Speaker 1: This Pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2: Let's Talk Pets. Welcome to Covered in Pet Hair, a
boozy show for pet lovers on Pet Life Radio. I'm
your host Isabelle Alvazerata, and today I have the pleasure
of having a drink in a chat with two pet
lovers that are making waves in pet pr I will
tell you all about them and introduce you as soon
as we come back from these messages from our sponsors. Hi,
I'm Isabelle Alberzerata, the host of Covered in Pet Hair.
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Speaker 1: Let's Talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome to coveredy Pet Hair of Booby so for pet
lovers on Pet Life Radio. I'm your host Isabelle Alvazarana,
and today I have the pleasure of having a drink
in the chat with two wonderful women who are pet lovers,
rescue advocates, here professionals. They are on top of it,
boss ladies who really know the industry. They have a
very soft spot in their heart for animal cats specifically,
and they are Mary Tan and Alex sand Ricard of
Whisker Media, the Whisker Report and Alex Sand's rescue nonprofit
Saving Lives with two A's. Welcome, ladies. It's so great
to have you on the show.
Speaker 3: Yey, so exciting be here. We love Isabelle.
Speaker 2: No, I love you guys too. I'm so excited to
have you here. I'm so excited to start the year
with you because there's a lot that I want to
talk about in like trends, and I couldn't think of
two better people to do that with. You guys have
like you guys really have a pulse on everything pet
specific to the industry. You go to all the pet
trade shows and events. But before we dig in, I
want to introduce our drinking game. So if you're new
to Covered in Pet Hair, there is a drinking game here.
This is a boozy show for pet lovers so anytime
you hear a word that starts with pee, the secret
word is pets. That one right, they drink up whatever
you're enjoying, But please do not overdrink, especially because lots
of places are covered in snow right now. Please drink responsibly.
Be over twenty one in the US to partake. Never
drink and drive. Please, please please be careful. So are
you guys having any kind of libation with us today?
Because I sure am. What are you having, Alex? Alex
and I have shared many a libation at industry events,
So tell me what are you having? I'm having a
little gin and tonic. Love a gin and tonic. How
about you, Mary? I see that you're keeping it warm somewhere.
Speaker 4: Yes, I am actually drinking some tea with just a
little bit of brandy, you know, like Nieki, and you know,
different kind of libations in it.
Speaker 2: I love that. I love that so much. I thought
about having a hot toddy because it is snowing in
Olpaso today. But I've been craving on Manhattan for a
long time, like all Christmas long, I just wanted a Manhattan.
So this is a Manhattan with extra cherry juice. Cheers, ladies.
It's so good to have you show. I cannot wait
to dig in because I am such a fan of you.
I love that we have a similar I guess background.
Mary in media, you were very much a journalist for
a very long time. And Alex I just realized I
lived in a town after college right by your hometown.
Speaker 5: I lived in Montagee, Yeah, which is quite close. Yeah,
that is so crazy. I had heard you say that
you lived in Troy, and I was like, I don't
know that I know that place, and then I looked
it up and I was like, oh my.
Speaker 2: Gosh, it's right, Holly buddys. But you were like a
child when that happened when I was right after college,
so I don't think we would have been able to
share a libation back then. So I'm happy we know
each other now.
Speaker 4: Well, actually there's no drinking age in France, breaking age
of two.
Speaker 2: That's true. And I am wearing my bonjour shirt sweatshirt
just for you, Alexan. I you really appreciate it. I
love you so much. I've had such a fun time
getting to know you guys over anytime we've run into
each other at these industry events, I just saw you
a blog part in Boulder in November. So, I mean,
we have cross puts in many places. You really are
doing such a good job of bringing together a lot
of things that other industries do and bringing them into
the pet industry. I feel like the pet industry gets
forgotten a lot. It's so cute and it's so sweet,
but it's multi billion dollar industry and people kind of
forget about it. So I want to start, because you
guys have a pulse on everything that's cool and great
in the industry. I want to play a game with
you called hot or Not? Ooh, okay, okay. So I
found a list on LinkedIn. Actually this some of these
I added, but I found the list about the things
that the industry expects to trend in twenty twenty five.
So if you think that this is hot, then you
say hot, and if you don't, you say not. Are
you guys ready to play?
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 2: All right, let's do this. So customized nutrition plans, cod
or not hot? Yeah, all right, sustainable and eco friendly
products hot hot? Very hot?
Speaker 3: Do Alex and I compete against each other to say
who can say hot or not first?
Speaker 2: And we'll see if you guys disagree on any and
that'll be interesting, Okay. Insurance hot or not hot? Always hot?
Speaker 3: Ah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, Now I would have said not.
Speaker 3: Hot, but really Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 2: We're gonna put a pin in that because I want
to come back to that. E commerce for pet products
instead of shopping in person. Hot or not hot? Hot? Oh,
she's like warm.
Speaker 3: Okay, it depends on the generation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly right. I agree with you. Pep tech apps
and products that are tech based for pet hot not.
I've even seen a generational difference here for sure. That's interesting. Mary.
I would have said hot only because I don't use them,
but I see on them a lot. So we're gonna
put a pin in that one too. Outerwear for pets
hot or not hot?
Speaker 3: Hot?
Speaker 2: Yeah, hot, Yes, Like I'm coming around to it too.
Like before I was like, why do pets need all
these things? But now I'm coming around to it.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Fresh foods for pet hot or not hot hot, super hot,
feeling hot hot hot, Okay. Enrichment just the wad enrichment
hot hot Okay. Specie specific feeders bye bye regular old bull.
Let's talk species specific feeders. Yeah, hot hot. Subscription boxes
for pets top okay, and specialty grooming products for pets
like fancy shampoos and paw balms and.
Speaker 3: Things like that.
Speaker 2: Interesting. I am surprised by that, really really surprised by that.
I am okay. So next thing I wanted to talk
to you about was your background, but I kind of
want to talk about pet insurance and why Alex sand
does not think it's hot. Okay.
