Sitter Spotlight: Maria Estes

Today we have Maria Estes from All About Cats Pet Sitting in Tallahassee, Florida. Maria is a recent graduate of my Multiply Mastermind program.

Colleen Sedgwick:

So, so happy that you are here today. I have seen such a huge change in you since you started, what, two years ago, from the person you became, timid, shy, and you’ve stepped out of your shell.

You’ve put on your petpreneurial hat, embraced all that you learned in the program, and had great results. So I’ve had the best time with you over the last two years. But I wanted to have this discussion so that you can talk about your experience in the Multiply Mastermind program so that others can learn about it. All right?

So how did you come to discover me and Pet Nanny Coach?

Maria Estes:

I found Pet Nanny Coach community on Facebook about four years ago, and you reached out to me personally back in 2019, asking me some questions about the business and where I would like to see it go in the future.

Colleen Sedgwick:

So when we talked about your business, what problems and struggles were you experiencing?

Maria Estes:

I was experiencing a lot of problems. I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed, total burnout and barely keeping my head above water. I was running every aspect of the business myself, and there were plenty of times I wanted to give up, even though I wouldn’t, but my stress level was through the roof.

Colleen Sedgwick:

I remember specifically when we had our strategy session, and you were like, “I want to do this,” but you had some fears that were coming up and concerns like, “Oh, I don’t know if this is right for me.” I think even after you decided to join, I remember you emailing me, saying, “I don’t know if I have what it takes to do this.” Do you remember that?

Maria Estes:

Yes, I do remember.

Colleen Sedgwick:

What were the fears that you were having?

Maria Estes:

The biggest fear I had was stepping out of my comfort zone. Change has always been difficult for me, but what put my fears to rest was the encouragement you gave me and the reassurance that you would be with me every step of the journey.

Colleen Sedgwick:

I remember it, I remember it so clearly, and I was so happy that you decided to join and took the leap. And it took you some time. You were building up your courage, becoming the person you needed to be to step out of your comfort zone, see the vets, talk to the strategic alliances, and all that. But you did it. You did. And I couldn’t be prouder. It makes me so happy to think back on the transformation I witnessed. Let’s talk about the best results and benefits you received from the Multiply Mastermind program.

Maria Estes:

I think one of the biggest was discovering my abilities. I’ve learned that I can step out of my comfort zone and be okay, actually better than okay. I’ve had the courage to onboard eight contractors like you said, visit the vet offices and form strategic alliances, which I don’t know if I would’ve ever been able to do without your support and encouragement. Those were really big steps for me, and once I put myself out there, I realized, “Hey, I can do this, and I’m going to be okay.” It was exciting and not as difficult as I thought. So a lot of personal growth.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Good. And you feel empowered. It feels good, right?

Maria Estes:

Yes.

Colleen Sedgwick:

People don’t know I’m a total introvert when you find that. Nobody believes me when I say that, but I can promise you that I am. I lite mini-strokes anytime I have to go and speak in public or when I have to go to the vets in my strategic alliances, I would have a heart attack before too. So I identified with what you were feeling, but the magic happens on the other side of fear. So getting out there and doing that, and then you have these amazing businesses sending you business, and you are referring them, and it’s just a wonderful relationship. So I said, “Just do it.” I know how scary it is, but go and do it, and you did, so awesome.

Maria Estes:

Took me a long time. But yes, your support and Jessica allowed me to become a better version of myself.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Aww. All right. Let’s talk turkey. All right, let’s talk numbers. So when you started the program, you were around $6,000 a month, and then during the pandemic, during the pandemic, for anyone that’s listening, do you remember that time? It was just not an easy time to be in business, Maria scaled her business to $10,000 a month, and then in 2021, you were at around $17,000 a month. And then, in December of 2021, what was your revenue?

Maria Estes:

$27,000.

Colleen Sedgwick:

I mean, hello. That’s so amazing. So you just had this unbelievable influx of business. And if anyone missed it, Maria has a cat-sitting business, correct? Do you do any other dogs, or is it strictly cats?

Maria Estes:

It’s strictly cats, except for I have probably. On the one hand, I can count maybe three clients with cats and a dog that we tend to take care of, but 99% cats only.

Colleen Sedgwick:

I mean, it’s just absolutely amazing. And you’ve also onboarded eight pet sitters, and you have onboarded your husband to come into the business and work with you, which you said has been a wonderful decision. Yeah. So big, big changes since we first met a couple of years ago to where you are now, and it’s so exciting. All right. So if someone called you and said, “Should I work with Colleen and join the multiplied Mastermind program?” what would you tell them?

