March 14, 2017

Meet Sheyla Austin of Lucky Tails in Venice

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheyla Austin.

Sheyla, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I used to travel the world with rock stars. I was lucky enough to meet my former boss, who took a chance on a 19 year old girl with humble beginnings. I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and my mom and I escaped during communism. I went to middle school in Canada, won Green Cards and moved to the U.S… I went to high school at Santa Monica High where I got an internship at a record company through a work study program at the end of that, a job opened up, and they actually gave me a chance. However, after a year and a half of working with the biggest stars in the world, I decided that I needed to finish my schooling. It was a very fast paced environment, and it exhausted me. I went to college, and was flirting with the idea of being a music journalist or even work at the state department. Neither of those things ended up happening, because upon graduation, the record company came calling, and I took another job. After another year and a half, I was really burned out. I moved to Venice with the money I’d saved, and took up yoga (super original, I know) and didn’t know what to do with my life. My neighbor ran a teach for America program, and invited me to join it. I was now on my way to get my master’s degree and credentials in teaching; however, due to budget cuts in Los Angeles, most schools weren’t hiring, and I was starting to run out of money. My mom was a teacher in South L.A., and she always took her lunch break to feed all the stray dogs in the area. One particular dog waited for her daily, and after 3 months of daily feedings, she trusted humans enough to let us take her home. Zoey ended up changing my life. I started taking Zoey to the local dog park to socialize her. I met some dog walkers, and one even asked me if I wanted to work for her, but after the record company, I didn’t want to work for anyone else again. I always wanted to work with animals, taking home strays as early as I can remember, but I never knew how to make that into a living. Vet school was very expensive and frankly I didn’t think I could pass all the extensive exams, so it was then that I thought, I could start my own dog care business. It first started with the dogs of my new dog park friends, and then it started to grow exponentially. The first year I had 4 clients, and I was super proud. Word of mouth, and my presence in the Venice dog scene (there is one) grew my business. My experience working in a fast paced environment like the record company allowed me to grow my business because I was able to take what I learned there, and apply it to the canine/animal world. I currently have two full time employees, and 3 part time. It’s been 7 years since I started Lucky Tails, and our goal is to open a facility where we can also host adoption events for our local rescues.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Obviously starting any business isn’t a smooth road. It’s pretty scary jumping into an unknown world, but I think if you have confidence in your abilities and skills, you can get to where you want your business to be. In my particular line of work, you have access to people’s most prized possessions, their dogs and cats, as well as their homes. Finding the right people to work for me, and also building a relationship of trust between my company and my clients is also really important. Luckily, I’ve been really careful, and haven’t taken on more than I can handle, even having to turn away potential clients at times.

Please tell us about Lucky Tails.
Lucky Tails is an all-inclusive pet care business. It’s a boutique company. There are many bigger companies that do what we do, but we offer a very personal experience. My clients are able to text and call me directly with very specific requests for their pets, and we always try to accommodate as best we can. We offer individual dog walks, group walks, group park visits, boarding, and my absolute favorite, weekly hikes. My client’s dogs have their own social lives while their parents are at work, and all of us treat each pet as if they are our own. Tired dogs are happy dogs is our motto.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When we lived in Canada, my parents would take me to Lake Ontario for their New Year’s Eve parade. There was a place where you could go make your own NYE party hats, and they were always so sparkly and fun to make. I don’t know why, because I have no craft or art skills at all, but it’s one of my fondest childhood memories.

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