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

Hi Jane, thanks for joining us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

We launched in June 2020 during the height of Covid. We had about 800 bottles of dog shampoo and conditioner in our basements and we were sending it out to friends and family to try. (Backstory: I met one of my partners, Regina, a very long time ago when we were both working at Vogue Magazine). Regina woke up one day a few weeks later and said “I kind of know Adam Glassman (Oprah Winfrey’s right hand man) and I’m going to DM him on Instagram. He wrote back immediately, “You are not going to believe this but Oprah HATES the shampoo she uses to wash her dog and she especially hates the smell. If you can get product out to Monetcito in two days she will be washing her dogs and will try it”. Regina, who was out on Long Island quickly boxed up some product but she realized she had missed the last UPS pick up for the day. She decided to get in her car and look for UPS trucks. Driving down the highway she finally saw one, zoomed in front of it, pulled over and flagged it down. For some miraculous reason the truck stopped. The UPS driver even redid the label so it would get to Oprah on time. Oprah tried out shampoo and FELL IN LOVE!!! A week later we got a call that we had been picked as the last item on “Oprah’s Favorite Things” for 2020. We went from 800 bottles to having to produce thousands and more and more thousands of bottles over night. We had to get a 3pl, an Amazon store up and running and on and on. The Oprah effect is real. In a world where there is so much noise to break through, the world really cares what Oprah thinks! Oprah led to so many more opportunities such as World News Tonight, The View, so much press we didn’t know what to do with it all, Shark Tank .. and on and on.

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 am a graphic designer by trade. I worked in magazines such as Vogue and Allure as an art director. When I had children I left to start my own design firm as a way to continue working while also being a mom. When my first child went to college I realized I was ready for my next act. I had also gotten involved in the animal welfare space, sitting on the board of Animal Haven, a shelter in New York City. I knew I wanted my next venture to be in the dog space but I couldn’t come up with what that should be. Regina and I brainstormed for months. One day she called me and said “I’ve got it. let’s be the Oribe of dog shampoo”. BAM! We felt like there was a big hole in the dog grooming space. While every other area had been humanized from dog clothing to human-grade food there was no brand loyalty in grooming and in fact every product we tried smelled like chemicals or bubble gum and contained harmful ingredients. We wanted to provide a product that was not only NOT harmful but also contained beneficial ingredients for a pet’s coat and skin as the skin is the second most important barrier for entry for allergies after food. Like humans, there are different types of dog coats from shedding dogs with thick undercoats to non-shedding dogs who can get super tangled. We decided to tackle these issues creating unique coat-specific formulas (with an amazing, fresh signature scent). Obviously we think our products are the best :) but when the verified Amazon reviews started to pour in we knew we had created something really special. We take a huge amount of pride in all aspects of our brand from packaging, to messaging, tot he quality of the product.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I come from a world in which if you got a placement in a Magazine such as WWD, or the New York Times style section your business would explode. The world of traditional press no longer exists. We got so much press right out of the gate and nothing moved the needle. It was a huge learning experience for us. We had to learn a whole new world. There is so much noise to compete with from Influencers, TikTok, Instagram, E-zines, Blogs and on and on and on. There are so many paths to take and figuring out what can help move the needle is like finding a needle in a haystack. So much of it is pay-to-play which is extremely frustrating for a small start-up with limited funds. Very few people care about promoting products and businesses they actually care about which leads to a bunch of inauthentic promotion of products. If you google “Best toaster”, chances are you will get served up a lot of sponsored content where every toaster featured has paid to be there. We wanted to build our business organically because we felt like that that would create loyal return customers who would turn into authentic brand ambassadors. Kind of like that old Faberge shampoo commercial where Heather Locklear says the shampoo was so good she told two friends, and they loved it and told two friends, and then they told two friends and on and on …!

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Where to start!! If any startup says they weren’t close to shutting their doors a million times they are LYING!!!! Starting a business is hard. “Get rich quick” simply does not exist. You will plan for so many potential issues and then one you didn’t even know existed will pop up. We pivoted so many times. When we launched we thought we were a DTC and retail business. We very quickly learned the importance of groomers as they are authentic brand ambassadors just as a human hairdresser is. We have been out of money more times than I can count. We have flash sales, do joint collaborations with other brands to gain customers, hold events…We all wear so many hats. I reply to every customer service email personally. We are packers, schleppers, salespeople, shippers, hand deliverers … you name it, we do it. There is nothing we won’t do to make our business work. When you are a business owner you have to check your ego at the door.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://prideandgroom.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pridegroomnyc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prideplusgroomnyc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pridegroomnyc/
• Twitter: https://x.com/pridegroomnyc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRf5bOQprNcEwmfopdjcCLA

Image Credits

These were all taken by us internally