Your Pet’s Social Media with Andrea Nerep and Chelsea Rose Riggs

Tanya Gill: 00:00:00

Welcome, my friends to the trifecta of joy. Today I am joined by two women who are creators of an app. Now, I gotta tell you, Andrea Nerep is originally from Sweden and she now lives in New York. She partnered with Chelsey Rose Riggs, Chelsey and Andrea. love pets. They love pets. And they know that we also love our pets. And so they created a social app, specifically for pets called PETZBE So I want you to imagine it is Instagram, if you will, for your pet. No humans allowed. And they have it. And it's Oh, it's just it's so much fun. So I have to tell you that I already have put Walter on PETZBE. And Walter has some sniffers. And he has some licks, and you don't have a clue what I'm talking about. But Andre and Chelsea are going to share a little bit about their app and why they created it. Welcome, ladies. I'm so excited to have you here.

Andrea Nerep: 00:01:10

Thank you. We're super excited to be here. Thank you for having us.

Tanya Gill: 00:01:16

So So tell me, what gave you the idea to create an app that is for pets to interact.

Andrea Nerep: 00:01:25

So it really was because of my dog Angus, I adopted him when he was four years old. And I brought him to New York, and he you know, this whole world opened up to me. And, and but something that I realized quite quickly is how I would, you know, give him this personality of things that he would say, or think in regards to the world he interacted with. And I would also imagine, like what kind of profession he would have. And I'm like, this is weird. And then I started to connect with other pet parents. And they did the same like it, I realized that it was a very common activity. So and then I looked it up and it's called enteromorpha Nisman it's like assigning human qualities to like pets or animals and objects. And, and I thought, you know, this would be amazing to connect for the persona of your pets, and only share content of the pets and have them you know, it's like an avatar. So, so that's how I came up with it purely because of my dog. And he's the one wh o inspired. Yay, Angus. Yay.

Tanya Gill: 00:02:42

It's so true. Right? It is so true. We do that exact thing. Like this morning, Peter and I were taking Walter and Maggie, we have sheepadoodles that are from the same litter, but we got Maggie a year later than Wally she needed to be reformed. And so from there, they have quite different personalities, right. And so we do that we give them a voice, we give them an identity, we you know, like Walter's purpose in life is is to spread joy. Right. And, you know, like I've, the cool thing is that I've done previous podcasts with animal whispers. And I've also done a previous podcast about pandemic pets. Because a lot of us also got pets during the pandemic, right. And so And the interesting thing is that, and this is why it was really important to have you on on the podcast, ladies is because we have this, I really believe that the reason we love our pets so much is that they give us an opportunity to see the world differently. To see the world with more joy with more light, with more noticing the small things.

Andrea Nerep: 00:03:58

What do you think? I mean, I 100% agree with you. It's it's also like, they give us almost a reality check. And they break down barriers between people where nothing else matters, except from the love for our pets. So they're amazing in so many ways, but it's like you've said that the way that they interact with the world and you kind of starting to make it you know, they have a more meaningful way and they don't have egos, which is the best thing about them. Like humans sometimes can be so occupied with human like egos or the way they present themselves or judging people but the pets day they really give us a reality check.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:04:43

They definitely have you know, make you focus more on being in the moment because they always are. So that's a reminder I think we all need you know, because it's like you can try to practice meditating and all that stuff is great, but really, I think that pets do it in A much more organic way that can help people who might struggle with being in the moment or even just meditation or anything, do that kind of meditative act of like, being in the mind of an animal, you know, more than one time a day, which I think is really good for our mental health.

Tanya Gill: 00:05:17

And my back, I love that. And, you know, ladies, that's such an important piece of it, right? Like, a lot of people have pets for mental health. We also know that there are service pets out there. And, and the truth is, is that because they don't have that ego, like you said, they show up with such love. They you know, I have this I have an acronym that is I call it help. And it's honor, empathy, love and presence. And really, that is how our pets show up for us. Right? Yeah, I love that. Right? Like, you know, you walk through the door and your pet is generally pretty excited to see you now. I'm biased. I have a dog. Right. But you but the app is not exclusive to dogs. I want to clarify that because I follow a turtle. Actually, that's not true. Walter, wait helped me out while Walter sniffs a turtle. Right? Because sniff is following. That's, so cool.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:06:27

We have all types. We've got hedgehogs, and you know, horses and snakes and all types of animals on pets be all types of pets.

