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Amy Zalneraitis by no means got down to be within the pet meals enterprise.
As a inventive director within the trend trade, she was constructing a profitable profession far faraway from the world of canine diet. However when her youthful sister Alissa was recognized 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, remodeling their tragedy into what would turn into a thriving enterprise.
At present, We Feed Uncooked is on the forefront of disrupting the $45 billion pet meals trade within the U.S., the place recent and uncooked meals is estimated to develop by $3.2 billion from 2025 to 2029— the fastest-growing section within the house.
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 here are key insights from our dialog.
The issue with pet food
In keeping with Amy, canine’ 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 canine within the U.S. are overweight or obese, and 50% will get most cancers by age. For a lot of canine, most of their energy come from ultra-processed meals, meal after meal.
“Why are we accepting this as regular?” Amy asks. Her answer is to feed canine their unique, evolutionary food plan of uncooked meals.
Difficult standard knowledge—rigorously
Amy is aware of one thing must be accomplished to coach the patron however in a constructive approach. Subsequently, she’s cautious to be nuanced in her gross sales method.
“We’ve to be actually daring in our messaging as a result of we’re disrupting an area,” she explains. “However now we have to watch out to not have any form of shaming tone.” Most pet homeowners love their canine like household and do not knowingly wish to hurt them.
“The transition might be powerful 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 group helps individuals by the transition interval, particularly since canine who’ve been consuming processed meals for years may have time for his or her intestine microbiome to regulate.
Understanding your position
Some founders battle 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’s not how my mind works.” As a substitute, she embraces her position as a inventive and passionate model advocate. The corporate lately introduced on a CEO and CMO who Amy describes as “essentially the most badass, good girls” she’s ever labored with. “I do not really feel even near as good as them, and I find it irresistible as a result of they only know what to do. All of us form of work collectively on this very complementary approach.”
Constructing model id
Considered one 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 stuffed with what she calls “crappy pet meals branding,” this early deal with model id helped set We Feed Uncooked aside.
Staying robust by 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 will probably really feel actually overwhelming to really feel such as you’re getting punched within the face again and again… however typically essentially the most genius factor we did was we did not hand over.”
Considered one of her hardest intervals got here earlier than securing severe 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 advised herself.
Throughout a very darkish second, a textual content buddy really useful that she hearken to “How I Constructed This.” The podcast grew to become her lifeline. “It saved me as a result of I noticed there are different individuals on the market like me,” she explains. “It’s important to shield your thoughts and vitality while you’re in that house as a result of most individuals will inform you you are loopy.”
