Theresa Piasta | Founder & CEO, Puppy Mama |...

Introduction: Theresa is a decorated Iraq-War veteran, who has led large, diverse teams to solve complex problems in high-pressure environments. Experience working in 3 male-dominated industries (Army Captain > Wall Street Vice President > Pet-Tech sole Founder), her career has been a unique one. Theresa Piasta has spoken at many different events, conferences, galas, Wellesley College, etc with large audiences - ranging up to 500 people or more. Theresa has also been featured on: FOX 2 LIVE TV ABC 7 TV Good Day Sacramento LIVE TV (twice) Huffington Post MarketWatch YahooFinance Street Insider MerrilEdge As a motivational speaker, Theresa Piasta can share her insight and knowledge regarding: 1) how to thrive in challenging new careers and industries 2) overcoming barriers and obstacles to meet one's goals 3) take that leap of faith, and starting a new business 4) her own experience building pet-tech company and fashion brand Puppy Mama 5) social media influencer marketing 6) lessons learned regarding her own overall career experiences and fight to recover from PTSD 7) her own experience leading Soldiers in Iraq More about Theresa Piasta: ​Before founding Puppy Mama, Inc., Theresa Piasta was a Vice President at JPMorgan - spending six total years in the Investment Bank and Sales & Trading businesses at two Wall Street banks. Prior to that she served as an Army Captain in a Field Artillery Brigade. During her 14-month Iraq deployment in 2008, Theresa led a large team to defend thousands of soldiers and contractors residing on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Delta near the Iranian border. She was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for her service. Theresa attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business Ignite program in 2016 and received a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College in 2006. She also studied military science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a ROTC scholarship recipient and was a collegiate soccer player for two seasons during her time at Wellesley College. ​ Theresa grew up in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County - a beautiful city in California's wine country. She is fourth of seven children and has two of the most loving and supportive parents. Since a young age, Theresa's parents and grandmother have always encouraged her to aim for the stars and conquer her dreams. Building a business linked with passion has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and I want to encourage others to do the same. More about my passion: My PTSD healing journey transformed not only my health, but my entire life. I found my passion in helping others deal with similar invisible suffering. In turn, I became healthier and stronger for myself and as an advocate for them. And, as I’ve learned firsthand how powerful canine therapy can be. Since the VA didn’t (and still doesn’t) offer canine therapy to veterans suffering with PTSD, I wanted to gather the stories of others who were willing to share. During this past year, I asked for three sentences, and women shared such personal experiences - over 500 stories of how dogs have helped comfort them through cancer, depression, sexual assault, a difficult divorce, illness, infertility, suicidal thoughts or the loss of a loved one. These stories span six continents, and many women shared their story for the first time via our community. I am very proud of the Puppy Mama Community for opening up so courageously. This special community has proven that canine therapy should be taken seriously as a therapy for a variety of illnesses and that women are stronger when we support one another.