Meet Our Staff
Our caring, friendly, and fun staff is here to provide the best home-away-from-home resort experience for your best friend!
Emiko Poor
Client and Personnel Manager
Evelyn Castillo-Lopez
Resort Operations Manager
Evelyn Castillo is originally from San Diego, California, and moved to San Luis Obispo to pursue her educational goals. Evelyn is extremely passionate about dogs and other pets and loves being a part of the Thousand Hills Pet Resort team.
As the Operations Manager, Evelyn's favorite thing is being able to interact with many different dogs as well as encouraging them to play and have fun. Evelyn takes pride in bonding with each dog to make sure that they feel at home when they board at Thousand Hills.
Assistant Operation Manager
Bonnie Crawford
Bonnie is a student at Cuesta College majoring in business. She is originally from Oak Hills, California and her family has owned dogs for the majority of her life. She has always loved dogs and being around them. In her free time, Bonnie enjoys being outdoors. She's glad she can be a part of the THPR family and loves spending time with the dogs and getting to know them and their personalities. She wants to be able to adopt a fur baby of her own one day!
Dog Trainer
Amber Nieslanik
Amber grew up around all kinds of animals, and has always been a huge animal lover. She is certified in exotic animal training and is currently finishing a degree in Animal Behavior. She started at Gentle Touch as an assistant in 2021 and eventually joined the New Life K9's team at the start of 2022. She has grown a huge love for training, and even been able to work with horses and several different marine mammals.
Lead Resort Host
Marina Collins
Marina grew up with dogs in the bay area and moved to SLO for the great weather and outdoor activities. She loves kayaking, hiking, and going to the dog beach with her dog, Bumi. She is a certified elementary school teacher and enjoys observing the intelligence of all the dogs. Caring for them warms her heart.
Lead Resort Host
Lauren Stewart
Lauren just moved to San Luis Obispo and wants to work with and train service dogs. She is pursuing her Animal Science and Psychology degree and is learning so much while working here at Thousand Hills!
Lead Resort Host
Abby Knecht
Abigail has lived in San Luis Obispo her whole life and grew up around different animals and pets. She has five fur babies she loves taking on walks and playing with. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, going to the beach, spending time with her puppy Rogan, and reading. Abigail is thankful to be a part of the THPR team and loves getting to work with dogs and create bonds with them while they are with us!
Receptionist
Kendal Martin
Kendal is from Lompoc, Ca. She enjoys working at THPR because of the client interactions, and seeing how excited people get when discussing their animals. She is currently raising her guide dog puppy in training “Tonga”. Tonga can be found hanging out under the office desk where she frequently naps or keeps Kendal company. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with family, reading a good book, or hiking. She is currently finishing up her undergrad at Cal Poly for an agricultural science degree.
Dog Bather
Sophia Lorenzo
Sophia is known as Sophie by her friends and she has two dogs and a bird. She used to have two rats and would have an "aviary of rats" if she could. She also likes to draw, play the piano, and also crochet -- let her know if you need a potholder!
Lead Resort Host
Carlos Orosco
Carlos enjoys being around all the different types of dogs at Thousand Hills. He also enjoys having fun with all his coworkers!
Melanie Mora
Resort Host
Melanie is a student at Cal poly SLO majoring in Animal Science. She is originally from Los Angeles and loves all kinds of animals which inspired her to work towards becoming a veterinarian. Melanie loves working at THPR because of all the fun dogs and awesome coworkers.
Madison Schwenoha
Resort Host
Madison grew up absolutely loving animals and couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work at Thousand Hills Pet Resort. She loves being part of every dog‘s journey to becoming the wonderful characters they are and she considers the amazing people she works with family. When she's not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and her pets.
Matt Fletcher
Resort Host
Matt enjoys making music, playing video games & playing with dogs. He is a physics major and is also learning dog training at our Gentle Touch Pet Training program. He loves animals and working at Thousand Hills gives me plenty of time to play with the dogs.
Melissa Pakdaman
Resort Host
Melissa is majoring in Animal Science at Cal Poly SLO. She is originally from the Bay Area and enjoys hiking, finding new food spots, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. Her favorite part about working at Thousand Hills Pet Resort is helping the dogs & cats feel at home while their owners are away. She loves working with all the different breeds and personalities. She also is happy to be working with such amazing coworkers!
