by Kiara Ashanti
If you were to think of Microsoft inking a sponsorship or advertising deal, you’d probably envision them signing onto a major sporting event or collaborating with a large technology firm. Microsoft, after all, is an industry giant. But Rodney Dorival, owner of Big Paws, Little Claws, a Manhattan-based dog walking service, is proving once again that it’s possible for the little guy to swim with the big fish. He’s partnered with Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, on a campaign that runs through August.
“This shows that you can have a little company, a good idea and then walk into corporate America and make it happen,” said Dorival. “Bing loved our idea instantly.” Dorival’s company has been operating since 2007. He started it up after working part-time as a dog walker for a friend. It didn’t take long for him to move from part-time to full-time and start entertaining the idea of working for himself. “Many of my clients were really on my back to start my own business,” he said. “They were encouraging, as were my friends, but my mother really supported the idea and pushed me toward that direction.”
It’s a direction that Dorival certainly did not see himself in ten years ago. A graduate of Maxwell Vocational High School in Brooklyn, he began studying sound engineering at Jambox Studios. “I have a passion for hip-hop, so like many kids I thought about getting into the music business.”
Setting up a studio at home, Dorival began working with singers and rappers looking to cut demo tapes. “It worked for a while but I was just not fulfilled,” he explained. Leaving music behind, Dorival spent a few years at a New York marketing firm before cutbacks forced his resignation.
“After 9/11 advertising dollars began to dry up and the company could only keep me or the friend that had gotten me the job to begin with. He had been there longer and had gotten me the job, so I felt that it was only right that I resign.”
Given such loyalty to a friend, it is poetic that another friend would give him the part-time job that would lead to his greatest success. “I started first because I needed to bring in some income, but after a year I felt I had found my niche.”
Dorival built up a client base before starting Big Paws, Little Claws. At first he worked alone, serving 20 clients. Within a year he had a part-time walker, and later, a full-time employee. Today his staff fluctuates between two and six people. He has also expanded his service base, offering more than just dog and cat walking. “My vision is to really be a pet concierge service. We can help pet owners with anything they need: vet appointments, picking up their food, grooming appointments, anything they need at all. We work with dogs, cats, lizards, and birds.”
