A Successful Career Change

After walking away from his 25 year career in technology and determined to never sit in another Zoom meeting for the rest of his life, Dave starting dog walking in January 2024 to pay down the bills piling up on his dining room table. It was an inauspicious start date, as Dave was to discover that picking up dog dirt in the rain in February for $12 a dog was as terrible and humbling an experience as it sounds.

But then a funny thing happened, Dave discovered he liked walking dogs. This made sense, as he always enjoyed walking his own dog (pictured left) but he didn't realize that other people would pay him to walk theirs. He started out with a modest goal "Become the best dog walker in Marblehead."

Dave started out with the target of making $100 a day five days a week, and that grew to $150, then $200, and then the week expanded to seven days a week, evenings, weekends, and holidays. No job was refused, all offers taken. Then Dave started dog boarding and found it was possible to board five dogs at a time and not go insane. He developed systems for handling them all and got really good at his job. Now he has employees!

It was a tough road but Dave enjoyed the process so much that he wished he had done it earlier. There is tremendous satisfaction in the work - the dog is happy, the client is happy, and Dave is happy to do something he enjoys. Everyone wins.