Pooper Scooper Pros; Angela Martini Martini Pet Services

Dog ownership comes with plenty of joy and at least one chore nobody brags about. Joe Longo sits down with Angela Martini of Martini Pet Services to talk about the surprisingly smart, highly practical world of residential pet waste removal and why a professional pooper scooper service can be a game-changer for busy households. If you’ve ever looked at your yard after a long week or faced the spring snowmelt mess and thought, “There has to be a better way,” this conversation is for you. 

Angela shares how she got into the scoop-and-poop business while looking for a path to self-employment and how that decision turned into a decade-long local service. We get into the details that matter: one-time cleanups, weekly visits (the most popular option), every-other-week scheduling, and monthly service, plus how “reset” cleanups help customers reclaim their yards when the seasons change. Along the way, Angela tackles the biggest misconception head-on: hiring someone to clean up dog poop is not about laziness, it’s about time, workload, and making your home easier to enjoy. 

We also talk small business marketing and customer growth, including why Facebook is her strongest channel, how referrals keep the business moving, and how Martini Pet Services keeps the brand fun with holiday dress-up and little client surprises. You’ll come away with a clear picture of how a niche local business creates real value, builds trust, and stays memorable in the community. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to the Good Neighbor Podcast, share this episode with a dog owner, and leave a review so more people can find great local businesses like Martini Pet Services. What’s the one home chore you would happily outsource?

Transcript

Welcome To The Good Neighbor Podcast;

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Joe Longo.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you in need of a pooper scooper? Well, one might be closer than you think. And today I have the pleasure of introducing you to our good neighbor, Angela Martini of Martini Pet Services. Angela, thank you so much for being here. And I have to say, I've been waiting all day to talk to you about this, to dive in, to dive into it if I can say that. So thanks for being here. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Oh, good, good. Rained all day. So home now, sober dry.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Yeah, beautiful rainy day here today.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Could you tell?

Meet Martini Pet Services;

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yeah. Could you tell us about martini pet services? What you all do?

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Yeah. So we are a pooper scooper service. We go to residential houses. We don't do commercial yet, but we go to basically anybody who owns a dog. We go to their yards, we scoop the poop so they don't have to.

How The Business Started;

SPEAKER_01 1:15

That's amazing. I remember a couple of years ago, I think seeing something about this, like great businesses to start that nobody thinks of. And this was one of them. So I'm so excited, you know, to be chatting with you today, Angela. Could you tell us how did you get into the scoop and poop business?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

So you can't say it without laughing. Um so uh basically I was trying to figure out something that I could do for myself, based be self-employed. Um, and we came across scooping dog poop. We've heard about it years prior. Didn't think anybody in this area would go for it, but I figured let's give it a try. And we're celebrating our 10th year this year, so that's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

That that's awesome. Can you tell us a little bit the uh like uh how well I'm curious like how it works, but how did you so you got into it because you were trying to find your own way? So how how I'm a dog owner, unfortunately, my dog is too good to go to the bathroom in her own backyard and we have to go for a walk all the time. Um, but how how does it how does this work?

SPEAKER_02 2:34

So we have different options. We actually have options for pretty much anybody, except for if you walk your dog, well, we're not gonna follow you, but um we do one-time cleanups um weekly, which is our most popular. We do every other week, once a month, all different options. Um, some yards uh people have more dogs or smaller yards, they get more frequency. And some people need a reset. So we come out like after spring. We just got done with our mad rush of after the snow melts cleanups. So that's a good time for us.

Misconceptions About Hiring Help;

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Yeah. Wow. It's it's it's so interesting. And this is a great question to ask. What are some of the misconceptions about your industry?

SPEAKER_02 3:21

The biggest one that we hear all the time, well, maybe not as much anymore, but we used to hear is that anybody who hires somebody to clean up their dog poop is lazy and they shouldn't own a dog, which is totally false. The majority of our clients are extremely busy, other business owners, um, people who have two jobs, or they're running the kids all over the place. So they just don't for it.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, and I mean it is a great service when I think back to an old dog that I had that was totally normal and would go to the bathroom in the backyard. Um that after winter thaw was always a nightmare. Uh so I I get it, and I wish I knew of your services back then as well. Um, but but happy to know maybe the next dog will be.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

I was gonna say, maybe you'll get one in the future.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Who goes in the backyard?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Um, so how are you attracting, finding your clients? What what what are you doing to to market your your poop and scoop? I'm sorry. I just can't really no, that's good.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

That's good. Um, so mostly Facebook. Facebook is our biggest, that's the biggest place we get our clients. Um, and not even the other socials like Instagram, we try on there, not as big. Um, but Facebook, that's the majority, word of mouth, of course, cut current client referrals. Um that's the that's our biggest areas.

Life Outside The Business;

SPEAKER_01 4:57

And and it's obviously working if you're about to celebrate your 10-year anniversary, which is awesome. So outside of of work, what are you what are you doing for fun?

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Do you not work when you own a business? Um no, um honestly relaxing. Um if summer could be a hobby, that would be mine. I love summer, the heat, the sun. Once the pool opens, just enjoying that that whole season is my happiest time.

What To Remember About The Service;

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Yeah, like a a nice, a nice relaxation. Um if you can, could you tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about martini pet services?

SPEAKER_02 5:46

That scooping is for everybody. You don't have to be rich, you don't have to be lazy, you don't have to be broken, you just have to not want to do it. And we're here for you. We don't we don't ask why people you know hire us. We don't care, but most people tell us.

How To Contact And Have Fun;

SPEAKER_01 6:04

That's great. How can our listeners learn more about martini pet services?

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Um, we have our website, martinipet services.com. Our Facebook page is pretty active. We just try to keep that fun. If you like to share pictures of your pets, definitely head over to um our Facebook. It's Martini Pet Services. Um and you know, we have the other socials too, but we're not as big over there. Oh, and our phone number 570871 poop.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

And uh, we see that in the background if you're watching the video. 871 poop. It's awesome. That's awesome. And I can only imagine that it really is a fun work environment to be in. Because how can you just not? I mean, unless it's just me that connects to the silliness of it, it just has to be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

You know, I um allow I have a couple people who work for me, and myself and um some of my others, I let us dress up for holidays, um, just have fun with it, try to give our clients little trinkets here and there. Um, it's poop. You gotta have fun with it.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Right, right. You gotta have fun with it. And and like that book, everybody poops. Um so, Angela, thank you so much from everyone here at the Good Neighbor Podcast. We wish you all the success moving forward. Thank you so much, and enjoy scooping that poop.

Nominate A Local Business

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GMPNEPA.com. That's gmpm.com. Or call 572.