Today we’d like to introduce you to the Puppies Make Me Happy team.
5 years ago Niels Skou decided he wanted to start a business focused on making people happy. He wasn’t sure what that product was but had a few ideas ranging from hearing-aids for deaf dogs to an apparel brand focused on happiness. He put the two ideas together and came up with his furever bae, Puppies Make Me Happy.
Niels was then introduced to a new designer, Ian McAllister, who instantly shared a passion for the idea and the same vision for how to bring it to life. The two have worked together ever since towards growing the brand by focusing on doing whatever it takes to spread happiness to their customers.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
At Puppies Make Me Happy, we always say “nothing is easy”.
And it never will be.
Making clothing in the US is not easy. Neither is staying committed to the charitable side of the company while trying to pay your own rent. We are fully self-funded, which means we can only grow as fast as our bank account organically allows.
But the juice is worth the squeeze every single day when we see the real smiles and real experiences our products give our customers. We know lots of dogs who are still alive because of events we’ve put on and caused we’ve supported and nothing in the world feels better than that.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Puppies Make Me Happy – what should we know?
We are a made in the USA apparel brand focused on a lifestyle embodied by the idea of Puppies. What sets us apart from other light-hearted and graphic-driven brands is that we make really high-quality products that will last you forever. We cut and sew in California, we print in California, and we do everything we can to keep it that way.
Do we make the cheapest shirts? Hell no. We use fabric that feels as soft as a puppy. We have found our home in the activewear category and continue to develop garments that wear as well in the yoga studio as they do on a night out.
We also have a line called “Rescue Puppies Make Me Happy” where we donate 100% of the proceeds to a new rescue that we spotlight every month on our website.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We certainly have a unique world-view and sense of humor, but that’s not really our claim to fame. The most important thing to us is how we prioritize the three main values of capitalism. Quality, Cost, Speed. We value quality above everything else in this company and our only goal has been to deliver for our customers and for our brand.
We don’t care if we lose money on an order as long as we delivered a high-quality product. Yeah, you know what, sometimes we are late on our delivery, but we always make it right and the product is always tight. We don’t want our manufacturing partners to rush anything to hit a deadline because that’s when mistakes happen.
We’ve been committed to this since the beginning when we had no money and every print run was essentially risking the whole company. But since then, our reviews online speak for themselves that we’ve taken the right approach and it paid off.
Pricing:
- A Puppies shirt is the best $30 you’ll ever spend or your money back.
Contact Info:
- Website: puppiesmakemehappy.com
- Email: woof@puppiesmakemehappy.com
- Instagram: @puppiesmakemehappy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puppiesmmhappy
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