Today we’d like to introduce you to Leigh Siegfried.
Hi Leigh, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Of course! I began my journey with dogs as a little girl who didn’t grow up with one but became fast friends with all the dogs in my neighborhood. I was always drawn to dogs. While in college, I would frequently reroute my walks to and from campus to say hi to these two lumpy, friendly porch snoozing golden retrievers. After a few years in the working world, I began my transition from a career in advertising to dog behavior. The expertise came after many years of mentorship, volunteering in animal shelters, seeking certifications, and hands-on work within animal welfare and private sector dog training and daycare businesses. In 2003, I launched Opportunity Barks Behavior & Training as a scrappy startup with no plan B. Just a good dose of, “I’m doing this, and I will figure it out”.
I began primarily offering private coaching and training in the Metro DC area, and when I relocated to the Philadelphia region, I moved my business and began offering training for dog owners and industry consulting. As things have taken shape over the years, OpBarks is a full-service, multi-studio dog training business, with an incredible team, specializing in behavior, training, and fulfillment for dogs in the city and at our farms just outside of Philadelphia.
We offer Day Training, Boarding School, and our Farm Dog Daycare program which takes dogs from the city to the country for the best days of their lives. The OpBarks of 20 years ago in her newborn stage is different from today’s OpBarks. We always were champions of the canine spirit, but now we have a full range of offerings to really support people with new puppies, newly adopted dogs, or those struggling with behavioral challenges. We are really all about practical lifestyle training and helping our humans create a legacy of love and learning alongside their dogs. With our clients all over the states, we primarily work in person or virtually. And, if you have a dog that you are struggling with, we’re happy to help!
My love for dogs becoming translated as a business that actually gets to impact people with some of the most meaningful relationships we have in our lifetimes is an epic responsibility. Honestly, it gives me a lot of joy to support people in this way. All dogs are little legends, and it’s an honor to get to know dogs and their people and really help them tweak and refine things in a way that lifts their experience. What people learn from OpBarks we want to be life-changing.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Phew, of course. Starting a business as a solopreneur is basically a huge initiation- spoiler alert. You will learn so much about yourself in the course but there are no shortcuts and no shortage of lessons learned the hard way. Business ownership takes a particular kind of crazy. I’d like to think it’s the good crazy. Obsession is necessary for business, and I’m definitely obsessed.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
There is a time for change. And there is a time for steady. I like to embrace change and push to the edges whenever possible. For me, it’s at the edge where there is expansion, creativity, and a way of looking at things that can lend itself to big leaps in what’s available in the creativity of a team, a mission, and people and teams doing their best work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.opbarks.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/
opbarks - Facebook: www.facebook.com/
opbarks
Image Credits
Angel Phoenix Leigh Siegfried
