Meet Angela: Our Head of PR & Charity Partnerships
You have to be a very special person to be Head of PR & Charity Partnerships at TrustedHousesitters, which is why the title has been given to our very own full-time house and pet sitter, Angela.
Think of her as your house sitting advisor; here to answer all your questions and help you get the most from your pet sitting experiences. After all, she’s the expert.
Not only is Angela a house sitting expert, but she also carries The Drum Social Buzz Award: Community Manager of the Year, meaning she's the perfect person to champion the TrustedHousesitters community.
Angela will be sharing her top tips, house sitting highlights and answering your most common questions about house and pet sitting. So now it’s time to sit back, relax and meet our wonderful (award-winning) Head of PR & Charity Partnerships.
Get to know Auntie Angela...
How long have you been working for TrustedHousesitters?
Since the beginning — 15 years now!
How many sits have you completed?
I have house sat over 100 times with TrustedHousesitters — but there are loads more outside of our website too!
Do you have any pets?
Unfortunately not, I lost my beloved Springer Spaniel, Holly, 14 years ago and made a choice not to have another pet of my own. But I now share my love of animals through pet sitting.
Do you house sit on your own?
Sometimes but more often with my husband, John.
What’s been your most treasured house and pet sitting moment?
There are so many, but it’s when we return to a previous house sit and the pets obviously remember us, that’s very special.
A funny moment that always sticks with me was when I was a pet sitter in New York City. The home had at one time been in the Kennedy family! One day when a young and very new concierge helped me into a cab he said “Have a nice day Mrs Kennedy” I simply looked at him and said “Thank you, young man, you too”.
How do you feel about having been crowned ‘Community Manager’ at TrustedHousesitters?
Angela's previous role here at TrustedHousesitters was 'Community Manager' - read on to hear more!*
Very proud and privileged — I have the best job in the world communicating with our amazing members. Our community is 240K+ members strong and growing every day. But none of this would exist without our most important members... the pets! We are a community united by my three passions: pets, people and places.
Angela’s house sitting highlights
Grab a cup of coffee and settle in to hear some of Angela’s top house sitting moments that span London, Edinburgh, New York and more.
My yearly summer house sit in London
“It’s just like coming home”
As a yearly London pet sitter, I have watched an adorable kitten - Miss Teazel - grow from a kitten of six months. Each year we return, and fifteen years later she welcomes us back to our purrfect London pet sitting stay.
Brighton house sitting
“The best of both worlds”
From time to time, I love to change up rural Scotland for house sitting in Brighton & Hove - lovingly known as ‘London by the sea’. Imagine sharing a walk on the beach, playing ball on Hove Lawns, and a relaxing morning coffee with Mango, your new pet sitting furry friend! Everyone stops and talks. Miss “Cockerpoo” is just SO cute. Friendship happens when you’re housesitting, it really can’t be helped.
House sitting in Cramond, Scotland - an Edinburgh ‘village’
House sitting in Edinburgh’s Cramond with Dexter the Labradoodle is living the village life like a local and so close to the amazing city of Edinburgh.
I’ve traveled the world with TrustedHousesitters and as an expat lived in many countries, but didn’t know that Edinburgh is a coastal city!
Pet and house sitting teaches you SO much… about pets, yourself and the world we live in. It also teaches you to listen to the locals - when they say don’t walk on the flats when the tide is out, you should follow that advice exactly.
Well instead of taking local advice, I ended a dog walk missing a pair of socks and a pair of boots - they were sucked right off my feet, never to be seen again. Fortunately that’s all I lost! And Dexter? Well he just chased his ball with John, on dry land of course… but then he is a smart dog.
My LA house sitting adventures
As a pet sitter in LA, I can safely say that any time is right for looking after new furry friends in the sunny city! We've grown quite a feline and canine fan base from our many sits in the City Of Angels.
Pick a favorite? It’s a hard call, but Stella - a sweet Shih Tzu blend and beloved girl of members Eileen and Brian who live just a short drive from Beverly Hills, was our first LA furry angel, with a little body and BIG mind of her own.
Grandma lived in Santa Monica and we visited with her a lot on our pet sitting stays with Stella, taking sunny walks along the famous Santa Monica beach and pier, sitting in outdoor cafes and lunching in beachside restaurants.
Memories of celebrating our anniversary at the Hollywood Bowl, days spent at the Getty Centre, concerts at the Walt Disney Theatre and window shopping in Beverley Hills.
Pet sitting Stella was always a joy - she brought extended family, neighbors and other THS members into our lives. As for Eileen & Brian, they are now lifelong friends, visiting us in Scotland and other parts of the world.
The saying is ‘never go back’, but with pet and housesitting you can always go back, in fact I recommend it - especially to the City Of Angels!
House sitting in New York for Gracie, the Spaniel Puppy
I love being a pet sitter in New York, I love Manhattan and of course I LOVE puppies, especially Spaniel puppies! This house sit was to meet Gracie, a new addition to this member’s family living on the upper west side, opposite Central Park, close to Riverside Park and the Lincoln centre.
During our sit, Gracie and I got to explore the area visiting her favorite doggy park to meet her furry buddies. What could possibly go wrong? Well for one tiny moment I seemed to forget that Gracie was a puppy and left something at puppy height (i.e. the floor) that was clearly just too tempting to little (and very sharp) teeth: my new, shiny boots. It was winter, and New York got snow and rain, so these were the perfect boots.
Clearly Gracie thought the same: in the time it took for me to leave the boots on the entrance floor and use the bathroom, tiny teeth had chewed off the decorative hardware… fortunately not swallowing metal but doing quite a good redesigning job!
But never fear - in the next block was a Brooklyn boot repairer - 35 years in business - he kept the neighborhood’s shoes and boots walking.
“Can you repair this boot and replace the buckles the puppy chewed off please?”, I asked.
I had the other boot to show just what the repair should look like, and in his broad Brooklyn accent he replied, “No but I can take all that shiny stuff off the other one to match, and they will look better anyway, too much bling!”.
I have the boots still, minus the bling! You have to LOVE New Yorkers.
House sitting in Seattle - the gateway to the Pacific Northwest
As a keen pet sitter in Seattle, I always choose to sit outside of Seattle City - the PNW is my favourite part of my pet and housesitting world - sitting kitties in the suburbs and visiting the city by day is the perfect pet sitting stay.
Pikes Place Market is the oldest Farmer’s Market in the US with restaurants, farmers, delis, and even buskers. It’s a place you’ll never see or get enough of.
Opposite you’ll find the original Starbucks and the waterfront lined with piers and restaurants. It has a buzzing atmosphere - it’s a vibrant cacophony of sight, sounds and smells.
I recommend taking a boat ride to watch whales and orcas, or to spot eagles soaring above the San Juan Islands. It’s also just a fifteen minute ferry ride to Bainbridge Island - I’ve had the pleasure of pet sitting numerous times there, connecting with a community of friends both two and four legged who will remain in my life and heart forever.
