We were lucky to catch up with Cory Gonzales recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cory, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Puddin is a very special dog, a dog whose disabilities haven’t always been accepted with open arms. Puddin’s story starts in a dark place where medical needs are neglected resulting in irreversible damage. this required the vet to remove her eyes due to the pain they were causing her. When adopting Puddin I wanted Puddin to experience nothing but love, security, and comfort. through this journey, I’ve discovered that this goal wasn’t as easy as one might think. Not everyone is as accepting of Puddin’s special needs and can often be misunderstood or mischaracterized. resulting in comments, messages, and even statements made to our faces insulting Puddin’s right to be alive. Believe it or not, I had friends make terrible comments making fun of the fact she had no eyes. I was completely taken aback. some friends even went on to THREATEN me with their friendship and the possibility our living together because they couldn’t “stand to look at her.” these comments really hurt. you never really think adopting a dog is such a controversial decision, but it turned out in my life it was. we continued our mission and began sharing her journey. Thanks to the world those negative voices in my life were luckily drowned out by the thousands of people who saw Puddin for who she truly was and not just for her disabilities. As you can imagine the people who insulted her and made terrible comments QUICKLY changed their tune when they saw what THEY could get out of it. they wanted to reap the “benefits” of “having a famous dog.” reflecting back, my desire to see the best in everyone blinded me. this resulted in huge professional messes. I was still leaning on these friends for input and feedback. thankfully the universe works in mysterious ways and those people are no longer in my life. So I’ve been able to really refocus my energy and almost find my joy back in creating content and items for Puddin’s accounts again. overall I think the biggest thing I learned was just to listen to my gut. I had become a professional at ignoring my gut and these friends made my gut SCREAM but of course, because I knew the best I ignored it, it was an important lesson, and were really glad it was learned so early on.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

So Puddin is a 4-year-old terrier mix who happens to be blind. Getting into the influencer world was by complete accident. my mom actually suggested we start an Instagram for Puddin. I had thought about it but I was unsure if I wanted to add that kind of stress into my life because I was currently in graduate school to become a speech pathologist, so special needs weren’t something that intimidated me. I knew it was more work for sure but it wasn’t the disability itself that worried me but more if I could provide the best home for Puddin. the rest in that regard is history because she just took off from there. people love Puddin. she was a certain energy about her. she also has the best little smile. which in a sense ties us back to the original question which is what do we provide? and to that I say hope. I receive tons of messages from parents of dogs or even cats who’ve lost sight, going to lose it, or are born without it. I hope Puddin brings all those families a little hope that while this is a tragic time, it is going to get better. blind or not a dog can still live a completely full life.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One of the biggest things I hear as a creative from someone who is non-creative is “it’s just posting how hard can it be?” which yes, it’s just a post. but I do want to challenge those individuals to look a little deep at the post. is everything in that photo accidentally placed? is it just a photo or a video? did they use specialized editing software to achieve a more professional effect? are there specialized hashtags or even location marks on these videos or photos? I think the overall takeaway is being creative is not just “posting” I’m sure you might be able to find one or two influencers who that’s what they do, however, I can promise you, behind the scenes there is a whole different story, being an influencer takes a lot of work, time, energy, and (unfortunately) planning.

also in the worst way, you can’t even escape your “job” because your “job” is where people go for fun and to relax. I had gotten so burnt out at one point I didn’t open TikTok for 3 months. so for non-creatives, I do challenge you to give your creative peers a little bit more grace because trust me there is more going into this than just a “post”

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

In my life, I have many different missions I’m working on. specifically for Puddin’s Instagram our goal or mission is just to bring some joy, bring some fun with a little bit of seriousness when need be.

if we are focusing on me personally I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD and my world has been changed because I now have the energy and ability to FOCUS on me and not just Puddin. This freedom has been a blessing because I finally feel free to explore my music.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/mydearpuddin
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mydearpuddin/
• Other: Tik-tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mydearpuddin

Image Credits
N/A