Inside the fascinating world of being a 'pet influencer' with Colleen Wilson

Heard on Olympic & Bundy - There is something weird and wonderful happening in the world right now, and that is the rise of "animal influencers" on social media.

If you're like me, you might be wondering, "How does this cat have almost 4 million followers on Instagram?" And better yet, "How much is his owner making for doing this?!"

I started doing some digging and came to find out there are management firms that represent Instagram-famous animals.

Colleen Wilson, the founder of animal influencer management firm Pets on Q (and dog mom to @DeafDal), joined me on Olympic & Bundy to talk all about the fascinating and sometimes lucrative world of being a pet influencer.

Colleen manages many Insta-famous animals, probably a few you already follow.

Our conversation covered such topics as:

-Her background and how she started managing famous animals.
-Her experience training animals and booking jobs for her own dog.
-How many followers a pet owner needs to even begin making a little money.
-Some of the companies her clients have worked with, including Home Depot and Nissan.
-The difference between a house trained animal versus an animal trained to work on set.
-Why brands are choosing to work with animals over humans.
-Can brands tell if their influencer is helping to influence purchases of the product?
-Background stories about:
@pompous.albert (138K followers)
@rhea_thenakedbirdie (442K followers)
@venustwofacecat (1.4M followers)
@juniperfoxx (2M followers)
@nala_cat (3.5M followers)
@cobythecat (1.1M followers)
-The calculation that goes into posting (i.e. what time, what day).
-Her tips if you want to make your animal to be the next @Nala_Cat.
-People adopting certain breeds for social media glory.