Hidden Gems: Meet Shea Cox of Honor Pet

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shea Cox.

Hi Shea, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wanted to be a vet since I was eight. But I failed Chemistry three times and ended up in art school instead. Three weeks before graduation, I had a meltdown and bought a one-way Greyhound ticket to LA—no plan, no money, and no clue what came next.

What I did have was a long history of caring for people at the end of life. During art school, I worked in home-health. Later, I was a nurse’s aide in a state-run convalescent home. End-of-life kept finding me long before I had language for it.

Eventually, I taught myself “baby chemistry,” passed the prerequisite that once derailed me, and got into nursing school. Earning my RN gave me the confidence to try vet med again. I graduated from Michigan State and spent ten years in emergency medicine, where I kept seeing the same pattern: families overwhelmed, vets short on time, and difficult end-of-life decisions being made in minutes.

The system wasn’t failing because people were doing something wrong. It was failing because it never made space for what people truly needed.

That led me to build the first hospice and palliative care service fully integrated inside a specialty hospital, back in 2012. In 2020, I sold that practice to BluePearl Specialty Hospitals and spent the next three years scaling hospice care nationwide.

In 2023, I retired from BluePearl and hung up my hospice hat. My plan was to keep bees, raise goats, and start a backyard pottery studio.

That lasted three weeks.

That’s because I got a call from my now co-founder, Eli. He was starting a pet aquamation (water cremation) business and asked if I’d be willing to give him some advice. I said yes. What started as a quick consult turned into a much bigger conversation, and by the end of that first call, he asked if I wanted to join the team. The rest is history.

At first, the idea was to build a modern, tech-forward pet crematorium. But about a month in, I said: why stop at cremation? That’s just one part of the end-of-life journey.

We made a pivot and began rebuilding the entire end-of-life experience from the ground up. That was the start of Honor Pet. Instead of going wide, we went deep—bringing every part of the journey together, all under one roof. Our Comfort Center in downtown LA offers pre-planning, euthanasia (in-home and in-center), aquamation, memorial experiences, and grief support.

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?
The hardest part has been building something that didn’t exist. A vet clinic meets in-home euthanasia service meets modern crematorium isn’t a model you can borrow. There’s no blueprint, and we’re designing the plane while flying it.

There’s also the fact that we’re working in a part of the pet industry no one wanted to look at for decades. End-of-life was always the afterthought. Because of that, nothing evolved: no cohesiveness, no transparency, no education. So a big part of the struggle has simply been creating awareness. Helping both families and veterinary professionals realize that this kind of care exists, and that it can feel entirely different than what they’ve seen before.

We’re also doing something that’s both high-tech and deeply human, and that’s a delicate balance to strike. Our experience has to feel intentional and emotionally grounded every step of the way, while still being built on systems that can scale.

It’s been a crazy ride, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Because when you hear families say, “I had no idea it could feel like this,” it makes every struggle worth it.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Honor Pet?
Honor Pet’s sole focus is pet end-of-life care, and we’re doing death differently.

We’ve built a complete care model that guides families from the first conversation through the final goodbye. Families are supported, informed, and never left wondering what comes next.

We offer both in-home and in-center euthanasia so families can choose what feels right. At our Comfort Center, we’ve created a peaceful, home-like space with small rituals: a flower bar for building a memorial bouquet, art supplies, and even a champagne toast for those who wish to raise a glass to the love and life shared.

We also wanted the moment a pet returns home to feel more sacred. Today, most ashes are placed in an urn and handed back in a simple drawstring bag. That never felt right to me. This moment deserves more reverence, which is why we created the Honor Box. It’s a curated unboxing experience with thoughtful touches, designed to reflect the depth of love and loss, and to give families a sense of care they can feel.

The Honor Box is also sustainably made using recycled materials and soy-based inks. Intention carries through every detail.

And that commitment to sustainability runs through everything we do: water-based cremation instead of flame, an electric fleet of vehicles, no single-use plastics, and a space designed with recycled and upcycled furnishings and decor.

“Doing death differently” means giving families the agency and care this chapter deserves; a goodbye that feels as meaningful as the life lived.

How do you think about luck?
I’ve always considered myself a lucky person, though I’m not sure if it’s luck, positive intention, or some kind of cosmic alignment I haven’t figured out yet. It’s probably a mix.

I tend to set my mind to something and then just keep going until it happens. So maybe it’s less about luck and more about tenacity and persistence. But I also believe in the good juju! The right people show up at the right time The door cracks open when you need it most. I try to stay open to that, to trust that if something is meant to happen, it will.

So yes, I believe in luck, but I also believe you have to meet it halfway.

Pricing:

• In-Center Euthanasia Service ($275)
• In-home Euthanasia Services ($500)
• Individual Cremation (starts at $349)
• Communal Cremation (starts at $205)
• Pre-Planning/Quality of Life Consult ($170)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.honor.pet
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honor.pet/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/104403321/admin/dashboard/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@honorpet
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheacox/