We had the good fortune of connecting with Tifani Otano Whitney Hamill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tifani Otano, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For as long as we can remember, we have always been extremely passionate about animals and plants: specifically reptiles, insects, and plants! Over the years, we noticed that there were a lot of misconceptions, inaccurate information, and product reccomendations that did not benefit these amazing creatures. It was no surprise when we started our own business and began sharing our knowledge and experiences with the rest of world!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
There is often a missing element within the pet industry: love. We put an incredible amount of love into all we do, because we know that our animals are more then pets, they are family. We believe our scaly pets should experience lives where they are thriving rather than just surviving and we dedicate every day to empowering others who believe the same. We are comitted to providing the best supplies for perfect husbandry, up-to-date information, plants, insects, and healthy animals. Our vision is to ignite change within the reptile community and transform the stigma behind reptile keeping— in the best way possible.

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.
Giving back to the community is extremely important to us and the best way we have found to make this happen is attending local events and supporting other local businesses! A perfect day for us would be attending a reptile expo, which we believe everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime: North American Reptile Breeders Conference and Trade Show & Repticon Dallas Show are our top picks. After, a stop at Plants and Planters in Richardson, TX: A family owned nursery & garden center. We also love visiting the DFW Reptarium: an AMAZING reptile shop and of course, the Fort Worth and Dallas Zoo. Some other great businesses and suggestions: Ross’s Rowdy Bee’s and attending the Dallas Farmers Market!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We are first extremely grateful for the love and support of Grandma and Grandpa, who always encouraged us to be ourselves and who always embraced our unique interests. They spent many years teaching us (and dealing with us) to be confident in who we are and taught us to always shoot for the stars. And lastly, but certainly not least important, we also want to thank the amazing reptile community who has shown us so much love and support in our journey and adventures- we are only capable of doing everything we do because of the community!

Website: www.blackthorndragons.com

Instagram: instagram.com/blackthorn_dragons

Facebook: facebook.com/blackthorndragons

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC4ApGcLX8CJN-bG7g28BQLw

Other: Our Facebook group and community of reptile keepers: www.facebook.com/groups/modernreptilekeeper

Image Credits
Photos taken by us: Tifani Otano & Whitney Hamill

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