Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Divino.
Hi Laurie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
What now seems like ancient history I graduated from the U of U with a B.S in exercise physiology. I enjoyed a career in Seattle working at the W.A.C and also with Seahawks, Mariners and Sonic. (Yes, it has been a hot minute). One of my favorite things about that time was being a coach for the Seattle Kids marathon. After overcoming a grim cancer diagnosis and ending an engagement, I wanted to have more balance in my life. I moved back to Utah from Seattle and had a few various jobs before becoming a nanny. It was crazy to think that I could make more watching and playing with kids than working at the hospital in my field. It was an obvious choice and lots of fun hanging with kids so win/win. I worked for many families and was constantly being asked if I knew people to help with childcare needs. So I thought why not offer this as a service. In 2018 Qubercare was formed-providing the highest quality childcare and empowering those providing these vital services. I had seen how childcare professionals sometimes got the raw end of employment deals (and experienced that myself) so wanted to create a business where each team member had their own EIN and was operating their services as a business. Families greatly enjoy this aspect as they can 1099 for their childcare and childcare professionals are able to maximize tax benefits of offering their services. Like all service based companies 2020 and COVID drove business to a screeching halt. With human contact being limited, we pivoted and started doing pet care. This aspect of the business continued to grow and in 2023 we purchased The Puppy Pawty Bus. During lock down there was lots of time to plan and create vision boards. I wanted a bus with big windows so that everyone could see how happy the pups were. I found a 1990 Subaru SamBar and it was perfect! 4 wheel drive and turbo with lots of big windows and a killer sound system to boot. The Puppy Pawty Bus was wrapped and disco balls installed for maximum fun!
Qubercare /Puppy Pawty Bus is a business based on the fundamental principle of kindness. The children we work with are engaged and encouraged to use manners all while having lots of fun. We have course called HIFIV ( Happy Intelligent Family Inspired Values) Our logo is a hand print and each finger a different color – each finger has a focus ( Jobs/ Financial education , Emotional health, Self Esteem, Physical Health and Kindness) Kids work on each section daily and earn rewards. We truly believe kindness is a superpower! It has the power to change the world. We also utilize this when working with pets. It is a regular occurrence to be hiking trails with 8-10 pups. Many people comment “ wow you have your hands full” yet also remark how well behaved they all are. Well, for the most part (few little rapscallions on occasion). Pups are trained to recall to 3 whistles and even pups not utilizing our services have figured this out and come running. We also use the training word “kindness” so it’s instilled in everything we do.
We are constantly growing and adapting to expand our services menu. We greatly enjoy participating in community events with The Puppy Pawty Bus and have raised funds for Wild Hearts Sanctuary and Nuzzles. We currently offer Puppy Pawty Bus Drivers Licenses with 100 % of the proceeds going to Nuzzles. We believe in helping pets thrive by letting them drive! We also have a Puppy Pawty Bus coloring book that will be available soon.
Bringing smiles to people’s faces and celebrating kindness is what we are all about.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
A friend of mine who had a very successful business for almost 50 years shared some wisdom. “Business is like throwing spaghetti on a wall – you have to give your best guess and see what sticks”. Definitely, gaining a market share in offering various services has been a challenge. Creating a balance between advertising/ demand and having adequate team members is a constant challenge. We do feel very fortunate to have such amazing clients and team members and it has required some “weeding” of both. I truly believe that when you put all you have into something that you are passionate about the success is in the journey and growth. Yes there are bumps in the road but it all works out because those bumps help you learn and grow. Having this growth mindset has been my salvation. I heard a quote from Tyler Perry years ago where he said “ everything is working out for the best for me”. Adopting this mindset has been life changing as this belief changed my perspective in the best way possible.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Qubercare / The Puppy Pawty Bus is a Quality Care Service Business. We specialize in providing the highest quality care. Be it child care, pet care or the other services we offer, we strive to provide the highest quality of care. We of course are known for The Puppy Pawty Bus and Kindness. Our business structure definitely sets us apart from other businesses. We don’t have employees we have team members. We help those team members get their EIN and utilize all the tax write offs they can to keep more of their hard earned money in their pockets.
The aspect of our brand that I am most proud of is bringing joy to people. Joy from our customers as they know we give our best. Joy from our team members knowing they are valued and supported. Team work really does make the dream work and so blessed to have such an amazing team.
Joy to everyone who sees a little yellow Puppy Pawty Bus and smiles as the red toy steering wheel on the left makes it look like the pups are driving.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t know if it is luck or some awesome skill at manifesting but I’m humbled by how amazing this business journey has been. Yes COVID was I guess considered “bad luck” and it also created time and space to dream and The Puppy Pawty Bus was formulated during that time of “ bad luck”.
My life has also had some big challenges and yet taught me great resilience. Once you go through some “shit” you learn you can, not only survive but, thrive. You become more confident that whatever shows up you have learned the skills to traverse challenges and turn them into success. When working with kids I call it creating “fireproof” kids – not protecting them from all the challenges but teaching them the skills to traverse those challenges. I feel I’m constantly working on my own “ fireproof” and learning every day.
Pricing:
- Childcare – provider based generally $30-45 hr
- Pet care – 30 min drop ins / walks $35
- Pet care -60 min dropping/ walks $60
- Pack walks / adventures $50
- Home & Pet Sitting / Boarding – provider based generally $75-150 / day
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.qubercare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puppypawtybus?igsh=MW5yeDNsMGV5YmozNw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CTzbbQiB7/?mibextid=wwXIfr
