Speaker 1: This is pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2: Let's Talk Pets. Welcome to Covered in Pet Hair, a
booby show for pet lovers on pet Life Radio. I'm
your host Isabelle Albert Zerata, and today I have the
pleasure of having a drink in a chat with a
self proclaimed pet hair collector that is planning an out
of this.
Speaker 3: World cat convention.
Speaker 2: I will tell you all about her and introduce you
as soon as we come back from these messages from
our sponsors. Hi, I'm Isabelle Albert Zerata, the host of
Covered in Pet Hair. You know the expression cats have
nine lives? Well, what if you could give them one more?
Give them ten movement is on a mission to help
give cats an extra life. How with spe and neuter,
Spaying and neutering your cat helps them live a longer,
healthier life and it helps control rere roaming cat populations too.
Learn more about the benefits of spee and neuter and
meet Scooter, the neuter cat at Give Them ten dot Org.
That's give them tn dot Org.
Speaker 1: Let's Talk pets on Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Covered in cut Haair. I'm your host
Isabelle Alvarezerata, and today I have the pleasure of having
a drinking and chat with a pet parent. A published author,
a creative entrepreneur. She's an illustrator, product developer, and licensing artist.
She's an adventure seeker, a road tripper, a coffee lover,
and a world traveler. She's a cheer mom for a
not cats. She's a language lover, but she says she's
not that great at it. She's a bad cook. I
completely relate to this statement. Who basically makes the same
five dishes on rotation? Count me in on that one too.
I'm originally from South England, she says, but she moved
to New York area and later in life and she
currently lives in Central Florida on the Space Coast. More
on that later. She is a wife to Gary, mom
to a daughter named Live and she has four cats,
Jasper with two urs, Princess Pippa of course because she's
originally from the UK, and she has Cole Junior and Chippy.
Her name is Lisa. Her name is and she is
the Lisa behind Lisa Works. Welcome Lisa, it's so good
to have you on the show.
Speaker 4: Thank you as a well, thank you so what a
great welcome. I'm frecienting that. Well, I on the law,
decided to meet you.
Speaker 2: I love that you have a Princess Pippa cat, because
I mean, what better name for a cat than prince
says Pippa. And I'm a huge fan of Pippa myself,
so I just had to say, like, love it, love
that you're staying true to your roots and bringing the
pop culture to well.
Speaker 4: I have to tell you a quick story about that. Actually,
because we rescued Pippa and that was her name when
we got her. Oh, she's a ragnol, and it just
so happened that that was her official name, was Princess Pipper,
And who am I to change it? It's very faking.
Speaker 2: Was that here in the US? Yes, yes, that's so crazy.
She was meant to be yours, I think.
Speaker 4: I think so. We originally were supposed to just be
fostering her, you know, temporarily, And the moment she came
in the door, the whole family was like, yeah, she's
not going anywhay and she moves loved the name.
Speaker 2: Yeah, she was meant to be. I have no doubt
about it. So I want to get to know you
and everything you're planning on bringing to the cat World
next year. But before we do that, I want to
introduce our drinking game today. So anytime you hear this word, audience,
the secret word is cosmic. Take a drink of whatever
you're enjoying, but please be sure you're over twenty one
in the US over eighteen. I believe in the UK
never drink and drive and always drink responsibly. So are
you joining us for this Friday happy hour with a
little libation?
Speaker 4: Me? Yes, Actually I have a mocktail though, because it's
still early in my day and I do have a
little bit of work to do when we're afterwards chatting,
and I'm not sure how that might go if I
had something a little extra.
Speaker 2: So what are you enjoying today?
Speaker 4: So my mocktail is called I named it. It's called
a fizzy whisker, and it's a very simple drink. It's
basically a seltzer or a club soda with a splash
of three syrups I like to combine. I'll splash of vanilla,
pomegranite and fashion fruit, and then sometimes I'll throw some
extra pomegranate seeds in there, just for a little bit
of textra. But if you I want to you know,
level up and make it a cocktail. Definitely add a
splash a vodka or something else if you prefer.
Speaker 2: I love that idea. I've never used my syrups, like
my vanilla syrup is like coffee, but I never thought
about using it for a drink, so that is perfect.
