Cats, Coffee, and Conscious Franchising with Sandra Cagan
A cat café is more than coffee and cats.
At its best, it is a place where people connect, shelter animals find homes, and business becomes a bridge between purpose and community.
In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Sandra Cagan, Founder and Owner of Orlando Cat Café, the first cat café in the state of Florida. Founded in 2016, Orlando Cat Café partners with animal welfare organizations and café partners to create a welcoming space where guests can relax, connect, and meet adoptable cats.
Sandra’s work sits at the intersection of animal welfare, hospitality, franchising, and community impact. Orlando Cat Café’s franchise model is built around what the brand calls “purr-pose and commerce,” helping shelter cats connect with loving homes while creating a replicable business model for cat lovers and community-minded entrepreneurs.
In Cats, Coffee, and Conscious Franchising, we explore:
• How animal welfare and business can work together
• Why cat cafés create meaningful community connection
• How purpose can be built into a franchise model
• What hospitality looks like when comfort, care, and adoption meet
• Why local partnerships are essential to impact
• How entrepreneurs can build businesses that serve both people and pets
🎙️ Hosted by Stephen Sakach and Tullio Siragusa
🎧 Produced by Martha Huerta
Purpose-driven businesses create more than transactions. They create spaces where people feel welcome, communities feel connected, and lives can change.
Founder/CEO
Sandra Cagan is the founder of Orlando Cat Cafe - the first Cat Cafe to open in Florida and the first to offer a franchise opportunity. The Orlando Cat Cafe was founded in 2016 solely as a philanthropic project but it quickly grew into the most successful Cat Cafe in the country both in terms of number of guests and number of cat and kitten adoptions. During the pandemic Sandra returned to school and obtained her Masters in Public Administration and a Certificate in Non Profit Management from Villanova University. Sandra splits her time between Chicago, Illinois and Orlando, Florida and shares her life with her husband of 30 years, Jeff, and her Maine Coon cat Ori.
