Exploring Life & Business with Brianna Simpson of Summit Canine Connection

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Simpson.

Brianna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
There are some moments in life that you’ll never forget. My first experience with Ayla was the moment I saw her at the humane society. She was a six-month-old border collie. I remember approaching her kennel and seeing a dirty and underweight puppy. Despite the grime that covered her black and white coat, I could see her soulful eyes and wonderful temperament shining through. I took her home that day. My life changed forever.

Fast forward eight years and Ayla is my diamond in the rough. I had always owned animals from a young age: cats, lizards, snakes, birds, fish, guinea pigs, and even other dogs. I loved my pets and I took pride in taking good care of them. However, Ayla was the catalyst that brought me to where I am today: a professional dog trainer in Los Angeles.

After picking up Ayla at the humane society, I quickly realized that she was a completely different “creature”. Ayla’s inherent drive, motivation, and intelligence as a border collie motivated me to learn as much as possible about dog training. I didn’t want her potential to go to waste. I immersed myself in countless hours of training Ayla and began learning with professional dog trainers, including some of the best in the industry (i.e., Michael Ellis of The Michael Ellis School For Dog Trainers). Before I knew it, I co-founded my first dog training business in the Inland Empire and began sharing the new skills and knowledge that Ayla and I learned with others.

As soon as I began working with Ayla and my first client dogs, I knew that I had discovered what I was meant to do! Since entering the world of professional dog training five years ago, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to train hundreds of client dogs while strengthening the relationship between my client dogs and their owners. For that, I am grateful.

This daily devotion to dog training has allowed me to form a strong philosophy around why and how I train and teach. Dog training is about creating clear communication between my clients and their dogs while helping them to grow together. Dog training is not about forcing our dogs to listen to us but to better understand what characteristics are inherent of each breed and to understand how to use their motivation in a way that we can work together. I want to improve my clients and their dog’s quality of life so they may move through life’s journey as a team. I’ve always dreamed of creating my own business that embodied this philosophy and in 2022, I founded Summit Canine Connection after relocating to Los Angeles, California.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Ayla made me realize that dog training is my passion and livelihood. My years of training with Ayla and professional dog trainers helped me to build confidence in my ability to train client dogs. But getting to a place where I could pursue that passion, start my own company, and build a roster of clients while sharing my knowledge with others wasn’t always linear. As any small business owner knows, the idea of creating a business is the easy part. However, getting to a place where it becomes a reality is a different story!

Dog training isn’t my first and only career. I attended Citrus College in the Inland Empire and am a certified professional hairstylist. My “nine-to-five” is spent at Tangles Salon in Old Town Pasadena, where I specialize in cutting curly hair and coloring. During my 12 years at Tangles, I’ve refined my skill set in hair, networking, and creating a positive client experience. These skills ultimately have transferred over to Summit Canine Connection and allowed me to provide a positive training experience for clients (as well as the dogs). Communicating with dog owners is crucial to ensuring a successfully trained dog!

However, while some skills translated well, working a “nine-to-five” and starting my own business often meant long days! Looking back to my early days of dog training, I think about the numerous “hurdles” I encountered prior to landing where I am today: (1) A long commute time between work in Pasadena, my client homes (or the parks where we met) around Los Angeles, and my home in the Inland Empire meant hours in the car each day. Still, I was determined to “kick start” my dog training career, even if it meant early mornings or late nights in the IE and Los Angeles. (2) My passion for hair, as well as dog training, meant finding the right balance between the two. Today, I continue to work part-time at Tangles while devoting the rest of my time to my Summit Canine Connection clients. While sometimes challenging, I love that I can combine both careers and find a good balance between the two! (3) As is the case with anyone “going off on their own”, self-doubt always crept into my daily thoughts. “Should I start my own business?”, “Will I be successful at helping my clients?”, “Will I be able to find clients?” Luckily, my clients show me every day through their devotion to training and progress with their dogs that yes, it’s all worth it! (4) Developing my own training curriculum hasn’t been easy! After countless hours of trial and error via hands-on dog training, practice, making mistakes, continuing my education, consulting with my mentors, and consistently self-critiquing my methods, I’ve found much success in training my client dogs using the techniques I’ve established.

As I continue to focus on my business, I’m grateful for Summit Canine Connection’s growth. In the last two years, I’ve gone from maintaining a few clients in Los Angeles to now having a complete roster and waiting list of private training clients and board and trains. Seeing the success that my clients and their dogs have experienced makes it all worth it! My clients give amazing feedback with the results they’re able to have with their beloved companions. That’s what this is all about for me: seeing relationships thrive between humans and dogs so everyone can enjoy life more! To see this all unfolding is truly rewarding.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I offer foundational training services for anyone who just introduced a new canine member into their family and wants to start their journey off on the right paw. This includes puppy training, in-home and on-leash manners, and much more! I also offer advanced training for anyone who may have received basic training sessions in the past but who wants to tighten the line of communication between them and their dog. Advancing training includes off-leash training (recall and maintained focus in public) and enhancing productive play (building a larger repertoire of commands and obedience). Finally, If you’re dealing with a specific bad habit or aggressive tendencies, I can also help by offering advanced training focused on behavior modification, dog reactivity, safe socializing, and helping dogs to change their perception of existing fears.

My sessions are typically 60 minutes long and require the dog owner to participate. However, I realize that we don’t always have time to keep up with consistent training or productive outlets that our dog needs. Therefore, I do offer basic maintenance sessions during which I work with client dogs one on one to maintain the hard work my clients put in during and after our private sessions.

For clients who are actively participating in private sessions or maintenance sessions but require additional support, I do offer board and train programs. Board and trains are a fast-track option where I introduce and enhance positive lines of communication that owners want to have with their dogs. This is an opportunity for me to use my knowledge and experience to accelerate the process of introducing and reinforcing lines of communication with client dogs that they can then uphold at home. Board and trains are typically 2-4 weeks.

I encourage anyone interested in learning more about my services to view my website at summitcanineconnection.com and to contact me! I’m happy to schedule a free consultation.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I am so grateful for all the trainers, mentors, and dogs I have learned from along the way. I am so incredibly thankful for my number one canine companion today, Ayla. Ayla is a wonder dog and total energetic overload. She is the dog that inspired me to up my training game and start to envision a world where dog training was my profession. I have put everything I learned to the test with Ayla with amazing results, and now she even steps in and trains dogs with me!

It’s no surprise that dogs come to mind first, but there are many humans that I have to thank for helping me get to where I am today too. I’ve studied with Michael Ellis of the Michael Ellis School for Dog Trainers. Michael is an excellent teacher and helped me to progress my technical skill set. Jay Jack (Next Level Dogs) is another trainer I took a course with focusing on behavior modification and productive toy play. I am thankful for my private sessions with other trainers, including Oscar Mora (Elevated Canine Academy), Darshan Herran (Herran’s Canine Services), and Sara and Jess (Sonoma County Canine).

I am forever grateful for my sister Sarah Berryman for encouraging me to step out on my own and start training professionally and to my partner Dylan Vogt for his unwavering support and faith in my abilities. Lastly, I couldn’t have successfully achieved my dreams of working as a professional dog trainer without my community of mentors and clients (both at Tangles and Summit Canine Connection).

Thank you to Voyage LA Magazine for highlighting small businesses in LA and supporting our journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.summitcanineconnection.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/journeying.with.bri.ayla/

Image Credits
Anna Rose Videography