Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Rohan.
Julia, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I haven’t traveled into an office to work a normal job for someone else since 2009. I do remember my last day however. At the time, I worked in fundraising for a small Montessori school, and while I enjoyed parts of my responsibilities, it was never going to be a good fit.
But it only took one full day of funemployment for feelings of doubt and failure to sink in. So I buckled down on my budget and eventually started taking odd jobs to pay the bills. At some point, I applied for a dog walking position for a super small company out of Wicker Park. I got the job, intended on using the time before and after my route to job hunt, but then fell madly in love with the work I was doing. After nearly two and a half years of living far below the poverty line, I opened Rover-Time.
Consequently it’s all working out. I’m over five years in to running this business and having never worked harder, I learned to let the unknown unfold when I became a dog walker and that has an impact on my life as an entrepreneur. I still appreciate unplanned moments because I’m equally thrilled when my entrepreneurial light flashes on and I take an idea to the next level. Because I can.
Most of us feel like we need to know it all – that we should have everything about ourselves and our futures figured out all the time. But I began to realize that it’s okay to live in a place where we don’t have all the answers, and that the unknown is actually where the magic of our lives unfolds. As long as you’re taking action to move in the direction of who you are and what you love, you’ll be presented with opportunities that you probably could have never planned for yourself.
Great, 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?
A smooth road? No, not one bit. I wish I could reflect on a year that felt easy actually.
Many of the struggles point back to this: I never opened a business centered on loving pets to learn labor and employment law or price workers comp policies. To be honest if I knew my job description would evolve into what it is today, I may have never launched. But I get up and at it each day because I genuinely care for the customers that entrust us with their beloved animals and I value the people that make Rover-Time successful.
Please tell us about Rover-Time Dog Walking & Pet Sitting.
Rover-Time is a team of vetted and experienced pet professionals focused on providing a high standard of care for Chicago’s dogs and cats. We specialize in personal attention and delivering peace of mind to hard working pet parents. I think we stand out from our competition because of our smooth-running office but we still provide the charm of a boutique, small pet care company. We know our human customers as well as we know the animals we serve and we all sincerely love our jobs.
I’m proud of the fantastic reputation we have and that was created by the amazing team of walkers and sitters that deliver service every day, around the clock. I also think we have an unmatched team culture. That bond we’ve created has built a supportive and enriching work environment for the team. It’s certainly what recenters me on the hard days.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Jessie was my first dog and likely the reason I do what I do for a living. Aside from the love I had for my parents, he was the first thing I remembered loving with ease and few conditions. I met Jessie when I was eight or nine years old. My younger brother Dan found him resting in the neighbor’s yard, a regular occurrence for our block. Growing up, I remember a rotation of discarded strays, some of which we temporarily took in and fed until we brought the dog to a vet’s office or shelter.
When Dan found Jessie, he proclaimed to Mom and I that he had found a lamb. The idea of this intrigued me so I followed him back to the neighbor’s house and sure enough, a little lamb was in the yard! I remember us bringing the lamb to our toy room, and my mom examined him and declared he was actually a dog, one that we could keep there until my father got home from work. Jessie ended up coming across differently to my parents. They ultimately had the final call on whether or not we could keep an animal and this one, well he apparently listened to my folks better than their own kids, so that’s how we ended up welcoming our first family pet.
The day he became our dog was the first day I really started collecting memories about my childhood. Before his arrival, I didn’t remember a lot of details about life, possibly just because of my age, but suddenly more about playing outside and leaving for school stood out. I remember visits with certain friends or close cousins better; holidays began getting more memorable; even getting sent to my bedroom by Mom and Dad became sort of fun because of Jessie. My mom quotes a lot of things I said as a kid. She recently remembered me telling her that Jessie was who I told everything to in those days.
Jessie also influenced the young adult I became. When I was in junior high, several Saturdays were spent at the only no-kill shelter close to home. My Mom or Dad would drop me there for hours. Eventually, I became a pretty hardcore vegetarian, which lasted about seven years. When I was in high school, a time predating the Internet, I remember phoning PETA’s headquarters and asking to speak with one of their most outlandish advocates, Dan Mathews. I wanted to interview him for my sophomore speech class and he gracefully answered all of my questions. The assignment was to speak on the person we admired most.
Jessie’s last days with us were spent during senior year of high school. I was working as a bagger at grocery store then. I can remember the day I said goodbye to him very clearly. My supervisor came to me and told me I had a call. I took it and it was my Mom. She asked me to come home because, “It was time.” I remember getting in my car and driving home first to meet everyone and then following my parents to Jessie’s vet. When I got there it the family’s intention to spend a little time with him before he was euthanized. I think I was the last one to say goodbye. Jessie’s kennel, where he was resting, was one of the bigger ones fixed at ground level. I crawled inside it and laid with him, bringing him closer to me. I made sure to tell him, once more; that he was the first thing I loved. And that he was my best friend.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4210 N Monticello Avenue
- Website: rover-time.com
- Phone: 773-242-9176
- Email: support@rover-time.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rover_time/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rovertime
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rover_time
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rover-time-dog-walking-and-pet-sitting-chicago
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/10512545/
Image Credit:
Photographed by Thomas | © 2016 TK Photography | www.tkphotographychicago.com
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