Interesting Journeys Into Petpreneurship: Caroline Wilkinson

Welcome to Part Eleven of our series on Interesting Journeys Into Petpreneurship. In this episode, Roch CEO and Founder, Guise Bule, talks to Caroline Wilkinson, the mind behind Barket Place! Her mission? To reduce the overwhelm that often accompanies the behavioral challenges, training decisions, and everyday choices pet parents face.

Wilkinson is a petpreneur with many accolades. She is a Certified Canine Behaviorist, a Certified Dog Yoga Practitioner, and an Applied Canine Zoopharmacologist. She writes for many trusted pet brands (e.g., PetsRadar) and also co-hosts the 'Supporting Both Ends of the Lead' Podcast.

So, without further ado, let's hear from Caroline on her interesting journey as a dog-lover and entrepreneur:

Bule: Who were you when you were younger, Caroline? Let's start right at the beginning.

Wilkinson: I was desperate to be a dog parent, dog guardian. I was not allowed to by my parents, but I did help regularly at my local stables with my friends' dogs. Yeah, so I was a wannabe pet parent, unfortunately, not able to be one.

Bule: When did that change for you? When was the first opportunity you found to get your own dog? When did that happen?

Wilkinson: Oh, gosh, I was in my sort of mid-20s before I actually managed to live with a dog myself and have my own dog. I think it was after a few years of badgering my partner that we could have one. He wanted to get a cat originally, which I was game for. If I wasn't able to get a dog, I wanted something. But I finally persuaded that dogs are the way forward. And yeah, that was back in a life pre-working with dogs, and, obviously, at the start of my journey of life...enjoying living with dogs.

Bule: What was that dog's name? What was your first dog's name?

Wilkinson: That was our beloved Ezri, who we lost a couple of years ago. She was what we would say is like...I feel like she was my soulmate dog. We got her when we were living abroad in Canada. So she's been through many different changes in our life, moving back to the UK from Canada, going through a whole bunch of personal changes, and things like that.

And she just made it to meet our human daughter before we sadly lost her when our daughter was about six or eight weeks old. So yeah, now we're left with her not-related sibling, her other pal Chester, who's still with us.

Bule: I'm sorry to hear about Ezri. What were you doing when you got her? Were you working with animals? Were you working in the industry?

Wilkinson: No, completely different. I was in digital marketing. I ran the Vancouver Film School web team. I was just working on web projects, email campaigns, marketing stuff, all the sort of digital aspects of business selling, in that case, courses and enrollment from a school.

When we moved back from Canada to the UK, I went freelance. I continued working for Vancouver Film School and then also took on some freelance clients, which left me with more time or more flexibility, shall I say, to spend with our dog history.

Bule: What was that journey from there to Barket Place?

Wilkinson: Well, I got pretty obsessed with my dog, as a lot of us do - particularly when it's a first dog - reading up all about dogs and behavior and all sorts of things. And I actually went on a safari trip with my dad. I was very lucky to do that. Spent 10 days just around animals, and thought, this is great! There's a particular guy who was just teaching me such interesting facts about the planet and the way that animals work in a social way, and things like that. And it just made me think I don't want to be on a computer.

Bule: What country were you in with your father?

Wilkinson: In South Africa.

Bule: What kind of animals did you see out there?

Wilkinson: Giraffes - while we were out there, there was actually an orphaned nine-day-old giraffe I got to feed, which was incredible. We saw rhinos, elephants... hogs, hippos, all sorts.

Bule: What a fantastic experience! So that must have left a profound impact on you as a person...And you came back from that trip, and you're still not working with animals. But was that a contributing factor?

Wilkinson: Yeah, I just came back and spoke to the lady whom I went to training classes with, who was a behaviorist and trainer in my area. She was asking me how the trip was, and I said it was incredible. I just, I just want to be with animals. I'd always wanted to work with animals from when I was a child working at stables.

