When perception meets purpose, connection becomes inevitable. In this episode of Think Brand Taran, host Shivani sits down with Erica, CEO & founder of Animal Blood Center—California’s first community-based pet blood bank, on a mission to make lifesaving blood accessible, ethical, and transparent for pets across the state.

Together, they unpack how a founder’s empathy + engineering mindset can rebuild a broken supply chain, why clear positioning attracts meaningful partners, and how to communicate heavy topics (ethics, cost, scarcity) without fear-mongering—so the right people lean in and help.

In this episode, you will learn:

- How to position a purpose

-driven venture for partnerships and collaborators

- The power of a one-line promise: “We’re the Red Cross for pets.”

- How to talk about ethics & transparency without scaring your audience away

- What reframing your message does for trust, credibility, and action

- The pet blood workflow: donor screening → testing → whole blood/RBCs/plasma → delivery

- The real cost/shortage problem—and why a quick donation can save up to four lives

- How regulations in California create a clear, safer path for community blood banking

🎧 Tune in, take one idea, put it to work, and share it—because when your message is reframed with clarity and heart, perception becomes connection.

About Erica LopezErica Lopez is the CEO and Founder of Animal Blood Center, California’s first community-based pet blood bank. She is leading the charge to build the infrastructure, partnerships, and programs that make lifesaving blood accessible for pets across the state. Her work is setting a new standard for veterinary care and driving change in a field that has long lacked visibility and resource socials:

Instagram: @animalbloodcenter, https://www.instagram.com/animalbloodcenter/

Website: www.animalbloodcenter.org

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/550f66a1f