One early morning in 2022, I found myself watching a dog walker on TikTok and thinking: I want her job.
It felt ridiculous. I was finishing up my MBA and navigating the next chapter of my career with a focus on prestige and financial success.
But soon after relocating from Kentucky to California in October 2021, I burned out. I had transitioned into a remote healthcare marketing role, living on the West Coast but still working East Coast hours and completing my second year of business school from afar. While everyone around me seemed to be heading to the beach and enjoying the sunshine, I spent my days inside, glued to a computer screen.
The dog walker I followed online seemed to have everything I was craving: fresh air, movement, flexibility and a job that didn't revolve around emails and Zoom meetings.
During a long drive, I joked with my husband, "I think I'm going to quit my job and walk dogs." The joke quickly became a plan.
My season as a professional dog walker
Within the span of just a few weeks in the spring of 2022, I quit my job, graduated from business school, traveled to Europe for an old roommate's wedding and then flew to Texas to speak at the Latino Franchise Symposium. While I was there, I created my Rover profile. I highlighted my experience volunteering at animal shelters in college, pet sitting for friends and caring for animals throughout my life.
Before I even made it back home to California, I had my first meet-and-greet scheduled with a potential client. Shortly after, I landed my first booking. I was thrilled.
At first, I intentionally priced my services below what seemed typical in my area to build reviews, charging about $15 for a drop-in visit and about $17 for a 30-minute walk. Some days I had just one client. I was able to start small because I had savings to tide me over, along with a partner whose job provided steady income and benefits.
My goal was to become the person people trusted with a member of their family.
Courtesy of Sally Simmons
Still, I treated it like a real business from day one. I accepted nearly every opportunity that came my way, taking dogs on midday walks, housesitting on weekends and boarding dogs in my apartment.
I sent thoughtful updates to the dog owners filled with photos, detailed notes and plenty of emojis. I shared bathroom break tallies, funny moments and anything unusual they should know. If I stayed overnight, I brought in packages, cleaned up after myself and made sure their home looked exactly as they had left it.
My goal wasn't simply to complete the booking. It was to become the person people trusted with a member of their family.
The reviews started rolling in. As my profile gained traction, I gradually increased my rates, eventually charging $23 for a drop-in visit and $84 for overnight stays. By the time I left the platform four months later, I had earned a five-star rating with 30 reviews, built a roster of recurring clients and filled my calendar.
Walking dogs gave me space to think and reflect on what success actually meant, what I wanted my career to look like and, perhaps more importantly, how I wanted my days to feel.
Christina Locopo | CNBC Make It; Courtesy of Sally Simmons
One of my favorite memories came when a family asked me to care for their dogs during their wedding weekend. I spent two and a half days at a beautiful resort and dressed the dogs in tiny tuxedos before they walked down the aisle.
It reminded me that this work was about helping families enjoy some of the biggest moments of their lives with peace of mind. Years later, we're still friends. They now have a daughter, and my daughter and I recently attended her first birthday party.
A new definition of success
Some days I walked more than eight miles, logging over 18,000 steps as I explored neighborhoods I otherwise never would have discovered. I spent hours outside instead of sitting behind a desk. Sometimes I listened to podcasts or music. Other times, I simply enjoyed the quiet.
Those walks gave me space to think. I reflected on what success actually meant, what I wanted my career to look like and, perhaps more importantly, how I wanted my days to feel.
Before Rover, success meant getting promotions, landing bigger clients and climbing the corporate ladder. Walking dogs challenged that definition. I realized I didn't want to chase an impressive title as much as I wanted to chase a lifestyle that gave me energy.
Ironically, it was during one of those walks that I received the phone call offering me the marketing job I still have today. I paused on the sidewalk, accepted the offer and then finished the walk.
I put a photo of me and my husband holding our own pets (left) on my Rover profile. Long after my dog-walking era, I stayed friends with the dogs Tofu and Noodles (right) and their humans.
Courtesy of Sally Simmons
Returning to marketing wasn't a difficult decision. By then, I was pregnant with my first daughter and needed the stability, benefits and predictable income that came with a full-time role. When an excited dog chasing a squirrel pulled me to the ground early in my pregnancy, it became clear that my season as a professional dog walker was coming to an end.
Still, I think about those four months often. People sometimes assume dog walking was a gap or detour in my career. I see it as one of the most valuable professional experiences I've ever had.
It reminded me that passion is visible, no matter what kind of work you're doing. It reinforced that the skills that matter most — showing up, listening, caring deeply, building trust and making small, consistent changes — translate to every career.
And even though I'm back in marketing, my days look different than they did before my dog-walking era. These days, you'll find me logging off at 5 p.m. to go play outside with my family before dinner, walking near the ocean after a hard week, having kitchen dance parties to shake off the day, taking calls while walking my own dog or squeezing in a lunchtime workout. The fresh air and sense of presence give me the balance I craved when I was glued to screens on a schedule dictated by someone else's time zone.
Those four months taught me something my MBA never could: Success isn't just about finding a job that sounds impressive. It's about building a life you genuinely enjoy living, even if it doesn't look like the one you originally imagined.
Sally Simmons is a marketing leader and holistic health coach based in California. After years building strategies for global brands, she found unexpected lessons about business, connection and success during a four-month chapter as a professional dog walker. Today, she brings those lessons into her work helping people create healthier, more balanced lives.