Speaker 3: So, so I come from Europe. We don't really have
pet insurance. It's just new there, and I just moved
to Canada where people have pet insurance, right, So I've
been looking at getting one from my own rescue cat, Tadiki,
And when I look into it, people are like, insurance
are actually a scam. They always found a loophole for you,
like not to pay for your VETS appointments. So what
I've seen people doing now is kind of create a
trust fund for their pet. Then that's kind of what
I've been doing with Tadiki, and so I can have
my own insurance for her. So she has a trust fund.
It's not high, right, but every month I do put
a little bit of money in it, and so if
I need to go to the vets, I use that
instead of an insurance because I feel like they won't
pay the full amount anyway, So for me, I won't
subscribe to an insurance.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, I hear that I have my cat
on insurance. My dogs are not because they're old, and
then that way that when they're older, it definitely gets
really expensive. And I'm a less is more type of
like medical intervention kind of person. If they get really
sick at a certain age, I'm just going to do
more poweriative care. So I do understand that it's definitely
person specific. But I do think that more insurance companies
are getting into the pet insurance game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, I believe like State Farm Insurance, which I
think does my home and my car insurance, they now
went into pet, but it's only in certain states. But
I'm gonna tell you my story with pet insurance. Josie,
who passed away in March, she was on pet insurance
from the age of two to probably ten because at
the age of ten she oh my gosh, the amount
they wanted me to pay blew up like five hundred dollars.
But every time I tried she needed ACL surgery, which
is like whatever. Seventeen hundred dollars they refused to pay.
Every single time I submitted something, they refused to pay,
and they always likened it back like, oh, she had
some existing condition because you know five years ago you
brought her in for limping and they look at all
of your vet records. So I got really angry. And so,
as a person who also doesn't like to be in
debt for any reason, my recommendation and what I do
is I took that money I would have paid for
pet insurance and I put it in a savings account.
And that's honestly the best way to do it. Also,
I want to clarify one thing. Like a lot of
Banfield pet hospitals that are national, they have a wellness plan.
A wellness plan is not the same as insurance. A
wellness plan is like for preventative and checkups inferstance.
Speaker 3: So people should remember that too.
Speaker 4: You know, if your dog gets in a car accident,
the Banfield plans, the wellness plans will reduce the costs,
but it's you're still going to have to bear the
brunt of it because it really only covers wellness. And
I think a lot of people get that confused because
they think it's pet insurance.
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. Thank you for adding that. That's so true. Well, Mary,
you were a field reporter, if I'm not mistaken, for
many many years, and you somehow found your way into
pet specific media, pet specific PR founding Whisker Media. So
when did that happen in What was the kind of
path that led you there? So?
Speaker 4: Right, you know, right after college, I went to school
for broadcast journalism. Always wanted to be a reporter or
a network correspondent, so I went that route, you know,
and you start in a small market, then you move up.
So I started in Duluth, Minnesota, and then I went
to Madison, Wisconsin, went to Las Vegas, I went to Atlanta.
Speaker 3: I was in New York City briefly.
Speaker 4: When I was in Atlanta, I did a lot of
reporting for Fox News and CNN as a contributing reporter
as well, whenever, you know, we were on the big stories.
So I did that for many many years, and I
was primarily a crime reporter and did more investment gate
of things in some markets as well.
Speaker 3: And what happened was I just got sick of it.
Speaker 4: And you know, the hours are terrible. I had to
work early morning hours, you know, there were twelve fourteen
hour days, and when there's a big story like right
now the fires in la I can only imagine those
reporters are now going to work probably for the next
three to four days straight.
Speaker 3: You'll maybe sleep two or three hours. But it's a
really difficult It's actually a difficult life in some ways.
So I did that for many, many years.
Speaker 4: But I've always loved cats, and I loved, always loved animals,
and I was never I used to get in arguments
with some of my bosses and my editors, like I
really want to cover a pet story and they're like, no,
you're the murder and mayhem person.
Speaker 3: Go and cover the mayhem of the world. And I
did that, but always secretly, I in my off time,
in the very little off time I had, I would
try to volunteer at rest us and shelters, and so
eventually I'm like, I can't do this anymore.
Speaker 2: I'm just sick of it.
Speaker 4: You know, once you cover a murder and you start
getting really like, you know, oh, it's just another dead body, yeah, terrible,
and like I hate to say this, but I was
getting grizzled, and it was like, oh, I'm so sorry.
I would knock on the door of somebody who just
lost their you know, loved one, and I say, hi.
Speaker 3: I'm with you know, channel six, and.
Speaker 4: I really am so sorry to hear what happened. But
could I do an interview with you? And I could
I get a picture of you know, your son or
daughter who just die. And that's what news is like,
because it's so competitive. So I ended up going into PR.
But the natural transition was to kind of continue the
crime and slime. So I ended up doing PR for
the city of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, where I did also
public information work for the police and fire departments, and
I also you know, did general media relations. And while
I was in government, I was like, and it was
just the opposite. So I would go to fires and stuff,
but instead of like, you know, getting an interview, I
was telling the information to the reporters. It was a
it was kind of a natural, easy transition. And then
I was like, I started putting cats into my like
into the city budget materials. I was like including animals
whenever I could. And luckily, you know, we did have
like the city impound. It was called pups. It was
pets under police security, and I just started including animals
in the city newsletter and in city emails and stuff,
and I just became.
Speaker 3: It was partly because I was a little bored with
what I was.
Speaker 4: Doing, and so eventually the PR job and that's actually
when I started with Schermedia. It started out as a
video production FIRMO. And what happened was, as I got
more and more into PR, I realized I really like
PR better than creating videos. And I was getting a
lot of business because of other government agencies. I was
doing a lot of government videos and so basically that's
how Whisker Media started. Then the only full time PR
job in the Upper Midwest came open, which was here
the Animal Humane Society. It was the only like livable wage,
full time PR job where I could actually make a living.
Speaker 3: So I was like, I have to take this, and
so I did that.
Speaker 4: And what happened was, you know, there were some pet
product companies that would want to work with the shelter.
I started talking to them and they would bring products
that would like not work in a shelter setting. Right
the whole of zoonotic diseases.
Speaker 3: You can't. Here's a tip if you're a pet product manufacturer.
