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The term “cat lady” has long carried a negative connotation.
“When I started, everyone had a fixed idea of what a cat person looked like,” says CatCon founder Susan Michaels. “Very Eleanor Abernathy from The Simpsons — a hoarder, a spinster, 60-plus.”
That stereotype is just one example in a long history of cat-centric mockery aimed at women, from early 20th-century anti-suffrage campaigns featuring hissing cats to the rhetoric seen in recent presidential elections.
With CatCon, the world’s biggest cat-focused pop culture event, Michaels is flipping that script. Through a three-pronged approach — information, education, and entertainment — she’s transforming a tired trope into an empowering narrative…and a lucrative business opportunity.
Nine lives (and careers)
Before she became the full-time connoisseur of content creator cats, Susan Michaels built an impressive career in media. As the saying goes, everyone in L.A. has five different jobs — and Michaels was no exception.
She spent time as a line producer and casting director. She worked as a journalist for major outlets Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal. She even spent 12 years at E! Entertainment, contributing to shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Live From the Red Carpet, where she helped bridge cultural differences for global audiences.
“I’d shoot promos with the Kardashians, write scripts, direct, and work with editors to shape the final product,” Michaels recalls.
She later joined a French production company, using her connections to bring in talent like Dustin Hoffman and Paula Wagner for various film projects. Two of the films she worked on even premiered at Cannes, though, unfortunately, both screenings coincided with the first and second years of CatCon, which always takes precedence for Michaels.
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Meow or never
In 2014, feline fanatic Susan Michaels founded the Cat Art Show to merge her lifelong love of cats with her deep background in pop culture. Headlined by artist and OBEY founder Shepard Fairey, the show drew over 4,000 attendees, mostly younger, trend-conscious fans.
“They didn’t fit into how people think of ‘cat ladies,'” Michaels says. “There was this confluence of cat and pop culture. It was sort of the advent of the cat meme at that time.”
Realizing she had tapped into something bigger, Michaels started Ticket Out!, the parent company behind what would soon become CatCon.
“I knew I was onto something with the Cat Art Show,” Michaels says. “But it wasn’t sustainable enough to quit a salaried, benefit-filled 12-year job at E!, where I loved working.”
At first, she split time between the two, handling cat con business on weekends.
Drawing on the pop culture savvy she honed at E!, she launched the first official CatCon in 2015, hosted by Ben Huh of the Cheezburger Network — the site behind some of the most iconic cat memes of the 2010s.
“He gave a great lecture on the differences between cats and dogs,” recalls Michaels, a self-described “bipetual.”
The inaugural event was a rousing success — Michaels shares that they actually ran out of kittens in the adoption section and had to go out and find more from local shelters. Unfortunately, this victory came with an ultimatum.
“My creative director sat me down and said, ‘Susan, you have to choose — CatCon or E!,'” Michaels shares. “I was about to turn 50, and the idea of losing my health insurance and taking that leap was daunting.”
Nevertheless, Michael overcame her fears and turned her full attention towards cat con, in a decision that would forever alter the future of felines everywhere.
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Purrrrsuasive marketing
A decade later, CatCon has become an institution in the “catmmunity,” amassing over 850,000 followers across platforms. While many copycats have popped up over the years (pun intended), founder Susan Michaels believes CatCon remains the gold standard. “We’ve seen other conventions come and go over the past 10 years,” Michaels says. “But nobody has done what we’ve done at this scale.”
According to Michaels, what makes CatCon so successful is consistent engagement with the audience.
“People always ask, ‘What do you do the rest of the year?'” Michaels says.
In addition to CatCon, she runs the biennial Cat Art Show under the CatCon Presents umbrella and has recently launched Meow Factor — a TED Talk-style lecture series for cat lovers. She also spends time attending other conventions in the ‘animal sector,’ keeping tabs on what’s working and what’s not. But what really sets CatCon apart is its sponsor consultancy.
“We don’t just hand sponsors a booth,” she explains. “We provide a full CatCon consultancy—guiding them on how to connect with our audience, sharing data from surveys, and continuing the relationship before, during, and after the event.”
Michaels likens CatCon to a “startup incubator and talent resource,” helping famous felines — and their humans — reach their full potential.
“Small businesses are extremely important to me, and I also really love working closely with the sponsors to help them tap into our audience to get that maximum roi,” she says. “What a lot of cons are missing is the cultivating of a relationship. And that’s where I think we’re a standout. Does it cost money? Sure. Does it pay off? Absolutely.”
One of her key services is matching celebrity cats with brands to drive booth traffic and engagement. Over the years, CatCon has partnered with companies like Mars Petcare, Purina, 3M, Kendo and NBCUniversal.
“They’ll use the celebrity cats for promo reels leading up to CatCon,” she explains. “Say you’ve got a booth and want to work with Nathan the Cat Lady — he’ll come to me, and I’ll broker the deal.”
It’s not just pet food and cat litter either. CatCon features everything from smart vacuums to home security to car companies like Chevy.
“It’s about the full experience of modern pet ownership,” Michaels explains.
Through this hands-on approach, Michaels has maintained control of CatCon’s narrative, protected creators from malicious actors, and ensured sponsors receive genuine value.
“I’m a conduit. A manager. An agent,” she says.
She may have left the red carpet behind, but true to the L.A. stereotype, Michaels still wears five hats at once.
