In this featured interview, meet Maitri Mody ! Maitri and her dog, Ari, live in NYC. Maitri is an inspiring dog mom, content creator, fashion stylist, and animal lover!
Get to know the pair individually, then all together!
enjoy xoxo!!
-Anneliese
Meet the Human-
1. what is your name? Maitri Mody
2. what is your calling in life? Fashion and dogs :) Originally a fashion stylist, I am now working as a pet fashion content creator & also design my own range of pet fashion.
3. what is your favorite color? It keeps changing. Bur for now its Lilac :)
4. What is your favorite type of food or meal? Indian
5. what is a smell that makes you happy? When I smell Ari after his bath or grooming.
6. where and how did you grow up? I grew up in India in a traditional (semi conservative family). I lived with my parents up until I got married and moved to NYC ten years ago.
7. what inspired you to do what you are doing now? My pug Ari & my love for fashion. I was always looking for a way to combine the two.
8. if you could tell your younger self something you wish you knew now, what would it be? To take it easy because things never stay the same. They always get better at some point.
9. if you had super powers what would they be? Somehow have the power to help every single animal in need. Being a vegetarian my whole life, the suffering of animals makes me the most sad.
10. if you had one word to describe your self, what would it be?
Creative
11. What are the unwritten rules of where you work? Never take things for granted.
12. what do you enjoy doing when you aren’t working? (ooo bonus!!) Reading mystery novels, long walks with Ari in Central Park and making future travel plans.
Meet the Pet-
1. what is your name? Ari
2. what breed are you? Pug
3. how old are you? human or animal years is fine. 7 years
4. if you had super powers, what would it be?
To magically make food appear in front me of me whenever I thought of it, which btw is all the time ;)
5. who is your role model in life? My mom, I want to be like her when I grow up.
6. tell us your adoption/rescue story… Well I am not a rescue but I chose my mom. When she came to see my siblings and me, I went and sat by her feet. That's how she chose me.
7. favorite color? I look great in all colors, I've been told. But I would say Yellow. It makes me happy.
8. what is the ultimate cheat meal for you? Fries, fries, more fries!!
9. what nicknames do you go by?
So many...cant list them all. But some really embarrassing ones are - pumpkin, puggy, chiku, pugichi, Aru.
10. how did you get your name? is there any significance behind it? I was named after Ari Gold from Entourage. I think it works well with my personality, don't you think?
11. what is the best and worst thing about being a dog (or cat)? Having all my needs taken care of by humans and never being expected to work ever. Worst - human controlling food portions!
12. what is something you want people to know about you? (wow Ari was feeling generous... BONUS *) I may be a pug and we do love to eat. But I also love fashion, so please don't stereotype us ;)
Now Meet the Pair-
1. take us through your morning routines together… If I am up, Ari is up. I prepare Ari's breakfast and my coffee simultaneously. I then check my emails, etc. while Ari goes back to sleep. Then we go for a walk. Sometimes its a long walk in the park and sometimes its short if we have a shoot lined up.
2. do you ever dress a like? Yep..All the time!
3. what are your favorite things to do together? Long walks, road trips, shopping, going for brunches, exploring NYC.
4. favorite game to play together? Running and Ari chasing me.
5. what is something that your pet does that gets on your nerves? He is constantly looking for food everywhere, even when we are walking on the street, he is constantly looking for scraps, so I have to be super careful and attentive.
6. what is the best thing about having each other? Everything..Ari is my only family in the US, rest of my close family is 14 hours and 20 hours flight away. So having each other as family is the best thing.
7. what is your favorite memory together? When we lived in London, we went to this park every day and walked by the Thames river. Dogs were allowed off leash in parks in London and this path was enclosed. So we loved walking there every day.
8. what is the funniest thing your pet has ever done? Ari makes me laugh every single day. Funniest would be this one time that I was eating toast with butter (which Ari absolutely loves) and gave him a piece of carrot. He spat out the carrot (which he would never ever do, he eats anything and everything) but he knew I was eating toast, so he left his carrot and just stared at me like - c'mon give me the good stuff!
9. how long have you been together? 7 years
10. what is the hardest thing about caring for your pet? Always making sure you put their happiness and well being at par with your own or if you had a child.
11. Do you inspire each other in any way? if so, how and why? Ari's laid-back attitude def inspires me. I get stressed out easily. I love how Ari enjoys little things in life and is so chilled out. I hope I inspire Ari in some way too..haha!
Is there anything else you'd like to add about you and your pet(s)? Growing up in Mumbai, I was super scared of dogs. We were always taught to stay away from street dogs. But years ago, I saw this lil pug in a TV commercial and I wished I would have a pug someday. And the wish came true. My family till date cannot believe that someones who was this afraid of dogs actually is a dog mom whose life revolves around her dog.
A big thank you to Maitri + Ari for participating in AAPETPEOPLE's first features for 33 Answers!
Follow them on ig! @honeyidressedthepug