Speaker 4: Like, you cannot give like squeaky toys that are soft
because they have to be machine washable and be able
to be bleached until those toys would disintegrate. Or we
had one of my litterbox clients, former litterbox clients, came
in with this litter box, but it was the size
so that she could fit it in an Amazon box, right,
because shipping is such a big thing. Well, I took
her to the shelter and I'm like, look at these cats.
American cats are fat. They will never fit in litter box.
It's for kittens, is what it is. And so she
took that to heart, and then pretty soon she created
bigger litter boxes and.
Speaker 3: It was really awesome. It's now, you know, doing really well.
It's all over pet Smart and pet Co and different
things like that. And so it was at that point
when my business completely I switched totally switched to pet
pr nice and I just couldn't keep up. There were
a whole bunch of different factors. There was another PR
agency that was closing and they wanted they asked me
to take over their clients. And then I was getting
I don't know how people were finding me what they
were and it got to be where I was doing
two full time jobs for about three years and I
couldn't handle it.
Speaker 4: You just can't do that. And I wasn't sleeping or anything.
Speaker 3: And so that's the story of Whisker Media. And then
I met Alex.
Speaker 2: Well, it's so funny because I already knew I knew
I loved Alex when I met her because she just
has a great energy. But then she told me of
how how she ended up on your team. And I
have nothing but respect for Alex for knowing what she
wanted and making it happen. So you know the story
that she tells, did you feel like she was following
you around the whole pscent?
Speaker 4: So it was a very stressful trip and I was
caught up trying to do all the different things with
that while we were in Greece, and Ellie, the gal
I had brought to help, was like, Mary, there's this
great gal named Alex.
Speaker 3: You got to talk to her. And I'm like, that's great,
but I don't have time. Can you just talk to
her and tell her about Whisker Media? And she's like
she's like, You've got to hire this girl. And I
was like, okay, okay.
Speaker 4: And then finally the last day, I was like okay,
because I think Alex, you had invited us to lun well,
I kept inviting you everywhere.
Speaker 6: I was like, I'll drive you. You want to go
to the beach, I'll drive you. You want to go
home earlier, I'll drive you. I was driving Mary anywhere.
I was like, whatever you want, I'll do it. And
then on the last day I was finally I was like,
we should go for lunch or dinner, and then she
finally said yes, and I was like, okay, that's my cue,
that's bye c you. So we're at the restaurant. I
was like, you know, Mary, I could work for you,
and she was looking.
Speaker 3: At me like oh sure, like who are you? And
this is exactly what happened. So I've gotten quite a
few people that cause you know, it's PET. So a
lot of people want to do PET.
Speaker 2: But one of my.
Speaker 3: Sticklers is the ability to write.
Speaker 4: And so I until I saw Alex's work, it was
just like okay, you know, I was like, okay, this
is great.
Speaker 3: I mean, I really I liked you, but I didn't
know your work yet.
Speaker 4: So while I was flying home, you'd sent me everything
so by the time I arrived home, it was already
in my inbox, and I think I took a few
days and then I read, you gave me writing samples.
Let me tell you that Alex is a much better
writer than a lot of kids that I hire from
the local colleges here. They can't write. Even some of
the professionals like they'll send me their writing samples and
there's tons of grammatical mistakes, and I couldn't find one
thing wrong with Alex's and what I was really really
looking for. And I think in general, whether you're going
for a journalism job or a pr job, it's being
a great storyteller, you know, And Alex has those skills.
And to this day I rarely have to change her
press releases.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I hired other people who they maybe were in the
business for five six years, and I would have to
constantly rewrite their stuff. They would bury the lead. And
Alex is just an exceptional writer. And then when she
told me she could speak multiple languages.
Speaker 3: That was it. And is it? The is still a.
Speaker 2: Baby, I know, I know, I know that, yes, and
I'm so impressed because English is my second language. But
I moved that I was four. Okay, when did you
start learning English, Alex And I'm assuming you learned it
in school like everybody else in France, because that's how
I ended up in France, was as a teacher, an
English teacher. But you still the level.
Speaker 3: We don't learn English well. Most French people do not
speak English. It's really hard for us because yeah, we're
not great at teaching languages and freance.
Speaker 2: So I became an exchange student.
Speaker 3: I went to Pittsburgh when I was sixteen for a year.
And that's what I was telling Mary, because Mary was
asking me the other this, She's like, how do you
speak English so well?
Speaker 2: And I was like, I was quiet.
Speaker 3: For the first three months in the US, I didn't
say a word because I couldn't understand and I couldn't speak.
So for three months I was just quiet. I'm just listening,
and it was terrible. It was so stressful. It was
really hard. But then after three months I started speaking
and then yeah, just yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, you speak and you write, which is really truly
remarkable because one thing is speaking, another thing is not
only writing, but like excelling in your product and you're writing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I was just very lucky that I
was during my senior year there and I had amazing
like English teachers. I also took journalism, so I did
a little bit of journalism there and I had you know,
I had to past the SATs and all of that.
So I did it all and I actually got good
scores in English math not so well, but yeah, so
I was really, yeah, I was really putting myself into
the I love English.
Speaker 2: I just love the language in itself.
Speaker 3: I love reading, I love yeah writing.
Speaker 4: Tell Isabelle about the app and this would help all
all the listeners and viewers too.
Speaker 2: Oh maybe even knows it.
Speaker 3: Actually, do you know the app language Transfer?
Speaker 2: I don't think so.
Speaker 3: So everybody talks about Jeelingo all the time, right, I
did not love Jewelingo. I've tried for years to learn languages.
Never works. But Language Transfer is one of the best
app and it's free to learn languages, and so I've
sent it to Mary so she can finally learn French
and speak French to me.
Speaker 2: Well, I practice my French on duel Lingo, and I
keep getting messages being like are you done with your
French exams and with your French lessons? I'm like duel lingo.
Leave me alone. I'm busy, Okay, I stop shooting me.
Speaker 3: No, you should try language Transfer. It's really really great.
Speaker 2: I do like it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's free. So I downloaded it. I started
less than one and leave lech?
