We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caroline Vaught. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caroline below.

Hi Caroline, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

We’ve always been cat lovers and had cats of our own as pets, but Our mission started in Atlanta GA back in 2015. It was fall, and a small tortoiseshell cat appeared on our back porch. She was feral and quite fearful of us, but we began to leave food and water out to care for her. A week or so passed before my husband discovered she had kittens underneath our porch, and the process of trying to figure out how to help them (i.e. get them socialized to people so that we could find homes for them) showed me just how limited animal rescue resources are. Every organization I called for help – from shelters to rescues – told me they were at max capacity and wished me luck. The mama cat had hidden the babies out of our reach, and while we could watch them out playing and nursing during the day, as soon as any one of us stepped outside she would send them all back into hiding. And she wouldn’t let us near enough to touch her either.

After weeks of sitting out in the cold dark before sunrise each morning trying to earn the momma cat’s trust with food, one morning she finished theme I’d given her and made a chirping noise I’d never heard before. Instantly all four kittens popped out from underneath the deck and scrambled across my lap. Tears started streaming down my face – she had obviously told them I was safe – and it was a very powerful experience. In hindsight I would say that moment changed my perspective on many things (including the fact that my then corporate job suddenly seemed to lack any significant meaning.). From that day forward we were able to get all the kittens to the vet for shots, and all were adopted by good friends. We got momma cat spayed too and re-released her to the backyard (as she remained very feral). It was a few more years before Cat & Craft came to be, but this was what got us involved in rescue to begin with, and the moment that set the wheels in motion for C & C for sure.!

Caroline, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

 

We’re what’s commonly known as a “cat cafe”, which is a coffee shop with a side space where we house and care for adoptable cats in a cage free environment while helping them find loving forever homes. Our mission is all about connecting animals in need with families who can benefit from a loving feline companion. And without cages, the cats in our care are more comfortable and confident, which in turn allows their true personality to be more easily visible… which helps match making efforts be even more successful.

We know from our own experience that interacting with animals can be a very healing and comforting experience, and even those who are not able to adopt can still benefit from spending time with the adoptable cats in our care, which not only helps socialize the animals but also offers participants time and space to enjoy furry purrs and cuddles. All the cats in our care come from our partner organization, local non-profit “The Rescue House”. The Rescue House assists various shelters across Southern California – as well as individual pet owners who can no longer care for their pets (due to age, unforeseen financial burdens, a death in the family, etc).

Cats aside, our full service coffee shop caters to everyone  – (regardless of whether or not you like cats). The “Craft” in our name stands for craft coffee, sourced by local Manzanita Roasting Company. Every beverage and food item we serve is hand crafted fresh upon order. We also host monthly paint nights and other special activities for customers to enjoy. And folks who choose not to enter the cat lounge can still enjoy watching cats interact with guests through the giant window wall separating our two spaces.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

 

When my husband and I committed to creating Cat & Craft back in 2017, I didn’t fully realize the scale of obstacles we might encounter along the way. I had previous experience leading the development of new business units for large corporations, but entrepreneurship in the small business realm was a steep learning curve. We pitched our business plan to 24 landlords with 24 different properties across Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside and Vista. And we were told “NO” 23 times in a row. But the 24th – our current location in Vista – recognized the value in our purpose and thankfully gave us a chance.

Our space was an old abandoned dental office, which required a lot of work. We started demolition in May of 2018, completed our buildout in late December of that year, and finally opened to the public on January 12, 2019.

Just one year and 2 months later we faced our first forced shut down due to Covid. I thought I had planned for everything – but a global pandemic was not something I ever expected facing. We were forced to lay off our staff, but we committed to continuing care for the adoptable cats moving through our space, even at our own expense as there was no revenue coming in to cover any overhead or operating costs. We experimented with a live camera feed and selling bottled cold brew coffee and syrups, but at the end of the day we are a business built upon in person connection and interaction.

I share all of this to illustrate there were many times that the easier route would have been to give up and walk away from the business. When people ask me for advice when it comes to starting a new business, I tell them be clear on your mission. Our mission has always been to help alleviate suffering for animals and people alike, and it’s that gut calling that has kept us going. When you are clear on your mission, hard decisions are easier to make. Our 200th adoption took place in February of 2020 before the pandemic hit, and by January 2021 we had reached 800 adoptions. And as of today we’ve seen 1159 cats off to loving forever homes. Where would those cats be if we’d given up? Many wouldn’t be alive today. 

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Oh this is a good one… that things don’t have to fit a certain mold to “work”, let me try to explain what I mean. My business background is corporate, and in the corporate world there is a strict yet unpublished list of rules you are supposed to follow in order to be successful. And these rules have extra layers on top of them depending upon what part of the country you live in. For me, coming from corporate america in the southeast, my approach for developing and opening Cat & Craft was the same approach I had learned from years of corporate work. Stiff, masculine, demanding, high standards and even higher expectations, appearances matter, etc. Now three years in and looking back, I can see how misaligned I was in such respect at the time, and every employee and customer who has come through our space has been a blessed opportunity for me to see the perfection in allowing all people and things – business included – to be what they desire to be. Such has even changed the way I structure our operations – for example on the cat lounge side, there is no “hierarchy” among staff. Everyone is of equal authority and importance, and everyone works together as a team helping our mission – and each other – as needed. While we do have a supervisor on the cafe side, the vibe is still very similar. However we’ve landed where we currently are, it’s working. And that’s a win.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.catandcraftcafe.com
• Instagram: @catandcraftcafe
• Facebook: @catandcraftcafe
• Yelp: Cat & Craft
• Other: Google (lots of great guest photos here): Cat & Craft

Image Credits
All photos taken by me : D