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

Toni , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I wish that I had stared my business sooner. It was an existing locally owned business that the owners decided to sell. I purchased the business in October 2008 and at that time I was 40 years old. I have successfully expanded my business to 4 locations in 2 states. In addition to that I now have my own private label products that I sell in my stores and even wholesale some. Although, I am still growing and have no intention of slowing down even though I’m now 55 years old. I do wonder and believe my company growth would have been greater if I had stared sooner. The horrific pet food recall that happened in 2007 was a pivotal year for the natural pet food market. If I had started a couple of years prior the trajectory of my company growth would have been more positively impacted.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While operating my own pet sitting business over an eight-year period, I became increasingly concerned about the various health afflictions that I was seeing in my customer’s dogs and cats. The list of ailments appearing over and over again included allergies, itchy skin, ear infections, auto-immune disorders, and a multitude of other problems. I began researching these health concerns and discovered that every symptom seemed to point to food and the environment. This made perfect sense as I am a firm believer that we are what we eat. It is apparent that this same philosophy applies to our beloved pets as well. I had to do something! Coincidentally there was a local store up for sale that only sold natural pet food and treats. I bought the store in 2008 to spread the word about how important it is to feed quality pet food to our pets. Healthy Pet Products now has 3 locations in Pittsburgh PA and 1 in Port Charlotte Florida.

I adopted my girl, Meg, on February 12, 2002. The Animal Rescue League thought she was around 6 months to a year old. At the time I didn’t know about raw feeding or “what’s really in grocery store kibble” till about 6 months after adopting her. There we were heading down the conventional road of low-quality kibble, treats, and conventional medicine. Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time. I walked into a grooming shop to inquire about their services. Literally, as I walked in I witnessed the owner giving her dog a raw chicken leg. I flipped out and said, “Are you crazy? You are going to kill that dog. Dogs can’t have RAW chicken bones!” The owner proceeded to tell me about raw feeding and it was as if someone flicked on a switch in my head. It made total sense to me that this is their evolutionary diet and what they should be eating for optimum health. I immediately went and bought the recommended books and began feeding Meg raw. One day Meg was eating Purina One and the next day raw! And, are you ready for this, NO DIARRHEA!

I am so thankful I did. I do not have a tear-jerking, lifesaving story to tell. What I can say, is Meg was different. She had boundless energy spending her days chasing moles, squirrels, and chipmunks and often catching one! Her coat was soft as angora, which is the first thing people mention when meeting her. Meg had the clearest eyes, cleanest teeth and ears, and was lean and muscular. Most people thought she was much younger than she actually was when meeting her!

Since then I have been doing research on basic pet nutrition and the pet food industry. I have found that many of the ailments our pets are suffering from these days can be greatly improved or completely eliminated with premium pet foods, raw feeding, and supplementation (and do I dare mention fewer vaccinations). My true passion in life is to reach as many people as possible and help them to understand what better nutrition can do for their pets and in turn for themselves. Fortunately, I spend my days talking to customers that walk in my stores about their pets health and give them ideas to help improve it. In addition to that I have a podcast where I and my co host talk about healthy pets and alternative ways called Toni Unleashed. This has greatly broadened our reach! My proudest moments are when someone reaches out to say I saved their dog or cats life through educating them, helping them to switch foods, add supplements, minimize vaccines and chemical flea and tick treatments.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot and get very creative owning brick and mortar stores during Covid. It was terrifying but I never portrayed those feelings to my wonderful team that I had at the time. We shut down to curbside for 5 weeks. I didn’t have an online platform so orders had to be called in. My marketing manager came up with a form that customers could fill out on line as well. We’d print in store and fulfill orders and PayPal invoices. It was exhausting work and everyone kicked into gear to save my company. Customers would pull up and we’d load orders into their cars.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I feel like I had to learn to not to expect people to perform at my level of performance. You have to meet people where they are at based on their skill set, stress tolerance and life path. If they share in the mission and put forth their best effort then sometimes you have to accept that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.healthypetproducts.net , www.toniunleashed.com
• Instagram: @healthypetproducts , @toni.unleashed
• Facebook: @healthypetproducts , @toniunleashed
• Linkedin: Toni Shelaske
• Youtube: Healthy Pet Products , Toni Unleashed