Ashley OBryan was raised in a small Midwest town on tearjerker animal films like Homeward Bound and Beethoven. Surrounded by animals from a young age, her grandmother helped instill a lasting compassion and love for animals within her through frequent rescuing, fostering, and adoption of abandoned cats and dogs. That love of animals has stayed with her well into adulthood.
Once she graduated from college, OBryan began her career as a sales representative in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Documentary Channel. After Participant Media acquired the small TV network, OBryan relocated to New York, where she would learn the ins and outs of running an authentic double-bottom-line business model, an approach in which an organization is valued not just by financial gains but also by the positive impact it has on its culture, society, and the environment. For OBryan, spending time at a socially conscious, double-bottom-line company had a lasting influence on her own business ideals, even after a professional switch-up and time spent living in Budapest and the island country of Cyprus.
While living in Cyprus, OBryan found the inspiration for her next venture. Cyprus has been associated with cats for thousands of years, dating back to the Roman Empire, but now hosts thousands of stray cats that volunteers struggle to keep fed. OBryan began taking in Cypriot stray cats and caring for them, quickly becoming the caretaker of a few cats herself. Her drive to make a difference prompted OBryan to found Fluff & Boots in October 2024, a purpose-driven lifestyle brand that offers elevated, ethically made products for cats.
OBryan implemented a give-back business plan and laid out Fluff & Boots’ mission to support feline welfare from the get-go. She also realized that there was a noticeable gap within the pet industry at large, with a surplus of dog products but a lack of stylish, functional lifestyle goods for cats and their owners.
What’s more, the majority of these products on the market weren’t made in countries where ethical standards for dogs and cats were upheld. OBryan has been able to fill this niche within the industry by focusing on providing products made in Europe through ethical craftsmanship. It’s a move that aligns with consumer sentiment, as a 2024 consumer lifestyle survey from Euromonitor International found that 65% of pet owners are more likely than non-pet owners to pursue “green” activities. The survey also found that 29% of pet owners are buying sustainably produced items. OBryan is working to provide pet owners who want to be more sustainable with ethical choices that don’t sacrifice exceptional quality.
She aims to challenge the status quo of the pet industry’s big-box retailers and leading pet brands, which often fail to offer ethically sourced products. By offering cat products to fill this void, OBryan hopes to inspire other pet-oriented companies to further pursue more equitable balances of purpose and profit.
In her own pursuit of finding an equitable balance, OBryan has also fully integrated giving back and raising awareness around feline well-being into every facet of the fully self-funded Fluff & Boots. Her commitment is evident in everything from the ethical choices made in the brand’s operations to the influencer-independent marketing approach that enables them to more fully support their causes, including Nashville Cat Rescue and Tala Cats.
At the end of the day, OBryan is working to build a community of like-minded cat owners who appreciate and support the driving mission behind Fluff & Boots, supporting stray cats, spreading awareness for feline wellbeing, and advocating for ethical pet product sourcing.
