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Amy Zalneraitis by no means got down to be within the pet meals enterprise.
As a inventive director within the vogue trade, she was constructing a profitable profession far faraway from the world of canine diet. However when her youthful sister Alissa was identified with late-stage colon most cancers in her early thirties, Amy’s life took an sudden flip.
Alissa had constructed a thriving uncooked pet food enterprise in Austin, Texas, which she had expanded nationally and continued operating till the ultimate week of her life. When she handed, there was no time to spare. Manufacturing wanted to proceed, meat deliveries wanted to be made, and clients relied on the meals. Amy and her household jumped in, reworking their tragedy into what would grow to be a thriving enterprise.
Right this moment, We Feed Uncooked is on the forefront of disrupting the $45 billion pet meals trade within the U.S., the place contemporary and uncooked meals is estimated to develop by $3.2 billion from 2025 to 2029— the fastest-growing phase within the area.
On a latest episode of One Day with Jon Bier, Amy shared her journey from reluctant entrepreneur to passionate advocate for higher pet diet. Listed below are key insights from our dialog.
The issue with pet food
In keeping with Amy, canines’ organic equipment is not designed to deal with fixed blood sugar spikes from the soluble carbohydrates present in kibble. The outcomes are regarding: 60% of canines within the U.S. are overweight or obese, and 50% will get most cancers by age. For a lot of canines, most of their energy come from ultra-processed meals, meal after meal.
“Why are we accepting this as regular?” Amy asks. Her resolution is to feed canines their authentic, evolutionary weight loss program of uncooked meals.
Difficult typical knowledge—fastidiously
Amy is aware of one thing must be achieved to coach the buyer however in a constructive method. Due to this fact, she’s cautious to be nuanced in her gross sales strategy.
“We’ve to be actually daring in our messaging as a result of we’re disrupting an area,” she explains. “However we now have to watch out to not have any form of shaming tone.” Most pet house owners love their canines like household and do not knowingly wish to hurt them.
“The transition may be robust typically for individuals, too. They’re spending much more cash, and so they wanna see these outcomes occur,” she says. The answer? We Feed Uncooked’s customer support workforce helps individuals by way of the transition interval, particularly since canines who’ve been consuming processed meals for years may have time for his or her intestine microbiome to regulate.
Realizing your function
Some founders wrestle to let go—not Amy, who has a refreshing perspective on her strengths and limitations. “I am not a CEO in any respect,” she admits. “That isn’t how my mind works.” As a substitute, she embraces her function as a inventive and passionate model advocate. The corporate not too long ago introduced on a CEO and CMO who Amy describes as “probably the most badass, sensible ladies” she’s ever labored with. “I do not really feel even near as sensible as them, and I adore it as a result of they only know what to do. All of us form of work collectively on this very complementary method.”
Constructing model id
One in every of Amy’s first main strikes after securing outdoors funding was investing closely in model growth. She employed Preacher, a inventive company in Austin, to create We Feed Uncooked’s id. “It was a really collaborative course of – the colours, the look, the texture, the vibe,” she explains.
The funding paid off: “It actually helps us stand out. It gave us credibility.” In an trade filled with what she calls “crappy pet meals branding,” this early concentrate on model id helped set We Feed Uncooked aside.
Staying robust by way of the struggles
For Amy, entrepreneurship has been a profound trainer of resilience. “Studying to not keep down for too lengthy while you get knocked down,” she says. “I feel it may well really feel actually overwhelming to really feel such as you’re getting punched within the face again and again… however typically probably the most genius factor we did was we did not surrender.”
One in every of her hardest intervals got here earlier than securing critical funding when the enterprise was working month to month. At the same time as individuals questioned what she was doing, she stored the religion. “That is gonna work. I do know that is gonna work,” she informed herself.
Throughout a very darkish second, a textual content buddy beneficial that she take heed to “How I Constructed This.” The podcast grew to become her lifeline. “It saved me as a result of I spotted there are different individuals on the market like me,” she explains. “You need to defend your thoughts and power while you’re in that area as a result of most individuals will inform you you are loopy.”