Maria Estes:

I would tell them absolutely yes. All the knowledge you give us to grow our business, have our business thriving, and ultimately have a business that can run itself is just amazing. For the investment, it’s priceless. So I would recommend the program to anyone who wants to scale their business, reap the rewards, and let things take care of themselves.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Good. Well, thank you so much for being here. I think you are an amazing person, I think you’re an amazing business owner, and it literally brings tears to my eyes just seeing what you’ve done. It makes me just so happy. So I’ve loved, loved, loved working with you, and I can’t wait to see what great things are yet to come for you. So thanks for being here.

Maria Estes:

Thank you for everything. It’s been a blessing. Thank you so much.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Aww, you’re welcome, Maria.

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Sitter Spotlight: Laura Breakstone

Today I have a special guest in my home office, which never, ever happens. My student and friend Laura Breakstone, who’s also a Pennsylvanian, came down to visit me today to record this video in person. Then we’ll go grab dinner and catch up on all the goodness on what’s going on with her business. Thank you for being here.

Laura Breakstone:

Yes, yes, I’m very happy to be here.

Colleen Sedgwick:

So I wanted to shoot this video so you can talk about your experience with Pet Nanny Coach, the Launch & Grow Program and the Multiply Mastermind program. So it could be helpful to see what you’ve gotten from it and help others decide if it’s a good fit.

Laura Breakstone:

Absolutely.

Colleen Sedgwick:

All right, so first, can you tell everybody how you came to find Pet Nanny Coach?

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, I was browsing YouTube, and I just had a dream in my head and thought, what would it take to run a pet sitting business? And all of a sudden, you pop up, and that’s how I got started.

Colleen Sedgwick:

If you go to petnannycoach.com/youtube, you can go to my channel; I’ve got a ton of videos there, from basic videos on how to start a pet-sitting business to videos about automations and high-level strategies. So you can hit over there or not now, watch this first, and then you can go there.

All right, first question. So before we started working together, what problems and struggles were you experiencing? So you were not already a pet sitter. You were a brand new-

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, I was completely new to the business idea of it. I was doing pet sitting under the table. I was working as a manager at a couple of retail stores and pet retail stores. And people would come in, and they’d say, “Oh, well, do you know a pet sitter?” And I’d say, “Well yeah, I do some pet sitting.”

So it was just on the side, and I saw the potential for it to grow, especially when I started working for the little mom and pop shop because then you get to know people there, they start to know and trust you, as you always say, and yeah, I saw a lot of potential with that. So yeah, that was a side gig.

Colleen Sedgwick:

All right, good. So how did you decide to, or how’d you come to be enrolled in the Launch & Grow program?

Laura Breakstone:

I just wanted to take everything to the next level. I decided I was ready. I don’t think there was any monumental moment other than I just thought, let’s try it out, because I mean, I wanted to shoot for my dreams and give it a whirl. There was no monumental moment. I think I just thought I was ready.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Good. All right, so the Launch & Grow Your Dream Pet Sitting Business is for brand new pet sitters that don’t necessarily have a business yet or for pet sitters that may be in business for a little bit. Still, they’re not getting the results they want, and what I teach in that program is the foundational pieces you need to get to 3k months, and then we take you to 10k months from there.

So that’s the idea. I have my 3k month framework and my 10k month framework. So Laura started in the Launch & Grow program, the 3k framework, and then she enrolled in the Multiply Mastermind program, and it has been such a blessing to have you as part of the program. You’re such a shining ray of sunlight into my life.

Laura Breakstone:

Thank you.

Colleen Sedgwick:

A+ student just decided to make the commitment and go all in. So what made you decide then to go onto the Mastermind?

Laura Breakstone:

I needed more. I just needed more. It worked out so well, and I thought this program is amazing. What’s the next level? I needed to know that next level.

Colleen Sedgwick:

It’s much more advanced.

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, yeah, it’s a lot more advanced because with the Launch & Grow, it’s just getting that initial stuff out of the way, forming the LLC, building a website, all that stuff, so then once you have that down, then it’s like, now what? That was the biggest thing, it’s like, okay, well, I’m started, but now what? That was a scary thing for me, so the fact that you had a program laid out to tell me, here’s what you do, I had to go for it.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Good. And here’s the problem, guys, is that many pet sitters don’t even know what’s next. Let’s say they may jump and start their businesses, lay the foundational pieces, and have clients, but they don’t understand how to scale their business, and they get stuck working in their businesses instead of on their businesses.

And the truth is that there are only so many hours in a day that you can trade for dollars, so you get stuck completely trading hours for dollars and can’t scale the business.

