You Got This w/ Ellen Ballon Dante

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How A Jewelry Line Became Ellen Ballon Dante’s Dog Rescue Organization

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About The Episode

As a kid, Ellen Ballon Dante’s family got a puppy named Courtney. The Lhasa Apso furry family member lived for 18 years, all the way through Ellen being in college.

Shortly after graduating, Ellen thought it was time for another dog. Then came Ruby, a black lab, who spent almost a decade in her life – although Ruby eventually went to live with Ellen’s parents when she moved from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles for a job.

Besides her own impact as a dog, Ruby also changed Ellen’s path in another way. Ruby had come from a breeder, which Ellen didn’t realize at that time was not the best way to go. She learned about the rescue world after and when she got to LA, that mindset and community were also more prevalent.

Ellen was invited to a Best Friends Animal Society event in LA and decided to go, not knowing that was where she would meet her next dog. She saw Gypsy there, a Rottweiler/Labrador mix, who she ended up adopting soon after. Gypsy fit into Ellen’s life perfectly and kept her balanced during this transitional period of her life.

In the meantime, Ellen was also facing a switch in her professional life. She had been working in commercial real estate but decided to start her own business, a jewelry line called Deity Jewelry, which then began to take off. Simultaneously, Ellen was also volunteering in different rescue efforts around LA.

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Then, her son was born. It was harder to balance everything, but social media taking off soon helped her find a better balance as she was able to grow her business more online while working from home. However, she still couldn’t volunteer as much as she had been and felt like she wanted to be able to still give back. She realized she could combine her craft and business with making money for rescue, and she created a nonprofit (Deity Animal Rescue) for those funds to help dogs in need. Now, there’s even a physical retail space where people can buy products. 100% of the proceeds go to the rescue side. Ellen also began working with the ying to her yang, her partner-in-rescue, Lindsay Bird - who speaks for a period in this episode as well.

Since having her son, Ellen also rescued another dog, Rafa, before her son was even three years old. While initially intended to just be a foster, Rafa walked into their house and never left. Although eventually, he got sick, he once again helped Ellen through a stage of her life in her new motherhood and taught her a lot of lessons. While Ellen does her best to keep giving back to helping dogs, at the end of the day they also keep saving her.

About The Guest - Ellen Ballon Dante

Ellen Ballon Dante is the Founder and CEO of Deity Animal Rescue and is based in Los Angeles. After initially starting Deity as a jewelry line, she realized she could use the success that business was having to help raise money to rescue dogs. Already having worked as a volunteer in the rescue world, Ellen knew how much every dollar helps. Since then, the Deity Animal Rescue nonprofit has helped with hundreds of dogs.

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Lindsay Bird

Lindsay is the Lead Rescuer and COO for Deity Animal Rescue, as well as Jewelry Designer for Deity Jewelry.

Featured Links

InterviewJack SommerRescue / Service