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Speaker 1: Pet Life Radio Let's Talk Pets.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Covered in Pet Hair, a blousy show for

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pet lovers on pet Life Radio. I'm your host, isabel Albertazerata,

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and today I have the pleasure of having a drink

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in a chat with a health, wellness overall just amazing

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person who is very unconventional and is celebrating Christmas in

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a forty foot school bus that has been converted into

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her home. I will tell you all about her and

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introduce you as soon as we come back from these

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messages from our sponsors. Hi, I'm Isabelle Albertazerata, the host

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of Covered Pet Hair. You know the expression cats have

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nine lives? Well, what if you could give them one more?

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Give them ten movement is on a mission to help

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give cats an extra life. How with spee and newter

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spaying and neutering your cat helps them live a longer,

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healthier life and it helps control three roaming cat populations too.

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Learn more about the benefits of spe and neuter and

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meet Scooter the neuter cat at Give Them ten dot Org.

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That's give them tean dot Org.

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Speaker 3: Let's Talk beets on Petlife Radio dot com.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back to Covered in Cut Hair. I'm your host

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Isabelle al Razerata, and today I have the pleasure of

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having a drink of a chat with a pet parents

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an entrepreneur. She's a former triathlete, a former.

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Speaker 4: Event manager, and she's dwifed to Tim, holistic health junkie

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on a two year traveling journey, like I said, on

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a forty foot yellow school bus that she and her husband.

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Speaker 2: Have converted and share with four dogs. Austin, who we

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will discuss at length, I'm sure, Harper, Blanka, and Kingsley.

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She is the founder of Austin and Kat, a holistic

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wellness supplement brand that is celebrating its tenth year in business.

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She is Cat Welcome, the founder behind Austin and Kat.

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How are you. It's so good to finally have you

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on the show.

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Speaker 5: I'm so excited to be here. I'm reatly looking forward

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to our chat today.

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Speaker 2: Well, I am so excited because I mean, obviously I

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invited you on the show to be my Christmas guest,

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because we both celebrate Christmas. Happy holidays no matter what

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you celebrate. But I just found out that you're going

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to be celebrating this first Christmas on this school bus,

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and I cannot wait to get into the detail what

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you have planned, what you have to forego now that

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you're in a smaller space. But before we do all that,

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I want to introduce our drinking game today. So anybody

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at home participating in our drinking game anytime you hear

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this word.

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Speaker 6: The secret board is Austin.

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Speaker 2: Take a drink of whatever you're enjoying, but please be

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over twenty one in the US to partake. Never drink

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and drive, and always drink responsibly. So are you joining

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us with any kind of special festive cocktail today?

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Speaker 6: I wish I could say I am, but it's still

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two o'clock here in the PNW, and I'm going to

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have to go back to work when we're done chatting today.

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Speaker 2: I know, I know, I hear that so much. So

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that's why I'm actually having eggnog sons anything, because I

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actually have to go help at a PTA event at

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my kids' school, and so I couldn't put any booze

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in here, but usually I put like a spiced rum.

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So cheers. Thank you for being on the show. I

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am so excited to have you as my guest.

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Speaker 5: Thank you, And I apologize if I move around a

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lot so like I killed you. I live on a bus.

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We are stationary right now, but we are in just

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outside of San Francisco at this really cool area, and

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my dogs have discovered hairs ha r e oh. It's

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seen bunnies before, but not the colossal size of a hair.

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And so Blanca, one of our babies, it is on

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the bed looking out the windows, going back and forth,

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back and forth.

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Speaker 6: So I bounced around a little bit. So apologies.

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's so funny. I mean, this is

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just so much of an adventure. I love it. I

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can't wait to like dig in. I really want to

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learn all that you are experiencing, especially around Christmas time,

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because I feel like you're in the Pacific Northwest, right,

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so like it must be pretty festive, just like the environment. Right.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, well I can take that back. I'm going to

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the Pacific Northwest next week. Got it to visit my factory,

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if we call it the makery, which is where and

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this is Blanca.

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Speaker 2: I'm glad that she's beautiful.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, they're really cute. The makery, which is where we

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obviously make all of our products. I'm going back for

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our holiday party there. But right now we're just outside

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of San Francisco. I still it's the West, I should say,

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just drop the PNWA exactly exactly, but it is being Christmas.

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I've always like, I grew up in Maine or lived

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in Maine for twenty plus years and then moved to Seattle.

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So Christmas was cold weather, right, so you know, bundled up,

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buffy coat, put a hat on, go buy a tree.

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And here it's like, you know, Santa's got a Hawaiian

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shirt on, but the lights are still on the palm trees,

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and it's just a different way of seeing and appreciating.

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We drove that Christmas tree place the other day and

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everyone was in short.

