We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittany Nicole Jones a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brittany Nicole, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

In the midst of the pandemic, my husband and I wanted to adopt a pup so badly to add to our family. As a bartender, I was not able to work, so while we filled out applications and waited for responses, I decided to use my free time to teach myself how to sew. That way, when we finally brought home the dog that was meant for us, he would come home to a wardrobe of bandanas.

ROWDY DOG bandanas was born on January 21, 2021 when our Puerto Rican street dog, Rowdy, came home with us, proudly sporting a ROWDY DOG bandana. This was after months of watching how to videos, blowing through thread and fabric, and harassing a lot of friends to measure their dog’s necks so I could create a sizing chart to suit the tiniest of pups to the biggest of dogs.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I studied graphic design in college. Since it was just a concentration, my actual degree was in Fine Arts, which meant I got to dabble in quite a few forms of art along the way.

I ended up falling in love with bartending right out of college, but I have always expressed my creativity in many forms of art outside of the bar world. Making bandanas for dogs has been my favorite creative outlet.

When I started, I wanted to make a good quality product while keeping it fun. I would spend hours going down rabbit holes looking for cute fabrics from other small businesses and started finding that some fabrics really vibed with others. It quickly became very important to me to design something that was reversible, so I could pair complimentary fabrics together and clients would get more bang for their buck.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I currently use Etsy as a platform for selling my bandanas. The biggest pros are that it is very user friendly and I can reach people from all over the world. It does, however, come with cons like paying hefty percentages with each sale and struggling to gain visibility until you have a ton of sales.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Luckily, my ROWDY DOG business is small enough that I only have to manage myself and my two wild dogs, Rowdy and Oakland. Wrangling them for photos and videos can often times be pretty trying, but to be fair, I am only paying them in treats.

My full time job is a whole different story though. I have the pleasure of managing a whole team of creative and spirited bartenders. At the end of the day, managing is about being kind and empathetic while holding people to high standards, being approachable, willing to facilitate change, and doing anything you would ask your staff to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rowdydogbandanas.etsy.com/
• Instagram: @rowdydogbandanas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowdydogbandanas

Image Credits

Tiffany Lee Jones
Ryan Wirt