Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Kelley.
Ashley, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Have you ever had that feeling when you walk into an animal shelter and instantly know which pet you want to take home with you? I have and I named him Beau. Beau was the initial inspiration for Humane & Hungry. Beau struggled with skin allergies, more specifically, recurring ear infections. At first the vet thought Beau just had environmental allergies. I tried regular allergy shots, steroids, ear solutions, you name it. I tried everything the vet recommended and nothing seemed to work. I then got Beau on a prescription diet, “duck & potato,” in hopes of eliminating the most common animal protein allergens for dogs: beef and chicken. When I removed beef and chicken out of Beau’s diet, his ear infections cleared up and his regular itchiness subsided. I knew going forward I’d have to restrict Beau’s diet and keep beef and chicken out of it.
One thing I noticed I was doing wrong: I gave Beau treats without looking at the ingredients. Even after removing beef and chicken from his food, I didn’t think about treats. Eventually I realized this mistake and started looking for treats that fit Beau’s diet restrictions. I remember one day I went to Target in search of healthy, minimal ingredient treats, with no chicken or beef. I immediately picked up this cute box of treats. The packaging was adorable, they looked healthy, and they were marketed as “oats & berries treats.” I thought, “surely these will work.” I was wrong about that too and I’m thankful I flipped the box over and read through the ingredient list. What was the first ingredient? Chicken fat. In an oat and berries flavored treat, chicken is the main ingredient. I was stumped. I checked almost every bag and box of treats on the shelf and disappointment took over. I got frustrated and left the store, no treats in hand.
I knew I had to do something for Beau, as treats were a relevant part of his day because I used them for rewards and training. I took it upon myself to heavily research dog-friendly ingredients and I had conversations with my vet. I played around with various recipes and started crafting my own treats with my own recipes. I failed a few times, but that comes with the trial-and-error process. I was determined to make treats Beau could eat.
I finally got some recipes down and conducted sampling. Beau loved his new treats. I then took the treats to other family and friend’s dogs, and dogs were loving them. I knew I had something special here and I wanted to sell my treats to make them accessible to all dogs, including those with allergies and restricted diets as they are often overlooked.
I got down to business. I started designing my own bag labels. I had brown stand up pouches and printed my designs on my home printer. I worked on a website, researched how to start a business in Texas, and even went did business consulting. I learned how to run a business from research, my father, and a good friend of mine Brett Christoffel with All Y’alls Foods.
In a highly saturated market, I knew I had to set myself apart from other dog treat companies. I came up with “treats with a story.” My treats are more than just treats; they have a story. Each flavor of treat is associated with a real dog that made an impact, and their real story is printed right on the bag. Sharing the stories of our beloved pups is what brings us all together. Every pup has a story and every story has love, happiness, and lessons. Treats with a story helps raise awareness for pet homeless and to further the impact, I started donating 10% of my profits to local animal shelters and rescues. My first product is a baked peanut butter and cinnamon flavored treat I named Beau Bites, made after my dog Beau, who is featured on the bags. My second product is a baked oat and blueberry flavored treat I named Charlie Chow, with a family dog Charlie featured on the bag along with his story. That’s right: no chicken, no beef. Charlie Chow even goes a step further and does not contain wheat, another common allergen for dogs.
In a short period of time, I became a business owner, a marketer, a bookkeeper a designer, an organizer, an event planner, and a saleswoman; all some of the many hats small business owner’s wear. I regularly attended local Houston and Katy area markets to start getting my name out there. I soon realized baking the treats myself was too demanding of my time, along with other responsibilities I had. I searched high and low for a local manufacturer that would help me save time and bake my recipes at a larger scale. I eventually found a local Houston, TX manufacturer. I then found a packaging company in Austin, TX that started printing my designs onto more upscale stand-up pouches. I got barcodes for my products and started to shoot for retail.