It just so happened she'd had a change in circumstances, and she needed an assistant in classes, and she said, you'd be fantastic trainer; why don't you come and just help out in classes and see how you feel about working with dogs? And most importantly, working with people, obviously, because most of the work we do with dogs is working with people. But yeah, so I started assisting her in classes, and then following her as a mentor through watching her behavior consults, doing lots of training, trained up with a clever dog company, and also I got my APDT UK membership.

From there on, over the first few years, I sort of started to run my own classes and balance it alongside my freelance web and marketing work, and then sort of went all in, mostly doing in-person stuff.

Bule: You went all in and just embraced the dog life! Good for you, Caroline! So you were doing this dog training, and then how did you make the leap to Barket Place? Where did the idea for that begin?

Wilkinson: Well, quite interestingly, it was pre-COVID, so pre online training really being a big thing. And I was finding that a lot of people who were coming to, say, my in-person puppy classes, where some of the dogs struggled with that sort of environment; it's too overwhelming, a lot of stimulus, it can sometimes bring out some of their fears and anxieties. And so I felt like putting some of this online for people to create a video course for them would be really useful. So, how I started was just creating an online puppy course.

The lucky point there was that I already had everything in place to teach online. I've been teaching webinars and all sorts of things for a couple of years before COVID. So when that hit, I wasn't panicking to create the technology approach, I already had in place.

Bule: What a lovely way to begin a business. You have content in place, you have the experience in place, you just need to slide into the marketplace. How did he come up with the name?

Wilkinson: I think it was actually my partner who came up with it. Originally, we were talking about doing a different sort of business model of helping people to be able to find professionals to work with to get the right sort of support for their dogs. But actually, then it became, well, why can't we actually give this knowledge to people if they can't find the right person locally to work with, or they want something that supports them when they're at home, alongside in-person work with another professional.

So, because there was actually kind of a lot of other different types of organizations who were setting up these databases of professionals, we felt like actually what we can do is create a marketplace of courses that we've created ourselves in terms of making sure that the right information is going out for an ethical approach to working with dogs and supporting dogs through behavior challenges. So yeah, we may still go back to that model at some point in terms of an add-on, but at the minute, it's a space for people to find the help they need immediately rather than having to reach out and find the right person to work with.

Bule: I'm hearing a pivot was involved there in your startup journey. What does that look like? I mean, my dog, she's a beautiful girl, she's looking at me now. She doesn't have any problems, but if she did, I'd come and I'd Skype with them or I'd pay a subscription or a fee. What does that look like?

Wilkinson: So we've got different approaches. Some people, for example, say if barking was a challenge for your dog – would that be at home, on walks in your garden, wherever – you can then work through our self-paced online course at your own pace whenever you want. There's video content, text-based content, and emails that kind of guide you through the process. Or you can work one-to-one with either myself or one of the other trainers in terms of consultations.

We also have a membership club as well, which even people like yourself who don't have a challenge with their dog, some of them join to just have some fun and have a kind of bit of ongoing support, whether it be around, say, sort of a wellbeing approach. We can give you support on whether your dog needs better sleep and rest, or they need a diet change, or they need something else going on in their life, as well as having some fun with training and any behavior support that's needed. So, we have courses, we have individual one-to-one consultations, and we have a group membership as well.

Bule: Wonderful. I think it's really important. Here's this resource, this marketplace, where you can get that help without going to the vet and paying a fortune.

Wilkinson: And we have, like if we're working one-to-one, we do like to have contact with vets to be able to make sure if we need either some blood tests we've done or we need to have medication or something like that, then we've got that contact point so they understand. Because I think it is really important that dogs have a network of support around them.

Bule: That's a great business. Are you able to speak about how long the business has been going for now?

Wilkinson: It started in 2019 in baby steps. Really, it's sort of grown with a little bit of a brief, blippy gap where I was on maternity and having a little human. So yeah, we've been going... I guess five years now!

Bule: How have you done as a business?

Wilkinson: Yeah, I mean, I think we've got about three and a half thousand people on our client base. In terms of who's worked with us in one of those respects over the years. Our membership is a sort of a smaller select; I think about 50.

Bule: And that's just scaling as you grow as a business. That's wonderful news. Where are you headed? What is the future for Barket Place?

