Mindy has been a resident of Kitsap County since 1998, starting in Poulsbo in what she calls her "starter home" for sixteen years before settling into her "forever home" on Bainbridge Island. For twenty years, she poured her heart into volunteer work with organizations like KHS, West Sound Wildlife, and PAWS, never imagining that her passion for helping would eventually become her full time business. But that is exactly what happened. After selling her beloved pet sitting business, Aunty Min's Specialized Pet Care, she took some well deserved time off to rest. And in that quiet space, she realized that what she had been doing as a volunteer for years was what she wanted to do as her life's work, only bigger and aimed at helping more organizations.
That realization became MIN, LLC, a business built entirely around fundraising and community engagement for small nonprofits. Mindy describes her mission simply and powerfully. She wants to help the organizations that need money the most, especially those working in animal welfare and women's protection. She told me, with a quiet certainty that gave me chills, that she feels her purpose in life is to put an end to domestic abuse. She knows it is a huge goal, but she does not flinch at the size of it. She only works with organizations she genuinely aligns with, and that clarity of purpose has become her north star.
What surprised Mindy most about running her own business was not the difficulty of it, but the generosity she encountered along the way. She knows the people in her community are kind, she has lived among them for nearly three decades, but she is still moved every time a business or an individual steps up to help. The most rewarding investment she has made, she says, is not in software or marketing, but in connections. She has met the most kind and generous people, and those relationships have become the foundation of everything she builds.
Her proudest moments as a business owner are tangible and impressive. She has raised more sponsorships than any previous effort for certain organizations, and she has helped produce galas that were not only financially successful but genuinely different and fun. She loves that her events bring awareness to smaller nonprofits, the ones doing mighty things that people might not otherwise know about. Coming up in August, she is hosting Goats and Floats for One Heart Wild, an event that sounds exactly like the kind of joyful, creative fundraiser she has become known for.
Mindy is honest about the challenges too. Creating an event with no budget, while navigating last minute changes and differing opinions from people within an organization, drives her crazy. She laughs when I ask about boundaries, letting out a knowing "LOL" that any small business owner will recognize instantly. But she has learned something vital about herself through this process. She is more creative than she ever gave herself credit for. That creativity shows up in her ideas, like her passion project called Movies That Matter, where she dreams of hosting a movie each month to benefit a different local nonprofit.
When I ask how she celebrates her wins, she pauses. She does not really think of it as celebrating, she admits. But then she smiles and says she probably goes out with friends and cheers. That is the heart of Mindy right there. She is too busy looking ahead to the next thing, the next organization to help, the next event to plan, to stop and marvel at what she has already done. But the rest of us can marvel for her. Mindy is currently working with One Heart Wild on their annual event on August 9th called Goats and Floats. She is hoping to raise more funds and awareness for this amazing animal sanctuary and licensed behavioral / mental health agency in Silverdale. Goats and Floats is exactly the kind of creative fundraiser that she enjoys working on.
