Meet Jessica Stricker | Dog Trainer & Dog Sport Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Stricker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
For me, the work life balance took a long time to find a good medium on. While I do work for myself and can create my own schedule, I also work full time on top of it. In the beginning, I worked in dog boarding/dog daycare and then did my training and photography after work or on days I didn’t work. It was hard at that point because my entire life revolved around dogs, from my full time job to my own business for dog training, dog sport photography, and creating dog bandanas/accessories, to my free time being encompassed by dog sports. I ended up finally leaving the dog boarding/daycare job and took a new, work from home job in marketing customer service for a beauty company. For me, this helped take a step back from the burn out of focusing on dogs 24/7. It also helped because it was extremely flexible, I had weekends and holidays off (which I generally didn’t have at previous full time jobs), and I am able to really set specific times aside for my own job instead of it changing week to week. It is always a struggle finding the perfect balance when you are doing something you love as a job, because burn out can happen so quickly and so easily without you realizing it. Now a days, I take specific days off and keep it to myself. I don’t schedule work related things on certain days (unless absolutely necessary) and I make sure I am doing things I enjoy instead of just getting sucked into working 55+ hours a week. I love being able to own my own business, but having the added stress of a full time job on top of it can be difficult sometimes, but I think I’m finally figuring out what is best for me and being more capable of acknowledging when it is too much for me mentally.

What should our readers know about your business?
Stricktly Canine is still growing and expanding as we are still quite new, being only about 6 years old. My focus is just making enjoyable environments for my clients as well as learning more as my business continues to grow. While my business knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit started earlier than Stricktly Canine, I continue to learn more and more as we continue to grow. While my main focus has switched to dog sport photography, I have tried many different avenues of photography and want to continue to try new things.

I have loved dogs since I was little, so it only seemed fitting that I continue with this passion into my adult years and I’m so glad I have the opportunity to do so. I started with group training classes in a facility I used to work at and then began to add on private sessions outside of that as I got comfortable. A thing every trainer has to learn is that they cannot do everything and need to know when a case is outside of their ability. This is why I began only offering puppy training/basic obedience because I have no interest in behavior modification and know there are plenty of other trainers who know what they are doing that can help the dog more than I can. This is a problem a lot of new trainers encounter and it honestly ruins a lot of dogs unfortunately when they don’t know what their doing. I’m glad that I had the confidence in myself to know when something is out of my ability and admit I can’t help, it’s a hard task for many people to do in general unfortunately. Outside of training, I started getting into photography in 2019, specifically for dog sports. In 2022 I had my first official, hired event. I encourage those to keep practicing as you never know what can happen. I never thought I would be able to be hired for events, I still am surprised by it sometimes when thinking about it. You can achieve your goals if you just continue to practice and keep at it. Nothing will get handed to you in life, but if you work towards it, it makes it much easier to obtain.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My go to for anyone visiting is always Goldies. It is my favorite restaurant by far and I love going there. Since I am located in Fountain Hills, I always take people to the fountain for a little walk around the park as well. If we are going out at night, my go-to is always Denim and Diamonds, but outside of these things I don’t tend to explore the city much outside of that. I enjoy going on hikes at Toms Thumb or going up north to visit Sedona if weather permits, but within the valley, I’m a very habitual person and only go to the same places over and over again.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people who have helped me get to the point of where I am today. Whether that be through mentorship or support/encouragement, here is a small handful of people I’d like to shout out:

My family for always cheering me on, specifically my mom for helping me back when I started my first business of making dog bandanas while I was in college.

My friends for always suggesting my business and giving me shoutouts on their platforms/suggesting me in posts on Facebook.

GoDogPhoto for being a great mentor as I got into Dog Sport Photography.

Tonopaws for being my first dog sport photography event client.

Obviously I could probably go on forever, naming so many people, but all in all – I thank anyone who has ever suggested my business or supported us or liked my page on social media, anything helps a small business as we build our reputation and clientele.

Website: https://stricktlycanine.pixieset.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stricktlycanine/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stricktlycanine

Other: www.stricktlycanine.com

Image Credits
Personal Photo: Taken by AlphaDogMedia