I grew up in beautiful Carmel, California, and I have extremely sweet parents that always loved nature and animals. They instilled such an appreciation for beauty and kindness that it was inherent.

Spreading the word about real issues is still helping. Just being conscious of helping animals every day will help guide you to make beneficial decisions for animals.

I always felt that with luxury came cruelty. I do my best to live a happy, prosperous life, but I don't indulge in a lot of luxury.

I'm not sure what gave me empathy for animals, but I do know that I have always loved animals since I was a very young child. I always felt a need to nurture and protect them. Perhaps I could see they needed that, and caring for them made me happy.

Being surrounded by nature and animals always kept me grounded and happy.

My main message to folks who love animals is that you can do something every day to help them. Even if you have no money or time, per se, you can find ways to contribute on any level: sharing shelter animals on social media, donating old blankets or towels to a local shelter, starting a petition online for an animal cause.

I try to support any and all animal causes or organizations out there if they are good and reputable. Sadly, there are a lot of people and organizations that raise money but don't do much or don't have good intentions. I've worked with organizations such as Marine Animal Rescue in Southern California.