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Speaker 2: So it just seems though, like, okay, okay, So I

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grew up in Miami, and yes, that's basically you just

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described like a Miami Christmas. And it's so funny because

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I don't know if you remember in Home alone two,

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I think they went to Miami and like they're all

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stuck in like this like beach motel and it's like

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raining and it's hot, and like it's not Christmas at all.

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And so I do agree that like seeing Christmas and

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like shorts is not my thing. And when my husband

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was deployed. I actually spent a year in Miami over

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Christmas and I had to tell my mom like, can

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we drive north please? Cause like I can't. I can't

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do the Christmas with the shorts. I needed sweater weather.

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I live in Alplas one now where it's really hot

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during the summer, but we get cold winter, like cold

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ish winters. So yeah, I need a little bit of,

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you know, like the atmosphere for it to feel like Christmas.

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So I actually want to get to know all of

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your Christmas preferences in your Christmas yay or nay. So

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I am going to ask you about certain things, certain traditions,

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certain kind of key elements of Christmas, and you tell

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me if they're kind of part of your ritual or not.

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So are you ready to play?

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Speaker 6: I'm ready?

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Speaker 2: Okay, fust one. Christmas movies, yeah your nay?

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Speaker 5: Oh yeah, okay, favorite Christmas movie the Holiday?

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Speaker 2: Oh you're one of those arom com yeahmm yeah, yes, great,

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least favorite Christmas movie or most overrated?

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Speaker 5: Oh gosh, elf, but I love it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, that's your least favorite. That's like my favorite.

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Speaker 5: I mean, no, I love it, but I think it I.

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Speaker 2: Think it's not as good as people think.

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Speaker 5: I think it was good when I had a lot

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to drink.

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Speaker 2: Cuche probably right, Okay. Christmas tree yay.

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Speaker 6: Your nay yay? Even on the bus no, unfortunately.

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Speaker 2: Okay, not even a little one. That would be.

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Speaker 5: Hard, right, I think with so with Kingsley, he's the rescue.

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Speaker 7: I think he would pay on it because he has

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to pee where everybody peas.

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Speaker 8: Got it?

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Speaker 6: Got it?

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Speaker 2: Okay, got it?

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Speaker 5: Got it?

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Speaker 2: Okay, all right, yeah, definitely ane Okay. Christmas dinner favor

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food like is it a roast? Yay or nay?

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Speaker 6: Nay? What do you eat? Usually turkey?

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Speaker 2: Turkey? You don't get like sick of turkey from Thanksgiving people.

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I like turkey a lot, so I I.

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Speaker 5: Do too, I do too, Yeah okay, yeah yeah, Congress to.

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Speaker 6: Pork is really nice too.

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Speaker 2: Yeah that's true, Caroline, yeay.

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Speaker 6: Your nae nay. Don't want to hear me sing.

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Speaker 2: Gift giving too, like a million people? Are you the

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type that has like a long list of gifts? No,

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no gift giving to your significant other dumb times?

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Speaker 6: But it might be like a.

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Speaker 2: Practical thing, got it.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I'm not big on gifts either. I think it's so old,

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like so silly to have to go buy something for everybody,

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even if they don't need it or want it. It's

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kind of hmm. It doesn't set well with me. And

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thankfully my parents, like when we were about fourteen fifteen,

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they just stopped doing Christmas gifts. Like everybody just like

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had a nice Christmas evening, but it wasn't like a

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gift centered holiday. So yeah, I agree with you. Okay,

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last one Christmas baking? Yeah or nay?

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Speaker 5: Well, considering I'd do it three hundred and sixty four

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days of the year.

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Speaker 6: Nay, nay, And we're.

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Speaker 2: Gonna talk about why you baked so much. But tell me. Okay,

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so you started an event planning. You're a competitive triathlete former.

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I guess you don't compete anymore. But how did that

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segue into Austin and Kat?

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Speaker 5: Great question. It did do one of those you know,

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windy trails. But I was at an event my race

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series with getting honored. The person who was giving the

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award at just happened to be my husband. I had

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never met him before. We had similar beliefs and similar

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ideas of holistic health and whatnot, and he was leaving

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the sports space to go into the cannabis space day

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of Washington, and you know, long story short, we got

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together as a couple and about a year later, he

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was at a convention and called me, like, you know

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when someone's so excited and they talked so fast and

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you don't know what to do, You're like, and that's

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what it was. It was so excited talking to me

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about CBD and I had this fourteen year old dog

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and we could help them all naturally and get it.

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You could bake and I know how to bake because

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I already worked with cannabis, and so I was like,

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all right, let's give it a whirl. So what intended

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to be something that I was going to do to

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help my own dogs really just blossomed into what it's now.

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Austin and Katz and I think right place, right time.

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Speaker 6: You know.

