Meet Sonoma entrepreneur Garret Tadlock

“We are seeing millennials having children later (or not at all) which is increasing pet ownership,” says Garret Tadlock.|

Garret and Jamie Tadlock moved to Sonoma Valley almost five years ago. Since then, in addition to growing their family to six, Garret Tadlock has also grown his software business, Paw Loyalty, and attracted accolades from the petcare industry.

Pet Age magazine recently named Tadlock to its “Forty Under 40” list.

Tadlock founded Paw Loyalty in 2009 and has been at the helm since day one. He says that he comes from a long line of entrepreneurs and small-business owners, and that he always knew that he wanted to eventually build his own business.

While working for a huge San Francisco-based tech company, he saw a huge opportunity when he realized how antiquated the software solutions were for pet boarding and daycare facilities.

“There has been large growth in this sector which indicated an industry readiness to engage seriously with technology and I wanted to pave that road,” he said.

Nine years later, Paw Loyalty is the leading software in the pet industry and used by some of the largest brands. The company aims to make it easier for pet owners and service providers to connect with each other and, more generally, to make the lives of pet people easier.

Tadlock says that it is rewarding to work with small business owners to help them grow and elevate their businesses.

“I love hearing stories from customers about how they use our software to improve their operation, how they are now saving time and money, and how they feel a stronger peace of mind because all elements of their businesses are under control and thriving,” he said.

Paw Loyalty is the first software company to fully deploy digital pet charting. This means pet care providers can track everything digitally using a tablet, and provides high visibility into the quality of care, health, and safety of pets while they are at the pet care facility – everything from appointments to medications and feedings, body checks, incident reports and weight changes.

“We have lots of exciting plans for the future,” he said. “I’d like to see us expand internationally and continue to lead the technology arm of this industry.”

While Tadlock frequently travels for work, he loves the fact that he can run his growing business from Sonoma Valley.

And the pet industry is indeed exploding.

“People continue to consider their pets as a members of their family and we are seeing millennials having children later, or not at all, which is increasing pet ownership of young professionals who have and are willing to spend their expendable income on their pets,” said Tadlock. “Because of this, it is an exciting time to be in this industry.

Send business news to lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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