April 24, 2017

Meet Lisa Mills of The Speed Walking Dog in Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Mills.

Lisa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started The Speed Walking Dog in 2012 after working as an attorney and TV producer for nearly 20 years. After working that many years, 16 hour daily, I woke up and realized life was passing me by. So, I took a year off trying to decide what was next in my life and as the days went by I found that I was at my happiest spending time with my two dogs. And it came to me I can do this every day and earn a living doing it. So, it started very slowly, first one client then another. I took clients no matter how far they lived from me or my other walks just to build a clientele. When I was nearly fully booked, I decided that walking didn’t have to stop with me that it didn’t have to be a finite business, if I hired someone then another and another I could take on as many clients as wanted to use my services and so began the business of being in the dog walking business.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth TD. As I stated earlier, I took on clients no matter how far they lived from me so when you factored in drive time to and from walks some days I was losing money or making three dollars per 1/2 hour. On top of that, the dog walking business is highly competitive and very fluid. People move, they lose their jobs, relationships break up, any number of things can happen so when you have only five or ten clients losing one is a big deal financially not to mention the emotional side of having to say goodbye to your canine friend.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Speed Walking Dog is a premiere dog walking and pet sitting business with walker’s in Hollywood W. Hollywood, Koreatown, Silverlake and all of the surrounding areas. We specialize in one on one visits as opposed to doing large group walks that people visualize when they think of dog walkers. What sets us apart is that if you use The Speed Walking Dog you and your pups are sure to get the same walker each and every time. This is important for two reasons. For the human client, you get to know who is coming and going and who will be taking care of your babies. For the canine client, they get to bond with one special person for the duration of their walks. As the owner, I am very much hands on. I know all of my clients including those whose dogs are walked by one of my walkers. All of my clients can get in touch with me 24/7 to make scheduling changes and all of my walker’s are focused on the needs of their clients first and foremost. We work rain or shine and in sickness and in health. I would say I’ve got one of the most dedicated and loyal teams in the industry. People might not look at dog walking as a serious business but you know if you’re a pet owner how much in fact it is a very serious business so we walk our dogs as if their lives depended on us and they do!!!

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Our city is a great place for dog walker’s because LA pet owners are amazing. It however is not an easy place to just start a dog walking business because it is highly competitive. You’ve got to be on top of your game day and night because everyone thinks they can simply walk dogs and people will line up to use them. This is a very client centered business and you’re only as good as your clients think you are. I don’t think there is much more that our city can do for the dog walking business as it really is ripe for the pickings. People are always going to need walkers. I think it is up to the owner of the business to make the most of that fact.

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