11 minute read
Elissa WeimerTraining Your Dog to be PAW-SOME
Elissa Weimer
Training Your Dog to be PAW-SOME
If you are a pet owner, you may understand that the bond between a dog and owner is impeccable. You might have come across several videos on social media where a dog is happy, carrying out his shenanigans, spreading smiles on millions of faces. However, many efforts go into training these dogs, considered as an essential part of canine companionship. ElissaWeimer takes dog training to her heart to deepen the bond between the owner and the dog to widen their smile.
Elissa is the Owner of Paw & Order Dog Training and is a ProfessionalTrainer, with numerous certifications to her name. Through Paw & Order, she offers professional, balanced, dog training and behavioral problem solving throughout the Pittsburgh area. Paw & Order recently expanded its reach to Southwest Florida, Houston, TX, and Central Ohio through franchising.
Insights Success caught up with Elissa in our endeavor to find “The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch 2022” and talked about how she is instilling pride in dog owners, as well as making dogs safer in the community as a whole!
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Paw & Order Dog Training. What challenges have you had to overcome to reach where you are today?
I joined the military right out of High School. Being a Military Policewoman led me to the path I am on now. During college, I acquired a paid internship with the Attorney General’s office and later with the Federal Bureau of Investigations on their Violent Drug and Gang squad in Philadelphia, PA. After two years of interning there, I applied for a Special Agent position, but quickly realized that just was not what I genuinely wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to help people and wanted people to be excited when they saw me arrive at their homes—a different feeling than seeing an agent or police officer at your door.
I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I did not know where to start. I spent a long time figuring out what I was good at and realized I am good at teaching people. I just had to decide what I would be excited to teach! I realized that I love animals and that they had the power of making people feel good in so many ways. I realized that so many people have dogs, so I decided to shadow many other dog trainers and attended a ton of schools to learn as many techniques as possible to help people ENJOY their dogs. To this day, I continue to learn and better myself and my team of trainers to help as many people as possible. We not only continue our education with behavioral problems, but also
with other areas of dog training such as trick training, Therapy Dog Training, Canine Good Citizen, agility training, large field socialization classes, and K9 Detection training (my Belgian Malinois and I won 1st Place Narcotics at last year’s Police K9 Competition in Kentucky). We realized how much we have to offer and how unique our company is that we decided it was time to franchise in 2019!
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
Paw & Order’s mission is to improve the lives of as many families as we can by providing quality and effective individualized dog training. Our vision is to continue spreading Paw & Order nationwide and have an amazing training program to ensure that the quality of our local Pittsburgh market is mirrored in every major city in the United States. We train our trainers to the highest standards and treat our employees like family. All our trainers are extremely valuable to us, and we make sure that they are well taken care of. It builds their loyalty to our brand, making them want to work even harder to ensure that our clients are happy and excited to refer us to their family and friends.
Enlighten us on how you have impacted the training niche through your expertise in the market.
Our training is unique to each dog and family. We have also made training simple and effective for families and dogs. So often, we hear that “my dog will only listen if I am holding treats or the leash/some other piece of training equipment.” Or a client will say that their dog knows all basic commands (sit, down, come, stay) but will not do it when there are other distractions around or the environment does not look the same every time for the dog.
Dogs do not generalize things well and need hundreds of repetitions in as many situations as possible to reliably understand what you are asking them to do. We have mastered our communication with dogs and their owners to train SIMPLE. We have found that overloading our clients with a bunch of training jargon that means nothing to them is not helpful. Dog owners want their dog to be a good family dog they can trust and be proud of! They are not competing in shows with their dog where they need to learn fancy tricks and unrealistic positions to their family situation (there is nothing wrong with competitions, but most pet owners do not care about that). Most people do not have perfect timing when it comes to communicating with their dog, so we use methods that allow a delay between rewards and consequences once their behavior, like/dislike, has been identified. This helps tremendously so that their dog will listen even if their owner does not have food or a leash in their hand.
We pride ourselves on solving behavior problems and teaching good behaviors for the long term, not just for the moment. Our clients have lifetime access to our trainers and they have access to a free private adventure group after their training is complete to make sure that they continue to be successful. It introduces them to an amazing community of other dogs and owners to experience fun things with. At least once a week, we meet up at trails, parks, stores, lakes, bars, etc., and go hiking, camping, kayaking, or just enjoy a nice day outside with our dogs and a drink! We want people to experience how life-changing our dog training programs are. Once your dog is well trained, your world becomes more fulfilling and exciting!
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future Paw & Order Dog Training goals?
We recently started opening new locations nationwide and want to continue doing so. We strive for the QUALITY of our trainers instead of quantity. Paw & Order is my “baby,” and we will only expand with individuals that match our integrity and motivation to work hard, be proud of what they are doing, and continue to improve the quality of the business.
