July 29, 2025 • 55 mins
Have you ever wished you could hold onto a piece of your beloved pet forever? In this heartwarming episode, I sit down with Dave Latorra and Stephanie Ford, the innovative minds behind DNA is Love, a company that's revolutionizing the way we memorialize our furry friends.
As a scientist with a PhD in molecular biology, Dave brings his expertise to the table, explaining the fascinating process of extracting and preserving DNA from our pets. Stephanie, with her background in hospice care, adds a compassionate touch to their mission of helping pet owners create lasting connections with their animal companions.
The Science of Love
Dave walks us through the meticulous DNA extraction process, from the simple cheek swab to the final purified sample. You'll be amazed at how this tiny piece of your pet can be preserved for hundreds of years, allowing you to carry a part of them with you always.
More Than Just DNA
But DNA is Love isn't just about science. Stephanie shares her personal journey and how losing loved ones inspired her to find new ways to honor and remember them. Their company offers a range of beautiful, customizable jewelry and picture frames that can hold your pet's DNA, creating a tangible link to your furry friend.
Preserving Stories and Memories
We also discuss the importance of storytelling and preserving family history, including our pets' stories.
This episode is a must-listen for any pet owner who wants to celebrate the special bond they share with their fur family members. You'll come away with a new appreciation for the science of love and the many ways we can keep our pets' memories alive.
To Learn more about DNA is Love visit their Website and follow them on Instagram.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hello, my friend, welcome to a brand new episode
of the story of my pet.
I'm your host, julie MartyPearson, and I am very much
looking forward to sharing thisepisode with you.
I love talking about pets,obviously, but one of the things
that I really enjoy doing onthis podcast is talking about
(00:28):
our pets, past and present, andreally focusing on the grief and
loss that we all as for momsand dads go through when we have
lost a pet or we have anelderly pet or a sick pet, that
we're dealing with some what wecall anticipatory grief, where
we're anticipating the fact thatwe're going to have to make
(00:49):
some difficult decisions orpossibly lose our pet in the
near future.
And because there's been somany conversations around grief
and loss when it comes to ourtreasured pets, one company that
I'm very excited to share withyou is called DNA is Love.
This company was founded on theidea that we need to remember
(01:14):
our important pets and peoplewhile they are still with us,
and what DNA is Love has createdare different ways to
memorialize our pets and humanfriends, that we can capture
their DNA while they're stillhere, and that DNA can be
encapsulated into beautifulpieces of jewelry and art and
(01:40):
picture frames that we willcherish for many, many years to
come.
I currently have a pet that isin this stage of life Charlie,
our cat is 16.
And, having lost several petsbefore him, I know there are
things that I want to do now,while I have him here, so that I
have a piece of him with me,and one of the things I have
(02:02):
done is to get a piece ofjewelry from DNA is Love, and I
will be sharing more here on thepodcast about that process of
me getting Charlie's DNA andsending it to the company and
having them create this piece ofjewelry.
But my conversation with thefounders of DNA is Love,
stephanie and Dave, are reallygoing to help you get a sense of
(02:24):
why they decided to do this,how the process works and why it
is such an important topic forus to talk about here on the
podcast.
So, without further details,enjoy this conversation with
Stephanie and Dave from DNA isLove.
Dave from DNA is Love.
(02:53):
Welcome to a new episode of theStory of my Pet podcast.
I am your host, julie MartyPearson, as always, and I am
happy to welcome two new friends.
I like to say my guests becomemy friends through this podcast.
I'm very excited to have bothDave and Stephanie here with me
today.
Hello, thank you both for beinghere.
Thank you.
Hi so we'll get into all thethings.
(03:17):
But to start off with give thelisteners a little idea instead
of me reading off a boring bio,stephanie and Dave, can you each
just do a little intro aboutwho you are, where you're coming
from and why you love animalsor how animals are a part of
your life, whatever you feel youwant to share?
Oh.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
I love it.
I'll start.
Yes, I'm Stephanie Ford and Iam Zooming in here from Portland
Oregon.
And yeah, how did we getstarted on this?
A number of years ago, dave andI met and we started talking
about ideas for a business.
I was doing hospice andcaregiving at the time, and when
(04:00):
Dave was talking about ways tomemorialize people and pets, I
just thought.
When Dave was talking aboutways to memorialize people and
pets, I just thought, oh, wow,this is exactly the direction I
would love to go in after beingin hospice care, realizing the
importance of holding on tothese memories and a part of
someone you know, because wejust never know.
And so when the idea hit, Ithought, oh, this is brilliant.
(04:23):
And, knowing Dave's story andhow long he's been doing this, I
thought, oh, this is a reallyneat way, one of many, to
remember the ones that we love.
And so, yeah, that's kind ofhow this journey started.
I have a cat named Yeti, whoI've had for 13 years, and he is
my life, truly.
My kids are like he's thefavorite child and I think maybe
(04:46):
.
But yeah, when we started thisbusiness, yeti got a lot of
swabbing done, so we can talkthis down for the felines, you
know, in the DNA process.
So that was a lot of fun.
But yeah, I'm an absolute petlover.
Have had pets my whole life andjust know how much of a part of
(05:06):
our hearts they are.
They're part of the family,they're everything.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So yeah, that's a little background on me.
Good, well, I'm Dave LaTorre,right, I am a scientist.
I've been a scientist for along time.
That goes way back.
I'm actually a DNA guy.
I've studied biology, molecularbiology.
I have a PhD in the arts, inthe field, and have kind of a
(05:32):
long and winding career throughmany different kind of things,
different kind of positions,different kind of applications
of molecular testing.
And then, yeah, stephaniementioned, I've had this idea
for a long, long time just howdo you hold on to somebody close
to you, whether it's a personor a pet?
So we just, you know, hashedover some um business ideas and
(05:56):
um, dna of love is what we cameup with and found it so that we,
we love the name.
That's kind of what it is, um,and it's a way to kind of
personalize and memorialize.
It was somebody that's eitherliving or a pet that's living or
has passed away, just to havesomething special to hold on to.
So we have a quite a processand we'll talk through you know
(06:17):
how we do it and how it allworks and things, but that's
kind of how we got our start inthis and just, you know,
entrepreneur, we're kind ofserial entrepreneurs at this
point, honestly.
So there we are.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's so funny because I you know, since being
kind of more in the businessworld the last five years, I
realized once you do it, onceit's like it's just it's in your
blood and you're alwaysthinking of the next new thing
or how can I do it differently.
So I totally get what?
you're saying Absolutely.
But I think because of that inthe business world it's almost
like we have so manyopportunities now.
(06:50):
It allows us to try things youknow we wouldn't have even
thought of five years ago or 10years ago.
Even podcasting you couldn'thave told me five years ago I
would have two podcasts and bedoing this, let alone about pets
and all of that.
So I totally get what you guysare saying in terms of sometimes
we have these idea, but it hasto be the right time for it to
get created.
(07:12):
So one thing I have definitelylearned through podcasting and
pet podcasting is we love ourpets.
Everyone loves to talk aboutour pets, but we all go through
a lot when we lose them orpreparing to lose them.
And obviously behind me is awall of photos for different
reasons.
But that's always been part ofmy life, even when I was a kid
(07:35):
and had dogs.
But as I've gotten older, Irealized I don't want to think
about it after they're gone, andso I think that's what I love
about your company and how youtalk about it, whether it's a
person or a pet that we don'tlike to think about that,
because we want to live in thenow and be living, but we also
want to have those moments andthose cherished pieces of
(07:58):
someone or something to hold onto after, and so it's kind of a
process to think about it now,but I think about my cats from
years and years ago that I wishI had been able to do something
like this with, to have thosepieces now.
So let's talk about, let'sstart with, the science, and
(08:19):
then we can talk about theactual products and how people
can do them and all of that sofrom a science perspective you
talked about how you had an ideaand where.
How did you decide DNAspecifically and then go into
the actual products you are ableto use that with?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Sure, well, I mean, dna is kind of the living part
of all of us.
It's the DNA is a macromolecule, deoxyribonucleic acid for
those who need a littlerefresher from maybe high school
or college to DNA and it's inevery cell and every body and
it's in all living things plants, people, pets, all of it, any
(09:01):
kind of animal, all of thembased on DNA.
And it's the heritable thing,it's the, it's the genetic
legacy that we have through eachother and it's inherited down
through the generations too.
So you know if you have yourfamily's dna.
That's how it started.
For me was actually familyresearch.
I was testing I was doinggraduate research and testing
(09:22):
different DNA markers foridentification of people, and I
also had to see how those DNAmarkers reacted in pets, you
know, in different animals, tosee how specific they were to
human.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So I gathered up some samples from my family right,
and it's very straightforward.
We have a kind of a simplewe've tried to make it
definitely as simple as possiblefor people which we've done
just through basically a simplecheek swabbing procedure.
And then I have kind of anelegant process I work through
(09:55):
in the lab.
Elegant but simple, but veryeffective, very clean DNA.
We break open the cells.
Dna is in the cells, the cheekcells, we get that out.
We break open the cells.
Dna is in the cells, the cheekcells, we get that out.
We break the cells apart.
Then we put a treatment in thereand with the magnetic beads we
actually capture the DNA andhold it on to the side of the
(10:17):
tube with magnets.
When that step in the processis on, then we wash away all the
other things the proteins, thelipids, the cell wall and stuff,
a few washes and things, andthen at the end we just let it
go off the magnet.
So we have a nice pure DNAsample.
Another thing we do is weconfirm the DNA work from every
(10:37):
single sample that we have.
We don't just trust the process.
I actually literally go andcheck through PCR, polymerase,
chain reaction.
That sample worked.
So we, you know, your cat's DNAactually is your DNA sample
that's so great.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I love that.
My science mind is like oh mygosh, I love all the things, but
I also get what you are.
Have created a process that youremove the things that could
decay it or affect you knowholding on to it, but you're
also checking along those pathsto make sure the DNA itself is
still there and intact, so youactually have it left over at
(11:14):
the end.
I guess that's maybe a simplerexplanation.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Yeah, you summed it up great, and you know that's
because every person's sample isimportant to them.
No, we don't Again.
I just I mean, the processworks 99.9 percent of the time,
but I want to make sure, we wantto make sure every person gets
their DNA.
We actually tell you how muchis in there.
We provide a certificate thatcomes with the product and it
(11:39):
tells you you know DNA was foundand it's at this amount.
And boom, there you go.
I love it because you know DNAwas found and it's at this
amount.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And boom, there you go.
I love it because, you know,dna is what makes us unique.
It is what makes us connectedto our families and our
ancestors, but it also we're ourown unique blend of all of
those things, and so I love theidea of thinking about the in
terms of our pets.
