How My Instagram Community is Saving My Dog's Life

Community exists on Instagram. As much as anyone who's working in social media professionally, scaling brands and building my own, the constant challenges and patience in a world of instant, to build a community and following over time, is often met with cynicism. I'm guilty of it myself. I don't believe in buying followers but I do believe in collaboration and boosting posts through advertising.

When I joined Instagram it was partly as escapism because of a sick immediate family member situation. It lasted years and we were all drained, functioning but not enjoying much. Enter my sweet French bulldog puppy Elle in April 2010.

Elle brought back laughter and joy into the family. She was always a ham for the camera. Enter Instagram. French Bulldogs were not even a top 20 breed in popularity at the time, now there are five on our block. From the first post of my Frenchie- no hashtags, not great quality but her squishy beautiful face, other Frenchie families found us. They have stayed with us from that first day and over time her account has grown to over 18K followers. The sense of instant unity due has decreased over time both in real life and online as they increased in popularity.

I've detailed several times how frustrating it has been to see Instagram play favorites and hold out carrots and then "kill" a post. Any social media professional or creator will tell you the same. The features and sense of community have changed as new apps TikTok have risen and Instagram tries to maintain eyeballs. (It only took them six years to bring back the chronological timeline last week because they are busy in that dance of competition, while they ignored the community asks.) Isn't that what I enjoy so much about digital space? The endless roadway to keep recreating and finding new ways to communicate and enjoy new POVs?

I've worked cross platforms since the beginning of my career at Disney Channel. I enjoy getting into a new platform, finding the holes, learning how to use all the tools and best practices and experimenting with tone. This helps me test tools for brands who hire me. Recently during an interview I was stopped in the middle of an answer. The very impressive head of a successful independent brand said "I'm going to cut to the chase. I don't hire people with influencer accounts." I explained how I use mine to learn how to best use platforms and build something from nothing.

As I asked on a panel in 2016 in London, "why would you hire someone who didn't know how to create an account for a brand other than themselves from scratch to at least 1000 followers on the platform of their choice?" They don't have to be an expert in all of them because that would be a full time job to maintain, but many social media role descriptions expect an expert level of knowledge on all platforms, that doesn't mean scaling one of your own on each of them, it does mean knowing how to master those tools and what a platform is capable of doing to enhance your brand strategy.

Instead of hiring me for a long term contract as promised instead during the aforementioned meeting, the company implemented my advice during the interview and hired someone with no experience and less than 300 followers on her one social account. The role was for someone with "at least" ten years of experience who "knows how to behave in an office environment." In real life, people so often disappoint. I

So, where am I going with this? My darling Frenchie Elle is now 12. She started having issues controlling the left side of her body at few weeks ago. After weeks of trying things, the neurosurgeon we got in to see at Animal Medical Center told me she thought it was a brain tumor. I thought it was a spine issue. She put her on a course of medication and crate rest (dog house arrest especially for a girl who likes to walk 1-2 miles daily.) While I saw a glimmer of hope and improvement in her behavior, it did not change the neurological test results and Elle was taken for an MRI.

She came out of it needing oxygen. This is a stressful moment for any Frenchie parent because they have breathing issues and several friends' Frenchie have passed from it. (*Famously Chloe The Frenchie was incorrectly oxygenated at Blue Pearl Animal Hospital and died. Her mother Lonnie is the head of The Dog Agency and got her law degree from Harvard and it hit the community hard.)

A sleepless night and learning that Elle had a stroke (my Dad suffered from them for years) was very triggering. The bill was staggering. After many friends requested, I couldn't deny it was time to put up a GoFundMe. I had resisted because I didn't want to post anything before I knew what it was and the fiscal needs - yes, even after watching Inventing Anna, asking for funds this way was not the easiest task. It is part of the reason I initially pointed Elle's followers to a drop shipping website if they wanted to support us. It doesn't leave a decent margin, but it was something and it kept me creating.

Community. I didn't expect it to show up for me. It doesn't matter how much I've done over the years for others, I didn't help others thinking I would one day need it myself. People started to donate within minutes of my post about it. Surprised at my own reaction shows how little I expected from that beloved community, one that has changed a lot over the years. It has been silent from many people over the last few years, which have taken a toll on everyone. It did feel it was the responsibility to keep posting joyous content to lift people up - messages through the years especially from nurses and sick patients who don't comment but check in with Elle on a regular basis stuck with me, no matter what challenges I was facing. Put another way "with great platform reach, comes great responsibility."

While some continue to be high flyers, living it up in tropical remote work locations, 3x their homes in sales and climbing that corporate ladder, many people I know have changed cities, changed jobs, lifestyles, families, genders and sexual orientations. Community changes. It's a living thing. Priorities shifted. That is life.

My faith in my community has been renewed during the past two days. A man followed my dog's account yesterday and DM'd a photo introducing his dog from Mexico City, with a message that she had donated her toy money to Elle this month. Another mom told me how my transparency with not jumping to conclusions and taking the steps to get the right diagnosis had touched her heart because her daughter's 4-year-old Frenchie was given the wrong treatment. He declined in a matter of days and what was a "everything is fine" diagnosis turned into him having a few days left to live and dying of cancer.

Building community over time is powerful. It is essential. It has changed my life and saved my French bulldog's so she can get the proper care. Building a community for a brand is how people emotionally connect and become life long clients. It's why the word authentic is overused, yet needed. Fortunately for me, a community I have cared about for years showed their care for us back and that has made all the difference.

You can see the GoFundMe here and enjoy Elle's Instagram here. In need of a custom or white label or a gift, head to my brand, Whiskey & Woof.