And that is where the Multiply Mastermind program comes in. It’s how to multiply your existing business, where you have a client base, you’re making money, but now we want to take it to the next level where you’re making money with working less.

So the less you work, the more you make, the more freedom you have, and the more impact you can have because of all the clients you’re going to be able to serve. So that’s the difference between getting out and working in the business. So before you joined, what fears, what were you worried about? Were you worried about anything?

Laura Breakstone:

Before I joined Multiply Mastermind you’re talking about?

Colleen Sedgwick:

Yeah.

Laura Breakstone:

I don’t know anything I was worried about regarding the program because that was super laid out. I mean, there’s always that financial aspect of it, too, that you have to consider, but the way I looked at it is like you’re paying for a college class.

And actually, I got to tell you that this is worth more to me than a college class. I’m serious, I paid for four years of college, and I feel like I learned more doing this than I did my entire four years of college because in college, you’re paying for a lot of fluff courses.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Absolutely.

Laura Breakstone:

Let’s be real, I mean, it’s a lot of fluff, and I’m not technically using my degree. Although it applies to this industry, it’s a pre-vet degree.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Yeah.

Laura Breakstone:

But this, actually, I learn more doing this.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Wow.

Laura Breakstone:

Because it’s real-world practical experience and knowledge that you’re gaining.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Right, business structure, business advice, online marketing advice, how to find clients, service them. Good, that makes me happy. All right, what are the greatest results and benefits you have received from being in the Mastermind?

Laura Breakstone:

There’s so many. There are so many. How do I even rattle them off? One of the most obvious ones is just revenue increase. I mean, you see that every single month, increase after increase.

But there are business things you learn from this program, but there are also life things you learn from this program too, and both of them were near and dear to me. There’s certain things that you have to overcome a lot of mental hurdles with, like self-confidence issues and things like that, and this program also helps you battle some of those anxieties and fears, which was another great benefit out of this. Especially with the book club, that’s great. Inspirational reading. It’s changed my life.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Yeah, I had a student tell me that the book club has been life-changing for her the other day.

Laura Breakstone:

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Colleen Sedgwick:

So the year that Laura joined, I decided to incorporate a lot of mindset work versus just business strategy because that’s what I was known for, and I thought, you know what? What’s missing here is the mindset piece because people get stuck in fear, people get stuck in not wanting to step out of their comfort zone, so I thought, I need to add an element to this program that we work on that, and one of those things is a book club that we do.

We dive deep into the book and do workbooks and exercises based on the principles we learn. So not only are my students getting a lot out of it, I am too. I love it.

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, yeah.

Colleen Sedgwick:

At first, I was like, I don’t want to be reading a book every month, but they need this, and now I’m like, it’s great.

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, and the audiobook option also helps because you just read in the car.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Right.

Laura Breakstone:

Well, listen in the car. You don’t read in the car.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Yeah, listen in the car. And it’s not mandatory. I tell all my students that join, “I would love for you to be part of this, but if you don’t want to be, that’s fine too. It’s not part of the core curriculum,” but I think it’s really helpful.

Laura Breakstone:

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Colleen Sedgwick:

All right, good. All right, so would you recommend the Multiply Mastermind to pet sitting business owners who want to multiply to 10k or more a month through sales, systems, and support?

Laura Breakstone:

Yes, big yes, Oh my gosh, I do recommend it. Any chance I can get I recommend you because it’s just a life-changing program.

Colleen Sedgwick:

Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate you being here.

Laura Breakstone:

Yes, absolutely.

Colleen Sedgwick:

All right, guys, any questions about the Multiply Mastermind, you can go to applytomultiply.com. On that page, you’ll get all of the information about the program and what’s included, and you can apply on that page. We’ll hop on a call to discuss to see if we are a good fit to work together, and we’ll go from there. All right, but if you are interested, go to applytomultiply.com, and hopefully, we’ll be chatting soon.

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Work ON Your Dog Walking Business, Just Not IN it

If you’ve been following me, you’ve probably heard me say a gazillion times, “Stop working in your business and start working on your business.” This was the major shift that completely changed the trajectory of my career and my life with my dog walking business, and where I learned this was the E-Myth Revisited.

It was the first business book I read that had a major impact on my life. It’s just like bells went off in my head, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, “I am doing this business thing all wrong.”

So what the E-Myth says is that entrepreneurs are people that understand that going into business is something that you do. You’re building a business that runs without you having to do the work to create the revenue and the income.

The problem is that most small business owners are technicians. They’re like myself and most of the students that I work with. We go into the pet industry because we love and adore animals and want to provide amazing pet care. But then we decide that we want to grow the business, and we don’t know how to do that because we are technicians. We’re not entrepreneurs innately, as the word would define.