Yes, there's millions of catsout there, but my Charlie is his
own unique blend of all thethings, right, and so I love, in
(12:09):
a way, you're capturing.
But as you were talking aboutthe science, I was also thinking
, yeah, that's what I did when Idid Ancestry.
I swabbed my cheek and I sentit in and then, you know, my mom
did it and my sister did it andI can go in there and look at
what part I get from her andwhat I get from my dad, probably
.
So it made me think about howmuch we have moved forward in
(12:32):
that in the last 10 to 20 years,that we have so much more
access to be able to use our DNAand store it in different ways.
So I'm sure that is what madethe timing of this business for
you guys also made sense,because it has become more
accessible.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, it has, and so I love that you did that, you
know, because it is really coolto see how we are connected.
And I think you know, I thinkthe statistics are, we are 99.9%
the same, you know, and it's0.1% variation, you know, and
it's right zero one percentvariation.
You know, that makes us uniqueand different, and to me that's
beautiful, because that's whatmakes the world go round.
(13:11):
And you're right.
I look at my cat, yeti, and Ithink you are one of a kind and
sometimes we get mad about rightnow what a kindness they do.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I know what a kindness they do, so I would
love to thank you so much, dave,for explaining the science.
You fulfilled a part of me.
I'm a science girl.
I love that part, but I alsohave the psychology part of me.
So then that comes to Stephanie.
As someone who worked in hospice, who worked in a field that you
(13:41):
are dealing with grief and lossand death every day, a field
that you are dealing with griefand loss and death every day,
you know I can see the bridgebetween both of what you guys
did in your past and how thatcame together for that company.
But from your perspective andhaving worked in that area, what
made you want to start acompany in this kind of arena?
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I have always had the dream, you know, to somehow
build a community or a placewhere we could honor the people
who have passed, and I thinkI've had so many dear friends
who I've had to say goodbye tofor now and I just think, oh,
the world needs to know who youare, and these are just good,
(14:22):
everyday people who have doneincredible things, and I was so
fortunate to be with them.
You know, just bring to lifethe people that we love and the
(14:48):
pets that we love, and I've beenfortunate to meet some
incredible pets over the years,you know, because that's part of
the job, it's just you go inand help people with this stage
of life, and so this has alwaysbeen a dream of mine, and to
share the stories of thosepeople in pets, because they
make such a difference and so.
(15:10):
So that's kind of where itstarted for me and I I love to
read obituaries just because Ithink, oh, I find people
fascinating and I and so.
So, when Dave came up with thisidea long ago and kind of
mentioned, oh, I've had thisthought of putting DNA into
jewelry or somehow preservingDNA for people, and I thought,
(15:30):
oh, this is really incrediblebecause there really are so many
ways.
We've got creamer scratches,we've got so many different
options and I think they're allbeautiful I really do and I just
thought, oh, this is one moreunique way to hold on someone
you love.
And so I was able to get mydad's sample.
(15:50):
He ended up in ICU with 5%chance to live, and so I was
able to race over to thehospital and get a swab from him
and then preserve his DNA,which I carry here.
And that was super meaningfulbecause I just thought, oh, wow,
how grateful I am and hesurvived and he's doing great,
(16:10):
thank goodness.
But how grateful I am justanytime I go for a walk, anytime
I go birdwatching, anytime Iget outside, I just think, oh,
you're here, you know, andpeople kind of touch it and say,
oh, you're here and so that'sthe beautiful thing.
So, whether living or past is,what I love about this product
is you can do it both ways.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And I love that too, because I think so many of us
are at an age where our parentsare getting older or things are
changing in life.
I had actually moved thisinterview because I had four
different friends lose a parentwithin two weeks and it was a
lot.
And I realized I couldn't comeup and talk about this right now
because all of that experienceis triggering my loss of my dad
(16:53):
seven years ago and even thoughI could have done it, I just I
knew I wouldn't be clear headedand people don't get until they
go through that, what thatfeeling is like when you lose
someone and you're processingand all of that.
And we go through that with ourpets.
You know, I always say we spendmore time with our pets than we
spend with most people, letalone most of our families, and
(17:14):
they're there in the hardesttimes, in the easiest times.
You know they celebrate thegood stuff and the bad with us,
so having a piece of them withus is really important to so
many of us.
I always tell the story of thetennis ball for my childhood dog
, champ, but I think back to God, I wish I had better quality
pictures of him.
(17:34):
I wish I had a piece of him inother ways.
I've seen people use catwhiskers and jewelry.
I've seen people, when theybrush their dogs, hold on to the
fur and they create stuffedanimals with them.
There's so many things now thatcan be done, but people don't
even realize it.
So when you reached out to mewith this company, I was like,
yes, I want to share, I wantparents to realize there are
(17:57):
many options that you can do nowor later to memorialize your
pets.
So how has starting thiscompany in the world of pets and
loss and all of that been forboth of you, I'm sure?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
it's been a journey.
It has been a journey and we'vemet really incredible people.
That's the beauty of this jobis just the people and the pets.
So, learning the stories.
I think what I love about DNAis Love is it's both the heart
and the science, and I think wereally strive to build that
because these are reallyimportant samples to us, these
(18:33):
are really important stories tous and we hold them really close
to our heart.
And so, yeah, I think we've hada lot of fun.
We have done some horse dna,which was a really neat project
for a wonderful, wonderful woman, and oh, I love that.
That was to just think, oh mygosh, we are doing this and.
(18:55):
And so, yeah, we've done plentyof cats, plenty of dogs.
Uh, we're hoping to get somemore unique animals.
Yeah, dave, can we?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
get those.
Definitely.
Yeah, anything that's, you know, mammal, we can check with the
PCR primers that we currently do, but we can expand that out if
we get, you know, uniquerequests and stuff.
You know something I want toadd too, and just how all this
stuff kind of comes full circle,Julie is you know another
aspect that we're I said we'reserial entrepreneurs, right Like
(19:31):
Stephanie's actually justlaunching a site called Stories
with Steph and it is literallywhere she's putting together
video tributes of people withtheir pets.
It could be pet based, it couldbe family based and things.
So it's those important things,it's the stories that connect
us all together and thatconnection and then also having
something physically to hold onto.
You know our jewelry.
We have picture frames whereyou could put photos of your
(19:54):
loved ones and then a dna goesin a bar that attaches into the
frame and we can actually mixsamples together.
If you had more than one pet or, you know, dog or cat, we could
totally do that.
So there's a lot of room togrow and expand, but we're kind
of full circle.
But it is the stories thatconnect us and the physical, the
(20:14):
tangible, you know.
I think those things togethermake a very powerful option for
people that want to remember.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
You know, it is about the remembrance and the caring
right, and you know that'ssomething I've learned so much
through just my podcasting inthe last five years that a lot
of why we like podcasts or booksor audiobooks or those we all
like it is because it is aboutthe story.
It's not just about, like me,teaching or talking about myself
(20:43):
or whatever.
It's about sharing stories, andthat's why people respond to
interview based TV shows andpodcasts.
It's all about the us sharingour experiences and that's what
connects all of us humans.
But I've also found thattelling stories about our pets
is also a way to share ourexperience but then connect with
(21:04):
other people that have thatsame bond and also to use the
experiences to get more peopleto take care of animals and all
of this.
You know it's such a big thing,but ultimately it's about legacy
, and so I, you know, haverealized that's why a lot of us
podcast is it's about legacy.
I have a friend who had a greatpodcast and she passed away and
(21:25):
we're paying what her friend ispaying and we're all
contributing to keep the podcastalive so that her legacy, her
story and her impact continues.
So that's what I love about theworld now is we have so many
options, but then it's kind ofhard to choose.
What do I want to do?
So many options, but then it'skind of hard to choose.
(21:47):
What do I want to do?
Yes, how do I want tomemorialize by pet or person or
whatever it may be.
And so talk a little bit abouthow you guys decided for what
products you do offer at thispoint.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Yeah, I think what we really wanted to create were
meaningful pieces that representlove and connection, and you
know.
So we have a number.
I'm wearing the Living Heartpendant right now.
We have an infinity necklace,and all of these can be engraved
, all of them can be customizedand you know they're fillable.
(22:19):
So what Dave does is he doesthe whole process and it's
really neat to watch and youknow I didn't know a lot about
DNA when we got this.
I was like read from biology andso I think my cat was one of
the first samples we ran and Iwas there for the whole process
(22:42):
and watching how Dave ismeticulously, does his craft,
his art.
It's amazing and beautiful towatch.
And so he'll take it throughthe whole process and then run
it through the PCR machine andwhen you see the curves I'm
learning kind of go up, I think,and he said we got, got it, and
there was something in thatmoment like wow, that's amazing.
(23:06):
And and then to see the clean,purified dna of my cat right
will last for hundreds of yearsif needed.
you know that's a really coolthing, and so seeing the process
and then having this tangiblereminder- of.
(23:26):
Yeti means everything.
It means everything, and so I'mgrateful I was able to see that
in action and just to have apart of him with me forever.
He's 13, you know, and I justthink, okay, 13 is the new 30,
you know, which is bad years,but I think he's good.
He's good but truly it's in mymind.
(23:49):
You know I don't want to livein the thought of, oh, what
happens?
But you're absolutely right, Ithink he has been with me
through the toughest times, youknow, and my kids have grown and
they've left the house and thiscat is just every night right
here on my shoulder and I justthink I love him more than life
itself, truly, and so I amgrateful for the years I have.
(24:12):
I am grateful for the memories,because I know people lose pets
all along the way way too soon,and it's devastating.
It's really really hard.
So I am grateful that I do havea piece of him with me always.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, and I think it's hard because a lot of us
don't want to think about thedeath when we're living, right,
whether it's our pets or ourfamily or ourselves.
But we also have to realize,like you said and I think maybe
the pandemic and COVID made usall think about it a lot more
you never know what could happen.
And it's funny, with all theloss that's been happening
(24:47):
around me.
I'll say to my husband he'slike they're all older, like you
know, it's OK and it's like no,but it's different and it
doesn't matter if someone passesaway at 95 or 35.
Like it's all loss, it's allsad and we never know what our
life plan is.
And we also don't know for ourpets, like you said.
(25:07):
You know I have a cat who'salmost 16, but I also have a
two-year-old that she could getsick, something could happen.
So it's this idea of givingpeople a chance to think about
it and how best they want tomemorialize someone while they
have options of whether thatswabbing DNA versus having just
the ashes left over from a petand that's something I thought
(25:28):
about when I met you guys,thinking, oh yeah, I have ashes
from two pets, but then I alsohave three living cats.
