Today we’d like to introduce you to Lara Warn.
Hi Lara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Pup Active originally started as a dog walking & running service in Tampa Bay in 2015 and morphed into Pup Active Brand Goods in 2016ish after having an idea for a shirt design. Pup Active Brand Goods was founded with a creative spirit and the goal of starting a community of big-hearted dog people & creating high-quality apparel they love to wear. Every idea starts from somewhere, and ours started with a rescue dog named Charlie Man. He was that once in a lifetime dog that comes along and changes everything. Charlie Man reminded us to live BIGGER & keep exploring. He reminded us that life is better explored with dogs. Everyday. We’re on a mission to continue to grow our community & create dog driven designs on the highest quality fabrics. To pay homage to the one that started it all, we print Charlie Man’s genuine paw print on every piece we print so we can all carry his bright light & fun spirit along with us.
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?
What is this smooth you speak of?! 🙂 The struggle is a part of growth, and with every step of growth, we’ve been so so grateful has definitely come with its share of struggle and confusion and a healthy dose of WTF is happening! I didn’t know anything about apparel or printing or online sales or.. literally anything that had to do with the goals I had for this brand. Step by step, chunk by chunk.. you figure it out as you go. Nobody has it all figured out, so don’t let the lie that you’re not prepared or know enough keep you from getting started on what you want to do!
We’ve been impressed with Pup Active Brand Goods, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As Pup Active has grown, there are many products that stand out as shining stars that we’re super proud of – we launched our Dog Friendly AF line three years ago and it’s still a crowd favorite. We’re not shy of bordering on offensive, and that’s okay — our brand is not for everybody. A few years ago, we launched our most favorite event in St. Pete — Rescue Dog Yoga. We partner with SPCA Tampa Bay & Grassroots Kava House for this event! SPCA provides the pups & Grassroots provides the space. People attend a beginning style one hour yoga class while adoptable dogs roam the room — its perfection. We held these classes each month and they were a massive hit. From those classes, we generated thousands of dollars for rescue, created a community of people who attended the class each month. We put this event on hold due to COVID-19, but as soon as it’s time, we’ll be starting it back up and we cannot wait! We have an additional project that has been underway for over a year that is launching January 22 – we’ve written a children’s book titled “My Eight Pound Best Friend.” This book was inspired by my literal 8 pounds best friend named Pierre – a 14 year old poodle mix who is the damn coolest. So we wrote a book about how love & friendship comes in all shapes & sizes. It’s a true gem and now available in our online shop & Amazon.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
The biggest credit for this brand, community & its growth still and forever will belong to Charlie Man and the community he has inspired and continues to inspire. Every dog person has that ONE dog that changes everything & Charlie was that dog for me. In our almost 12 years together, he taught me just about everything I needed to know about life. If we stay the course and lead this brand with love & adventure, we will keep growing & building this stellar community of big-hearted people.
Pricing:
- Apparel $26 – $55
- Kids Book – $15
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@pupactive.com
- Website: www.pupactive.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/pupactive
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/pupactive
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