Christina MacDonald has always had a passion for animals – in fact, she has three! After years of living in Cleveland working dead-end jobs and volunteer opportunities, she was unsatisfied with the responsibilities of her, while passionate, low-level jobs caring for dogs. She wanted to make a difference. She went back to school, took other odd-jobs to build new skills, and explored what she was meant for, her life’s purpose. After visiting St. Petersburg, Christina decided it’s where she was meant to be. She scrimped, saved, and in six months’ time she had moved to Florida.
In fact, as Christina told her story she recognized that it was that spirit of pushing herself for what she wanted that precipitated this success and will continue her on to more. She is not one that had a strong support system growing up, but she never let that keep her down. While Christina has always pushed herself, she also understands the need for a good network. She credits a lot of people for reaching their hands down to pull her up, but stresses she would have never seen those hands had she not been looking up. One of those hands belonged to her now business partner/investor.
After moving to Florida, Christina enrolled in St. Petersburg college and when a class assignment required that she volunteer, she had no idea where it would lead. Career Services staff member, Dee Mortellaro, saw her passion and drive for dogs – and entrepreneurship! After introducing her to a few community organizations, like The Greenhouse (a program with the City of St. Petersburg designed to help new and existing start-up businesses thrive locally), Christina created a business plan, received 11 certifications, constructed business cards and logo, reserved web space and has recently obtained an LLC for her start-up, Beach Pupps, LLC, a company specializing in dog walks with added perks like baths or runs on the beach. Excited about the new direction of her life, Christina challenges you to look beyond your current surroundings and push yourself to reach your own potential, to follow your own dreams, and to be the person you’ve always wanted to be. She guards against complacency saying that “Everything was impossible until someone did it, don’t settle”.
To read more about Christina’s business, Beach Pupps, LLC, visit their website: http://www.beachpupps.com/
To read more about The Greenhouse and how you can take steps to beginning your own business, please visit The Greenhouse’s website: http://stpetegreenhouse.org/