Paws Pet Boutique and Motion City Media Make Their Dreams Come True in Asbury Park
It was a hot summer day in 2008 when 2 worlds collided because of circumstance. The country’s economy was in a tailspin and the real estate market seemed doomed. That is how 2 unemployed real estate professionals ended up in the SEA (Self Employment Assistance) program funded by the State of NJ and run by SBA . This is where the story of Frank Zrinsky and Ruth Kiser began and the dreams took off…..wandering around in a parking lot of Brookdale College looking for the classroom they had to report to.
While Frank, a real estate agent and Ruth, a mortgage professional first bonded over their similar backgrounds, their dreams were very different. Frank wanted to set the real estate market on fire by developing compelling multi media solutions to help elevate the real estate marketing efforts of local real estate agents. Ruth, on the other hand, dreamt of a world full of well dressed, pampered pups that could enjoy healthy and nutritious hand made treats. Very different dreams….but for 3 months these two sat next to each other in class together, planning and plotting their successes. They joked about running their empires from tropical islands, their first private jet and all the people they would have running their businesses.
And then reality hit…..that’s not how it works.
Frank started Motion City Media in 2008. He worked endless hours. Frank understood the real estate market and wanted to help agents sell houses through effective marketing. He sold just about everything he had so he could buy the camera and equipment that he needed to start up Motion City. He ran the business out of his house for the first few years and worked endless hours to His first clients, The Ocean’s Six Group and RE/MAX Real Estate, LTD., took Frankie (as he is know to friends) under their wing and through their support and enthusiasm for Motion City Media, after 5 years the company started growing to the point where Frankie had to start hiring employees. Frank has grown his company to include 9 workers and over 750 real estate clients. He brought on several awesome people such as photographers, drone operators and a studio manager Mady.
In 2015, Frank moved Motion City Media to 658 Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park. He started in a small space and set up shop. Frank decided to take the leap from a living room business to our own space on Cookman Ave in Asbury Park. Meeting his first photographer Drew at a mutual friends party – introduced through one of our good friends Ashley at Café Volan. Within a year Frank connected with Drew and he is now the Motion City Media Lead photographer.. In Asbury we help each other succeed, and all the small businesses support each other, it’s rather exciting. Frank getting his own place was nerve-racking but has paid of infinitely. Watching his team grow, have children, move into new homes, quit their day jobs – all unreal. Frank loves what he does, and has grown the entire business organically. Other then sponsoring one facebook video, the entire business has been grown by being honest, putting out an awesome product, and treating clients like best friends.
Ruth purchased K9 Confections in 2010 with her sister, Beverly. They began selling their handmade treats (baking in their kitchens) online and to small retailers in the area. Their treats were popular and eventually they were able to sell to three Wegmans stores.
In 2012, Ruth became the sole owner of K9 Confections and started baking in a facility in Toms River. However, she always thought that having a store front where she could bake her treats and sell pet accessories would be awesome. In 2013, she bought Paws Pet Boutique in Sea Girt and made her dream a reality. The store found success in selling unique and hand made items for dogs, such as collars, bow ties, bandanas and of course, her brand, K9 Confections.
But her dream was to open a store in Asbury Park. She loved the vibe of the town and the fact that it is so dog friendly. So…again…here comes Frankie to save the day!
In March 2017, Ruth gets this cryptic text from Frank “ I’m working on something in Asbury for you, but I cant tell you yet!” Well, he certainly was! Frankie had expanded his business so much that he was moving his studio to a larger space in the building (The Shoppes at the Arcade) and Ruth was moving Paws Pet Boutique into his old space…right next door to him!
Paws opened May 1, 2017 in their new location at 658 Cookman Ave (The Shoppes at the Arcade). Paws sells everything from leashes, collars, toys, dog clothes, wedding apparel and much more. They carry many unique hand made items like the popular “beach badge” collars and leashes, hand made dog bandanas, bow ties and of course, they bake their very popular K9 Confections dog treats right on premises.
One day recently, when Frank and Ruth were relaxing on the great comfy leather chairs in Frank’s studio…with their feet up on the coffee table and joking about how “ This is how we run our companies…relaxing while our “peeps” are doing all the work”… Ruth turns to Frank and they laugh…as Ruth goes off to a long night of ordering inventory, baking treats and and Frank goes off to do hours of invoicing, product development and editing.
These two friends went from being unemployed dreamers to living their dreams and now they get to do it right next to each other. Stop in for a tour of the Motion City Media studio and then pick up some awesome stuff for your pup or cat at Paws Pet Boutique.
For more information on Paws Pet Boutique as well as upcoming adoption events, click HERE