Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Lucarini.
Hi Gabrielle, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I graduated from Robert Morris University with a business degree, a 3.97 GPA, and summa cum laude honors. I did well in school, but I struggled to find my place in corporate America. Then I got let go a week after my wedding and a week before my honeymoon. My husband encouraged me not to go back to corporate work and to try doing something with animals instead.
Animals are a big part of my life at home, too. I have eight pets—five rabbits, two dogs, and a cat—and I’ve also fostered dogs and rabbits.
I started on Rover, and it blew up. In 2025, I had two days off the entire year. My clients were actually the reason I decided to start a company. They encouraged me to start a business because I was good at what I did. So I combined my business background, my pet care experience, and their feedback to create North Hills Pet Care. I wanted to bring my standard of care to more clients by building a team.
I also wanted to make this work more manageable for the people doing it. When you’re an independent pet sitter, it’s almost impossible not to work every day. If you can’t work certain times of the day or certain days of the week, you can’t take clients who need care then. I experienced that firsthand.
With a team, I can hire people who work part time or need hours that fit their schedules, and assign multiple sitters to a client. The client gets the same standard of care, and we handle the scheduling and coordination internally so care is seamless. It also means people who are great with animals but can’t do this full time have an opportunity to work with us.
I filed the LLC paperwork on March 7, 2026, and opened my books to new clients on May 5. As of August 30, we’ve added over 30 new clients, in addition to those who came with me from my independent pet-sitting days. It’s still early, but it’s exciting to see something grow out of work I’m good at and clients who believed in me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been completely smooth, and some of the biggest challenges have been things I’ve had to work on myself.
One has been learning that I don’t have to control everything. When you’re used to doing all the work yourself, it’s hard to step back. But my sitters have been so helpful with that. They’ve shown me I can trust people to do their jobs without me micromanaging every detail. I care a lot about our standard of care, and I’m learning that I can maintain that without personally controlling everything.
Scheduling is another big challenge. Each sitter lives in a different place and has their own availability, limitations, and preferences for where they work. Then you have clients whose locations and scheduling needs you can’t predict. Figuring out how to make all of that fit together takes a lot of coordination.
And honestly, going to bed on time! If I’m in the groove of working on something, I will stay up all night. I now have an alarm set for 10 p.m., and that’s when I shut everything down. It sounds small, but learning when to stop working has been an adjustment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about North Hills Pet Care?
North Hills Pet Care provides dog walking, drop-in visits, and overnight pet sitting in clients’ homes throughout Pittsburgh’s North Hills. We also offer live-in care on a very limited basis, depending on sitter availability. We help with regular workday care, occasional days away, and travel, with care built around each household’s needs and routines.
Most of our clients have dogs and cats, but we also care for goats and chickens. I would love to welcome more rabbits and other small animals, too. With five rabbits of my own and experience fostering them, that’s an area I’m especially excited about.
What I aim for is a combination of communication, organization, pictures, and a real love for animals. I want clients to feel connected while they’re away through thoughtful updates about how their pets are doing and pictures that capture their personalities. They shouldn’t have to chase us for updates or spend their trip wondering whether their instructions are being followed. The details matter to me, from a pet’s feeding routine to noticing changes in their behavior or making sure we leave the house how the client asked.
We’re insured and bonded, and our sitters have pet CPR certification through the American Red Cross. We use a client portal called Time to Pet to keep client information, pet profiles, and care instructions organized. Clients can request care, view their schedules, view and pay invoices, and communicate with the team in one place. Behind the scenes, that organization helps everyone involved stay informed and provide consistent care.
But the part I’m most proud of is when clients tell me they were able to enjoy their trip because they didn’t have to worry about their animals. Sometimes they tell me they can finally get away because they’ve found someone they trust. Hearing that is the most rewarding part of what I do. That is the reason I do this.
I love caring for the animals, and being able to give their people that peace of mind makes the work even more meaningful. I want clients to feel that we love spending time with their pets and that we take the responsibility of caring for them seriously.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Honestly, therapy! It’s helped me in so many areas of my life, both personally and professionally. Having a place to work through things, understand myself better, and keep growing has made a big difference for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://northhillspetcare.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northhillspetcare/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575357508206
