solo sitter was not a sustainable business model.
We’ve been impressed with Puppy Love Pet Sitting, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an award-winning, professional pet-sitting company in Wimberley, TX. We offer visits to the clients’ homes, where we provide the loving care that their pets are used to in the setting they are most familiar with. We use state-of-the-art pet-sitting software, allowing our clients to make schedule requests at their convenience, as well as communicate with our sitters, and have the ability to update care instructions easily at any time. Our clients love receiving updates, pictures, and a fun “report card” after each visit.
We pride ourselves on our compassion, reliability and professionalism. We take continuing education courses to stay on top of the latest pet care and pet-sitting business information so that we can provide our clients with the level of quality service they have come to expect from us. I am currently studying to take the exam to become a Certified Professional Pet Sitter, and should complete the course by the end of October.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is positively contributing to the world in the time that we have here. That looks different for different people. For me, it means raising kind and empathetic children. It means finding issues that spark my interest and seeing how I can be a part of helping to address the problems and creatively find positive and effective solutions. It means finding time to nurture hobbies that feed my soul—my writing, time with friends and my husband, reading. And it means doing the very best job I can to grow and nurture my business so that I can help people in my community feel comfortable leaving their furry family members at home when they need to.
Pricing:
- Our standard pet-sitting visit is $30 for a half-hour visit
Contact Info:
- Website: www.puppylovewimberley.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puppy_love_pet_sitting/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PuppyLoveWimberley
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@puppylovepetsitting?_t=8VxVLN9BqPr&_r=1
Image Credits
Professional shots of Shannon Rigby by @paigewilksphotography