Tanya Gill: 00:06:39

Okay, now, what people also need to understand is that this app is not only free PETZBEis not only a free app, but it has a pretty massive community. Right, like, and it speaks to the power of pets. So I'm going to share this with you guys. This is so wild. So we have a lot of pets in our life. i We have sheepadoodles Our daughter has a pug named Peggy. And our son has a Pomeranian named Bowie. And so for fun, Sophie decided to start a Twitter account for Peggy. And within a few days she had with she had over 700 followers.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:07:27

So cool. Wow. Right.

Tanya Gill: 00:07:29

So it speaks to how much people love their pets and how much people connect to one another through pets. So I love that you guys have this app. And okay, just how many furry feathered scaled slithery, and diverse, lovable pets? have you guys gotten this community? Well, we almost have 800,000 in our community. And, you know, majority of them are you know, signups. But we also allow pet enthusiasts to, you know, view content and things. They might not have a pet yet, but they want one or they just love to explore photos. So they can also view content if they download the app. Oh, I didn't realize that. That's cool. So so you can be you can have the persona of your pet within the app. Or you can be someone who's an enthusiast and just loves pets. Yeah, exactly. Actually, that would be a great way if someone was considering getting a pet to kind of the lives of different have different breeds, for example. Yeah, for sure. Right. That's a that is so cool. Now that there's another element to pets B that I thought was really cool, which is vets be talking about? Can you guys share me share with us a little bit about that? Because I think it's really interesting.

Andrea Nerep: 00:08:55

Yeah, so if you go to the far right on the app, there's a discussion board. And on the top there, there's a section called Bad spay, which allows you to ask questions to veterinarians. You can also upload a photo if there's something you want to show about your pet. And you receive an answer within 24 hours. It's not for emergency yet, but it will be but it's like it guides you to take information maybe if you go to the vet or you know, they are amazing. They give you a lot of lot of information. It's currently you know, there will always be a free version of everything and pet spayed but soon we'll also add a premium version of expat where you can you know, have video calls or something to get consultation.

Tanya Gill: 00:09:44

Oh, that's fantastic. That is really fantastic. The other thing that I love, like there's so many things, this app is so cool. And you know I the like, again, this is about raising our vibration This is about being in the moon Woman, this is about that space of like, appreciating our lives. And I think that our pets allow us to appreciate our lives differently. And so, you know, when I was going through the app, I was like, how did you guys decide that this was something that the world needed? And like, you know, like, and then how did you to end up teaming up on the project.

Andrea Nerep: 00:10:26

So, I, for me, and also that this is for Chelsea to like, all those traditional social media, it can also sometimes be toxic, and we are constantly exposed to, you know, people presenting themselves, like in a better manner, or like false matter sometimes, or it's a lot of fighting sometimes about politics. And, you know, we wanted a space in which people can connect over one thing, which is the love for our pets, and nothing else. So there's no politics, there's nothing, it's just that and that really allows people to be loving and supportive of each other, regardless of their, you know, political or social standing or anything. It's just that. And I think that's very beautiful, because people can, you know, say that they love each other every day, or give each other compliments, because it's about the persona, their pet and nothing else.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:11:26

For sure. Yeah. And then we connected because I always, you know, I worked in the pet industry for a while and making content for, you know, pet different pet products that I believed in. And I would always kind of Search the app store. And I found PETZBE. And, you know, then I had seen some posts, I like, Googled it, and I saw some posts, like Andrea was looking for somebody to do, you know, some type of social media. And I was like, Oh, great. And I emailed her. Luckily, I make this joke a lot. But Andrea is the only person and answers cold emails.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:12:01

So she, yeah, so she wrote back, and she was like, oh, yeah, like, I'd love to chat. And then we just started talking. And so it acted began remotely, but then, you know, I went to New York, to visit and then, you know, she was just offered a full time position. And then we just kind of continued to build it. And, you know, we're very community based first. So it's what the community wants. And we're very protective of that. And, you know, we do our best to keep it safe and cute and positive. And, you know, fun, because that's the point of it, it's, it's really supposed to be one of the only spaces that on social media doesn't have the double edged sword because it can be social media can be a beautiful thing. Remote, you know, media, digital media, like we're meeting this ways, and this is a very positive, beautiful experience, but it's just a lot of times that can become convoluted, and, like, not the purpose of everything. So, you know, it's this is a way to kind of protect it when it's just based on animals.