So that idea that there'soptions for us, no matter where
you are in your grief process oryour life.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, julia, as youmentioned, right, you just don't
know, like you don't know whattomorrow will bring, right,
could be an accident, it couldbe unexpected.
I mean, we do.
We can also fill our jewelrywith cremation ashes and we do
have that as an option on thewebsite for people that only
have that left.
We could even possibly mixashes together with DNA.
(26:04):
You know, we're kind ofspecialized in DNA, but I call
it the slurry myself.
So it's an option, like ifpeople would want that.
So, again, we can customize andwe can do some things for
people.
We can help people hang on tothose loved ones and those
memories, you know, in manydifferent ways.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
And I think that's great.
The science and the technologyallows us options like you're
talking about, but I've alsorealized that, with pets
specifically, sometimes it justis something you don't realize
you want.
So, as I've done this podcast,I've met people who are artists
and draw or paint photos of pets.
Right, that's something that'sbecome very popular.
(26:43):
I mean, look at behind me, mostof these are other people's art
that I've put up or a photo,and so I think there's also a
creativity in it that we get topick something that's meaningful
for us.
So, like me, stephanie, thenecklace you're wearing is what
I looked at for doing withCharlie, because I love jewelry,
(27:03):
I love hearts.
That's something that meanssomething to me.
But a picture frame I love too,because obviously I like
pictures and I have pictureframes of all my old pets behind
me.
You know, I think a lot of thatis.
It gives you, as those who arecreating the products and the
company's, creativity and ableto try new things, but it also
(27:24):
allows for a vast number ofoptions for us as buyers, to
decide what is meaningful to us.
So did you think about that andtalk about that as you?
Obviously, dave, you were doingthe science, but thinking about
science wise, what you couldactually use to hold this piece
of DNA.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, we totally did.
We sourced, you know, we lookedfar and wide to find what we
were looking for and the key iskind of that it's fillable.
So it actually these arejewelry pieces that we'll
unscrew a little bit and they'rehollowed out inside.
So we'll put the DNA in andthen seal it up and, as
Stephanie mentioned, even if theliquid would disperse out from
(28:05):
that over time and evaporate alittle bit, the dna will adhere
to the walls of the tube andthat dna isn't there for as long
as we're going to be around,and a lot longer, you know.
So that's something, and maybesteph can talk about how she's
the shopper, the producer, Iwould say, and I'm more the
science end, but we reallybrought it together, I think.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I could definitely see how you guys you need both
of you Like you're the science,you're the process, and then
you're the one that says, well,this is a good idea, will it fit
, will this work.
So I love that.
You know you guys really neededeach other for it but were able
to kind of make it work becauseof both sides of what you do.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Absolutely.
And yeah, and that was a funpart of the process.
It really was.
I'm trying to select the rightthings that were meaningful.
You know, there's one with abutterfly on it and I feel like
my mom.
She passed away in 2011.
There's not a day I don't go bythat I don't think about her,
but I do feel like she'll cometo me as a butterfly sometime
(29:10):
and I'll be out and justthinking and a butterfly will
fly by and I think, oh, hi, mom.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And yeah, I have to say, when I looked at your
website, the one with thebutterfly really stood out to me
.
It was very pretty and it waslike in the back of my head my
mom loves butterflies.
She's still here.
I'm thought, well, maybe thisis somebody telling me this
would be a perfect thing to donow while I have her here.
So I love that some of thepieces and ideas came from your
own experiences and peopleyou've lost.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Absolutely so.
That one for sure is verymeaningful to me, and so that's
what we hope to create.
And then we just have somesimple pieces, because I'm not a
huge jewelry, I like simple,and so we went with the bar
pendant and a few pieces likethat.
And then we did earrings and wethought, why not?
Because they were, you know,give it a try.
(29:58):
And so that was a really funprocess and working with our
vendor was an experience, and wejust met the best people along
the generations.
And that's where my passiontruly lies is just in genealogy
(30:29):
work and family history andunderstanding where we come from
and carrying the storiesforward.
And then I think DNA goes rightwith that Literally carry our
ancestors forward in us.
And when Dave was explainingthe science behind how that all
works and the genes we bringover from our parents, and he
(30:50):
was showing me paternity reportsyou know, of how you can see
what you get from whom and Ijust thought, oh, this is
science, which I love, and Ialso love the heart.
I love just the unknown, thebeauty of the connection, that
of love truly, and so that's howwe came up with the name of DNA
(31:13):
is love.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I think that's so true.
You know, I thinking, like Imentioned earlier, about doing
my own ancestry with DNA.
Part of DNA and history, it'sall a part of the story.
It's the story.
But I can hear a story about myancestor but the DNA shows me
scientifically what parts I gotfrom them are the same or
similar.
It's all a part of passing onour history.
(31:39):
Our stories, our family andpets are a part of that history
Absolutely.
And as you guys were talkingabout unique pets, I started
visualizing me with a littleswab swabbing one of our
tortoises' mouths.
Oh, my husband's going to thinkI'm crazy.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Oh, we would love to do that one yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
And it's.
You know it's so funny becauseeverybody loves their pets,
whatever they are.
But my husband grew up withthis big yard that they got
tortoises.
I don't know how it started.
Well, the problem withtortoises you can't get them
fixed like you can get a cat ora dog fixed, and so they just
keep mating and having more.
(32:23):
So when we bought our housegosh, almost 13 years ago now,
one of the first things he didwas bring one of the tortoises
here.
He's like well, I got to take amale out, so there's less
tortoises being.
But it was also a tortoise thathe had lived with since he was
younger, when it was a hatchlingRufus.
(32:43):
Our first tortoise came andlived here and it was our
tortoise now, but he'd actuallybeen along the whole at that
point, 20 years.
We'd known each other.
You know, sometimes pets are apart of our history in ways that
are much more meaningful thanjust.
This is my cat.
You know it's a part of hisfamily history.
He knows how to take care oftortoises because he grew up
(33:04):
with them and was taught how totake care of them.
You know, there is that elementof family history and passing
things on that I think comes outin our pets also and makes it
even more meaningful for usright.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Oh, it absolutely does and it makes me think of
you know, my dad grew up on a200 acre ranch in Wyoming and he
, his beloved pet, was a horsenamed Red Wing.
And he would ride Red Wing toschool at five in the morning,
you know, because school was 40miles away.
Like that's the family lore.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
But we all have those stories, we're not really sure
how true they are, but they'repassed down, they're getting
bigger yeah.
They're exaggerated.
The mileage is exaggerated Alittle less.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
The size of the horse and you know snow and all the
things.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
But that horse has become a part of our history,
like we all know, my dad's horse, red Wing, you know because he
would talk about him and you'reright, so I do think that's part
of our story.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You know it's funny.
Maybe our dads knew each other,but my dad, when he was growing
up, his grandparents had a farmand a ranch in Wyoming that he
spent a lot of time in, so healways loved horses.
Because of that I have a horsephoto.
One of the reasons I love andhave a creation for them because
he would always talk about them.
So, right Again, that's familyhistory, and he was an animal
(34:27):
lover, just like I was, and sothat's a part of it too it's
that we're not justmemorializing the individual
person or pet, we'rememorializing that place in our
life and our history, our family.
You know, like you said, yourcat is still there with you,
even though your kids are grownand off, living their own lives,
and those are just like thosepoints that the pets help us
(34:51):
connect and work throughdifferent life changes too.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Absolutely.
They are just the constantcompanion and I just, you know,
and I look back on my life and Ihad a cat all growing up named
Critter Bailey and and we haddogs Flare and Pasha, you know
golden retrievers through theyears and I just think, oh, they
are a part of me still and Ithink if I see a dog out on a
(35:17):
walk, I think, oh, my gosh, thatreminds me of yeah yeah, my pet
.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Sometimes animals come to us to remind us of
people, and you were talkingabout the butterfly.
You know seagulls are what comeup.
For me that it's like my dadsaying hi, because the thing he
loved, one of the things heloved most was going to the
beach and sitting and watching.
You know the boats, but theseagulls were a part of that too
(35:42):
, and the first time we went tothe beach after he passed away,
there was one lone seagull.
That would be every place wewent by our room at a restaurant
.
We would always just see onesitting somewhere where we could
see it, but just sitting thereby itself.
And so it's been this.
It's come up for me in photosand stories and you know there's
.
There's this connection we wantto feel to people we've lost,
(36:05):
to our pets we've lost, and so Ithink that's part of what the
both of you are creating.
The DNA and the picture frameor jewelry is kind of giving us
that tie to them, so we feellike we still have a piece of
them literally with us we stillhave a piece of them literally
with us, really no, and I lovethat story.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
I love that story because I do.
You know, I think I've spent alot of years studying this and
being around death and beingaround transition and those kind
of things and I think, oh, it'sbigger than we know and I
absolutely believe they're here.
And what I love about thescience behind that is that, you
know, energy cannot be creatednor destroyed, and I just think
it goes somewhere, and so Itruly believe we continue on and
(36:55):
that they're close.
And I think that's where theconnection to me and I tell Dave
all the time I'm like we are soconnected, we are so connected
to each other, to nature, towater, to all right and I just
think, and DNA is kind of theroot of all of that, it's in.
so all of it is fascinating tome.
(37:15):
Why I love this?
Because I just thought, oh,let's bring all of it together
hard and hard science, because Iknow there are all of this and
people do science and I'm likehere it is, and then when it
goes well, and here it is, soit's connected.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Well, and I think it also gives us an opportunity to
think about death and lossdifferently, because a lot of
times it's a taboo thing, wedon't want to talk about it.
I don't want to talk about it.
I don't want to talk about it.
It's like, well, mom, you'realmost 80.
We should probably talk aboutit.
And I actually had thatexperience when my dad passed.
He was 94.
And so when I would say my dadpassed, they would ask me how
old he was.
I'd say 94.
Oh OK, it was almost like theywere saying, well, he was old,
(37:58):
so it's okay.
Like well, yeah, but it stillhurts.
You know, I only got him for 40years because he was much older
when I was born.
So I think there's an elementof what you both are doing with
this business that is that piece.
Of it doesn't matter when youlose someone or a pet, whether
you had them one day or 100years.
(38:18):
It's never enough, right, whenwe have those bonds, and so
you're giving a way for us tohold on to them in a really
special, meaningful way thatwill, you know, make us feel
like they're still with us.
We say that they're still withus, but you're literally
creating that with the DNApieces.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Yeah, thank you for that.
That's really kind and that'sthat's our hope.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Yeah, totally, totally.
You know, we share like 90percent dna similarity to dogs,
actually to cats, and like 85 todogs.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
All living things right, um right and they always
say we end up looking like ourpets somehow.
But I will say, it's so funnybecause I grew up with dogs and
I still love dogs and hope tohave another one at some point.
