Meet Sammi Coles | Dog Trainer (& Human Coach)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sammi Coles and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sammi, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
My work-life balanced has changed quite a bit over time and it’s always a work in progress for me. Before being an entrepreneur, I worked many hours but felt unhappy in the career. My work-life balance was extremely unbalanced and I was all work, all the time. It was often not even about the physical hours spent working, but rather the mental space that was taken up by thoughts about work, too.
Now, as an entrepreneur, I might spend more physical hours working, but I enjoy what I’m doing, so I feel much more balanced. I think so much of the balance has to come from doing what you’re happy with and where you feel comfortable and what challenges you. I’m able to balance my days better, take breaks when I need to, and schedule work when I’m most effective which I think is even more important than the number of hours worked. I also think that the time freedom and ability to create my own schedule has added to the feeling of being much more balanced than ever before when I was constricted to the typical 9-5 working hours.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
While some might say my first career in public service has nothing to do with dog training, I’d strongly disagree with them! While I love training dogs, I love connecting with people even more – and that’s truly what dog training is for me. I’ve been able to combine the skills I learned in public service along with the dog training knowledge to develop owner-centered dog training programs so that owners can live amazing lives with their dogs.

I started with my own challenging dog, Sparkle, and that quickly spiraled into “how can I help more people with their own dogs?”. Through helping friends and family members with their dogs, I finally found what I was looking for – working with animals while also connecting with and helping people.
From my perspective, the dog training industry is lacking the human connection and compassion piece and I love that my business is able to provide that for dog owners.

Just like a journey with a challenging dog, entrepreneurship has not been easy, but it has been 100% worth it. I learn new things every day and more importantly, I laugh every day because working with living beings with their own thoughts and feelings will definitely keep you humble! Dogs can also teach us so many skills that can be applied to entrepreneurship (and life!0 like resiliency, trying to find new ways to accomplish a goal, or simply when to take a nap in the sun. I love that through Spark-K9, I get to help owners embrace the lessons dogs have to teach us about ourselves.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh, this is a fun one!
First, we’d definitely be taking a dog or two out for an adventure! We’d plan a hike or two, probably somewhere in Evergreen (I love Alderfer/Three Sisters Park area) or even venture a little further into the mountains to see if we can summit a 14’er. I also love visiting the smaller, less crowded state parks like Roxborough State Park or Castlewood Canyon State Park.

We’ll also check out Red Rocks for a concert, and probably head to one of the outlet malls for some great shopping. And you bet that we’re going to go cheer on a local team (preferably the Colorado Avalanche!).

We’d grab a slice of BeauJo’s pizza (from the one in Idaho Springs, of course, because it’s the original!) We will HAVE to pick up pastries from Poulette Bakeshop, too, because vacations are all about enjoying great food.

Finally, we’d definitely have to have some local brews and/or cocktails. Best enjoyed at night around a fireplace, surrounded by all your friends!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family, my lovely colleagues who are always there to brainstorm with, and my wonderful boyfriend, Cody.

Website: https://Www.spark-k9.com

Instagram: @spark_k9