Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Rinaldi.
Katie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I got into dog walking accidentally. I was working night shift at a photo lab. I took my dog Lola to the dog park by our house every day. One day we saw a dog that didn’t belong to anyone. I asked around and we heard she was left at the park. She had been there for 3 days! Another dog walker in the area was bringing her food but no one could get close enough to grab her. She started playing with one of the dogs so I fashioned a slip leash out of my dog’s leash and lassoed it around her head and brought her home. She was very timid and a little aggressive towards people. I had to rush home from work one night after she bit my boyfriend. Long story short we worked on things and I would bring her to the park and everyone would comment on how well she was doing. One of our park friends was heading back to work and needed a dog walker so I said I would do it. Through craigslist posts, flyers and word of mouth my little side job grew! Los Angeles magazine did an article on me and I got very busy so I had to hire help. That was in 2008. Then we had a spot on Pets.tv and won top 5 dog walkers in LA. We are still going strong 12 years later!
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?
It’s been a very smooth road! I have ups and downs like any business and “little fires” here and there. I would have to say the biggest stress is making sure clients and staff are happy. It’s a hard balance to maintain at times. The cost of living has gone up significantly in Los Angeles but our prices haven’t increased at all. So it’s a struggle to make sure the staff are making enough. We don’t have a high employee turnover. A lot of our staff have been walking for Dog Gone Walkin for years. Are we perfect? No. We make mistakes but we are very quick to fix them. I like to be in close contact with everyone, so that can be overwhelming. We aren’t business people, we are caretakers so we are sensitive, when someone is upset it really hits us hard emotionally. We just try our hardest to make sure everyone is happy. Schedule changes are hard as well. We cater to the people in the entertainment industry. Their schedules are ever changing so we have to be able to adapt to last minute schedule changes. I think we have developed a pretty good system for that as well. I’d have to say after 12 years I only had one walker that was caught not walking dogs by multiple clients. I’m lucky that they knew me well enough to know that was not a reflection of my business practices and just asked for a different walker instead of firing us completely. That was probably the hardest thing I ever had to deal with as an employer.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Dog Gone Walkin story. Tell us more about the business.
At Dog Gone Walkin, we try our hardest to make sure our clients are happy. We offer an app that allows them to see when and where their dogs went as well as pictures of their walk and notes. It offers a transparency so they know exactly what their pup is up too. They get to see them with their friends and know that they are happy and cared for while they are at work or away on vacation. It’s all the benefits of one of those bigger fancier apps but a smaller more personal feel. I know all of the walkers personally. You always know who is coming to your home and that there is one person at the head of it all that you can call and talk to at any moment. All of the walkers and myself just genuinely care about our clients and their pups, it’s not just some job. The walkers text me pictures regularly to show me something cute the dog did or tell me how much they love the dogs. It makes me happy because I know they genuinely care for these pets. My clients always ask for training advice or health advise and I’m always happy to help them. There are a lot of great dog walking companies in the area. I like to think we are just one of them.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think “luck” presents itself to everyone. I call them paths and throughout my life they are presented and I follow. I wasn’t the only person the interviewer and the producers of pets.tv reached out too. But I did say “yes” with enthusiasm! I didn’t even set out to be a dog walker. I always loved dogs. When I was in first grade I wrote a paper on how I wanted to be a veterinarian. I misspelled “veterinarian” horribly. It was adorable. I would take my beagle in the yard and try and teach him to heal. I worked at a horse stable when I was 12 just to take lessons and be around horses. I always loved animals so it was not a hard path to follow. So I am very lucky to do something I love. But that luck is also a leap of faith and a lot of hard work. I work 7 days a week, I go on vacations but only if I have cell service and can still run the company. I haven’t had a day off for 12 years. I am 100% involved on the day to day details. So Yes, lucky that I get to do this for a living, but it doesn’t come without the work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.doggonewalkin.com
- Phone: 323-327-5969
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: doggone_walkin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doggonewalkinLA/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dog-gone-walkin-los-angeles
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