Julie Castle, the CEO of Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and a Southern Utah University alumna, presented a lecture at SUU as part of the ongoing Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. The lecture took place on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 11:30 a.m. in the Dixie Leavitt Business Building.
Castle focused on her career throughout her lecture. She originally planned to go into law school following her time at SUU. This changed during a road trip she took to Mexico. On her way back from the trip, she stopped in Kanab, Utah, where she saw a beautiful animal sanctuary that altered her career path.
She canceled her plans to attend law school and began working for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary despite push back from family and friends.
Her early work for the non-profit organization included spending multiple hours asking for donations in front of grocery stores.
One of the most pivotal moments during her time at the organization involved a newsletter. She described that many newsletters at the time were focused on showing the bad in the world to give readers a sense of urgency to donate. However, Castle felt she could do things differently. Castle believed that if readers could see the positives their donations provided, they would be more inclined to donate.
This mindset proved to be massively successful in her career. A list of accomplishments that the organization has done was also provided, including becoming a $171 million organization and making every shelter in America no-kill by 2025.
At the end of the lecture, Castle invited students to ask questions.
One student had a question about the No-Kill 2025 proposal, asking if euthanasia on sickly animals would still be allowed. Castle acknowledged that some at-risk animals with conditions like cancer would still have euthanization as an option.
Another student asked if she ever felt like she made the wrong choice when she left law school and began working at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Castle said that living off of low paychecks was tough, but the passion she had for the sanctuary led her to keep moving forward.
Castle was also asked what ways locals can start participating in animal activism.
“You could tap into our 2025 action. We have action teams in every corner of the country,” said Castle. “The second-best place is to take a course through SUU.”
Castle finished the lecture by recommending that students look into the partnership between SUU and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Students can take a variety of classes involving animal service professions. The website can be found here.
One more entrepreneurship lecture is planned for the fall semester, which will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 11:30 a.m. For those that want to listen to past guest speakers, a full list of archived lectures can be found here.
Author: Carlos Grilli
Photographer: Carlos Grilli
Editor: Audrey Gee
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