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Speaker 5: They was it luck or hard work both, you know,

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all of those things. But we're really fortunate to be

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getting to do what we love to do every single

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day and making an impact on dogs and cats all

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over the place, which is crazy. You know, I never

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thought in a million years it would be like this.

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How many products did you start with versus how many

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you have now ten years later. I started with one

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and I remember just a couple maybe a month or

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two after I had started with that, and I was like, oh,

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I need a smaller version because we get little dogs

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who need it too. And now we're, you know, getting

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ready to the big trade shows. A global this year

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in Florida, will launch I think six new products that

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will put us up in the thirties of skew of

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number of products available.

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Speaker 2: Amazing, Okay, And which is like your flagship products? Is

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there one that people kind of know Austin and cat

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for or a couple or a line.

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Speaker 5: I think I think it's two really, So we call one.

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Speaker 6: Flection the Purple Collection.

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Speaker 5: It's always been purple bags, but it's like every day well,

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it's the introduction to CBD. It's the perfect intro for

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a customer who maybe has never used it before. It's

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very eye catching. The braining is really beautiful. But our

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number one selling product across the country doesn't matter if

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you're in Maine or if you're in Texas or you're

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in Oregon. It's a product called Bailey's No More Wiggles.

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First all, it's got the best name ever, right, all

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of our products have always been created for specific pets

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of Namin. So Bailey is one of our dogs who's

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not on the journey when that's too old now, or

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if he's staying back in Seattle with Harriet. He's our daughter.

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And but Bailey's no more wiggles is a common quiet.

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So Bailey really struggled with anything that would make him nervous,

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mailman ups, truck backing up, thunderstorms, fireworks, trips to the vets,

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nail trims, you name it. So we really needed to

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develop a product for him specifically. I never never thought

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it was going to become the best seller, but it

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is absolutely the best seller.

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Speaker 2: That is amazing. I love it. And what does it

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contain that it calms them?

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Speaker 5: Right, So it contains CBD, which we know has relaxation properties,

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but it also contains ingredients like lavender and cammeal, passion

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flower el, trip to fane, so all things that I

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love the tail, all things that really illicit calm. And

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when we were first, like you know, when you're writing

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the brief fund the product you want to create. It

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is like sleepy Time tea, remember Celestial Season and Steepy

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Time Tea. That was like my vision. That's what I

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want to create. She does not need Eric, you does

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not need Bailey.

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Speaker 2: Similarly, no, my cat is here because, like I said

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in the beginning of the show, I'm having eggnog, and

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of course the cat's like, what is that? Can I

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have some? So that's why you're gonna see a tail

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just coming back and forth. And yes, actually you're right.

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My cat does not need any of those things. But

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I have two dogs that are very worked up. They're

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easily worked up, I should say. And the reality is

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so many dogs are and we think of dogs as

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easy going in cats as like intense, and that's not

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always the case. Do you only do products for dogs, don'pe?

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Speaker 6: We do cat products also.

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Speaker 2: Awesome, there you go. All right, Well, I want to

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dig in more into you who you are, about your brand,

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about your team, but we need to take a break

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right now. As my cat rubs his face on my microphone.

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He's never really been this active on the show. I

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don't know what's going on.

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Speaker 6: Well then maybe it's nice. My name is Cat.

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Speaker 2: There you go, look at him. That's his face right there.

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He's a pretty baby. But you gotta go, honey, So

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we're gonna take a break. Right here, we're gonna listen

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to our sponsors, and when we come back, we're gonna

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dig in to everything that cat had to do to

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bring this amazing brand to life. Don't go anywhere, We'll

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be right back.

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Speaker 3: Guests for like Pest Smart on the.

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Speaker 2: Guess the live guest, joy the mapping dreams withoudcare, Let's

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00:15:43,279 --> 00:15:47,120
talk past, Let's done, Pets Life Radio, Hedline Radio.

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Speaker 9: Pet Light Radio dot Com.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back, Covered in pet Hair. My name is Isabelle Elberzarada.

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I'm your post and my guest today is Cat of

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Austin and Cat. You may know the brand. They've been

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around for ten years. I'm a cat at super Zoo

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this year, twenty twenty four, we're celebrating Christmas together. I'm

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in my house in Alpaso. She is on a forty

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foot school bus, yellow school bus that she and her

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husband have turned in to a their beautiful abode for

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the next two years, with four dogs in tow, which

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is just like a dream for so many people. And

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I want to dig into that. But first I want

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to dig into just some questions about business ownership and

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like what that experience has been for you over the

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past ten years. So this is called Austin and Cat

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one oh one, Okay, and we're gonna get to know,

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like from the ground level, what it took to bring

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this idea, this excitement that you described your husband getting

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excited about CBD out a conference. It's actually what it

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is today. Are you ready to play?

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Speaker 6: I'm ready to play.

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Speaker 2: Okay, First things first, how long between deciding I'm going

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to do this for my dog and I'm gonna do

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this for the general public? How long was that process?

