Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbey and Kris Mobley-Daigle.
Hi Abbey and Kris, 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?
Kris and I originally met while working at another dog daycare together, and during that time her apartment caught fire, requiring her to find a new home. It has always been Kris’ dream to open her own doggy daycare and moving into a new home opened that opportunity. I decided to move in with her and help her run the business! We started out with only a couple of clients who we’d known throughout our years working in the dog daycare industry, and we also signed up with Rover to help find new clients. For the first year we only had about four regular clients attending daycare, and we had a few random boarding dogs throughout the year. It definitely was not an easy start and we did struggle for a while. With the help of our family, friends, and our clients, we slowly started upgrading our home to be more dog-friendly, and ultimately adding a building in our backyard just for the dogs! With the new upgrades, that gave us an opportunity to take in more clients. We started building a social media presence and attending events to get our name out there. I even built a website from scratch! With the help of social media, and our clients referring their friends and family, we started gaining a steady clientele! We also started working with our local rescue community, offering low-cost boarding and training to their rescue pups to help them find forever homes! We are very proud of how far we have come in four years, and we hope to show people that starting a successful business is possible!
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?
It has not been a smooth road at all. We started quite literally from nothing. We had a very limited amount of space and funds so we had to ask for a lot of help from our family and friends. We did a lot of searching for free things that we could use for the business and even ended up grabbing some free office cubicles and modifying them into dog kennels. Our biggest struggle was our finances for sure, it was extremely difficult for both of us to live off of one small salary. There were many times we wanted to give up and throw in the towel, but we just kept pushing forward because we knew it would be worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Familiar Friends?
We offer lots of different programs for dogs, that way each client can decide what works best for them and their pup. We are also still a small daycare, so we keep it very personal. Each dog in our care is treated like one of our own, and since we do keep it small they get a lot more one-on-one attention. We understand that each dog is unique, just like people, so we make sure that we cater to each individual dog’s needs.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Absolutely! First, we wouldn’t be anything without our clients, and their support means the world to us! We love all of them so much and we are so grateful for everything they do for us! Next, our family, they are always there when we need help! Much thanks to our biggest supporters, Kris’ aunt Vickie, and Grandma Betty, our moms Karen and Peggy, and my dad Lupe! Also our best friends, Tracy, Alicia, and Kameron were always there to lend a helping hand!
Contact Info:
- Email: familiarfriends.htx@gmail.com
- Website: https://familiarfriendshtx.wixsite.com/website
- Instagram: @familiarfriends.htx
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familiarfriendshtx
Image Credits
Abbey Mobley
