Meet Quest Maker Joan Hopkins
Quest Makers are women in their 40s and beyond who've declared
"now it's my time," and then set off on their own journeys to realize their dreams. Every month a Quest Maker is featured in the FREE e-newsletter, Your Next Quest Chronicles. Click here to enjoy archived issues.
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Quest Maker Joan Hopkins
From taking a sabbatical
To leaping into a life she loves
I first learned about Joan Hopkins from reading Changing Course, one of my favorite newsletters. Joan, like me, had attended one of Valerie Young and Barbara Winter's Work at What You Love seminars. When she began working at what she loved, Joan sent them an update, which Valerie included in her newsletter.
In 2002, Joan was able to take a 4-week paid sabbatical from her job and used that time to do some serious soul searching. While on her sabbatical Joan turned 50. She wanted to give herself a meaningful birthday gift and embarked on a week-long volunteer vacation working with animals, a life-long passion of hers. As a result, she became interested in becoming an entrepreneur working with animals when she reached her mid-fifties.
Thanks to her sister-in-law (and now business partner!), Joan made the leap from corporate America to her first love much sooner than she expected!
At what point in your life did you decide to embark on your quest?
My journey to change my life actually began in the summer of 2004, when I had the opportunity to take an 8-week sabbatical from my job as a project manager for one of the largest health plans in Massachusetts. My intent was to do more traveling at the time but my husband couldn't take time off from work. I was searching for something I could do on my own that would be meaningful to me. It was going to be my 50 birthday present to myself.
I had heard about Best Friends Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, a few years earlier and received their magazine and donated whenever we could. If anybody has an opportunity to visit them (in person) or on the Internet, they are just an awesome organization. When I found out that they offered a week-long course about how to start an animal sanctuary, I decided to go. It was actually a chance to see every bit of the program, to meet like-minded people, do some volunteering at the same time and to glean all the information they had. At the time, a lot of the people who had started the sanctuary were still there.
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I have never worked with an organization that was so open with any information you wanted. If you wanted to have plans for how they built their buildings, they'd give you the architectural plans. If you wanted a copy of their charter, they'd give it to you. They would share anything with you.
When I was growing up I thought if you wanted to work with animals you had to be a vet and that wasn't my calling. I was never a good classroom student so that was never an option for me. So I really never looked at all the options there were to work with animals. Being at Best Friends was good exposure because all the people there were coming from different backgrounds. Some were in the animal welfare business, some had started up shelters or rescue organizations on their own, some weren't sure what they wanted to do. It was a wonderful group to hang out with every night and bounce different ideas off of them.
One of the things they did at Best Friends was to give you a chance to rotate through the different jobs, including those on the business end, like finance, and that's where I found myself most interested. I realized that there were many, many opportunities in the animal world I had just never thought of.
Although the time at the sanctuary was great, it made me realize I didn't want to work in the non-profit world. I enjoy the business aspect of work and was drawn to the idea of being an entrepreneur.
During those 8 weeks, I did a lot of research and soul searching. The sabbatical stirred a lot of emotions and made me quite uncomfortable with the life I was living. In my mind, however, I wasn't going to do anything for another five years.
Did your quest precipitate the sabbatical or did the sabbatical precipitate you wanting to make changes?
That's a little bit of the chicken and egg to me. I'm not sure. When I first started in the working world, I worked with animals as an animal technician. Then I went into corporate America because of financial reasons. My plan was to stay in corporate American till I was about 55-57 and then do what I wanted to do. My love has always been with animals and specifically dogs and cats. I knew I wanted to do something with animals; I just wasn't sure what. In February of 2005, my sister-in-law Karen approached me about starting up a dog kennel business, much sooner than the five years I'd planned.
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Joan and Karen |
We ended up purchasing an existing business that includes dog boarding, doggie daycare, grooming and dog training. The sale was finalized a little over four years ago on March 13, 2006.
The original name for the business was American Canine and we have left the sign up and kept the website address. Our official business name though is Many Paws Pet Villa, Inc. Karen's husband came up with our new name, which is a play on our menopausal years! We just have a hoot with it.
Looking back, what's one thing you wish you had known as you set off on your journey?