But when I got my first cat itwas like wow, you are my people,
like we understand each otherright.
(39:10):
So it's that there is thisconnection with all living
things and nature, but we allhone in on that one type of
animal or one type of you know,I love the beach, other people
like the mountains, whateverit's because we feel that
connection that we literallyhave genetically, but then the
presence is different.
So it is.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It's like that piece of us that's continuing as well
as connecting to other peoplethat I really see in that and
it's why people, I think,respond so well to the idea of
DNA and looking at your ancestry, because there's that meaning
that you want to understand andhave a piece of it too
absolutely, and that's what wehope, and so we collect these
(39:50):
samples and and and we care forthem and we don't hold on to
them and we don't keep them forany other reason, but just to
give you fully back what isyours and, but the hope is to
keep that part of them closewith you forever, right?
Speaker 2 (40:07):
well, I think that's an important point to make.
I'm sure dave can speak to.
It is, um, I know myself I'vedone like I said the ancestry.
My husband's never done it hequestions how, like, I'll give
him stuff and he'll be likethey're just making that up and
I'm like they can't make it allup.
My husband can be a greatpessimist, but I'm sure there
(40:28):
are some questions about ifsomeone's giving you your DNA
especially for you, dave,concerned about well, now you
have my DNA or you have thisperson or pet's DNA, you know.
So I'm sure that there is aprocess of you explaining that
we're not holding on to this,you're just processing it.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah, definitely we are.
We're just processing it.
You're right, there's no data.
The only data associated withany of this is me confirming
every sample with a very genericset of primers to say, yes, we
have a million DNA in thisamount, otherwise, there's no
login, there's no storage,there's no password.
We amount, otherwise there's nologin, there's no storage,
there's no password.
We also make it super easy,like we have.
It's a three-way shipping.
(41:05):
We have to send you the swabkit.
You do the swabbing, break itoff, send it back to us.
I work my magic in the lab, notmy magic, I do the science in
the lab and then we For a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
It's magic.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah right, I mean, you know I joke about that part,
but it's totally a perfectlydefined process, you know, and
we do that.
I was.
So I think we're giving peoplean opportunity that if we
weren't around to do this, Idon't know, you know, maybe
people could source it somehowand find it, but we're trying to
make it accessible and easy forpeople to to get those
(41:40):
reminders.
That plus, you know storieswith Steph, what she's doing to
bring that up.
I think that's amazing and Imean there's people have a lot
of pictures on there and videoson their phones, but is it
together in a compelling,meaningful story?
You know, I think that's big.
So it's things we're trying tooffer people that are good for
people in their lives to in thatconnection and that caring for
(42:05):
each other, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Yeah, I saw some time I think I always seem to get
the ads probably around theholidays where there's a company
and I'm not going to promotethem, I don't even remember
their name, but it's like if youhave someone in your family,
you want to know their storiesand you don't have them.
You set up the service and likeevery day or every week they
get a question, they answer, andso then it's all compiled for
(42:27):
you and I.
My dad wrote down some of hisstories for us, thank God,
because we wouldn't have it.
But so I also see theconnection for you, stephanie,
to go to the next kind of stepof another option for people,
which is getting those storieswritten down, getting them
recorded in some way, becausethere are things I wish I could
ask my dad that I can't, or hetold me one time 20 years ago
(42:50):
and I don't remember thespecifics right, so I can really
understand where you're wantingto do.
That as kind of another part ofit is really important
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
And luckily my mother was a master genealogist, so
she left us histories of ourgreat ancestors, and so what a
gift that was to our family.
But she did it in book form,you know, and it's 300 pages.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
And my kid.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Yeah, I'll get around to that and she and I put those
together long ago and so thatwas a really meaningful memory
for me being with her andputting those together.
But I thought, oh, how could Imodernize what my mom did in a
way where people can watchsomething in three to five
(43:37):
minutes and get a good idea ofwho this person is, who this pet
is?
I've done my cat Yeti and Ijust think he's memorialized
forever.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Pet is I've done my cat Yeti and I just think he's
memorialized forever.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
No one's going to forget Yeti.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
But Yeti, I'm not kidding, and I agree with you.
We should.
You know.
I don't know how many peopleI've told about my childhood dog
, champ, so I get what you'resaying.
It's like having a place to do.
It is important for us becauseit's not even processing grief
as much as I get to share thispiece of me that no one knows
about, right.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I do.
I do see the importance ofsharing story, of writing your
own personal history, even ifit's short, even if it's just.
This is who I am.
This is where I was born, myparents.
I do see the importance because, years down the road, I'm
reading stories from 200 yearsago and I think I am learning so
(44:35):
much that applies today, bypeople who paved the way for me
to be where I am today, and sohistorical records are important
to us in a lot of ways, as aculture, as a society, as a
family.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
You know there's so much need for it, but we don't
always take the time to write itdown.
I think it's one thing Irealized with my dad in a lot of
ways, because we're writing theobituary and we're having to
remember dates, and he was 94.
That's a lot of dates and a lotof them I wasn't around for,
and so there are moments likethat.
I think sometimes we get aglimpse of what we wish we'd
(45:12):
known or asked.
And so having somewhere we couldgo, where you've already
thought of that and you're goingto tell us what to ask or what
to write down or what to record,is really important for people.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Oh, and I love that and I love your stories about
your dad because you're right, I, you know, my kids laugh at me
because they say all yourfriends are over 90.
And I think I know, and I loveit because I am getting a PhD in
life, life you know, becausethey have lived it and they know
it and and I think it's so hardto say goodbye to them.
(45:44):
You know my dear friends 97, 95.
And when they passed I washeartbroken, even though it was
expected, even though you knowRight.
I mean.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Yeah, age and all of that doesn't make it any easier,
no matter what the loss is.
But having a piece of them,knowing I already have a piece
of them, it's okay, you know Ialways will have them, but it's
so true because you know there'sthings we hear we're like oh
yeah, you've told me that story10 times, but then I forget it
when you're not here to remindme what the specifics are.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
So yeah, definitely it's those family stories I've
heard from you know, I heardfrom my dad and mom when they
were living.
Right, they told the same story.
But I love to hear the sametelling of it.
Right, and Stephanie is veryhumble, she's a master
storyteller.
We can tell I say it's a Stephstory when people cry, like
literally after, in a good way.
(46:39):
But that's how we know, right,it brings out the emotion and it
brings it to life.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Well, that's what we respond to as people.
You know, people like to listento a podcast because it makes
them feel something, whetherit's sad or happy, or feel the
same Same thing with TV andbooks.
Right, it's the emotion we wantto evoke and how we tell the
story.
It's something I've learned alot in the last few years as a
podcaster, because I used towork in higher ed.
I used to teach statistics, Iused to teach psychology.
(47:07):
It was fact based, wasn't aboutme, it wasn't to get people to
cry.
You know, I've had to learn howto do it more because it wasn't
natural, because not how I didthings Right.
So sometimes people just needto be told well, you should have
them do this.
It's like, oh wow, I wouldn'thave thought of that.
So I think that's what's greatabout the DNA is Love Company in
(47:28):
terms of the pieces you cancreate, but also what it sounds
like you're looking to do,stephanie, with your new
business is giving people aplace to not only create the
story, write it down or hold it,but then to have it to pass on
to other people.
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Absolutely, and your pets too.
They're a part of this.
They really are.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Oh, trust me, I haven't learned.
People love telling storiesabout their pets.
I know and I'm like let's talk.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
That's what I'm most excited about.
Tell me everything.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
And you want to listen because you also then
feel you remember your pets orit makes you feel the feeling
you have about your own, andagain, it's just that connection
.
So, of course, in the show notesof this episode we'll have all
the links for DNA is Love so youcan check out the different
products, and I do love thatyour jewelry has so many
(48:20):
varieties, like there's somethings that are more traditional
, some are more modern, so I candefinitely tell how you really
tried to create a variety ofoptions that you know speak to
people depending on what theirstyle is or what they like.
So we will have all the linksfor DNA is Love and you can
connect with them, with thecompany, dave and Stephanie, on
(48:42):
social.
Whatever you want to do, we'llhave all the links for you to do
that.
But as we kind of wrap this up,dave and Stephanie, what is
something you want our listenersto kind of take away from this
episode, from what you want themto understand about your
business and what you hope thatthey, you know, are able to do
if they choose to purchase oneof your products?
Speaker 3 (49:05):
Good question.
Yeah, I think for me it's justreally enjoy the moment, like
that's a big thing.
You know, you've got this for alimited time, you've got your
pets, you've got the people inyour life for a limited time,
hold on to them and cherish them, cherish the stories, and so I
think what I love about whatwe're doing is creating that
(49:25):
connection truly through thegenerations, so people can hold
on to this for a length of time,and we've heard the best
stories from people who havedone this service.
Just the peace of mind itbrings them, knowing that, no
matter what happens, they have apart of the person or pet they
love deeply.
So that's what we're mostexcited about.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Yeah, I'd echo that too.
I would just say don'tappreciate what you have, like
don't expect it's going to lastfor a long time, and take
advantage of it If it'ssomething that's meaningful to
you.
We have a way for you to havethat connection that can last
you, you know, when they'repassed, for I still have my
parents' DNA samples from backwhen I started this and did my
(50:09):
research and it feels good tohave that.
A lot of times, you know, just,you're down and out a little
bit and you just say, okay, hey,we're in this together, we're
going to be there and soappreciate what you have.
And there is the science, thereis the tech.
We do make it pretty easy forpeople if they want to explore
this further.
So take advantage, if you will,and you know, and just keep
(50:31):
being out there learning andenjoy the moment.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Absolutely.
I think that's a great way toend Again.
Dna is love.
Please check it out, pleaseshare with your friends.
I think at this point in theworld, we all know someone who's
lost someone or a pet recentlyand you never know who might see
this and be like.
That's the perfect way for meto grieve and memorialize that
person or pet.
So thank you, dave andStephanie, for being here.
(50:56):
It's been so great to meet youand hear your story and how
you're trying to help us petparents hold on to a piece of
our pets forever.
So thank you for coming and forbeing here.
Thank you so much, julie.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah, thanks, julie, it's been a pleasure talking
with you.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:23):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Story of my Pet podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it as much asI did interviewing Dave and
Stephanie from DNA is Love and Ihope you will check them out to
see if one of their pieces ofjewelry or art or photo frames
(51:43):
might be the right way for youto memorialize your pet that is
still living and grab their DNAnow so you will have that piece
of them with you forever, or usesome of the ashes from a pet
you have already lost to be putinto one of the pieces.
I really enjoyed thisconversation and getting to know
(52:04):
them and the reason behind DNAis Love and why they are
offering this service.
