04/06/2026
🎉 Happy 30th Birthday, Evan Bayley . 🎉
Before I properly introduce the man behind so much of People & Puppers, I just want to say how incredibly lucky I am to be doing life alongside you.
Thank you for every early morning, every late night, every muddy boot, every dog cuddle, every challenge you've helped me navigate and every dream you've helped build.
Thirty looks pretty good on you. ❤️🐾
🐾 Meet Evan 🐾
Many of you have met him by now, but I thought it was time for a proper introduction. 🤍
Evan was born in Japan 🇯🇵 and spent the first three years of his life there, surrounded by the culture, cuisine and experiences that would become part of his story.
At three years old, his family embarked on a new adventure and moved to China 🇨🇳
For his parents, it was an exciting opportunity. For Evan, it meant a new home, new friends, a new language and a brand-new kindergarten.
Imagine being three years old, full of curiosity but still trying to make sense of the world, suddenly finding yourself in a completely different country. ✈️🌏
Like many little boys in that situation, Evan took some time to find his feet.
I will never forget his dad telling me about those first few weeks in China.
After starting kindergarten in his new country, Evan barely spoke a word. His teachers became concerned and eventually approached his parents to ask whether he actually understood Mandarin.
One afternoon, after another quiet day at school, they asked him why he wasn't speaking.
His answer was simple.
"When are we going home?"
They explained that this was home now, that China was where the family would be living, and reassured him that everything was going to be okay. ❤️
The next day he walked into kindergarten and started talking.
Fluent Mandarin. 🤯
I've always loved that story because I think it says so much about who Evan is.
He doesn't do things halfway.
He doesn't invest his time, energy or heart into something unless he truly believes in it. But when he does, he commits completely. 💪
It's a quality I've admired from the day I met him, and one of the many reasons I fell in love with him. 🥰
Last year, while we were on holiday in New Zealand 🇳🇿, we spent countless hours talking about life, our future and what we wanted to build together.
Somewhere amongst those conversations, we realised that People & Puppers could become something bigger than just my business.
It could become ours, the things we love the things we build and the things that supports our future and our hobbies.
At the time, Evan had spent more than six years building a career he was incredibly good at. Walking away from that wasn't something he took lightly.
But just like that little boy in China, once he made up his mind and committed to a path, he threw himself into it wholeheartedly.
Not long after, he joined People & Puppers full-time. 🐶🐾
Since then, he's become an enormous part of what makes this place so special.
Whether he's doing early morning pick-ups 🚐, helping nervous dogs settle into daycare 🐕, supervising packs 🐾, fixing things around the property 🔨, cleaning water bowls 💧 or giving out cuddles 🤗, he gives every single task his full attention and care.
The dogs adore him. ❤️
Our clients adore him. ❤️
I Adore him ♥️
And I feel incredibly lucky that I get to build this life alongside him.
People & Puppers may have started as my dream, but today it's very much our dream. ✨
We're pretty lucky to have him. 🤍🐾
