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For Charlotte Reed ’86, life’s defining moment arrived when she came home unexpectedly and found her dog walker—a guy—dancing around in one of her dresses.
“He looked better in it than I did,” she says.
She soon discovered that others had “crazy dog-walker stories.” Sensing her calling, Reed abandoned her investment banking job to eventually become one of the country’s foremost pet and pet product experts.
The history and international affairs graduate believed from an early age that she’d own a business just like her father. But rather than the traditional MBA path, she elected to pursue law, graduating from Fordham Law School.
As she says, “Most business people’s problems tend to be legal. For me, it was better to obtain a law degree.”
Yet it wasn’t until that fateful encounter with her dog walker that Reed chose to start her own pet business. That decision was the genesis of Two Dogs & A Goat, Inc. Beginning with dog and cat walking, the Manhattan company evolved into a 24/7 full-service pet care provider. Reed also capitalized on several pet industry firsts: offering services to hotels, building a significant internet presence, and soliciting Fortune 500 companies for business.
As her business expanded, Reed’s effusive personality and expert-level pet care knowledge got her noticed by the media. Now, millions have seen her on The View and Inside Edition, on CBS and worldwide networks like BBC-1, CNN, and Telemundo, plus dozens of regional news and lifestyle programs.
“Getting on television and getting celebrity clients changed my life,” she says.
Reed writes for Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy magazines and is a contributing editor for Pet Business, a pet industry trade publication. She’s been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Boston Herald, and Chicago Tribune, plus numerous other dailies. Always on top of the market, she blogs at “Pets Are My Business,” an analysis of pet news, opinions, and trends.
July 2007 saw the release of her book Miss Fido Manners Book of Dog Etiquette, an idea whose time had finally come.
“When I tried to sell this book [concept] seven years ago, people thought I was insane,” she says.
Now, with more people single and fewer couples having children, pets fill the companionship void. Knowing how to incorporate one’s dog into daily living and social events demanded new rules of etiquette, or as Reed calls it, “petiquette.”
“Pet etiquette is practiced on both ends of the leash,” she notes. “Training skills are applied to common courtesy and consideration for others. We cannot impose our love of dogs on other people.” When both owner and canine know the rules, everyone’s happy.
The book has garnered positive reviews.
“Charlotte Reed convincingly establishes her credibility as the foremost authority of a commonsense approach to canine behavior and manners,” says Donald F. Smith, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. “Charlotte knows dogs, she knows people, and she knows how they fit together in every possible setting.”
Given her schedule as a celebrity pet and pet product expert, how does Reed – who brings along her four dogs, three cats, parrot, and eight finches when she travels — manage the demands for her expertise? “I’m like the Energizer Bunny,” she says. She also cites her ability to fine tune agendas for herself and others: “I’m meticulous to the point of driving people crazy.”
Currently on a book tour, Reed’s traveling and enjoying life. She’s engaged to a Philadelphia-based chef and is looking for new career opportunities. With a laugh, she says, “My life is always about what’s next.”