How to Grow from Passion Project to Thriving Business

Chelsea Phillips left college with a degree in political science and the thought that she could make the biggest impact through government work. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that she wasn’t particularly passionate about working as a government lobbyist.

“I didn’t really enjoy the work that I was doing“, Phillips said. “I decided I needed to focus on and pursue something that I loved instead.”

What she loved was kids, animals and teaching. So, true to her word, Phillips left her stable job to venture out into the choppy waters of entrepreneurism. In the teeth of the recession, she boldly followed in her mother‘s footsteps and started Tiny Tails To You – a local hands-on, traveling petting zoo, designed to engage both like young in age and the young at heart.

Before long, business was booming, and recognizing she needed help, Chelsea recruited her partner, Joe Moore, away from his teaching job to help scale the business to another level. Together, Phillips and Moore are in their natural habitat working to bring unique animal experiences, natural connection and environmental wisdom to the Austin area.

In this episode of voices of impact, Chelsea, Joe, and I discuss the art of building a business on the back of personal passions. We talk about rediscovering a sense of wonder, pet therapy, removing yourself as the bottleneck, and learning how to scale. And Chelsea shares the best resource she’s found to empower the local Austin business community. Hint: it’s free. Listen in to find out.

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