Heather Branch is a Professional Certified, Nationally known Petsitter running her company Best Friends Forever out of the north end of Los Angeles (the “Valley”).
She jumped into the pet care industry coming out of a career in entertainment, news and radio. You may have seen her in the background of various tv shows through the years, finally landing a gig surveying and reporting on Los AngelesTraffic for the biggest radio stations. After a few years of very early morning shifts, she wanted something different; what brought her the most JOY was her own dog “Izzy” greeting her at the door – practically doing cartwheels whenever she came home! Heather wanted more of THAT in her life, and set out to learn all she could about animals, pets and animal behavior.
She & her husband Scott had a wonderful professional petsitter for “Izzy” and their cats, so Heather discussed the industry with her and worked diligently on several certifications through the Animal Behavior College. Debra, their own professional petsitter mentored her and taught her everything she knew about pet care on a Professional Level, including becoming involved in the National Association of Professional Petsitters.
Heather launched Best Friends Forever in January of 2011, and Debra’s company and BFF merged by the end of 2012. By 2014, Best Friends Forever won the esteemed title of “Business of the Year” from NAPPS and recently was appointed to the Board of Directors
Heather feels her success is due to the fact that she laid the foundation for her work. She took the time to learn and pursue her certifications. She also attributes much of her success with her support system – her long time staff members and very supportive husband!
Best Friends Forever primarily focuses on suburban and city clients who often travel for work. Her business caters to the upscale community - -clients include doctors, lawyers and a mix of other industry professionals. Most of the services requested are daily dog walks or twice daily cat sitting visits, and Best Friends Forever also provides a lot of overnight sits (normally done by Heather herself).
Most of Heather’s clientele are dogs and cats, but they do have the occasional unusual city animals including chickens and horses.
Heather couldn’t be happier to have moved out of the entertainment business and into the pet sitting business. “I know I’m doing something great because of the love I get from the animals every day And our clients are so appreciative of our service! Nothing beats that! And the pets don’t care if you’re wearing business attire or makeup. They’re just happy to see you!”