Today, we’d like to introduce you to Autumn Childs.
Hi Autumn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I started pet care in 2021 as a side hustle, never intending on it being more than that — I had a career in education that I loved.
My family moved to Tampa in 2022, and I started to do pet care more or less full-time; I started Much Joy Pet Services in August 2023. Despite loving the transition to pet care, I resisted starting the LLC for a long time: I never saw myself as a business owner. I didn’t have that background.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working with pets and their owners is the easy part for me. I have known how to support individual needs for all my years in education. I also find so much joy in caring for pets and their idiosyncrasies and serving others. That’s not been hard.
Learning how to run a business has been a challenge for me. I worked all my life in very traditional work situations, and now I have to be “business-minded”: how do I make effective and efficient moves that grow the business?
It’s also been a challenge to deal with the inconsistencies in providing service. Dealing with the wax and wane of demand is new for me, as well as trying to figure out how to best address that.
As you know, we’re big fans of Much Joy LLC and Much Joy Pet Services. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Much Joy Pet Services provides a variety of pet care services across Tampa: dog walks, dog boarding, pet drop-ins, doggy daycare, pet transport, and house sitting (overnight stays in clients’ homes). Our philosophy is to provide a safe, happy, and stimulating environment for pets that gives owners peace of mind, knowing their beloved pets are well cared for and their pet’s uniqueness and individual needs are recognized, served, and cherished.
Our promise is to provide loving, safe, and personalized service and to treat pets with the same love and care we give our pets. But we are particularly known for the photos we provide clients of their pet’s care, which is the third part of our promise to keep clients informed and connected. I’ve had more than one client say they would print and frame the pictures we sent them! So many clients say they can see their pet is happy while in our care just from our pictures.
The thing about the Much Joy Pet Services brand is that we revel in the funny and heartwarming parts of pet care (because there can be so many feels; just check out our Instagram or TikTok!). And we love the eccentric qualities of every pet. These things bring us so much joy — clients can see that, and it keeps them coming back to us for pet care.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson is to be willing and ready for new opportunities. I have thousands (and thousands) of photos of pets from all the care we provide, and I had the opportunity to use those photos for a Christmas collection and a Valentine’s collection of merchandise.
This has led to Much Joy Pet Services now having an Etsy shop, and we sell merchandise for pet owners and lovers that salutes our pets’ quirks and the connection between people and pets. We have a limited edition spring collection out now, and we will soon be adding a Pets 4 Pride collection from mid-May through June, as well as a summer collection. We have added a new, nearly 4-hour video of lofi music for pets called ‘Spring Flowers’ just this week. The shop also has a dog-centric and cat-focused collections available at all times.
Another pivot was our YouTube channel. We know so many pets can have anxiety when their owners are away. So we have videos of chill music for pets to vibe to, and we continue to add to the channel.
The Etsy shop and the YouTube channel are a living embodiment of our philosophy – the joy and well-being of pets are at the heart of everything we do. They also illustrate how you have to be open and flexible to the things life throws your way!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muchjoypetservices/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MuchJoyPetServices
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@muchjoypetservices
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MuchJoyPetServices
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MuchJoyPetServices