I actually am gonna drink and then I'm done for
the week. I have a kid's birthday party. But no,
I'm not driving. My husband made this and he is
driving later because he made it boozy. This is what
my husband calls a cat's nebula, just you know, to
keep it on theme. And it's made with blue carrassal
as you can tell, tequila, some grenadine, some sparkling cider,
and all sorts of stuff. I don't know how he
got all that stuff in this house. I didn't know
we even had half of it. But cheers, thank you for.
Speaker 4: Being bast Oh yeah, and whiskers up.
Speaker 2: Whiskers up. I love that great job, husbander. He's my
bartender manager, so I call him my husbander. A great
job and he's walking right by. It tastes delicious, Actually.
Speaker 4: I love it. I love that color.
Speaker 2: It's beautiful and it's delicious, and it's on theme. I mean, check,
check check. So I always introduced this show with a game,
but we're gonna play two games today. I don't know
how into pop culture you are. But many many, many
years ago, Mariah Carey was asked about j Lo, like
if she knew her, if there was drama between them,
and Mariah Carey famously responded, I don't know her about
j Lo, who was obviously famous and she obviously at
least had heard of So I want to play a
game called don't know her. But this is about the
people in the cat industry, and if we know the
same people, so I know the first one's going to
be a given because she literally introduced us. But do
you know Sally Williams? Yes, I do very Sally Williams
of Mission Meal was on the show recently and look
it up in the feed. Mission Mio just celebrated their
second birthday anniversary. And you are a business partner just
like me.
Speaker 4: I certainly am. Yes, I almost since Sally started Mission Now,
I believe so yeah, getting into the well now it's
our second year, which is made in combat. Sally. Yeah,
it's a great organization and I'm really happy to be
a part of it because it gives me an opportunity
to give back in a way that I can through
my aunt. If that makes.
Speaker 2: Sense, absolutely, Okay. So if you don't know these next
few people, you just say, don't know her. Even if
it's a guy, even if it's a cat, you say,
don't know her, because you're channeling You're channeling the diva
Mariah Carey. So the next person I have for you
is the Cowboy cat Wrangler. Do you know her?
Speaker 4: Is there an in between answer? Because I'm yes, I
don't tell her. But we were sitting across the table
together at the New Jersey Catsbury Park Cat Convention Social
on Friday night, but we were never for being jeez,
So don't know her?
Speaker 2: Okay? And then the mad Catter, Yes, know him? Yes?
And how about Lamba Lesha?
Speaker 4: Don't know?
Speaker 2: Do you know that? Lambeau Lesha is somebody you have
to follow. She jumps with her cats like she does
the most amazing playtime with her cat. She has a
Mega and I can't remember the other cat's name. The
cat Mega is more chill, but the other one literally
like just jumps through the room to catch the wands
and they play such enthusiastic, vigorous like wand games that
are amazing. You have to watch it. And Lambeau Lesha
just has such a great energy. Okay, So next one,
Nathan the cat Lady, I know her, and how about
you can't say Nathan without saying Sterling, Sterling, I know her, And.
Speaker 4: How about that, I'm saying I.
Speaker 2: Know her, but that's the game, that's the game. I
know her. And then Desiree Bobby from CFA, I know her,
yes you do? Oh okay. And then last, but certainly
not least, Jackson Galaxy.
Speaker 4: I don't know her, but I know a good associate
of Ki okay, Lindsay No, Kate Benjamin from Half Panther.
Speaker 2: Oh cool, Kate Benjamin. I feel like I know Kate Benjamin.
Speaker 4: They cover of books together.
Speaker 2: Oh super cool. And I know Lindsay one of his
she's on his team and she introduced me at super Zoos,
so I can say I do know her about Jackson Galaxy,
and Jackson is not a diva at all. He was
the nicest. You want me to tell you a little
story about Jackson when we did the meet and greet
at super Zoo just now in August he was obviously
lighting up for photos with people, and this is my
good side, and he was about to stand on my right,
and I said, I'm so sorry, Jackson, but can I
get on my good side? And can you get on
the left? And he looked at me and goes, is
that a thing? And I'm like, of course it's a thing. So, Lisa,
what's your good side?
Speaker 4: Oh, my good side? I'm gonna say your left. That's
my left? Yeah, probably, yeah. Right.
Speaker 2: So we're we're photo buddies. We can take photos all
day long and nobody will get in each other's way,
in each other's good side. I love that so much. Yeah.