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Oh gosh, it was probably.

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Speaker 6: You know, a good solid ear.

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Speaker 5: Because I was making the products and then I was

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sharing them also, and I think it was that, you know,

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pushing me forward. And initially I never really thought about

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selling it in stores alone. I was just going to

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have like this nice online business.

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Speaker 6: And then I walked into a pet store.

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Speaker 5: This was a couple of years after I I had

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launched and saw another product and I was like, oh

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my gosh, the competitive machine and me just blew up

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and was like, wait a minute, my branding is better.

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I've probably got a better product. I looked at the ingredients,

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and my ingredients are better. I'm like, I am to

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be in the store. And that was That was twenty seventeen, actually,

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so that was three years. So we had been online

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for a bit and it was twenty seventeen and it

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was a store in Seattle called All the Best Pet

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Care it was like a seventeen store chain or sixteen

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store chain at the time, and they said yes, and

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I said.

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Speaker 6: Awesome, that's amazing. And they're still one of my best

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customers today. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So from you starting with your husband to getting

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your first employee, how long was that that was?

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Speaker 5: You know, I was I was solo by myself for

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I would say a good couple two three years. I

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was making everything, packaging everything, was shipping everything. In some cases,

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I was even delivering to thumb stores like the Feattle

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Market they got Oh, I drove around with Austin in

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the car and we would deliver packages, and which was

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great because it really really developed.

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Speaker 6: Relationship with those retail partners.

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Speaker 5: It was really important and they knew that I was

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there to support them because if they were successful, I

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was successful and then their their customers were happy, right,

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So it was really important to do that those first

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few years. And then you know, you slowly start to

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realize it, I can't I can't wear every single hat

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and need to put the put some hats on other people.

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Speaker 6: And that's been a rare way.

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Speaker 5: And I've been fortunate to have someone like my husband

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involved from the get go. He came on to Austin

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and Cat full time in December of twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 6: Nice, but prior to that he was my sounding board.

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He raised, you know, what do I do in this case?

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How do I do this? What does this mean? I

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mean there were so many.

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Speaker 5: I was coming to UFF a different industry, yeah, and

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never having had a consumer product.

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Speaker 6: Right, so I didn't do what margin meant?

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Speaker 2: Like that meant well, yeah, exactly. Okay, So my next

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00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:42,920
question is how scary was this?

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Speaker 5: I think it was very scary, but I was too

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naive to realize how scary it was.

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Speaker 2: Neither day is a good thing sometimes, I agree, like

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you kind of don't know what you're getting into. What's

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been the hardest part, Well, if there's one example you

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can give us about something that almost made you give.

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Speaker 6: Up, maybe banking.

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Speaker 5: Banking has been very difficult because CBD is still in that.

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Speaker 6: Gray area, and when I initially started.

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Speaker 5: It wasn't considered even legal, right, So banking has been

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a challenge.

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Speaker 8: We're very fortunate now to have really really good relationships

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with our bank, but our credit card processors based up Creamium,

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we don't pay the same thing that like a dog

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feed company would pay you pay higher.

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Speaker 5: Percentage because we're still considered a risky business.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so my mom is actually in compliance for banking

386
00:20:37,319 --> 00:20:39,759
like she and she's like, they just need to do something.

387
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,519
They need to do something because it's so hard. And

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she's in Miami, so there are a lot of CBD companies.

389
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There lots of cannabis based businesses there, and she says,

390
00:20:50,599 --> 00:20:53,640
it's such a biker because they can't bare hands are tied.

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You know, the federal government's not really moving in any

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direction because it's still illegal. They can't really like have

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00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,960
guidance to how to manage these things. So I totally agree,

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00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,079
like we need to like either s or get off

395
00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:07,920
the pot kind of thing when it comes to this

396
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,920
particular product, because it really is like you know, it's

397
00:21:13,039 --> 00:21:15,920
it's there's so much gray and it really affects even

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like the consumer's experience, let alone, I can only imagine

399
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,640
the business that's actually supplying this product. So hopefully in

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00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,519
the next few years we'll see some improvement. I don't

401
00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:28,359
know that we will, but here's.

402
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Speaker 6: I do think it's coming.

403
00:21:29,799 --> 00:21:32,599
Speaker 5: There's something called the Safe Banking Act, and once that

404
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,640
gets through Congression Senate, then things will start to change.

405
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:38,559
It's going to take a while. And I've been here

406
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for ten years and it's you know, moved at a

407
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snails pace backwards.

408
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. There's just so much fear around it, which

409
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,119
is so silly. What did your family and friends say

410
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,359
when you said you were gonna you know leave, you know,

411
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,480
the event planning and do this, especially enter this industry

412
00:21:55,519 --> 00:21:58,519
that's considered cute and not that serious.

