Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Peretti.
Hi Kayla, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Gosh – where to start!
Like many endeavors, this business is the culmination of years spent honing in on the nexus of what I love and what I am good at. Hailing originally from the magnificent green and blue mountains of Washington state, I learned early on that nature keeps me balanced and grounded.
The cramped world of Big Tech in the Seattle area eventually left me feeling confined, and lacking a sense of fulfillment, so I packed all that I could fit into my car and moved south. One long road trip, a new wife, and a serendipitously-found foster dog later (Jupiter, the face of D.W.S.T.!), I landed in the eucalyptus tree-lined hills of San Diego county.
Since then, I have been so fortunate to spend the last 5+ years under the watchful, caring eyes of some of San Diego’s leading daycare, boarding, and training professionals, only to fully realize how much more I want to give to others by serving them and their dogs. What originally began as a job to pay the bills, has become a study of community, compassion, and relationship.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No! Haha! Much of my “previous life” in Seattle meant such a lack of freedom, both in expression and action. I had to end a 15-year marriage, redefine what it meant to be wholly myself–living within my Truth–and breaking free from other people’s dreams for me. The journey has taught me so much about what it means to define one’s own route, alongside the wonderful friends and family who have guided and carried me the entire way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have found the most intricate, nuanced, and beautiful connection to lovely people through their dog (or their dog’s behavior, quirks, needs/wants, etc.). People I would have never crossed paths with if not for their dogs, have now become my clients. I provide connection, comfort, trust, and an extension of loving care that dog owners would wish for their pup.
So, to fill in that gap for folks, I provide dog enrichment services, uniquely specialized and personalized for each dog and their needs–whatever that may be!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Totally! I moved to San Diego with everything I owned in my car, without a job nor a place to live. I just believed that I would find my way, at whatever cost.
I was fortunate enough to have been connected to an acquaintance-of-a-acquaintance who moved out of her place with a couple of months left on the lease. So, I squatted in an empty apartment, slept on a lumpy mattress, and tried my best to make connections where I could.
I was very lonely, and scared, but determined.
Seredipitously, I was approved for my own first studio apartment in Hillcrest–still without a steady job! I drove for Lyft, mostly. I had zero furniture and slept on a used, broken couch for the first 6 months.
After about a year (at that time), I stopped trying to apply to jobs I knew I didn’t want, and simply asked myself: “Kay, what would you just be happy to do every day?”
And I blurted outloud to myself, “I love dogs, and would LOVE to work with them for my life.”
So, I got my first job at a doggy daycare–Dog Days San Diego–and with that I began to build the foundation that has become my own dream for Dog Walks & Soul Talks.
Pricing:
- In-person pack hikes: $42/person
- 30-minute dog walks: $26
- 60-minute do walks: $38
- 30/60-minute customizable drop-in visits: $28/$40, respectively
- Need something else? Reach out; I’m happy to help!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dogwalksandsoultalks.com
- Instagram: @dogwalks_soultalks
- Facebook: @DogWalksSoulTalks
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dog-walks-and-soul-talks-san-diego