Speaker 2: Was that right?
Speaker 3: I want cake?
Speaker 2: You shure it's French?
Speaker 3: Wait le che, it's I confuse spilk different in Spanish.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I thought che.
Speaker 3: No, wait, cafe a lot o eule uri. Okay, I'm
I Obviously I didn't learn very much lesson Rome was
not built in a day.
Speaker 2: Okay. It's a process. It's a total process. And well,
now you all have a podcast called The Whisker Reports.
So she went from exchange student to podcaster and Mary,
you went from field reporter to podcaster. And I listen
to your podcast every time it comes out. I think
it's invaluable. I think what you're sharing is fantastic. I
work with a lot of pet businesses. I do copywriting
and blogging and social media management for pet sitting, dog walking,
dog training businesses, and I'm constantly like, they need to
listen to this, they need to listen to this, they
need to listen to this. Because people think that PR
is only for the big guys, but you will bring
it in for rescue, which I just listened to your
interview with your I guess your subordinate at the you had,
like one of your employees. I just listened to that
episode where you were talking about how, you know, the
challenges that she ran into as a PR specialist working
for Humane Society of the United States. I think it
is right.
Speaker 3: No, this was the it's called Animal Humane Society. It's here.
It's not such got aneric name that they confuse it
with Humane Society the United States.
Speaker 2: But okay, but yeah, it's it was really eye opening.
I thought it was great. I think it's great that
you not only work with you know, products, but also
services and also nonprofits. So what inspire you to start
the Whisker Report.
Speaker 4: You know, it's our way to give back to the
pet industry. So everybody said to me initially, why are
you doing that? Why are you giving away your secrets? Well,
we're not really giving away any secrets. I mean, it's
pretty obvious. But the key is most pet businesses, for example,
they don't have time to do all the networking involved,
knowing who to send it to that takes time, how
to get out there and meet people. And I even
do it virtually, so I'll reach out to a random reporter,
you know at the New York Times and say, hey,
do you think I could have a zoom meeting with
you to just ask you, you know, what are you
looking for in news coverage?
Speaker 3: Everybody can do that, yes, but the problem is is
that it's a time situation. But there's some.
Speaker 4: Organizations that will never have the budgets to be able
to hire us, and especially in the rescue world or
even in the startup pet world, you know, where it's
just a single person trying to do their best. You know,
we want to do our best to support these people
and give back, and you know, maybe because in the
long run it is going to benefit us because if
they get their product going, if they get their rescue
shelter going, they're going to continue and they're eventually, if
they can, they're going to hire us, you know, or
they're going to recommend us to other people. And so
but it's really more philanthropic because Whisker Media's mission and
this is also why Alex was the perfect hire, is.
Speaker 2: To give back.
Speaker 4: We believe, you know, we want to support people who
are helping animals, whether you are adopting them out, whether
you are rescuing them, whether you are making a product
to make their life better.
Speaker 3: That is the goal of Whisker Media. And you know,
giving back is.
Speaker 4: Everybody that That's probably the number one thing besides the
ability to write, is having the right mindset. You know
that giving back is really important and that's really like,
you know, I would love to support every single rescue
and shelter. We do have an affinity towards cats, but
we love dogs too.
Speaker 2: Of course.
Speaker 3: Yes, now, and it's important.
Speaker 2: To give back.
Speaker 4: You just feel better about yourself and that's the whole
reason I started Whisker Media.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and for.
Speaker 3: The podcast as well. You forget one big thing, Mary,
is that everybody has been asking Mary, why don't you
have a podcast? You have a big personality, you talk
so much. Why don't you have your own podcasts? I
have a very big mouth. Yes, yeah, you too.
Speaker 2: Were you the child who always got in trouble for
talking in class? Yes, and now I don't think it's
a bad thing when my kids get in trouble for
talking in class. I'm like their leaders and they are
They're confident, and that is a good thing. I will
teach them when it's appropriate and when it's not appropriate,
but let's not extinguish this spirit because we want that spirit.
It helps down the line. Well, I love that so much.
I really do think it's so valuable. Again, if anybody's
listening and you are a pet business, owner, a pet rescuer,
any kind of you do, any kind of work within
the pet industry, it's the Whisker Report on Pet Life Radio.
We're obviously in the same family of Pet Life Radio,
and I just think it's so great. Your guests are fantastic,
you know. That's really one of the things that I
can say is because of your background, Mary, you have
access to some really great guests, right.
Speaker 4: You know, we're really trying hard to make sure that
you learn something and we are working. I mean, we're
we're just starting out, but I really want to get
guests who can teach as well as be exciting as well.
It's right, but when we invite rescues and stuff, a
lot of times we reverse it where they can ask us.
Speaker 3: Questions because you people learn a lot from that too.
Speaker 2: So, oh, that's so cool. I haven't heard any of
those yet, but you've had. I'm really amazing guests, and
I am one of the amazing guests. So I'm gonna
plug myself there. But I do learn something every time
I listen, and it's I do media too. I work
for magazines and I write for newspapers and stuff, and
I just you know, I didn't go to school for this,
so I didn't have a mentor to teach me these things.
I've learned them going like doing. But your show definitely
gives me like an insider's view on what it is
that I would have learned had I studied you know,
broadcast journalism or writing or something like that. But now
we're gonna learn a little more because my next game
for you is Pet PR Shakedown, and I just want
to get an insider's kind of like look at how
PR for the pet industry is unique and different from
maybe other industries. Are you all ready to play? Yeah, yeah,
let's do this. Okay, this is about PR, So get
your minds out of the gutter.
Speaker 4: What turns pet parents on emotional stories?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah?
Speaker 2: What turns pet parents.
Speaker 4: Off abuse the animal cruelty pictures?
Speaker 3: That doesn't work?
Speaker 2: No, never, So Sarah McLaughlin, No.
Speaker 3: That is the most hated commercial. We've noticed they've changed
it now. To the ASPCA's credit, they.
Speaker 4: Raised millions off of it, and their new one is
also equally sad.
