Meet Melinda Walker of Athens Pet Sitter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Walker.

Melinda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Immediately after graduating from UGA with a degree in business I began my career with the Boy Scouts of America. I had wanted to work in non-profit my whole college life. I loved working with volunteers because they were usually happy people following a passion and helping in ways and for causes they chose.

Three years after I got married, my first daughter was born. By this time, I was working for the Athens Community Council on Aging. Generously, they allowed me to bring Sophie with me to work. She had 100 new grandparents for a few months! Eventually, I decided I couldn’t get my job done well and have her with me so I resigned.

I didn’t want another job but I did want to do something to help someone. I decided to start a concierge service to help other busy families. I quickly learned that people did want help but not with errands. They wanted help with their pets. Athens Errands quickly morphed into Athens Pet Sitter.

My first pet sit was over the July 4th holiday in 2006. We still sit for Zoey and Lulu today! A couple of years later, Daniel joined me and Athens Pet Sitter became the family business.We just celebrated 10 years of service to Athens area, pet-loving families.

Most people say, “you must really love animals.”

While I do love animals, what I find most rewarding is the trust my client’s place in Athens Pet Sitter, allowing us to love your pets and home in your absence.

I love hearing that you were more relaxed during your time away because you knew Athens Pet Sitter was taking meticulous care of your home and pets.

I am following my passion and helping others and it feels great.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Learning to let go and let others do parts of the business I have always handled is the hardest part. Apparently, I think I scoop the litter box the best or write the most caring updates to my clients. This is not true. I have a wonderful team that can often perform better than I can. Once I learned how to develop other sitters, I was able to get “off leash.” Now, we have increased our relationship marketing & have gotten more involved with the community.

The schedule of a pet sitter is difficult. When others are off, like weekends and holidays, pet sitters are working. While what we do is often fun & rewarding it is hard to be away from family. We have found that compensating our sitters well and being respectful of individual schedules eases the burden for the whole team.

Please tell us about Athens Pet Sitter.
Athens Pet Sitter provides peace of mind for pet parents by pet sitting, spending the night with pets in client’s home and with daily dog walks since 2006. Our high google ranking, strong reputation, and the online system makes us easy to find, easy to trust and easy to communicate with. We are available to our clients 365 days a year.

I am most proud of the team we have built. Building a team through word of mouth referrals gives me complete confidence in handing over a key to a client’s home to one of my sitters. Plus, every sitter is insured and bonded. Having a committed team means we can always say yes to our clients.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have established systems earlier instead of just doing whatever I thought of next. I would have realized the value of my service and not given discounts or tried to be all things to all pet owners.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AthensPetSitter.com
• Phone:706.254.5232
• Email:melinda@athenspetsitter.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/athenspetsitter/
• Facebook: facebook.com/athenspetsitter
• Twitter: twitter.com/athenspetsitter

 

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