Shows / Pet Sitter Confessional
Pet Sitter Confessional
Pet Sitter Confessional is the go-to podcast for pet sitters who want to grow, learn, and feel seen. Having run a pet sitting and dog walking business since 2012, Meghan and Collin share the real, behind-the-scenes life of professional pet sitting—from funny mishaps and tough lessons to business insights and personal stories. Each week, they also interview fellow sitters and industry pros to explore what it really takes to thrive in pet care. Whether you're just starting out or a seasoned pro…
Episodes
Pet Sitter Confessional751: You Cannot Scale on a Shaky Foundation with Jess Mather
What changes when you stop simply running a pet care business and intentionally start building one that can scale? Jess Mather, owner of Pet Pals in Roanoke…
Pet Sitter Confessional750: A Checklist Is Not Readiness
What happens when your team knows the procedures but isn't prepared to put them into practice? Collin explores why running a reliable pet care business…
Pet Sitter Confessional749: Why You Need to Hire for Capacity, Not Crisis with Rachelle Steele
What if the best time to hire is before you desperately need the help? Rachelle Steele of Loving Arms Pet Services returns to share how she went from firmly…
Pet Sitter Confessional748: When Outside Money Meets Local Pet Care
What happens when private equity starts buying up pet care businesses in our communities? We explore how investment firms acquire businesses, consolidate…
Pet Sitter Confessional747: Building for Sustainable Growth with Max Vickers and Nelson Kahr
What does it take to build a pet care business where clients, sitters, and owners never have to guess what happens next? Max Vickers and Nelson Kahr share how…
Pet Sitter Confessional746: The Enforcer and the Encourager: Your Team Needs Both
Does your team experience you as an enforcer, an encourager, or both? We discuss why maintaining high standards and recognizing good work are two essential…
Pet Sitter Confessional745: The Minimum Viable Business Owner with Morgan Weber
What does your team actually need from you as a business owner? Morgan Weber joins us to explore why one of the most important things we owe our employees is…
Pet Sitter Confessional744: Choose the Hard Work That Serves Your Business
How do we know whether a hard season in our pet care business calls for patience, a change in direction, or a decision to stop? We share our experiences with…
Pet Sitter Confessional743: Building for Family, Purpose, and the Future with Jillian and Bert Riegelsperger
What does it look like to build a pet care business that means something beyond today's appointments and revenue? Jillian and Bert Riegelsperger, owners of…
Pet Sitter Confessional742: The Other Side of AI: Reports, Routines, and Repetitive Clicks
What would we do with the time we spend downloading reports, searching for information, and clicking the same buttons every week? In this episode, we break AI…
Pet Sitter Confessional741: When "Bad Behavior" Is Actually Communication with Lauren Sisak
What if the behavior we label as a problem is actually a dog trying to tell us something important? Lauren Sisak, founder of Sit Stay Stella, joins Collin to…
Pet Sitter Confessional740: You Don't Need Another Planner
What happens when we are organized, scheduled, and still cannot keep up? In this episode, we look at why overwhelm is often a capacity problem rather than a…
Pet Sitter Confessional739: Honest Intake, Better Boundaries, Safer Walks with Maddie Krzanowski
What does it take to confidently care for dogs that other pet professionals may be hesitant to handle? Collin talks with Maddie Krzonowski, owner of Maddie's…
Pet Sitter Confessional738: Grow by Doing Less
What if the next stage of growth in our business comes not from adding more, but from deliberately taking things away? In this episode, we examine the owner…
Pet Sitter Confessional737: Helping Google Trust Your Pet Care Business with Amy Toman
What does Google actually need to see before it trusts and recommends your pet care business? Amy Toman of Pet Sitter SEO joins us to explore how AI is…
Pet Sitter Confessional736: The Messy Middle
Have you reached the point where your pet care business is too busy to run alone but not yet profitable enough to comfortably add support? In this episode, we…
Pet Sitter Confessional735: Leading Your Team With Purpose with Jon Eckrich
What happens when your business is built around a mission instead of just making money? In this episode, Collin sits down with Jon Eckrich of Jon Loves Dogs to…
Pet Sitter Confessional734: Being an Owner vs. Operator Part 2
Get 1 CEU: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEo5RsHFqlc5t5OXPZIf2CSWjuVQwS-abZVi_phWPC4CC9vg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=107413215510797164078 What do…
Pet Sitter Confessional733: Learning to Let Go Without Losing Control with Maris Sonnabend