413
00:21:58,519 --> 00:22:02,200
Speaker 5: Sometimes yeah, you know again, timing is so important. So

414
00:22:02,519 --> 00:22:06,880
the events that I was producing with in New England

415
00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,599
in Maine, and I had committed myself to it for

416
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ten years, we were we donated all of our profits

417
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,759
to local charities, Our school system play to pay pay

418
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to play sports, and my kids were going to be

419
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graduating high school at that point, so I knew it

420
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was time to pass the fort.

421
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Speaker 6: So that the timing were perfect.

422
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:32,559
Speaker 5: The bigger challenge was telling my dad, who was in

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law enforcement, that.

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Speaker 6: I was going to be selling a product, right, and

425
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,640
he was actually super super supportive.

426
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,319
Speaker 5: I mean, it's always going to was always my biggest fan,

427
00:22:42,519 --> 00:22:45,440
and and knew that I'm not going to do something

428
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,640
stupid or anything that's going to put myself or my

429
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,720
family at risk, right, right.

430
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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I'm a conversation must have been so fun.

431
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:54,000
What does he think?

432
00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:56,279
Speaker 5: Now, Well, my dad passed away a couple of years ago,

433
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,160
but he was no, that's okay.

434
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,039
Speaker 6: It's okay. He lived the really wonderful life. He was super,

435
00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,680
super supportive and really proud. And it was funny because

436
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:05,920
they didn't have a dog or a cat.

437
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,599
Speaker 5: They were you know, elderly, but they always have taught

438
00:23:09,599 --> 00:23:10,559
my product on.

439
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,799
Speaker 6: The kitchen counter, which is really really special.

440
00:23:13,039 --> 00:23:16,599
Speaker 2: Oh, I love that so much. Last question, what's your

441
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,960
favorite part and your least favorite part of running Austin

442
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:20,319
and con.

443
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,480
Speaker 5: My favorite part is meeting retailers and customers and customers

444
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,920
who gets who gets to share their experience about how

445
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,400
their dog has been changed, And that's just like just

446
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,640
warmed your heart all the time.

447
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,079
Speaker 6: I've got to go on the road.

448
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,720
Speaker 5: On this past tuesday in California with one of the

449
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:42,000
distributor reps who represent our products and got to meet

450
00:23:42,079 --> 00:23:45,799
stores and stuff, and just that interaction is awesome. My

451
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,559
least favorite thing, I still think would be banking, Like

452
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:50,759
it just is always going to be a Now I'm

453
00:23:50,799 --> 00:23:51,559
like prawl right.

454
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,119
Speaker 2: Yes, no, I hear you, and I'm putting it out

455
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,319
to the universe that in twenty twenty five you see

456
00:23:56,319 --> 00:23:59,559
some you know progress there. So thank you for, you know,

457
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,079
letting a dig into that kind of process, because a

458
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,039
lot of people have big dreams, but they don't know

459
00:24:04,079 --> 00:24:06,920
the work that goes into making those dreams a reality.

460
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,039
So you mentioned that you're going back to the Pacific

461
00:24:10,079 --> 00:24:12,880
Northwest for your Christmas party. Is this something that you

462
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:14,359
do every year for your team?

463
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 6: We do, Yeah, we do. I have such an awesome, awesome,

464
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:18,759
cool team.

465
00:24:18,799 --> 00:24:21,319
Speaker 5: And you know, I've been on this bus journey since

466
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:26,599
March and I have to rely very heavily on the

467
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,119
team back there, the production team, the manufacturing team, Bales team,

468
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,960
everybody who's still back in the Seattle area and kind

469
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,720
of funny ancrcdote. And we had our company meeting this

470
00:24:37,759 --> 00:24:40,359
morning and we're prepping for the party, and I said,

471
00:24:41,039 --> 00:24:44,279
do we still have a pickleball court set up in

472
00:24:44,279 --> 00:24:46,599
the warehouse? And they all look at me like, I know,

473
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,200
you guys said a pickleball where board up in our

474
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,960
warehouse when I left, Like, but I want to play

475
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:53,240
pickleball at the Grossers party.

476
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,720
Speaker 2: Well that sounds like a really fun Christmas party. How

477
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,160
many people are on your team right now?

478
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:00,279
Speaker 1: All of them?

479
00:25:00,759 --> 00:25:02,799
Speaker 2: Well, I met a few of them at the at

480
00:25:02,839 --> 00:25:05,160
super Zoo and they are such a great team. You're

481
00:25:05,319 --> 00:25:07,960
your booth had such a great energy. I love your branding.

482
00:25:08,599 --> 00:25:11,160
I love the mural you up. It's kind of like,

483
00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:14,759
you know, like the kitchen and that home, but modern

484
00:25:14,799 --> 00:25:16,960
and vintage all at the same time. You have a

485
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,759
really good look. I really like it. How much do

486
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,319
you kind of get involved in all the steps or

487
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,920
are you kind of really delegating these days?

