Meet With Your Other Conference Attendees.

Shannon's role in the pet sitting industry began in 1998 when she founded Buckhead Pet Pals as a single pet sitter and dog walker. Growth of Buckhead Pet Pals took off in 2000 when Shannon was placed on bed rest, and she hired her first pet sitters.

Buckhead Pet Pals continues to grow each year since and has been honored as "Best Pet Sitting Company in Atlanta" by Atlanta Magazine. With the growth of Buckhead Pet Pals, Shannon recognized a need for an industry specific software to help with the day to day management of her company.

Shannon partnered with two other individuals and co-founded Power Pet Sitter in 2005. Power Pet Sitter is a worldwide, industry leading software that has helped her and many others manage all aspects of their pet sitting businesses with one easy tool. Shannon is the co-owner of another Metro-Atlanta pet sitting company, Barking Up the RIght Tree and she also provides private business consulting to new and existing business owners.

All of this and Shannon will tell you her primary role is as a wife and mother to her husband Mike, and their two children. Shannon can still be found in the Atlanta area if not at work, then at her home enjoying her family!

With a passion for culture, marketing and online networking, Chris founded Go! Media International to help you understand how to gain astounding online success.

Chris has been described as 'driven', 'competitive', even 'obsessed with marketing'. But what a great benefit this is for his happy, successful clients, who have referred to Chris as "forward thinking, "boundlessly creative", and "technically savvy." Chris' marketing and technology chops were honed over the past 10+ years, gaining international experience and global proficiency in the UK, USA, South Africa and China, among other countries.

Chris successfully executed online marketing campaigns, developed and launched aggressive national and international print and radio advertising campaigns, worked extensively in the UK music industry, and served as Executive Producer for the national XM radio show "The Family Roundtable", where he secured the appearances of celebrities like Augusten Burroughs, Mo’Nique, Steve Doocy, Ed Begley Jr, Scott Hamilton, Faith Evans, Vicki Lawrence and Patti Davis.

A fundamental supporter of online marketing education, Chris regularly speaks at national and international conferences (most recently sharing the dais with executives from Google and YouTube as well as covering the 2010 Social Media World Forum Europe).

Despite these accomplishments, Chris’ goals and desires have never wavered. He continues to devote himself to helping people understand how to leverage the power of social media to enhance Internet business.

"I am always open to help anyone who needs real, honest, direct, no-nonsense advice. Isn't that what it's all about?"

Jan Brown is the owner of Jan’s Pet Sitting. She started her pet sitting business in 1997 and currently has 5 employees. Since 2001 Jan has been a Pet Tech Pet Fist Aid/CPR instructor and regularly teaches classes in her community.

Jan also teaches classes on "Starting Your Own Pet Sitting Business." She is a co-founder of Peninsula Professional Pet Sitters, a local network group for pet sitters and writes a monthly pet column for a local newspaper.

Joshua Cary is a pet sitting business owner, coach and author.

He created the PetSittingOlogy Training Program & Blog as a way teach others how to start or grow their own pet sitting business.

Joshua uses the methods he and his wife implement in their own New York-based pet sitting company — Alitia's Animals.

With a background in web design, Joshua has spent more than 10 years behind a computer building and developing websites for small business owners. He brings those very skills and talent to the table to help pet sitters work smarter (not harder) by increasing the role of a website within a pet sitter's marketing plan.

Joshua was able to reach the elusive six-figure mark in pet sitting services during the first year Alitia's Animals was in business by simply harnessing the power of a well created and designed website. He greatly enjoys helping others succeed.

Laura Taylor is the founder and owner of Parrot 'n' Pet Sitting Services located in Whitby, Ontario. Her business grew into a 6 figure operation after just 18 months of hard work, networking and perseverance and now has 9 employees and growing — but growing through what she calls "Creative Marketing Development" which she will share with APSE members in her articles and publications.

Laura is also the founder and main web designer of the newly launched PetBiz Branding focusing on creating CMS pet websites and pet blogs using Wordpress and specializes in web hosting for pet businesses as well as creating articles supporting pet business growth through more creative website development ideas. Lastly, Laura is also one of the co-founders of the former company - The Business Of Pet Sitting, LLC.

Laura is known as a "Creative Director" who thinks and creates Pet Business Marketing Ideas out side -of- the- box. Laura believes in constantly re-inventing yourself as a entrepreneur and pursuing differentiation between yourself and other pet businesses and strives to create unique ideas and creative marketing concepts that help to distinguish the pet business owner from it's competition and has a high belief in client retention programs.

