Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacia Biel and Tracey Leone.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Stacia, Tracey. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Tracey and I met in the woods walking our labs each morning, and as we got to know each other better we talked about how we could turn our love and passion for dogs into something financially plausible. We did research on how to start a dog walking company online, consulting with another local dog walking company, and within 2 months of our initial conversation, launched Active Waggers. We decided that we wanted to differentiate ourselves from other dog walkers by offering active, off-leash hikes in the woods, but that we would also do normal dog walking as well.
We both knew from the start that we did not want to do it full time and that we only wanted to take on enough clients and dogs to make it worth our efforts. We have been thrilled with the response thus far and love our clients and their dogs.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s actually been so smooth that we’ve been surprised and delighted at how easy it has been to start our own business so quickly. We’ve been extremely lucky with our dogs and dog owners and work with some fabulous 4-legged (and 2-legged) friends. I suppose the only thing we’ve struggled a bit with is how to keep it to part-time. The requests keep pouring in, and as neither one of us has been able to do it full time, it’s been a bit of a juggle as we don’t like to turn dogs away.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Active Waggers is a dog hiking/walking/boarding company. We specialize in active walks, hikes and runs with dogs, preferably off-leash in the woods. We can also do regular dog walking and older dog/puppy relief, but our niche is the dog hike. We feel strongly from our own experience that an active dog is a happy dog, and have made that our tagline. Our dog owners tell us that they love seeing how happy their dogs are to see us when we get to their houses in the morning, and that their dogs are tired and happy when they return. And a great benefit to what we do is socialize our own dogs with others.
What were you like growing up?
I was an only child, and growing up in the 70s, 80s and 90s I was given a lot of independence. I worked after school even before it was legal to work, babysitting and helping out in my parents’ friend’s restaurant. I grew up with a German Shepard, who died when I was a young teenager. I was very attached to him, and for a long time my dad did not want to get a new dog. Instead he would take care of his cousin’s dog.
I loved to travel too, and I was lucky that my parents and I were able to see most of the US driving in our various vans. When I left home I lived abroad in Spain for many years and moved back to the Boston area where I’ve been ever since. I am a huge hiker and backpacker and lead adventure travel trips in my spare time (ha!) for the Appalachian Mountain Club. I love to travel still and enjoy heading out to the woods with my family and dog.
Contact Info:
- Address: Winchester, MA
- Website: www.activewaggers.com
- Phone: 617-835-6532
- Email: info@activewaggers.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/activewaggers
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/active-waggers-winchester
Image Credit:
Stacia Biel
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