That is uniquely perfect forpet parents who want to really
enjoy our pets while they'restill here but have a piece of
them with us once they are gone.
I hope you will check out evenmore new episodes of the Story
(52:25):
of my Pet and, if you are notalready listening and watching
our full video episodes onYouTube, go to my YouTube
channel right now link in theshow notes to subscribe and
follow all of the new episodesand listen and watch some of the
previous episodes.
Thank you again for being here.
(52:47):
I will be back soon with a newepisode of the Story of my Pet.
Much love to you and your pets.
Hello, my friend, welcome to a brand new episode
of the story of my pet.
I'm your host, julie MartyPearson, and I am very much
looking forward to sharing thisepisode with you.
I love talking about pets,obviously, but one of the things
that I really enjoy doing onthis podcast is talking about
(00:28):
our pets, past and present, andreally focusing on the grief and
loss that we all as for momsand dads go through when we have
lost a pet or we have anelderly pet or a sick pet, that
we're dealing with some what wecall anticipatory grief, where
we're anticipating the fact thatwe're going to have to make
(00:49):
some difficult decisions orpossibly lose our pet in the
near future.
And because there's been somany conversations around grief
and loss when it comes to ourtreasured pets, one company that
I'm very excited to share withyou is called DNA is Love.
This company was founded on theidea that we need to remember
(01:14):
our important pets and peoplewhile they are still with us,
and what DNA is Love has createdare different ways to
memorialize our pets and humanfriends, that we can capture
their DNA while they're stillhere, and that DNA can be
encapsulated into beautifulpieces of jewelry and art and
(01:40):
picture frames that we willcherish for many, many years to
come.
I currently have a pet that isin this stage of life Charlie,
our cat is 16.
And, having lost several petsbefore him, I know there are
things that I want to do now,while I have him here, so that I
have a piece of him with me,and one of the things I have
(02:02):
done is to get a piece ofjewelry from DNA is Love, and I
will be sharing more here on thepodcast about that process of
me getting Charlie's DNA andsending it to the company and
having them create this piece ofjewelry.
But my conversation with thefounders of DNA is Love,
stephanie and Dave, are reallygoing to help you get a sense of
(02:24):
why they decided to do this,how the process works and why it
is such an important topic forus to talk about here on the
podcast.
So, without further details,enjoy this conversation with
Stephanie and Dave from DNA isLove.
Dave from DNA is Love.
(02:53):
Welcome to a new episode of theStory of my Pet podcast.
I am your host, julie MartyPearson, as always, and I am
happy to welcome two new friends.
I like to say my guests becomemy friends through this podcast.
I'm very excited to have bothDave and Stephanie here with me
today.
Hello, thank you both for beinghere.
Thank you.
Hi so we'll get into all thethings.
(03:17):
But to start off with give thelisteners a little idea instead
of me reading off a boring bio,stephanie and Dave, can you each
just do a little intro aboutwho you are, where you're coming
from and why you love animalsor how animals are a part of
your life, whatever you feel youwant to share?
Oh.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
I love it.
I'll start.
Yes, I'm Stephanie Ford and Iam Zooming in here from Portland
Oregon.
And yeah, how did we getstarted on this?
A number of years ago, dave andI met and we started talking
about ideas for a business.
I was doing hospice andcaregiving at the time, and when
(04:00):
Dave was talking about ways tomemorialize people and pets, I
just thought.
When Dave was talking aboutways to memorialize people and
pets, I just thought, oh, wow,this is exactly the direction I
would love to go in after beingin hospice care, realizing the
importance of holding on tothese memories and a part of
someone you know, because wejust never know.
And so when the idea hit, Ithought, oh, this is brilliant.
(04:23):
And, knowing Dave's story andhow long he's been doing this, I
thought, oh, this is a reallyneat way, one of many, to
remember the ones that we love.
And so, yeah, that's kind ofhow this journey started.
I have a cat named Yeti, whoI've had for 13 years, and he is
my life, truly.
My kids are like he's thefavorite child and I think maybe
(04:46):
.
But yeah, when we started thisbusiness, yeti got a lot of
swabbing done, so we can talkthis down for the felines, you
know, in the DNA process.
So that was a lot of fun.
But yeah, I'm an absolute petlover.
Have had pets my whole life andjust know how much of a part of
(05:06):
our hearts they are.
They're part of the family,they're everything.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So yeah, that's a little background on me.
Good, well, I'm Dave LaTorre,right, I am a scientist.
I've been a scientist for along time.
That goes way back.
I'm actually a DNA guy.
I've studied biology, molecularbiology.
I have a PhD in the arts, inthe field, and have kind of a
(05:32):
long and winding career throughmany different kind of things,
different kind of positions,different kind of applications
of molecular testing.
And then, yeah, stephaniementioned, I've had this idea
for a long, long time just howdo you hold on to somebody close
to you, whether it's a personor a pet?
So we just, you know, hashedover some um business ideas and
(05:56):
um, dna of love is what we cameup with and found it so that we,
we love the name.
That's kind of what it is, um,and it's a way to kind of
personalize and memorialize.
It was somebody that's eitherliving or a pet that's living or
has passed away, just to havesomething special to hold on to.
So we have a quite a processand we'll talk through you know
(06:17):
how we do it and how it allworks and things, but that's
kind of how we got our start inthis and just, you know,
entrepreneur, we're kind ofserial entrepreneurs at this
point, honestly.
So there we are.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
That's so funny because I you know, since being
kind of more in the businessworld the last five years, I
realized once you do it, onceit's like it's just it's in your
blood and you're alwaysthinking of the next new thing
or how can I do it differently.
So I totally get what?
you're saying Absolutely.
But I think because of that inthe business world it's almost
like we have so manyopportunities now.
(06:50):
It allows us to try things youknow we wouldn't have even
thought of five years ago or 10years ago.
Even podcasting you couldn'thave told me five years ago I
would have two podcasts and bedoing this, let alone about pets
and all of that.
So I totally get what you guysare saying in terms of sometimes
we have these idea, but it hasto be the right time for it to
get created.
(07:12):
So one thing I have definitelylearned through podcasting and
pet podcasting is we love ourpets.
Everyone loves to talk aboutour pets, but we all go through
a lot when we lose them orpreparing to lose them.
And obviously behind me is awall of photos for different
reasons.
But that's always been part ofmy life, even when I was a kid
(07:35):
and had dogs.
But as I've gotten older, Irealized I don't want to think
about it after they're gone, andso I think that's what I love
about your company and how youtalk about it, whether it's a
person or a pet that we don'tlike to think about that,
because we want to live in thenow and be living, but we also
want to have those moments andthose cherished pieces of
(07:58):
someone or something to hold onto after, and so it's kind of a
process to think about it now,but I think about my cats from
years and years ago that I wishI had been able to do something
like this with, to have thosepieces now.
So let's talk about, let'sstart with, the science, and
(08:19):
then we can talk about theactual products and how people
can do them and all of that sofrom a science perspective you
talked about how you had an ideaand where.
How did you decide DNAspecifically and then go into
the actual products you are ableto use that with?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Sure, well, I mean, dna is kind of the living part
of all of us.
It's the DNA is a macromolecule, deoxyribonucleic acid for
those who need a littlerefresher from maybe high school
or college to DNA and it's inevery cell and every body and
it's in all living things plants, people, pets, all of it, any
(09:01):
kind of animal, all of thembased on DNA.
And it's the heritable thing,it's the, it's the genetic
legacy that we have through eachother and it's inherited down
through the generations too.
So you know if you have yourfamily's dna.
That's how it started.
For me was actually familyresearch.
I was testing I was doinggraduate research and testing
(09:22):
different DNA markers foridentification of people, and I
also had to see how those DNAmarkers reacted in pets, you
know, in different animals, tosee how specific they were to
human.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So I gathered up some samples from my family right,
and it's very straightforward.
We have a kind of a simplewe've tried to make it
definitely as simple as possiblefor people which we've done
just through basically a simplecheek swabbing procedure.
And then I have kind of anelegant process I work through
(09:55):
in the lab.
Elegant but simple, but veryeffective, very clean DNA.
We break open the cells.
Dna is in the cells, the cheekcells, we get that out.
We break open the cells.
Dna is in the cells, the cheekcells, we get that out.
We break the cells apart.
Then we put a treatment in thereand with the magnetic beads we
actually capture the DNA andhold it on to the side of the
(10:17):
tube with magnets.
When that step in the processis on, then we wash away all the
other things the proteins, thelipids, the cell wall and stuff,
a few washes and things, andthen at the end we just let it
go off the magnet.
So we have a nice pure DNAsample.
Another thing we do is weconfirm the DNA work from every
(10:37):
single sample that we have.
We don't just trust the process.
I actually literally go andcheck through PCR, polymerase,
chain reaction.
That sample worked.
So we, you know, your cat's DNAactually is your DNA sample
that's so great.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
I love that.
My science mind is like oh mygosh, I love all the things, but
I also get what you are.
Have created a process that youremove the things that could
decay it or affect you knowholding on to it, but you're
also checking along those pathsto make sure the DNA itself is
still there and intact, so youactually have it left over at
(11:14):
the end.
I guess that's maybe a simplerexplanation.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Yeah, you summed it up great, and you know that's
because every person's sample isimportant to them.
No, we don't Again.
I just I mean, the processworks 99.9 percent of the time,
but I want to make sure, we wantto make sure every person gets
their DNA.
We actually tell you how muchis in there.
We provide a certificate thatcomes with the product and it
(11:39):
tells you you know DNA was foundand it's at this amount.
And boom, there you go.
I love it because you know DNAwas found and it's at this
amount.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
And boom, there you go.
I love it because, you know,dna is what makes us unique.
It is what makes us connectedto our families and our
ancestors, but it also we're ourown unique blend of all of
those things, and so I love theidea of thinking about the in
terms of our pets.
Yes, there's millions of catsout there, but my Charlie is his
own unique blend of all thethings, right, and so I love, in
(12:09):
a way, you're capturing.
But as you were talking aboutthe science, I was also thinking
, yeah, that's what I did when Idid Ancestry.
I swabbed my cheek and I sentit in and then, you know, my mom
did it and my sister did it andI can go in there and look at
what part I get from her andwhat I get from my dad, probably
.
So it made me think about howmuch we have moved forward in
(12:32):
that in the last 10 to 20 years,that we have so much more
access to be able to use our DNAand store it in different ways.
So I'm sure that is what madethe timing of this business for
you guys also made sense,because it has become more
accessible.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, it has, and so I love that you did that, you
know, because it is really coolto see how we are connected.
