I spent 10 years in academics studying the animal rights movement, and I earned my doctorate in American studies. My dissertation was titled “Fighting for Animal Rights: A U.S. History, 1900–1996.” During that time, I was able to develop and teach the first-ever 300-level American studies course at Saint Louis University, called Animals in American Culture, which explored the ways in which animals are understood and depicted in culture.
Today, as director of corporate responsibility for PETA, my role is to help national and multinational companies move away from selling or promoting cruelly obtained materials.
Because my job is all about communicating and negotiating, simultaneously pushing companies to do what they know is right, I’ve become much more comfortable dealing with comments or questions I get in my daily life about animal rights and vegan living. I can’t tell you how many great conversations I’ve had on airplanes after being asked, “What do you do?” It’s helped me understand that most people want to do the right thing—they just need information and support.
When I was getting ready for my first in-person solo meeting with a company, I was quite nervous. On the way to the meeting, I told the Uber driver that I was going to go over my agenda about the cruelty of the wool industry, in case he wondered why I was talking to myself. When we arrived at the company’s headquarters, he said, “Good luck with the meeting. You’ve convinced me! I had no idea the wool industry was so terrible.”
Over the years, I’ve been able to help more than 350 companies—including Gap Inc., H&M, and Inditex, the three largest clothing retailers in the world—stop selling mohair and persuade Diane von Furstenberg to ban exotic-animal skins, fur, and angora. I always love it when a company that previously seemed unreachable finally responds positively to me and we get a discussion rolling. It reminds me that our strategy to be relentless will yield results. They know that we’re right, and eventually, any company that wants to remain relevant must address its use of animals. I also love when a company makes a big change. Such victories are coming faster and faster these days.
