Meet Kathrine & Megan | Co-Owners of Bark Bois Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathrine & Megan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathrine & Megan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We were initially discussing our desires to be both entrepreneurs and do something we were passionate about for “work”. After contemplating hobbies, passions, and favorite pass-times, we discovered that deep down we both have a love for animals and more specifically, for dogs. We began brainstorming items we would enjoy making for people and their pets to share and Bark Bois was born shortly after. The decision was easy after realizing we would both be dedicated to creating high quality, fun, and useable products for the pet owning community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Day to day, we both work in a professional setting and we have our joint business on the side. We have been able to incorporate so many practices that we have learned in our days in the workforce and applied them to the business we have created. We would not say it has been an effortless rode thus far, but still an enjoyable one even with all of the challenges. Being best friends before being business owners has created a strong foundation that has been able to withstand any obstacle while still celebrating our successes. The biggest lesson we have learned is that it is okay to make mistakes and to grow from them. (Thank you to our first few customers, it was a little rough back then lol). We have also learned that putting ourselves out there is scary, but the reward is worth the risk. Providing good quality products to people and their animals is more fulfilling than we could have ever dreamed. Also realizing that we are growing every day and that other people are seeing the work that we do, continues to inspire us to keep going.

Our brand is unique because we truly care about each product that we produce and we use our own style to fill an untouched space within our market. Our patterns are unlike most that you would see and are not typically similar to what you can find in stores. We use a slip-collar model that is guaranteed to fit all standard two inch collars rather than a neck tie model. This allows for inclusion of any pets that wear collars and ensures that it isn’t going to fall off during a walk or playtime. We hope that what people take from us and our brand is to chase your dreams, no matter how far away they may seem. Despite being full time Mom’s, students, and having a professional career along with our business, we are still determined to make our dreams come true and create great products. Our ideas are big and our determination is bigger, so we can’t wait to see where we will go from here.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love to go anywhere that has a variety of fun activities to do all in one. Some of our favorite spots are Top Golf, The Revelry in Mesa, and Pemberton in Phoenix. If we’re invited to brunch, the answer is always yes! So we also love to go to Hash Kitchen and Culinary Dropout. Before it was triple digit weather, we would love to be out riding our bikes around Tempe Town lake and traveling up north for kayaking. One of our favorite spots is in the Payson/Heber area, so we would definitely making a day trip up there to show our friends around. When we aren’t able to make it up north, we like to stay local and hit the lower Salt River for our water adventures. There are so many amazing spots around the city, we are always trying new places!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First, our biggest supporters are each other. We both compliment where the other may lack at times and that creates the perfect balance. Otherwise, we want to shoutout our friends and family. They have been our biggest supporters from the start and we would not be where we are at today with out them. They were some of our first customers that have turned into repeat customers, all without even asking for a friends and family discount! We appreciate their willingness to support our dream, whether it be buying our products, helping us behind the scenes, or sharing our content on social media. We are truly grateful.

Website: www.Etsy.com/shop/barkboisco

Instagram: @barkboisco

Facebook: Bark Bois Co.

Other: Tiktok: @barkboisco

Image Credits
Megan Smith