What I wish I had known was not to worry so much. Not to be as scared as I was initially. That was probably the biggest thing. I was very afraid of losing my salary. That was frightening me to know we didn't have that income anymore. I have always been a person who is really self reliant. I just have always had a job. Being the employer was a little frightening to me.
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Bella |
What is the one essential quality that you'd tell women to pack for their own path?
I would just say your sense of humor. It's trying not to take everything so seriously. I really think humor is what gets us through most things. It certainly makes most things more enjoyable. And a little bit of trusting yourself.
What have you learned from working with animals?
The one thing with animals is they are very intuitive. If you're with them, you have to be with them; you can't be thinking about the mortgage or what you've left undone at home. It was a lesson I had to learn. Once I let my mind go somewhere else than where I was that's when I would have a problem and something wouldn't go right. You just lose your focus. The animals pick up on it and they act on it.
What is it like being in business with a partner?
We do different aspects of the business. We are somewhat like firefighters. We each work 48-hour shifts. When we are there, we stay at the kennel so that someone is there all night.
It has been a process. We had known each other a while but it was the first time we had worked with each other. Karen and I spend time with each other when we do a shift change. We have a little notebook to keep notes. We each do different aspects of the business. We divvied up the responsibilities depending on what we are strongest at. And that's worked out well. The kennel is about an 1 hour and 15 minutes from our homes, which is a real plus because you are not running home to do something. It's easier to just be there when we are there.
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| Lulu before and after grooming |
Karen and I also often talk when the other one is on duty. When she is working, I don't really worry about the kennel and when I'm working I think she feels the same way. We've left it in good hands.
Can you describe how you dealt with any obstacles on your adventure?
Dealing with obstacles for me means taking a step back and figuring out what the problem really is and how to deal with it, whether it’s a staff issue or we need to change something procedure-wise or being away from home and leaving your husband to hold things down.
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Boarding guests |
Probably the biggest way I deal with obstacles is communication. Sitting down and looking at an obstacle as unemotionally as possible. Resolution doesn’t come for me until I remove the emotions, hear what the other person's issue is, figure out what my stumbling block is and then try to work it out.
We did have a lot of obstacles when we first went to buy the business. Trying to get financing, trying to get the prior owner to do some things in a timely manner, trying to get our lawyers to talk to the other lawyer, dealing with the bank. That was just persistence. I am not someone who likes to nag a person but I became a very good nag during that time. Everyone had other things on their plate and it was too easy to let things slide. Both Karen and I kind of became the resident nags and finally just set a deadline; if everything didn't get resolved by a certain date we were just walking away.
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A no-stress dog |
What changes has this brought to your life?
Much less stress! This is much more physical work than I have done in years. On a positive side I lost weight. I'm much healthier in mind and body than when I was in the corporate world. I had one of those jobs where I was in meetings for more than 50% of my day. I'd come home and log onto my computer at night and answer emails. It is just a completely different world.
Working with animals, the stress level is so different. You are still dealing with people. We have to please our paying customers and there are times someone is not happy and you deal with it. But there's nothing like dogs.
Each one is unique and all animals have their own personalities. We are not a huge kennel. We're large enough that we have some extra help and we are personal enough where we end up knowing your dogs. Even during our busiest times, we only take so many dogs that are new to us so we cvan get to know them.
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Cainin |
How did you make your dream happen?
After Karen and I decided to go into business, I was fortunate that I could tell my boss in advance and work out an arrangement that worked well for Tufts and for me. Since I knew well in advance I was going to move on, we refinanced our house and applied for the biggest line of home equity credit that we could. I was also able to pick up my husband's health insurance plan.
Tell me a bit about the sabbatical you were able to take.
During the '90s and early '00s when it was so hard to find good staff, Tufts offered employees who had been there for at least 7 years up to 4 weeks of sabbatical leave. You had to return to work for maybe 1-2 years. I was so excited and eager to take advantage of that opportunity. While I was on sabbatical I got paid a percentage of my salary for 4 weeks. I also had enough vacation time saved up to extend the sabbatical to 8 weeks. Another plus was that you were off enjoying yourself and you still had a paycheck coming in the entire time. It was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity.
What has helped you stay on your quest’s path?