So he was very gracious about me asking him, me
asking the star that was doing the meet and greet
to go to the other side. But then the next
day I had a meet and greet or I didn't
I did. I stood in line for a meet and
greet with Oh my gosh, Catherine Heigel. She was at
super Zoo promoting her brand of dog food and she
would not move from the right side. So I think
she has a good side and it's the right side.
And because she is Catherine Heigel, she stood there holding
onto a chair and would not budge, and everybody had
to take a picture on the left.
Speaker 4: Okay, Honestly, if I'm holding a cat, any side is
a good thought.
Speaker 2: This is true. This is true. We can always jush
up a photo with a cat. I always say my
cat makes my house look more beautiful, and so I
feel like that would apply to my face, to the room,
to everything. Okay, So next, I want to play a
few of your favorite things. So I'm just gonna ask
you about cat things, and you're gonna tell me your
absolute favorites, and it's okay if there's a tie. I
just want to get to know what kind of cat
person you are. Are you ready to play? Yeah, okay,
let's do it. Favorite cat breed?
Speaker 4: Ooh, all of them?
Speaker 5: Of course, I would say, I really do love a
red Abyssinian and probably probably a British blue as well.
Speaker 2: Ooh, a British blue. I don't think I'm familiar with
the British blue. I've got to look that up. I
have a what I call a Las Crusis blue. He
was rescued on the streets of Les Crus's, New Mexico,
and he kind of looks like a Russian blue, but
way darker and that's why I call him a las
Crusis blue. But he's just a mutt. He's just a mix.
Next one favorite cat influencer, and it could be a
human or a feline.
Speaker 4: Like putting me really on the spot, because how can
you just pick one?
Speaker 2: Okay, give me your top five? Well even there, I
don't know.
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I really do love
Cappy Bears, any cat, smush, any you know Noggin Eggbert Squash,
if you know any of those cats, Grumpy Barbara. I mean,
these are all my famous celebrity cats instacats really.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, And there's so many, There.
Speaker 4: Are so many. But there's also I have tons of
influence of favorites too. The two Crazy Cat Ladies.
Speaker 3: Do you know her?
Speaker 2: Do you know her?
Speaker 4: I did?
Speaker 2: I love them, of course, they're such wonderful ladies. I
don't know anybody who doesn't know them because they bring
people together, They introduce everybody, so it's awesome. Yeah, so
obviously the Two Crazy Cat Ladies top top not And yeah,
I'm not gonna put you on the spot for the people,
because I bet a lot of them are coming to
your show, which we're going to talk about don't go anywhere,
because you're going to find out, guys, what we're talking
about about space cats and the Space coast and a
cat lovers throwing a party, a huge party, a cat convention,
if you will, Okay?
Speaker 3: Next, one favorite cat rescue, pet rescue or cat rescue,
cat specific, cat specific cat rescue, well locally would be the.
Speaker 4: Brevard Humane Society. I'm going to talk about that in
a little bit. I would say Catsbury Park Cat Cafe,
because if it wasn't for DJ and the team at
Catsbury Park, I probably would have never ventured into being
a cat convention vendor and then and then starting my
own cat convention. So I would say, out of all
of the Catsberry Park has a very special place in
my heart. For sure.
Speaker 2: Absolutely it sounds like it. How about your favorite cat toy?
Speaker 4: Favorite cat toy, it's the peacock feather. For some reason,
my cats go nuts. And then I have a second,
which is shamelessly something that I worked on with Kate
Benjamin at House Panther, which is the catnip toy. There's
a kicker or a shaker in a little pod the organic
catinate that's in those My cats go nuts for it,
and so I'm a big fan of those because my
cats are a big fan of those. But I would
say for engagement and getting the cats to interact without
me even having to try, is the peacock feather for sure.
Speaker 2: It's funny. I decorated at my wedding with peacock feathers
because I didn't. I don't love flowers. They make me sad.
We put so much effort into growing them and then
they die. And I found somebody in Florida who raises
peacocks and she sells the feathers that you.
Speaker 4: Know that fall and well naturally and I hope.
Speaker 2: Exactly no, they fall naturally. She has, like you know,
they're her pets. She it took me a long time
for her to like accumulate all of the ones I needed,
And I still have them and they're so beautiful, and
I bring one out for my cat every so often,
and I agree, like nothing makes him happier. I used
to have them in a oz, but like my cat
would destroy it. So I have the feathers that I
bring out one at a time until they're gone. I guess.
Let's see cat brand. Your favorite cat brand? A brand
that just does.
