Woman’s Best Friend May 3, 2012My LifeOff

You could say overcoming obstacles is Karen Shirk’s profession – and her company is proof.

She’s CEO and executive director of 4 Paws For Ability, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001.

The first of its kind, 4 Paws provides trained service dogs to children and adults with disabilities.

(Click to read her exclusive profile.)

After being diagnosed with the debilitating chronic neuromuscular disease Myasthenia Gravis at 25, Shirk desperately wanted a service dog for companionship and assistance.

But because she depended on a ventilator, her requests were repeatedly denied. But there was no giving up.

She adopted her own service dog, Ben, and had him successfully trained.

Today, Shirk’s company has trained and placed more than 600 dogs with disabled children through her rapidly growing $1.5 million organization, which now spans nationwide. Thanks to media attention from the New York Times and Animal Planet (and Little PINK Book!), her story has touched people’s hearts around the world.

PINK: What was your biggest obstacle?

KS: Keeping up with demand. Most organizations develop slowly – we were growing at 300 percent a year. We bought a building and outgrew it in six months. It was a very good problem, but it was difficult because I had to know how to hold back and not over-extend. You can go under quickly if you’re growing too fast.

PINK: How did you make your business stand out?

KS: I found that nobody would work with kids. When I asked them why, they said, “Kids can’t handle the dogs. They have disabilities.” I thought, how ridiculous is that? I decided to place the dogs with the parent as the handler with great success. Now there are other agencies across the U.S. working with children because now they know it can be done.

Read more…

By Farren Davis

“I’m not a person who takes being told no.” Karen Shirk

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