We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephen Ryan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephen below.
Stephen, appreciate you joining us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.
Our hearts break when we consider all the loving animals who, through no fault of their own, await adoption in shelters. That’s why we started the Fetch The Sun Animal Shelter Sponsorship Program. Since founding in 2019, we’ve donated a portion of every single sale we’ve ever made to animal rescue organizations. Each month we select a shelter and sponsor it for that month. We also use our social media platforms and monthly podcast to bring awareness to that organization and animal rescue in general.
To date, we’ve worked with over a dozen of these amazing organizations and look forward to providing even more support as our sales grow. We love helping shelter pets find their forever homes and we’re proud that this effort makes an impact on the lives these deserving pets deserve! For every retail sale we donate 10% and we also donate on wholesale orders; these wholesale donations range from $0.50 to $2.00 per item.
Stephen, 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?
Fetch The Sun is an international lifestyle brand dedicated to creating high quality, fashionable clothing for dogs and humans who love adventure. All our designs have been inspired by the outdoors and we think that taking advantage of outside-time together is an easy way for both two and four-legged friends to stay happy. It’s our philosophy that by doing so we’ll create a better world for dogs – one complete with fun-filled days in nature.
As a dog lover lifestyle brand, we not only focus on making amazing clothes for dogs and dog lovers. We design our collections so that you and your pup can coordinate and match outfits and look great together. However, if matching dog and owner clothing is not your thing, our apparel also looks great on its own and is perfect for everyday wear.
In 2021, we wanted to take our products a step further. So, we searched the world for factories that could produce clothing with eco-friendly materials and sustainability in mind – resulting in organic cotton and recycled polyester being used across all our new shirts and hoodies. Our aim is to encourage an appreciation not just for stylish garments but also the great outdoors while preserving Mother Nature at its best! It was also at that time when we designed a brand-new dog shirt that no one has ever seen -our signature Adventure Fetcher dog shirt! It’s unique in that it allows dog owners to dress their pups in a couple of different ways.
Fetch The Sun was cofounded in 2019 by my wife Jennifer and I and it was a dream born from two passions: dogs and outdoor adventure. When we couldn’t find any dog-themed, adventure-based clothing on the market, there was only one thing left to do… make it ourselves! And with that, Fetch The Sun was born! What started as a side hustle quickly flourished into a full-time job and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come! Now our full-time mission is creating new products & expanding this amazing brand.
Jennifer and I have been around dogs our entire lives and we’ve always been outdoor adventure enthusiasts, enjoying all that nature has to offer. Whether it’s running, hiking, surfing, or camping – we love it all. We’ve been sharing our passion for venturing into the great outdoors with our dogs for almost two decades now – from surfing in summer to camping near roaring campfires on cooler nights. And now that we have kids, we’re sharing that passion with them too. We feel like Fetch The Sun truly embodies what our family’s life is all about – and that makes us both excited to explore even more and continue building this dog-lover brand!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
We’re proud to be the pioneers of our unique lifestyle brand for dogs and humans who love adventure! Before our products, no one else was creating what we had in mind – but it turns out there’s a huge demand for them. And not only do we provide stylish clothing for pups and their owners, but we also deliver helpful knowledge on how pet owners can best access outdoor activities with their beloved companions through our blogs, social media, podcast, and involvement in our local community. In addition to our apparel, we love to show our commitment to this lifestyle through action.
Even as our business faced difficult times and financial hardship at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were committed to keeping the promise of our Fetch The Sun Animal Shelter Sponsorship Program alive. Despite significantly decreased sales and overall financial losses, we stayed faithful to our mission supporting animal rescue throughout those trying months and fulfilled our promise of donating a portion of every one of the few sales we made.
We’re also dedicated to providing our customers with top-notch service. When you contact us, rest assured that it will always be a real person on the other line; no bots here! Shopping online can already prove difficult when trying to find clothes for yourself – and finding the right size of clothing for your pup is ten times harder! As such, in addition to having a special dog sizing info webpage with sizing charts, videos and photos of dogs in our shirts, each customer can send their pup’s unique measurements to us and they will get matched with the best fitting dog shirt available within 8-hours. This service has ensured that over 1,000 pooches are happily enjoying the perfect fit on their doggy apparel!
When returning customers visit, they know that when they order, quality apparel is guaranteed. With each piece meticulously crafted from eco-friendly materials for ultimate comfort, we’ve become sought after for exceptional human and pet clothing designs! Our brand is dedicated to bringing quality apparel and helpful knowledge to pet owners from all walks of life. This commitment has helped build our reputation within our market as reliable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable experts on human and pet fashion and has made us a go-to authority for information on doggy adventures. With excellent customer service and a commitment to animal rescue, it’s no wonder why customers keep returning again and again.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One of the biggest testaments to our resilience was the challenges we faced and overcame at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We started Fetch The Sun with so much enthusiasm! Our two main sales outlets, e-commerce and local dog event sales, were in full swing. Events proved to be incredibly successful and profitable – beyond our wildest dreams…until COVID hit. In one month’s time, all of our plans changed; we suddenly had no income from events for almost 18 months! We were undeterred though, as we used this obstacle to explore new paths that ultimately helped us grow even more!
During a challenging period, we faced the reality of relying solely on our e-commerce sales. With trial and error, we eventually figured out how to optimize advertising across social media platforms and online stores; but had to take extra steps in making sure sizing charts for dog shirts were easy to understand so customers could make accurate purchases – eliminating costly returns due to incorrect size selections.
This also forced us to look into other e-commerce platforms and this is where we stumbled upon the incredible community over at Etsy. With their ability to post our stunning lifestyle photographs and their customer contact interface, it provided us with just what we needed – an amazing platform on which our products could shine! Our internet sales skyrocketed like never before; thank goodness for Etsy!
We are proud to say that we have emerged stronger from this crisis, learning so much about ourselves and our company. We are confident in our ability to tackle anything that is thrown at us! The journey has been a wild ride – but it’s one we wouldn’t trade for anything. Our story of resilience proves that with the right mindset and hard work, any obstacle can be overcome!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fetchthesun.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fetch_the_sun/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FetchTheSun/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fetch-the-sun
Image Credits
Sara Brant