One of the up sides of the down turn in the job market is that many people have found their careers have taken a turn for the better. Grace Jeanes is one of those people. After a few years bouncing around in an unstable corporate world, she has settled down into her dream job, running her own pet sitting business.

Grace graduated in 2001 with a Masters in Business Administration and started out with a job doing marketing work for a medical technology company. But as the economy crumbled after 9-11, she was hit not once, but three times, by layoffs in 2002, 2003, and 2004. “Monster.com was beginning to depress me,” said Grace. She went on to tell the story of what got her going on the idea of starting up a pet sitting business.

“Last winter, as I was trying to decide on my next step, I kept thinking about an anecdote that one of the Finance Professors I worked for while earning my degree had shared with me one day over a cup of coffee and a discussion about career options. He asked me, ‘What do you like to read?   When you go to Barnes & Noble, what section do you always end up in?’  It was such a poignant question to ask someone who is asking themselves, ‘What do I want to be when I grow up?’  For me, the answer was always DOGS.  I gravitated towards the animal behavior/care section:  Horses, dogs, cats.”

Combining her business skills with her love of animals, Grace launched a pet sitting business called House Checks [2] last January, offering a wide range of services from checking in on pets, large or small, while their owners are off at work to literally doing “house checks” and watering plants while people are on vacation. She walks dogs for anywhere from 30-60 minutes, or stops and just plays with your cat and changes kitty litter. House Checks offers “pet taxi” services to get pets to the vet, to the groomers, or wherever they need to go, even on field trips to PetCo. For pets that just don’t want to be left alone, House Checks offers an overnight service.  Some of her more anxiety-prone “clients” are on storm alerts, where she calms down pets that tend to freak out whenever a major thunder storm passes through. “Nothing surprises me,” says Grace, referring to the range of requests she gets. “I’ve taken care of everything from pet rats and hermit crabs, to horses and sheep.”

Already, House Checks has accumulated a number of satisfied customers who appreciate the support and experience that Grace offers in giving their pets the care they need when they need it. "Grace grew up on a farm, so I know she's worked with animals a lot,” says House Checks customer Judy Larter. “I have trusted her on various occasions with my household and barnyard of two horses, four sheep, an unknown number of chickens, and my puppy, Simba. When I came home, everyone was very happy and as well cared for as I care for them myself."

Grace’s interest in caring for animals is not limited to her business. As a volunteer member of the Board of Directors, she has been very active in the administration of the Lowell Humane Society [3], which operates one of the oldest animal shelter facilities in the country. LHS has an extensive outreach program aimed at preventing cruelty to animals, providing care for homeless and distressed animals, and educating the public in proper animal care. Grace’s computer skills have come in very handy in getting their website online, and as editor and publisher of the LHS newsletter. More recently, Grace has been busy researching and writing articles to help pet owners understand how to keep their pets healthy and safe.

Although working for herself does not offer the comfort of a regular paycheck and a corporate benefit package, Grace feels that the quality of her life has improved significantly. Her career may have “gone to the dogs,” so to speak, but it has definitely taken a turn for the better. “I no longer have conference calls all afternoon, or last minute business trips,” she says. “I don't miss the office politics either.  With Pet Sitting, my clients are always happy to see me!”