What happens when the biggest obstacle to your business's growth is the owner? In this episode Maris Sonnabend is back on the show to discuss the difficult but…
Pet Sitter Confessional732: Being an Owner vs. Operator Part 1
Are you actually functioning as the owner of your business, or have you simply created a job for yourself? In this episode, we break down five distinct roles…
Pet Sitter Confessional731: Why Going Cats-Only Was the Right Business Move with Sarita Eckhoff
What happens when you build a pet care business around the animals, clients, and work you genuinely love? Sarita Eckhoff shares how she transformed an idea…
Pet Sitter Confessional730: Stop Making Every Problem Your Emergency
What does peace of mind actually look like when employees call out, clients cancel, cars break down, and plans change without warning? In this episode, we…
Pet Sitter Confessional729: Still Standing with Cathy Duvall
What happens when one unexpected moment changes your business—and your life—overnight? Cathy Duvall returns to Pet Sitter Confessional to share her deeply…
Pet Sitter Confessional728: The Legacy of a Lazy Leader
What happens when a leader stays incredibly busy but keeps avoiding the work that only they can do? In this episode, we unpack what "lazy leadership" actually…
Pet Sitter Confessional727: From Founder to Future with Kaz Kelly
What would happen to your pet care business if you needed (or wanted) to step away? Collin speaks with Kaz Kelly, founder of Founder to Future Consulting…
Pet Sitter Confessional726: What to Do When Your Business Feels Stuck
What do we do when working harder stops producing better results in our business? We explore how to recognize when we've genuinely hit a limit rather than…
Pet Sitter Confessional725: Building Your Succession Plan with Sativa Boatman
Earn 1 CEU! What would happen to your pet care business if you suddenly could not run it? Attorney and business owner Sativa Boatman joins Collin to explain…
Pet Sitter Confessional724: The Long Term Cost of Short Sighted Solutions
What if some of the decisions that feel most responsible today are quietly creating bigger problems for your business tomorrow? We explore how avoiding…
Pet Sitter Confessional723: Don't Just Go for "Okay" with Dave Peterson
What does it take to rebuild a pet care business without losing sight of why it matters? Collin talks with Dave Peterson of Bethesda Dog Walkers about buying…
Pet Sitter Confessional722: The Missing Link Between Employee Retention and Client Loyalty
What if the biggest reason clients and employees stay has nothing to do with pricing, pay, or perks? In this episode, we explore how understanding why each…
Pet Sitter Confessional721: Rebranding For the Clients You Want with Rebecca Thompson
What happens when your business changes faster than your brand does? Collin talks with Rebecca Thompson of Skyline Dog Walkers about rebranding, shifting…
Pet Sitter Confessional720: What Does Your Company Say About You?
What if the biggest influence on your business isn't your marketing, your policies, or even your employees, but you? In this episode, we explore how every…
Pet Sitter Confessional719: Hard Conversations Build Better Businesses with Whitney Guison
What if better communication was less about winning arguments and more about building stronger relationships? Whitney Guison, President/CEO of the Nixa Area…
Pet Sitter Confessional718: There's No Easy Button
What easy button are we hoping will finally solve everything in our business? We examine why more clients, another employee, new software, AI, additional…
Pet Sitter Confessional717: Building a Nonprofit From Grief, Love, and Service with Janelle Vargas
What happens to a family's pets when cancer treatments consume their time, energy, and finances? Janelle Vargas joins Collin to share how losing her mother…
Pet Sitter Confessional716: Before You Spend Another Dollar on Marketing, Calculate This!
Have you ever wondered whether a marketing expense is actually worth the money? In this episode, we explore three financial metrics every pet care business…
Pet Sitter Confessional715: Starting Over and Growing Stronger with Meagan Cervini
What happens when an unexpected opportunity takes you across the world—and then brings you back again? Meagan Cervini shares her journey from managing dog…
Pet Sitter Confessional714: Leading Beyond Your Default
What kind of leader does your business need from you right now? In this episode, we build on episode 710 and talk about why self-awareness is only the starting…
Pet Sitter Confessional713: Leadership, Legacy, and the Next Chapter of PSI with Adam & Rachel Foster
What happens when the leadership of one of the pet care industry's most influential organizations changes hands? In this episode, Collin sits down with Adam…
Pet Sitter Confessional712: What Is Your Business Telling You?
