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

Alright, Brandon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

“poo” + “musette” = Puzette!

Over the past ten years, I’ve become a dog person. I love getting out with my dogs – walks, hikes and trips to the dog park or around town are our favorite. As my pack grew from one dog to several I found my hands increasingly full and was looking for a way to carry gear on our outings.

I tried several off the shelf solutions, including hip packs, fanny packs, running packs and backpacks, but nothing worked. Then, I remembered that I had a few musette bags in my cycling gear bin in the basement.

Musettes are simple, flat bags with a long strap used to hand food and water to cyclists in long races. I dug one out, attached a poop bag dispenser to it, and the first puzette was born! From this day on the bag was indispensable.

I used my makeshift puzette for years as it made daily dog life much more manageable. But after watching many Shark Tank reruns in the fall of 2022, I was inspired to turn it into a real thing, and started the company in January 2023.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a dog enthusiast and creative problem solver dedicated to making dog walks and adventures simpler and more enjoyable.

I came up with the idea for the Puzette because I needed a way to carry treats, poop bags, water, toys and other items, and nothing worked like I wanted until I started using my makeshift musette bag.

If you’ve ever forgotten poop bags, needed some treats on a walk, wished you’d brought a tennis ball to the park, or struggled carrying things while holding leashes, then we are here to help.

Our bags make it easy to keep all your dog gear in one place, so you can quickly grab it as you head out the door, knowing you have everything you need – which is especially great on busy mornings or for squeezing a walk in between work calls.

When I started out, I don’t think there were many dog walking bags on the market, or at least I wasn’t finding them. Now I’m seeing more options out there, which is great.

One of the advantages of the Puzette is how it’s so simple but so intuitively useful. It’s so light that you can wear it mostly empty on your daily walks and you hardly feel it, but then it has plenty of room to fit all your dog stuff for a hike or longer outing. The poop bags and treats are right where you expect to find them, and our stabilizer cord – you’ll never wear a shoulder bag without one again.

I arrived at this design by taking inspiration from different experiences – endurance sports (musettes, light is right), outdoor pursuits (quality gear), Scouting (Be Prepared) and using these to solve a problem I faced multiple times per day. It would have been easier to buy something “close” off the shelf, but after developing the Puzette I wouldn’t want anything else now. And I think our customers would agree.

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

Our bags are sewn by Colorado Contract Cut and Sew, a family-owned sewing company in Denver, and I’m very happy to have found them.

When I decided to turn the makeshift musette into a real thing, the first thing I did was sign up for a sewing class. My grandmother taught me to sew 30+ years ago, but it had been a while. Searching on Google I found that a new sewing shop in Boulder (SewBo) had just opened and offered classes. I signed up and took Adult Sewing 101 on December 30, 2022. Jordan, the owner of the shop, taught us how to cut fabric, operate the machine, turn and finish, and over the course of two hours we made a simple, reversible bag.

I bought a machine at the store at the end of the class and set up a sewing area in my basement. Over the next few weeks, I made a dozen Puzettes, beginning with a very simple musette with an exterior pocket, then incorporating a poop bag dispenser (I sewed a button-hole for the bag exit), and eventually moving these features to where they would be most ideal.

After a few weeks I realized that my sewing skill and speed were great for prototyping but pretty far from being production ready. I found a retired seamstress on Craigslist who used my prototype to develop a template, create properly sewn pockets and flaps, and reinforced exit holes for the poop bags. I gave these bags to a few friends to get feedback, and while they were using them continued my search for a manufacturer.

I tried a few different avenues. I called a few cycling apparel makers that make musettes to see if they could do it. I emailed a custom bag company in California. I researched international manufacturers, and I called several contract sewing shops in the Boulder/Denver area.

This process showed me that I was really in new territory. I had a design, but no “tech pack” or bill of materials, and while I had some details ironed out, I also had some huge holes that would need to be filled in.

I was a fish out of water and probably more trouble than I was worth for these manufacturers to deal with. But Lindsey, the owner at Colorado Contract, was very gracious in working with me to understand my project and contributed several ideas that went on to become key components of the Puzette. It was great to be able to meet and review ideas in person. I am very happy I found her and the entire team, and that we are able to make Puzettes here in Colorado.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I trialed several e-commerce and website platforms and chose to build our site on Squarespace. Part of the reason is that e-commerce was only one component of our digital presence. While other platforms such as Shopify are often better regarded for e-commerce, we weren’t just out to build an online store. If we were selling things people already knew, then we might have done that. But before we could sell Puzette, we needed to share what it was and who we were.

Squarespace has been a great platform for us to tell this story: what makes this bag different, what you might carry in it, where you might take it, and how it can help you in your daily adventures with your dog. Even more, it’s helped us evolve as a brand because we are able to go deep on important topics – maybe only a handful of prospective customers will ever Explore the whole site, but they have been critical for us to really home in on our offer, which is “outfitting dog lovers for everyday adventures.”

Squarespace also has native email marketing which has been great in launching email marketing which helps us tell our story and get to know our customers better. And, they have integrations with social media, google shopping and more so that we are able to have a solid online presence. Overall, it’s been a great fit for us as a company.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.puzette.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puzettebags/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepracticalbag
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/puzettebags/
• Twitter: https://x.com/puzettebags
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@puzettebags