Ron Gabbay and Maya Libai are the owners of petNmind - which is located at the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center. Their holistic store is truly unique and caters to pets with all natural food and supplies along with grooming and self-service wash stations.

“It is really all about improving the pet’s health by improving their nutrition,” Ron said. “We came here to do a mission. Our mission is to help pets. My customers are part of the store, and I am always going to take care of them,” Maya stated.

The store came about after the culmination of several events, and it truly reflects Maya and Ron’s extreme love for pets.

Amazingly, Ron and Maya, who are from Israel, met at a dog’s funeral. Ron had printed brochures about the dog that had died and was delivering them when he saw Maya.

And the rest…. as they say…. is history.

Ron was working as an engineer; while Maya had a position in the hotel industry.

“I said to Maya that I needed a change,” Ron explained. “She found me a life coach who changed my life within an hour and a half. He opened the door to my mind and the e-commerce world.”

Before Ron knew it, he had a partnership and a company formed. It was doing really well. Investors even came onboard from Aventura, and the company grew to over 5,000 business customers.

With the company doing so well and being based in South Florida, Ron and Maya made the decision to move from Tel Aviv to Fort Lauderdale in January 2022.

“We had an amazing life in Israel, but we came here to have a good experience in America. Ron had an amazing salary. Everything was perfect,” Maya conveyed.

Unfortunately, within four months of relocating to South Florida, things began to fall apart with the company. It became extremely stressful, and Ron decided to leave it all for the betterment of his and his family’s health.

Another difficult event occurred during this time as well which tested Ron and Maya’s resolve.

When they moved from Israel, Maya’s mom came with them which made the move easier because she was here. Maya and her mother were inseparable. In Tel Aviv, her mom lived upstairs, and the family lived downstairs. So, it was heart wrenching when she fell and ended up passing as a result of the fall.

This all hit at once, and it was an extremely trying time as Ron lost his income, their visas were expiring, and Maya’s mom died.

“It was very tough, and it took us a year and a half to move forward,” Ron said. “The only thing that held us here is the fact that I could not go back to Tel Aviv because my mom was not there. It didn’t feel like home anymore,” Maya stated.

It was also difficult for their children, Jonathan (7 years old) – who is called “Tantan” and Aria (5 years old), as they were close to their grandmother.

With all of this adversity, Ron, Maya and the children picked up the pieces and moved forward.

“When you have a tragedy, you want to give good back to the world,” Maya said. “We wanted something that we do for our soul and wanted to do good for the world. I love pets, and I want to help them.”

Ron and Maya found the petNmind opportunity through an ad. They had an interview and met the petNmind founder, Adrian Archie.

“When we met with Adrian and finished the meeting, Maya said this is the person,” Ron explained. “We understood his philosophy behind the brand, and it was really good. It is a very good way to be helping pets.”

They found the present location and really like the plaza and the size of the store.

Maya and Ron are very hands on with the store, and it makes a big difference. It is all about personal service and providing a great experience.

In addition to growing the petNmind location, Maya’s dream is to open a huge sanctuary for stray and abandoned dogs so they will be able to help them search for their forever families.

“I want to have a big territory and bring all of the dogs there. We will bring in vets and trainers. This really is my passion,” Maya explained.

This dog sanctuary will be amazing and will include a huge area so the dogs have plenty of room to run and live. There will be no cages.

“We want to be a part of people’s lives and their pet’s lives,” Maya reiterates. “It is all about the relationships with the community and the people.”

1912 E. Sunrise Blvd.

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304