Leigh Siegfried shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Leigh , really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Ok, truthfully I’m going to answer two questions.
The first 90 minutes of my day?
Embodiment practice, cacao, breakfast with my daughter, load up the dogs and the kiddo for school drop off. Then I trail run with my dogs, usually at the lake before I log on. Then coffee, sunshine and work.
What am I most proud of building that nobody sees?
I think people don’t often see what I build, but they feel it. I’m proud of building a culture with heart and a team that can feel each other, the dogs and the human sidekicks. And we just are in the final completion phase of a love garden (we were going to make it a remembrance garden), but decided to make it as a space to honor the big love that is always alive between dogs and their people. It’s the greatest gift and we want a space that really reminds us to be present with these little legends while they are with us.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Leigh Siegfried, founder of Opportunity Barks and dogcultr, and the creator of Lifestyle Dog Training — a new way of looking at dogs built on relationship, science and co-regulation.
Through Opportunity Barks, my team and I have trained over 10,000 dogs and their owners over the past twenty years. At the core, we train dogs really well, but what we actually do is help people build better communication and connection. When the relationship gets clear, the behavior follows.
Opportunity Barks has three training studios across the Greater Philadelphia area, as well as a farm in Bucks County. Our urban-to-farm programs give dogs and their sidekicks space to reset and learn a better rhythm together.
Before launching OPB, I worked across the whole spectrum of the canine world, from shelter and animal welfare work and consulting to national conference stages. I’ve spoken for the Humane Society of the United States, the Petfinder Adoptions Options Tour, and in plenty of live and on-air settings.
Dogcultr is the evolution of that work, a space that explores how humans and dogs actually shape each other and what it looks like to build a more honest, soulful culture around dogs.
I’m not here to fit into the old obedience world. I’m here to build what’s next: a living, breathing culture of humans and dogs who actually understand each other.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Oh damn, I think this is a really great question. I think it’s really only through others that we’re sometimes best reflected and can actually see who we are. I’d say my best friends, colleagues, and coaches have been my mirror ball. In their saying, sometimes the smallest phrases can ring like a bell and wake me up to things that I’d never seen (blind spots, I suppose), and these have at times been the most transformational moments of my life thus far.
Also, a deep sigh from most dogs, gets it done too.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
Yes, it’s a gift. Being received by someone who is truly present and is totally available to hear you and feel you is a gift. Dogs are naturals, and I have so much reverence for folks who can hold space for me in that way.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Creative self-expression and freedom. And good music. Always send me the good music, I love it when my people drop in with a song or something that they think I’d enjoy.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yeah, I think I’m always giving my best, but that shifts depending on my capacity and where my attention’s at. I don’t really work for praise, I figured that out years ago during a riding lesson when my coach came in hot, and it snapped me into focus. I got it together with my horse, and it stuck with me.
It’s nice when people say kind things, but that’s not what drives me. The process is the thing. There’s no finish line.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.opbarks.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leigh-siegfried-3732485/
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