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If its one thing that can consistently break the internet, its pets. Take Pancho the diva: The 1-year-old English cream mini dachshund started his career early in the fame-hungry world of LA, and is now a celebrity with 148,000 followers on Instagram. We created this personality of this dog that is a diva and a brat who loves the lavish, luxury lifestylebut his poor little parents cant afford it, says his owner, Felix Levine, entrepreneur and host of the popular podcast Unlike Me. He and Serena Kerrigan, founder of the dating game Lets F**ing Date, are seasoned content creators, so when friends joked about giving their new dog an online persona, the idea stuck. We thought maybe a Dear Diary, I hate my parents vibe, Felix recalls. The content quickly evolved into vlogs with AI-powered voice-overs, where Pancho shared his spoiled rants at his parents. And the idea gained momentum: from Central Park to a European summer, Panchos following snowballedgaining 30,000 followers in just two weeks. Brands took notice. Panchos first deal was with Five Below, followed by partnerships with Pet Life Unlimited, Target, Amazon, and even Kiehls. (Yes, the skincare giant now has a dog line). From toys to gourmet snacks and premium grooming, each partnership was endorsed with his signature diva flair. Serena Kerrigan and Pancho [Photo: Courtesy of Felix Levine] The pups collabs don’t scream ‘ads’, and thats precisely why it works. In the last month alone, his posts reached 24 million viewers and drew over 9 million engagements, a rate many of his fellow human influencers would feel a twinge of envy for. With affiliate links, brand partnerships, and his own storefront, Pancho has a mini-media empireand hes only turning one. Levine and Kerrigan declined to disclose exactly how much revenue Pancho has generated, but confirm its in the six figures. The “petfluencer” trend isn’t new. But it’s just as profitable as ever. Charming, and delivers results A study published earlier this year in The Journal of Advertising Research found that pet influencers outperform human influencers, particularly since theyre seen as more sincere and trustworthy than their human counterparts, who are often met with skepticism due to perceived commercial motives. Social media endorsements from petfluencers have been shown to generate stronger consumer responses, including higher engagement and greater willingness to pay. Pancho [Photo: Courtesy of Felix Levine] Lead researcher Dr. Laura Lavertu, a lecturer in marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, echoes this idea: Petfluencers offer distinct advantages compared to human social media influencers. While human influencers often persuade through relatability or aspiration, petfluencers are seen as more genuine. They have no hidden agenda, no baggage, no scandals. The study also noted that as the number of sponsored posts by human influencers rises, their perceived sincerity declinesa phenomenon researchers call influencer fatigue, which in turn makes pets a more credible alternative. (The more fur or legs you have, the more credible you are, apparently.) Some have even become household names: As reported by Forbes, TikTok user @princesshoneybellex, a big-shot Australian cat influencer, earned $74,148 in 2023 alone, surpassing the U.S. average salary. Could your pet create a cash flow? Our four-legged friends offer brands countless opportunities in the pet care market, which is anticipated to reach over $427.75 billion by 2032. And its not just pet-focused companies cashing inlarger brands like Dyson are tapping into the rise of petfluencers, partnering with celebrity pups to extend their reach in a way that resonates directly with pet owners. In today’s oversaturated media landscape, where ads are swarming from every corner, partnering with a celeb pet might be your smartest marketing move. As noted by The Journal of Advertising Research, people follow and engage with petfluencers for the joy and entertainment that they bring, and are, overall, universally loved given their ability to communicate with diverse audiences and transcend cultural differences. When Pancho first came home weighing just a pound and a half, his owners thought they were getting a dog. As it turns out, hes now running his own business, landing brand dealseen managing his own intern to keep up with his demanding schedule.
