- Reeling with grief, Nicole and her husband, Peter, were at the vet organising the cremation of their kitten, Maple, who’d died from a virus.
- The vet had just welcomed a new batch of rescue cats and Nicole and Peter couldn’t resist Honeybelle’s sweet personality.
- They brought her home to meet their other cats, Kody and Mocha, and when COVID put Nicole’s retail job on hold, she set up an Instagram page PrincessHoneyBelle for her.
- She dressed Honey in cute outfits and filmed videos of her ‘helping’ Nicole bake. Within two weeks, the page attracted 5000 followers and kept growing from there.
- Soon, she was being offered pet brand deals, leading her to quit her job.
- Last year, she made $70,000 through her cat videos and expects to reach triple figures this year, now that Honeybelle has amassed 1 million followers.
- Nicole Wade, 40, from Melbourne, Vic. shares her story…
With a heavy heart, I stared at the memorial paw prints.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” I said to my husband, Peter, 37.
It was December 2019 and we were at the vets.
Peter and I already had two cats, Kody, 13, and Mocha, 11, but we’d recently adopted a kitten called Maple.
Six days after we’d got her, she’d passed away from feline panleukopenia, a deadly virus.
The vets were dealing with Maple’s cremation and had just taken in new rescue kittens.
Peter and I had no intention of getting another one so soon. Then we met Honeybelle. She had the sweetest personality and we instantly fell in love with her.
“Shall we take her?” I said.
“We should,” he said.
Honey quickly became part of our family.
I’d regretted not taking enough photos of Kody and Mocha when they were kittens so I started an Instagram page called @PrincessHoneyBelle for her.
Then the pandemic sent us into lockdown. I worked in retail so without a job to go to, I poured my creative energy into Honey’s page.
“I’m going to dress her in cute outfits,” I told Peter, accompanying my snaps with fun captions.
In two weeks, Honey’s profile had amassed 5000 followers. She loved being the centre of attention.
In April 2020, I was baking a pumpkin pie one day when Honey jumped up on the counter. She looked like she wanted to be involved so I filmed her sniffing the pastry and followers loved it.
More content of Chef Honey please, one person said.
It became a regular thing.
Soon, I was being offered pet brand deals.
When I was asked to return to work in November 2020, I decided to resign and create cute cat content full time.
It was so much fun.
I filmed all the videos. Sometimes Peter helped, standing behind me with a treat so Honey would look at the camera, or he’d hold her paw on a bowl while I filmed.
Occasionally her chef’s hat would fall off or she’d put her paw into the batter so I posted blooper reels for subscribers.
Now Honey has nearly 1 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
We’ve worked with fun brands like Disney and Ferrero Rocher, and won so many industry awards including, best pet at AiMCO (Australian Influencer Marketing Council) two years in a row.
Honey even had two plush toys created in her likeness.
Last year, I made $70,000 with my cat videos and this year I’m set to reach six figures, so it’s been lucrative.
We now have a new kitten, Toffee, and he has his own Instagram page, too.
Kody sadly passed away at the end of 2025 aged 18 and Mocha turns 18 next year.
These days, Honey and I are working on a cookbook of all her favourite recipes.
Creating kitty content might be an unusual career move, but after six years I still love it. It’s my purrfect job.
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