About Jon
My
Story
I grew up in a house with dogs and I've never quite been able to bear one without them.
Since you're here reading this, I assume you love dogs as much as I do. I've never spent a significant portion of my life without them. So when I've experienced breaks in my career, I've always chosen to work with them to fill those gaps; I became a professional dog groomer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and later became (and still am) a regular volunteer at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ.
My "real job" was as a 15-year veteran corporate healthcare leader. Most recently, my territory saw me in charge of the entire Northeast; from DC up to Boston, with 13 professionals reporting directly to me. Although the pay and benefits were excellent and I loved my team, the stress and anxiety of such responsibilities wore on me. I would sit in hotel rooms, airports, and offices, waiting for my next meeting to start, waiting to get back on the road, wondering when I'd get to slake my passion by working with animals again. It was starting to look like the answer to that question would be "never".
When my role was unexpectedly eliminated in late 2024 due to corporate downsizing, I found myself with an opportunity: Do I seek my next corporate role? Or do I finally take a shot at what I've been daydreaming about for years: Building my own pet care business with what I've learned?
When one door closes, another always opens.
Pet care is a crowded, competitive space. There are plenty of passionate, dedicated people operating within it. But still, I felt I could carve a niche for myself: By taking what I know about business development, client relationship management, and professionalism from the intensely competitive world of corporate healthcare and applying the indefatigable work ethic, extreme accountability, and minute attention to detail that it requires to small-scale, one-on-one animal handling where my passion will always bleed through.
But I'm not just bringing corporate leadership experience to the pet care world: I'm also a dyed-in-the-wool professional animal handler. I'm Red Cross-certified in animal CPR and first aid. I've completed and passed LECA Academy's leash manners course alongside my own dog. I continue to train with St. Hubert's AWC in leash training, doggy day care, and cat care/cattery management. And I've spent time previously as a professional dog groomer operating in a fast-paced retail salon environment.
I aim to offer something that nobody else does: An utterly professional, undeniably passionate experience for a reasonable cost from a professionally trained pet care specialist.
I want to bring all of this experience together into one affordable package with the goal of generating a sense of thankful disbelief in my clients that my services come at as little a cost as they do. I want them to have total peace of mind that their pets and their homes are in capable hands. I want to leave every space just a little bit better than "it seems like he wasn't even here!" after each and every sitting—whether it's one night or one month of duration.
You don't have to pay "luxury pet resorts" thousands of dollars to keep your dog in a crate 24/7 with one insufficient play session per day while you're traveling. You don't have to worry about leaving your pups home for 9-10 hours each day while you're at work. You have enough to worry about: Join the dozens of folks in the North Jersey area in letting me become your dog's next best friend.
