From behind the desk to out in the fields

When Kathryn started We Love Pets Burgess Hill back in 2021, she was leaving behind a career in recruitment - years spent sourcing candidates for finance and accounting roles, nurturing client relationships and managing a team of temporary workers. She was good at it. But she was also spending 10+ hours a day tied to a desk and a computer screen, and lockdown only sharpened a feeling that had been building for a while: she wanted something different.

She wanted to work for herself, to get outdoors, and to build a career around the animals she'd loved since childhood. She just hadn't found the "it" yet - that one thing that ticked every box. When she finally did, she describes the decision simply: it was now or never, so she took the leap.

Several years on, that leap has become an established local pet care business - and a working life that looks nothing like the one she left behind.

Why a franchise, and not going it alone

Kathryn had actually considered setting up her own dog walking business. What changed her mind was the "business in a box" idea - a proven model, ready to run, with room to grow.

As a one-woman band, she knew there'd be a ceiling on what she could build. A franchise was scalable, with real opportunities to expand a team and a branch over time. Speaking to existing franchisees sealed it: hearing first-hand how the model worked in practice gave her the confidence that this was the right route.

Franchising itself wasn't new to her, either. She'd studied business at A level, worked within a franchise model before, and had quietly kept an eye on opportunities for a couple of years - waiting for the right sector, and the right fit.

Why We Love Pets stood out

Kathryn first came across We Love Pets through an Indeed listing for the Eastbourne branch. That led her to the website, and to the franchise opportunities - and she was impressed straight away by the branding and the professionalism of it all.

She did her homework, exploring several franchises from the British Franchise Association (bfa) list, including one with a very similar service offering. But the difference was in the experience. With the other company, it took a couple of weeks to hear back, and she was asked to fill in application forms before she'd even spoken to anyone. It just didn't feel right.

We Love Pets was the opposite. When she requested a brochure, Ryan got back to her immediately - and the more she learned, the more the company stood out above the rest. It had the spark the others were missing.

The skills she brought with her

Kathryn's background mapped neatly onto running a branch. Years of recruitment experience proved invaluable when it came to building her own team. Her managerial background meant she already knew how to motivate people, and moving between clients and employees had sharpened the interpersonal skills that a local, relationship-led business runs on. Added to her business studies grounding, it left her well equipped to run the branch successfully.

There's genuine passion behind it, too. Kathryn has two rescue terrier mixes, Ricky and Eva - adopted when her nan was no longer well enough to care for them - and grew up surrounded by dogs. Dogs are her favourite, though she's also loved horses since she started riding at eight. Away from work, you'll find her playing netball for a local team or exploring the Sussex countryside on her doorstep, dogs in tow.

What she loves about the job

For Kathryn, the best part of running the branch is exactly what her old career couldn't offer: she's no longer desk-bound. Her days are now spent out and about, meeting customers and working with their pets - a world away from those 10-hour stints in front of a screen.