So that is the big shift. You have to start thinking differently about your business. If you had a hundred different locations, you would not be able to service a hundred different locations, be the manager, be the pet sitter.

You would have to think about your dog walking business differently in terms of creating systems and processes that are easily replicable between all locations and that it is running without you being the person that is doing all of the marketing. You’re not the person that’s doing all of the admin. You’re not the person that’s doing the pet sitting. You’re not the person doing the database, the hiring, and all of the stuff that goes into it.

Start thinking of ways to remove yourself as the bottleneck.

You have to start thinking about yourself from a place of removing yourself as that bottleneck in your dog walking business so that you can create these processes so that you’re able to grow your team and you’re able to service more customers and, therefore, make more money.

You have to get out of the technician mindset and move yourself to that entrepreneurial mindset of working on your business and not in your business. This creates freedom in your life, which makes money in your business. It’s such an important shift if you want to grow a lucrative dog walking business.

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Can my Independent Contractors Wear Clothes with my Business Name and Logo?

Today, I’m answering a question from the Pet Nanny Coach community Facebook group member, who asked if her independent contractors are allowed to wear clothes with her pet sitting business name and logo on them.

The answer is absolutely not.

The reason why is because they are not classified as employees. If they were employees, then yes, you could have them wear whatever you want them to in terms of having and showcasing your pet sitting business name. You could have them use card magnets.

But if they’re independent contractors, they are independent of your company. In the eyes of the government, they are their own business and, therefore, should not in any way be affiliated with your company. They are not eligible to wear clothing with your pet sitting business name and logos on it.

I want you to be very careful with this. I do not believe that the benefit of having your sitters wear this type of clothing outweighs the risk. Trust me on this.

I’ve been through two audits. This was a very stressful subject in my life for many years. I won those audits, thankfully, but I know myself when it comes to independent contractors. So please take my advice. Don’t go down this road. The risk to your pet sitting business operations being interrupted is not worth the reward that you may get from your independent contractors wearing clothing with your business name and logo on it.

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How I get Pet Sitters Extraordinary Results in Their Businesses

I want to talk about how it is that I get pet sitters extraordinary results in their businesses.

I’m particular with who I work with.

I teach pet sitting business owners how to launch, grow, and multiply their businesses. I’m not teaching anybody in the pet industry. I’m teaching specifically pet sitters. I’m not teaching plumbers. I’m not teaching housekeepers.

I am a pet sitter. That is what my career is in. I’ve created amazing results with my own business. That is why I want to help other people in the same career as I am.

Business Strategy. I work from 2 proven frameworks.

I work from two proven frameworks, my Launch & Grow framework, which gets my students to 3K months. Then, we go over to my Multiply framework, which is getting my students to 10K months.

Each of the frameworks has step-by-step instructions on how they will get results. Once those frameworks are implemented, the result is 3K, and then the result is 10K or more, which compounds over time. It’s a proven step-by-step system.

I’m not just randomly hopping on calls with people saying, “Okay, try this, try that.” No. There is a specific set of instructions. There is a specific curriculum.

I provide all the tools and templates to make the process easy.

All of the emails, automation, sales, and hiring funnels, all of the manuals and systems, everything is white label so that pet sitters can take my logo off, put their logo on, and put it into action. There’s no reason for them to recreate anything.

Yes, I want them to spin my materials, but I make it nice and easy and say, “Hey, this is what I use in my business, and it works, and you can use it too.”

Support that includes mindset coaching.

Lastly is the support. I love my students as if they are part of my own family, and I will love them and support them in any way possible. I also like to work on their mindset, which is an added thing. I’ve learned over the years of coaching, that a lot of times, the limitations that people come up against are all in their minds.

As I said, I will love and support you if you ever become my student. Still, I’m never going to argue for your limitations because I know what is possible for you on the other side of comfort, stepping out of your comfort zone, learning new things, and implementing. I know what you can achieve. So I work a lot around mindset, digging deep into the stories that we all tell ourselves that keep us stuck.

First, I only work with pet sitters. Second, I teach from proven frameworks. Third, I give all of the tools and templates to my students to make them easy to implement. And lastly, I support them through coaching support and helping with their mindset blocks. So those are the four ways I help my students get results—specifically, a pet sitting business coach.

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The 1st Step You Need to Take When You’re Ready to Hire

Before you build out any part of your hiring system for your pet sitting business, you need to get crystal clear on the type of person you want to attract to your business and the type of person you want to have as a pet sitter.

Grab a pen and a piece of paper and ask yourself this question, “Who do I want to work with?” Then close your eyes and visualize this person.

