Alumni Spotlight: Katie Kanning ’15
Alumni Spotlight: Katie Kanning ’15
One of Katie Kanning’s earliest experiences in business came in 6th grade when she began selling chocolate door-to-door as a fundraiser for the annual Woodcrest Christian Day School 6th grade trip to Sacramento/San Francisco. She raised not only enough money for her own ticket, but also for her mother’s, with $100 left over.
After the trip, it was through the encouragement from her mom that Katie made a list of services that she could offer in her neighborhood. She again went door-to-door offering to recycle, feed pets, or water plants. “It seemed people mostly wanted pet sitting,” Katie recalls, which would soon evolve into more than a neighborhood chore. Throughout high school, she continued to pet sit, often staying overnight in client homes and checking daily on pets.
When Katie graduated Woodcrest Christian in 2015 and started CBU later that fall, she started advertising her services online, and her business started gaining traction. While her undergrad degree was in Criminal Justice, the flourishing of her business and the continued encouragement from her mother led her to immediately pursue an MBA. During this time, the business took off, and Katie could no longer enjoy the benefits of doing the business alone. The bookings were starting to overlap which brought Katie into the world of owning a pet sitting business. “I quickly realized I was going to start having to do interviews and hire people,” Katie shares. Through prayer and wise counsel, she took the necessary steps to grow her business.
Katie’s passion for her business stems from her love of serving people and offering the assurance of safety for their home and pets. During her time at Woodcrest Christian, she served by participating on multiple mission trips to Belize and Chile. She muses that these trips gave her tangible examples and experiences of service. She also credits her Spanish and math teachers for teaching her how to work as a Christian in a professional setting while integrating her faith. Keeping the standards high with employees and the services she offers, Katie continues to act on her heart of service taking care of some of the most precious aspects of people’s lives…their pets.
