Episode 209 · November 18, 2025
Heather Gibson: Honoring roots and healing hearts
with Heather Gibson, Owner and Founder, Big Hearted Breeders
27 min
Heather Gibson: Honoring roots and healing hearts
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with my friend Heather Gibson, the owner and founder of Big Hearted Breeders. Heather's story is one of purpose in action — it began when she and her family were foster parents and noticed how deeply the children in their home bonded with their pets. That bond became a lifeline. One of her daughters, who was closed off and couldn't open up in therapy, finally said, "I can tell my cat." That moment showed Heather just how powerfully animals can heal hearts and bring hope.
From there, what started as a personal mission grew into a movement. Heather breeds with health and personality as her top priorities, and she's working to change the conversation around breeders — choosing curiosity and common ground over judgment. We talk about her annual breeder retreat in Utah, her free monthly virtual mini summits, and the certifications she's earned as a pet nutrition coach and an animal aromatherapy specialist because she believes there's a solution to every problem if you keep looking for it.
We also get into how Heather built a thriving network marketing business alongside everything else on her plate — and her advice for anyone wanting extra income is simple: start with your passion. I love that she's woven her God-given gifts and talents together into one purpose-filled life. And the question she leaves us with is one I keep coming back to: "What do you need, sweetheart?"
Key takeaways
- Animals can heal hearts — Heather has seen firsthand how pets offer unconditional love and become a safe outlet, especially for children working through trauma.
- Lead with curiosity, not judgment. When Heather faces pushback as a breeder, she stays calm and open, asks questions, and looks for common ground to diffuse tension.
- Health and personality come first. Heather moved from purebred to mixed-breed breeding for healthier animals and invests thousands a year in health testing.
- Don't underestimate the power of being in the room. Heather's retreat attendees consistently say the most valuable part isn't the speakers — it's the connection and conversation in between.
- Nutrition matters more than we realize. Most vets get only about three days of nutrition training, so it pays to learn how to read a label and pay attention to results.
- If you want extra income, start with your passion. Heather built her pawTree business out of genuine love for the product, which made sharing it feel easy.
- Build a habit of checking in with yourself. Heather asks, 'What do you need, sweetheart?' and honors the answer before pushing forward.
Chapters
- 00:00Welcome and sponsor: Tulsa Garden Center at Woodward Park
- 03:00Meet Heather Gibson of Big Hearted Breeders
- 04:30From foster parenting to breeding: how animals met a need
- 07:00"I can tell my cat" — how pets help heal hearts
- 10:00Changing the conversation around breeders
- 13:00The annual breeder retreat in Utah
- 16:00Free monthly virtual mini summits
- 17:30Holistic health: pet nutrition and animal aromatherapy
- 22:00Building a network marketing business with pawTree
- 26:00Where to find Heather
- 28:00Thriving in 2025: "What do you need, sweetheart?"
“I really believe that animals can heal and bring hope.”
“Out of the blue, she said, 'I can tell my cat.' And I thought, oh, this is powerful.”
“Anything born in passion is gonna be amazing.”
“I do a lot of asking myself, what do you need, sweetheart? And honoring that.”
Resources mentioned
About Heather
Owner and Founder, Big Hearted Breeders
Heather Gibson is the owner and founder of Big Hearted Breeders. A former foster parent of more than a decade, she came to breeding after seeing how deeply animals helped heal the children in her home. She breeds mini golden retrievers with a focus on health and personality, coaches and supports other breeders to lead with integrity, and is a certified pet nutrition coach and certified animal aromatherapy specialist. She's also a top leader with the pet nutrition company pawTree.
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