How old are they? Where do they live? What is their skill level? What’s their practical experience level? What is their education level? Do you want a person that’s going to do this full-time with you, or are you looking for a person who will do this part-time and has another supplemental income?

What are their communication skills? What tools are they going to need? If you don’t live in an urban area, they’re probably going to need a car, a smartphone, and a computer. Will this person submit a background check? Will they submit professional references?

How do they present themselves to you? When you first meet them and they come to the door, how do they present themselves physically? What are their personality traits?

Get clear on the type of person you want, warm, friendly, detail-oriented, organized. So crystal clear in your brain and down onto papers that you know exactly who you’re looking for.

Now, you might say to yourself, “Colleen, I’ve never hired before. I don’t know who I’m looking for.” Well, if you are a pet sitter, I want you to think about all of the things that make you a wonderful pet sitter.

Why do your clients love working with you? If you are brand new and have no idea, even that, you can ask yourself, “Who would I want to come into my home to care for my pets?”

Who would you like to be your pet sitter? If you have hired before, think about your A players. What made them special? What made you love to work with them? Write it down. At Pet Nanny Coach, we call this building out your ideal pet sitter profile, and it is absolutely the first step you can implement to build your dream team. Don’t skip this part, and it’s way too important.

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The Mindset that is Keeping Most Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers Stuck

The Mindset that is Keeping Most Pet Sitting Business Owners Stuck

Today our topic is the mindset keeping most pet sitting business owners stuck. I have the honor every week of speaking to pet sitters from all walks of life. People in the United States, people in other countries, people at all different levels in their business, and one common theme that I have identified is keeping pet sitters stuck came across in an application on my desk.

I had a session with the pet sitter yesterday, and she just put it so perfectly on her application, where it says, what are the biggest obstacles stopping you from taking your business to the next level? This business owner wrote “To work all of the time because I don’t want to pay for help. And two, I don’t trust others to do an awesome job.” So what happens with this type of mindset? This business owner gets stuck working in their business. So I’m here to help shift those with a similar mindset.

The people you hire are hiring to make you money.

Your pet sitters, your team, dog walkers, and cat sitters on your dream team are generating revenue for your company. You can service so many more customers because you have that support team in place. That’s the first thing. It’s not money out the door. They’re creating more money for you.

The trust issue is a story that your brain is telling you.

It’s the story that we tell ourselves, I certainly did for many, many years, that my clients only want me to do the pet sitting. They will not want to use my service if I hire or contract the work to somebody on my team, and I don’t think they’re going to do as good of a job as me.

Here’s the bottom line, it is a story. This is a story that your brain is telling you, and your ego is telling you to keep you small, to keep you safe. I said to myself that for way too long, and it took me forever to start hiring, and I was stuck for a long time.

Many people out there will take amazing care of your client’s pets.

How you find them, you need to set up your attraction system, you need to set up your assessment system, and you need to set up an excellent onboarding system so that by the time they go out to work for you, they are going to be such valuable members of your team.

You may have some clients that say, well, you’re not going to be doing it anymore, then no, I’m not going to use your service. But I’m telling you that is such a small, small percentage. Listen, I went through it myself. Every week, I work with pet sitting business owners to tackle this mindset and make that leap into hiring.

I know they had the same experience. One, maybe two clients decide not to continue, but truth be told, most of the clients are happy for you and that you are growing your business and that you have found amazing people and sell the benefit of it. This is so great. If anybody gets sick, if an emergency happens, and a sitter gets stuck on the road, we always have a backup for you and your precious pets.

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Create a Meet Your Pet Sitter Automation

One of the first things that I teach my students in my Launch and Grow program is the importance of creating the know, like, and trust factor with your pet sitter prospects and your customers.

People like doing business with people. In the in-home, pet sitting industry, you are going into clients’ homes, or your team of pet sitters are going into clients’ homes. These people need to fully trust you and your team before they’re going to raise their hand and say, “Yes, let’s do this.”

I have each pet sitter record a video introducing themselves.

One of the easiest ways I’ve done this when I grew my team is I have my pet sitters record a video of themselves, introducing themselves. They share why they join the Pet Nanny Team and explain what their pet care values are.

When I assign the pet sitter to a client, they receive an email with the video and a full writeup before their registration meeting. So that will immediately create the know, like, and trust factor with their assigned sitter and break the ice before the sitter even rings the doorbell for the meeting.

Sign up for an automation tool.

You want to sign up for an automation tool like Active Campaign or MailChimp or Infusionsoft/Keap which I use. There are lots of different options out there for creating automations. We go deep into that in my multiply mastermind program. I give six of my most used automations, three of my best marketing, three of my best hiring automations in the program.

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