Tanya Gill: 00:13:10

I so appreciate the way that you guys frame that it is a positive environment where all of that other human crap. Yeah. Like really like, the crap that creates divisive pneus. Right? You know, and, and it, this is a place where it's like a safe place where you can just go for the joy of having a pet and, and then get a creative opportunity, because that's the other piece of it, right? Like one of the things that I talk about in the trifecta of joy is raising your vibration. Right? So the trifecta is awareness, befriending your inner critic and raising your vibration. Okay, so first of all, let's talk about pets and be fretting their inner critic, like a lot of animals, like you said, like, they are free of ego. Some of them I have one that came with some trauma. And so you know, they need some special supports and those kinds of things. But you know, like, they really do live in the moment. And so that raising your vibration part is like letting go of all of the divisions of the world around you and going like, just this is the joy this is the safe place to go and connect and have fun.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:14:35

Yeah, for sure. And honestly, a lot of that trauma usually is human imposed. If that's where it just you know, if they were left to their own devices of like love and Jenna from like puppy hood, you really, a lot of that stuff can be curbed for them just naturally which that's why if you think about living as your pets do, or animals do a lot more it's very, it's a very healthy mental space. In a lot of ways because of being in that present moment and vibration.

Tanya Gill: 00:15:04

Absolutely, absolutely. I love that. And okay, so I have to say the other thing about the app though, I'm just going to open the app again. Because one of the other things is so first of all, like you can, for people who watch this on video, when we put it on video, like you can, you can find like, all kinds of new people that new new pups are in my world, that's pups, but new pets, that you can be friends with. And then there are categories like how I met my human, and sorry, not sorry, like so for example, we refer to flip flops at our house as flip flops, because our dogs eat the flip flops. So I was like, oh, yeah, sorry, not sorry, right. And you know, and then there's like, party party, pets, toys, and play time snack attack. Like, it's just a fun way to be creative. And one of the things I talk about in raising your vibration is creativity. And this is a really cool way to be creative and connect with your pet and connect with community to

Andrea Nerep: 00:16:08

Yeah, to be able to be creative is almost a fundamental in like for humans, like we do the, the tools to be creative, but we don't always have them. And we might complicate it thinking it has to be perfect. So we cannot forget the enjoyment of being creative. And we focus only on that there has to be a goal a tied to it. But pets B allows you to be creative very easily, because it's your pet. It's silly, it doesn't require perfection. It's just about, you know, connecting and like having fun. And I think that is very important for humans to explore on a daily basis.

Tanya Gill: 00:16:50

I totally, completely agree with you. It is and it's a it's a fun way to explore and be creative. And again, we we do we would say the word again, Andrea, that means to give like a to its personifying, but it's more than personifying your plant or personifying your pet.

Andrea Nerep: 00:17:10

It's very difficult for me to pronounce, but I'm gonna try it. And for morphin Hussman think I got it, and throw anthropomorphism. That's where we've been working on it.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:17:26

anthropomorphism, I believe that's how you say it. It's not an easy one.

Tanya Gill: 00:17:31

But but but you know, at the end of the day, so many of us and this is I think the point that we need to make is that so many of us do it. Right. Like, wildly and Maggie, Peggy and Bowie. They all have voices, right? They all have their unique personalities. Right. Now, I have to ask, though, you and Andrea, you said that you You're that Oh, I his Angus. His name that I had for a second. Angus has a profession. What is anguses job?

Andrea Nerep: 00:18:02

Well, he's the CEO. Well, PETZBE. So I'm the co CEO, but he's like a major CEO. So

Tanya Gill: 00:18:13

that's awesome. And Chelsea, you have pets too?

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:18:16

Yes, I have quite a bunch. I've got six cats and four dogs. And then I've got two regular sized horses and two mini horses. So quite the little group, but they definitely all have voices. So you know, me and my husband do constant voices for them, probably to a point that other people would be like, This is weird. And I'm like, It's actually my job. So you know, so like, we have one of my dogs, Penelope. She's on pecky you can find her but she also has a huge Tiktok for its Pinelli watches Telly because she watches television. She has a very developed voice. And, you know, she's hilarious and very expressive and a wild animal for sure. But, you know, all of each of our animals have their different voices their different, you know, desires wants needs, like it's the horses have. They're a whole different one because they're flight animals. They're not, you know, predator types, even though not that are like rotund kittens are predators. But yeah, so for us, for me, that's a huge part of my job. And that was something I already was kind of doing on Instagram and stuff before I had connected with Andrea. So when I saw that you could do it on pets B, and it was just this insulated environment. I was like, Oh, this is perfect. This is what already I love to do and everything about it. It's stuff that we've done in children's books. It's such like in this way. It's a way to express our ourselves and be creative that doesn't have as much pressure on it like I do it professionally, which is funny, but it's even still the like, it's just still lacks pressure because it's just like, fun, you know? So yeah,

