It’s been nearly 16 years since I stumbled across my current way of life.
Many people now say that I live the american dream, being my own boss, having a good staff, supportive & loving family and clientele.
What I truly love is that I have and had the pleasure to have serviced pets of the past and present. Thank you for supporting me and my dream.
I have to admit when I went from Wall Street to dog street; I felt my life was over. Even George Costanza was better off than I in 2003.
The markets were still shaken from March 2000 Tech bubble crash, than 9/11 happened. People in middle management were nervous. It was such a terrible time and it seemed like every career move I made was worse than the previous.
So I spent all my money but I still believed my break would soon come. I became the story of the Ant and Grasshopper.
In the late fall 2003, I ended up applying for a job in retail, I needed some money for the Christmas season.
What I thought was a retail job selling pots and pans was actually a retail job at a pet store. Oh my, how I felt life came to an end. That summer of 2003, I would joke around that I was working at a pet shop as my friends and I played Tekken 2 on PlayStation. A Few months later my words came to fruition.
The day I was hired was the day I applied. I was so over qualified, both my employer and I agreed. If my memory serves me correct, I was wearing a nice pair of khakis and a button shirt with my CV in my leather portfolio. Upon parking in front of the shop I drove by 3 times to check if my mind was playing a trick on me. Then I called the store to verify and hoping my eyes and ears were not playing a trick on me. Reality sunken in quickly when someone answered the phone, the store name was said so fast it sounded like a house ware store.
I could do nothing but go inside with my tail between my legs and apply for the job! I needed the money and I said look on the bright side it would be temporary. Soon I would be back in NYC and continuing my career and back on the high horse. Like Napoleon my dream was crushed. I worked for the shop for another 15 months.
In actuality, I always wanted to be a Vet and always had pets up to the time I worked at the pet shop. So the low paying job became more of an internship. I soaked up all the knowledge I could about pet products, foods, supplements, treats, accessories, and toys.
I met many people who would become my first clients. Today I still have contact with my fist clients and they were people I rang up at the stores register. I had to hustle to supplement my low retail wage. Working at the store was low paying but fun, I gained the trust of clients to perform services. People would remember me as the guy smiling or making jokes. I remember sitting ferrets, hamsters, turtles, than cat sitting, dog sitting to walking dogs. That was the progression. The early years were experimental, I did everything I had to. I am a survivor and what I do today was not fashionable in my early years. Ha, I was totally un-datable!
Today I still have the retail knowledge and I am grateful to have met all the people at the shop for the experience they have provided. Thank you for hiring me even though I was truly over qualified.
This life experience is one of a few chapters to who I am today. Without this opportunity I would not be writing this blog nor would I have had the chance to accidently creating my hiking service. My little accident now offers people a way of life.
Hope you like what you have read. There is more to come. This blog is part one of three.
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