Meet Mia Austin

We recently connected with Mia Austin and have shared our conversation below.

Mia, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

My business is built on a foundation of inspiring confidence thru competence. Many don’t realize they are the biggest influence on how their dog thinks and ultimately behaves. By changing who you are and what you represent to your dog, you can effectively resolve most behavior issues.

My journey to building confidence thru competence began with my rescue Pitbull, Tony. I had lots of experience with fostering and owning dogs, but never a dog like Tony. He’s the kind of dog that if given the opportunity to test a boundary, will undoubtedly take it- every single time. He was physically far stronger and mentally committed to some incredibly undesirable behaviors like biting, growling and intense dog reactivity, so I knew I had to work smarter not harder with him if we were going to make any progress.

I read a ton of books, committed to daily practice, shadowed some amazing mentors and basically figured out how to reverse engineer his reactivity and aggression. I entered this journey with the hope and intention of improving the harmony in my home. Little did I realize how empowering the transformation would be, so much that I ended up quitting a stable career to pursue this beautiful life helping dogs and empowering humans.

Today, Tony is a well-balanced dog with enough faith in my abilities to lead him – that he can relax and chill because he knows I’ve got his back. Dogs mirror our energy, and Tony is the perfect example of how finding my own calm-confidence has lead to him finding his – and subsequently resolving his reactivity and aggression.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I believe humans are so much more capable than they realize when it comes to resolving their dog’s behavior issues- IF #1 they know what they are looking at and #2 They are prepared to take radical personal accountability. My goal is to improve the lives and strengthen the relationships of as many dogs/humans as possible. For example, I want you to feel relaxed and confident walking your dog, not stressed and embarrassed.

I do this by offering private lessons in your home or park (within 35 miles of 91945) and/or customized boarding options.

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?

Hmm, great question!
1. A commitment to daily progress. Ask yourself every single day, “What am I doing move XYZ forward today?” It can be as small or as large a step in your preferred direction – but you need consistency to build good habits (just like in dog training!) You need to be more committed to moving the business forward in some way/shape/form, than committed to your current motivation dip. *This was and is big for me- and I train dogs with this same commitment to daily progress, it really works.
2. Align yourself with people who know more than you, and become a sponge, ask questions.
3. Be comfortable saying “No” and/or referring out. It’s important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and respect your own boundaries.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The book Atomic Habits by James Clear is full of nuggets on every page!! I love this book and it has played a huge role in both my understanding of how the reward system functions in humans – and in my experience, dogs as well.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Mia Austin, Izzy Levitt

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