Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Delcoure.
Hi Kayla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Before I begin telling our story, I want to warn you that it does begin in a time of mourning and loss. I ask you to read through our loss though because it was ultimately the foundation upon which so much good has been built.
December 13, 2021, twelve days before Christmas, our family suffered the unexpected loss of our kitten, Waffles. He was nine months old and developed a terminal illness called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). He showed lethargy one day and then three days later he was gone. I’ve owned cats for 25 years and had never even heard of such an aggressive and fatal disease.
After losing Waffles, my family was inconsolable. My husband and my four-year-old and five-year-old sons were all destroyed. My other cats were depressed. And I was utterly lost. A week went by and as Christmas approached, it was clear that the only way we could begin our journey of healing was to find another kitten who needed a home.
And then we found Gizmo.
Gizmo, who was named “Jingles” by the shelter looked like a peachy little cotton ball when we found his adoption profile online. I sent in an application to adopt him from Pippi’s Place Pet Rescue in Lawrenceville, GA. In it, I explained the heartbreaking loss our family experienced. The founder of the rescue reached out later that day to talk. She had been taking care of Gizmo personally since he was rescued and she wanted to make sure he would be going to the best possible home.
It didn’t take long for her to decide that we were the right family. We drove out the next day to pick him up. The second Gizmo came home, the weight on our hearts started to lift. Our other three cats welcomed him after only a few hours. He was the spark our dark world needed.
It was clear after day two that Gizmo was destined for fame. He greeted our Christmas tree by diving under it and smacking an ornament clear across the floor. Every bout of mischief he had we welcomed. It brought us so much joy that I had to share him with the world.
I created his TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. It took so little effort to make him go viral because he was just that genuinely hilarious. In under six months, he amassed over 40,000 followers on Tiktok. His Facebook and Instagram presence were growing as well. About three months into his online presence, he started gaining the attention of media outlets. The Dodo did an entire feature video about Gizmo and his obsession with play tunnels. There are also articles online about the same tunnel obsession and then his incessant howling. One of his videos even made it onto a TV news network in the UK.
As Gizmo rose to internet fame, we started doing product endorsement videos. That gave me the idea to start using that notoriety for good. At first, I would post and share videos about local rescues and the cats they had available for adoption. I decided to try something bigger for Gizmo’s birthday in August 2022.
I created a fundraiser for Pippi’s Place Pet Rescue, the rescue where we adopted Gizmo. In two weeks, we raised over $1,000. In total, we raised over $1,200 for the organization. I decided to make that an annual tradition to celebrate Gizmo’s birthday.
Following that, we stayed the course of posting emotionally uplifting and happiness-inducing content. In November 2022 I saw a post from the Atlanta Humane Society explaining that they were out of towels and blankets for their cats at their Alpharetta location. I sprung into action again and began marketing a towel/blanket drive through Gizmo’s online accounts. In a little under a week, I was able to collect 42 towels and blankets. I brought them all to the Alpharetta campus on the Sunday after thanksgiving.
There are still more people wanting to donate so I plan on making the donation pickup a recurring operation. I plan on reaching out to other rescue organizations to make sure we can help as many animals as possible. Gizmo is truly living his best life, and I want to help other cats find homes where they can do the same.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The beginning itself was NOT smooth. Along the way, there have been struggles with balancing the different aspects of my life. Keeping up with all of Gizmo’s socials and content creation is a lot of work. On top of that, my husband and I have two young sons, one of whom is autistic. I, myself, am neurodivergent. And then lastly, I work a full-time job as an HR Generalist for a global organization. So, keeping everything straight is mentally and emotionally taxing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I like to call Gizmo a “Purrfessional Cat”, but in reality, I know that the work done online comes from me. The content created and shared across all of Gizmo’s Best Life accounts serves to uplift, assist, and/or educate. I am most proud of our followers coming together and raising $1,200 for Gizmo’s birthday fundraiser. The money went directly to the organization that gave us Gizmo.
There are millions of cats on the internet. Why are we any different?
“Gizmo’s Best Life” isn’t just a social media account. I am building a force founded on authenticity, inclusivity, and kindness. Gizmo is the face of the movement, but at heart of it resides every cat and every person that needs a place called home where they can unapologetically belong and feel safe.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was not the typical “girlie girl”. Throughout school, I gravitated toward the “alternative” crowd. My parents worked really hard to give me a really happy life, and while I did have a happy childhood, I struggled badly from depression and anxiety that went undiagnosed and untreated until college because I hid my symptoms behind a mask of wit. My big interests were cats (shocking) and video games. I actually connected with my husband through online gaming when I was in eighth grade.
As I grew up, my interests stayed the same. I got really into photography and videography when I got to college. I became president of the university’s film production company and went on to produce several short films. My senior year I got married to my now-husband. I graduated a semester early and then moved to Florida where my husband was stationed with the US Navy. That entire time I had my cats Minnie and Tuffy with me. Arya, my current eldest cat, joined our family in 2010 after I found her under a truck in my college apartment complex.
Contact Info:
- Website: gizmosbestlife.com
- Instagram: gizmos_mainecoon_life
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GizmosBestLife/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4C7A6MCcY62rkzmdcbySow
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@gizmos_best_life
