We were lucky to catch up with Jo Anna Kloster recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jo Anna , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m excited to share that my debut coming-of-age novel LILY UNLEASHED and the mission behind this story is going smashingly. This novel was inspired by the love of my puppy mill survivor, Cagney. He was rescued by a champion for underdogs, Mary Palmer, president of North Central Maltese Rescue in Racine. After eight months of living locked in a cage, this tiny dog had suffered great emotional trauma, akin to human PTSD, and came with multiple behavior issues. LILY UNLEASHED is the story of a young girl, inspired by the love of a puppy mill survivor, to speak up for him, and all the other dogs still locked in cages. Themes of friendship, bullying, and loss are explored.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Biographical info:

To coin a phrase: I am a late bloomer. After dabbling in assorted jobs post-college, for almost a decade, I finally knew what I wanted to do. Work with kids. So I entered a teacher certification program ten years after graduation, worked in elementary ed. for another twenty-five years, and the rest is history…so I thought.

Let me explain. My life was extremely rich and busy – as a K-6 educator in Green Bay, WI. Using powerful books with transformative messages, I supervised service learning projects. My students got to make a difference in the lives of local nursing home residents as pen pals and visitors. Through Heifer International, my students learned about life in rural economically challenged communities and how the gift of an indigenous animal could lift a family from poverty. They raised money by selling Christmas ornaments at our school’s annual holiday concert to purchase “a gift that keeps on giving.”

Then, in 2008, my worldview was forever changed. My husband and I adopted a nine-pound snow-white rescue dog. Cagney, a failed breeder male, was saved at the Thorpe, WI dog auction, by amazing Mary Palmer, president of the Northcentral Maltese Rescue. She’s rescued thousands of dogs with her network of foster families that rehab and ready these dogs for forever homes.

Cagney was truly traumatized from living life in a cage 24/7. He didn’t know how to be a dog. He suffered from anxiety and low confidence. He was extremely territorial and protective of me and his “property.” He became my shadow dog which is common with puppy mill survivors. With guidance from a behaviorist, I worked diligently to acclimate Cagney to life outside a locked cage. But progress was slow. His separation anxiety was severe.

In class, during our writer’s workshop, I modeled the process with stories about life with Cagney. My students were shocked at what they learned. They couldn’t understand the treatment that dogs at puppy mills endured. Living in stacked cages. Never running or playing outside the cage. Getting mangled feet from walking on wire flooring. Living in the filth from pooing and peeing on top of the dogs in the cages below.

My students asked many questions trying to understand how dogs could be treated so cruelly. This was totally opposite from how they treated their family dogs. I scoured libraries, bookstores, and the internet for books to help them understand this treatment. None came up. This was a dilemma.

Since childhood, I was always an avid reader. But I never saw myself as a “writer.” Until now. Now I had something important to share – why you should never purchase a dog from a pet store or online as this feeds the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline. I was about to use my undergrad communications degree for something big.

What sets me apart?

My book is extremely personal and inspired by love. Throughout my life, I’ve had many animals for whom I’ve cared deeply, and who loved me. But Cagney was a different animal. Excuse the pun. It’s accurate to say, I have never been so loved by another living soul. And my husband understands this. Cagney’s devotion and loyalty inspired me to do something to honor him and the thousands of innocent dogs locked in puppy mills, deprived of the love that all dogs need.

It’s a known fact that dogs have been companions to humans for over 30,000 years of recorded history. Research clearly shows that dogs evolved from wolves (that don’t need or seek human companionship) into dogs whose souls are crushed when deprived of human bonding. Dr. Clive Wynn discusses this evidence in his amazing book: Dog Is Love. So does Dr. Franklin McMillan, an international animal behaviorist who’s conducted research on dogs that have endured puppy mill captivity.

My book LILY UNLEASHED and the accompanying Empty Cages campaign took ten years of persistence and research to come to fruition. This project has been a mission dedicated to eradicating cruel puppy mills that create emotionally dysfunctional, frequently medically and physically sick dogs sold to unsuspecting people who can’t handle them. And scores of these designer dogs are then surrendered to shelters leading to shelter overcrowding and the demise of far too many innocent dogs.

Its goal is simple: help the public understand why they should always go to local shelters and rescues or reputable breeders who don’t put profit over the welfare of the dogs they breed.

