We had the good fortune of connecting with Melanie Freeman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, what’s your definition for success?
If you’d ask me a few years ago I would have said happiness, whatever that looks like, but it’s deeper than that for me now. Since starting a business, it’s sticking to the things that make me happy and knowing when to let go of the pieces that don’t. It’s saying no when I know something isn’t the right fit. It’s having the courage and the confidence to believe when I do say no, the opportunities I am searching for will present themselves. It’s about recognizing my worth, something that didn’t even enter my radar before, but it is pivotal in how I navigate my business. Knowing that I am worthy of the life that I want, and taking any steps to get there, because I believe it will work out. So, in a nutshell I think success is based upon how you manage yourself, how you take care of yourself, and it didn’t start to fall into place for me until I really started working on my mind – making sure I set up a morning routine – exercise/meditation/journaling, that I wasn’t too hard on myself, that I gave myself time to rest and have fun, that I built up a network. I always knew that my gut would lead me right, but sometimes your brain can get in the way of that, but I know now more than ever when I follow what feels good to me then I usually find myself in the places I want to be.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

My Business, Magical Pawers, started off as dog walks & overnight care, but I knew from the off that in-home care was what I wanted to focus on, so I don’t really offer walks as a separate service anymore. I added dog day visits and they became quite popular. Since I don’t work out of my own home, the care I provide is mainly private which is preferable to most of the clients I work with. Additionally, private care allows me to focus on the individual needs of the dog. Before I moved over here from England, I had my own West Highland terrier; he’d been with me since he was a puppy until he died of old age. I still miss him every day. So, he really set the president for my relationship with dogs and my interest in working with them. Finding quality care for him when we went away was always paramount, not having to worry whether he was doing ok.
When I first started out, before I got a lawyer an LLC and a trademark, I was working on the side and I noticed a lot of dogs struggled with some form of anxiety or reactivity to things outside. So, I started researching dog behavior, and ways to help in certain situations. This has really been the foundation on which I built my business; I wanted to focus on things like mental stimulation to help dogs learn and exert their energy, and best practices for fearful dogs. I got myself certified with a company called Fear Free pets who really focus on ways to help dogs stay calm. Since dogs can’t verbally express what they are feeling, we look for other signs like body language. For many dogs, living in a big city can be very overstimulating, and it’s trying to pinpoint what the source of their stress and then find ways to help them manage it.
So, I offer private care, but I also look at their individual needs. Before I even meet a dog, I ask for all their information, all their likes and dislikes etc. because I then utilize that information to ask more focused questions at the meet and greet, and then I can strategize on the best ways for me to support this dog during my time with them. I pride myself on building strong bonds with all the dogs I work with, and in turn form great relationships with their humans too. I love to document everything via social media. I think being able to see the highlights of how your dog spent their day, including all their funny moments, really creates this strong connection and it’s probably my favorite part of my business.
I’ve certainly had pitfalls on this journey. Transitioning people over to my new way of doing things was a learning curve, and I had to get comfortable with setting my rates and sticking to them. In the beginning, I felt uncomfortable raising my rates or even discussing them, but as a couple of my clients keep telling me I should be charging more for the kind of service I provide. Additionally, charging more has allowed me to limit how many dogs I take on at one time, which means more individualized dog care, and I had to learn that.
I knew nothing about marketing going in and I’m still learning that piece, but the more confident I become in what I am providing the easier it gets to promote myself. Therefore, I also started a dog training certification program last fall with ‘School for the dogs’ in New York City. I do have to shout them out because I’d been considering for a while about taking a course with Karen Pryor who is renowned in the dog training world, but I was on Instagram one day and I saw School for the dogs mention their professional training course, I had previously heard good things about them from my business coach, and then I learned that one of the founders had trained with Karen Pryor, and so that was that. Honestly, I’ve been mind-blown with the quality of their training, with an in-depth study into dog behavior, as well as the best ways to teach dogs, and build strong relationships. So, once I’ve graduated this course, I do intend to incorporate it into my services.
My business is still in its infancy; I’m still learning, but it’s exciting. I even completed a graphic design course so I could fully realize my brand aesthetic – I wanted my business to look and feel like me, so I took a personal hand in that. I switched it up a couple of times in the beginning before I settled on the design I have now. Then I started selling Merchandise – matching items for dog parents and dogs, which is something I’m still figuring out, but I really enjoy it. I love ascertaining what works and what doesn’t or how I can adapt it to work for my vision for my business.
I think the most important thing for me is having fun, and setting my own rules – starting my own business really was a lesson in dealing with myself, honing in on those difficult scary places you try to avoid, but you can’t when you are your own employee, you really have to go ok well these are my strengths and weaknesses, this is where I need help, and here is where I need to really take care of myself so I don’t combust. For me it was my inner monologue- I wasn’t always very kind to myself and I had to really work on learning to be grateful every day for all the little wins as well as the big ones and to welcome the mistakes for teaching me how to do better.

I really delved into a Breathwork practice this past year, and it was a game changer for me in terms of managing daily life – I am so grateful for it. I think no matter what happens, the risks you take, whether they work out in the moment or not, they are all steps to the next thing and the next thing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

If we are talking about LA, I am still a tourist there. I’m heading over next year for SDCC, but my favorite places that I have visited in the past are Venice beach, and Hollywood. I trained as an actor, so I’m also a massive film geek, and I would pretty much live at Universal Studios.

If we’re talking about New York City, the Harry Potter Store is a definite must see for me, because again I am a massive nerd, and then probably little Italy for the food, and a boat trip for the skyline views. Plus the Met because the rooftop terrace is gorgeous, and libraries because I love to read books in beautiful places.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’m going to mention therapy here. I was in therapy when I was quite young, even before it was deemed to be an acceptable way to manage life. I think it steered me on a path to finding peace within myself, it certainly pushed me to leave my hometown and travel the world.

A book that really changed my worldview was “You are a badass at making money” by Jen Sincero. Before I read this book, I thought money was bad and everything was too expensive. I don’t anymore; I believe that money is energy, and I can always make more of it, and I look at expenses more as investments in myself. I think the way we view money can really affect all the decisions we make for ourselves, whether we take the risks we really want because we trust things will work out.
I’m also going to shoutout my amazing Business Coach Shanna Tyler – she taught me the importance of building connections with others, instead of trying to do everything solo. She also introduced me to ‘Six Degrees Society’, a networking organization founded by Emily Merrell, which made me love ‘networking’, because I met so many amazing women from all backgrounds and businesses. I learned so much about self-care routines, and boundaries. It really helped me setup my business to work for me from the beginning.

Website: www.magicalpawers.com

Instagram: @magicalpawers

Linkedin: Melanie Freeman

Image Credits
The initial pic was taken by Christopher Cruz and edited by me.

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