About
My Story, and Why Perls.
The Face Behind Perls
My name is Emma. I have three teenage girls and 3 bouncy dogs! Six years ago I decided I wanted to be my own boss and started a small, low key, dog walking business. Mainly just walking my friends’ dogs. Suddenly, through word of mouth, I am now running a booming dog walking business.
I currently walk, on average, 150 dogs a week and I walk 12/14 miles a day! During the recent lockdowns I kept working. My dogs needed me as much as I needed them. A lot of my clients are key workers, from Nurses to Firefighters so I just kept on walking with their beautiful dogs and it was this that got me through the pandemic of 2020.
I have lived on the coast, just outside Brighton, for 20 years. I am lucky enough to walk my dogs on the South Downs National Park and we always have an amazing view whatever the weather!
My Big Idea
I was 39 during the first lockdown and my 40th was looming! Due to the current social restrictions at the time I knew I would not be able to celebrate in the way I would like! So I started to think about the possibility of starting a new business, to celebrate turning the big 4 0!
It was the right time for me to expand my passion. During my walks I started to contemplate my future and really felt that I could do something else. I thrive on being busy, my girls are independent and I needed something more! So along came an idea, dogs are my passion and them feeling secure and comfortable is paramount to me.
A lot of my clients ask me to source quality, affordable and durable dog-wear. Whilst researching dog-wear for my clients I found that if you wanted durable it was prohibitively expensive. If you wanted fun and funky designs it was usually cheap or poorly made and the affordable items were always out of stock! That was it, decision made, I was going to design and supply practical, comfortable durable dog wear at an affordable price. Perls was born! Woof!!
My Perls Journey
My journey started with a lot of research into dog-wear and accessories. Although I have collaborated with some amazing designers and manufacturers, the best thing about being a dog walker is that I had very willing clients to test and wear my products. I was able to test each and every product for comfort and durability with the beautiful (and patient) dogs that I walk. The feedback from the owners was obviously very important too. Everything is tested to wearability, washability and durability!
So there you have it, here I am. I sincerely hope you love my products as much as I know your dogs will. I am proud of the items I stock and sell and believe me when I say I have explored every fabric, design and variant available! My daughters are now working for me in between their studies but I am still walking every day with my furry friends.
Having the space to breath and have ideas about my business and how I can make it better are so important to me. Feel free to reach out and give me feedback and ideas. You know your own dogs better than anyone and if I can make a difference then I’ll be happy.