Speaker 3: Like speaks to you that's doing fun things that you enjoy.
Speaker 4: Oh gosh, wow. I really love the travel backpack that
my cat travel backpack. That has been a game change
of for us and our cats, especially two of them.
We have four cats, and so two of the four
have a little anxiety, especially with going to the vets
and things like that. So that backpack has saved me
many face scrunches, yes, you know, and claws and issues.
Like for some reason, they're they're very cool with that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, So is it the bubble backpack.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's got the Yeah, it's got the clear dome
on the back and then he's got to see through
the mesh. I do love that. I do love the
Jackson Galaxy Peacemaker kit because I've got one one of
the oldest of my four cats, Jasper. He can be
a little feisty, and I think sometimes he'd prefer to
just be a single cat, you know, family, and so
he gets a little impatient sometimes with the others. But
the peacemaker kit really helps kind of just keep all that.
And he's also my anxious one about going to the
vets too, and that piece maker kit actually helps keep
him mellow for vet visits as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that. Okay, Well, tell us about yourself.
You have been in the pet industry for about ten
years now, is that right?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I got into well, yeah, probably about ten. I'm approaching
a ten year anniversary with my lance company, Lisa Works.
And it was about at the same time where I
started doing the cat convention circuit as a vendor.
Speaker 2: And what do you do at the cat conventions as
a vendor?
Speaker 4: Okay? So I started off. I had a couple of
books published with Penguin back in the sort of twenty
and ten to twenty thirteen kind of time, and one
book was called cat n Act and it's just a
young children's picture book that is about a cat who's
kind of curious, goes off, takes a nap, and then
is hold away in a truck not realizing it and
has to find her way home. And so the very
first cat convention that I did, I was it was
Catsbury Park Cat Convention actually in New Jersey, and I
was just going to go as an attendee, and something
in my head said, hey, why don't you be a
vendor and take your books and do book signing or
something like that, and so that's kind of where it's
sort of catapultic of me into it after pauls it. Yes,
But at the same time I was also doodling and
drawing a lot of black cats. I have had black
cats in the past, and I had started working on
some art prints so on an illustrator and a graphic designer,
and so I pulled together probably about I don't even
remember now, six to ten prints and I found these
really cute frames. I printed them all up. I had
a very nice printer at home, did it all myself,
and that first cat convention at Cattersbury Park, I sold
out in the first day and I had to go
home that night. Thankfully only lived about an hour away
at the time, and I was like up until three am,
like printing more prints and putting stuff together to bring
to sell the second day because I didn't really didn't
have anything blacked in my booth. So it was very successful.
It was a little bit of a surprise. And then
the following year, I I mean, I just thought maybe
it was a fluke. But I went back the following
year and I had equal success, and honestly I've not
looked back since, and I've been all over the country
doing you know, I don't do many every year, but
I have been to LA and Seattle and Chicago, and
you know, and obviously had plans to do a bunch
right as the pandemic hit. So that kind of through
the as we say, spanner in the works, but you
say wrench in the works.
Speaker 2: Thought yes, yes.
Speaker 4: So so that sort of put a stop on things
during the pandemic. And then when we started to come
out of COVID and in person events were starting to
happen again. Nothing was happening on the East Coast, and
I was getting a little withdrawal, I guess you could say.
And so I had participated in catcom Worldwide with their
digital events, right their online event which was Come from
your Couch, which was really fun, but I was desperate
to do in person once again. I just love the
interaction of meeting cat lovers and customers and cat people
and vendors and just you know, the whole energy of
being together in person. Just it's such such an amazing
energy and it's fun. And I like people, and I
like cats, I like people, and so I was really
missing that. So then cat Con in LA was the
first one I think to fire up there in person
event again, like right after the pandemic and I'm living
on the East Coast and I was like, you know what,
I'm going to do it, and so I did, and yeah,
I've done that one now. I think this was my
fifth year. Oh wow, use in person, two years online.
So yeah, I love it. I love it. I love
all the conventions that I've done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's great that we have regional things
because not everybody can afford to go to I've never
been to cat Con. I mean, I go to Super Zoo.
I just went to the CFA Expo. I was, you know,
I was at a bunch of conferences things early in
the year for specifically for the pet sitting industry. But
there's a lot going on, and I think that there's
a reason why a lot of the national organizations rotate,
But then you're leaving out the people who are far away.
