As president of Cesar Millan, Inc., Ilusion’s charismatic leadership and positive energy inspires the whole team to work for a more dog-friendly tomorrow. But what does Ilusion Millan do? What exactly is Cesar Millan, Inc.? Ilusion tells us in this fascinating interview.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” – Dr. Seuss

What is CMI?
Cesar Millan, Inc.  is a company where people can create ideas based on Cesar’s methods, philosophies, and messages, make them happen, and then share them with the public. Our goal is to help get Cesar’s message out and spread awareness, through many mediums: training aids, DVDs, the internet, and even personal appearances. CMI supports who Cesar is and what he does for dogs and people.

What are the biggest accomplishments for CMI in 2006?
Oh my gosh! Where do I start? I am so proud of what we accomplished this year. For me, the biggest accomplishment was premiering the Illusion collar. A lot of hard work went into that. Also, we created, and continue to develop, Cesar’s presence on the web as a resource for dog owners. And we made two DVDs, People Training for Dogs and Becoming a Pack Leader, which help empower people – men, women, and children – in their relationship with their dogs… and also other human beings.

What are CMI’s goals for 2007?
We have a lot of projects in the works for 2007. We hope to create an official Cesar Fan Club and a place on the web where fans can interact with and help one another. There are plans to spread our message through other marketing strategies, such as print ads, as well as expanding the availability of our training aids and DVDs through placement in small boutiques and retail stores. And CMI continues to develop more resources for dog owners, such as the release of two more DVDs and a doggy backpack. Also in development is a children’s website, which my kids will help create, where our younger fans can share, learn, and be in community with other dog lovers around the country.

Another exciting project is our non-profit organization! We want to focus on making it accessible to the public. We hope to create awareness of dog issues and help rescue groups attain their goals and fill their needs. We already have an initial start-up project in the works for incorporating pet awareness, safety, and care into children’s elementary education. That’s something we really hope to realize in 2007.

What is your experience as a woman in a leadership role?
It’s a challenge from the moment I wake up, being a mother, a wife and the president of a company. I manage my children, I manage a home, and I manage a company. It’s both fun and challenging. If you can laugh at the challenges, it makes it all worthwhile.

For me, the biggest challenges are prioritizing and staying centered. As president, staying calm and assertive in difficult situations is important. All these internal conversations go on in my head – good angel, bad angel– and that’s a very natural thing. But you need to manage those conversations to make sure that you are not going against who you want to be. I have taken wonderful courses to help me manage that in a very powerful way and create structures in my life to keep possibilities I create in place. All things considered, it’s really fun being Cesar’s wife, business partner, and friend.

How do you see the role for women establishing leadership with pets?
Many women are very nurturing. We like to make things better by holding our dogs in our arms and cuddling them, but that is not necessarily going to make things better. We need to be aware of the fact that some of time – most of the time - we are not actually going to help that way with dogs. We are actually making it worse.

I came from an education background. I was a preschool teacher, so I came from that mentality. It’s all about the children, care for them and nurture them. Then I come to the center where, because the dogs were in rehabilitation, they should not be nurtured for the most part. So here I am; I want to make it better, but I really wasn’t helping. It was really hard on Cesar; I had to learn that I was not being of service when I was being that way. Every now and then, it’s natural. It’s okay to nurture. But, in some situations, it just doesn’t work. It actually goes against you instead of working for you.

Once you recognize that what you are doing is more about personal gain than about being of service, you can learn to change your approach. Once you can come from that place – being of service – and learn not take it personally, you can really help the animal – or the person. We need to overcome our personal issues and move forward from there, in order to really help.

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