On the job with ... Martha Weir

The owner of Miss Martha’s Pet Care is a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and a whole lot animal lover

By Dana Raidt
Published: October 1st, 2010 | 7:00am

A few years after moving to the Twin Cities, Martha Weir was, as she puts it, “going insane.” She was hard at work earning a Master’s degree in Scandinavian literature and enjoying playing in a successful rock band, but something was missing.

“I was going crazy not being around animals,” says Weir, who grew up on a farm in central Illinois. “When I was a kid, the only creatures I hung out with were horses and sheep.” So, she sought to fill the void by getting a job with a small dog walking company. After learning the ropes, Weir built up her own successful pet care company, Miss Martha’s Pet Care, in 2007. In three years, she’s managed to build Miss Martha’s almost completely by word of mouth, without so much as an ad or a Craigslist posting, and found many of her clients through a network of fellow musicians. “Basically, the rock scene needed a dog walker,” she explains, laughing.

After an initial consultation with Weir, clients purchase 20-, 30- or 45-minute blocks of time for their cat, dog, or other animal (overnight combination house and pet-sitting sessions are also available). Weir comes to a pet owner’s house and takes care of the four-legged one’s walking, feeding, and exercising needs, customizing the visits to each pet and owner—although, according to Weir, one task is universal: “getting the dog to do its business.”

Weir’s experience with a menagerie of animals (including tarantulas, rabbits, gerbils, sheep, and cattle) has made her indispensable to the pets and pet parents of the music scene where she got her start. When she left Minneapolis for a year to teach Swedish in Austria, Weir was asked back by nearly every client upon her return. While she works part-time as a server for extra cash, for the most part Weir makes a living hanging out with animals—and in an economy where things like pet-sitting are often the first to get cut out of a budget, that’s quite an accomplishment.

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Martha Weir

The Job: Owner, Miss Martha’s Pet Care

Education: Weir has a B.A. with a double major in Scandinavian languages and literature studies in cinema and media culture, as well as an M.A. in Scandinavian literature with a focus on Swedish lit. She’s currently on deferral at the University of Minnesota for a PhD program.

Résumé: Weir has been a Swedish teacher in the United States and abroad, a nanny in Sweden, and an intern at the American Swedish Institute. She's also held bartender, server, and farm worker positions, in addition to her film/media work and academic jobs at the University of Minnesota. Furthermore, Weir worked at another pet care company and with a pitbull/rottweiler rescue organization.

Mission: To earn the trust of both of her clients and their pets, and to maintain the connection to animals that is so important to her. Weir says some of the animals even become like family. It was three weeks before one rescue dog would let Weir even walk her, but, now, she says, “she squeals and freaks out when she sees me.”

Why it works: This one’s easy—Weir gets paid to do what she loves, and gets the added built-in stress reducers of exercise and fresh air. “You can’t be in a bad mood when you’re hanging around dogs doing goofy things,” she says. “I have 30 dogs that love me so much. I’m like the favorite aunt.”

Advice: Weir says it took her a summer to get her business up and running. She created her own logo and website, and for everything else she “did a lot of Googling.” While she agrees that small-business owners can do a lot on their own, she recommends at least reviewing contracts and forms with a professional, such as a lawyer. Her tax professional was a great resource for Weir and was able to put her in touch with someone who could teach her the Quickbooks small-business accounting software. She also recommends working first for a smaller company in your field of interest to gain hands-on knowledge of invoicing and other procedures, which you can later tailor to your own needs.

For more information on Miss Martha's Pet Care, click here

For more information on Weir's band The Chambermaids, click here

On The Job With … is a monthly column that explores interesting women with interesting jobs. We get the scoop on each lady’s working process, what makes her want to get up every day, and get advice for others looking to break into her field. The column is written by Dana Raidt who is a regular contributor for Venus Zine.