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

Alright, Dawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Pet toys are big business. Today, pet toys are a $1 billion industry and growing.

Most of that is dog toys. Even though there are more pet cats in the U.S. than dogs, cat toys make up only about a quarter of the pet toy industry. And, unfortunately, most cat toys on store shelves today are poorly designed and cheaply made little balls and stuffed mice.

Cats are highly social, intelligent animals who, unlike dogs, are not that far removed from their wild ancestors. In the U.S., we tend keep our cats indoors, which is a good thing for cats, as it extends their lives, and a good thing for the environment. But it’s harder for cat guardians to meet their pets’ psychological, social, and intellectual needs indoors.

My products are designed with cat biology and cat psychology in mind. They’re well-designed to be interesting to cats, and made of materials that appeal to cats.

For example, I offer cardboard-box playhouses for cats that appeal to their unique obsession with corrugated boxes. There’s actually some serious science that explains why, and most cat guardians have at least one old Amazon shipping carton lying around the house for their cats’ enjoyment. My designs, which include a giant wedge cheese, an oversized milk container, a gingerbread house, and a haunted house, were designed to appeal to cats’ special interests, including small holes for poking paws through, multiple entrances and exits, and opportunities for climbing.

All of my products are made of materials that are safe for cats. I imprint my cardboard playhouses with inks that are soy- or water-based and cat-safe, unlike many other products on market. My wool cat toys get their vibrant coloring from azo-free dyes, even though they are more expensive to use.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Cat in the Box designs and sells unique pet products that fulfill indoor cats’ biological needs, while also meeting their guardians desire for attractive, well-made products that can be proudly displayed in the home.

I’m not your typical entrepreneur: I’m a middle-aged, former stay-at-home mom, who hadn’t held a traditional job in 23 years when I started this business.

I actually got the idea for Cat in the Box while visiting my mother’s cat sitter with her. This woman had a beautifully appointed home, but on this day, her living room was filled with cardboard boxes. She saw me looking around and sheepishly said, “They’re for the cats.”

I already knew that cats loved cardboard boxes (several important scientific studies explain why), but it got me thinking: why do their guardians put up with dirty, ugly shipping cartons in their homes? Why not something fun and attractive, and designed specifically for cats?

I’ve been designing beautiful, interesting, and cat-approved products ever since.

The thing I’d want potential customers to know is that I am them: I’m a lifelong animal lover who wants the beings who live with me to live happy, fulfilled lives.

To that end, I’ve been designing things for my own animals when I haven’t been able to find what I need (and what they need) in the big-box pet stores. Cat in the Box is an extension of that passion.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I know a lot of little companies try to look big. I went the opposite way with my company, Cat in the Box. I want people to feel like they’re buying from a real person, not a faceless retailer.

To that end, I personalize everything I do. I write personal notes to customers. I respond to every email that I receive. I write TO them in my blog posts, using the pronoun “I” and my own real “voice,” which can be a little bit silly, but has a deep love and respect for cats and their guardians baked in. I even include a thank you note with certain products, with a photo of me and my family and some of our pets.

I also treat customers the way I’d like to be treated. If there’s a problem, I fix it, something my customers appreciate. I’m recently received this note from a customer, which exemplifies the experience I’ve been trying to create:

“You have gone above and beyond in your customer service concerning my order. I have never dealt with a company with your ethics. You are the absolute best! You now have a lifetime customer.”

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have more than 10K followers on Instagram, something I’m very proud of. Nearly all of my content is user-generated, in other words, photos and videos that have been sent to me by customers, showing their cats enjoying my products.

It’s an important social-proof tool to a very visual business, like mine. Not only do potential customers get to see my products from every angle, but they get to see the wide range of cats using the toys in creative cat ways.

I’m proud to say that I was able to earn that many followers the hard way. In fact, there are no good shortcuts when it comes to social media, and that is my best advice to those just starting out.

Social media is supposed to be social, which means that the only way to grow your following is to stop thinking about it as a primary goal. The way to grow your following is to give as least as much as you receive on a platform, like Instagram, which highly social. That means liking, commenting, and responding in a natural, friendly way.

It took time for me to grow my audience, and it takes time, every week, to maintain those friendly connections with others.

Luckily, I love talking cats with people who love cats, just like me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thecatisinthebox.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecatisinthebox
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-lafontaine-2b99a73/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CatintheBoxTV/videos
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecatisinthebox.com