The Women Behind Mythic Bones
At it’s core, Mythic Bones is two best friends who love dogs.
We are eternally grateful for all of the support we’ve received over the years from our family, friends, mentors, ex-bosses and coworkers. Now that Mythic Bones is thriving, that gratitude extends to our incredible clients and their little monsters! Thank you all for your support, we could never achieve these crazy dreams of ours without you. We hope to continue to provide your dog’s greatest adventure for many years to come!
About Yesmin
Before working professionally with animals, Yesmin shares fond memories of the stray pups back home in Puerto Rico (Satos). She recalls how her mom would feed the strays, and how amazing it was to see all the dogs come running to their yard when her mom announced mealtime with the banging of her spoon on her large pan of rice & chicken. Looking back, she is always impressed by the sociability of those stray pups, and the lack of resource guarding amongst them. One pup in particular, named Ariel, was very special to her! Ariel was the first stray dog ever welcomed into Yesmin’s home.
Yesmin’s career with animals began in 2009 with the rehabilitation of manatees, sea turtles and dolphins. She then moved on to zookeeping at the Puerto Rico Zoo, where she gained experience working with birds and reptiles, as well as managing volunteers for the park. Yesmin became a volunteer herself at Coral World training sea lions, before taking on an internship at Zoo Tampa with the elephants, rhinos and manatees!
While pursuing a career in the zoo industry, Yesmin began working as a dog trainer at Petsmart. She worked simultaneously as a Zoo Aide at Busch Gardens beginning in 2016, and was offered a part-time position training Cheetahs at Busch later that year. Yesmin spent over two years training both dogs and cheetahs before deciding to focus on her work with dogs. She looks back on her time with the Cheetahs and is grateful for her team and especially her mentor, Antonio Ramirez, who she remains close with to this day. (Thank you Antonio for always pushing me to be better than my best, to go above and beyond for the animals and to be a badass trainer! You have always reminded me to take this job seriously and work hard to achieve my goals, but to remember to have fun at the same time. And thank you to my amazing cheetah team, I will never forget you and the amazing memories we have together! - Yesmin)
Before opening Mythic Bones in 2023, Yesmin worked at two facilities as a Dog Trainer and Doggie Daycare Manager. This is where she honed her skills in canine body language and socialization, and earned her certificate as a Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA). Yesmin was also certified in Pet CPR & First Aid (Pet Tech) and completed her Dogs 101 & 201 courses (The Dog Gurus) during this time.
At home, Yesmin has a small zoo of her own - including her two dogs (Chesso & Azula), one cat (Gollum), a gecko (Abraxos), turtle (Gamera) and two birds (3PO & Yoda)! Outside of Mythic Bones, Yesmin enjoys reading fantasy novels and trying new art mediums - she is always ready to tackle a new project like painting, coloring, stenciling, and other DIY crafts. She also likes to spend time hiking with friends, and going to concerts. Her favorite genres include alternative & industrial metal. When Yesmin isn’t on the go, she enjoys her time relaxing with a glass of wine and her husband, Kevin.
(Kevin deserves an honorable mention for all of the hard work he does for Mythic Bones! Between helping us with doggie playtimes, allowing certain special pups into your office, and not to mention all of the construction and engineering you do for us - We wouldn’t be where we are today without your support!)
About Jenna
Jenna’s training career began with her first dog, Sadie, a rescued beagle mix who endured the learning process with her. Growing up, Jenna sought out the dog at any party or event her family attended, no matter how pampered or poorly the dog was being kept. She was often scolded for touching the “dirty dogs” and trying to befriend the neighbor’s dogs, too. This infatuation with all things canine never faded as Jenna grew older, and eventually all of that time spent reading her Dog Encyclopedia and watching Animal Planet resulted in her first job: Kennel Technician at Canine Cabana in the summer of 2016.
By the end of the year, Jenna was promoted to a keyholder position and in 2017 she began shadowing to become a dog trainer. Jenna was also certified in Pet CPR & First Aid (Pet Tech) and completed her Dogs 101 & 201 courses (The Dog Gurus) during this time. She adopted her Heart Dog, Ridley, in 2017 as well. Jenna worked as a Professional Dog Trainer until she acquired enough shadowing hours to take her test, and became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) in October of 2019.
Shortly after this accomplishment, Jenna took up the role of Pet Care Specialist at another local doggie daycare in Tampa by the name of Perfect Pets. Jenna quickly got to work expanding the dog training services offered at Perfect Pets, as well as working alongside Owners Greg and Shelley Hamilton to create an entirely new enrichment program and implement new collar-free handling protocols in the group play setting. By the time Jenna departed from Perfect Pets in November of 2020, she had earned the title of Director of Training and Enrichment Services. (Forever grateful for the time I got to spend with my PP Team! <3 Thank you Greg and Shelley for your endless positivity, encouragement, and for believing in me and my ideas! Your support truly means the world to me. - Jenna)
In 2020, Jenna took a break from working with dogs in order to improve her living situation - she took up a job working at the Amazon Warehouse in Ruskin. While Jenna is grateful for the experience, this adventure was short-lived and by March of 2021 she was jumping back into the world of pet care and dog training!
With a fresh perspective at another new facility, Jenna began working as a Professional Dog Trainer & Customer Service Representative and quickly assumed many more responsibilities, leading her to a promotion to the role of Business Manager. Due to both personal and professional conflict within the company, Jenna resigned from this position in April of 2022.
That same month, Jenna took up a position at a local Pet Grooming Salon and began discussing the idea of starting a business with Yesmin as well as amongst family and other close friends. By September of 2022, Jenna and Yesmin were both working full time for Mythic Bones.
Outside of Mythic Bones, Jenna is an obsessed dog mom to her two pups, Ridley and Nessie. Her interests and hobbies include drawing, singing, attending concerts, and spending time in the great outdoors. Jenna is the creative hand behind the Mythic Bones, Wicked Tails and PupEnriched logos, and she loves designing new creative details for Mythic Bones together with Yesmin.
