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Entrepreneur
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Entrepreneur
Why This Ex-TV Producer Walked Away From Hollywood to Rewrite the 'Cat Lady' Story
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The term "cat lady" has long carried a negative connotation. "When I started, everyone had a fixed idea of what a cat person looked like," says CatCon founder Susan Michaels. "Very Eleanor Abernathy from The Simpsons — a hoarder, a spinster, 60-plus." That stereotype is just one example in a long history of cat-centric mockery aimed at women, from early 20th-century anti-suffrage campaigns featuring hissing cats to the rhetoric seen in recent presidential elections. With CatCon, the world's biggest cat-focused pop culture event, Michaels is flipping that script. Through a three-pronged approach — information, education, and entertainment — she's transforming a tired trope into an empowering narrative…and a lucrative business opportunity. Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success. Nine lives (and careers) Before she became the full-time connoisseur of content creator cats, Susan Michaels built an impressive career in media. As the saying goes, everyone in L.A. has five different jobs — and Michaels was no exception. She spent time as a line producer and casting director. She worked as a journalist for major outlets Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal. She even spent 12 years at E! Entertainment, contributing to shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Live From the Red Carpet, where she helped bridge cultural differences for global audiences. "I'd shoot promos with the Kardashians, write scripts, direct, and work with editors to shape the final product," Michaels recalls. She later joined a French production company, using her connections to bring in talent like Dustin Hoffman and Paula Wagner for various film projects. Two of the films she worked on even premiered at Cannes, though, unfortunately, both screenings coincided with the first and second years of CatCon, which always takes precedence for Michaels. Related: 3 Ways Female Entrepreneurs Can Shatter Stereotypes While Also Empowering Others Meow or never In 2014, feline fanatic Susan Michaels founded the Cat Art Show to merge her lifelong love of cats with her deep background in pop culture. Headlined by artist and OBEY founder Shepard Fairey, the show drew over 4,000 attendees, mostly younger, trend-conscious fans. "They didn't fit into how people think of 'cat ladies,'" Michaels says. "There was this confluence of cat and pop culture. It was sort of the advent of the cat meme at that time." Realizing she had tapped into something bigger, Michaels started Ticket Out!, the parent company behind what would soon become CatCon. "I knew I was onto something with the Cat Art Show," Michaels says. "But it wasn't sustainable enough to quit a salaried, benefit-filled 12-year job at E!, where I loved working." At first, she split time between the two, handling cat con business on weekends. Drawing on the pop culture savvy she honed at E!, she launched the first official CatCon in 2015, hosted by Ben Huh of the Cheezburger Network — the site behind some of the most iconic cat memes of the 2010s. "He gave a great lecture on the differences between cats and dogs," recalls Michaels, a self-described "bipetual." The inaugural event was a rousing success — Michaels shares that they actually ran out of kittens in the adoption section and had to go out and find more from local shelters. Unfortunately, this victory came with an ultimatum. "My creative director sat me down and said, 'Susan, you have to choose — CatCon or E!,'" Michaels shares. "I was about to turn 50, and the idea of losing my health insurance and taking that leap was daunting." Nevertheless, Michael overcame her fears and turned her full attention towards cat con, in a decision that would forever alter the future of felines everywhere. Related: 3 Ways Gen Z CEOs are Crushing Stereotypes Purrrrsuasive marketing A decade later, CatCon has become an institution in the "catmmunity," amassing over 850,000 followers across platforms. While many copycats have popped up over the years (pun intended), founder Susan Michaels believes CatCon remains the gold standard. "We've seen other conventions come and go over the past 10 years," Michaels says. "But nobody has done what we've done at this scale." According to Michaels, what makes CatCon so successful is consistent engagement with the audience. "People always ask, 'What do you do the rest of the year?'" Michaels says. In addition to CatCon, she runs the biennial Cat Art Show under the CatCon Presents umbrella and has recently launched Meow Factor — a TED Talk-style lecture series for cat lovers. She also spends time attending other conventions in the 'animal sector,' keeping tabs on what's working and what's not. But what really sets CatCon apart is its sponsor consultancy. "We don't just hand sponsors a booth," she explains. "We provide a full CatCon consultancy—guiding them on how to connect with our audience, sharing data from surveys, and continuing the relationship before, during, and after the event." Michaels likens CatCon to a "startup incubator and talent resource," helping famous felines — and their humans — reach their full potential. "Small businesses are extremely important to me, and I also really love working closely with the sponsors to help them tap into our audience to get that maximum roi," she says. "What a lot of cons are missing is the cultivating of a relationship. And that's where I think we're a standout. Does it cost money? Sure. Does it pay off? Absolutely." One of her key services is matching celebrity cats with brands to drive booth traffic and engagement. Over the years, CatCon has partnered with companies like Mars Petcare, Purina, 3M, Kendo and NBCUniversal. "They'll use the celebrity cats for promo reels leading up to CatCon," she explains. "Say you've got a booth and want to work with Nathan the Cat Lady — he'll come to me, and I'll broker the deal." It's not just pet food and cat litter either. CatCon features everything from smart vacuums to home security to car companies like Chevy. "It's about the full experience of modern pet ownership," Michaels explains. Through this hands-on approach, Michaels has maintained control of CatCon's narrative, protected creators from malicious actors, and ensured sponsors receive genuine value. "I'm a conduit. A manager. An agent," she says. She may have left the red carpet behind, but true to the L.A. stereotype, Michaels still wears five hats at once.
