In this week’s episode of The Whisker Report, Mary, Alex, and Mark sit down with Tricia Montgomery, former animal welfare executive and founder of Moose’s March. After losing her beloved rescue dog, Moose, to cancer, Tricia turned her grief into a mission to raise awareness about pet cancer. Hear how Moose’s March is helping pet owners across the country through education, support, and a strong sense of community.

If you can’t listen, here is the recap!

Tricia: I’m Tricia Montgomery. I have been in the veterinary profession, pet industry, and animal welfare for over 25 years. I first started with the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association as their public education director and their executive director. And that actually started from my story of being very obese and losing weight with my dog. It was all because a beautiful veterinarian really saw me and had a heart-to-heart talk with me per se. So I was with the Chicago VMA as their public education director and their executive director. During that time, I also got to do the PR for the International Kennel Club Show of Chicago as well. That was part of our duties as well.

I left the CVMA in 2008 and I began to start K9 Fit Clubs, which were gyms for people and dogs all across the country. At one point, we had 80 licensed locations and just an incredible time, absolutely incredible time. And I leaned upon my veterinary profession and the people that were part of me within the veterinary profession. I had the good fortune to be on the Today Show numerous times, Good Morning America, Fox News, NPR, BBC. I mean, it was a very incredible time for us. Media was certainly out there.

As I was in the process of selling the company in 2019, I realized that I wanted to be trifecta per se. And so that was the veterinary profession. And I’d been in the pet industry and really crossed over into the health industry. Crossing those two, kind of crossing the streams like Ghostbusters. You can do that though. As opposed to Bill where you can’t cross the streams, you can cross the streams.

And I wanted to go into animal welfare, so I put my name out there and received a number of opportunities. I decided upon Columbus, Georgia. I went where I was needed. Then I became CEO for Ployshe Maine Society. That was right before the pandemic hit. And so that was a very interesting time. Just coming brand new into an organization and working with them through unchartered waters, as I called it. And we did amazing. I’m really so proud that this turned the organization around, turned a struggling veterinary clinic to where they were going to close it until a three-doctor practice. Received more donations than we’ve ever received before. It really turned everything around for them.

And then I realized that I’m better nationally than I am locally. As I always say, I’m better on the outside than I am on the inside because I feel like I can do so much more for people and for organizations. So I continued to work with them. But I stepped down as CEO and then I’ve been consulting. In late May 22, my dog Moose passed away of cancer and it really, it destroyed me. And I think that’s the only word that I can use for that is I shot myself on the floor and I didn’t want to go on. And I’ve never been struck with grief of that magnitude ever before in my life. And I think it was my father had passed away the year before, my dad and my mom passed away, and then Moose passed away. It was like, wow.

And out of my grief, and I always say this, thank you to my beautiful sister Cheryl and the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement. I was able to come to find a way out. And I created Moose’s March out of that grief. And we’re a 501c3 dedicated to the early detection of pet cancer and we go across the country nationwide. We provide early detection tests to veterinary clinics within animal shelter in underserved areas. We also work with universities. We do have limited grants for some of those universities where you can help with pet cancer treatments.

I also have a podcast called The Pet’s Your Family Podcast, Mary, you’ve been a guest on back.

Mary: Yes, that was so fun.

Tricia: I know, we always have fun. I always have fun.

Alex: So Moose’s March is your non-profit, and I was wondering, what kind of PR challenges have you had with Moose’s March as a non-profit? Like, what kind of challenges?

Tricia: Getting through the noise, cutting through the noise, because we first launched as a program in October of 22, and then we became our own 501c3 in 2023. And I actually knew that I, as much as I do PR, I wanted to have somebody who was better than me and could perhaps push the message more than me. So I actually hired Whisker Media and they did just a beautiful job. I think they’re, especially during those days, like Giving Tuesday, there are so many people competing for that dollar and that space. How do you place yourself above that? I think being on point with messaging, being on point with who you are and your purpose, what you’re going for from a standpoint of why am I raising funds? Who am I raising funds for? The beauty about Moose’s March and that I think throughout my life, I’ve had a personal story attached to things, whether canine pig love, that was a story of me losing 130 pounds with my dog. Moose’s March is a very personal story for me with Moose, losing Moose, it gone within two weeks of stage 4 lymphoma. There’s been a personal connection to the audience. But I think to answer your question, it’s cutting through the noise and finding that right message and being on point with that message.

Alex: You’re coming from a PR background, so you’ve done PR for a while, but do you find it hard to do PR for yourself because Moose’s March is so personal and it’s your personal story, so do you find it hard to do PR for your own self or your own story?

Tricia: I do, I do. I am a firm believer that CEOs or founders should not promote themselves. That’s just my opinion because I think that you’re running the organization, you’re wearing many, many hats, and now, hey, I want you to interview me about the days of the PR stories where you could pick up the phone and call somebody and go, hey, I’ve got an idea, come on with a product. Those just don’t happen anymore. I think you’ve got to be very concise in your approach, who you’re talking to, the media, and if at all possible, to be able to hire someone that can do—I don’t want to say the word better than you. That’s not fair, but I do want to say somebody who knows the business and the businesses of media that could place you and you could gain more awareness, so your organization grows stronger and more successful.

Mary: I have a question. I hear so many business owners and rescue leaders tell me, you know what, I can’t hire anybody to do PR or marketing for me. I just don’t know what I’m doing and I need help and some guidance, but I can’t pay you. How did you learn the basics of getting attention for all the different businesses and nonprofits?

Tricia: I don’t know. I think I have a gift that I’m very me and I don’t try to pull any punches about who I am not. I make mistakes and I own those mistakes, and I think just being real with people and saying, hey, I don’t know what I’m doing. I need help and I have made massive mistakes before.