At vet school and beyond, we were often told about the potential for diversification when it comes to having a veterinary degree. At the time, I figured they were just talking about working with dogs & cats versus cattle & sheep, or working in research. Interviewing acting royalty like Brooke Shields about her new range of pet care products was not on my bingo card, and yet, here we are.
There’s been a growing trend over the past decade for smaller groups and individuals, fed up with the monopoly held by a few giant corporations, to leap into the void of creating their own line of pet foods, supplements, and accessories. Just a few weeks ago, we heard from Kevin Hart about his new line of dog food, and now, here I am, about to sit down and chat with Suddenly Susan herself, as though this is just a normal part of my day. And it’s all because Brooke has reached a point in her life and career where she only wants to deal with real people, real products, and real transparency when it comes to the products she uses on herself, her family, and her rescue Staffordshire Terrier mix, Tuzi, whom she affectionately labels “a disaster”.
Despite her lifelong pet allergies, Brooke has always had dogs in her home. As she reflects back on the pets she has had in the past, Brooke laments over things she wishes she knew more about, and it was around the time that she lost her previous dog that she started to think about how she could use her position to create products that she could be proud of.
“When Pepper passed away…in my lap, it was the hardest thing I’d ever experienced,” says Brooke, and in that moment, she is just any normal dog parent, grieving the loss of a beloved pet.
“Around that time, I was looking into Prospect Pet and kind of understanding their genesis, and how their focus was on clean and conscious, and the transparency of how they were sourced, and even to the packaging and responsibly, you know, focused on managed forests.
“ Having spent so much of my life and career not really being associated with things that weren’t responsible or clean or conscious. And so as I’ve gotten older and then as Pepper got sick, I started thinking about taking care of my pet.”
Brooke has taken a similar approach when creating her own brand of hair care for women over 40, Commence. Even today, her envious locks are shining, and I want to know if there’s a particular secret to how she’s managed to maintain her enviable mane, even at the age of sixty. It turns out that it’s not just one single secret ingredient; it’s about rolling with the punches and adapting your routine and products to match your lifestyle and life stage.
“We had an American bulldog named Darla, and her hips just went out, and you know, you blame yourself for everything, but I would have loved to have been more conscious of the hip and joint and giving her the nutrients that she needed.
“But I’ve learned a lot. By working with Prospect Pet and by creating Commence, which is my company, and this idea of getting to the root of a problem, you know. So with Prospect Pet, it’s like, if you’re gonna expose your dog to the outside elements, you need to protect them. We need to be preventative. And proactive in their health.”
Just as her haircare range caters to the shrinking hair follicles of mature ladies like us, Brooke’s approach to looking after Tuzi has changed and evolved to suit her individual needs.
“It’s always been about cleanliness and moisture. And that meant different things at different times, you know? My Tuzi needs to be given more baths [than previous dogs] for the integrity of her skin and her coat. I didn’t know that. And that’s something that now we have changed, and I’ve focused on.”
We also discuss the highs and lows of ageing, and the sense of freedom she feels on having officially entered the “give zero f**ks” stage of her life, as she so poignantly describes it in her best-selling memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old. Stepping away from the fakery and excesses of fame, and uses her position to bring about something real and positive.
“It’s the only value to being a famous person,” she says wryly. “It’s a useless thing unless you can use it for good. Everybody’s an influencer now, and the whole world is crazy. So I [only] align myself with things now that I fully can get behind and believe and trust and be educated by, so I can talk about it.
“I think this era in my life right now is really about fully understanding what I am associating my life and self with, being able to get behind it a hundred percent.
“I think that that’s also why pets are so important because they’re very honest and pure and unconditional. They don’t have ego. Do you know what I mean? What freedom that is!
I don’t want bad people in my life. I don’t wanna waste time doing things I don’t wanna do. I only wanna do projects I believe in. And that’s the way I look at healthcare for my dogs. Nothing artificial. No ingredients that are artificial. No people that are artificial. No activities that are artificial.”
I haven’t had the opportunity to try the products from Prospect Pet yet, but I find myself drawn in by Brooke’s enthusiasm and the way that she seems genuinely committed to only associating with products and companies she really believes in. Despite having lived virtually her entire life under the public’s gaze, she is down-to-earth, easy to talk to, and seeing her face light up when she talks about her dogs and her family speaks volumes about this accomplished and humble professional woman.
You can check out the full interview here:
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