Globe and Mail
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
How the Canadian behind the Glambot became a ‘talent whisperer' for celebrity red carpets
Cole Walliser didn't move to Los Angeles with the intent of becoming a presence on red carpets. But today, the charismatic 43-year-old's signature laid-back energy and voluminous curls stand out even among the glitterati. You've likely seen Walliser's work, even if you didn't realize it. Since 2016, he's been helming the Glambot, a high-speed robotic camera that captures slow-motion portraits of celebrities, from Cynthia Erivo to Demi Moore to Ice Spice, at major awards shows such as the Oscars and the Grammys. At the same time, Walliser engages A-listers in candid moments as they decide how to co-create the most iconic shots. Originally from Richmond, B.C., Walliser came to L.A. in 2004 with a psychology degree from the University of British Columbia and a love of videography cultivated while filming his friends doing kickflips at the skate park. It was his keen attention to detail in motion that made him the ideal director of the Glambot. The execs at E! Entertainment 'were looking for someone who had directed beauty stuff, done a bunch of movement and choreography, and worked with A-listers,' says Walliser of getting the gig. After early-career experience directing beauty campaigns and music videos for artists such as P!nk and Miley Cyrus, 'I checked all those boxes,' he says. His role, technically, is director. But in practice, Walliser is part cinematographer, part movement coach, part talent whisperer. 'The big challenge is trying to get talent to do a cool, interesting move,' he says. Once Walliser calls out to his operator, the camera rapidly flies forward, capturing its subject's twirling or hair-tossing in a dazzling 1,000 frames per second at 4K resolution. The cost to operate the Glambot at a single event is upward of US$500,000. It's a serious piece of equipment, requiring a team of 13 to run, including video editors and social-media managers. Most Glambot clips are filmed in one superquick take. To nail it, Walliser is watching closely – trying to read what kind of direction a celebrity needs; how they are preparing to move, whether they seem nervous about the giant robot arm about to fly toward their face. He says his psychology background helps. 'I use that every day in the approach I have to creating.' What sets the Glambot apart from other red-carpet photography, he believes, isn't just the spectacle of hi-def slow motion – it's the raw, behind-the-scenes moment that happens between him and the celebrity before the shoot begins. 'You really get a candid, creative conversation which you essentially get nowhere else in entertainment,' he says of these interactions, which are captured and uploaded to social media in near-real time during awards shows. 'Even in behind-the-scenes footage for movies and TV shows, you never actually hear a director and actor talk about a shot. With Glambot, that moment is front and centre.' It's that mix of real-time collaboration and cinematic payoff that keeps the public fascinated. 'A lot of people who watch these envision what they would do if they had the chance to do a Glambot,' he says. 'And to see others confidently – or self-consciously – go through it makes it feel relatable.' Walliser's top Glambot moments include viral clips with Ariana Grande ('arguably the best ever Glambot shot,' he says of the singer's 2020 Oscars capture in a tiered Giambattista Valli gown), Brad Pitt, Billie Eilish and even Weird Al. He's now a kind of avatar for the experience, someone who has been doing it long enough that emerging actors see walking up to him as a rite of passage. 'There are people who've been watching for years, dreaming of doing one, and then they book a TV show and show up at the Emmys,' he says. 'That's just the coolest thing ever.' Representation matters to him, too. Walliser, who is half Chinese, says, 'I feel a sense of pride when I see Asians get opportunities to portray roles that are no longer stereotypical. If they find success and end up on the Glambot, it's so fun to shoot.' Walliser, a freelancer, is also busy with work beyond the Glambot. He's shot Super Bowl commercials, hosted a photography show on Hulu and hopes to direct his own narrative feature films. On weekends, he races cars, surfs and cares for his pet fish in a coral reef tank at home. He has no plans to stop vibing on the red carpet. 'I'll continue doing it so long as E! will have me,' he says. 'It's been so much fun, and my career has grown tremendously.' And if he could Glambot anyone in history? 'Michael Jackson,' he says. 'You couldn't get any better than that.' 'The pose at which you feel most natural is more likely the pose at which you're going to look your best,' says Walliser. 'Find a position that feels comfortable in your body and that you feel confident in. ... That's really going to resonate the most.' If you're working with video, try what Walliser calls a movement pose: 'You just sort of alternate, you twist, you turn in and out of that position, and then when someone says 'three, two, one, action,' you go into it.' 'I wouldn't be ashamed about practising,' says Walliser. 'The people on the red carpet, they're so good because literally their job is to pose. ... Set your phone up, hit a couple of poses, watch it, see what's good.' And most importantly, don't psych yourself out. 'If you're like, 'Oh no, I can't pose, I'm so awkward' – you're guaranteed going to be awkward. Let that go. Just relax and feel comfortable and natural,' he says. Making a lower-tech DIY Glambot is totally possible. 'The new iPhones shoot at 240 frames a second, which is pretty slow-mo,' says Walliser. Ask a friend with a steady hand to film while moving toward you and zooming in as you move into your chosen pose. For inspiration, Walliser recommends checking out the tutorial he made with creator Haley Kalil (a.k.a. Haley Baylee). 'People do home Glambots for their proms, for their events. I get tagged in them all the time, and it's really awesome to see.'
