We were lucky to catch up with Judy Moody recently and have shared our conversation below.

Judy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I was the assistant director at the Pickens County Animal Shelter in 2013 and realized quickly we needed extra funds to take the shelter from a high kill to a low kill. My husband is a CPA and set up Partners of Pickens Pets (POPP) to help achieve our goal. We immediately started fundraising and donations became tax deductible. We set up an account / partnership with our local vet Dr Chester here in Jasper. Ga. Through this partnership it allowed us in assisting the community with low cost spay and neuters and other veterinary care.

Judy, 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?

I’ve always had a love for animals which originated from examples set by my mother. I’ve been fostering all my life and it’s more of a calling to help animals. In my fourties’ i studied and became a vet assistant and worked at several vet clinics until I moved yo Jasper and began volunteering at the local animal shelter. That’s when I was hired at the assistant director and my most proud accomplishment was taking the 65% kill rate to 97% save rate. All this was accomplished by establishing POPP and the financial assistance of the community. Also the fact that Animal Medical Clinic helps us with discounted vet services.

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

The commissioner (Rob Jones)who oversaw the shelter was very aggressive with making sure that we knew his point of view on euthanasia. He advised us to keep fires burning and compete with the local BBQ restaurants. After 4 years I was terminated and then I reorganized POPP to help the community so animals didn’t end up at our local shelter

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I couldn’t do what I do for the community without the support of my husband Keith Moody. Not only did he make this nonprofit because he’s a CPA but he’s also an animal lover too. With his love and support POPP has been thriving.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.partnersofpickenspets.org
• Facebook: Partners of Pickens Pets