Renee Mann, owner of
North Shore Pet Sitters, has been around animals all her life. “I
remember two dogs we had growing up; one was a shepherd named
Pharaoh, and the other a dachshund named Fritzie. They were both
so smart and loyal.” When Renee left home after high school,
she moved to Kansas City and fell in love. “I found a tiny
kitten at a state park that climbed right into my lap. I named
her Roadside, and I loved her more than anything. She and
her son, Ace, lived by my side for the next 18 years. We went
through so many changes and moved from place to place over the
years, but they were the constant in my life. They were not just
members of my family, they were my family.”
After four years she moved back to Chicago
and put herself through Northwestern University. After graduation,
she started working in the nascent telecommunications field, and
ended up staying for almost 20 years. “The last corporate
job I had was at Tribune Company. I was there for about 7 years
as a telecom project manager and analyst. There was a lot of travel
and a great salary, but my heart just wasn’t in it.”
In 1996, she quit the corporate world and launched North
Shore Pet Sitters. “It’s the kind of thing people dream about all
their lives, having a job they love. It never feels like work to me.” Since then, much has changed. But some things never will. “I work with the best people in the world – animal lovers! What could be better? I get to take care of all
these wonderful pets and love them like my own. We’ve worked with many of them
since they were young.”
One of the things Renee discovered in starting her own business
was that she had a real talent for the organizational aspects of
it. “It’s the project manager in me.” She also
developed a keen eye for hiring pet sitters. “My sitters are,
quite simply, the best! All of them have been with me for years.
They love animals as much as I do. They’re smart and organized.
They go the extra mile to make sure the clients and their pets are
happy. Our staff is a huge part of why North Shore Pet Sitters is
so successful, and I make sure they feel appreciated every day.”
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