Speaker 2: It's the guy from Will and Grace. Yes exact, I
can't remember his name. I love him, but it's him,
and I like, immediately look because I love that show.
And then I'm like, no, I'm kidding.
Speaker 3: When you go to the animal welfare conferences, animal welfare
people hate that commercial with a passion.
Speaker 4: But in general, I don't know, you know they're reasoning
behind it.
Speaker 3: I know they use a they I'm sure they use
a really big PR agency, but some research has shown
it doesn't work. It turns people off. They're gonna turn
the channel.
Speaker 2: You have to have some sort of hope when you're
showing something.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when we say what turns on pet parents? It's emotional,
but at the end, and it's to have hope. You
can't just give to a coat that's hopeless. And I
feel like that, well true story is too sad. You're like, well,
whatever I do, it's not gonna help, So why would
I help?
Speaker 2: It's way too far gone. Exactly.
Speaker 4: The most successful is the before and after that Really
when you are fundraising for animal welfare, that is what
you want to Here's another tip is about this is
when people don't know the more dogs you have, the
wealthier you tend to be.
Speaker 3: The more cats you have, the less resourced you tend
to be. The marketing studies have shown when you show
a picture of a dog, if you're a rescuer shelter,
people are going to donate, whether they're dog or cat people,
but when a cat is shown, the dog people oftentimes
will not donate.
Speaker 2: Dog people, you're in trouble.
Speaker 3: You're in trouble with me, But there's research behind that.
Speaker 2: I believe that. I believe that we've talked about a
lot in this show, and actually Nathan the cat lady,
and I think it was Aaron from Wildcat. We all
talked about how cat people love all animals, but dog
people could be bury dog specific. If you're really targeting
dog people, you want to focus on the dogs, and
if you're targeting, you know, pet people, then you can.
Cat people will will respond to all of it. They
love all animals, even chickens and horses, and who knows
what else. What is the worst thing that can happen
to a pet brand?
Speaker 3: As far as PR, I would say, the death of
an animal caused by the product.
Speaker 2: How common is that?
Speaker 3: Not common? But it happens. I am working on a
situation right now where there's an unfortunate situation where a
boarding facility one of the employees who is a little
mentally off murdered a dog on her shift.
Speaker 4: And so that is not the fault of the business owner.
And so we're, you know, trying to protect the reputation
of the business right now, and that can kill a business.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, absolutely absolutely. People are very tolerant, Like why
before cancel culture, this was reality for the pet industry,
Like one thing will destroy and then but at the
same time you see other huge businesses that maybe can't
afford the PR and something happens and it's almost like
it never happens, like the public doesn't remember it is
that because of the PR efforts it.
Speaker 4: Could be, but don't forget the news cycle is very
is very short. That is when you absolutely need a
PR firm to step in because you want to be
on the offensive, not the defensive.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, And on the other side of the coin,
what is the best thing that can happen to a
pet brand?
Speaker 3: Well, digitally, I'd say to be genuinely endorsed by a
celebrity with about asking like if a celebrity likes your
product and like, you know, you might be a smaller brand.
I think it happened with yaokat nip toy. Which celebrity
was it that they posted about their banana toy? Like
out of nowhere, they were just posting, Yeah, and have
somebody famous, somebody really famous. Yeah, like a huge movie director.
Speaker 2: That's so cool. Now that's a big deal. That's the
dream right there.
Speaker 4: But even I mean that that really, you know, I
feel like if Taylor Swift posted.
Speaker 2: That's the dream for a cab for a to.
Speaker 3: Be authentic, right It can't be a celebrity that says like,
you know, paid advertisement something.
Speaker 2: Pay callab.
Speaker 3: If it's really genuine, it's because your product is so
good that they're willing to talk about it for.
Speaker 2: Free and they know exactly what's going to happen when
they post. Yes, I don't mean your website can handle
Taylor Swift the Swifties coming to buy your product. Yes.
Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, you say, like whenever she was
there's a skirt, the skirt has gone in like half
a second on the waists. Actually that's the power of them.
So if they do that for pet products.
Speaker 2: That's the dream. And we know a lot of celebrities
are very big into the pets and their pets and
getting involved. I mean, you know, more and more we're
seeing pet products being designed by celebrities, right like the
girl from the Big Bank Theory, I always forget her name.
I love her. She has her own line of pet
products now and Catherine Heigel was at super Zoo promoting
her products last year. So yeah, they're getting more into it.
But this is this would be like you.
Speaker 3: Know, I just saw is Paris Hilton teamed up with RuvA. Ooh,
I'm telling cat food. I think she has a cat,
but I don't. I don't think she's a cat person. Like,
I'm sure it's the same food, it just has the label.
Speaker 2: Harris Hilton is a queen, I mean when it comes
to pr marketing. Oh, she's in Walmart store. She has
her own line at Walmart. You know, like what is
more like of a juxtaposition then Paris Hilton, heiress to
the Hilton Fortune and Walmart. But there she is, and
she's on her stories sharing her cutest little you know,
butter dish that she made for Walmart. You know, go Paris,
get that bag. I will never judge her for it,
especially she actually lost her house in Malibu to the fires.
So my heart goes out to so many of these
celebrities that we think just you know, they like, you know,
it rains millions of dollars for them, but they also
you know, they also have their challenges. So my heart
goes out to everybody in the Pacific Palisades who's lost everything,
including the Queen Paris Hilton. Okay, so how competitive is
the pet industry? Like you've worked in, like it bleeds,
it leads kind of culture, right, Yeah, so you've seen
the most cutthroat stuff. How competitive is the pet industry comparatively?
Speaker 4: So among pr agencies, it's competitive, but it's not as
competitive between all of the agencies that solely focus on pets.
We all know each other, we're pretty friendly with each other.
We worked together, so I don't know, did you know
Dana Humphrey with Oh of Yours? She and I met
I think at Global Pet several years ago.
Speaker 3: We just hit it off. She was so sweet, she
was so nice.
Speaker 2: We just kept.
