We were lucky to catch up with Ilana Green recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ilana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

One of my favorite things to do is cook! I love food, whether it’s eating, preparing, or being a taste tester, I’m all about it. So naturally, I spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. I also love animals, and currently have two lovely pups, Camilla and Mateo. Most of the things that I cook were not dog friendly, and I really wanted to start making things that they also could enjoy. So I began doing research, consulting vets, and speaking with other pet parents about what their pups also like. Once I had a good idea of ingredients that were okay to use, I began making treats. Because I wanted my treats to also resemble things that I would make for myself, that’s when Pawsitively Delicious was born. My friends began showing interest in the things I was making for my pups and it grew from there. Now we do treats, bandanas, and will be expanding into other food additives and pup accessories in the near future.

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

At it’s core, Pawsitively Delicious is my way of spreading positivity through my love for dogs and creating. It’s really important to me that I try and make a positive connection with as many people as I can while at my events. Sharing pictures and stories of furbabies is a common thing where I am set up, and it’s one of my favorite parts of operating Pawsitively Delicious. I think life can get crazy and a lot of times are pups, or any kind of pet, really help us get through the harder times. I’m just happy I can create a healthy and affordable option for pet parents that hopefully make them and their fur baby happy as well.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first had the idea to start Pawsitively Delicious, I had no experience starting or operating a small business. To make matters a little bit more chaotic, we were in the middle of a global pandemic and I was moving to an entirely new city where I didn’t know anyone. So having this wonderful idea that I didn’t know how to bring to fruition definitely brought it’s challenges. But I’ve found that sometimes figuring everything out by yourself is the most difficult part. In order to begin to see my vision become a reality, I had to ask for help…a lot! Along with asking for help, I also had to break up my vision into small goals. Tackling small ideas one by one, allowed me to enjoy the process of forming Pawsitively Delicious and reduced the amount of stress that usually comes with tackling a big project all at one time. I’ve learned so much from Pawsitively Delicious and hope that I’m able to continue to partner with the people that helped me get up and running, and hopefully I’ll also be able to help others who are starting up their own business as well.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was mentally limiting myself. Being a small business owner is absolutely amazing, but it can also have it’s frustrating moments. I really had to teach myself an entirely new level of mental toughness. When I have gotten into a space of mental blockage and I wanted to give up, whether that looks like lessening what I believe I could do, or questioning if an idea will even work. I adopted a saying of “there’s always another way”. For me, this reminds me to take a step back, go on a nature walk, or whatever I need to do to relax my mind, so that when I come back to the idea I’m able to think clearly. Once I have a clear head, it’s a little bit easier to think of other ways to create the same goal that I’m trying to achieve.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @pawsitivelydelicioioussav
• Facebook: @pawsitivelydelicioussav
• Twitter: @pawsitivelycafe