We were lucky to catch up with Sierra Bowyer recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sierra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Howlin’ at the Moon Bakery is very passionate about bringing awareness, education, and light to the hard-working non-profits in our community. We partner with a lot of animal shelters and rescues to raise money and try to find homeless pets their furever home in a variety of ways. One of the most obvious ways is simply sharing posts from these organizations to highlight whatever they need help with. We host fun events with adoption fairs to help raise money. Mario Kart night is one of our events- it is a $5 entry, whoever wins gets a bag of treats, and the money raised goes to whatever organization we are supporting. We host a fun Fashion Show for Shelter Pets annually to benefit two local rescues and an organization who provides spay and neuter assistance to the public, as well as an Easter Egg Hunt and Santa Days. We encourage our customers to bring in donations for shelters, and in return, they receive 10% off of their daily purchase. We have a “Buy a Shelter Dog a Cookie” program where folks can donate $1 for a cookie for a shelter dog, and we match every donation. We then take those donations to the local shelters to disperse snacks and love to the pups looking for their furever homes.
Sierra, 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’ve always had a deep love for animals, and knew I wanted to work with them in some kind of capacity, but to be honest, I never imagined I’d be here today doing what I do, it truly fulfills my soul!
After years of working in the service industry, I made the move to animal welfare. I started as a volunteer at Forsyth Humane Society. After my first day, I knew that this is where my heart lies. As soon as a paid position opened at FHS, I applied, even if it was just a kennel tech position; scooping poop & feeding the animals; I had to have it. I knew that it was only the beginning of something great. I worked my way up to a health and wellness technician, and shortly after, we merged with our counties Animal Control to take over their operations. This was very eye opening and I knew wherever life would take me, I would always be passionate about shelter work.
During my time as a bartender, my grandmother gifted me a dog cook book for the holidays. It ended up in a closet and forgotten about for a few years. One day I stumbled upon this book and thought it was time to make my dog some treats. My dog absolutely loved them and I started making more and selling them and donating the money raised to FHS. I love cooking for humans so I started turning things that humans eat, into dog treats. Things like PUPtarts, Dirt Cakes, and other fun nostalgic foods were my focus. I never thought about turning it into a business until 2019 after my time at FHS. Late 2019 I decided I wanted to open some kind of “dog place” I had 10,000 ideas and no money to do any of it LOL! I had no idea how heavily regulated pet food was when I decided to go “legit”, but once I started dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, I knew I HAD to make it work. I submitted the form for my LLC in February 2020, just in time for the world to shut down. I had already signed up and paid for many events and markets for the year. Obviously, all of the events were canceled and no refunds were given by most organizers. This felt like a huge defeat, but I decided to keep my head up and focus on improving the brand and by the fall, I was ready to get back out there and try again. Every event I attended, helped confirm this is where I needed to be. Early 2021, I decided; let’s open a business! I had no capital, no business experience; but I had ideas and the determination to make it work. I looked at one space and immediately knew it was home.
Howlin’ at the Moon Bakery is not your typical “Pet Store” for many reasons! Since day 1, I have been very passionate about our local community of small business owners, as well as being an advocate for homeless animals. When I opened the doors to Howlin’, I invited all of my small biz friends that created dog and cat related items for the whole family to have a home to sell their products. To date, we have over 40 small, locally owned businesses in our boutique area!
One of my favorite things about my storefront, is the DIY Dog Wash station. My family and I built this together. It is beautiful and sturdy, and another reminder of where my drive comes from.
I also make custom celebration cakes for dogs that are baked fresh, in house. Made with fresh, dog safe ingredients, no preservatives or artificial ingredients added. I help celebrate Birthdays, Gotcha Days, Weddings, Gender Reveals, & more! In addition, I keep our shelves stocked with freshly baked pastries, frosted cookies, & dehydrated treats!
Another thing I am passionate about is bringing the community together for fun and educational opportunities. We collaborate with local artists to bring the public fun DIY classes like Paint Your Pet, Building Barkcuterie Boards, etc. We host a Fashion Show for Shelter Pets once a year to bring awareness to homeless pets, & to raise money for medical funds and Spay & Nueter costs for local non-profits in our area.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
When I opened the BaRkery, I manufactured every treat in the store. I truly thought that I could do it all. I didn’t have a kitchen on-site so I had to bake early in the mornings and late at night. This was incredibly exhausting and I was on the verge of burn out. Not to mention, it is incredibly expensive to create new treats. Every treat has to be analyzed by a lab for their guaranteed analysis, and sent to our states Department of Agriculture for approval and to collect yearly fees. One day, I woke up and realized there are some pretty incredible local dog bakeries around that create unique and delicious treats. This has been one of the greatest realizations I could make. I no longer have to stretch myself so thin on trying to create everything, and we get to support the dreams of other dog bakeries. It truly is a win-win for everyone!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
My absolute favorite source of new clients is from word of mouth and setting up at markets and events. I started out with the most amazing customers, they’ve told their amazing friends, who have told their amazing friends. It has grown organically and beautifully. It might not be the quickest way to make a few bucks, but it has been the best way to gain loyal customers who will be there and show up, wherever I go. I view my customers and clients as family, not just a dollar sign, and to them. that doesn’t go unnoticed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.howlinatthemoonbakery.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howlinatthemoonbakery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howlinatthemoonbakery
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/howlin-at-the-moon-bakery-no-title?osq=howlin+at+the+moon+bakery
Image Credits
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