Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandy Douglas Misty Skamelka.
Hi Brandy Douglas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We’re passionate about providing high quality, compassionate pet care and peace of mind for families when they’re away from home.
During Covid, Misty and I met while walking our dogs. We found that we lived within a mile of each other, both of us were pet sitters for our friends, family and acquaintances, and we both were raised on local farms. That last detail is important because, as any farm kid will tell you, learning how animals act, their needs and taking quality care of them is a staple of farm life. It became a lifetime passion, which is likely how we both landed in pet sitting independently years before we met.
Roxie, her rescue American Staffordshire Terrier and Blu, my rescue Husky mix became friends quickly. The four of us made the most of the socializing during social distancing. The idea for Packmates was quickly born during that time.
We launched Packmates Pet Services in 2021, combining our existing clientele, creating a social media presence, passing our business cards, and introducing ourselves to lots of Freeland homeowners during the annual Walleye Festival.
We have a solid client base, continue to expand, and we added a 3rd Packmate, Liam, to join our team earlier this year.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Organizing into an LLC, obtaining insurance, setting up the accounting and all the other exciting details of small business came relatively easily for us. I have owned other businesses, so we had an advantage to get started. The first year, I picked up a couple side jobs, but, since 2022, Packmates had been my full time occupation. Misty works for the business 3/4 time, the other quarter is dedicated to their 30 year career in caregiving.
The biggest challenge we face is grabbing some vacation time. Lol, seriously. We schedule vacations around the little slow periods during the year. Those are becoming more scarce, so we asked Liam to come on to the team. We hate to turn away our clients and do our best not to if at all possible. Adding Liam to the team has helped in that area. We’re very grateful to the Freeland community for making our business a continued success story!
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?
Packmates Pet Services, LLC
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Talk to other pet sitting businesses!
Pricing:
- $17+ walks & drop in visits
- $55+ overnight in your home sitting
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.packmatespetservices.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1b8HQjkD2C/
