Wisconsin Pet Care

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Lori Mendelsohn Thomas, owner of Wisconsin Pet Care, a pet-sitting and dog-walking service, walks with Jessie Mae, one of her three dogs. After losing her job, she decided to establish her own business. ( Kenosha News photo by Brian Passino )

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Published June 19, 2010 | 11:05 p.m.

Work (back) in progress

Victims of layoffs or downsizing, these area residents prove there’s hope -- and new jobs -- in this economy
BY JON OLSONjolson@kenoshanews.com

Rejection hurts.

Just ask Lori Mendelsohn Thomas.

Laid off in October 2008 from a Halloween-costume retail business, “I applied for over 200 positions across the United States ... only to find that I had become a dinosaur and too expensive,” she said.

She’d had an extremely successful career as an East Coast clothing designer, working for Saks at one point, placing clothing lines in Target stores and Walmart, and achieving licensing deals with Carters and Oshkosh B’gosh.

The job search got her down.

“I felt worthless. I felt useless. I felt helpless, too. And I’m not one of those people that are whiny, that are ‘Poor me,’” she said.

Still, six months later she had picked herself up, dusted herself off and started a new business in a whole different field.

Dog-sitting.

A great opportunity in Chicago for her husband brought them to Kenosha, and, though she would have been happy to stay in the fashion business, the region isn’t exactly Manhattan when it comes to design.

At 54, she might miss the work but not the stress of her high-flying former life, and, “I love being around animals and having my own schedule.”

She has more than 100 clients — regular customers who call her for vacation care, or those whose animals require an outing and a meal during a long day home alone. She charges $15 a visit, and, with expenses such as gas, taxes and marketing, figures she’s making about half that.

“I used to make over $100,000 a year, and now on a good day, over $100,” she said.

“I used to be on the top of the world in New York City ... (but) I don’t miss it. What I’ve traded it for is peace of mind.”

Mendelsohn Thomas has founded a small, loose organization at the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce called the 2nd Generation Group, for people founding new businesses to share ideas.

She knows her story is not unique. Frustrated but determined job-seekers are, here and there, creating jobs for themselves.


 

Lori Mendelsohn Thomas of Kenosha, owner of Wisconsin Pet Care, plays with 3-year-old Daisy. The Spinone Italiano is one of the dogs she walks. Thomas recently opened the business after being laid off from her career in the fashion industry. ( KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO BY KEVIN POIRIER )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Published September 20, 2009 | 12:11 a.m.
Updated September 20, 2009 | 12:26 a.m.

After layoff, she fashions a new career with pet-sitting service

Fleeing fashion for Fido has worked out well for Kenosha resident Lori Mendelsohn Thomas.

Thomas left a 33-year career in the garment industry after being laid off in October. By March, she’d set up the Wisconsin Pet Care pet sitting service.

“I never want to get back into the corporate world,” said Thomas, 53. “This is my opportunity to never have to kiss up to anyone else again.”

Thomas walks, plays, feeds and gives required medicines to her customers — that’s what she calls the pets — in their homes when their owners are away.

But she also will tend to the house, taking in mail, watering plants and adjusting lights and curtains, for example. She will offer advice on groomers, veterinarians, nutrition and even animal communicators, who are people who say they understand pets’ feelings and perspectives.

Thomas said she has an affinity with pets by reading their body language.

“One elderly dog wanted me to hold her, and I could sense that and feel her energy telling me that,” she said.

Thomas’ husband will stay in the owner’s house overnight when on vacation. A second part-timer works on pet behavior and training. They’ve had about 50 customers so far.

“Not everyone has been hit by the recession,” Thomas said. “The pet industry is one of the few that is growing. People just have a different approach to their animals. They truly are members of their family.”

She can be reached at 262-764-0823 or via e-mail at lori@wisconsinpetcare.com. Her Web site, wisconsinpetcare.com, includes charges.

She doesn’t accept just any customers, however, especially those needing obedience training.

Wisconsin Pet Care serves Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie and the south Racine area. Thomas had to limit the service area when trips west of Interstate 94 were eating up all her time. She hopes to expand.

There was quite a transition from the heady, high-energy and well-compensated fashion industry, including television work, to handling animals, she noted.

“I was winning awards, flying all over the world and staying at the Ritz Carlton,” she said. “Now I’m going to be poor, but I’m really happy.”

 

 

 

 

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