Problem(s) I solve:

Through education, I share how the public can help end the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline and save thousands of dogs from euthanasia. Now that my book was on the cusp of publication, I needed to put my money where my mouth was regarding the book’s mission. Six months prior to publication, I entered the world of animal welfare advocacy by manning an educational table at my local farmer’s market thanks to Mindi Callison and her organization Bailing Out Benji.

Bailing Out Benji (B.O.B), a fantastic nonprofit, was founded by Mindi Callison after she learned about the horrendous conditions from where Benji, her pet store puppy, came. Mindi started protesting in front of her local pet store that sold puppies. Her goal: educate the public out of concern for the dogs forced to endure puppy mill conditions and for unsuspecting families who had no idea of the trauma mother breeder dogs are forced to endure as they pump out litter after litter. And it’s through Mini Callison and B.O.B that I got connected with the work of the Humane Society of the United States and specifically, the work of John Goodwin.

The fly in the ointment of this scenario was a legal one. Because of its nonprofit status, I could not sell my book when manning a Bailing Out Benji table. I needed to have my own education table. Not willing to give up my advocacy work for puppy mill dogs, I branded my campaign and created my LLC: Empty Cages Press. My goal? To share my book LILY UNLEASHED and advocate how and why to end puppy mills at public events along with the message “Adopt, don’t shop” until every puppy mill cage is empty. It was different enough from Mindi’s message yet delivered an effective message.

What am I most proud of?

I am proud to be part of the network of incredibly hardworking compassionate organizations working to end the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline in America. Since publication, I have befriended amazing animal welfare advocates offering ideas for getting the word out. Either by word-of-mouth or referral, I have been getting some solid publicity on social media. From podcasts to live interviews, to local TV news coverage and local media coverage, the mission of LILY UNLEASHED is spreading. It’s truly exhilarating that my social media accounts pick up more followers almost daily.

I’m proud of the three endorsements this book received from experts in the field of animal welfare and animal psychology. Dr. Franklin McMillan DVM international expert on animal trauma wrote the afterword after reading my manuscript. John Goodwin, director of the Humane Society of the United States End Puppy Mills campaign also wrote an endorsement of this book after reading it, I hope every junior high in the country will have copies of LILY UNLEASHED in their library. Investigative journalist Rory Kress, who wrote a tour-de-force on the commercial dog breeding industry (Doggie in the Window: How One Dog Leg Me From the Pet Store to the Factory Farm to Uncover the Truth of Where Puppies Really Come From) also recommends LILY UNLEASHED as an informative tale that does the essential job of educating future animal advocates.

And lastly, I’m proud of the positive Amazon reviews LILY UNLEASHED has received. To me, they confirm that this story hit the mark and is making the difference I set out to do. Like a ripple in a stream, this story continues touching more and more lives, sharing its message to visit shelters and rescues for everyone’s next great pet.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I started thinking about social media promotion for my book and mission I had a personal Facebook page. Upon publication, I found a local start-up social media marketing team. They created a new business page on Facebook and Instagram with my branding. I also started reading about branding on various social media blogs. I hired my marketing team on a monthly basis. Within three months I felt I had learned enough to release my marketing team and take over my sites.

YouTube tutorials have become my favorite way to learn how to do something on a platform. I applied what I learned to my Facebook and Instagram pages. Slowly I learned how to create special effects to make my posts more interactive and catchy. I learned to add music, text and to do other techniques like staggering text to come in at different times. Finally, I started studying TikTok posts and learned how to do things on this platform.

It’s amazing how much information on how to build a social media audience is out there. It can be overwhelming, so I found it best to list things I wanted to do and then google the info, and finally practice them on the platform.

I also added a Twitter account and learned how to retweet and how that can build a larger audience. And finally, I talk with other authors about what is working for them and how I might use their strategy. Building an audience, to me, will always be ongoing and a work in progress. Don’t be afraid to try things. You can always delete a post if you’re not happy with it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To me, the most rewarding aspect of being creative is the joy when creating. It’s almost otherworldly. I’ve heard it called being “in the zone.” Time truly melts away and nothing exists but the moment. I’ve read this is the same regardless of what is being created: visual art, music, or writing. Something wonderful happens in your brain. Endorphins flow freely and mood is enhanced. As a writer, I loved losing myself in the story. To sit at the computer, with my little muse on my lap, snuggled against me as I wrote his story, has left an indelible memory I’ll cherish forever.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emptycagespress.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannakloster.emptycagespress/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmptyCagesPress
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-anna-kloster-089b76200/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoKloster1
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Tq7B3wrn54k1yp2bVipzQ