Meet Mallori Girard | Co-Founder and Kitten Care Coordinator

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

Hi Mallori, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The catalyst of starting Six Kittens Rescue was the immense need that is present in our community. We, the founders, have always been helpers, which is what landed us sitting in our living room with six kittens in our laps trying to figure out the best way to help our community. We decided that instead of working as “freelance rescuers”, we could form an organization and, with the help of the community at our backs, have a much greater reach for helping that cats and kittens of Bryan/College Station.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The interesting thing about Six Kittens Rescue is that we are all entirely volunteer operated, including the founders, who just happen to be married to one another! We founded Six Kittens Rescue when we were both young graduate students at Texas A&M University. At 26 and 31, we didn’t see our age or lack of capital as a limiting factor. We had trust in one another and faith in our community to help support our efforts. We both study programming to some extent. I, Mallori, am currently pursuing a PhD in Youth Development, focusing on the morality of sport. Jai, whom I founded SKR with, is nearing completion of her PhD studying Tourism and Hospitality and is currently teaching hospitality courses at James Madison University in Virginia. Our educational attainment isn’t what sets up apart from other rescues, however. We surround ourselves with strong, talented, and educated women (surprisingly, our board of directors, veterinary team, and entire foster team is made up completely of women) who have the same mission: save cats. We believe that every life is valuable and deserves to be treated with love and respect, even the angry tom cats that want to eat us. That isn’t to say that starting a rescue is easy. It is extremely challenging. The financial burden can be too much to take at times, but that doesn’t compare to the pain that is felt when you lose your first foster kitty. Loss is inevitable in rescue, but at SKR, we love each and every animal as our own and the loss never gets easier. We have learned, however, that we can never give up, because there will always be more animals that need our help.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being from a big city originally, living in Bryan/College Station has been an adjustment to say the least. The first place I would take my friend would be Halo, the only gay bar in BCS. It is truly a place where everyone is welcome and you’re treated as family. I would take them for enchiladas at Papa Perez and then carry on shopping at Rabbit Hole Antiques!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We wouldn’t have been able to help the animals that we have if it weren’t for our veterinary partners. Without Bryan Animal Clinic always lending a helping hand, especially when we were in our infancy stages, there is no way we would be where we are today. The caring veterinarians of Bryan Animal Clinic have come in early, stayed late, and answered our middle of the night emergency phone calls because they, too, are in it for the betterment of all animals.

Website: www.sixkittensrescue.org

Instagram: @SixKittensRescue

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sixkittensrescue/