Before understanding the Felis Consulting philosophy, let’s acknowledge the underlying sentiment that we all share: We love animals and believe in the power of zoos to create connections to drive conservation action. That is at the heart of what we all do: owners, staff, consultants. We are all driven by this notion of being active participants in making the world a better place.
So what makes Felis different from the other consultants? Let’s start with our mission, because we believe in the power of the small and mighty.
Our Mission
To provide design and strategy expertise to all small zoological institutions to help them envision and achieve their unique version of sustainable success.
Our Vision
A world where all zoos are “good” zoos!
The Four Pillars of Your Success
As a holistic design firm, we truly believe a successful design or master plan is rooted in understanding your institution as a whole. The four aspects of your institution, defined below, provide for your sustainable future. Every plan or conceptual design must address all four of these pillars in order to be successful.
animal wellbeing
Let’s face it. Animals are the hearts of your institutions. They are why you exist—why people come to visit your facility in the first place. Don’t they deserve the best? To us, Animal Wellness relates to the animals in your care, on-site, and their cousins found in nature, off-site.
On-site, Felis Consulting believes in the power of dynamic habitats that allow animals the opportunities to express their full ranges of behaviors; habitats that encourage natural responses to environmental stimuli; habitats that come closer to nature than any we’ve seen in captive settings before, while recognizing the unique opportunities controlled environments bring.
We focus on evaluating your current facilities and philosophy, connecting you with behavioral and husbandry experts when needed, strategically planning a short-term improvement plan, and designing habitats that reflect innovative wellness approaches.
Off-site, conservation programming impacts the wellness of animals around the world. The Felis Consulting process includes evaluating your conservation programs as related to the guest experience and educational messaging integrated into new exhibits. We help you identify opportunities for new programs, and how to elevate awareness of those programs, new and old.
Happy animals mean happy guests which means a happy bottom line!
guest experience
Connecting animals and people is the driving motivation behind your institution. It’s why your guests love you. And providing an experience that is engaging, uplifting, safe, and just plain fun is why they’ll keep coming back again and again.
Felis Consulting believes guest experience is so much more than simply cool ways to see animals. It begins before your guests reach you—its the recommendations of friends, the advertisements, the website. It’s their ability to park, and to find your front door. It’s the welcoming and excitement built as they approach the entry gates, the cleanliness of your bathrooms, the bench located in just the right place. Every moment of the zoo or aquarium experience is guest experience—and an opportunity to impact your guests’ perceptions of you.
Our goals for you include continuously increasing visitor satisfaction, and creating moments of FUN to ensure repeat visitation and attracting first-timers. We look to find those elements of you that make you totally unique, and totally memorable.
We help you create an experience that makes your guests tell their friends and family, “You have to go visit!”
staff support
Your greatest asset is, of course, your people. Their passion, creativity, and dedication keep your facility running. People can also be your scarcest resource. Planning for staffing safety, efficiency, and happiness is critical to your long-term success.
Whether we are planning for back of house spaces, additional levels of animal security, staff lockers and break rooms, or service access roads, our goal is to look for areas of improvements and efficiencies that save your staff that extra step, or give them extra confidence to do their jobs.
We know that providing a safe and quality working environment helps you retain your employees and attract the best staff, which in turn allows you to continue to improve your guest experience and animal wellness. All of which affect your ability to achieve your mission everyday.
revenue generation
In order to make any dream come true, you need the funds to get it done. Funding is perhaps the single biggest issue on the minds of small institutions—so let’s address it head-on.
Felis Consulting understands the complexities of operational costs as a risk to trying new revenue opportunities for small zoos and aquariums. We approach the problem of revenue generation with multiple solutions: increasing attendance, changing pricing strategies, adding unique and diverse revenue generation opportunities, and attracting donors. We provide strategies that allow growth to achieve a long-term vision with short-term goals to infuse capital into the organization immediately—to jump start your master plan or concept design.
Hoping for funding to find you isn’t a strategy. Let’s figure out yours, so you can make your dreams come true.
