Why Allie Went Independent, And Never Looked Back
Frustrated by the limitations of platform-based pet care, Allie built a business rooted in care, trust, and true ownership with Time To Pet.
Allie Rountree didn’t start a business because she had a plan. She started one because she loved animals and because a few clients believed in her enough to say, “Hey, you should be charging more. And you should be charging us, not some app.
At the time, she was 19 and booking gigs through Rover. She liked the work. She didn’t love the feeling.
“I enjoyed the animals, but something felt off,” she said. “I couldn’t give the level of care I wanted to. And I couldn’t build real relationships when everything had to go through a platform.”
That all changed when a client asked to work with her directly. Then another. And another.
“I wasn’t planning to go out on my own yet, but when people start trusting you over the app, you start to wonder if you can do it.”
She could, and she did. Allie now runs a thriving independent pet care business in North Carolina. Over the past seven years, she’s grown from a solo sitter to a multi-sitter operation with a full-time manager, a fully booked client roster, and a reputation for building long-term relationships—many of her clients won’t travel unless she’s available.
Since adding Time To Pet, she’s streamlined her operations and reclaimed time to focus on what matters most: her clients, her team, and her business growth. She built Paw Pet Sitting, LLC without a franchise, without a middleman, and without giving a percentage of her income to a platform that wasn’t built around her specific goals.
“I Realized I Wanted My Business to Reflect Me, Not a Platform”
For Allie, leaving Rover wasn’t about frustration. It was about freedom and wanting to build something she could fully stand behind.
Over time, she saw that many clients were looking for something more personal too, someone they could get to know, trust, and feel connected to. As her client relationships deepened, the idea of representing herself, instead of a third-party brand, started to feel more important.
“It’s not just about the pets. It’s about the people who trust you to care for them. I didn’t want to be tied to a system that didn’t reflect how seriously I take that responsibility.”
By stepping out on her own, Allie built something that felt aligned with her purpose and gave her the space to grow her business exactly the way she envisioned.
“A lot of people on apps use them for side gigs, but for me, this was always more than that. It’s my full-time job. My name is on it. My heart is in it.”
From Chaos to Confidence: How Time To Pet Helped Her Take Control
Allie always took her work seriously, but she didn’t reach six-figure confidence overnight. For a while, she was piecing everything together across five different apps. “I had one app for my calendar, another for payments, another for documents, it was a mess. I was so stressed, my hair literally started thinning.”She knew something had to change. Enter Time To Pet.
“I was nervous. I didn’t know if my clients would transition. But I just hit a point where I said, enough. I needed my life back.”
From the first onboarding call, she knew this was different.
With Time To Pet, Allie replaced all five apps with one clean, easy-to-use platform. She can schedule, invoice, assign staff, collect payment, and manage client relationships all in one place.
“Stuff that used to take two hours now takes five minutes. My dashboard is the first thing I check every day. It’s streamlined, and it’s fun.”
Running her own business didn’t just bring organization, it brought a deeper sense of purpose.
“When you’re a kid, no one tells you that you’re allowed to love what you do for a living,” Allie said. “But I do. I love this. And that changes how I show up for my clients every single day.”
The Right Kind of Professional (Thanks, Celia!)
There’s a quiet kind of confidence that comes from running things on your own terms, and Time To Pet gave Allie the tools to grow into that role. But what really helped her own it? Her team, and especially her manager, Celia Wilson.
“I used to feel weird about charging more. I’d think, ‘Should I just do this for free?’ You get so close to clients and their pets. But Celia would remind me, ‘You’re not the average pet sitter. You go above and beyond. And you’re allowed to charge what you’re worth.’”
Allie credits Celia with helping her level up, not just in pricing, but in structure, leadership, and vision.
“She’s pushed me in all the best ways. We’ve built this business together. I always praise her to whoever I can. I literally can’t say enough good things about her.”
And it’s not just Celia. Allie credits the rest of her core team for being a huge part of her success, too. “I’m so lucky to have Jessica Burleson, Rinne Alt, Ingrid Nilsen, and Katie Weibel on my team. They’ve been with me for 2-3 years now, and when something goes wrong, they’re always there to pick up the slack. We’ve built a relationship of shared respect and confidence. These women are my rock.”
Now, Allie leads with more clarity and pride. She trains her sitters to be detail-obsessed and emotionally intuitive. And she shows up not just as a pet care provider, but as a real-deal business owner.
A Shoutout to Special Clients
Allie also takes a moment to recognize two families that were instrumental in her journey. “Megan & Bryan Derr were one of my first clients at 19. They called me in a panic when their sitter disappeared for 18 hours and needed someone to check on their dogs. They really built me up in the beginning, reminding me to know my worth.”
“All these years later, Michelle & Michael Wright have been there every step of the way. They’ve given me invaluable advice, whether it was branding tips or reminding me to respect my own time and not overwork myself. Michelle is actually the reason I found Time To Pet, so I owe her a huge thank you. I can’t say enough about how these families have supported me.”
Not Just a Software Company, A Partner
Time To Pet didn’t just support Allie’s growth; it helped clear the path for it.
“I used to send myself test invoices just to admire the layout. I loved seeing my logo and colors in there. It made me feel legit,” she said.
Even as her business grew, Allie wanted tools that still felt personal. Her favorite features? The scheduling filters, the client profiles, and, no surprise, the invoices.
Photos by Art by Ashley Photography, capturing the heart of Paw Pet Sitting, LLC.