Sammy’s Success Story

The Referral:

Sammy was referred to Enable by the Community Intervention Pathway in February 2021, by one of the care coordinators, after she realised that Sammy wasn’t happy in her current role. She was currently working for a local dog walking company, however, her manager wasn’t very understanding of Sammy’s needs.

At the time, Sammy had a poorly dog, who had quite a few health issues. This added to the stress and the need for Sammy’s employer to be flexible and understanding. Sammy also suffers from sciatica so whilst she loves walking dogs, she can only walk for so long so that she doesn’t cause herself pain. Wanting to choose her own hours and create flexibility, she decided to step up her own dog-walking business.

Preparing for Self-Employment:

One of the main barriers that Sammy faced was self-employment start-up companies only accepting people that were unemployed. Whilst Sammy didn’t like her job and her manager was making life hard for her, she could not afford to give up work.

Another barrier was the lockdown. Sammy knew she wanted to open up her own business, however, it was a gamble whether she would make enough money to live on and to be able to grow her business.

We worked together to find as much information about starting up a small business ourselves so that Sammy didn’t have to go through a business start-up course. She eventually left her job, which meant that she could be referred to Social Heart CIC to join a small start-up course by Nicky Kent. These were virtual sessions consisting of 8 group sessions and one-to-one sessions with Nicky which were specific to each person’s small business.

Joint Working with Social Heart CIC:

Sammy took the lead and took full ownership of her starting up her small business. She was very independent and knowledgeable regarding how she wanted her business to be, what it would look like and how it would run. This was driven by her genuine love and passion for working with animals and also wanting to create a successful business for herself, where she could have the flexibility that she needed.

Sammy was extremely passionate and independent whilst working with Nicky. She worked really hard whilst attending Nicky’s courses. There was a lot of preparation, and Sammy created her own logo, her own website and her own posters.

Opening the Business:

As Sammy had worked so hard and had been so determined, she was able to open her small business within 4 months. Initially, it was hard for Sammy as she was a new dog walker and she needed to advertise. The enable team helped Sammy with her advertising and spent a few days travelling around the local areas doing leaflet drops, putting up posters and generally trying to spread the word.

A year on and Sammy’s business is doing really well. Her business has grown from 1 client when she started to 15 current clients. Her genuine love and enthusiasm regarding dog care and welfare is obvious. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to dogs and has been attending extra training courses to ensure she can offer the best service possible.

On-Going Support:

As Sammy decided to run her own business and be her own boss, it was important that she didn’t push herself and cause her mental and physical health to decrease. We worked on an in-work support plan for Sammy to start thinking of ways that she can notice when she is starting to feel unwell. We discussed general well-being, self-care and the importance of not letting work time spill into personal time. Sammy kept the in-work support plan as a reminder to herself.

After working with Sammy for over a year, she feels she no longer needs support. She is happy in her job role and has now been accepted onto a Land Studies course at Rodbaston College where she will be studying animal biology, health and husbandry, and animal behaviour.

Sammy has grown so much since we started working with her. Her independence, confidence and determinism are amazing, and she is going to be very successful with her career in animal care and behaviour.

“It’s not like a job, I get to look after all of the dogs which is amazing. I’m getting experience with the dog welfare side of things as well and helping to educate dog owners about caring for their dogs and ensuring that the day is broken up for them with walks or a visit if the owner isn’t at home in the day. It’s the best job ever!”