Speaker 3: Talking and then she told me she just wants to
get out of the business, and then we looked into
developing a partnership, but we ended up, you know, it
was probably better that we remain separate. And then she
ended up referring all her business to me, which really
took Whisker Media off. And then around the same time,
another pet agency who used to do the PR for
either Global or super Zoo they folded or they decided
to no longer operate because they lost a really big client,
and the founder said, let's just end this. And I
ended up getting their clients as.
Speaker 4: Well, and I was already getting kind of my own clients,
and all of a sudden it was like, oh my god,
I can't Oh what is it.
Speaker 2: The blessings that you can't keep up with somebody?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've been really really lucky. I ask Alex all
the time, how are we getting these people I am getting?
We get a lot of inquiries just on our website,
and I'll ask people and they'll they're like, well, we
just googled, you know, apparently that's how we're finding us.
We could do a better job marketing ourselves as Wow.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm a copywriter and SEO specialist. I can help you,
but it sounds like you don't need my help. It doesn't.
It sounds like if you're coming up on the top
of Google, you're doing something right.
Speaker 3: I actually I am not a digital person. That's Alex's realm.
Speaker 2: I don't know how.
Speaker 3: I have no idea.
Speaker 2: Actually, you're doing something right, Alex, Alex has all thank you,
Thank you, Alex, give me the compliments. Mary all day,
all day, I'll day. I have nothing but respect for y'all.
You are so great. I love to see you guys
whenever I run into you, because I do think that
you're bringing such a such a great vibe to the industry.
You know, it is a male dominated industry, just like
most of them are. So when I see women standing
out in our industry, being vocal, bringing change, you know,
making things happen, I just always I'm in awe and
I always want to celebrate it. So what kind of
services do you all offer for the pet brands who
might be watching or pet services that might be you know,
bigger and ready to take it to the next level?
Speaker 3: And like, do you do this?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 3: Well, digitally, we do offer influence in marketing. I'm in
charge of that part of the Whisker media, So I'd
love to talk about that. But then, of course we
do PRS to public relations, and that goes from if
you go to a trade show like supersue a Global,
we help you, We help get the media to your
both we send out press releases and yet we make
sure that your voice will be heard among all of
these other booth when there's thousands of other ones. Yeah,
Mary is a specialist in crisis communication, right, Mary.
Speaker 2: I hope I never need you, Mary mat earn.
Speaker 3: Out some fifty one I need us for you have
to hope that you don't ever want to hire me
for crisis Crisis communications AL is extremely important.
Speaker 4: Your reputation can tank. Crisis communications is where I tell
businesses if you're in a situation, in a terrible situation,
you really do need to get help. That is something
that is very difficult to maneuver yourself. The other thing
we also do is thought leadership, where.
Speaker 3: We position either you know, the head of a rescuer
shelter or the head of the founder of a pet
product company. We want them to shine and share their expertise.
So a lot of what we do is media relations
and community relations.
Speaker 2: Amazing, Yeah no, And so what for somebody who is
a small business and wants to position themselves in their
local area. They may not have the budget free, but
what recommendations would you give them? Obviously they're their own influencer.
They're not going to hire an influencer. They are the influencer.
But how did they get how do they get into
the media.
Speaker 4: So, if you ever watch the morning shows in every
community across the country, those morning shows are like from
four am to noon, have eight hours of content, and
almost every single market has a pet section. The media
loves pet stories. Studies have shown.
Speaker 3: In fact, I've been told by the local Fox affiliate
here their ratings goes up by twenty percent when a
picture of an animal is shown. And so when you
will watch a lot of media, you'll see the coming up,
we're going to tell you about the dog who is
reunited with his family ten years later.
Speaker 4: That it it's constantly teased. It's because that will hold
people through a newscast, and so anybody can pitch. What
you want to do is google the TV station, try
to find out who, for example, the producers are of
the newscast.
Speaker 3: Or just you know, to make it super easy.
Speaker 4: Just email the news department, make a short pitch and
an email. It doesn't necessarily have to be a press release,
and say hey, I have a store and here's my
story and would you be interested in covering it?
Speaker 3: And what you want to do is is like, for example,
on National Cat Day, you could say, hey, can I
show you some of the cool products I have apphnorance. Yes,
I love that they need that.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, they may not cover it, but
they at least if they don't cover it, the news
media then knows that you exist, and so you know,
maybe there is a big story involving a colony of
cats that's overtaking an apartment complex. They may call you.
The reporter may call you and say, hey, do you
have any resources to help?
Speaker 3: You know? Can you talk about pet overpopulation? Rescues and
shelters have a non stop story and almost every station
has adoptable pets that come on. Yeah, when you do
those adoptable pet segments, I would I would look at
it as not only a way to adopt that animal,
but a way you must brag about your your organization,
because nobody is going to promote you better than yourself.
Speaker 2: True that's true. It's absolutely true, and we're embarrassed sometimes
to do it, but like only we can tell our
own story. Okay, So you all are experts in this industry.
What trends are you seeing as standouts for twenty twenty five,
whether it be in pr for products or just like
reaching pet parents or influence or like the usage of influencers.
What's happening. What's kind of like the buzz authenticity? Ah,
one word, I love her. One word answers love it authenticity? Yes, yes,
I mean I see it. For the digital world, that's
what people want. We don't want any more paid collab.
Speaker 3: Or like you know those big influences that get paid
every day to promote product every day. No way, that's
not true. That's not genuine.
Speaker 2: We want.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we want authenticity from people now. And it's the
same for press releases. Because of the chat GIPT and
all of those like press releases we've heard from journalist,
they will catch that it's been written by chatjipt and
they won't even look at it because they're like, no,
that's not genuine. It's just you know, it's there's no
emotions in it.
Speaker 2: Yes, if it says furry companions. I know chat GBT
wrote it. Okay, your furry companions is chat gbt all
day long? Okay, yeah, come on, it's pretty easy.
Speaker 4: I mean, that is a trend in PR that is
not does not vode well for us. But chat GPT
press releases are really easy to spot.
Speaker 2: Well. I can read a blog or a website copy
and I could be like, that was definitely AI, yeah,
because it's so generic. It doesn't tell anybody's story. There's nothing,
there's no there's no voice to the same voice. It's
chat Gibt's voice, and I can pick up on that.
