Bye-bye burnout and creative blocks, hello furry friends: Meet the marketing expert-turned-pet-sitter

In 1967, two psychiatrists published a checklist of 43 stressful life events — matters that are likely to make people change their lifestyles. The top of the list included the death of a spouse, divorce,  jail, personal injury or illness, to name a few.

Number 18 on the list was “changing to a different line of work.”

It’s something that Gen Z is more familiar with than the past generations, with research showing how they have up to three career changes before settling on a career for life.

It’s the same for Erisha Menon, who, from June 2022 to June 2024, was the head of social media and content producer of a sportswear brand based in Malaysia. 

“I feel so much lighter after my career change. I felt like a puppet before and just following a stream. Now, I feel free because I have that power back again.”

Back then, Menon’s passion and drive aligned with her work.

She was working with top athletes around the world, from Malaysian national teams to NFL, NBA, UFC, World Rugby and more. She could be found sitting at the helm of a speed boat, filming content around Malaysia and Singapore. She supervised, trained, and mentored junior social media coordinators at one of the world’s largest e-sports companies.

But like many others, Menon cites how the pace and pressure of work took a toll on her mental health. While quitting a job that brought in a steady income wasn’t ideal, staying didn’t seem like a feasible either.

So, despite being heartbroken about leaving a career she was once deeply passionate about, she braved herself and took the leap to make a career change.

Menon, first from the right, graduated from Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, US, with a BA in Communication and Media Studies. She continued working in the US for a year and a half before moving back to Malaysia. Source: Erisha Menon

How the life of a marketing expert and pet nanny start the same

Growing up in Malaysia, Menon was always drawn to the arts, such as drawing and painting. When it came to numbers and sciences, she was good at it, but she didn’t feel like it was the path for her.

Going overseas wasn’t in the plans too, simply because it was too expensive.

That is, until her aunt, a graduate of Waldorf University, reached out to her about the university’s Women in Leadership Scholarship.

Thanks to Menon’s proactiveness in school sports and clubs, she secured a full scholarship and went on to pursue a BA in Communication and Media Studies in the US for the next four years. 

Now, communications as a degree has seen its ups and downs. While some believe it to be a “useless” degree, it’s very safe to say that communication as a soft skill is highly demanded by companies big and small. It is, after all, number one on LinkedIn’s Most In-Demand Skills for 2024.

And who would have better communication skills than someone who has a degree in it?

In Menon’s case, she put her learnings to work quickly. After graduating, she spent a year and a half working in marketing, social media, and content creation in Iowa and Minnesota.

This was also the time she started pet-sitting (which includes dog-walking) for a side income. 

However, Menon’s time in the US came to a close when COVID-19 struck, and her visa application was rejected, resulting in the unfortunate need to leave the US and move back to Malaysia in 2021.

The makings of a career change

As expected, with a new move comes a new job.

Upon returning home, Menon’s job hunts have landed her roles as a creative content creator, social media manager, and most recently, head of social media cum video and content producer.

Working in the corporate world has its pros and cons. For Menon, it meant having a job to fund her rescuers and fosters — work that she was determined to continue regardless of how busy her career got.

Still, the joy of working with pets didn’t quite outweigh the stress of work.

Between the burnout and creative blocks, Menon wasn’t doing great.

“I didn’t face this when I was in university — I was always creating new things, and I always had ideas,” she says. “But I found out that in working life, it’s very different because it’s always like some sort of chase. And I don’t think that kind of lifestyle was meant for me because one day during work, I realised that I did not want to wake up for it every morning.”

“Finally, I was like, you know what, I can’t. I can’t keep diving and jumping back again and again and again. I’m gonna crash.”

Coming to that conclusion meant preparing for her next chapter, and luckily for Menon, she had her sights set on something that would fulfil her soul.

Menon has rescued about 50-80 cats in the past three years. Now, she is the owner of 19 cats and two dogs. Source: Erisha Menon

Since returning home from the US and going through multiple jobs, Menon has actively been volunteering with animal shelters on the side. In the course of three years, she has rescued around 50 to 80 cats and helped foster them alongside her 19 cats and two dogs.

“I’ve always been passionate about animals. Every time I see them, they would light up my day.”

And just like that, her passion for animals and her experience with working with pets opened up a new venture for her: a pet-sitting business.

But this career change wasn’t going to be as simple as changing jobs like how she did in the past. This was an entirely new game that was coming out of left field, which meant concerned questions from friends and family.

Fortunately for her, most were understanding of her actions.

“They said, if you think you need to do this, you should go for it,” says Menon. “I think the reason my family were supportive was that they have seen me go through burnouts and watched my mental health decline.”

And if that wasn’t reassuring enough, Menon had found much-needed help and support from Jacqueline Benita, a fellow corporate worker-turned-pet sitter who gave her the confidence to join this new industry.

“I confided in her because she felt the exact way about corporate life as I did. She gave me the confidence to start my business, and she’s my monitor now. So, thank you, Jacqueline.”

However, even with the support, there was also scepticism.

“Obviously, I’m sceptical about this change; my mum especially has voiced her fears, asking about plans and backup plans. To be honest, I still fear failure from before I resigned from my last job to when designing the logo for my new business. But I thought a lot about it and realised that fear is pushing me forward. I’m trying to prove myself wrong.”

And despite all the fear and worries, Menon is steadfastly moving forward with her new business at thepetnanny.kl.

Leveraging her knowledge and experience in marketing and its creative sector, she has since garnered a steady stream of clients she meets throughout the week to babysit their pets.

Her client’s animals come in all shapes and sizes. There are days when she’ll pet-sit a rabbit, shuttle a cat to the vet, or take dogs out on walks.

“I feel the change. I’m learning so much more every time I meet a client. I’m learning more about animals, and I feel like this is the right choice for me.”

At the age of 29, Menon’s only getting started. She’s working hard to achieve her dream of expanding her business and exploring different sectors of the animal industry. Source: Erisha Menon

Moving from achieving one dream to the next

There are only so many clients Menon can take in per day.

“Maybe in the future, when I have a good set of clients, I could hire someone like a part-timer or someone who wants to work (in this industry) to help me with my business so it can be a mini pet nanny service,” she says. 

Realistically, Menon does not see herself as a pet nanny in the long run as she’s getting older. It’s taxing on the body as she has to handle several big dogs daily and travel around the city of Kuala Lumpur regularly. 

But that doesn’t stop Menon from setting big goals. Her first is to open an animal sanctuary and a pet hotel, followed by an affordable veterinary clinic specifically for rescuers.

And while much of the future remains uncertain, Menon is more assured of her career change than ever, even if she says she would willingly “sacrifice myself and jump back into corporate life to give my rescues a good life.”

For those looking to make the same tough decision, she believes that it is best to proceed because “you never know what you’re going to find with that change.” 

“There’s always going to be that question in your head if you don’t do it, how would you know whether it will work out? Say at least you tried, and you have zero regrets.”