Business Profile: Stone Meadow Kennels, Mahopac
Jonathan and Beth Hallett used to be corporate workers in large companies in the electronic industry, but after meeting each other years ago they realized they wanted to do something else with their lives.
Beth was a quality control manager and director and Jonathan was a purchasing manager. They had two goals in mind that didn’t involve staying in the same business.
We decided we wanted to follow our lifelong dream of working with animals,” Beth said. “And working together because we work together real well.”
Years later the married couple have been able to discover those goals, owning Stone Meadow Kennels in Mahopac for the past eight years. After they bought the business from a relative, the two have proudly and impressively run a premiere pet boarding kennel serving Westchester, Putnam And Dutchess Counties. Always striving to improve their services, the couple does it as a team.
While some couples may not like the idea of working with their significant other throughout the day, that isn’t the case for the Halletts. Each one brings qualities that combine for a strong business team.
The two actually met one day when working for the same company and from there it clicked.
“It’s great, it’s great,” Beth said. “I mean he always says to everybody ‘she’s the boss’ and I’m like ‘whatever.’ He’s just easy to get along with and we’re good together.”
Beth describes her husband as a “people’s person” and thinks of herself as the computer and software expert. Their shared expertise is with the pets they care for.
Jonathan has even gone into extensive training to know every way to better care for a dog. He’s a certified dog trainer from the K-9 Education Center in Connecticut. Impressively, Jonathan was at the top of his class.
“We said we need to know every thing we can know about a dog,” Jonathan said. “The behavior, how they work.”
The couple even went around to different kennels, as far up as Syracuse to truly get an idea of what the business is all about.
And the Halletts have great flexibility and freedom with the pet boarding business. Jonathan remarks how he traded in his dress shirts for comfortable flannels and down to earth clothes. He jokes how he has a bunch of dress shirts that he never uses and probably will never really use again.
The Halletts also have their home on the property of their business. Because of that proximity, it allows them to be on-site seven days a week. Jonathan describes the boarding kennel as a “home-like environment.”
Jonathan said pets can expect luxury treatment that includes custom meals, medications, clean bedding every night, heat, air conditioning, play time and exercise in secure fields. Recently the business was renovating the inside of the building to have an additional cuddle area and move the office to the front of the building.
And ultimately, the Halletts treat each dog as their own. The couple has four dogs, but customers that bring a dog can expect exceptional treatment.
“We have relationships with our customers and their dogs,” Jonathan said. “Actually stronger with their dogs than the customers.”