Tanya Gill: 00:20:18

absolutely, absolutely. And that's the point of it. Right? The point of it is for it to be something that is fun and nurturing to ourselves. And enjoyable, right? It's not and for you, I guess it is also your job, but it's really like, I mean, what a fun job Chelsea's for sure. Yeah. A lot of fun. Okay, so now I have to ask a question, because I heard this quote a while ago. And the quote was, hats. Sorry, plants are the new pets. Hats are the new children. Children are the new Porsches.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:20:54

Yeah, that's that's honestly, probably true. I literally, I'm eight months pregnant right now, which, congratulations, and thank you. But yeah, so I, you know, give birth on the 23rd. But already, I'm like, Oh, wow, this is gonna be leveling up to that poor status. But horses are kind of close. They're, they're new. They're a different breed of pet for for that reason. But yeah, I think for millennials, you know, a lot of us are having kids later, I'm 32. You know, my mom had me when she was 23, which was younger than she had my little sister 10 years later. But I think for a lot of millennials, you know, we just had our, like, our 20s, or longer. I'm one of the first people in my group of friends having kids already, but all of them have pets, except for a couple, and we're working on them. So we gotta get them with animals. I'm like, alright, you need it. So, yeah, I would say that's definitely true.

Tanya Gill: 00:22:01

Well, and I think, yeah, I think there's two pieces to that that exactly. Like you said, a lot of millennials are waiting to have careers or are waiting longer to start families, if they choose to start families. I also think that there are a lot of millennials who are choosing not to have families, and instead are choosing to have pets. Yeah, for sure. Right. And I think that that's also becoming more common, partly because the narrative of the role of women in patriarchal society, we could get into all of that has changed so much from generation to generation over the last over the last 100 years, really.

Andrea Nerep: 00:22:43

I'm one of those who wants no human babies, but only.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:22:49

Yeah, and I have several friends that are like, we are not having kids, but they have, you know, three dogs or a couple of cats, and they're, you know, get the best of the best. And they're always asking me about what pet products like they should get for them. And to me, I mean, I, I believe that our pets are our family, obviously, you know, minor art, I've grown up with animals my entire life, my life feels empty without them. And I would never even raise a kid without animals personally. Because I think they teach you so much. They're so important to life. Like, I'm so grateful that my mom was such a huge animal lover, and that was instilled in me from like birth, because it's just a vital part of being human in my perspective. So yeah,

Tanya Gill: 00:23:40

I think animals really do teach us a lot about empathy. And, you know, like, if I go back to that, that acronym like, honor, empathy, love and presence, like, I think animals teach us that so much. And, and yes, that that tells you that your mom instilled that in you and like that, that you see. And so many of us do see animals as being part of our family, like they are our family. We, when we lose them, we grieve like that. We are losing family members. And, and you know, and I think to like, Andrea, I respect that you've decided that you're in your life, you know, it is going to be pet children only, right? Because that is the choice that works for you. Right, and, and so and I and what I love, and this is why I wanted to have you here is that I think that the world sometimes doesn't get I think often in how do I say this? I think we often forget what an important role our pets play in our lives. And we also get so busy with our lives that we don't allow ourselves to see the world through their eyes and enjoy that peace and that calm and that curiosity. To the end, that unabashed love of like all things new and wild and crazy, you know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:25:10

I mean, it's so true. It's just, they're one of the biggest things is like I'm, you know, an ambitious person. And I think it can be easy to fall into, like productivity and getting things done and all of these things, and to me, animals are a very, you know, tactile in person thing to remove you from that sort of hustle culture that can be very intensely instilled. And just productivity culture, which of course, I love to get things done. And, you know, we all do. Yeah, we love to be ambitious and everything, but I think they're very physical representation for me of like, of keeping healthy boundaries with that, because they don't care about work. Like that's why I make jokes that they all have careers, because, you know, that's kind of parodying us because we all have these careers, which of course, are important, serious, but at the end of the day, like, they're not really, they're not our humanity, at the end, they are in some parts of our passion and everything, but really, they remind you of what's actually important in a very physical way. So with pets B, then you get a creative way of doing that, as well as just like a fun little outlet in a digital space as well. And that's why I think kids love pets because they don't really you know, a lot of the younger generation don't love like traditional social medias like Facebook and Instagram are desperate in Tik Tok are desperate to get kids on there. But like, I believe there will be a trend away. Children won't. They don't, they don't really, they're like, cool. I grew up with viral video, like, that's not engaging enough for me, like I need an experience. I need creativity, I need all of this stuff. So yeah.

