Can you share some of the interesting projects you are working on these days?
I have two major anniversary years for my events this year. First, is the 20th Anniversary of our PAWS Chicago 5K Walk/Run which is the largest dog-friendly event in Chicago. We have an estimated 7,000 humans and 3,300 dogs so you can imagine how much fun this event is! It’s truly an event for the dogs and we have a dog spa, dog massages, PUPP-parazzi station, agility course, and all of our sponsors have fun dog-themed giveaways at their tents. It’s really fun to come up with new ways to spoil the dogs at this event! The other program I oversee is TEAM PAWS Chicago, which is our athletic program where members make their miles matter by participating in an athletic event while raising funds for PAWS Chicago. This program started 15 years ago with 14 runners in the Chicago Marathon, and we are now at over 550 members from 30 states and 9 countries who either run with us for one the marathons we have entries in (Berlin, Chicago, London and NYC), our Couch to 5K program which I developed two years ago and am really proud of, or the Athletic event of their choice (biking, yoga, tennis -- anything they wish). The biggest group we have is for the Chicago Marathon, where we have about 450 runners and are the largest Animal Welfare Charity team in that race. Over the year I support our runners with their fundraising and getting them what they need to prepare for their race, so each day is different.