We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Brady a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

In order to be successful in any business or nonprofit. You have to surround yourself with an amazing team. You may have the vision of where you want it to go, but you cannot do it alone. You have to pull the strengths from people around you and have a grateful heart. No position is better than another, together, we all make the dream a reality.

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

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to work with animals. I was given that opportunity at the age of 13. I started volunteering at
a large 24 hr veterinary hospital in DFW. Then at the age of 14 I was hired as a kennel technician. I moved up the ladder throughout the years, but it was at the age of 15, I met a veterinarian that worked with wildlife. I was instantly in love.. I wanted to learn everything I could. So, I started small by taking a few opossums home to rehabilitate. Wildlife rehabilitation is not something the state pays you to do, it is volunteer. I worked full-time as a veterinary technician in emergency medicine and internal medicine while rehabilitating a few hundred animals a year. Once I became a mother, I did it more full-time while I stayed home and raised my children. In 2015, I moved to Amarillo, Texas with my now ex-husband. I let Texas Parks & Wildlife know that I had a permit and many years of experience with wildlife habilitation and if they needed me, I was here. Little did I know there was a great need in the Texas panhandle. My laundry room soon became too small for the amount of animals I was taking into care. Then the garage became too small so I purchased a small portable building. That following year 1,700 animals came through my care and I realized I needed a wildlife center. God made it clear what I needed to do. So I rented some land and started renovating a donated double wide with the help of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and volunteers within the community. 3 years later and debt free, we opened the first ever Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in the entire Texas Panhandle serving 26 counties. We now average over 3,000 animals a year and have just finished building a Wildlife Education Center. A place for kids and people throughout the Texas Panhandle to come and learn about wildlife and the role they play in the ecosystem.

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

About 2 1/2 years into renovating the double wide that would turn out to be the wildlife rehabilitation center. I fled an abusive 17 year marriage . I was now a single mom with four kids (ages 5, 7, 8, and 12) that went from living in a half $1 million house to a two bedroom apartment with all my kids. I wasn’t sure how I was going to still open this nonprofit. I had to find a job, be a full time Mom, and rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of animals. However, I met some amazing people along the way that became my dearest friends and was able to stay the course while working and raising my beautiful family. It was a crossroads for sure. The easiest road would have been to move back to DFW with my kids and live near my parents. However, I knew I was called to do this and I didn’t get this far to quit.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I would like to tell you that there was a special formula I used regarding social media, but there wasn’t. I just shared the stories about the rescues and animals in rehab. They (the animals) are what drew people in. Their resilience, purpose, and perfect design.

The only advice I would give someone building a social media presence is to be authentic. You don’t have to wow people with fancy videos and such. Be real and let them connect with you, your team, and your mission

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildwestwildlife.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildwestwildlife/profilecard/?igsh=Z2g3MGhkZTBydmNt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildwestwildliferehabilitation?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center