What happens at a Pet Business Coaching Day?

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Are you looking to work on your pet business in a room full of other pet professionals who genuinely get it – and who want to see you succeed?

If so, my coaching days might be exactly what you need.

I’m Rachel, an accredited pet business coach with an ILM Level 5 and Level 7 in coaching and mentoring.

My background is in journalism, and I’ve built an award-winning pet blog and podcast.

I also own Sunnyside Cottage, a dog-friendly holiday let in Robin Hood’s Bay that I’ve taken from pretty quiet to fully booked – so I know what it feels like to be on the other side of the visibility challenge.

My passion is helping people see the brilliance they already have in their businesses, and find the confidence to communicate that so they can grow and thrive and my coaching days are a big part of how I do that.

In this post, I’ll explain what to expect, who these days are for, who they’re not for, and what to do if you fancy joining us on one.

Why are the coaching days only for small groups?

These days are deliberately small with no more than eight people so everyone has focused time on their business, their challenges, and gets support from the rest of the group.

It’s about listening and being there for others as much as it is for your own business and lots of partnerships and collaborations happen as a result of the connections made.

When you’re in a room with hundreds of people, you take in lots of information from people on the stage, have quick conversations, swap business cards and move on.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and big events have their place. But what I’ve found with smaller groups is people really value having targeted time and help with what’s happening for them right now.

Who comes along to the coaching days?

The people who come to my coaching days are pet business owners at all kinds of different stages. I’ve had people who’ve been running their businesses for years and hit a wall they can’t quite see their way over.

I’ve had people who are brand new and have so many ideas they don’t know where to start.

I’ve had people who thought they knew exactly what they wanted to talk about and discovered, once they were in the room, that it was something else entirely.

What they tend to have in common is that they’re working largely on their own, they really care about what they do, and they’ve been carrying something – a question, an idea, a block – that they haven’t quite been able to shift on their own.

On my most recent day, the topics ranged from how to get visible as a brand-new local business to launching a membership to getting unstuck on a rebrand to a campaign that was growing faster than expected.

All completely different situations, all completely different businesses – and yet the room found ways to connect them all, because the underlying feelings are usually pretty similar.

The self-doubt, the second-guessing, the sense of being so close to something but not quite there.

Setting the scene for how we’d like the space to be

How is the day structured?

We start by settling in – there’s always something to help people find their feet and get a sense of who else is in the room and what they’re bringing with them.

Then we move into spotlight sessions, where two or three people each take time to share what they’re working on or stuck with, and the rest of the group responds.

Not a barrage of advice that can be overwhelming, but with questions, observations and suggestions.

There’s plenty of time built in for conversations – the chats over lunch, the things that come up when someone else is talking that make you think about your own situation differently.

Some of the best moments happen in those gaps.

I also weave in a little of my coaching training, because I’ve found that understanding what’s going on emotionally is often just as useful as the practical stuff.

Not in a heavy way – more as a tool to help people get clear on what’s really getting in the way of them doing what they want to do, rather than what they think is the obstacle.

Round the table at the coaching day in Warrington, Cheshire in May 2026

What people leave the coaching day with

Some people leave with a very clear action plan and a list of next steps and I love it when I have emails the next day where plans have already been brought to life.

Some leave with connections that can help them get unstuck, feeling more confident from the encouragement they had from the group, a shift in how they see themselves, or a renewed sense that what they’re doing matters.

What I hear most often, though, is some version of: ‘I didn’t realise other people felt like this too.’

There’s something about being in a room full of people who are brilliant at what they do and still have moments of doubt, still question themselves, still wonder if they’re doing it right.

We all sit in our houses thinking everyone else has it all worked out, but the reality is that we all have wobbles and question ourselves.

What the coaching days are not

They’re not conferences, so no speakers, no stages, no panels. I’m not standing at the front telling you what to do – that’s not how I work and it’s not what these days are for.

The value comes from the room, and from what happens when a group of passionate, experienced, caring people turns their attention to each other’s problems.

They’re also not expensive. I keep the price deliberately accessible because I want them to be available to pet business owners at all stages, not just the ones who’ve been going long enough to have a big budget.