From Gossip Girl Extra to CEO of the Coolest Brand in Pet Wellness

In Season 4, Episode 11 of Turning Pro, Ben Sharf sits down with Katie Hunt, Co-Founder and CEO of Oh Norman!, a pet wellness company launched with actress Kaley Cuoco.

Katie’s journey is anything but traditional. She studied acting at Brown, worked as a Gossip Girl extra, and answered Warby Parker’s first customer service calls from her personal cell phone. After helping rebrand Hinge from the inside out, she co-founded Showfields, only to lose it all when COVID shut down their physical retail stores.

At 36, she moved back in with her parents, burned out and unsure of what was next. Today, she’s building a multi-million-dollar brand with a five-person all-women team, focused on wellness for dogs and sustainability for humans. No Slack. No burnout. No corporate nonsense.

In this episode, Katie shares what it really looks like to rebuild, co-found with a celebrity, and finally design work around your life, not the other way around.

Listen to Season 4, Episode 11 of Turning Pro on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

10 Key Takeaways from Katie Hunt’s Episode:

1. Skip the MBA. Start Building: Katie never went to business school. Her real-world experience at Warby Parker and Hinge taught her more than any classroom ever could.
   

2. Failure Creates Clarity: After her startup collapsed during COVID, Katie moved home. That breakdown helped her get clear on what she wanted to build next.
   

3. Solve Your Own Problem: Oh Norman! exists because Katie and Kaley Cuoco couldn’t find clean, effective pet products. Founder-market fit isn't optional. It’s the foundation.
   

4. Slack-Free Is the New Flex: Oh Norman! runs entirely without Slack. Team members work asynchronously, communicate by email, and reclaim their time and focus.
   

5. Trust the Team or Fire Yourself: Early on, Katie tried to do it all. Now she hires smart people, gives them ownership, and steps out of their way.
   

6. Design Work Around Life: Two-thirds of Katie’s team are working moms. They choose their hours and locations. Output matters more than time at a desk.
   

7. Build in Public, Literally: Customers vote on product names, formulas, packaging, and more. When you invite your community in early, you don’t have to guess what they’ll want later.
   

8. A Celebrity Co-Founder Who Actually Works: Kaley doesn’t just post on launch day. She names products, tests samples, and sends raw iPhone content from movie sets. No glam team, no fluff.
   

9. No One Is Productive 9 to 5 Every Day: Katie encourages her team to take breaks, cancel meetings, and walk away from the screen when they hit a wall. It leads to better work and happier people.

10. Do Good While Doing Business: Every Oh Norman! purchase supports animal rescue organizations. Giving back is not a side campaign. It is built into the company’s DNA.

Katie Hunt’s career proves that reinvention is always possible. Whether you're bouncing back from burnout, pivoting your purpose, or rethinking how a company should operate, her story is packed with real talk and smarter ways to build. Oh Norman! isn’t just a cute pet brand. It’s a case study in how to lead with values, fun, and actual freedom.

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