Alexandria Rojas
Resort Host
Coming soon!
Kenneth Ball
Resort Host
Ken is originally from Azusa, CA. He moved to SLO two years ago. Ken’s passion and dream has always been to have a position working with dogs. Ken’s passion brought him to Thousand Hills Pet Resort. Ken enjoys being a part of Thousand Hills Pet Resort, and appreciates the community outreach and involvement. When not at work, Ken volunteers at the local Humane Society.
Mariah Barba
Resort Host
Mariah is a high school student working towards graduation as she starts her senior year. She plays water polo for two teams and spends most of her time at the pool practicing and soaking in the sun. She has two kittens named “Cheese” and “Diego” that love to play, cuddle, and be mischievous. She has always had a passion for animals and working at THPR is her dream job.
August Clement
Resort Host
August grew up in San Luis Obispo county and is happy to work at a job in the area that makes it their mission to help people. August grew up around animals, and has a dog and three cats that they love very much.
Sophia Tovar
Resort Host
Sophia is from Corona, CA. Dogs are her favorite animal and have always been a part of her life. She currently has a puppy and I can't wait for him to grow and be able to come and play with the dogs at the resort. She enjoys this job because she is a big animal lover and loves hanging out with dogs and the occasional kitties.
Moraia Wroldsen
Resort Host
Moraia loves animals of all kinds! She treasures the responsibility of serving each and every one of the special dogs and cats who visit THPR. In her free time she enjoys thousands of hobbies, including caring for her precious Netherland dwarf rabbit, Sinai.
Viviana Russ
Resort Host
Sophia is known as Sophie by her friends and she has two dogs and a bird. She used to have two rats and would have an "aviary of rats" if she could. She also likes to draw, play the piano, and also crochet -- let her know if you need a potholder!
Sarah Zaghari
Resort Host
Sarah is an Animal Science major at Cal Poly who has been fortunate enough to work with many different types of animals ranging from elephant seals at the Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay to sloths at a rescue center in Costa Rica. When she's not working with animals she enjoys learning new baking recipes, hanging out with friends, and going to the beach. She's excited to join the THPR team and can't wait to meet all of the dogs and cats staying here!
Areli Enriquez
Resort Host
Areli is currently a Cal Poly student majoring in Art & Design. In her spare time, she's always with family and friends, traveling, or trying new things and having new experiences. She grew up surrounded by animals, and her love for them continues to this day. She has two fur babies she loves so much, a kitty named Sachi and her husky, Kalua. Areli is so excited to be a part of the THPR crew and strives to make all the dogs feel at home during their stay with us!
Johan Wroldsen
Resort Host
Johan Wroldsen is a high school student who loves hanging out with the cats and dogs at Thousand Hills. He pushes himself to take the best care of of the pets possible, while also keeping them happy and having fun with them. In his free time, Johan enjoys playing basketball and making short films. He also likes being with his pet bunny, Sinai.
Jenny Jimenez
Resort Host
Jennifer is currently a Cal Poly student studying animal science, hoping to work as a physical therapist for dogs and later run a pet business of her own. In her free time, she also loves to travel with her boyfriend, try new foods, and go on adventures with family, friends, and her dog, Bella. Jennifer has been enjoying working at THPR and making so many new furry friends!
Alice Daniel
Resort Host
Alice's passions are art and anything creative, particularly ceramics and drawing. Their hometown is Houston, TX. They also likes to tend to their plants and bonsai trees. On their free time they enjoys hosting board game nights with friends.
Ashlie Tacbas
Resort Host
Ashlie likes crocheting, painting, tending to her reptiles, playing in the dunes with her dogs, and taking her cat on walks. She grew up in Grover Beach. She has always loved being around animals and understanding each one's unique personality.
Brady Theule
Resort Host
Brady has lived in SLO all of his life. He is currently a freshman at SLOHS and loves to play beach volleyball and soccer. He knew he wanted to work at THPR when his yellow lab had 8 puppies and he got to raise them.
Willy May
Resort Host