488
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,640
Speaker 5: Nope, very involved in everything. In fact, we're working on

489
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,559
a marketing project that's due today for a new retailer

490
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,599
in the Florida market, and you know, Tim and I

491
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,640
and the design team, we're all on Zoom and moving

492
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:46,119
stuff around on our you know, design sheets and everything.

493
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,440
So yeah, I'm really involved in that. And I think

494
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,079
it's a really collaborative effort when you do that, because

495
00:25:51,319 --> 00:25:56,319
everyone sees it differently and everyone has something valuable to add.

496
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,799
And we're talking about like obviously Tin's been with me

497
00:25:58,839 --> 00:26:02,039
for the ten years, right, Emily, who's one of my designers,

498
00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:04,359
has been with me for six years, so they like

499
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,200
we can all we all speak the same way, yes, right, yes,

500
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,440
and what I might have a block here and they

501
00:26:10,519 --> 00:26:14,039
might have something else and you're like, oh, eureka, that's amazing, right.

502
00:26:14,079 --> 00:26:16,920
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I love that. I do think that you

503
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:18,799
guys have like a really nice team. You can kind

504
00:26:18,799 --> 00:26:21,720
of tell from the energy to and it seems like

505
00:26:21,759 --> 00:26:24,359
you're like a kind of an open minded person that

506
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:29,880
takes feedback and takes suggestions. Do you have to involve

507
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,759
the suggestions from your retailers as well since you are

508
00:26:32,839 --> 00:26:34,039
marketing in their stores?

509
00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:37,880
Speaker 5: Absolutely, and that's critical, right. And we have some key

510
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,440
retailers across the country that have all different types of stores.

511
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,960
It might be a small little boutique store, might be

512
00:26:44,039 --> 00:26:46,920
you know, a multiple thousand square foot store, and they're

513
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,599
all going to have different needs, but making sure that

514
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,240
they all have the same message, but just maybe scaled

515
00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:54,440
differently for each of them.

516
00:26:54,839 --> 00:26:57,839
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly how many retailers are you in right now?

517
00:26:58,519 --> 00:26:58,960
More or lez?

518
00:26:59,079 --> 00:27:01,759
Speaker 5: How twelve the thirteen hundred?

519
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:02,519
Speaker 7: Wow?

520
00:27:03,319 --> 00:27:05,519
Speaker 6: Oh wait wait, I'm gonna I'm gonna adjust that.

521
00:27:05,799 --> 00:27:08,559
Speaker 5: I will say sixteen twenty nine.

522
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:13,359
Speaker 2: Gosh, congratulations in ten years, that's amazing. That really is

523
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,799
like a labor of love. Have you ever thought like

524
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,920
what did I do? I should I mean, at this point,

525
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,880
I think you probably know you're in the right place,

526
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:22,920
But was there a moment in the journey that you

527
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,920
were like, I mean this, this is just too much?

528
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,799
Speaker 5: Yeah, there there were, I mean a lot of a

529
00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:31,039
lot of it would revolve around these you know, issues

530
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:34,759
that we'd have with with credit card processing or you know,

531
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,519
the state of Idaho decided no, we're not gonna allow

532
00:27:37,519 --> 00:27:38,599
CBD sales anymore.

533
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 6: Like wait, wait, you can't see that.

534
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,039
Speaker 5: It took like nine months for theaf The NAFC got

535
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:46,680
very involved, the National Animal Supplement Help who got very involved,

536
00:27:46,799 --> 00:27:49,359
and we're able to overturn that. Like you're like, you're

537
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:53,240
really harming pet parent pets, Yes, and their pet parents

538
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,720
who are having enough struggle with these issues that their

539
00:27:55,759 --> 00:27:58,279
dogs may be having, and they may be forced to

540
00:27:58,279 --> 00:28:01,839
be put on you know, medical stuff that's going to

541
00:28:02,279 --> 00:28:05,680
hurt their liver or have long term effects that isn't holistic,

542
00:28:05,799 --> 00:28:08,440
isn't wellness right, And that's the journey that we want

543
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,960
our pet parents to be on, a safe, healthy wellness journey. Absolutely,

544
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,400
And when you have things like that gets really frustrating.

545
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,359
Speaker 2: You're just like why why why? Why? Why?

546
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:18,599
Speaker 5: Why?

547
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:19,359
Speaker 9: Yeah?

548
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 5: And so I would say those are those are the

549
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:22,680
moments where you're like, did.

550
00:28:22,559 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 6: I should I have just done dog food?

