We had the good fortune of connecting with Brian Gill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My reasoning for starting the business was simple: to help pay for the food of the animals we had and to educate the public about these fascinating animals. I have always had a love for animals and being able to share some of our critters with kids, and adults, seemed like something I wanted to do. I never thought it would lead to a full-time career.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We started in 2006 with a focus on educating the public on respecting animals and how to properly care for them as pets. I always had an interest in the ‘other’ pets: snakes, lizards, geckos…those types of things. However, as a kid there wasn’t anyone that had any or could tell us how to keep them as pets, etc. I would see the local zoo come into our school as a kid and talk about the animals but you couldn’t touch them, just look. I wanted to feel them. I wanted to get a whole experience, not just listen to someone tell me how cool it is.

When we started we used our own few pets that we had. Then we started getting calls immediately from people asking us to take in their unwanted snake / lizard / hedgehog and more. It was at that point we realized that we also needed to rescue these animals and more people had these things as pets than we thought.

Getting here wasn’t an easy road, it’s been a lot of hard work and it continues to be hard work today. Being self-employed means you always work. That, in addition to the animals living in our home with us, means I work 7 days / week, 24 hours / day and we have a lot of life in this house.

While it’s not easy I wouldn’t change anything, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and how far we’ve come. While there are other organizations that do what we do nobody does it EXACTLY like us. Being a small family business, caring for the animals and working with each other comes naturally. We love what we do and it comes through in every program we conduct.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If someone were coming to our city to visit there’s a lot to see and do here. Depending on the time of year you could catch a Reds game, a Bengals game, an FC Cincinnati game or a Cyclones game in each of their own arenas. You can go to Krohn’s Conservatory to take in some amazing plants then head to the Cincinnati Zoo and see one of the countries top zoos.

You can walk along the Ohio River on the River Trail. If biking is your thing we have miles and miles of bike trails to take. Loads of parks to visit and a lot of nature to take in. You can go to the Museum Center and spend the entire day checking out all they have to offer. Ever had chili and spaghetti? Come try what we’re famous for.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my wife and 3 kids for always supporting me and having my back, helping out with anything that needed to be done. It couldn’t have been easy growing up with all of these animals and doing what we do, I appreciate and understand the sacrifices they have all made, and continue to make, on behalf of my love for animals.

Website: www.coolcrittersoutreach.com

Instagram: @coolcrittersoutreach

Facebook: Cool Critters Outreach

Youtube: Cool Critters Outreach

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