And I think you know, I thinkthe statistics are, we are 99.9%
the same, you know, and it's0.1% variation, you know, and
it's right zero one percentvariation.
You know, that makes us uniqueand different, and to me that's
beautiful, because that's whatmakes the world go round.
(13:11):
And you're right.
I look at my cat, yeti, and Ithink you are one of a kind and
sometimes we get mad about rightnow what a kindness they do.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I know what a kindness they do, so I would
love to thank you so much, dave,for explaining the science.
You fulfilled a part of me.
I'm a science girl.
I love that part, but I alsohave the psychology part of me.
So then that comes to Stephanie.
As someone who worked in hospice, who worked in a field that you
(13:41):
are dealing with grief and lossand death every day, a field
that you are dealing with griefand loss and death every day,
you know I can see the bridgebetween both of what you guys
did in your past and how thatcame together for that company.
But from your perspective andhaving worked in that area, what
made you want to start acompany in this kind of arena?
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I have always had the dream, you know, to somehow
build a community or a placewhere we could honor the people
who have passed, and I thinkI've had so many dear friends
who I've had to say goodbye tofor now and I just think, oh,
the world needs to know who youare, and these are just good,
(14:22):
everyday people who have doneincredible things, and I was so
fortunate to be with them.
You know, just bring to lifethe people that we love and the
(14:48):
pets that we love, and I've beenfortunate to meet some
incredible pets over the years,you know, because that's part of
the job, it's just you go inand help people with this stage
of life, and so this has alwaysbeen a dream of mine, and to
share the stories of thosepeople in pets, because they
make such a difference and so.
(15:10):
So that's kind of where itstarted for me and I I love to
read obituaries just because Ithink, oh, I find people
fascinating and I and so.
So, when Dave came up with thisidea long ago and kind of
mentioned, oh, I've had thisthought of putting DNA into
jewelry or somehow preservingDNA for people, and I thought,
(15:30):
oh, this is really incrediblebecause there really are so many
ways.
We've got creamer scratches,we've got so many different
options and I think they're allbeautiful I really do and I just
thought, oh, this is one moreunique way to hold on someone
you love.
And so I was able to get mydad's sample.
(15:50):
He ended up in ICU with 5%chance to live, and so I was
able to race over to thehospital and get a swab from him
and then preserve his DNA,which I carry here.
And that was super meaningfulbecause I just thought, oh, wow,
how grateful I am and hesurvived and he's doing great,
(16:10):
thank goodness.
But how grateful I am justanytime I go for a walk, anytime
I go birdwatching, anytime Iget outside, I just think, oh,
you're here, you know, andpeople kind of touch it and say,
oh, you're here and so that'sthe beautiful thing.
So, whether living or past is,what I love about this product
is you can do it both ways.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And I love that too, because I think so many of us
are at an age where our parentsare getting older or things are
changing in life.
I had actually moved thisinterview because I had four
different friends lose a parentwithin two weeks and it was a
lot.
And I realized I couldn't comeup and talk about this right now
because all of that experienceis triggering my loss of my dad
(16:53):
seven years ago and even thoughI could have done it, I just I
knew I wouldn't be clear headedand people don't get until they
go through that, what thatfeeling is like when you lose
someone and you're processingand all of that.
And we go through that with ourpets.
You know, I always say we spendmore time with our pets than we
spend with most people, letalone most of our families, and
(17:14):
they're there in the hardesttimes, in the easiest times.
You know they celebrate thegood stuff and the bad with us,
so having a piece of them withus is really important to so
many of us.
I always tell the story of thetennis ball for my childhood dog
, champ, but I think back to God, I wish I had better quality
pictures of him.
(17:34):
I wish I had a piece of him inother ways.
I've seen people use catwhiskers and jewelry.
I've seen people, when theybrush their dogs, hold on to the
fur and they create stuffedanimals with them.
There's so many things now thatcan be done, but people don't
even realize it.
So when you reached out to mewith this company, I was like,
yes, I want to share, I wantparents to realize there are
(17:57):
many options that you can do nowor later to memorialize your
pets.
So how has starting thiscompany in the world of pets and
loss and all of that been forboth of you, I'm sure?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
it's been a journey.
It has been a journey and we'vemet really incredible people.
That's the beauty of this jobis just the people and the pets.
So, learning the stories.
I think what I love about DNAis Love is it's both the heart
and the science, and I think wereally strive to build that
because these are reallyimportant samples to us, these
(18:33):
are really important stories tous and we hold them really close
to our heart.
And so, yeah, I think we've hada lot of fun.
We have done some horse dna,which was a really neat project
for a wonderful, wonderful woman, and oh, I love that.
That was to just think, oh mygosh, we are doing this and.
(18:55):
And so, yeah, we've done plentyof cats, plenty of dogs.
Uh, we're hoping to get somemore unique animals.
Yeah, dave, can we?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
get those.
Definitely.
Yeah, anything that's, you know, mammal, we can check with the
PCR primers that we currently do, but we can expand that out if
we get, you know, uniquerequests and stuff.
You know something I want toadd too, and just how all this
stuff kind of comes full circle,Julie is you know another
aspect that we're I said we'reserial entrepreneurs, right Like
(19:31):
Stephanie's actually justlaunching a site called Stories
with Steph and it is literallywhere she's putting together
video tributes of people withtheir pets.
It could be pet based, it couldbe family based and things.
So it's those important things,it's the stories that connect
us all together and thatconnection and then also having
something physically to hold onto.
You know our jewelry.
We have picture frames whereyou could put photos of your
(19:54):
loved ones and then a dna goesin a bar that attaches into the
frame and we can actually mixsamples together.
If you had more than one pet or, you know, dog or cat, we could
totally do that.
So there's a lot of room togrow and expand, but we're kind
of full circle.
But it is the stories thatconnect us and the physical, the
(20:14):
tangible, you know.
I think those things togethermake a very powerful option for
people that want to remember.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
You know, it is about the remembrance and the caring
right, and you know that'ssomething I've learned so much
through just my podcasting inthe last five years that a lot
of why we like podcasts or booksor audiobooks or those we all
like it is because it is aboutthe story.
It's not just about, like me,teaching or talking about myself
(20:43):
or whatever.
It's about sharing stories, andthat's why people respond to
interview based TV shows andpodcasts.
It's all about the us sharingour experiences and that's what
connects all of us humans.
But I've also found thattelling stories about our pets
is also a way to share ourexperience but then connect with
(21:04):
other people that have thatsame bond and also to use the
experiences to get more peopleto take care of animals and all
of this.
You know it's such a big thing,but ultimately it's about legacy
, and so I, you know, haverealized that's why a lot of us
podcast is it's about legacy.
I have a friend who had a greatpodcast and she passed away and
(21:25):
we're paying what her friend ispaying and we're all
contributing to keep the podcastalive so that her legacy, her
story and her impact continues.
So that's what I love about theworld now is we have so many
options, but then it's kind ofhard to choose.
What do I want to do?
So many options, but then it'skind of hard to choose.
(21:47):
What do I want to do?
Yes, how do I want tomemorialize by pet or person or
whatever it may be.
And so talk a little bit abouthow you guys decided for what
products you do offer at thispoint.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Yeah, I think what we really wanted to create were
meaningful pieces that representlove and connection, and you
know.
So we have a number.
I'm wearing the Living Heartpendant right now.
We have an infinity necklace,and all of these can be engraved
, all of them can be customizedand you know they're fillable.
(22:19):
So what Dave does is he doesthe whole process and it's
really neat to watch and youknow I didn't know a lot about
DNA when we got this.
I was like read from biology andso I think my cat was one of
the first samples we ran and Iwas there for the whole process
(22:42):
and watching how Dave ismeticulously, does his craft,
his art.
It's amazing and beautiful towatch.
And so he'll take it throughthe whole process and then run
it through the PCR machine andwhen you see the curves I'm
learning kind of go up, I think,and he said we got, got it, and
there was something in thatmoment like wow, that's amazing.
(23:06):
And and then to see the clean,purified dna of my cat right
will last for hundreds of yearsif needed.
you know that's a really coolthing, and so seeing the process
and then having this tangiblereminder- of.
(23:26):
Yeti means everything.
It means everything, and so I'mgrateful I was able to see that
in action and just to have apart of him with me forever.
He's 13, you know, and I justthink, okay, 13 is the new 30,
you know, which is bad years,but I think he's good.
He's good but truly it's in mymind.
(23:49):
You know I don't want to livein the thought of, oh, what
happens?
But you're absolutely right, Ithink he has been with me
through the toughest times, youknow, and my kids have grown and
they've left the house and thiscat is just every night right
here on my shoulder and I justthink I love him more than life
itself, truly, and so I amgrateful for the years I have.
(24:12):
I am grateful for the memories,because I know people lose pets
all along the way way too soon,and it's devastating.
It's really really hard.
So I am grateful that I do havea piece of him with me always.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, and I think it's hard because a lot of us
don't want to think about thedeath when we're living, right,
whether it's our pets or ourfamily or ourselves.
But we also have to realize,like you said and I think maybe
the pandemic and COVID made usall think about it a lot more
you never know what could happen.
And it's funny, with all theloss that's been happening
(24:47):
around me.
I'll say to my husband he'slike they're all older, like you
know, it's OK and it's like no,but it's different and it
doesn't matter if someone passesaway at 95 or 35.
Like it's all loss, it's allsad and we never know what our
life plan is.
And we also don't know for ourpets, like you said.
(25:07):
You know I have a cat who'salmost 16, but I also have a
two-year-old that she could getsick, something could happen.
So it's this idea of givingpeople a chance to think about
it and how best they want tomemorialize someone while they
have options of whether thatswabbing DNA versus having just
the ashes left over from a petand that's something I thought
(25:28):
about when I met you guys,thinking, oh yeah, I have ashes
from two pets, but then I alsohave three living cats.
So that idea that there'soptions for us, no matter where
you are in your grief process oryour life.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, julia, as youmentioned, right, you just don't
know, like you don't know whattomorrow will bring, right,
could be an accident, it couldbe unexpected.
I mean, we do.
We can also fill our jewelrywith cremation ashes and we do
have that as an option on thewebsite for people that only
have that left.
We could even possibly mixashes together with DNA.
(26:04):
You know, we're kind ofspecialized in DNA, but I call
it the slurry myself.
So it's an option, like ifpeople would want that.
So, again, we can customize andwe can do some things for
people.
We can help people hang on tothose loved ones and those
memories, you know, in manydifferent ways.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
And I think that's great.
The science and the technologyallows us options like you're
talking about, but I've alsorealized that, with pets
specifically, sometimes it justis something you don't realize
you want.
So, as I've done this podcast,I've met people who are artists
and draw or paint photos of pets.
