We recently connected with Liz Harvey and have shared our conversation below.

Liz, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Annwn Animal Sanctuary is a nonprofit corporation founded in 2021 by husband and wife team, James and Grace Danks. Seeing the need for an energetic, distinct, and exotic pet-centered nonprofit in the area, they formed our rescue organization to provide needed solutions for the welfare of unlikely pets. There are many organizations for popular domestic pets like dogs and cats, but what about small, scaly, prickly, or aquatic pets?

Loving exotic pets, they saw first-hand how many pet stores or websites give incorrect and outdated care information on small and exotic pets. People who buy these pets find that they have limited resources when they discover they have a much more challenging task than they anticipated. They realized our community (and the world) needs nonprofits to take in these animals when they can’t be cared for, rehabilitate them when needed, properly educate families, and find them a home. We hope families around the globe will follow our mission and join us in learning the ever-evolving care needs (as we strengthen our knowledge) of these animals that didn’t choose to be in captivity.

Annwn Animal Sanctuary knows that our strength lies not only in the words we say, but most importantly in the actions we take. In our rescue work, we realized we could share our experience with the community in order to improve the lives of animals. This is why they founded Annwn Animal Sanctuary.

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

My name is Liz and I’m the Sanctuary Manager for Annwn Animal Sanctuary. I grew up with a large family that was very nurturing and generous by nature. My mom instilled in me a deep love and connection to animals and nature through her actions of selflessly caring for others and for animals – the helpless ones. I’ve always wanted a career with animals but felt that I didn’t have the necessary skills to get into a medical field, which I figured were all animal-related jobs. After graduating with a degree in Criminal Justice, I found Annwn Animal Sanctuary and the Executive Directors – Grace and James Danks. In addition to setting up their nonprofit, they had already rescued and rehabilitated sick and injured animals, and placed them in suitable homes. I was thrilled and started helping right away!

Annwn Animal Sanctuary started by rescuing and rehoming animals, but it blossomed into so much more. The goal was always to help animals and people alike, so educational services came into play. We’ve done children’s classes on-site with monthly curriculums, field trips, in-classroom education at schools, community event outreach and fundraisers, and have worked alongside other nonprofits. All while doing this, we continued to provide critical care to small and exotic animals in need, while being a support system to new owners who adopt from us. We build relationships within our community in the hopes our new friends will see the need for change in how pets are bred and sold. The goal is to rise above and beyond the norm and touch the lives of all living creatures in a positive way.

I am most proud of the dedication and compassion I’ve witnessed from the Directors, volunteers, and from our supporters. It’s extremely rewarding to witness how selfless people can be when society can have a lot of negativity. Everyone involved with this organization deeply cares about the animals we work with and our mission. We put more than expected of our own time and money into this organization. There are late nights, early mornings, no days off, and many volunteers converging to lend a helping hand. The positivity, dedication, and ability to keep cool under pressure from our Directors, volunteers, and supporters inspire me every day!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media can be daunting and overwhelming at first – every social media platform has its own niche and its own type of user. Take the time to learn one or two systems you feel most comfortable with. Explore its different features, what current trends are on the platform, and who its users are. The content you post needs to be relevant to recent trends – whether it is content that is suited to the demographic of its users, use relevant hashtags, or trendy and current music or skits.

Humor is another big one – never miss an opportunity to show your audience and supporters that they can connect to you. Everyone can relate to and appreciate good humor. The more you relate to those around you, the more you can draw them in. Find as many commonalities as you can, and express them. Use humor where you can. Ask questions, encourage discussion, say something that doesn’t make any sense, and watch people try to make sense of it! All of this can be categorized under “engagement”, which is what you should aim for; however, don’t forget that engagement works both ways. It’s important to spend time responding to supporters, liking other pages, and pictures, making comments, following others and tags, and joining groups. Think outside the box!

Being active on social media is important once you feel comfortable. Don’t be afraid to automate your content! Take a day or two of each month and edit all your videos and posts, and pre-schedule them to post for the upcoming month or week.

Collaborate with others and let them help you. Ask for ideas and opinions, and ask others to come to your business and post for you! Someone else may end up making that viral video – and that’s ok! At Annwn, we’ve had a few different paid people and volunteers help us with social media. We will continue to collaborate with others in all aspects of our business. Trusting the people who work for you goes a long way in creating a positive workplace.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Annwn is constantly transitioning through small and large pivots. When you are starting out, change is OK. I personally struggle with change. When things are flowing smoothly, making changes doesn’t always cross my mind, but it should. To do this, strengthen your ability to think critically and creatively. In business, this is an incredibly valuable skill to have. Try to make changes where you can – you’ll end up finding something much better.

For example, we have reorganized the interior of the sanctuary many times in the year and a half since I’ve been here. There have been times when thinking about it has been scary, but it always turns out so much better. Ideas for the next steps in Annwn’s history are evolving too. The Directors had planned a large build-out to the sanctuary to create more rooms and office space, which evolved into a separate building plan and CAD drawings. We had a pond and landscaping plans, facilities planned in other towns, permanent classroom plans, a food drive that ran successfully for a while, educational classes on-site that were very successful, and partnerships. Don’t be afraid to keep trying creative ideas. If they aren’t working, it’s ok to keep pivoting. This helps you spend your time strategically and you will eventually find what works.

Our major change is the rebranding of our company. While we will continue to implement our current mission, it will be strengthened. We are re-branding to a fresh name that is easier for people to find, spell, and pronounce! Listen to what your audience wants, and you will know what you need to change.

It may be frustrating to do, but there are positives to it. You will gain new skills by executing different ideas, you will overcome new challenges, and you will build all sorts of clientele this way. Implementing one idea will enable you to meet people who are most interested in it. The more ideas you try, the more reach you can gain.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.annwnanimalsanctuary.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/annwnsanimals
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/annwnanimalsanctuary
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/annwn-animal-sanctuary/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/annwn-animal-sanctuary-raleigh
• Other: www.tiktok.com/annwnsanimals