Tanya Gill: 00:27:01

And that you provide kind of a safe platform for that that is that is centered centered around animals is, you know, a common as that common thread and connection, I think is really cool. Really cool. Now, one of the other things I want to make sure that we talk about before we end this amazing conversation is that you guys also raise money for charities. So like, tell, tell us a little bit about that.

Andrea Nerep: 00:27:30

Well, so every third Sunday of the month, we have an in app campaign called Lenda paw. And for each photo that is shared this day with the hashtag, Linda paw, had to donate $1 to an animal rescue are a cost. And you know, we've donated almost $200,000 to various larger or smaller animal organizations. And what's very cute about this is that our users get so excited, like several days in advance for this campaign, and they're like, I'm fluffing up my pass for Lenda QA, or like cleaning them or something. And you know, they get really, really excited for it to start and I think it's an amazing way for them to engage in something and be able to be supportive of animals and in this social way and digital way.

Tanya Gill: 00:28:26

And it's as you say, it's I'm gonna be so cheesy right now, but it's positive, right? Like it is. I know I'm so cheesy

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:28:35

We love pet prns. That's the that's, that's the thing that I do tons of pet poems. Yeah. Does they're not cheesy. It's like I said, that's, that's my job. So when people are like, Oh, that's cheesy or I'm like, alright, you don't have to have fun with us. My

Andrea Nerep: 00:28:51

My phone has already like when I type something in it already recognizes word. And one of them her tacular or how to describe like something for a cat post. And I'm like starting writing to you. Pu and like per tacular comes up as I us this word. Just in caps. It's like

Tanya Gill: 00:29:17

so fantastic that you like you've used it so much that it's become a common word in it's an autofill word. Oh my gosh, that is so amazing. That is so amazing. Okay, so when people listen to our podcast, they are going to want to go to PETZBE and so they can look up the app and the app is is pink and blue right?

Andrea Nerep: 00:29:43

Yeah. Is it purple turquoise with a little thing get on it on the app.

Tanya Gill: 00:29:50

It's turquoise with the little paws on it. There it is there. And when you get in there you can set up a profile for your pet That's and and then you can start posting and and sharing the world through your pets eyes. Because remember, no humans allowed. Right? No humans allowed. Chelsea Andrea, thank you so, so much for being here today. Now, if you had a final piece of advice to our listeners who are pet owners, what would you say to them as like, as an owner as a human being? What would you say to them to live their best life

Andrea Nerep: 00:30:38

as a pet owner, I think really, I mean, it's giving, like, on a daily basis, establishing this emotional connection with your pet, and really try to embrace the simplicity of the love between them and really, really understand and appreciate what that is.

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:31:03

Oh, yeah, love that. Chelsea. Just take, you know, the moments to engage with them. And when they're being, as I call it, small smo l but you know, you have to, it's just have fun with them. And you know, go outside with them. Even if it's a little rainy, or something or whatever you don't feel like moving around, like, it'll always feel good to go do something with your pet or engage with them in some way. And it'll always be a boost of serotonin or dopamine or whatever you're needing in that moment. And, you know, turn to them for that therapy. So you know that that's, that's what they love, and they love engaging in that way with you. And it's always going to make you feel better.

Tanya Gill: 00:31:48

You guys are so wonderful, that is so beautiful. And thank you for that. Because I we personally take Walter and Maggie, for walks in the coolies, which are grassy hills along the river every morning. And I really do revel in not only getting out and moving my body, but also the experience with them, watching them run up and down the hills and chase each other and discover the wildflowers and, and you know, meet other friends dogs along the way. And then of course, the other pieces that when we're in those social communities, as owners, we also have more interaction with one another. Yes, which is also really beautiful, right? It's an opening for human contact to

Andrea Nerep: 00:32:36

that interaction can be life changing for someone who is maybe feeling very low or going through some kind of depression, because sometimes to kind of pull you out of that all that's needed is like a word of encouragement or smile, or something. If you're isolated if you go out there and you feel that the world is kinder than you might expect and you're likely to feel better. Absolutely. So the moral of the story is if you have a pet or not, feel free to go to a pet park.

Tanya Gill: 00:33:12

And you know, and just connect with some pets if you can, because it feels so good. And you're likely to connect with more humans to Yes,

Chelsea Rose Riggs: 00:33:20

exactly.