Joshua Cary is a pet sitting business owner, coach and author.

He created the PetSittingOlogy Training Program & Blog as a way teach others how to start or grow their own pet sitting business.

Joshua uses the methods he and his wife implement in their own New York-based pet sitting company — Alitia's Animals.

With a background in web design, Joshua has spent more than 10 years behind a computer building and developing websites for small business owners. He brings those very skills and talent to the table to help pet sitters work smarter (not harder) by increasing the role of a website within a pet sitter's marketing plan.

Joshua was able to reach the elusive six-figure mark in pet sitting services during the first year Alitia's Animals was in business by simply harnessing the power of a well created and designed website. He greatly enjoys helping others succeed.

Juanita Weaver is a creativity consultant and coach who has worked with individuals, corporations, executive groups, and government agencies. For more than 20 years she worked as an advocate for women business owners in the public and private sectors. She launched her own business in 1997.

During 18 years at the U.S. Small Business Administration, she served as the Director of Media Services and later as Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Women's Business Ownership. Her last position was as Director of Special Projects where she initiated public/private sector joint ventures.

During 2003 she wrote a monthly creativity column for Entrepreneur Magazine called the Creative Zone. She is featured in the cover story on creativity in the October 1997 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine and her training at the General Services Administration has been noted in Fast Company Magazine.

Her business creativity clients include AARP Services Inc., Aetna Financial Services, Edward Jones Investments, General Services Administration, Xerox and the Peace Corps. She has also taught creativity to at-risk youth and women coming off of welfare.

Lauren Urbais is the owner and founder of Pyewacket's Purrfection In-Home Pet Care, and has been providing in-home pet services throughout Sonoma County since 2003, specializing in providing care for senior pets, those with medical needs and in-home pet hospice services.

In addition to operating her successful pet sitting business, Lauren volunteers extensively at BrightHaven Animal Sanctuary in Santa Rosa, California working with special needs animals and assisting with hospice care. She is currently co-writing a book on pet hospice with BrightHaven founder Gail Pope and was a presenter at the International Symposium on Veterinary Hospice Care at UC Davis last September.

Lauren is also a Level III Animal Reiki Practitioner/Teacher and holds a Master of Education degree from National University, Sacramento. Her continued passion for pet hospice has led her to become Outreach Coordinator for BrightHaven where she is developing a community program to bring qualified teams into the homes of pet guardians to assist with pet hospice care and training.

Animal behavior & animal training expert Diana L. Guerrero (Ark Lady) has been working professionally with wild and domestic animals since the 1970s.

Regularly featured in the media as an animal expert, her comprehensive experience is matched with an impressive list of credentials.

Diana also served as the animal behavior and training columnist for the American Association of Zoo Keepers for ten years and has written columns for a variety of other publications around the world.

At one time she owned and managed a pet sitting service and is past president of the Pet Sitters Association of Southern California but today most people know her simply as the founder of Ark Animals and the Pet Parenting School.

Veronica Boutelle, MA Ed., CTC, is the founder of dogTEC and former Director of Behavior & Training at the San Francisco SPCA. Through dogTEC, she and her team have been helping dog professionals create their dream businesses for nearly ten years.

Veronica is the author of How to Run a Dog Business and co-author of Minding Your Dog Business, writes business columns for APDT's Chronicle of the Dog and the Canadian APDT's Forum, and is regularly contributes business articles to many industry journals, including The Pet Care Services Journal. She is a sought-after speaker at dog conferences and seminars across the country.

Veronica co-created the dogTEC Dog Walking Academy — the only comprehensive, hands-on certification program for dog walkers. The DWA is now taught at five locations across the country.

Mr. Jones serves as a Member of Kossler Jones & Company, LLC. with experience in public accounting, specializing in tax preparation and planning, compliance and consulting services. His clients range from corporations, businesses and individuals, to trusts and estates.

Mr. Jones's clients in the animal related fields includes animal hospitals, dog walking company's, non-profits, and pet daycare facilities. He is a regular speaker at the Northern Virginia Pet Sitters' Association, and has spoken at Pet Sitter's International's yearly meeting.

Relax, unwind and celebrate.

At this point, you will be equipped with plenty of knowledge and resources that will make your competition wish they were you!

Enjoy it. Life is grand :]