We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Cardenas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

We first started out just my husband and I, we grew little by little and added people who would help with manufacturing. Both of our families stepped up to fill in parts and then we started to offer more opportunities for people. One of the things I am most proud of being able to do is offer flexible work-from-home opportunities for individuals who need them. Over the years we have been able to help out families with stay-at-home moms, homeschool moms, retired veterans, and even just helped out some people be able to save up for vacations. Now we have a great team, someone who specializes in in-person sales, a team of manufacturing which allows me to focus on the next step for growth.

Elizabeth , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Liz, and I own and operate Leashes by Liz, LLC. We specialize in creating handcrafted products for adventures with your pup! Our multipurpose leash is hand-braided with 8 strands of military-grade 550 parachute cord giving it immense breaking strength, great color combo, mold, and mildew resistance. Instead of having a fixed handle, we use two heavy-duty bolt snaps at either end and have welded o-rings braiding into the leash giving you the flexibility to adjust the leash to your needs. It can be used as a traditional 6ft or 3ft leash, hands-free, a coupler to walk two dogs and so much more. www.leashesbyliz.com has a great how-to video. We wanted to create a product that would eliminate waste by not breaking and being multifunctional. I am so happy that our product lasts and makes walks with your best friend even more enjoyable.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Beyond the initial $150 from my personal paycheck, the business has always been self-funded. We took the income from every sale and rolled it back into materials. I did not even take a “paycheck” for the first 5 years. This is something I am proud of but in hindsight may have been something I would change. I never had the stress of debt but it did inhibit our growth as far as being able to hire help and not being afraid of running out of supplies. Once we were able to really buy our materials in bulk that changed the direction of how fast we were able to grow. The product we could supply the bigger sales opportunities we could take on.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We grew the most doing in-person events such as fairs, festivals, trade shows, etc. Getting our feet on the ground and our product in people’s hands made the biggest impact. We are now a featured vendor at some of the most attended events in the country including the Minnesota State Fair, Iowa State Fair, National Western Stock Show, Houston Stock Show, San Antonio Stock show, and more. We have had franchises in several areas doing smaller city events and spreading the word about our product.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leashesbyliz.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/leashesbyliz