Petropolis’s New Podcast Teaches Animal Lovers What’s Best For Their Pets

With her pet-supply shop currently open a few days a week during the shutdown, Petropolis (91 Washington Street) owner Tazz Latifi is using her unexpected free time producing and hosting ”The Petropolist,” a podcast about the pet-supply industry. Latifi is already 10 episodes deep after dropping her inaugural show when shelter-in-place orders took effect in New York City. 

“The pet industry is massive and often deliberately confusing,” according to Latifi in the podcast trailer. “Manipulation starts at the top and trickles down to the unknowing animal lovers who make their choices on what is being fed to them by master marketers.” Learning how to read nutrition labels carefully and knowing what’s best for your pet’s health are some of the ways animal lovers can be smart consumers for their furry, feathered or scaled companions. Latifi launched the podcast to effectively cut through the commercialized hype and help pet parents provide the best care for the furriest members of the family.

In addition to hosting fellow pet-supply retailers and a pet nutritionist, “The Petropolist” has featured guests one might not immediately assume are connected to the industry. They include a psychotherapist, a digital strategist and, in the kickoff episode, a “high-performance and happiness coach.”

In episode #10, Latifi sits down with Bentley’s Pet Stuff co-founder Giovanni Senafe, who is likely best known from his appearance on the CNBC business reality show, “The Profit,” in addition to co-owning a chain of 65 pet-supply stores with wife Lisa Senafe. The two have a candid chat about the trials and tribulations of running an expanding empire and Senafe’s plans to pivot Pet Stuff stores from a franchise model to a licensing model. 

“The Petropolist” can be heard on Spotify, Apple, Google and Anchor. 

Latifi is also running a GoFundMe to help the store stay open amid shelter-in-place orders. Here are some four-legged Downtowners who regularly enjoy all Petropolis has to offer.