My treats are currently sold in stores at Hounds Town Houston Heights and Hounds Town Houston Midtown. I am working on getting them into other retail locations. I’ve got two new treat products in development that I hope to release by the end of 2025. My line of treats will be allergy-friendly, minimal, wholesome, and delicious! You can trust Humane & Hungry as I prioritize transparency and consistency because your dog’s health and well being matters!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Running a small business comes with its challenges and I don’t think it’s ever a smooth road. I’ve had to learn to roll with the punches, act where I can, and accept some things that cannot be changed. One of the struggles I’ve consistently faced is the marketing and financial aspects of owning a business. Marketing is tough because there are several social media platforms with varying algorithms and filming and editing content is more challenging and time consuming than it seems!
As far as finances go, it’s difficult to not mix personal and business funds if you try to operate without loans. Tracking your expenses, filing state sales taxes, and working through pricing and profit margins is tough. I’ve had to learn to use budgeting applications and try to learn some bookkeeping tips on my own to save on expenses.
Markets can also be a struggle. You design your market booth, try to find markets to sign up for, and buy everything you think you’ll need. You load your vehicle up, drive however many minutes or hours to the venue, unload it at the market, set up your booth, work for various hours, take down your booth, load your vehicle back up, drive home, and unload your car again. Some markets get rained out, some markets are in locations with a lot of wind. I’ve had booth items fly off my tables, I’ve had items break, and I’ve had markets where I made only a handful of sales. Markets are valuable to any business starting, but it’s always good to be aware of the challenges that can come with it.
As you know, we’re big fans of Humane & Hungry, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I strive to create treats (and hopefully food and other items in the future) that are healthy, allergy-friendly, and affordable. I strive to create a community of animal lovers that can help me bring awareness to the pet homelessness problem, along with shelter-overcrowding, euthanasia issues, and responsible pet care. I want to be a source of information for pet owners to rely on.
What sets me apart is my answer in another question:
I came up with “treats with a story.” My treats are more than just treats; they have a story. Each flavor of treat is associated with a real dog that made an impact, and their real story is printed right on the bag. Sharing the stories of our beloved pups is what brings us all together. Every pup has a story and every story has love, happiness, and lessons. Treats with a story helps raise awareness for pet homeless and to further the impact, I started donating 10% of my profits to local animal shelters and rescues. My first product is a baked peanut butter and cinnamon flavored treat I named Beau Bites, made after my dog Beau, who is featured on the bags. My second product is a baked oat and blueberry flavored treat I named Charlie Chow, with a family dog Charlie featured on the bag along with his story. That’s right: no chicken, no beef. Charlie Chow even goes a step further and does not contain wheat, another common allergen for dogs.
I also have a Featured Rescue Program where every 6 months I choose (or have my Instagram followers vote) a rescue to donate 10% of my profits to. I value transparency and will post about the donation(s) when made. I also have helped coordinate getting supplies and other goods to shelters/rescues, and I’ve been hands on with volunteering at shelters/rescues. I also regularly share posts of dogs that are available for adoption on my Instagram stories. When I get time, I will partner with rescues and take videos and photos of their available dogs and post them on Instagram to help get them seen. I want to be more involved where I can and hope one day my proceeds can help fund my own animal rescue.
I am proud that my business revolves around the health and well being of dogs. I am proud that I am making a difference in dog’s lives – that’s my main goal with Humane & Hungry.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I utilized the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Center in my area when I was getting started. They offer free consulting and it helped me run some ideas by a professional.
I also encourage people to reach out to other growing business owners in the same state, but ones that sell different products, because they can surprise you and actually turn out to be very helpful. You may get rejected a few times, but it’s worth it to keep trying to network and build your contacts.
Pricing:
- Beau Bites – $11.99 (pre-tax)
- Charlie Chow – $11.99 (pre-tax)
- Treat Jars – $15 (pre-tax)
- T-shirts – $28 (pre-tax)
- Stickers – $3+ (pre-tax)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.humaneandhungry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/humaneandhungry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humaneandhungry/
Image Credits
All images are mine.
