Meet Stephanie Kacena: Owner of Stay Home Pet Sitting & Graphics Consulting

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

Hi Stephanie, what makes you happy? Why?
Gaining a dog’s trust makes me happy. Sometimes it happens after a few hours, sometimes after a day. Either way, once that fearful pet decides to trust you and brings you his toy – that’s pure joy and happiness! Oh, and warm soft cookies make me happy.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am a huge animal lover with lots of animal experience. I am crazy about my four-legged baby, Dodger! When it comes to his well-being, I am a Mama-Bear who will make sure he is safe, happy, and healthy. I know I take good care of him, but what happens if I need to work long hours or go out of town? Traditional kenneling is not acceptable for me – caging up my animals and exposing them to other pets’ illnesses will never be a solution for my furry family. This is when I realized that pet owners need a solid reliable pet sitters, in their own environment, that could take their worries away. We are extremely detail-oriented and that’s what sets us apart from other businesses. So June of 2014, I decided to dedicate my entire time to my true love – animals. Stay Home Pet Sitting isn’t done by one, it’s a team of professional pet sitters that care about your fur-babies, just like their own. We pride ourselves on excellent communication with our clients. Our easy one-stop-shop portal allows booking, chatting and updating details all in the palm of your hands. Our clients love it!

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
Having family from out of town and being a Houstonian, I enjoy showing off this amazing city. A weekend or week just isn’t enough time to explore it all. So we do our best. Guests are usually hungry for Tex-Mex or BBQ. So we usually start with BBQ for lunch at one of our favorites – Truth BBQ on Washington Ave. It’s rustic, the food is great and their mac and cheese is amazing! Like a true barbecue joint, the place closes when they run out of meat – go early! Depending on the time of year, we either visit The Renaissance festival (Nov-Dec), rent bikes at EaDo Bike Co. and explore the Buffalo Bayou and White Oak trails, or head to Galveston for some sun, seafood and beachtime. Farmers Markets are great for morning croissants and fresh coffee. Then Urban Axes and Brew Buffalo is a good way to spend an afternoon. Days tend to fly by when having fun. Before you know it, we’re headed to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner – El Tiempo on Taft Street. We sit upstairs with our regular waiter and indulge in their famous fajitas and margaritas. You can’t go wrong at this place! Lastly, if there’s room… we stop for ice cream at Smoosh. Guests love the cookie AND ice cream option. I don’t blame them!