Today we’d like to introduce you to Shy Sullivan.
Hi Shy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
From childhood I’ve had an affinity for animals. My parents rescued, fostered, and adopted quite a few furbabes while i was growing up. Being surrounded by dogs was wonderful! This carried fully into my adult life. I worked briefly at a kennel before moving to a grooming shop to be a bather. Ultimately, life pulled me into the restaurant world for about fifteen years. Throughout my time in the service industry, i felt like something was lacking. I had my dog and my two cats, and they’re the loves of my life, but i needed more! While managing full time at a restaurant in Hampden, I had the realization that i needed to go back to my roots. Back to the babes, as i like to think. So i softly started my company, Thembo Pet Services. I decided to network on facebook groups, instagram, and flyer around before putting in my notice at the restaurant. I knew it was the right move to be back working with animals. It’s been a tough road- slow going, slow-growing, but worth every moment. Now, nearly three years in, I have a couple folks who work with me as well! I consciously made the move to also make it a queer forward company. Employing and serving the queer community as needed for their furbabies. Today, we cover all over Baltimore city. If it weren’t for word of mouth and the trust of our clients, we wouldn’t be here!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a bumpy road! A lot of learning is involved in starting a new venture, especially when caring for the loved ones of others. Earning trust isn’t easy, so we appreciate those who let us into their lives!
Some difficulties have mostly been money based. Starting out, affording insurance was really tough and felt like almost a loss if we didn’t get enough clients. It’s been worth it though, and so much better for peace of mind.
I feel clarity and communication have been big helpers through this adventure. Those with more needful pets, I’ve learned to ask the more intensive questions off the bat.
Building a roster of clients in the first place was a bit difficult. Networking with other small pet service businesses from Baltimore helped with that a lot. I’ve gained many clients through recommendations from other business owners and word of mouth.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Thembo Pet Services is a small, queer, non-binary owned company. We cover drop-ins, walks, and in-home petsitting in Baltimore City.
“Baltimore’s local queers here to help.”
I think what sets us apart from others is that we are an all-queer company and are very forward about that. I believe accepting each client as a genuine, special person is just as important as working well with the pets of our clients, and vise versa.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as earning the trust of those around us to where they let us into their lives. Being the pet care professional may seem simple, but building that trust and relationship with everyone (human and pet) involved is our a major focal point. It’s not easy letting strangers into your life, especially when it comes to caring for those you love, so when folks do choose Thembo, it feels very special.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Thembopet
