Meet Peter Cohen | Builder / Cat enthusiast

We had the good fortune of connecting with peter Cohen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Early in life I realized that I would rather be in charge and own all the success and all the mistakes. I also wanted to control my own time. Another strange but true reason was I am someone who is often too warm. In Japanese they have a word for it: Atsugari. It means I cannot wear suits or even shirts with sleeves. By creating my own companies I could always set the dress code to allow for that:). While my main income comes from the construction company I run with my brother, my passion is the nonprofit I created that helps save cats.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My construction company that I run with my brother has been in business for 28 years and has been very successful. I attribute that to the amazing partnership I have with my brother. In fact, we share all our companies and properties equally. Many times lawyers have told us this is very unwise but our trust in each other has allowed us to weather bad times and I think is a big part of our success. My non profit ZenByCat is only 7 years old but has grown every year. Learning how to run a nonprofit has been a steep learning curve but very rewarding. Dr Niels Pedersen has been central to helping me push through the hard times and has allowed our nonprofit to help save tens of thousands of cats. I think running a business is no different than living a human life. Both are not easy.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This will sound strange but in fact many people come to visit our house. It has catwalks, tunnels, and bridges throughout and has been featured on Animal Planet, Netflix, and several other programs. Besides that, we often take visitors to the beach boardwalk as well as downtown.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Big question. I have been lucky all my life to have family and friends who encouraged me to pursue a life and occupation that would bring me happiness. Regarding ZenByCat, my nonprofit, I especially wish to thank Dr Neils Pedersen for inspiring me to never give up. He had warned me how hard it is to run a nonprofit and during the 7 years I have been doing it, his words have often helped me not give up.

Website: www.ZenByCat.org

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/zenbycat

Facebook: www.facebook.com/zenbycat

Youtube: www.YouTube.com/c/zenbycat

Image Credits
I own all images submitted