We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Noëlle Whitley . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Noëlle below.

Noëlle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

When we adopted our first rescue pup Maya in summer 2016, I knew I wanted to spoil her and give her the best of everything, including buying her cute accessories! I envisioned putting her in stylish bandanas, using prints and colors in palettes I love, something sweet but sophisticated. Instead, I found gaudy, low quality items in big box stores, or bandanas on the internet that looked homemade and cheap. My philosophy is that I won’t dress my dogs in something I wouldn’t wear myself – after all, they’re my kids! I’ve always loved creating, so after many fruitless shopping trips, I decided I could do it better myself. After making a few prototypes, I started to get a lot of interest from other dog parents in buying my bandanas, and Bumble & Hound, a name inspired by our little queen bee beagle mix, was born! Maya is still our inspiration, along with her sister Minnie, and we honor that with their ears in our logo!

Noëlle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My professional background started out in political science, with a master’s degree in International Studies from NC State University. I worked in the financial industry for a while, and then in education, but never truly found a job satisfying or interesting enough to become a career. While teaching high school civics, I started Bumble & Hound as a little side hustle to explore my creative side, and within two years it replaced teaching as my full time job! We began with just a small collection of bandanas, and since 2017 have expanded our product line to include leashes, grooming supplies, hand knit goods, blankets, and accessories for dog parents. The number of dog-centric small businesses has definitely increased since we started, but what sets Bumble & Hound apart is the quality and style of our products. Everything is handmade or designed by us (I’ve had to recruit my husband to help as demand grew), using the best quality materials we can find. Our collections are thoughtfully curated seasonally to reflect a cohesive style and color palette, and everything coordinates so matching sibling pups is a breeze! Rescue advocacy is also extremely important to us, so we donate a portion of all our sales quarterly to dog rescue. I’m so proud of how much the business has grown since our official 2018 launch, with sales of over 5,000 bandanas, and how many people recognize our brand and style!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like many small businesses and micro businesses, 2020 was an incredibly tough year for us. We’re very fortunate to live in an area with strong support for shopping local and small, and in-person pop up markets are very important for us. During the pandemic and ensuing lockdown, I had to pivot our business model from event-focused and learn to grow my online marketing and sales skills. 2020 also brought an influx of other folks starting small businesses, so it was a steep learning curve to continue to stand out in the crowd.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

All our products are proudly hand made or designed by me! When I wanted to start making bandanas, I learned how to use a sewing machine and experimented with different techniques to achieve our final product. I went through several different prototypes before arriving at our signature bandana. My husband is an engineer and together we experimented on the best way to manufacture sturdy leashes, and experimented in the kitchen with different formulas for grooming products such as paw balm. This year, I added digital and print art to our lineup, and learning that process has been challenging but a lot of fun! Part of what makes the small business maker community so great is the depth of talent, and I’ve definitely relied on maker friends to learn new skills together in our respective business areas. Having other small business owner friends has been a great way to bounce ideas and potential designs around.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bumbleandhound.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bumbleandhound
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bumbleandhound