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

Nikki, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

The idea for Pup Profile came to me during my first year of business school at UC San Diego. I shared it with one of my friends from the Navy over dinner, and he encouraged me to go for it. After mulling it over for a couple months, I figured there was no better time to take the leap. I had just left active duty and was a full-time grad student, which afforded me the time and resources I needed to develop this idea. The final year of the MBA program included a capstone project designed to take an idea from inception to launch. I decided to pursue Pup Profile for that project and thankfully found a group of like-minded dog lovers who were willing to join me. The next 9 months of course work took us through defining the problem, design thinking, extensive market research, dozens of interviews, prototype testing, and finally a business plan and pitch. Along the way there were a few milestones that started to make it feel real. We settled on a name, a logo, and a Board of Directors. We registered as a 501(c)(3) and soft-launched with a landing page and a few outreach events.

After graduation, we turned our focus to fundraising and making sure the platform would be ready to launch by that fall. We continued connecting with rescues and networkers in the community, who would become our early adopters. We ran user tests with them and tweaked the web design and some of our processes based on their feedback. Throughout the process, connecting with people and sharing our vision was the most important thing we did to keep the venture moving forward. We found our web development team through a market research interview. Our web designer is a friend who volunteered to help after learning about what we were doing. My cousin designed our logo as she was finishing art school. All of our sponsorships and partnerships have come from connecting with people in our community who believe in our mission and wanted to help us. Getting out there and being open to those connections was so important for us, and launching this nonprofit was truly a collaborative effort.

Nikki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m the Founder of Pup Profile, a woman and veteran-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating out of San Diego, CA. Our online platform, pupprofile.org, was launched in October 2024 and is a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to support shelter dogs and rescue pups. Pup Profile partners with rescues and networkers throughout Southern California to help them promote their dogs to fosters, adopters, and donors. We offer resources for new fosters and adopters, a dashboard and toolkit for our partner rescues and networkers, and paid Google advertising for pups that need a little extra attention through our Google for Nonprofits Ad grant. We also raise funds for 501(c)(3) rescues that save at-risk dogs from shelters to support their medical care through The Pups Fund. Everything is 100% free to use.

I am the most proud of the way Pup Profile has been able to support small rescues in the region. Whether it is through curating social media content for their adoptable pups, getting their dogs extra visibility through a new marketing channel with Google advertising, connecting them with fosters, or supporting the medical care of the dogs they save with a donation from The Pups Fund, we’ve been able to make a difference for them.

If you’re interesting in supporting dogs in need through Pup Profile, there are lots of ways to help! Looking for your new best friend? Check out pupprofile.org to browse pups from 20+ SoCal rescues and shelters. Interesting in fostering or temporary fostering? Fill out a Foster Interest Form, and we’ll connect you with a rescue and pup that works for you! Looking to make a tax-deductible contribution? A one-time or monthly donation to The Pups Fund is guaranteed to have a direct and meaningful impact. We’ll even send you an update to let you know what dog benefitted from your generosity.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My good friend, Jessica Grupp is the Vice President of Pup Profile. We met in college at the Naval Academy, both flew helicopters in San Diego, and were roommates for a couple years long before Pup Profile was started. She volunteered with a dog and horse rescue for many years, and fostered a dog through the same rescue that I foster through. Jess is compassionate, smart and driven. Bringing her onto our Board of Directors was a no-brainer, and I’m so grateful for her partnership!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Referrals. During our market research interviews, I found that one of the most important questions we asked was at the very end: “Is there anyone that you think we should reach out to next?” Those connections brought us some of our earliest adopters and most loyal supporters.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pupprofile.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pupprofile/#