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In addition to running Instagram accounts for all seven pets, they sell Nala-themed merchandise such as shirts, beanies and pet toys, produce a Facebook Watch show about Nala and work on sponsored content deals with brands on Instagram that start at $8,000 for each post.
“It really happened by accident,” she said. “By the second week, Nala had 500 followers, and by the fourth month, she had reached almost 50,000. At the time, I was like, ‘Maybe we have something special here.'”
Brands soon started reaching out about sponsored content deals with Nala. That’s when Methachittiphan decided to turn the cat’s Instagram following into a career.
Ellis, who had an Etsy store at the time, reached out to Methachittiphan to send Nala a cat bow tie when she had about 75,000 fans. When Nala hit a million followers, Ellis reached out again to congratulate Methachittiphan. They struck a deal for bow ties for Nala’s online store.
When Ellis delivered the products in person, the two hit it off. They’ve been married for four years and adopted two kids.
“Nala brought us together,” Ellis said.
Nala also makes appearances at other festivals beyond VidCon, including CatCon, a convention in Pasadena, California, for cat lovers, and MeowFest, a gathering in Canada that raises money for nonprofits like cat shelters, in addition to other meet and greet events for her fans.
“I think she knows she’s famous,” Ellis said of Nala. “People cry [when they meet her].”
Some fans travel from far away countries, such as Japan, and buy two meet-and-greet passes, she said. Others stock up on merchandise and order even more when they get home.
“We feel overwhelmed,” Ellis said. “Those kinds of fans, we try to know who they are and like go to dinner with them.”
Although they sometimes post photos of their seven pets together (they all get along overall), they have distinct audiences. In addition to sponsored content deals, they use their accounts to raise awareness about animal hunger, fostering pets, adopting animals from shelters and educating people about proper pet parenting. Nala has the biggest career, but the others also partake in sponsored content deals and some make local appearances at local pet stores and events.
That brings up a hard question for people who build their business around their Instagram famous pets: What do you do when they die?
“That is the reality. We think about it often,” said Ellis, who said the pair’s focus is on how to continue helping animals after both they and Nala are gone.
“We know that we have to build something that is sustainable, that lives on its own. That thing will be Nala’s legacy,” she said.
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