Meet Cherish Mullins

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cherish Mullins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cherish below.

Hi Cherish, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I would consider my upbringing as a whole “non-traditional.” My parents divorced when I was one, so I never really knew my father, and I watched my mom go in and out of hospitals my entire life. My mother suffered from several health ailments, including diabetes, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. My siblings and I frequently called her superwoman because she survived multiple surgeries, strokes, and heart attacks caused by CHF. That woman was the strongest person I ever knew, and she taught me the meaning of resilience. Even when she was in pain, my mother always cared for us. Although we suggested otherwise, she still put everyone above herself. Despite her trials and tribulations, I watched her raise five children as a single mother, and I never grasped how she did it. When I turned 16, I started working my first real job. At the time, we were on the verge of homelessness due to my mom’s declining health. I dropped out of high school and began working full-time before taking on a position as a Cashier. I was pulling doubles, triples, overnights; you name it. I wanted to contribute so if I could work and care for myself, my mom won’t have to. Of course, she still cared for me as a mother, but I am the youngest of five, so I was the last to leave the nest. I didn’t care what I was missing out on if it meant I could take even a small load off her shoulders. Ever since then, I’ve been carrying that same ethic ever since. My mom always showed us that you can always “make a way out of no way,” Now that I am older, I wholeheartedly believe that. I’ve worked in so many places that I can’t even name, ranging from janitorial to working with the local school district. Looking back, I always thought my odd work history wouldn’t serve any real purpose, but now I know that all the exposure I received early on was preparing me for the roles and positions I am in now. I can now adapt to any environment, whether slow, fast-paced, or constantly changing. I’ve seen and done everything, leading me into the best role and career. Above all else, I get to follow my passion and work with animals in a constantly changing and growing field.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Cherish Mullins, and I founded Gentle Express Grooming & Pet Care LLC in July 2021. I have worked as a Veterinary Nurse in the animal healthcare industry for almost seven years. I opened my business a few months after losing my fur baby, Gentle. The mission of Gentle Express is to allow pets to undergo routine medical grooming care and maintenance while in the comfort of their homes. We bring the pet care experience to your front door. Our focus is to be able to offer mobile medical grooming and pet-sitting services. What separates our company from others is that they are tailored specifically for each pet parent and their pet’s needs. We also offer minor grooming services such as gland expressions, sanitary trims, nail trims, ear hair removals, and ear cleanings. As the CEO, my current objective is rebranding, relaunching a new website, and building a team. We also will be offering new services in the upcoming months. On a personal note, I have many different interests and passions, but I love nothing more than animals. That makes what I do unique, It never feels like work, and I get to do what I love while pursuing a constantly expanding and growing career.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The qualities and areas of knowledge that have been the most impactful have been persistence, organization, knowing your niche, consistency, preparation, and overcoming imposter syndrome. Above all, you have to be consistent and stick to your plan. Decide what your end goal is and write down the steps that it will take to get there. Finding my “niche” and learning how to work around it has been vital. I decided to take the knowledge and skills I had been professionally trained for already and use that as a way to turn into a business. I needed to be more organized in the past and had a million ideas with no follow-through. After I sat down, wrote a plan, and mapped out my goals, I started seeing results. I advise anyone early on their journey to write an outline and knock out one step at a time. Decide what you are passionate about and good at, and go from there. Do as much prep work and research as is required to know what you’re getting into. As long as you remain focused and stay committed, it gets easier as you go. I have learned to plan and finish things as soon as they come instead of putting them off until the last minute. The biggest takeaway I would give someone is to keep a healthy work/life balance. Of course, if you are like me and are also working a 9-5 on top of running a business, that is easier said than done, but do make time for rest. Taking it easy on myself has been the biggest lesson going into year two, and realizing that there is no race and that I must allow myself time to have breaks.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
I couldn’t choose whether to respond to this question or another one that caught my eye initially, so I combined the two since they go hand in hand. The other question was, “What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?”. Honestly, this is something that I still deal with occasionally, but it is also something I’ve had a lot of growth in overcoming within the past year. I have been investing more in self-care over the past year and a half, which has been the best thing for me. When I first started this business in 2021, I would stay up until 1, sometimes 2 am and have to be to work at 7:00a. I would do that for days on end to meet the deadlines I set for myself, and although the results came quickly, I wouldn’t recommend doing that long term. Toward the end of my first year, I felt burnt out from how many hours I was working overall. I was grateful for the growth of my clientele and the exposure, but I needed to improve about giving myself a break, not only mentally but physically. After a while, I could feel myself slowing down, and I was losing the momentum I had when I first started. After I realized what was happening, I decided to take some time off for my mental health. I was still working my 9-5 but closed my books for almost two months. That was the best decision I had made yet. During that time, I was able to catch up on rest, take up some new hobbies, find time to relax, and overall give my mind a much-needed mental break. In doing that, I came back feeling refreshed and renewed. I could see the areas I lacked since I had a much clearer headspace than I had before. A clear mind is essential to function at a level I’m used to. Nowadays, society will sometimes make you think that there is a time limit on your goals and that you have to have things done at a particular time, and that’s not the case. I’ve grown to realize that whatever lifepath is for you truly is yours and unique to you. What has helped me continue to grow and thrive has been keeping a positive mindset and a different perspective on challenges and those periods when I need to take a minute. In doing that, I have seen that things have flown much easier. I have had better time management, and although it is still a daily learning process, I have learned to take my time and stay consistent. I’ve found a healthy balance between work and personal time, which has helped me elevate in both aspects.

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Image Credits
Images captured by @lexisnipes_ https://instagram.com/lexisnipes_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Lexi Scicchitano

 

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