Wilkinson: Thanks! And, well, because the number one reason that dogs are often given up to either a rescue center or euthanized is due to behavior – that's kind of under the age of three – we'd like to get into people's sort of, I would say, into people's pockets earlier in the journey. Like their behaviorist in their pocket. Because we've got a lot of people who've worked with us later. So, the idea being that we can get into puppies' lives or adolescent lives to be able to help prevent challenges that might be occurring, rather than having to be so reactive to challenges that are already there. That's our sort of mission to move forward.

Bule: That's a smart strategy. Yeah, that makes sense. And you play with puppies! That's a win.

Wilkinson:  Absolutely, yeah, it's – our client base has been a lot more sort of adolescent into adult clients. And the sort of next step is to really make sure that we're getting into the lives of people earlier enough on to be able to make a difference.

Bule: That brings us into the next leg of our conversation. And these are the kind of questions we ask you as an entrepreneur, right? And I think, by any measure, Caroline, you are a successful petpreneur. So what does it take? What kind of skills do you need?

Wilkinson: I think in – particularly in today's pet space – I think you need a clear goal of what it is that you're trying to achieve and who you want to be helping. Knowing the people that you want to work with is really important. Because I think if you try to help all the people, that's where it's going to go wrong. Whereas knowing clearly who it is that you're wanting to reach out to is important. So, if you want to get technical, your ideal avatar of clients, at base, of who you want to work with.

Bule: Let's just talk around that a little bit. Because that's the marketing experience coming out.

Wilkinson: When we first started out, I wrote out the sort of personalities, the likes and dislikes...All of those sorts of things. Knowing the type of persona. And that might come through some of the work that you've already done in the past, and knowing what your previous client base is like. Or it might come from you knowing the type of people that you want to help, because you know where their pain points are.

So, for me, I know that most of our clients, and most of the people that we want to work with, are either pre-parents, so their dogs are their first kids, or their post-kids, they're retired and they've got their dog, and their new kid in their life is having a dog with them. But understanding what drives them. For me, the reason being that we want to go for both of those sorts of markets is because I know that they're the ones who are the most committed to their dogs as individuals, because they're not busy with everything else. They tend to be more focused and ready to move forward on that journey with their dog.

I want them to continue staying with us for a longer life cycle, which is something also really important when you're thinking about the business model side of things, thinking about what the life cycle of your client is. And if you've only got, you know, a puppy class and that's all you can offer them, then you've got no way for them to stay with you for longer, and effectively no way for them to be able to spend more money with you.

Bule: Moving on to our next question. You've done other stuff before you worked in this industry. And I guess my question is, what's the contrast like between where you came from and where you are now?

Wilkinson: Yeah, so I feel like there are two sides to the pet world. There's a really lovely side, and there's a really negative side. And I think you have to be prepared for that. I think wherever there's a lot of emotion, and we have a lot of emotion about our animals, it can go wrong. You can get a lot of sort of keyboard warriors who are giving negative feedback or who are a bit judgmental about either things you're doing or about the people you're working with. And it's trying not to take any of that to heart and just being aware that if you're staying true to what it is that you're trying to achieve, that's all that matters. Try not to get sidelined or sidetracked by other people's input, their own ideas of how things should be. It's a bit of a dog-eat-dog world in terms of the pet industry.

In previous industries I've been in, it's more about learning from colleagues. In this industry, I have felt that there's been a lot more potential for conflict, or I found colleagues who have had conflict with other colleagues. Still, work to build a network that you love and trust around you, and stick to the type of people that keep you inspired to continue the work you're doing.

Bule: These next questions also focus on the pet space, and feel free to wax lyrical around them. So, where do you see the industry headed over five to 10 years? What trends are you seeing influence the industry, and what trends do you see emerging in dog ownership?

Wilkinson: Yeah, so I think we've kind of had, well, at least when I first started more in the online space, everyone was saying that the people who were coming into the pet space, who were kind of dominating the pet space in terms of owners, guardians, were your DINKs (double income, no kids), and people who were like humanizing pets, so they're becoming more like their babies rather than their dogs. I think that's continuing, and I think that will only keep continuing as people do make the decision to put off having children to later.