551
00:28:25,839 --> 00:28:27,880
Speaker 2: Well, I know one of the things we bonded over

552
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,839
and I interviewed you actually on the spot at super

553
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,880
Zoo was the quality of your ingredients. So was that

554
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,559
a process that you had to learn to kind of

555
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:40,559
know where to even start looking and what what is

556
00:28:40,599 --> 00:28:43,720
it that you kind of right now know that you're

557
00:28:43,759 --> 00:28:46,079
after when you're looking at maybe new suppliers.

558
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 5: I love working with small independence. That's okay, I'm small

559
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,480
and independent, right. And if you can have a direct

560
00:28:53,559 --> 00:28:57,039
line to an owner and know what their methodology is

561
00:28:57,079 --> 00:28:59,559
and why what is their why? Why did why did

562
00:28:59,599 --> 00:29:04,279
they set square Z? And that message resonates with you

563
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,240
and then they check all the boxes and our you know,

564
00:29:06,319 --> 00:29:08,680
supplier code of conduct and all those types of things

565
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,480
and meet sustainability goals and then we can have a

566
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,720
great partnership. But I'm not afraid to say, you know what,

567
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,359
I'm moving, I'm going to use this now because this

568
00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:23,359
is better, just improved. So those partnerships are really important,

569
00:29:23,359 --> 00:29:26,519
and we have some really really good ones that I'm

570
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:27,480
super proud of.

571
00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:30,119
Speaker 2: Did you ever stumble like, did you have a hard

572
00:29:30,119 --> 00:29:32,240
time finding because I have a feeling like it's not

573
00:29:32,359 --> 00:29:36,799
that simple to find the highest quality ingredients at you know,

574
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,640
the price point that you can actually use them in

575
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:39,359
a pet product.

576
00:29:40,079 --> 00:29:43,359
Speaker 5: Yeah, especially those ingredients that need to come from overseas

577
00:29:43,359 --> 00:29:46,240
like New Zealand Greenland Asso for example. That's a big

578
00:29:46,279 --> 00:29:49,640
one that we buy direct from New Zealand. Where's a

579
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,279
lot of companies will buy from, you know, companies here

580
00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:55,680
in the United States that are importing and if they're importing, okay, great,

581
00:29:55,799 --> 00:29:58,759
but they might be importing from one farm this month,

582
00:29:58,839 --> 00:30:01,039
then the farm next. I want to know that I

583
00:30:01,079 --> 00:30:05,960
get the same system ingredient every single time. That's just

584
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,279
so so important because then that means that my customer

585
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,680
is going to get a repeatable experience, right, they don't

586
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:19,319
want to have something change every single time. Yeah, So

587
00:30:19,839 --> 00:30:23,359
choosing you know, the very very best ingredients and making

588
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:27,920
sure that they hit all of our requirements, then it's

589
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:29,640
a win win for everybody.

590
00:30:29,559 --> 00:30:32,079
Speaker 2: That is really smart. Yeah, that makes total sense. I

591
00:30:32,079 --> 00:30:34,279
mean everybody wants to source the best of the best,

592
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,119
and I've never heard anybody say that that's one of

593
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:40,079
the reasons is to maintain the consistency, because you're right,

594
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,440
If you're constantly changing suppliers, then every month you're going

595
00:30:44,519 --> 00:30:47,960
to potentially get a different product to your pet. At

596
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:49,799
the end of the day, it's not the same thing.

597
00:30:50,519 --> 00:30:54,799
So what are your plans for this Christmas season? After

598
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,880
your you know, your team's Christmas party, where are you

599
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,839
going to be celebrating? Where are you headed? And what

600
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,880
do you see for Austin and kat in twenty twenty five.

601
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,440
Speaker 5: So I'm gonna be inside Seattle all next week see

602
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,200
the team Christmas party. Then I'll come back and I'll

603
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,640
meet up with Tim and the dogs and the bus,

604
00:31:14,119 --> 00:31:18,799
most likely in kat So southern California, my guess. And

605
00:31:18,839 --> 00:31:21,480
then we've we've got a big journey. I've made a

606
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,319
commitment to be at a new retail partner in January

607
00:31:25,319 --> 00:31:28,160
and Debruary in Florida. So we've got a cross country

608
00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:32,160
drive ahead of us. Nice done this already a couple

609
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,480
of times in the bus over to New Hampshire and back.

610
00:31:35,799 --> 00:31:38,039
So yeah, but we're going to see a different part

611
00:31:38,039 --> 00:31:39,839
of the country this time. We're gonna do the southern

612
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,880
drive over instead of the northern driveover.

613
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 2: Well, if you are, if you drive through l passed,

614
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,720
so let me know, I will say, please, let me know.

615
00:31:48,839 --> 00:31:51,680
Tell me about twenty twenty five. Other than of course,

616
00:31:51,839 --> 00:31:54,599
this commitment you've made for the first part of the year,

617
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,039
where's and you're gonna be at Global and you're probably

618
00:31:57,079 --> 00:31:59,680
gonna be at super Zoos. So what plans do you

619
00:31:59,759 --> 00:32:02,559
have an addition to launching those new products?

