We had the good fortune of connecting with Abby Seay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abby, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Like many others, I was the weird girl always hanging with animals – no matter where I was, I found some different species to interact with. I applied for a job at a doggy daycare here in Atlanta as a dog handler. I’m super competitive so I made it my goal to learn as much as possible and move up to management. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the education of dog behavior and decided to start pursuing dog training. I would practice every day in the yard with over 100 different dog breed and then after being with the company for 2 years and building such a great relationship with the dog community, I started my company Paws2Palms. It just made sense, I never saw myself being an employee all my life. I still had my full time job at the daycare so it was more like a side hustle but 3 years later I decide to fully invest in myself and step down from my 7am to 7pm and make Paws2Palms my full time job. I officially became an entrepreneur July 2,2021 and I hit the ground running!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Let’s start with the obvious, I am a 4’11 black female who specializes in training bully breeds. The dog training world, especially with working breeds, is a male dominant field and us female handlers sometimes don’t get taken as serious but we are about our business and can do just as good of a job as the boys. The difference between my company and most is the personal experience I give my clients and the knowledge. I am here for you and your dog but I pride myself in providing proper education to all my clients so they can continue their journey even when we part ways.
My demo dog and I, recently competed on America’s Top Dog on A&E and it just makes me super excited for what the future holds for us – Paws2Palms takes a stand for all bully breeds so we appreciate the opportunity to shine a positive light on the breed and hopefully get other opportunities to educate the public on dog behavior and breed recognition.
Like I said before, I am new to full time entrepreneurship but it has already taught me so much! Customer service is so important and you have to hold yourself to the same standards you would hold these major corporations in order to succeed!
I know this journey will have its ups and downs but this is what I signed up for and I don’t plan on letting it stop me – if their is anything you take away from my story let it be this – Take the leap and keep pushing forward!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve been a Georgia peach all my life and I’m into some adventurous things so if you planning on coming out to Georgia, first things first we have to grab some breakfast at my favorite spot FirstWatch – I absolutely love their food! Piedmont Park and Sugarloaf Mills Mall are some of my favorite spots to just hang out. Now when it comes to a good time – I love a good escape room, The Escape Game at The Battery has the most detailed rooms and Project Escape has the best vibes. If escape rooms aren’t your thing you can show off your swing at TopGolf or do some VR at The Void. I don’t drink so I can’t help you there but just to throw some more stuff at you you can wakeboard in Cartersville, relax at the best movie theater Silverspot Cinema, and enjoy a cigar Highland Cigar Co.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mentor, Nigel Hambrick gave me all the knowledge I could ever ask for and gave me my first ever Pitbull – Spawn. He was the dog I learned how to train with and our bond is like no other. Nigel is one of the few people in Atlanta that create quality over quantity and I couldn’t be more thankful to have him in my corner.

My boyfriend, Jared also plays a part in Paws2Palms success – he not only puts up with all the dogs I constantly have around (it can get a little noisy) but he doesn’t waste an opportunity to tell people about my business. Word of mouth advertising is still the best form of marketing!

Website: thepaws2palms.com

Instagram: @paws2palms @thetinyalpha

Linkedin: https://linktr.ee/TheTinyAlpha

Twitter: @thetinyalpha

Facebook: Paws2Palms

Youtube: TheTinyAlpha

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