After years leading the charge creating content for Bon Appetit‘s social channels, growing their Instagram following to over four million super-engaged followers, Rachel Karten (@milkkarten) took the opportunity to return to her native Los Angeles for a fresh start (and a little more sunshine). These days you’ll find her consulting on social strategy for some of the fastest-growing startups and hippest restaurants, and, perhaps more importantly, posting about her new obsession – her dogs Nancy and Pepper (Nanc and Pep, for short).
I sat down with these three lovely ladies to chat about life out west and what Rachel’s learned about being a pet parent to these two extremely adorable adopted pups. Their story is pretty wild (including a genealogical twist nobody saw coming), and I think you’ll enjoy it.
Hi! First of all, tell me a bit about yourself. What do you do? Where do you live? What are your dogs’ names?
I’m Rachel Karten, and I’m a social media consultant. My job is to basically help brands figure out how they show up on various social media platforms. I live in Santa Monica, CA with my boyfriend Greg and my two dogs, Nancy and Pepper!
Okay, excellent names. I’m excited to hear more. What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done in the past few years? Aside from adopting Nancy and Pepper, of course.
Last year I not only left New York after living there for 8 years, but also left my job running social media for Bon Appetit. That’s a lot of big changes to happen in one year, but it’s been so exciting to be back in the city I grew up in, running my very own business!
Speaking of Nanc and Pep, tell me a little bit about them. What are they like?
We adopted Nancy and Pepper in February 2021. We actually saw a Petfinder listing for just Nancy and thought that was who we were going to meet and take home. But then…there was another dog in the pen when we arrived who looked exactly like Nancy. We obviously had to keep them together, so we adopted them both. At the time, we were told they were bonded sisters, and thought that was just adorable. Later we’d find out via a dog DNA test that Pepper is actually Nancy’s mother! Dog adoption, but make it a soap opera.
Our lives have gotten one million times better since they arrived. They are full of energy and love playing tug-of-war together. Once they are tired from playing, they curl up in donuts and cuddle together. It’s unreal.
Woah. Okay, curveball. And how would they describe you as a pet parent, if they could?
Extremely loving and sometimes anxious. Which, TBH, is probably how any person would describe me, too. Both Greg and I grew up with dogs, so we are pretty comfortable dog parents, but I don’t think we were quite as prepared as we could have been for having two dogs. It’s a lot of work and responsibility, especially when it comes to training and just making sure they are well-behaved around other dogs.
The best thing I’ve learned as a “sometimes anxious” person is that your dog responds to that. If you want your dog to chill out, you need to chill out. That tidbit has helped me a lot when we are on walks and during training.
That’s excellent advice. And what would you say is the most challenging part about being a pet parent? The most rewarding?
The most challenging thing about being a pet parent is that your life 100 percent revolves around these dogs now. You need to know that going into it and make sure you’re willing to be – like you’re referring to it – a parent. It involves everything from caring for them emotionally, to feeding them the best food.
But that’s it. Once you’re good with that, it’s nothing but totally rewarding! This past year was so full of change (yes, exciting change, but also scary change) and Nancy and Pepper have brought me an immense amount of happiness that I can’t even describe. I am normally witty and anti-sappy, but these dogs just completely melt me. I am so grateful for them and am so lucky to be their mom.
