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Meet Jessica Roberts of Mi Casa es Pooch Casa in Fairfax

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Roberts.

Jessica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a child, growing up in rural Maine, I was very lucky to have many pets, including cats, birds, rodents and several dogs. I had always felt a spiritual connection with animals and had thought about becoming a veterinarian, but when I got older my life’s journey went in another direction. Instead, I went to film school in Boston. When I moved to LA in the early 2000’s, I met a few professional pet sitters and experienced immediate job envy. I thought I could definitely do that kind of work and be very happy, but I had started working in the entertainment industry and had just finished college, so I felt obligated to commit to seeing that through. It’s kind of a sad story to say I’ve spent my entire life longing to work with animals for a living and pretty much never thought it was going to happen, but then a couple years ago my film industry job turned into a work from home situation. That’s when my working future started to look brighter and I took advantage of the opportunity to begin my pet sitting business on the side. I’ve never been much of a risk taker, especially when it comes to big life changes, so in the beginning I took my time with it, and once I had a few great, loyal clients I launched my business online. Ever since then, I’ve been unstoppable. During this last year, I’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into growing my business while still maintaining my other job, because we all know multiple sources of income is better than none and LA is super expensive. I’ve basically been working 24/7 for over a year, but it’s been a labor of love, because I have found my calling, and every ounce of energy I put into my business is extremely gratifying. I love everything about running a pet-sitting and dog-walking company. First and foremost, my love for animals is written in my DNA, but I also love working for myself, being active and outdoors and having an extremely varied schedule. It sure beats sitting at a desk all day, watching the clock and feeling like life is passing me by. Now I feel like I’m really living life to its full potential.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Mostly my struggles have been about working all the time and feeling rather isolated, missing out on big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, feeling like I can’t take time off for self-care, or giving up having a social life. To some extent, I’ve even had to give up romance in pursuit of my career goals. It’s been hard in that regard, but it’s also been worth putting those things aside on the short term because I have so much passion for what I want to do and I’ve always kept faith that everything will eventually balance out again. Now that I’m more established, I’m happy to be able to spend more time with friends and I’m lucky that most of my really good friends live in the neighborhood and are also dog lovers and enjoy doing dog related activities. This year I’m so lucky to have my parents visit me for two weeks for Thanksgiving, and I hope soon I’ll start dating again.

Other than that, in the early days I was pretty eager to get new clients, so sometimes I would accept dogs who weren’t a good fit. For instance, dogs with separation anxiety. Let me just say, I’ve spent many sleepless nights and holidays caring for overly anxious dogs in my home, and have even gotten pretty sick as a result because stress puts a real strain on the immune system. Now, I know how to work around separation anxiety. I also know my boundaries, so I’m glad I got the experience. But really, it’s been a rather smooth road for me, and I’ve also been very lucky to know other helpful professional pet-sitters who have been great mentors when I have questions or need advice. That has been a key ingredient to working out the kinks in starting my new business and I’m very grateful for that.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Mi Casa es Pooch Casa – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I am the owner and operator of Mi Casa es Pooch Casa. At this point, this is a one-woman show, but I also have a four-legged personal assistant, the love of my life, my rescue pooch, Annie. Annie is a great helper. She’s always willing to help make new client connections and she loves having furry guests in her home. She also accompanies me on walks and overnights in other client’s homes. My services include: Boarding 1-2 small dogs in my home, overnight pet-sitting in client homes, daily walks/hikes/park visits/house visits and pet taxi services. I love caring for all types of dogs, cats, birds and all the small critters in between. My service area is mainly the Fairfax District, especially for my walking clients, but I also serve the surrounding boroughs like Hollywood, West Hollywood, Miracle Mile, Hancock Park & Larchmont Village, just to name a few

I think what I am most proud of is my dedication to being service oriented, my hard work ethic, attention to detail, dependability, trustworthiness, and my communication and follow-through skills. All of these attributes I know are vital to running a successful business, and it’s not hard for me because I get a lot of personal fulfillment out of being this type of worker. But I also think my integrity and professionalism can be attributed to my many years of working in the entertainment industry servicing celebrities and their day-to-day lives. This experience really helped me hone in on being a great business woman. So, hey Mom and Dad, I just want to say thank you for sending me to film school so I can have this amazing life in Los Angeles as a professional pet sitter. LOL. But in all seriousness, when I meet with new clients, it’s very important to me to assure them that their pets are safe with me. And when I’m picked for the job I see it as an honor, because I know my clients trust me with their beloved pets and their homes. That is the biggest compliment I can ever get. I feel that my connection with animals is deep and it’s always such a blessing when clients see how well their pets respond to me.

I’m not about just making a buck. I’m about following my bliss and that means I genuinely love being around animals. Getting paid for it is just the icing on the cake. It’s also important to me to listen very carefully to all of my client’s needs and follow their directions. Communication is key to me. I love letting my clients know what’s happening with their pets on the regular, so providing consistency with daily updates, scheduled check-ins and quickly responding to clients are just a few things I do to create such a nice relationship.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Right now I’m focusing on building my reputation, my brand and my clientele so that I can fast forward to supporting myself full time in this job. However, I do often find myself daydreaming a lot about all the things I can do with my business so I can become more successful and fulfilled. For instance, I can easily imagine adding more services like training, grooming, pet photography, selling merchandise, or maybe I can even parlay working with the pets of celebrities. Recently, I had a conversation with a pet-owning client of mine, who planted the seed to think big, so maybe my last idea is the way to go, but there is also a part of me that kind of likes keeping things contained and on a smaller level. Who knows what will happen. That’s what I find really exciting, because this is my baby and I get to make all the decisions. Just being able to dream, think without limitations, and do what I want with my career and my life is the most freeing feeling in the world. So right now, I’m just kind of basking in my happiness because I’ve finally reached a sense of freedom in my life. You know, the saying really is true, “Find something you love to do and you will never work a day in your life.” This has been my mission and I find great joy in finally accomplishing it.

Pricing:

  • $65 and up for private boarding
  • $75 and up for house sit/pet sitting
  • $15 and up for walks
  • $35 and up for parks and hikes
  • $15 and up for house visits
  • $20 and up for pet taxi

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Jessica Roberts

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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