So whenever you start something in a specific area and
leave it there, I feel like you get to grow
that area. And then those who can't afford to fly,
they fly in and they visit and maybe they don't
go every year, but maybe they make it a special
trip or something. So I love the idea of keeping
it local, keeping it specific to the Space coast. So
I want to dig in too, Space Cats twenty twenty five.
I want to learn everything you're doing, everything that it
takes to put on a conference just like this. But
I need to take a break here. We'll listen to
our sponsors and want to come back. Lisa is going
to break down what it's like to create a cat
convention out of nowhere and bring it to the Space Code.
Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after these messages
from our sponsors.
Speaker 7: You know the expression cats have nine lives? Well, what
if you can give them one more? But give them ten?
Movement is on a mission to help give cats an
extra life. How with spae and neoter Spain or nootering
your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life and
it helps control free rolling cat populations too. Learn more
about the benefits of spee and neoter and meet Scooter,
the neutered cat at Give them ten dot org. That's
give them ten dot org.
Speaker 6: Let's talk.
Speaker 4: Let's done.
Speaker 2: Radio Headline Radio.
Speaker 6: Catlin Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Covered in ped Hair. I'm your host,
Isabelle Alberzerata And today I'm having a drink in a
chat with Lisa Hernandez of Lisa Works, Inc. And she
is going to tell us all about her experience putting
together a brand new cat convention called Space Cats. Okay, Lisa,
we want to play a game first that gives us
an idea of what it is that you are planning
for this event. So I have my handy dandy clock here,
and my audience knows that I will give you one
minute on this clock to give me a rundown. So
I'm calling this Space Cat's Preview, and you just kind
of give me just a little kind of like elevator
pitch on what the show is going to be all about.
Are you ready to play? I am.
Speaker 4: That's a lot of pressure, but I'll do this.
Speaker 2: I think you can do it in your sleep. That's
what I think. Three two one go, Okay.
Speaker 4: Space Cat Florida. It is the first cat convention cosmic
and out of this world that's coming to Florida on
the East coast of the USA. And this is in
central Florida. A hopskip and a jump from Orlando Cocoa Beach,
the NASA Kennedy Space Center and surrounding areas where a
few hours north of Miami, couple hours from Tampa, a
couple hours south of Jacksonville, nice and centrally located. The
idea behind Space Cat Florida really is to celebrate and
elevate the cat community in this state by way of
education raising, awareness fundraising, bringing in lots of cat themed vendors,
whether it's four cats or four humans, having some really
fun activities. We're going to have a cat adoption lounge,
the Lunar Lounge, we're calling it, and as well as
guest speakers who are going to come in and tell
us how to, you know, just harmonize with cats, whether
it's helping those in fostering, adoption and rescue, or cats
in your own home.
Speaker 2: Amazing. Okay, you went over by eighteens, but I didn't
want to stop you because that's a perfect elevator pitch.
No worries at all, You're allowed to go over. It's
just a recommended amount of time. Okay, So I love
the idea. Do you have you said education, Do you
have education ideas for you know, your consumer? Because I
assume that the majority of the people who are going
to attend are just pet parents. Is that is that
your idea?
Speaker 4: The goal here is to connect with experts, whether they're behaviorists, UH,
healthcare providers, veterinarians, fetec, weather bears services, as well as
celebs as I guess you could say you you know,
So the idea is to bring everybody together to really
just celebrate cats in general, but also give consumers, the
public attendees an opportunity to ask questions. Maybe they're having
some behavioral issues with their cat, or perhaps they recently
rescued an animal, you know, maybe it was a family
of kittens or something like that, and they want to
know the next steps so, or perhaps they live very
close to a cat colony and they want to help maintain,
you know, help that colony thrive through TNR programming and
things like that. So being able to bring in some
speakers who can literally speak to those different types of
topics is really one of the main goals, right. So
when I say raising awareness, it's really about well, what
are the fundamentals of the TNR program? What does that mean?
Trap you to a turn and Sterling the tracking is
coming to share and talk about how how you can
do that in your own neighborhood or help others, you know,
I mean I hear so many stories of people finding
cats in the backyard and the thing is here, you know,
we have lots of interesting wild animals running around and
not just not so what can we do to help
within the cat community, whether it's through T and R, fostering, adoption,
general care, give back. And then obviously the other side
of that is those who want to improve the well
the wellness and health of their own cats in their lives.
