My Story: Turning A Childhood Hobby Into A Business (no matter how strange it is)

As a child I enjoyed collecting reptiles of many kinds.  You name it I had it hidden under my bed including snakes, lizards and even an alligator at one point.  My mom never knew what she was going to find.

As I got older she completely avoided my room.  This allowed me to collect even more.  She didn't realize how many animals I had until I was leaving for college.  I couldn't leave my collection behind so you could only imagine the look on my mother's face when she saw the amount and types of reptiles I was carrying down the stairs, into my car.

So now I'm at college and realized that I spent more time sneaking reptiles into the dorm room rather than studying.  I knew how important college was but I took a gamble and decided to put it on pause to open my own reptile shop.  That lasted for a couple of years before I decided I wanted more.  I thought about my desires for a while and decided to relocate to an area that could open new doors for me.  So I closed my reptile store and moved to Florida where the weather would satisfy my reptiles needs and where I felt I could expand my business. 

It was difficult to get started in a new state where I didn't know anyone.  I decided I needed a business name and website.  That's when ExoticJungle was born.  I was getting very little business through internet sales and decided to take advantage of my free time and worked my hours to get my permit to work with venomous animals.  After that, I needed a job to get by. I worked for a few of the mom and pop reptile stores then landed a job in one of the pet store chains across the US.  As much as I disliked working for other people I needed to do it and it gave me the ability to keep my own business running.

Two years later I became the store manager at the pet store and I was becoming exhausted.  I became a reptile breeder and my garage was filled with hundreds of mostly venomous snakes that required weekly cleaning and feeding. During this time Exotic Jungle's name was getting out there and my internet sales were increasing. As a result, I received a phone call from a producer located in CA.  They needed to rent a black mamba for Kill Bill Vol II and I just happened to have the animal they were looking for.  So off to CA I went for two weeks to film in the movie. That opened doors to an entirely new world for me.  It was great but it was becoming too much for one person.

Another year went by and I was hanging in there.  I was still working at the pet store and everyone knew of my reptile passions.  Oddly enough reptile cages were getting placed in each of the stores one by one.  This was my time to shine and I began supplying the reptiles to them.  Within a short amount of time, many of the stores were selling reptiles and I was given an option of either staying store manager or giving it up to become their supplier.  I could not do both so I decided to take another gamble to pursue my business.

It was time to prove myself.  I kept my head held high and did whatever I could to provide support to my family.  This included moving the animals out of the garage into a wharehouse and attending as many reptile shows I could. 

Five years later I am still the primary reptile supplier for the pet stores and get called for random reptile handler and reptile rental jobs for movies and photo shoots.  I've had the opportunity to meet lots of celebrities and LOVE my job.  The repitle shows have played a huge role the last couple of years and am finally pursing yet another passion and am putting on my own reptile show this summer called the Myrtle Beach Reptile Expo. I can't wait to see how it turns out. 

Who says you can't turn your childhood hobby into a job of your dreams?  I've accomplished a lot and will teach my children to pursue their own passions.  It does require lots of dedication and work but you truly can do anything you put your mind to.