She’s Behind Fluff & Boots, a Cat-Loving Lifestyle Brand with a Mission

Nashville has no scarcity of inventive entrepreneurs, however Ashley OBryan comes with a crew of whiskered sidekicks. She’s an animal advocate and the founding father of Fluff & Boots, a cat-loving way of life model with coronary heart. Inspired by her time in Cyprus (the unofficial feline capital of the world), Ashley launched an organization that blends moral merchandise with a much bigger mission: caring for stray and feral cats whereas difficult the pet trade to do higher.

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Where does your story begin? Was your childhood crammed with cats?

I truly grew up with canine in my rapid family, however animals have at all times been a relentless in my life. My maternal grandmother was a loyal animal lover who rescued a number of canine and cats over time, and watching her look after them deeply formed my sense of compassion and duty.

Professionally, I started my profession at a double-bottom-line firm the place success was measured by each revenue and influence. That expertise gave me the framework to construct one thing values-driven. When I based Fluff & Boots, it felt like a pure intersection of these influences, pairing childhood empathy with purpose-led enterprise. It grew to become my method of constructing one thing that honors the position animals really play in our lives.

What impressed you to launch Fluff & Boots? When did it go from an fascinating thought to “I have to do this”?

Fluff & Boots was born out of each love and frustration. As a pet dad or mum, I used to be continuously upset by what was out there in the marketplace. So many merchandise are mass-produced, poorly made, disposable, and often made with poisonous textile dyes. It feels just like the bigger pet trade hasn’t caught up with how deeply we care about our animals.

The turning level was realizing that if I needed higher choices, I needed to create them. It stopped being a “someone should do this” thought and have become a really clear “I have to do this” second. I didn’t simply need extra aesthetically pleasing merchandise; I needed safer supplies, considerate design, and long-lasting items that felt elevated sufficient to dwell superbly in your house.

Fluff & Boots grew to become my method of elevating the usual, and, on the similar time, structuring the enterprise in a method that makes a optimistic influence on feline welfare past our personal houses.

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For these simply discovering it, how would you describe Fluff & Boots and what you supply?

Fluff & Boots is a cat-centric way of life model for individuals who see their pets as household. We create elevated necessities which can be secure, sturdy, and thoughtfully designed to dwell superbly in any dwelling. Too usually, cats and their house owners are an afterthought within the bigger pet trade, with merchandise which can be disposable, poorly made, or unattractive.

Fluff & Boots fills that hole by providing items that prioritize your cat’s well-being whereas reflecting the care and intention you convey to your private home.

Beyond our merchandise, Fluff & Boots is a welcoming group of purr-parents and cat lovers who really “give a fluff” about felines. It’s an area to share concepts, have a good time the enjoyment cats convey, and assist each other in elevating completely happy, wholesome pets whereas advocating for cats in want.

Our group displays the idea that caring for cats is each private and shared, and it connects individuals as a lot because it honors the felines on the coronary heart of all of it.

You’ve lived in all places from the Midwest to New York to Cyprus. Was there a particular second or place that pushed you from compassion into motion?

Living in Cyprus opened my eyes to the dimensions of want that always goes unseen. Seeing so many stray and feral cat colonies up shut as a part of each day life, and witnessing most of them barely surviving, shifted one thing in me. Compassion alone and the occasional donation didn’t really feel ample anymore.

I keep in mind pondering that if I cared this a lot, I wanted to discover a method to translate that care into one thing tangible and lasting. That’s actually the place the concept was planted that advocacy might take many varieties, together with constructing a enterprise that helps cats on a broader scale.

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You’re intentional about moral sourcing and advocacy. Why was it vital for that to be foundational to the enterprise?

I’ve at all times believed the way you make one thing is simply as vital as what you make. For me, moral sourcing and advocacy aren’t simply “nice-to-haves,” they’re non-negotiables. For Fluff & Boots, it was important from day one to align our merchandise and practices with our values, from the supplies we select to the companions we work with.

This ensures each merchandise we create honors the pets who will use it, the individuals who make it, and the broader group of cats who depend on us to advocate for them.

At the top of the day, this model was sparked by your individual rescue cats. How have Fluff, Boots, and the remainder of your crew formed the best way you lead?

Their curiosity, vitality, affection, and distinctive personalities remind me management is simply as a lot about statement and responsiveness as it’s about imaginative and prescient. Their wants and behaviors straight form our product growth, guaranteeing all the things we create really serves cats and the individuals who love them.

At its core, Fluff & Boots is about creating an area the place each people and cats really feel seen, secure, and valued, and the place each alternative is guided by the true lives and experiences of the cats who share our houses.

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When you’re not working or wrangling your feline board of administrators, the place can we discover you?

Probably close to water. A pool, the ocean, the spa. Water has this grounding, regular rhythm that clears my thoughts and brings me again to heart. It’s the place I believe greatest and infrequently the place my most inventive concepts floor.

What’s one factor individuals can be stunned to study you?

I’m a trivia nerd and love bar trivia evening, particularly when it’s themed round a TV present or film. I’ve a reasonably stable reminiscence and a focus to element, so if I see or hear one thing a number of instances, it sticks. When I used to be residing in NYC through the peak of Game of Thrones, my sister and I might hit the GoT-themed trivia nights, and we ended up profitable a whole bunch, if not 1000’s, in bar tabs and present playing cards!

What’s the perfect piece of recommendation you’ve ever acquired?

“Lead with your why.” Trends change, opinions come from each route, and alternatives can look tempting, however goal is regular. For me, which means at all times coming again to why I began Fluff & Boots within the first place: cats deserve higher, and so do the individuals who love them.

Sometimes it means selecting the longer highway or passing on fast wins that don’t align together with your values, however constructing one thing with integrity and intention is at all times price it ultimately.

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LIGHTNING ROUND

What’s essentially the most memorable current meal you’ve had in Nashville? Aba for the Hot Honey Halloumi and Mediterranean Mule cocktail. Halloumi is definitely Cypriot, and given the time I spend there, I eat quite a lot of it. Aba has my favourite preparation, which is a bit humorous contemplating it’s such a staple in Cyprus, but I crave it essentially the most in Nashville.

Faith, household, and mates however, what three issues can’t you reside with out? My cats (most likely no shock there!), a robust espresso, and a sizzling bathe. Those three issues can reset virtually something.

What’s in your nightstand? A Knead-it Pad. It’s inside arm’s attain for once I’m woken up in any respect hours by paws and claws demanding consideration. It’s a part of my nightly routine now, together with accepting I don’t truly management the schedule in the home.

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