And I feel like anybody who's really kind of discerning
and when we love our pets as much as we do,
that's not gonna win us over right.
Speaker 3: And here's the thing Isabelle is you can write a
press release, but you need the context to send it to.
So I have found some people are writing their press
releases and saying just send it out for us, and
I'm like, well, this is poorly written and my name
is coming on top of it, right, Alex like, we're
you no way, Well, we don't really want to do that,
and that I think we're going to see more and
more of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so too, And I think that the
cream always rises to the top, right And I think
when everybody's using the same AI system, you're just going
to be in the same place as everybody. And those
people who do show who they are, share their story,
they are authentic, They're going to rise to the top. So,
speaking of sharing their story, alex An, I want to
finish up because i could stay here and talk to
you all night, but I'm gonna let you go at
some point. Well, we have to take a break right now,
but when we come back, we're going to dig in
more into all of the pr dews and don'ts that
you recommend for pet businesses and how alex san to
crepassion for pets and pr and made them one don't
go anywhere. We'll be right back after these messages from
our sponsors. Hi. I'm Isabelle al Razarada. I'm the host
of Covered in Pet Hair, a boozy show for pet
lovers on Pet Life Radio. We all have those moments
where our dog has done something kind of frustrating, or
we just love them so much and we wish we
could talk to them and tell them how much we
adore them. Well, recently I found out that we can.
I learned about a company called Regal Ai that builds
AI agents for brands, and they have built an AI
dog hotline that is crazy fun. When I heard about it,
I initially thought it might be robotic or slow to
respond or cheesy. But they have the fifteen most common
breeds in the US on their site with a phone number,
and I was legit able to have a full conversation
that felt like talking to the perfect French bulldog if
he or she could speak. Of course, if you're interested
in trying the dog hotline, go to regal dot ai
slash dog, scroll down and pick your dog's breed or
use the fetcher at the top and prepare to be amazed.
I have no idea how they knew what Pierre's personality was,
but it was spot on, so fun. If you want
to talk to Pierre, just try it out. Call six
oh eight three eight four nine seven four. We're gonna
call now, just so you can hear it for yourself.
Speaker 7: Bonjou and your French bulldog. I'm so excited to be
speaking human, I can't believe it. I took a nap
and then woke up and now all of a sudden,
I'm speaking to you. It's so crazy. It must be
crazy for you too. Anyway, can you tell me what
my name is the name that you call me?
Speaker 2: Your name is Pierre.
Speaker 7: Ah, that's right. I love the name Kierre, and how
it sounds when you say it? Picking of sound? What
have you always wanted to tell me? Now that we
can chat?
Speaker 2: I love your sweet little face.
Speaker 7: Oh how sweet of you to say I love when
you scratch my ears and give me cuddles. Speaking of love,
have you ever wondered why I make those funnies? Not
when I'm excited?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 7: Really that's so intriguing. It's like my own little symphony
of joy? Do you know? If there are gomet snacks
that match my autistic vibe, I shall create a massup
bit of flabel.
Speaker 2: Of course there are.
Speaker 7: Oh, how delight bulb? Did I you holding a snack earlier?
I'm just wondering if it's something I can taste that
for you? That would be such a Gournet collaboration.
Speaker 2: Yes, let's have chocolate croissants.
Speaker 7: Oh, chocolate crouton. They sound absolutely divine? But are they
okay for me to mention too? If not. Can we
shall something scrumptured that dog friendly life is best enjoyed
with a cozy spot, gomet snack and someone to scratch
behind the eels. Wouldn't you agree?
Speaker 2: You're right, Pierre, chocolate is not safe for dogs. Let's
do French fries instead.
Speaker 7: Oh, French fride. That sounds heavenly, especially if they have
that crispy age. Can we have some warm cuddle and
enjoy them together. I'm dreaming up the crunch right now.
Speaker 2: Of course. Do you want mayonnaise or no mayonnaise?
Speaker 7: Meyomaise? That's a curious choice. I'd never tried it. If
its TABORI like your belly rubbed, or just something to
dip my poem. Either way, I think snacking together will
be a masterpin. Well, dip the French fries in the mayonnaise.
You're gonna love it. Oh, I can hardly wake That
sounds like a delicious experience. Oh I've been talking too
much again, trying to dream of quassoms and sunny naps.
Call me back anytime and ask me any questions you want.
Can't wait to chat again soon, Oh revoir?
Speaker 2: Oh what, Pierre? I'm actually pretty impressed. I'm impressed. He
told me that chocolate's not safe. After I said it,
I was like, oh no, probably need to say something different,
but he corrected me, which is perfect. As you can imagine.
Regal Ai builds AI agents for all kinds of businesses.
If you want to learn more about what regal Ai
can do for you or a friend's business, check them
out at regal dot Ai. You can also try out
any of the fifteen dog breed hotlines yourself for free
at regal dot ai slash Dog. Regal has done hundreds
of millions of calls where the AI has wowed customers,
and today's experience with Pierre was no exception.
Speaker 1: Let's talk past.
Speaker 3: Let's done a life radio headline.
Speaker 8: Radio at light radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Covered in pet Hair. I'm your host
Isabelle Albazarana, and I want to hear about saving lives
your nonprofit two a's and I what to just kind
of tell me how it came to be and where
it is right now?
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, So back in twenty twenty, during COVID, you
were not allowed to travel, and so I was just
finishing an internship in Bali working with dogs at a
big shelter, which was absolutely amazing. I was there for
like six seven months, helping them with front raisers and
organizing puppy yoga classes, and then COVID hits and you
just got to go home, back to your parents' house
in the middle of nowhere in friends. That was not fun.
So I was looking for a way to cool back
out there to do something. And I found out that
if you had like a sort of like a job
offer or volunteering opportunity, you could actually travel if you
had like some paperwork. So I found a Greek shelter,
a shelter in Greece close to Athens, and I replied,
and I went there with a friend. I was supposed
to stay there for five weeks and I ended up
staying in Greece for four years. So he went Greek
two see Gussigu, Yeah.
