Melissa Shapiro, DVM, is a veterinarian, a lifelong animal welfare advocate, and mom to three children and many disabled rescued dogs and birds. Since bringing Piglet home in 2017, she has used his social media platform to educate, advocate, and inspire others to adopt pets with special needs. Her nonprofit organization, Piglet International Inc., supports the Piglet Mindset Educational Outreach, a free downloadable educational program that teaches growth mindset, acceptance, inclusion, empathy, and kindness to students and others in the community, as well as various animal rights causes. She lives in Connecticut with her husband Warren, six rescued dogs, three rescued birds, and Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy. 

Mim Eichler-Rivas is coauthor with Chris Gardner of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Pursuit of Happyness. Mim’s list of more than three dozen acclaimed coauthorships includes the national bestseller Finding Fish with Antwone Fisher. Mim’s solo title, Beautiful Jim Key, has sold briskly for more than a dozen years and has a feature film in the works.