JAIMINE JOHNSON JAIMINE JOHNSON
Director, Commercial Operations, Director, Commercial Operations, Leasing and Sales Realtor Leasing and Sales Realtor
DRK and Company Realty DRK and Company Realty
iin ne e ohnson ohnson a aim mJ
In the world of real estate, sincerity and integrity are the morals that are as valuable as the land itself. Engraining these morals within herself, Jaimine Johnson has walked a long road to become the Director of CommercialOperations, Leasing, and SalesRealtor at DRKandCompanyRealty.
Jaimine's proven strategies have shifted tides in the niche, gaining her recognition as one of the most successful businesswomen. With assets above $225 million in the DRK portfolio, she has a proven record of success in developing strategies that drive revenue and increase overall business profitability.
Insights Success caught up with Jaimine and talked about her journey, challenges, and future goals. Below are the highlights of the interview:
Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at DRK. What challenges you have to overcome to reach where you are today?
As Director of Commercial Operations, Leasing, and Sales for DRK, I have developed and implemented long-term strategies for the commercial asset division in the investment management of office, industrial/flex, medical, retail properties.
I previously worked at DRK from 2007 to 2015, and I brought a wealth of real estate experience to the company. I have overseen transactions involving the asset management, sales, leasing, and marketing of commercial properties while executing initiatives to promote and support company growth, global planning, new business start-ups, and company branding. At DRK, I consistently maintained a 96% tenant occupancy rate while increasing outside listings by 83%.
My real estate expertise in Columbus includes working as First Vice President of Colliers Healthcare Real Estate Group. There, I directed the real estate strategy and operations in providing consultative services for healthcare systems and service providers both in Ohio and on a national platform. I also served as senior vice president of commercial real estate at Huntington National Bank. I developed strategies to enhance the real estate portfolio comprised of $10 billion in office, retail, and land out parcel properties.
The greatest challenge, certainly when I joined commercial real estate, was that there were not many women in the industry who did what I was tasked to do. I remember sitting in meetings, and I was one woman to over 80 men in the room. I certainly did not see it as a challenge but rather an opportunity to pave the way for diversification. I will admit that Columbus was very welcoming. I have had the distinct honor of working with some outstanding leaders in this city.
Tell us something more about DRK, its mission, and vision
Donald R. Kenney & Company Realty has 50 years of experience in Columbus, Ohio, in land acquisition, land development, property management, and the sale and lease of all types of commercial property, including professional and medical office buildings, warehouse distribution, and retail.
Enlighten us on how DRK has made an impact in the Land niche through your expertise in the market.
DRK is a locally owned and operated company. That proves most helpful when understanding exactly what your community needs. Being in the business for 50+ years in all municipalities surrounding Central Ohio has helped DRK solidify many useful relationships to determine where the next piece of property is purchased.
Land development signifies growth in a community. DRK takes pride in finding great sites that can prosper not only with commercial and residential construction but also many benefits to surrounding retail, schools, tourism, creating new community infrastructure, etc.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
For better or worse, technology has changed how most business is transacted. Undoubtedly, real estate has benefited from improved efficiencies such as virtual touring, e signing, and online listings sources.
Lastly, allowing meetings to take place online versus inperson helped us navigate and continue to do business safely and effectively during a pandemic, one of the most difficult times our nation has ever faced.
If given a chance, what change would you like to bring in the Asset Management industry?
Optimization, efficiency, and lastly, improve the understanding of asset management and how it proves to play a critically important role in proper NOI. Assuring all Property Managers are licensed, agents.
What, according to you, could be the next big change in the Commercial Real Estate industry? How is DRK preparing to be a part of that change?
We will continue to focus on the need for work- flexibility, dining, shopping, health activities, and the support of our clients. We are under the strong belief that we need to be affordable and close to many amenities that support our clients' staff in our buildings while providing a safe environment that allows the employees to work have proper innovation, social, transportation, and telecommunications systems.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the end and what are your future goals for DRK?
I have certainly found what I enjoy doing. They say," Do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life" We are a Niche brokerage; we enjoy specializing, we study our market. I feel we belong in the space we are currently operating in, landlords with square feet from 0120,000 SF.
Maintaining our goals will be key. Strong goals for our team will be to reconfigure our current real estate to maintain the need in the space and continue relationship building: strong occupancy and an even strong NOI to our investors.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Leasing/Sales sector?
Know your worth, be strong with knowledge and continue to educate yourself. Always be willing to learn. Lastly, pick up the phone and see people in person. It is much easier to do a transaction with a friend than with a stranger.
