Just A Lady And Her Cat On A Mission To Help Animals

Cynthia Rogers is a Registered Nurse with a love for animals and giving back in Oakwood, Ontario. When she was looking for a way to fundraise the animal sanctuaries she supports, and after being scammed, the idea for her jewelry company 8 Cool Cats Jewelry Shop emerged and Cynthia started her business. She combined her passions of animals and scuba diving to create a unique online jewelry store selling animal-themed jewelry in sterling silver and stainless steel. 

The name for the business was taken from her Instagram handle, @8coolcats, which morphed into her business name when she took the plunge to start her own company. She now has 11 cats, 2 dogs, and 12 chickens. 

Unfortunately, one of Cynthia’s 11 beloved cats, Sweet Tea, passed away on February 7th, 2022. Rest in peace, Sweet Tea, you will be missed! 

Cynthia and Mia (one of Cynthia’s cats), were offered to become a brand ambassador for an Instagram jewelry shop. The Instagram brand had a huge following, but the brand never sent the jewelry and pocketed the shipping for the products. She’s had other companies offer wholesale pricing with poor customer reviews and of course, those brand ambassador offers where you have to buy the product with a small discount to promote their brand. 

“I kept telling myself that I wanted a shop that I could trust and gives back. I don’t want others to deal with shady companies we have met along the way.” 

So, Cynthia got her money back from the credit card company and decided to start her own business. The motto for 8 Cool Cats Jewelry Shop is ‘Jewelry With A Purpose' and 25% of net profits go to two animal sanctuaries: A Home for Hooves in Canada and Loving Farm Animal Sanctuary in the United States. She currently sponsors a hen named Harriet through A Home For Hooves and designates a bonus 50% donation on specific items purchased in her shop with permission from the sanctuary. 

To create her online store, Cynthia applied for the ShopHERE powered by Google program and was paired with her eCommerce Coordinator Krishna. 

“Krishna was a great mentor. We worked as a team to get my website up and running. His feedback was invaluable. He challenged me to up my game.” 

Cynthia met with her coordinator over several virtual meetings to ensure they were on the same page. They worked collaboratively to execute Cynthia’s vision for the store and ensure she had the knowledge to manage and market the store after graduating from the ShopHERE program. 

Cynthia is so glad she got her business license and opened many doors for herself, such as the ShopHERE program. She feels she received a top notch website and feels confident managing it herself. Having a website makes her feel not only confident, but also more professional. 

“The store is even better than I expected. The feel of the website conveys my brand’s feel.”

In addition to the website itself, Cynthia found the marketing webinars helpful in learning ways to drive traffic to her new website. The most valuable piece of knowledge for her was learning the different channels she can use to promote her website, both free and paid. 

“Many times I felt like giving up. This program gave me the gas in my tank to keep on going. I feel like I now have the tools to help me get my business off the ground.”  

Cynthia feels her biggest challenge is maintaining traffic, but she is persistent. She has been getting orders and working on new ways to drive traffic to the store. 

“Between the mentorship and the final product of the website I highly recommend taking advantage of this program.”

If you are looking to support a local business and feel good knowing some of your money is going towards legitimate sanctuaries and animal causes, you can shop 8 Cool Cats Jewelry Shop’s unique animal-inspired pieces at 8coolcatsjewelryshop.ca.

If you’re a small business looking to get your business online with a beautiful new eCommerce website, you can sign up for the ShopHERE program sur ce site.