"After numerous years struggling to overcome a painful illness incurred during my military service, I met an angel puppy who helped me survive the most difficult year of my life.  Despite all of the obstacles I have had to overcome throughout the years, battling PTSD was my Everest.  

Waffles, a 13-pound ball of furry puppy happiness, was there every moment to help me get through significant pain. She comforted me when I needed it most, and never failed to put a smile on my face. Her love is contagious - she spreads laughter and happiness to anyone she meets.  She reminds me every day to embrace life and search for love and joy.   

I quickly discovered that I wasn’t alone in this love that I felt for her. During the past two years, I have met many women around the world who are as passionate about their dogs as I am - women who want to include their 'best friends' in everything that they do. I’ve also learned that canine therapy has been very helpful to these women for many illnesses in addition to PTSD.  They enthusiastically share their stories and have been an inspiration to me.​

In Spring 2016, I was thrilled to be accepted into the Stanford Ignite program for entrepreneurs. It afforded me the opportunity to build out my initial business concept and develop it with the incredible faculty at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. 

Puppy Mama was born.  

Our mission is to create a more dog-friendly world and to advocate for the healing power of canine therapy.  The Puppy Mama community is a safe place for women to share stories of how their puppies have helped them cope with stress, trauma and depression.  

Our social media app provides a platform for puppy mamas to connect and share with one another, set up puppy play dates, and rate businesses, hotels, restaurants, bars, transportation, and workspaces according to their dog-friendliness. 

Through power by numbers, we believe businesses will change their policies to enable our ‘best friends’ to join us wherever we go!"

- Theresa Piasta, Founder & CEO  

THERESA PIASTA
Founder & CEO, Puppy Mama
San Francisco, CA 

Before founding Puppy Mama, Theresa Piasta was a Vice President at JPMorgan - spending six total years in the Investment Bank and Sales & Trading businesses at two Wall Street banks.  Prior to that she served as an Army Captain in a Field Artillery Brigade. During her 14-month Iraq deployment in 2008, Theresa led a large team to defend thousands of soldiers and contractors residing on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Delta near the Iranian border.  She was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for her service. 

Theresa attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business Ignite program in 2016 and received a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College in 2006.  She also studied military science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a ROTC scholarship recipient and was a collegiate soccer player for two seasons during her time at Wellesley College.​

Theresa grew up in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County - a beautiful city in California's wine country.  She is fourth of seven children and has two of the most loving and supportive parents. Since a young age, Theresa's parents and grandmother have always encouraged her to aim for the stars and conquer her dreams.