Julia Grosz earned the nickname “Cat Hustler” due to her ability to match cats and adopters through strategic copywriting and social media use. So it was only natural that when she developed her skills into a teachable set of cat marketing practices, she would name her organization Cat Hustler. The nonprofit specializes in creative marketing for shelter cats and also hosts community-building events like The Acatemy, a cat conference “for rescuers, by rescuers.” The next Acatemy will be held January 17–19, 2020 in the Washington DC area, and the cost is $180 for whole weekend. (Be sure to listen to the whole podcast to get a special 15% off discount code for CCP listeners!) The Acatemy started as Julia’s way of trying to make sense of loss after the death of a beloved cat, and it has since grown into a way to try to bring more rescuers together to get face time with each other, and to bring awareness about TNR to different kinds of cat rescuers. The Acatemy, Julia tells Stacy, is her way of doing for others what she wishes had been done for her. In this episode, Stacy and Julia also discuss some great marketing tips for cats, including what Julia calls the “scratch and dent” specials. She tells Stacy that the most important thing is to keep it light. “You have to make[people] smile,” she says, “or there’s no impact to speak of.” To learn more about Julia’s organization, visit the Cat Hustler webpage. To learn more about The Acatemy, and to purchase your tickets, visit the Acatemy website.