Today we’d like to introduce you to Paloma Leon Velarde.
Hi Paloma, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have wanted a dog for as long as I can remember, but I never felt like it was the right time. Growing up, my mom was extremely allergic to pet dander, and I definitely did not have the time or money to get one while I was in college.
When my boyfriend Daniel and I moved to Atlanta after graduation and established ourselves, we decided we were ready, and then Olliebear came into our lives! During the first few days home, we fell in love with each other. I’ve always been one to take many videos and pictures of our daily lives, so of course now, I wanted to preserve every memory of him possible- especially since people told me the puppy phase goes by really fast! That same week, I started to document his life on TikTok and Instagram. But to our surprise, we started getting the attention of millions of people around the world! His TikTok grew to 750,000 followers and his IG to 40,000, and we have only kept growing!
This whole experience has just been so crazy. Because apart from having the opportunity to share my pup with the world and make people laugh with his goofiness, we have started to monetize our content and working with brands, and his social media has become a whole other source of income for us. We have been recognized by different media outlets, had our videos gone viral many times, and met so many amazing people through our IG and Tiktok community. I am so thankful for the platforms we have today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Unfortunately in May of 2021, only two months after getting Ollie, Daniel was diagnosed with cancer. We were extremely lucky that his case was mild in comparison to others, but the months after the diagnosis and when he was getting treatment were very hard on us both. Daniel was born and raised in Costa Rica, so receiving treatment there made the most sense. That meant he had to be away from us for months and travel back constantly for checkups. The whole thing was so unexpected and hard to process, and well if you’ve ever had a large breed puppy, you know how hard and time-consuming it can be to raise them alone. However, I was lucky to have Ollie to keep me company during those hard months. I look back at this experience as probably one of the hardest challenges we’ve had to get through, but overall we are thankful that we’ve gotten past that and that everyone is healthy.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are content creators. The main goal of our social media channels is to bring smiles and laughter to our audience. We focus primarily on video content that revolves around everything that comes with owning a dog. We share all the funny and wholesome moments, hop on current trends, and also share helpful tips to make dog parents’ lives easier. When we collaborate with brands, we usually advertise products for them. We’re proud to have worked with companies like The Farmer’s Dog and BARK and to have been featured on popular media channels like Pubity, LadBible, Dogster Magazine and Daily Star UK.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is community. The people that we have connected with through Ollie’s channels have become close friends, mentors, and business partners. We’re proud to have worked with companies like The Farmer’s Dog and BARK and to have been featured on popular media channels like Pubity, LadBible, Dogster Magazine, and Daily Star UK.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @goldenbearollie
- Youtube: goldenbearollie
- Other: Tiktok- @goldenbearollie