620
00:32:02,799 --> 00:32:06,039
Speaker 5: Yeah, so this is a year of innovation for sure. Oh,

621
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,759
there's a lot. If we accomplish all that we want

622
00:32:09,799 --> 00:32:13,720
to do, it will be it will be simply simply amazing. Yeah,

623
00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:18,680
and it's really exciting things coming, some very new and

624
00:32:18,799 --> 00:32:22,400
unique things that'll be different than things that we've done before.

625
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,400
So I think it's important to note that we're not

626
00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:28,400
just CBD. We are holistic supplements. And this past year

627
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,720
we launched to skin oils skin coat oils that have

628
00:32:31,799 --> 00:32:35,079
done really, really well. So they'll be the additions to

629
00:32:35,119 --> 00:32:39,119
those types of big products. And I'm stoked because everything

630
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,000
that we make, I've made for my pets first. And

631
00:32:42,119 --> 00:32:44,920
having our own facility like that's you know, critical, not

632
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,720
like I have somebody else making my products. We make

633
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,079
them ourselves. And being able to do that I can decide, oh, yeah,

634
00:32:51,119 --> 00:32:52,920
this works or this doesn't work, or I can tweak

635
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,319
it here or tweak it there. And it's what we

636
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,799
do as a team. And in doing these two new oils,

637
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,079
you know they're both. One of them is really unique.

638
00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:03,720
It's a vegan version so those pet parents who have

639
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,680
issues with fish, and it took great ingredients on it,

640
00:33:07,799 --> 00:33:09,880
like it's just it's mind blowing. And we used it

641
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,559
on Kingsley. Kingsley's a rescue that we've had since April,

642
00:33:13,079 --> 00:33:14,519
and it changed him.

643
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 6: Yeah.

644
00:33:15,519 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, you were telling me before we recorded that he

645
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,680
just showed up and never left. And I don't blame him.

646
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,039
I mean it sounds like he knows exactly where he's at.

647
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,240
He needs to stay right there. So tell me, how

648
00:33:26,279 --> 00:33:29,079
can my audience learn more about your products and everything

649
00:33:29,079 --> 00:33:32,920
that you are offering pet parents today?

650
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,759
Speaker 5: Yeah, so simple. It's Austin and hat and we spell

651
00:33:36,799 --> 00:33:40,240
out the word and dot com, so austincat dot com.

652
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,319
There's also actually a link on the homepage that you

653
00:33:44,319 --> 00:33:47,319
can follow along on our bus journey. See the places

654
00:33:47,319 --> 00:33:50,960
that we've been, see the bus, see some videos. We

655
00:33:51,039 --> 00:33:55,240
got some cool drone videos of us driving through Amish country.

656
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 6: And of course some buggy going by.

657
00:33:57,519 --> 00:34:02,319
Speaker 5: And yeah, it's been an amazing, amazing adventure. The bus

658
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,079
is purple, so it's true ofteny cat colors.

659
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love it so much. Well, I

660
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:10,480
just want to propose a toast to you for being

661
00:34:10,519 --> 00:34:13,480
my guest, for being so awesome, and for celebrating the

662
00:34:13,519 --> 00:34:17,159
holidays with me a little early. But still are holidays

663
00:34:17,599 --> 00:34:20,239
you too. We're good. We just have to worry about

664
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,239
the turkey. Well. I also want to propose a toast

665
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,920
to my executive producer, Mark Winter. Thank you Mark, and

666
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:27,840
to our audience for joining us. I hope you have

667
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,679
a wonderful holiday season no matter what you celebrate. If

668
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,519
you celebrate, I hope your pets are well. Give them

669
00:34:33,559 --> 00:34:35,599
a hug for me, say hello to them for me,

670
00:34:36,039 --> 00:34:39,639
and please be sure you keep yourself safe. I will

671
00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:42,840
see you again in twenty twenty five. Here's to a

672
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,679
life Covered in pet hair, because there's no better way

673
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:46,039
to live.

674
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 5: Cheers.

675
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:49,599
Speaker 2: To learn more about Covered in Pet Hair, please visit

676
00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:53,000
Covered in Pedhair dot com or pet life Radio dot com.

677
00:34:53,039 --> 00:34:56,159
Thanks for watching, and please make sure you like, subscribe,

678
00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,199
and follow on social media. Please rate us on your

679
00:35:00,199 --> 00:35:03,199
favorite podcasting platforms so we can get these awesome conversations

680
00:35:03,199 --> 00:35:06,079
out to more pet parents. This play to you, Thanks again,

681
00:35:06,119 --> 00:35:07,239
and I'll see you next time.

682
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 3: Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlife

683
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:24,800
Radio dot com