I think, unfortunately, we're in a little bit, particularly in the last couple of years, there's been quite a lot of divide in the dog world in terms of particular training methods of ethical/unethical, negative reinforcement/positive reinforcement, wherever you sit on the fence. That has been a bit of a challenge.

And also in the last, particularly the last year, it has become this kind of TikTok world of, you know, somebody who's quite naive and green maybe coming into the environment, but who is very good at like being on camera and then being able to create success.

Bule: I hear that.

Wilkinson: But that's not, for any reason, against that individual as being successful in what they're doing from a content creation point of view. I think it's brilliant that they're able to do that and to rack up such great viewpoints. My concern is for the health and well-being of dogs. And so if you've got somebody who doesn't necessarily know or hasn't studied for as long or hasn't had hands-on experience so much with dogs...that's where I think the kind of wobbly state of the, particularly from the training behavior point of view. I think that we will see a lot more in the well-being approach to living with dogs.

Like when I moved back from Canada, I raw fed my dog, but I came back, and there were, I think, three raw feeding companies in the UK. And now there's what, however many, I don't know, hundreds. So I think all those sort of things from a healthcare perspective, is something that increases because a lot more people, at least my client base, who are obviously, as I said, really committed to the health and longevity of their dog, thinking about their dog more as a family member, they are concerned about what they're doing and putting into their dog's bodies.

Bule: Great answer. And, finally, what advice do you have for aspiring petpreneurs, for young people looking at the industry?

Wilkinson: I think having some time spent with people who already work in the industry is really valuable. We often don't reach out enough and say, "Can I help? Can I, you know, spectate and, you know, follow what you're doing?"

I myself worked with the trainer and behaviors that I started with for 18 months before I was teaching myself because I was able to learn the tactile skills that you need and also get those sort of experiences of how different dogs are working in different contexts and all of those sort of things, the stuff that you can't learn by just studying. And there's a balance between – obviously, studying is very important, but so is having that hands-on, those hours under your belt, so to speak. So, reaching out to people. I've had various different assistants who've sort of, you know, been mentored by me and worked through growing their confidence and then going off and doing their own thing.

But maybe looking at different sectors as well, you know. It might not be that training is the thing for you. It might be that actually you want to get into grooming or something different, you know, it's going around the different objects, and also remembering that if you are just wanting to work with dogs, dog training and behavior isn't the space for you, because you need to work with people.

Bule: Yeah, you can't hide from people behind the dogs, I'm afraid. It's wonderful advice, Caroline. Thank you so much. And before we wrap up, I have one last question. We call this the shout-out question. It's a good opportunity to shout out your friends, startups you like, brands you admire, anyone you think we should look at?

Wilkinson: There are so many wonderful people that I've had the joy of working with. I mean, recently, I think, you know, I'd love to shout out to the APDT UK: Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK. Important that it's the UK one because in the US, you can just buy your way, but in APDT, you have to be actually assessed to be a member.

Debbie, the wonderful Debbie Luckman at Kids Around Dogs, is fantastic. Andrew Hale is another great guy at the moment. He's got a great channel, dog-centered education. He's doing some brilliant stuff. And just a really lovely guy. He really wants people to live in the most respectful way possible for dogs' emotional well-being.

Rachel Spencer – she's incredible – she works helping professionals like us get PR for ourselves in our own way. So she's helped me get in all kinds of publications. So just by giving, like learning from her how to get your own press, which is really important for when you're starting out as a petpreneur and you're not wanting to just try and get like, you know, your big TikTok followers you want to do, get your name maybe through some great publications – the Telegraph, the Guardian – you know, lots of different pet and country life type publications.

Bule: Perfect! Thanks so much for your time, Caroline, and for sharing your journey with us.

Wilkinson: Thanks for having me!

This concludes our interview. Please give Caroline Wilkinson and Barket Place a follow on LinkedIn and Instagram.

If you would like to talk to us about your interesting journey, please get in touch!