Carrie Lippert Gillaspie, Television & Podcast Host

In this episode, Stacy chats with Carrie Gillaspie, a television and podcast host from rural central Wisconsin with a huge passion for helping animals. Last year, Carrie began noticing larger than normal numbers of barn and community cats in her area, and hearing complaints from the farms around her, that the cat numbers were out of control. Taking matters into her own hands, Carrie convinced a local group, The Fix Is In, to bring their mobile clinic to her neighborhood—and she raised the funds to make the surgeries totally free of charge to those bringing cats. That event is now being used as a prototype for six other events planned for this spring and summer. Stacy and Carrie discuss Carrie's fundraising strategy for the event, as well as the logistics of the surgery day. They talk about what Carrie feels the impact will be on the local community, and how she is now spearheading The Fix Is In's effort to get this model out in other communities. The campaign is called The Year of the Cat 2020, with a goal of fixing 2,020 cats this year. Another of Carrie's goals is TNR outreach. "That's my cardinal rule," she tells Stacy. "If you feed them, you fix them." She encourages listeners to embark on similar projects in their own communities—and to feel free to reach out to her with questions or for encouragement. "I literally am just an animal lover who saw a need in my community and just decided to do something about it," she says, "and that's all you need to be; that's all you need to do." To learn more about Carrie—including about her podcast, Candidly Speaking, visit her website, or follow her on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.