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E-Commerce
Leaders learn to say things with confidence. You may assume that people will be more prone to listen to you when you speak forcefully and with a sense of belief. Despite your best efforts, though, youre going to say something incorrect every now and again. You might get out ahead of a story only to find out that things were not as they seemed initially. You might just have your facts wrong. Regardless of why you erred, you still have to be willing to admit that you were wrong. Happily, there is an easy way to do this, though you may find it hard to do at first. You have to admit you were wrong. Yup. Thats right. You just have to come out and say it. There is a simple formula for admitting you were wrong. Do it right away Let everyone know as soon as possible after you find out that you said something that was not correct. Dont sit on the error for days. It is best if everyone hears it from you rather than having someone else discover the mistake first and make your admission feel like a reaction. Of course, if someone else does point out that what you said was incorrect, you should verify that they are correct and then immediately thank them for providing the feedback. You might even credit them in your statement After all, you want the people who work for you and with you to own their mistakes. The best way to demonstrate that you value corrections is to issue your own quickly. In addition, by thanking people who pointed out errors, you encourage others to step forward with errors they notice as well. That helps to keep the organization functioning with good knowledge. Use simple declarative sentences There is some embarrassment that can come along with making mistakesparticularly when youre new to leadership. You may think that leaders need to be infallible. As a result, you may not want to put a dent in your reputation by saying that you were wrong. To cover for this embarrassment, you may use tortured sentences to avoid owning the error. You may resort to the passive voice (Mistakes were made . . .) or use lots of qualifiers (When speaking about the upcoming sales meeting, I inadvertently left out . . .) or cast blame elsewhere (Sadly, when I spoke, I was relying on . . .) It turns out that great leaders dont need an air of infallibility, they need to project transparency. You create trust by being honest, not by being right all the time. Simply saying something like, Recently, I told you X. Actually, Y is true, is incredibly effective. And, again, speaking in this way encourages other members of your team to come forward and admit when they have said something wrong. Do a postmortem Of course, just because you admit when youre wrong doesnt mean that it is good to be wrong. Youd like to minimize the number of times that you have to walk back something you said. It is important to figure out why you ended up making a statement that was not true. Perhaps you spoke too quickly without verifying information. Perhaps you relied on sources that did not have the full story. Perhaps you made intuitive leaps that led you astray. If you have trouble figuring out how you might have gone wrong, consider talking to a colleague or mentor about the situation and walking through it with them. You might find that just talking it through helps you to figure out where you went wrong. And their expertise may bring to light problems with your process that led to you saying something wrong. When mentoring some of your direct reports, you might even want to refer to the errors in your own judgment that you discover. That way, you can help the people working for you to make a different set of mistakes rather than having to repeat yours to learn for themselves.
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E-Commerce
We are living in turbulent times and there is no reason to expect that things will become less so in the future. During such moments our emotions become strained and pushed to their limits. Stress increases as emotions are stretched, making it increasingly important that we are able to recognize the effects of it in ourselves as well as others in our environment. [Image: Dexterity Books] Becoming acutely aware of ourselves and others we are interacting with in this type of environment is paramount to building healthy relationships in the workplace and all areas of our lives. In my book, Emotional Intelligence Game Changers, I delve into how to navigate difficult times. Here are four ways emotional intelligence can help you navigate turbulent times. 1. Manage triggers During crisis situations, heightened emotional self-awareness allows us to recognize our triggers. Rather than reacting from our emotions, this allows us to pause, take time out, and respond after we have allowed our emotions to settle down and think things through from a rational perspective. This helps us make reasoned decisions, rather than acting impulsively from our emotions. 2. Sustain relationships Turbulent times can cause relationships to become strained as everyone feels increased pressure. If this is left unchecked, relationships that would normally stay positive could become fractured. To prevent this, we need to become more empathic and actively listen to others. Emotionally intelligent people have learned to use these tools to help overcome misunderstandings, build support networks, and develop a sense of collaboration and community around them. 3. Build coping strategies It is hardly surprising that turbulent times cause our stress levels to elevate to new highs. Emotionally intelligent people have developed coping strategies that help them thrive, even during times of unusually high stress. For example, they are aware of and continually practice asking for help, mindfulness, openness, and strategic vulnerability. Modeling these habits helps others they are involved with build their own coping strategies. 4. Deescalate conflict Conflicts, which are a constant in normal times, will spiral during troubled times, both in intensity and frequency. This requires increased empathy and the ability to listen to and get to know others on a deeper, more personal level. Emotional intelligence allows us to go beyond surface biases and stereotypes as it allows for more curiosity in our interactions with others. Instead of jumping to judgement and conclusions, it allows us to dig deeper to find out what the other person is going through during this time. Instead of reacting, emotional intelligence allows us to ask relevant questions that will help lower defenses and find out more about what motivates and drives others. Being able to form connections at a deeper level allows us to gain a much better understanding of what motivates and drives them. Even though we may not agree with them, this sets up the basis for a much healthier relationship with them.
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E-Commerce
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