We recently connected with Josh Storlie and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Our main goal, our mission, at Pawstin Barkery is creating and sharing moments of joy with our fellow Austin pet owners. We’re big believers that treats are an expression of love towards our pets. There’s something special to us about spending the day on an adventure with your dog, training and bonding and knowing that treats are a way to show your approval and love. We understand the deep connection people have with their pets and we know more and more people are wanting healthier, natural ingredient treats for their dogs. We create our treats using every day ingredients without any unnecessary additives and we want to offer them to our guests in a fun and affordable way that truly elevates that tiny moment with your dog.

Josh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Josh and I’m the owner of The Pawstin Barkery. Originally from Alaska, spent some time in the Seattle area before moving to Austin about 6 years ago. I used to work in the oil & gas industry in Alaska, traveling back and forth from Texas. As my Great Dane got older, I knew I wanted to be around him more. We were adventure adventure buddies to the fullest and you’d also find us our exploring the outdoors. I finally made the decision to leave oil & gas around his 10th birthday but needed to figure out what it was I wanted to do. For his birthday, we decided to have a party at his favorite daycare. Rumble was a very picky eater and finding treats for about 30 dogs was time consuming. While packing up goodie bags for the party, we jokingly said it’d be easier and cheaper to just make treats – and like that, we decided to run with it and see what we could.

At first, we were going to try to get into weekend farmer’s markets but decided we wanted to do bigger and we figured Austin loves their food trucks so let’s make one for the dogs! We spent months researching recipes, figuring out what steps we needed to sell dog treats, and found recipes that our dogs loved.

Rumble loved the treats we created and he’s even got his name on our most popular treat – Rumble’s Chimkin & Woofles. Unfortunately Rumble passed away before we opened and that heartbreak caused a delay in our opening date. After some time, we knew we had to open in memory of Rumble and to share the love we have for him with our fellow pet owners.

We wanted our Treat Trailer to be an experience pet owners and their dogs can enjoy together – it’s more than running into a store and purchasing an item. After playing in the park, the dogs get excited and run to our trailer, some bark, some jump and look in our window and pet parents laugh and take pictures of their dog’s excitement knowing there’s treats in our trailer.

We also understand not all dogs are going to enjoy a baked treat so we also offer a few single ingredient treats such as pig snouts, chicken feet and beef trachea. If we don’t offer a product that someone is wanting to try or their dog is able to have, we help them with recommendations for other local businesses that may have what they’re looking for.

We’re so proud that we went from no real baking experience to now creating treats and cakes that people love and helping create memories that will last a lifetime. It’s a lot of work and we have our days of frustration but the moment pet parents tell us how much their dogs love our treats, how being able to order a birthday cake for them brings them so much joy and people just saying good morning as they walk by makes it all worth it and makes us so proud and happy.

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

I think being honest about what we want to provide and what we do provide to our guests and their dogs has helped our reputation. We want to keep our treats simple using quality ingredients and exclude as many ingredients as we can for dogs with allergies or intolerances while maintaining a product dogs will love. We also treat everyone with kindness and respect and our customers truly become friends. We get to know everyone as time goes on. We’ve been introduced to new partners, new children and countless puppies; we’ve been a last stop before moving away and we’ve also been gifted the chance to say goodbye to some of our regulars before they’ve crossed the rainbow bridge. We’re more than a just place to get dog treats and I think people appreciate that.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Honestly, word of mouth has been the best source. We’ve spent minimal on advertising over the last two years and so many people have told us their friend told them about us, or they saw a post of a cute dog with one of our bark cakes. We also participate in a lot of local dog events and find new clients that way as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pawstinbarkery.com
• Instagram: @pawstinbarkery