In this heartfelt and surprisingly funny neighborhood-turned-global story (Episode 40 of Stories from Everywhere), host Jill L. Ferguson welcomes Billy Walsh and his partner Wendy Childer, the owners and creators behind Long Beach–based raw pet food company TC Raw Eats—the shop that Jill literally gets dragged into by her own dogs.

What begins as a conversation about healthier food for aging pets quickly unfolds into a powerful narrative about loss, love, resilience, and entrepreneurship. Billy shares how losing his Labrador to cancer sent him down a rabbit hole of pet nutrition, culinary school, and eventually K9 nutrition certification—transforming a personal heartbreak into a mission to change how people feed their dogs and cats.

You’ll hear:

• Why raw food can mean shinier coats, cleaner teeth, better digestion (yes, even better poop), and happier, more energetic pets

• How TC Raw Eats grew from a tiny apartment “cottage industry” into a fully licensed brick-and-mortar shop with over a dozen freezers—and a fiercely loyal four-legged fan base

• Billy’s life-altering traumatic brain injury after a Vespa accident, his journey through coma, memory loss, seizures, and later discovering he is autistic—and how that understanding reshaped his life and relationships

• How he used AI as a personalized training partner to prepare for a marathon, turning technology into a motivational tool tailored to a neurodivergent brain

• Wendy’s own intense health battles—including hip dysplasia, spinal surgeries, and literally growing an inch from metal spacers—while still helping run a growing business

This episode is about more than pet food. It’s about questioning authority, advocating for your animals and yourself, navigating trauma and neurodiversity, and building a life—and a business—out of love, curiosity, and stubborn hope.

If you’ve ever wondered whether raw food really makes a difference, how small businesses survive in California’s regulatory maze, or how two people can stay standing when their bodies keep breaking, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.