Right, that's something that'sbecome very popular.
(26:43):
I mean, look at behind me, mostof these are other people's art
that I've put up or a photo,and so I think there's also a
creativity in it that we get topick something that's meaningful
for us.
So, like me, stephanie, thenecklace you're wearing is what
I looked at for doing withCharlie, because I love jewelry,
(27:03):
I love hearts.
That's something that meanssomething to me.
But a picture frame I love too,because obviously I like
pictures and I have pictureframes of all my old pets behind
me.
You know, I think a lot of thatis.
It gives you, as those who arecreating the products and the
company's, creativity and ableto try new things, but it also
(27:24):
allows for a vast number ofoptions for us as buyers, to
decide what is meaningful to us.
So did you think about that andtalk about that as you?
Obviously, dave, you were doingthe science, but thinking about
science wise, what you couldactually use to hold this piece
of DNA.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Yeah, we totally did.
We sourced, you know, we lookedfar and wide to find what we
were looking for and the key iskind of that it's fillable.
So it actually these arejewelry pieces that we'll
unscrew a little bit and they'rehollowed out inside.
So we'll put the DNA in andthen seal it up and, as
Stephanie mentioned, even if theliquid would disperse out from
(28:05):
that over time and evaporate alittle bit, the dna will adhere
to the walls of the tube andthat dna isn't there for as long
as we're going to be around,and a lot longer, you know.
So that's something, and maybesteph can talk about how she's
the shopper, the producer, Iwould say, and I'm more the
science end, but we reallybrought it together, I think.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I could definitely see how you guys you need both
of you Like you're the science,you're the process, and then
you're the one that says, well,this is a good idea, will it fit
, will this work.
So I love that.
You know you guys really neededeach other for it but were able
to kind of make it work becauseof both sides of what you do.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Absolutely.
And yeah, and that was a funpart of the process.
It really was.
I'm trying to select the rightthings that were meaningful.
You know, there's one with abutterfly on it and I feel like
my mom.
She passed away in 2011.
There's not a day I don't go bythat I don't think about her,
but I do feel like she'll cometo me as a butterfly sometime
(29:10):
and I'll be out and justthinking and a butterfly will
fly by and I think, oh, hi, mom.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And yeah, I have to say, when I looked at your
website, the one with thebutterfly really stood out to me
.
It was very pretty and it waslike in the back of my head my
mom loves butterflies.
She's still here.
I'm thought, well, maybe thisis somebody telling me this
would be a perfect thing to donow while I have her here.
So I love that some of thepieces and ideas came from your
own experiences and peopleyou've lost.
Speaker 3 (29:38):
Absolutely so.
That one for sure is verymeaningful to me, and so that's
what we hope to create.
And then we just have somesimple pieces, because I'm not a
huge jewelry, I like simple,and so we went with the bar
pendant and a few pieces likethat.
And then we did earrings and wethought, why not?
Because they were, you know,give it a try.
(29:58):
And so that was a really funprocess and working with our
vendor was an experience, and wejust met the best people along
the generations.
And that's where my passiontruly lies is just in genealogy
(30:29):
work and family history andunderstanding where we come from
and carrying the storiesforward.
And then I think DNA goes rightwith that Literally carry our
ancestors forward in us.
And when Dave was explainingthe science behind how that all
works and the genes we bringover from our parents, and he
(30:50):
was showing me paternity reportsyou know, of how you can see
what you get from whom and Ijust thought, oh, this is
science, which I love, and Ialso love the heart.
I love just the unknown, thebeauty of the connection, that
of love truly, and so that's howwe came up with the name of DNA
(31:13):
is love.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Yeah, I think that's so true.
You know, I thinking, like Imentioned earlier, about doing
my own ancestry with DNA.
Part of DNA and history, it'sall a part of the story.
It's the story.
But I can hear a story about myancestor but the DNA shows me
scientifically what parts I gotfrom them are the same or
similar.
It's all a part of passing onour history.
(31:39):
Our stories, our family andpets are a part of that history
Absolutely.
And as you guys were talkingabout unique pets, I started
visualizing me with a littleswab swabbing one of our
tortoises' mouths.
Oh, my husband's going to thinkI'm crazy.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Oh, we would love to do that one yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
And it's.
You know it's so funny becauseeverybody loves their pets,
whatever they are.
But my husband grew up withthis big yard that they got
tortoises.
I don't know how it started.
Well, the problem withtortoises you can't get them
fixed like you can get a cat ora dog fixed, and so they just
keep mating and having more.
(32:23):
So when we bought our housegosh, almost 13 years ago now,
one of the first things he didwas bring one of the tortoises
here.
He's like well, I got to take amale out, so there's less
tortoises being.
But it was also a tortoise thathe had lived with since he was
younger, when it was a hatchlingRufus.
(32:43):
Our first tortoise came andlived here and it was our
tortoise now, but he'd actuallybeen along the whole at that
point, 20 years.
We'd known each other.
You know, sometimes pets are apart of our history in ways that
are much more meaningful thanjust.
This is my cat.
You know it's a part of hisfamily history.
He knows how to take care oftortoises because he grew up
(33:04):
with them and was taught how totake care of them.
You know, there is that elementof family history and passing
things on that I think comes outin our pets also and makes it
even more meaningful for usright.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Oh, it absolutely does and it makes me think of
you know, my dad grew up on a200 acre ranch in Wyoming and he
, his beloved pet, was a horsenamed Red Wing.
And he would ride Red Wing toschool at five in the morning,
you know, because school was 40miles away.
Like that's the family lore.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
But we all have those stories, we're not really sure
how true they are, but they'repassed down, they're getting
bigger yeah.
They're exaggerated.
The mileage is exaggerated Alittle less.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
The size of the horse and you know snow and all the
things.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
But that horse has become a part of our history,
like we all know, my dad's horse, red Wing, you know because he
would talk about him and you'reright, so I do think that's part
of our story.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You know it's funny.
Maybe our dads knew each other,but my dad, when he was growing
up, his grandparents had a farmand a ranch in Wyoming that he
spent a lot of time in, so healways loved horses.
Because of that I have a horsephoto.
One of the reasons I love andhave a creation for them because
he would always talk about them.
So, right Again, that's familyhistory, and he was an animal
(34:27):
lover, just like I was, and sothat's a part of it too it's
that we're not justmemorializing the individual
person or pet, we'rememorializing that place in our
life and our history, our family.
You know, like you said, yourcat is still there with you,
even though your kids are grownand off, living their own lives,
and those are just like thosepoints that the pets help us
(34:51):
connect and work throughdifferent life changes too.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Absolutely.
They are just the constantcompanion and I just, you know,
and I look back on my life and Ihad a cat all growing up named
Critter Bailey and and we haddogs Flare and Pasha, you know
golden retrievers through theyears and I just think, oh, they
are a part of me still and Ithink if I see a dog out on a
(35:17):
walk, I think, oh, my gosh, thatreminds me of yeah yeah, my pet
.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Sometimes animals come to us to remind us of
people, and you were talkingabout the butterfly.
You know seagulls are what comeup.
For me that it's like my dadsaying hi, because the thing he
loved, one of the things heloved most was going to the
beach and sitting and watching.
You know the boats, but theseagulls were a part of that too
(35:42):
, and the first time we went tothe beach after he passed away,
there was one lone seagull.
That would be every place wewent by our room at a restaurant
.
We would always just see onesitting somewhere where we could
see it, but just sitting thereby itself.
And so it's been this.
It's come up for me in photosand stories and you know there's
.
There's this connection we wantto feel to people we've lost,
(36:05):
to our pets we've lost, and so Ithink that's part of what the
both of you are creating.
The DNA and the picture frameor jewelry is kind of giving us
that tie to them, so we feellike we still have a piece of
them literally with us we stillhave a piece of them literally
with us, really no, and I lovethat story.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
I love that story because I do.
You know, I think I've spent alot of years studying this and
being around death and beingaround transition and those kind
of things and I think, oh, it'sbigger than we know and I
absolutely believe they're here.
And what I love about thescience behind that is that, you
know, energy cannot be creatednor destroyed, and I just think
it goes somewhere, and so Itruly believe we continue on and
(36:55):
that they're close.
And I think that's where theconnection to me and I tell Dave
all the time I'm like we are soconnected, we are so connected
to each other, to nature, towater, to all right and I just
think, and DNA is kind of theroot of all of that, it's in.
so all of it is fascinating tome.
(37:15):
Why I love this?
Because I just thought, oh,let's bring all of it together
hard and hard science, because Iknow there are all of this and
people do science and I'm likehere it is, and then when it
goes well, and here it is, soit's connected.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Well, and I think it also gives us an opportunity to
think about death and lossdifferently, because a lot of
times it's a taboo thing, wedon't want to talk about it.
I don't want to talk about it.
I don't want to talk about it.
It's like, well, mom, you'realmost 80.
We should probably talk aboutit.
And I actually had thatexperience when my dad passed.
He was 94.
And so when I would say my dadpassed, they would ask me how
old he was.
I'd say 94.
Oh OK, it was almost like theywere saying, well, he was old,
(37:58):
so it's okay.
Like well, yeah, but it stillhurts.
You know, I only got him for 40years because he was much older
when I was born.
So I think there's an elementof what you both are doing with
this business that is that piece.
Of it doesn't matter when youlose someone or a pet, whether
you had them one day or 100years.
(38:18):
It's never enough, right, whenwe have those bonds, and so
you're giving a way for us tohold on to them in a really
special, meaningful way thatwill, you know, make us feel
like they're still with us.
We say that they're still withus, but you're literally
creating that with the DNApieces.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
Yeah, thank you for that.
That's really kind and that'sthat's our hope.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Yeah, totally, totally.
You know, we share like 90percent dna similarity to dogs,
actually to cats, and like 85 todogs.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
All living things right, um right and they always
say we end up looking like ourpets somehow.
But I will say, it's so funnybecause I grew up with dogs and
I still love dogs and hope tohave another one at some point.
But when I got my first cat itwas like wow, you are my people,
like we understand each otherright.
(39:10):
So it's that there is thisconnection with all living
things and nature, but we allhone in on that one type of
animal or one type of you know,I love the beach, other people
like the mountains, whateverit's because we feel that
connection that we literallyhave genetically, but then the
presence is different.
So it is.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
It's like that piece of us that's continuing as well
as connecting to other peoplethat I really see in that and
it's why people, I think,respond so well to the idea of
DNA and looking at your ancestry, because there's that meaning
that you want to understand andhave a piece of it too
absolutely, and that's what wehope, and so we collect these
(39:50):
samples and and and we care forthem and we don't hold on to
them and we don't keep them forany other reason, but just to
give you fully back what isyours and, but the hope is to
keep that part of them closewith you forever, right?