What if the better mid-year question is not "Am I on track?" but "What is my business telling me?" In this episode, we look at the first half of 2026 as a…
Pet Sitter Confessional711: Building Trust with Dogs Who Need Space with Susan Aceti
What does it take to care well for dogs who are fearful, reactive, or slow to trust new people? In this episode, Collin talks with Susan Aceti, owner of…
Pet Sitter Confessional710: What's Your Leadership Style?
What kind of leader is your pet care business creating you to become? In this episode, we talk through five common leadership styles: the visionary, the…
Pet Sitter Confessional709: Are You Prepared for the Emotional Weight of Pet Care with Jen Latter
What does it truly mean to care for pets at their most vulnerable stages of life? In this episode, we talk with Jen Latter, owner of Nanna Jens Services, about…
Pet Sitter Confessional708: You Get What You Pay For
What happens when we tell clients not to choose a pet sitter based solely on price, but then make every business decision based on cost ourselves? In this…
Pet Sitter Confessional707: The Playbook for Better Decisions in Busy Seasons with Brian Hurtak
What do you do when your business feels like chaos is calling all the plays? Brian Hurtak shares how overwhelmed professionals can borrow practical tools from…
Pet Sitter Confessional706: The End of Easy Growth in Pet Care?
Is the pet industry slowing down, or is it simply evolving? In this episode, we explore recent projections showing pet industry growth moderating from…
Pet Sitter Confessional705: The Numbers You're Ignoring (and Why They Matter) with Chante Dawston
Ready to earn a CEU? Start here! Are you truly making money in your pet care business, or just staying busy? In this episode, we sit down with CPA Chante…
Pet Sitter Confessional704: Working at 150% (Without Breaking Yourself)
How do we survive the seasons when our business demands more than we feel capable of giving? In this episode, we discuss what it means to operate at 150%…
Pet Sitter Confessional703: Cat Sitting Roundtable: A Maturing Industry
What if cat sitting isn't a side-service anymore, but one of the fastest-maturing lanes in professional pet care? Collin sits down with Beth Pasek (Finicky…
Pet Sitter Confessional702: Stop Typing the Same Thing Twice
How do you communicate clearly when you are tired, frustrated, or emotionally depleted? In this episode, we talk about why templates and saved scripts are not…
Pet Sitter Confessional701: Leaving False Happiness Behind with Shaheen Riaz
What happens when you realize your "stable" career isn't actually making you happy? Shaheen Riaz spent 16 years in demanding administrative roles before…
Pet Sitter Confessional700: How Fast Can You Reset After a Business Hit?
What do you do when one hard moment in your business is immediately followed by another? In this episode, we talk about the emotional whiplash of client…
Pet Sitter Confessional699: The Power of Saying Yes to the Right Clients with Maria Estes
What does it look like to build an entire pet care business around cats? Maria Estes, founder of All About Cats Pet Sitting in Tallahassee, Florida, shares how…
Pet Sitter Confessional698: Why Employee Retention Starts With Attention
Take the CEU Quiz: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdm4lr1fIDcwCwuUdYHsFdEWvGj1xLhGlJeAaWnF1F28aB1vQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=107413215510797164078…
Pet Sitter Confessional697: From Isolation to Industry with the Florida Pet Services Association
What happens when pet sitters come together to shape the future of their industry? In this episode, Collin talks with Savanna Westwood and Charan Favazza from…
Pet Sitter Confessional696: You (probably) need more sleep…
What if the problem in your business is not your systems, your discipline, or your schedule—but your sleep? In episode, we talk about how chronic sleep…
Pet Sitter Confessional695: Building a Cat-Only Business That Scales with Grace Taylor
Use Code PREPARE for 5% at petfirstaid4u.com to celebrate PetFirst Aid Month! What happens when you stop trying to serve everyone and build a business…
Pet Sitter Confessional694: What to Do When Networking Gets You Nowhere
What do we do when our local pet care community won't support us? We explore the reality that not every market is collaborative, even when we've done all the…
Pet Sitter Confessional693: Building a Remote Culture that Works with Don Harkey
Wanna earn a CEU? Go here! CEU: https://forms.gle/LthLsWwnABtGNoPX7 How do you build a strong team when your employees rarely, if ever, see one another? In…
Pet Sitter Confessional692: What's Your Profit Per Service?
What if the services filling your schedule are the very ones holding your business back? In this episode, we talk about why pet care business owners need to…