Meet Dori Gronich

I come from a hard-working background which emphasized providing for my family comes first. Growing up, all of my grandparents especially my Baba (Grandmother) and Papa (Grandfather) were a huge influence in my life. Papa taught me that trying new things is so important. I remember not wanting to try a new food and he told me: “Eat it! How will you know if you like it? You’ll never know unless you try it.” This mentality stuck with me and I applied it to other areas of my life, Such as taking risks. I wouldn’t have gotten certain jobs if I hadn’t reached out and ‘tried that new food!’

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I created a brand called Planetpiggies. The content I share is mostly guinea pig related, but lately I’ve been showing another side of me: a love of bugs. The other day a butterfly landed on my finger and I had to share it. Anyway, the main reason for Planetpiggies is to help cheer up anyone who is having a rough day. I hope my love of furry potatoes and weird bugs can make someone smile. I have a merch shop: T shirts and hats being the most popular!

on July 16th I had a livestream of my guinea pig celebrating. He had a Star Trek themed party complete with costumes, balloons, and giveaways!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
That’s a great question. 1. Take healthy risks. What I mean by healthy is as long as you think through the consequences and make sure it’s something you really want them go for it! Don’t be that person who sits there wondering what could have been. Make your own dreams come true. 2. Be yourself. It’s a simple statement but it’s really tough to do. I find that not jumping on trends but being the one who starts them is the goal.
3. Also a little bit of luck. Everything is meant to happen for a reason.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I read The Giver by Lois Lowry in middle school and it left an impact on me. I became interested in dystopian literature and currently, I’m writing a dystopian novel. I also published my children’s book: Ungi’s Big Adventure back in 2016. It’s a really sweet story about a mushroom who gets separated from her family during a storm. She goes on an amazing adventure to try and find them. A sequel is currently in the works.

Here’s my advice: keep reading until you find a book that inspires you. If you don’t like reading it’s probably because you haven’t found a book that calls to you. Also there’s audio books and those are amazing.