You know, maybe they've got a multi cat household and
the cats aren't getting along, or perhaps they want to
try and figure out the best vet to find that
includes fear free visits, or you know, help cats overcome
any kind of special conditions, or maybe they want to
adopt a cat with special needs or seeing you. So,
so there's going to be a lot of information from
our speakers, our guest speakers to talk about a lot
of that, which I think is you know, any cat
can mention that you go to that there's that's such
a big component and so it's really exciting for me
to be able to be able to connect the community
in that way.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I agree. I think it's such an important opportunity
for Florida to kind of reach the consumer, teach them,
make it fun. I feel like people have no idea
what one of these conventions is like until they attend,
so bringing it to their backyard or just a few
hours away really kind of makes it enticing. And one
of the things that I love about cat people is
that they're really fun. I know that, like people say,
like cats have a reputation for being aloof and too
independent and not affectionate, and we all know the cat
people know that that's not the case. And we also
know that cat people, when they let their hair down,
are really a lot of fun. And I love hanging
out with cat people. I think we're silly. I think
we're goofy. I think we like we're really all heart,
all love, which is what I think cats are too.
Like they're all love. It's just on their terms and
you know, with respect to who they are and how
they feel about certain situations. But one of the things
that I love about bringing cats together is that once
we're all like we know we're cat people, we're like,
it's like our it's a circle of trust, right, Like
you must be a good, like a really true cat
person if you're at a cat conference and now I
know you're one of my people. So that's what I
think is so much fun about these events is that
people maybe be strangers, but they leave friends just because
you know, they connected on that love of cat. So
apart from obviously education, you're gonna have shopping there, right, Like,
I mean, there has to be okay, well about the shopping.
Speaker 4: Okay, so we have we are still looking for vendors. Actually,
so if anybody's out there who has cat themed products
for cats or for humans, you know, definitely get in touch.
But so what we're doing is we have for the
most part, I would say ninety eight percent of the vendors,
if not one hundred percent, have cat related items our
services or products, right, So everything from cat furniture. So
we've got Mario who's coming in with space square poles. Sorry,
I've got space on the brain s airpoles, and he
builds these amazing cat trees and it could look like
a lighthouse or it could look like a Christmas tree
and things like that. So and actually Mario is also
the architect for our lunar lounge, and he's building a
space pod to have our adoptable or kiddies in So
that's really cool.
Speaker 2: That is so cool. I love the theme. I feel
like you nailed it with like just like the location,
the theme, space and Cats. I mean, I'm nerding out
over here over this.
Speaker 4: It was. It was actually it was funny because even
though I've lived on Space Coast now for about three years,
originally I was looking to call it something that was
more Florida esque, right, like sun Cats. I know, there
was a show called Suncat, so I wasn't gonna call
it mat Necessa or Sunshine Cats, so you know, something
like that. And it wasn't really sitting well with me, Like,
I mean, I liked it, but it wasn't like oh yeah,
you know. And then and then I don't know one
not I probably was at Kennedy's Space Center or something
like that and just just Space Cats came into my
brain and I was like, Okay, I think this is it.
I think this has so much opportunity. So the great
thing about it is that we can bring in you know,
there's it's a really fun way to theeen the event
besides the cat stuff and one of the harsh speakers,
Ellen Carroza, who's the cat LVT who's bringing Noggin, Eggbert
and squash. She's already picked out little a and costumes
to put on the cats and that, Oh my gosh,
she's blacking all these fun things. And I realized, like,
we're going to have a photo op stage sort of
area for people with a backdrop that's this really lovely
kind of galaxy back you know, grouonderful, weird, you know, stars,
and and I'm just thinking about all the fun things
we can do with little space ears or like, you know,
just just fun stuff like that. And then we'll invite
people to wear their space cat costumes and astronaut costumes,
you know, all that kind of stuff. So that's really fun.
So other vendors that we're going to have there, we
have Velanakote, who does the most beautiful whisker jewelry. We
have we have a lot of artists coming, including the
Maclick with the fifty to fifty Company. We have some
local vendors who are also artists. We've got a woman
by the name of ray Marie. She does these incredible
pet portraits that are like they do their soul life
like it's it's unbelievable. But we also have vendors who
do apparel and stickers and key chains, and then we
have services as well, like behaviorists and holistic cat practitioner
by the name of Laureley Medley, who's Yoda. Okay, so
she's going to be and she'll be speaking as well,
so talking about behavior with the cats, but then also
how to use crystals with your cats and things like that.