I think owning my own business was an important step I wanted to take at some point. I never really thought of the kennel till Karen came up with the idea. She had to kind of talk me into it a little bit. It took some convincing to get me to really believe that it was something we could do and make a living at, that we could survive and actually flourish. We have done very well through the last couple of years which have been tough for so many businesses.
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Dudley |
I think my quest is working with animals. I am not sure I want to do this particular adventure forever although I love it immensely. You are tied to a certain location and to a certain place. At some point I see wanting to do some different things but I always see me working with animals.
What's been the secret to reaching your goals?
I don't know if I see it as a secret. For me personally, what I finally learned is that it’s the journey and not the destination. The goal to own a business and to have the kennel is just part of the journey for me.
Barbara Sher talks about scanners. I'm truly a scanner and that was a hard thing for me to commit to this. I wondered: Does this mean I am closing the door to all the other options and all the other things I still want to do? I'm not getting younger and there are a million things more I want to do. For me it was just to really appreciate the journey and to not just say: "I have done this and it's over." It's appreciating each moment and every day for just what it is.
I love getting Barbara Sher's tips when she sends them out. She is a fascinating woman. When I first went to the Working at What You Love seminar with Valerie Young and Barbara Winter, it was just a joy to listen to them. I actually took my husband along with me and he stayed for half of it and then said he was going fishing. He has been very supportive so he gets to go fishing whenever he can!
I also have the audio tapes from the Making Dreams Happen workshop the three women gave one year and I used to listen to them religiously on my drive to Westport. It's like sitting down with some good friends and getting good advice. They are just so easy to listen to.
What's the best advice for your quest that you've ever received?
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I have gotten so much good advice. I think of everything, from listening to those tapes and different people I have listened to. My chiropractor, who is in business for herself, suggested I listen to one tape early on, Michael Gerber's “E-Myth Mastery” – and I would strongly recommend it once you are in business – it is a great reminder you can’t do everything. It was about being an entrepreneur and how you just aren't the technician, you are also the manager. I have it on an Audio CD and Karen and I shared it back and forth quite a bit because we both found ourselves being technicians, being the one to make the pies, doing the work versus making sure the business was running.
Everyone I talked to was encouraging early on. I didn't' have anybody tell me: "No, you don't want to do this." Listening to what has happened to a lot of other people, I was very blessed I didn't have any Chicken Littles in my life.
Is there a particular quote, a movie, a book or a person that has sustained you?
Whenever I get a little frazzled or a little like "Oh my goodness, I'm not good enough," it's Louise Hay. I found her tapes when I came back from my sabbatical and I was back to my every day life. I was a little bit discontented with everything, with myself and everybody. I was probably not the most pleasant person to be around.
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Louise Hay wrote the book, You Can Heal Your Life. She is just an awesome, awesome woman for loving yourself and accepting yourself while giving you a different way of seeing things. She is the person who sustains me and moves me back into the light every time I start to go to a dark place.
Do you have a new quest around the corner?
No new quest around the corner but there are things I am doing now that complement our business. I have taken a Reiki I seminar and hope to take Reiki II before the summer is out. I am studying animal communication with several people and learning more about that. I am also trying to develop my intuitive side more. Those are things that have a strong interest for me and that I am able to practice. I have lots of willing participants in the animals!
I can't ever see me not being involved very closely with animals. I would love to venture out and have some farm animals. I would love to have a goat or two and some chickens at some point.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell me that we haven’t covered?
I don’t think I am that unique. One of the things about doing this business is that it has introduced me to more and more people who have followed their passions. I don't think I would have met those people if I weren't doing what I am doing. My time wouldn't be as open as it is now.
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| Joan with Harley and Jojo |
In the morning when I am not working, I get a chance to go for a walk with my dogs, Harley and Jojo, for about an hour with 3-4 wonderful ladies. A couple of them have dog walking businesses of their own or their own businesses. When I had to be somewhere at 6:00am, I could never do that.
I just think the one thing that I would encourage anybody to do is to take the leap. The money somehow appears. Somehow you do make the mortgage. Yes, you do have to do some planning but the money will be there when you need it.
If you would like to get in touch with Joan, you can send her an email or visit the Villa @ Many Paws Inc. website.
What you can expect to find in every issue of YNQ Chronicles