Meet the Team

Meet the wonderful members of the Furever Home Friends family!

Savy Leiser, Owner & Author

Savy founded The Furever Home Friends in 2017 following a successful $7,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the first two books, Princess Allee and Smile, Chewie!, and their plushies. Since 2017, Savy has expanded the series with new books, new plushie characters, and new toys and accessories. Savy designs Furever Home Friends toys using 3D modeling software and prints them on a 3D printer.

Beyond running Furever Home Friends, Savy is the author of three YA novels: One Final Vinyl, Beauty King, and Sculpt Yourself. In 2020, she released her first nonfiction book, #SavvyBusinessOwner, which detailed the process of launching and growing this business. Savy works as a music journalist for Halftime Magazine and the assistant editor & project manager for the publisher Muse Media, LLC. 

Savy received her Bachelor's from Northwestern University in 2015 and her Master's in Writing & Publishing from DePaul University in 2019. From 2017-2020, she also taught creative writing classes and workshops for kids of all ages, and she currently offers author school visits through Furever Home Friends. Visit out Book Us page for more information.

Lola Leiser, Head Friendgineer

Dolores "Lola" Leiser is the plushie designer responsible for creating your huggable new furever friends! After working as a professional event planner for the majority of her career, Lola has returned to her one true love: dogs! Now, Lola brings these plushie friends to life through the creation of sewing patterns and mockups for production. 

ART TEAM

Christy Schneyman, Illustrator

Christy Schneyman earned her BFA in Illustration at Savannah College of Art & Design and her Master's in Art Education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She is passionate about all facets of the arts, especially when it concerns younger generations. You can visit Christy online at 

Brenda Clemente, Illustrator

Brenda Clemente attended the Rhode Island School of Design for film, animation, and video, though she is an illustrator at heart. You can find Brenda's other published work on the cover and interior of The New Old Stock magazine, issue 2. Before pursuing an art-related career, Brenda was a child caretaker who encouraged artistic expression with her employer's children. You can visit Brenda online at brendatasso.com.

Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Illustrator

Jan Spivey Gilchrist is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed illustrator/author of over 90 children's books. Dr. Gilchrist has won numerous awards, including both the Coretta Scott King Medal and the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award. She was inducted into the prestigious Society of Illustrators in New York in 2000. She resides in Olympia Fields, IL. Visit her website at janspiveygilchrist.com.

 WEB

Lucy Newman-Lapinski, Web Developer

Lucy is a coder and longtime dog lover. She is a firm believer that dogs are human’s best friends. She is also an avid horse person and volunteers at the Equicenter, a local nonprofit that utilizes horses to provide therapy to people with disabilities. Lucy enjoys coding and loves to participate in hackathons, such as WiCHacks. Her favorite college classes are in computer science. Lucy spends her off time playing D&D with friends, as both an adventurer and Dungeon Master. She also enjoys both playing and modding Minecraft. She likes to relax drinking tea while writing short stories.

Erik McManus, Web Content Writer

Bio pending.

MARKETING

RK Gold, Social Media Manager

Bio pending.