So it was really cool. So yeah, lots of really
fun vendors. And I agree with you. I think there's
something about a niche specific event like this. When I
first started doing them, I realized I had found my people,
because one hundred percent of the population coming through the
door was my target audience. Besides her kicking new cat
friends and cat lovers and geeking out and nerding out
over cats in general, you know, unlike street fairs and
other markets, this really was about that whole We all
have the same thing in common, right, and that's why
we're all here together under one roof. And I really
wanted to create an event that carried that energy. And
when you have people like Sterling coming down and Ellen's
got all these fun ideas for her kiddies, you know,
I know, I just know it's it's gonna be hilarious
and fun. And yes, yeah, who knows. We're still confirming
some speakers, so we may have a few more big
names coming. But even with who we have right now,
it's like there's there's some great names and they're very
well established in the cat community, and I know that
people on these coasts will love to meet them and
come and questions and do the meet and greets and
you know, you get to meet some and take photos
and things like that as well. And then we also
have besides the vendors, we also have a couple of
activity stations and so there's one and this is part
of the fundraising sort of side of things. Okay, So
the idea here is that you could come in and
perhaps you want to make a you know, do a
DIY cat toy. Okay, So we're going to have that station,
and we're also going to have a coloring sort of
gallery wall, so if there's kids or if anybody likes
to sit in color or they want to draw their
own space cat, and then we'll have a galaxy wall
to hang every pictures. And the idea is that you know,
for a dollar donation or something like that, that everybody
gets to put up and I think that there and
there's other things too, because we're we're we have an
event program, and then fifty percent of proceeds from the
event program and a couple of other of those stations,
those are going to be donated to cats in need.
So it's a really nice, well rounded event. Yes, it's
small because it's our first one, and it can get
very overwhelming. You you know, you mentioned earlier about organizing
something from scratch, from cat scratch. It's it's been a lot,
it's I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2: And you had it scheduled for twenty twenty four, but
because of the recent hurricanes, you've moved it. So what
has that experience been like that?
Speaker 4: I probably lost a few years in about two weeks
on that. So even though our event originally was planned
for October twenty sixth and twenty seventh, which is next weekend,
even though it was still two weeks out when we
got hit with Helene and Hurricane Milton. So much devastation
happening on the West coast, and that's really not too
far from where we're holding space cats and people's lives
have been turned upside down. It didn't make sense for
us to push this event because we want to move
forward in a positive way. But we knew and we
wanted to be respectful that people's priorities are their families,
their homes, some you know. And so while we were
very lucky where we're situated through those hurricanes, other people
weren't so lucky. And so I really think it's important
to allow them the time and space to recover in
the way they need to. And so thankfully the Convention
Center was really great about us postponing, and so we're
now going to be at the end of January, So
January twenty fifth and twenty six.
Speaker 2: I think that's wonderful. Maybe I'll be able to make
a trip and visit. If you need an MC for anything,
please lets me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we would love to have you for sure.
Speaker 2: I love to MC, I love to do social media takeovers.
I will do any of it. And I know a
thing or two of back hats too. But I think
it's wonderful. Well, I think that's a great time to
be in Florida too, right, So, like that is officially
no longer hurricane season. It is a cool, nice, cool
season in Florida. I can't think of a better time
to go to the Space Coast, honestly, So how do
my How does my audience learn more about you and
about the event?
Speaker 4: Okay, so about me? You can hit me up on
Instagram at Lisa works or my website lisaworks dot com.
I mean, that's just really more about my illustration than
anything else. Over there. You can visit Spacecatsflorida dot com,
which is the official website for the event. And also
we have an Instagram account there which isn't new, it's
a baby account, but it's growing slow slowly but surely.
And that's Space Cats Florida. All onward, and let's see
your tickets are on sale. We have VIP packages, We
have daily passes as well as a week can pass
for adults and for youths too, and obviously we're going
to have much and keep stakes. Oh and we have
a fabulous giveaway raffle esque tight feature of the event too,
so every ticket holder gets a free entry into the
raffle to win a little robot I love. Yes, well,
it's also we have some other really great prizes to
go with it. It's not just the little I mean,
it's a little Robot. I'm really happy about that. But
we also have other participating companies either those who couldn't
necessarily be with us in person, but they've kindly donated.
So we've got some cat beds, and we have a
couple of cat Lady boxes and some other goodies as well.
So that's really cool too, and it's just a nice
incentive as well. And as part of the give back.
This is why I'm doing all of this, Honestly, it's
when I grew up. I had cats. I made art
all the time. When I started getting involved with the
cat conventions as an artist, in selling my cat art,
I was donating a portion of proceeds to help cats
in need. And you know, it might not be a
huge amount here and there, but it all adds up, right,
and it was my way of giving back. I'm we're
done with the fostering because I keep failing, so we're
sort of out of space now to to foster. But
you know, this is a nice way for me to
be able to give back in a different capacity. So
that was one of the reasons why I signed on
with Mission Meo as a business partner, because it was
an opportunity for me to give back in a small
way that made, you know, collectively makes a big difference
in the lives of those people who help cats in need.
You know, I think that's a really amazing you know
mission in itself with Mission MoU absolutely, and so I
and I have to just finish up with this. My husband,
when I was complaining that there were no in person
cat conventions happening on the East Coast, he kept saying
to me, you have event management experience. Why did you
just put on your own. I was like, no, it's
too much work. I can't do this. And then and
then last year he brought it up again because I
was complaining, you had to guess and then I was like,
you know what, let me see if I can find
a venue. But again I said, like, this is what
we would like to call a small but mighty event.
And I think that it's just the beginning of many
years to come and really kind of establishing a presence
here in the southeast of the country, in Florida specifically.
And like you just said, you know, that was another thing.
The hurricane season going through Milton and Hellen really and
then being able to postpone to January made us decide
that we are actually going to make this a springtime
event going forward. We are going to keep it out
of hurricane season. It's way stressful and it's too much
for so we just decided that, you know, sometime in
that first quarter of the year is probably when we're
looking to hold it, maybe March April for year two,
but end of January will be twenty twenty five. And
it's exciting and again just being able to collectively come
together and get excited about cats, helping cats, helping ourselves
with our own cats, and then getting to shop and
have fun. There'll be some fun activities that we have
planned as well, sort of some after out was.
Speaker 2: Ooh after hours.
Speaker 4: Love that.
Speaker 2: So I want to just take this moment to say
one thing that surprised me about previous cat conferences, and
I think this is going to be the case for
yours as well. They're very family friendly. So I think
people think of a cat conference, maybe they think of like,
you know, like cat Con sounds like comic con, and
maybe it's too adult and maybe if my kid's not
really into this is a great opportunity for kids who
are interested in cats but can have one. This is
a great opportunity for people who you know, want to
do something fun and educational with their kid on a weekend.
Teach kids about giving back, Teach kids about taking care
of kats, Teach kids about T and R and what
that even means. I have a four and a seven
year old, and I've not yet taken them to one
of these because they're usually over school days. But I
think that they're so family friendly. They're shopping for everybody.
A lot of the vendors have stuff that's great for kids.
It really is a great opportunity for grandparents to take
the grandchildren for the day or the whole family to
go together. And I just I can't stress enough this
is not just for the crazy cat ladies like me
and you, Lisa. This is for everybody. There's something for
everyone there. I can't stress enough what a great family
friendly event it is. And it's a small investment, a
great time and almost like just like a different world
to experience, right, It's just like it is out of
this world. It's unlike anything else you'll ever see. And
I can't wait to hear how it goes down. Hopefully
I'll have the opportunity to join you in January, but
I just want to propose a toast to you and
everything you're doing for the Space Coast cats. Cheers. Thank
you for.
Speaker 4: Being my guest. Oh, thank you so much for having me. Yeah,
this has been an absolute blast off. Ah. Sorry, now
the moms come out.
Speaker 2: Oh you have to have the puns. You can't do
enough puns. I feel like cat people love a pun.
Speaker 4: And we just we embrace it absolutely.
Speaker 2: I want to propose a toast to my executive producer,
Mark Winter. Thank you Mark for letting me do these
awesome interviews, and to our audience for joining us for
these awesome conversations. I hope I'll get to meet any
of you in Florida or in any of the upcoming
of conferences and conventions. These are just so fun. If
you are an avid pet lover, you gotta find the
closest event to you. Just dip your toe in and
you'll see just how hoops you become. Here's to a
life covered in pet hair, because there's no better way
to live. Cheers, yees.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: To learn more about Covered in pet Hair, please visit
Covered in Pethair dot com or petlife Radio dot com.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
Speaker 1: Let's Talk pets every week on demand only on petlifradio
dot com