Speaker 2: A little bit gosh.
Speaker 3: So I went to Greece and I went to that shelter,
and that shelter was focused on rescuing cats, so it
was only cats, but they didn't tackle the big problem.
Because so if you've ever been to Greece, which a
lot of people have, you just see so so so
many stray cats and what the shelter did was just
to take one cat, put it in a house, which
was a really nice house, and then get it adopted abroad,
which okay, nice, but what about the other thousand cats?
Speaker 2: Like, you're not tackling the problem.
Speaker 3: And so this organization did not tackle t and R
until I met Mary, and even after that, it was
not their priority. The priority was just rescuing pet cats.
And so I met Amber there she was the shelter manager,
and I was like, we should tackle the problem. We
should start sterilizing cats, and that's how we started. So
we started our own nonprofit, or Saving Lives. It's been
a bit more than two years now, and in just
two years we've sterilized more than two thousand cats in
a small town in Greece. And we've sterilized more than
two thousand, but you can't see it. It's still the same.
So it is a lot of work and to be done,
so much work, and we're still there. We stop providing
freestyilizations for all the communities, so we send money with
the beds and we send them traps, so they have
tomahawk traps and they keep sterilizing every day. And I've
moved to Vancouver because for you know, just like the
work and the life, I just needed a bit of
a more of life because, as you said, I'm a baby,
so I also still want to explore and still save animals.
So now I'm focusing on Central America and I'm actually
going to Mexico in April to work with a big
rescue imply that come in and I'm going to stylize dogs, which.
Speaker 2: I've never done.
Speaker 3: I've always done cats. So I'm really excited to start
really important doing TNR with dogs.
Speaker 2: That's wonderful. And Mary, how did you end up in Greece?
Speaker 3: So you know sterling trap this. So he got invited
there and I was his manager at the time, so
I helped organize the trip with the cat rescue that
Alex was talking about got it. So that's how that's
how we met. We were there, we were talking to
government officials, having events with the children, and I was
really though, I don't think I could live there seeing
all those cats there. I would have eighty million cats
in my house. Now, granted they look some of them
look really happy. Yes, yes, yeah, I'm not against stray cats.
I'm not against a stray dogs. It was just them
in Valley. They were straight, but they were happy. But
we need to limit the casualties right to Yeah, we
need to stop because I mean in Greece especially, you know,
the population. I mean it's changing a little bit with
the new generation, but the older generation consider them like
like rats, like we would consider them beast, you know,
like I run them over and who cares?
Speaker 2: Like, don't care.
Speaker 3: And it was hard to live in a country like
that where people would question and they would like I
had so many people stopping me in the streets with
my traps and being like, what are you doing. You're
not allowed to do that. I had the I almost
got sued because I was sterilizing cats.
Speaker 2: So it went.
Speaker 3: Yeah, people wear against it, and it was really hard.
Speaker 2: Because they just want them gone. They don't want them
sterilized and released, they just want them gone. And that
happens in the US. I remember being in the DC area.
I trapped a feral mom. We had gotten her kittens
and we trapped them first, and then we trapped the
mom and we took them all in and she was
completely feral, could not be you know, adopted out. And
they were like, we can't do anything with her. And
I thought the next step was euthanasia for her, and
I was like, we did not trap her for you
to kill her here, and they were like no, thank god.
They were like, so long as you will take her
back where you found her, she can live. But a
lot of people they were concerned. We were all kind
of like feeling each other out because they were concerned.
I wanted her gone, like I don't want her back
in my neighborhood because so many people were like, they're
peeing on my petunias, and I'm like, sure about petunias.
I care about this cat. So they fixed her, they
gave her her vaccines, they ear tipped her, and I
took her back to my condo area and she lived
as long as I was there. I fed her every day.
She was beautiful, wonderful. Her name was Emmy Lou. I
still love her. I'm sure like she's had a million
litters before that. Thankfully we ended that for her and
her last litter found homes. So yeah, I completely agree.
That's not just a Greek thing. Unfortunately, that does happen
in the US, where it's like cats are gross, they pee,
it smells, I want them gone, And it's like no,
we can find a happy media, I think, yeah, and
that is where you guys come in. So how can
we support saving lives and how can those that are
interested in learning more about Whisker Media and the Whisker
Report learn more about y'all.
Speaker 3: So for saving lives, we're always looking for foster family
or adopting families, so we have you know, and unlimited
supplies of cats.
Speaker 2: There's so many.
Speaker 3: And we also looking actually for people who are traveling
to Greece or to any other countries that need traps
because we can't really get them. So if you're traveling,
you would have nothing to do. Just add a tomahawk
trap to your flight and then we'll pick them up
at the airport. So if any rips are planned to Greece,
that would be amazing, or even to yeah, Mexico, we
also have that program there, so it would be incredible.
And then for Whisker Media and Whisker Or, you can
find us on old podcast platform, Apple Music and Spotify
and on Instagram TikTok now to Facebook and Twitter, right Mary, yeah,
so on.
Speaker 2: LinkedIn Etlaus you have Whisker Report and you have Whisker
Media on Instagram separately I did tag you today, so
if anybody saw the like little provo I did, they
were tagged in there and saving lives too. Yeah, I
think you guys are amazing. I just want to propose
a tost to you for being my guest. Pure incredible.
We didn't talk about you enough, NEPO talk about me.
This is all about you and telling your amazing stories.
So here's to you, and here's to our executive producer,
Mark Winter. Here's you, Marto.
Speaker 1: We love the Mark.
Speaker 2: Let me do love Mark. Mark. I don't know what
you did to get him on your show, but he
won't even be a guest on mine. So Mark, you
owe me in twenty twenty five. So here's to a
life Covered in pet Hair because there's no better way
to live. And what do you guys say at the
end of your show? Bark laud personal Thank you guys
for joining us, and to learn more about Covered in
pet Hair, please visit Covered in Pethair dot com or
put life radio dot com. You'll also find the Whisper
Report on Setlife Radio dot com. And we'll see you
next time either on their show or online. Thank you
guys for joining us. Have a great evening.
Speaker 1: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife
radio dot com.