Spotlight: Sisters Laura & Jenna Bye Chat All Things Save Our Scruff
12.07.21
JB: I find myself to be a simple person. I have a lot of passion & drive when things give me purpose and I will pursue them limitlessly. Otherwise I am softly yet loudly exploring my surroundings, and most excited about building connections & community. Looking back on my younger life, I think I lived nervously. I allowed that to shape a lot of my experiences, and in my adult life have begun practicing the opposite. I therefore feel I live ungracefully most of the time as I am finding a new sense of how to exist & express myself. Picture a baby fawn walking for the first time but like they are outwardly awkward laughing while internally scared yet proud of themselves.
LB: HEY HI! I’m a human, contrary to popular belief. When I’m good, I’m like, fun and quirky and exuberant and move around a lot. Often very quickly. When I’m not great, I’m still all these things but it just takes me more energy to get there. I live in the city but it’s not my < home 3 but I have a sweet sunset view and tops-of-trees view for autumn colors and fresh snow falls. I’m into movement, dance, animals of all the kinds and I’m a big cloud and rainbow enthusiast. I work hard, I stress hard and i wish I crashed hard lol, but me and sleep have a weirdo relationship. If I was a dog up for adoption, my bio would say something like ‘This doggo thrives best with routine while she learns to listen to her body to help her make healthy and productive decisions - she will push boundaries and needs help channelling her hella high and anxious energy into the right activities that keep her enthused, motivated and on track. Laura, sometimes known as Lo, is known to be food aggressive and will always put up a fight if expected to go on a walk. She plays well with most others, but prefers 1:1 time with her favourite folks. Laura/Lo will make you laugh often, and will gladly accept affection and affirmations as rewards. She spooks real easy and will often be dramatic about it, so she’d prefer a quiet place to live surrounded by green stuff and less energy than the reg city has to offer. AHA that actually flowed quite simply out of my finger tips so I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. And fairly, that’s absolutely just everything about me and there’s nothing more to know.(insert that sly faced emoji here)
What are your pronouns?
JB: I prefer to go by Jenna!
LB: she/they - navigating my gender and how I express it’s fluidity is such a cool and exciting space for me right now. Weeee, let’s talk about ittttt.
Tell us about Save Our Scruff.
JB: We’re a group of people who love dogs and are together learning, advocating & sharing how to make their lives better.
How is it running a charity as sisters? Any tips for Katie and I?
JB: Support each other's excitements, strengths, challenges. Always call and announce first if it’s a sister chat or a “business” chat to make sure the other consents to having time for that type of conversation.
LB: I mean, always interesting. Running a charity calls for so many different hats to be worn, and doing that alongside anyone is vulnerable and powerful. I and Save Our Scruff benefit in many ways from the different roles Jenna and I take on together, and I am pretty sure I wouldn’t get such an insider view of how wise, intelligent and strong she can be if we weren’t blood-related. Idk though?. It’s cool to look up to the person you work beside, and cool to look up to a sister as well. (Interestingly enough I almost wrote older sister as I feel like that title is almost a role that we pay rather than is assigned due to our birth dates). Good communication is key in any relationship, and finding time to be sisters and be friends is so important too. While having clear ways to state which is what. Any relationship is a work in progress of course, but practice makes more perfecter practice!