We were lucky to catch up with Megan Billingsley recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Megan, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Honestly, my confidence was built through trial and error in different environments and social interactions. I’m almost forty and have immersed myself in different cultures, social norms, other people’s homes, countries and have learned from every single interaction. If you stay in the same bubble and don’t venture out then you never truly learn what you can handle and if you know how to adapt. Learning how to adapt in different situations is what creates your confidence. This is a very similar basis for teaching confidence in dogs. Exposing them to different scenarios and keeping things under threshold so they learn how to cope on their time. Then they have confidence for the next time they experience a similar situation.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My husband helped me realize my lifelong dream of becoming my own boss and opening a dog training business, so we launched Primed Instincts in March 2020 right after COVID hit.
I’ve always been interested in canine and animal behavior, since my twenties and thirties, and friends and family regularly reached out for help with their dogs. It felt natural to focus on this new venture. I always get excited seeing people’s faces light up when they see their dog perform a behavior or command they never thought they could achieve. I really focus on strengthening the bond between owner and dog.
What sets me apart is that my knowledge of behavioral modification isn’t limited to dogs. I’ve worked with big cats, wolves, sled dogs, birds of prey, and woodland creatures throughout my career. This diverse experience provides me with a wide array of behavioral modification techniques that I can tailor to each dog. Every dog-owner relationship is unique, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
My flexibility and versatility help clients see the positive potential in their dogs. I am starting to venture more into the digital world of creating content for my clients. I’ve mostly done in person training but my time has become more constrained with children. I am learning about how to provide quality training in a digital space
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The fact that my training background is not solely focused on dogs really helped me to understand the dynamics of behavioral modification. My background consists of birds of prey, wolves, big cats, and sled dogs as well as the common household dog. My quality of being able to adapt to many situations is also helping me to be successful and flexible for my clients because there is not one size fits all for dog training.
For those early in their journey, I highly suggest interning with someone and building your credentials through some form of dog training school (Karen Pryor, Victoria Stillwell, Animal Behavior Applied Science degree) so that you have an educational background that people can respect.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My many mentors over the years before I started my business were influential in giving me the tools I would need to succeed. Each had something different that they taught me about dog training and behavioral modification so that I was able to fill in gaps with each internship.
My husband has been the biggest supporter since starting my business by keeping my had above water and my sanity while raising two small children and running a small business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.primedinstincts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primedinstincts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/primedinstinctsllc/
- Other: TikTok @meganbillingsley54
Image Credits
Chad Borer
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