Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Jaurigue.
Michael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We started back in 2016 with a mission. To get us jobs that we would love going to everyday. When brainstorming up what to do, I realized that our true happiness comes from our dog Sparky! That’s when it hit me, let’s make a dog walking company! But not just any dog walking company, let’s make on that makes a difference. A long time ago I used to work for this company that sold puppies, it was terrible and hard to see them not find homes. I thought about how we adopted our Sparky and the steps it took to get there. I thought about how much happiness Sparky has shown to me and my family and right there, that’s when it hit me. Looking at all the steps to get Sparky, I realized why not create a business that works through the steps with the customers on both ends, adopting a dog and walking their dog. This way everyone can get a little Sparky Happiness in their life, just like us!
Fast forward to today, we created a company called Sparky Steps! We are Chicago dog walkers on a social mission. Our social mission is to help shelter animals find forever homes and provide pet care services like dog walking at the same time! We help shelter animals by volunteering at Shelters, we walk them, take pictures, and showcase them on our social media! Some have said, choose one or the other, a business or a non-profit, it will be easier. But I say why not do both? A social mission can’t survive solely through donations alone; a revenue stream makes it sustainable for the long run. Our revenue stream that allows us to continue our social mission is our pet care services like dog walking!
So, in the end, not only are we working with new best friends everyday but we also aim to make an impact! This way every day we wake up we know every step we take serves a purpose, to serve animals. Through daily practice of working towards the better day, we are becoming happier and fulfilled in our day to day lives. We wish that others will join us in our mission, to create a strong community of animal lovers and people who care. It’s visionary and out there but I think it will be worth it and maybe just maybe we can help find an animal a forever home while providing some awesome pet care services!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Obstacles and challenges oh yes! It has been a bumpy road and the learning curve has been great. I recently graduated from Roosevelt University with a Bachelors of Business in Social Entrepreneurship. They taught me many things, just nothing that was technical I learned more theory and vision based, I guess that’s why most people have called me a visionary so far. Fresh out of college I had to learn many things like marketing, website development and design. Yes, you could say Google is my new best friend. It hasn’t been an easy road, and opening a business with a partner who’s also your mother is also not easy. Although I’m proud to say we created something great and we are here today, it’s still going and growing bigger and brighter every day! Cheers to the future!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sparky Steps story. Tell us more about the business.
Sparky Steps LLC is a dog walking company on a social mission. We aim to help shelter animals find forever homes through word of mouth marketing. We also aim to provide the best dog walking services in the city through personalization and open communication while creating lasting bonds and new family members. We specialize in dog walking, after all we did name it after our dog Sparky. We could have named it after our cat(s) that we had in the past, Max or Delilah, but Sparky won. We do also take care of cats, overnight care for animals, pet taxi services, poo-poo pick up, and more! What sets us apart from other dog waking companies is that we have a social mission, so every walk you purchase will lead to a shelter animal getting walked as well. With every walk they get through us, they get a shout out on our social media and hence a better chance of getting adopted, plus some good exercise as well!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck, is there such thing as luck, that’s the question. All I can say is that I’m lucky I’m alive today. But it was plenty of hard work and still is hard work! Although, if I found a four-leaf clover on the floor you could bet I would pick it up, you know, just in case.
Pricing:
- 15 Min Dog Walk – $12
- 30 Min Dog Walk – $15
- 30 Min Cat Visit – $15
Contact Info:
- Website: sparkysteps.com
- Phone: 847-845-8854
- Email: info@sparkysteps.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/sparkysteps
- Facebook: facebook.com/sparkysteps
- Twitter: twitter.com/sparkysteps
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sparky-steps-chicago
- Other: sparkysteps.com/community
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