Today we’d like to introduce you to Lacey McIntyre.
Hi Lacey, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Indiana and always had a love for turtles. I moved to Tennessee for college and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, but I’ve also always had a desire to teach. Admittedly, I tended to stay away from snakes and never owned my own reptiles until moving to Southern Utah over a decade ago. I had NO idea what I was missing all those years! During my 5 years of running the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve Visitor Center in St. George and working as Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Reserve my love of all things reptile grew.
Educating the public about these amazing creatures truly became my passion. With the Reserve, I visited nearly every school in our county as well as countless corporate functions and community events with many different species of reptiles. Upon having my son, I made the decision to quit my day job to be with him and just focus on some reptile rescues and rehoming. There was such a need for a reptile rescue in our area that, as we expanded, I needed to find a way to feed and care for all the animals. I always loved entertaining and educating the public about animals and conservation so I decided to begin taking some of our scaly friends to parties and events around town. That led to the creation of a successful YouTube channel that I will be working hard on this year creating more fun and educational videos for teachers to use in their classrooms and for everyone to enjoy and learn about these beautiful creatures! We currently house about 40 animals and are so grateful we have the room and means to properly care for the scaly members of our family.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think starting a business is ever a smooth road. Haha! I have been lucky enough to be able to pick up many other small jobs like babysitting and pet sitting to help pay for animal food and necessities. Parties and events have picked up significantly, but my main goal right now is to build the YouTube channel. For me, the hardest part has been finding time to work on the videos. I have been doing all writing, filming, and editing for videos myself while also caring for the animals, scheduling and prepping for as well as setting up and running all parties and events, doing odd jobs both regularly and whenever they pop up to have the funds to make it all work, and being a “stay at home mom”. It is a challenge to keep my sanity some days, but the animals are worth it. Caring for and sharing my love of them and knowing even just one more reptile may be loved and properly cared for because of what I’m doing is worth every long day.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Leaping Lizards Reptile Experience is a reptile rescue and party/event business in Southern Utah. Before I started the company, I began getting questions about taking people’s reptiles. Sometimes they were hurt and needed medical attention, sometimes they were pets that needed re-homed, and sometimes they were just found out in the wild where they didn’t belong. I couldn’t turn away an animal so I decided, in order to feed and care for them, I could start offering birthday party and corporate event packages to share the love and proper care information about them. We bring our scaly family members to all kinds of events from birthdays to wedding receptions to corporate retreats! As far as I know we were the first to offer this service in the area, and I’ve had such wonderful feedback about how nice it is to have a different type of entertainment for events.
I am most proud of the difference we are making for these animals. Teaching others, especially starting young in our local schools, doing up close encounters with these creatures is the best way to gain appreciation and love for them. Everyone, old and young, can see snakes aren’t so scary and slimy, lizards are fascinating, and the absolutely unique personality of a tortoise first hand and really make some special memories that will last a lifetime!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory is just being outdoors with my family. I loved to climb trees, roller skate, ride my bike, and play softball. We loved sports! My brother, sister, and I all played baseball/softball so I lived all summer at the ballpark and when we weren’t there for us we would be at a professional ballpark watching the Triple A baseball team in Indianapolis or going to Chicago and St. Louis for a Cubs or Cardinals game. As I grew up, music became a huge part of my life so listening to music and singing (although not well!) has always been a passion as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leapinglizardsreptileexperience.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leapinglizardsreptile
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leapinglizardsreptile
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leapinglizardsreptile