Speaker 2 (40:07):
well, I think that's an important point to make.
I'm sure dave can speak to.
It is, um, I know myself I'vedone like I said the ancestry.
My husband's never done it hequestions how, like, I'll give
him stuff and he'll be likethey're just making that up and
I'm like they can't make it allup.
My husband can be a greatpessimist, but I'm sure there
(40:28):
are some questions about ifsomeone's giving you your DNA
especially for you, dave,concerned about well, now you
have my DNA or you have thisperson or pet's DNA, you know.
So I'm sure that there is aprocess of you explaining that
we're not holding on to this,you're just processing it.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah, definitely we are.
We're just processing it.
You're right, there's no data.
The only data associated withany of this is me confirming
every sample with a very genericset of primers to say, yes, we
have a million DNA in thisamount, otherwise, there's no
login, there's no storage,there's no password.
We amount, otherwise there's nologin, there's no storage,
there's no password.
We also make it super easy,like we have.
It's a three-way shipping.
(41:05):
We have to send you the swabkit.
You do the swabbing, break itoff, send it back to us.
I work my magic in the lab, notmy magic, I do the science in
the lab and then we For a lot ofpeople.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
It's magic.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah right, I mean, you know I joke about that part,
but it's totally a perfectlydefined process, you know, and
we do that.
I was.
So I think we're giving peoplean opportunity that if we
weren't around to do this, Idon't know, you know, maybe
people could source it somehowand find it, but we're trying to
make it accessible and easy forpeople to to get those
(41:40):
reminders.
That plus, you know storieswith Steph, what she's doing to
bring that up.
I think that's amazing and Imean there's people have a lot
of pictures on there and videoson their phones, but is it
together in a compelling,meaningful story?
You know, I think that's big.
So it's things we're trying tooffer people that are good for
people in their lives to in thatconnection and that caring for
(42:05):
each other, you know.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Yeah, I saw some time I think I always seem to get
the ads probably around theholidays where there's a company
and I'm not going to promotethem, I don't even remember
their name, but it's like if youhave someone in your family,
you want to know their storiesand you don't have them.
You set up the service and likeevery day or every week they
get a question, they answer, andso then it's all compiled for
(42:27):
you and I.
My dad wrote down some of hisstories for us, thank God,
because we wouldn't have it.
But so I also see theconnection for you, stephanie,
to go to the next kind of stepof another option for people,
which is getting those storieswritten down, getting them
recorded in some way, becausethere are things I wish I could
ask my dad that I can't, or hetold me one time 20 years ago
(42:50):
and I don't remember thespecifics right, so I can really
understand where you're wantingto do.
That as kind of another part ofit is really important
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
And luckily my mother was a master genealogist, so
she left us histories of ourgreat ancestors, and so what a
gift that was to our family.
But she did it in book form,you know, and it's 300 pages.
Speaker 1 (43:16):
And my kid.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Yeah, I'll get around to that and she and I put those
together long ago and so thatwas a really meaningful memory
for me being with her andputting those together.
But I thought, oh, how could Imodernize what my mom did in a
way where people can watchsomething in three to five
(43:37):
minutes and get a good idea ofwho this person is, who this pet
is?
I've done my cat Yeti and Ijust think he's memorialized
forever.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Pet is I've done my cat Yeti and I just think he's
memorialized forever.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
No one's going to forget Yeti.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
But Yeti, I'm not kidding, and I agree with you.
We should.
You know.
I don't know how many peopleI've told about my childhood dog
, champ, so I get what you'resaying.
It's like having a place to do.
It is important for us becauseit's not even processing grief
as much as I get to share thispiece of me that no one knows
about, right.
Speaker 3 (44:14):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I do.
I do see the importance ofsharing story, of writing your
own personal history, even ifit's short, even if it's just.
This is who I am.
This is where I was born, myparents.
I do see the importance because, years down the road, I'm
reading stories from 200 yearsago and I think I am learning so
(44:35):
much that applies today, bypeople who paved the way for me
to be where I am today, and sohistorical records are important
to us in a lot of ways, as aculture, as a society, as a
family.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
You know there's so much need for it, but we don't
always take the time to write itdown.
I think it's one thing Irealized with my dad in a lot of
ways, because we're writing theobituary and we're having to
remember dates, and he was 94.
That's a lot of dates and a lotof them I wasn't around for,
and so there are moments likethat.
I think sometimes we get aglimpse of what we wish we'd
(45:12):
known or asked.
And so having somewhere we couldgo, where you've already
thought of that and you're goingto tell us what to ask or what
to write down or what to record,is really important for people.
Speaker 3 (45:23):
Oh, and I love that and I love your stories about
your dad because you're right, I, you know, my kids laugh at me
because they say all yourfriends are over 90.
And I think I know, and I loveit because I am getting a PhD in
life, life you know, becausethey have lived it and they know
it and and I think it's so hardto say goodbye to them.
(45:44):
You know my dear friends 97, 95.
And when they passed I washeartbroken, even though it was
expected, even though you knowRight.
I mean.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Yeah, age and all of that doesn't make it any easier,
no matter what the loss is.
But having a piece of them,knowing I already have a piece
of them, it's okay, you know Ialways will have them, but it's
so true because you know there'sthings we hear we're like oh
yeah, you've told me that story10 times, but then I forget it
when you're not here to remindme what the specifics are.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
So yeah, definitely it's those family stories I've
heard from you know, I heardfrom my dad and mom when they
were living.
Right, they told the same story.
But I love to hear the sametelling of it.
Right, and Stephanie is veryhumble, she's a master
storyteller.
We can tell I say it's a Stephstory when people cry, like
literally after, in a good way.
(46:39):
But that's how we know, right,it brings out the emotion and it
brings it to life.
Speaker 2 (46:45):
Well, that's what we respond to as people.
You know, people like to listento a podcast because it makes
them feel something, whetherit's sad or happy, or feel the
same Same thing with TV andbooks.
Right, it's the emotion we wantto evoke and how we tell the
story.
It's something I've learned alot in the last few years as a
podcaster, because I used towork in higher ed.
I used to teach statistics, Iused to teach psychology.
(47:07):
It was fact based, wasn't aboutme, it wasn't to get people to
cry.
You know, I've had to learn howto do it more because it wasn't
natural, because not how I didthings Right.
So sometimes people just needto be told well, you should have
them do this.
It's like, oh wow, I wouldn'thave thought of that.
So I think that's what's greatabout the DNA is Love Company in
(47:28):
terms of the pieces you cancreate, but also what it sounds
like you're looking to do,stephanie, with your new
business is giving people aplace to not only create the
story, write it down or hold it,but then to have it to pass on
to other people.
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (47:45):
Absolutely, and your pets too.
They're a part of this.
They really are.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Oh, trust me, I haven't learned.
People love telling storiesabout their pets.
I know and I'm like let's talk.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
That's what I'm most excited about.
Tell me everything.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
And you want to listen because you also then
feel you remember your pets orit makes you feel the feeling
you have about your own, andagain, it's just that connection
.
So, of course, in the show notesof this episode we'll have all
the links for DNA is Love so youcan check out the different
products, and I do love thatyour jewelry has so many
(48:20):
varieties, like there's somethings that are more traditional
, some are more modern, so I candefinitely tell how you really
tried to create a variety ofoptions that you know speak to
people depending on what theirstyle is or what they like.
So we will have all the linksfor DNA is Love and you can
connect with them, with thecompany, dave and Stephanie, on
(48:42):
social.
Whatever you want to do, we'llhave all the links for you to do
that.
But as we kind of wrap this up,dave and Stephanie, what is
something you want our listenersto kind of take away from this
episode, from what you want themto understand about your
business and what you hope thatthey, you know, are able to do
if they choose to purchase oneof your products?
Speaker 3 (49:05):
Good question.
Yeah, I think for me it's justreally enjoy the moment, like
that's a big thing.
You know, you've got this for alimited time, you've got your
pets, you've got the people inyour life for a limited time,
hold on to them and cherish them, cherish the stories, and so I
think what I love about whatwe're doing is creating that
(49:25):
connection truly through thegenerations, so people can hold
on to this for a length of time,and we've heard the best
stories from people who havedone this service.
Just the peace of mind itbrings them, knowing that, no
matter what happens, they have apart of the person or pet they
love deeply.
So that's what we're mostexcited about.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
Yeah, I'd echo that too.
I would just say don'tappreciate what you have, like
don't expect it's going to lastfor a long time, and take
advantage of it If it'ssomething that's meaningful to
you.
We have a way for you to havethat connection that can last
you, you know, when they'repassed, for I still have my
parents' DNA samples from backwhen I started this and did my
(50:09):
research and it feels good tohave that.
A lot of times, you know, just,you're down and out a little
bit and you just say, okay, hey,we're in this together, we're
going to be there and soappreciate what you have.
And there is the science, thereis the tech.
We do make it pretty easy forpeople if they want to explore
this further.
So take advantage, if you will,and you know, and just keep
(50:31):
being out there learning andenjoy the moment.
Speaker 2 (50:35):
Absolutely.
I think that's a great way toend Again.
Dna is love.
Please check it out, pleaseshare with your friends.
I think at this point in theworld, we all know someone who's
lost someone or a pet recentlyand you never know who might see
this and be like.
That's the perfect way for meto grieve and memorialize that
person or pet.
So thank you, dave andStephanie, for being here.
(50:56):
It's been so great to meet youand hear your story and how
you're trying to help us petparents hold on to a piece of
our pets forever.
So thank you for coming and forbeing here.
Thank you so much, julie.
Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah, thanks, julie, it's been a pleasure talking
with you.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:23):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Story of my Pet podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it as much asI did interviewing Dave and
Stephanie from DNA is Love and Ihope you will check them out to
see if one of their pieces ofjewelry or art or photo frames
(51:43):
might be the right way for youto memorialize your pet that is
still living and grab their DNAnow so you will have that piece
of them with you forever, or usesome of the ashes from a pet
you have already lost to be putinto one of the pieces.
I really enjoyed thisconversation and getting to know
(52:04):
them and the reason behind DNAis Love and why they are
offering this service.
That is uniquely perfect forpet parents who want to really
enjoy our pets while they'restill here but have a piece of
them with us once they are gone.
I hope you will check out evenmore new episodes of the Story
(52:25):
of my Pet and, if you are notalready listening and watching
our full video episodes onYouTube, go to my YouTube
channel right now link in theshow notes to subscribe and
follow all of the new episodesand listen and watch some of the
previous episodes.
Thank you again for being here.
(52:47):
I will be back soon with a newepisode of the Story of my Pet.
Much love to you and your pets.
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