Amanda Howland // Co-Founder of the "Pets In Need Project"
Amanda Howland //
Co-Founder of the “Pets In Need Project”
Meet Amanda Howland, the co-founder of the "Pets In Need Project," a mobile pet relief traveling to homeless areas throughout California to provide FREE veterinary services, food, etc. to homeless pets and street pets, who are vulnerable in reaction to COVID-19.
Enjoy this interview all about Amanda’s founding story! What an inspiration.
Special thanks to Amanda for sharing her story with us!
Tell us in a few sentences how your brand helps others?
ElleVet Sciences and our Pets in Need Project is all about helping animals in the best way we can. For the With Pets in Need Project, we wanted to help when help was most needed, and that meant going out on the streets during COVID-19, the recent Riots and peaceful demonstrations, throughout California, to provide free veterinary care and supplies to pets of the homeless. With ElleVet Sciences, we did the research and conducted the clinical trials needed to determine the best CBD product for pets. We made sure to research the correct dosing for our product to help all dogs. We needed to prove efficacy and safety before we launched.
What was inspiration to start this business?
I came up with the idea for our company in 2016, after reading about lab studies using cannabis to treat tumor cells. As an animal focused person, I thought about the potential applications in the animal science realm. I started looking for research on using cannabis for animals and found very little. I discussed my idea with my now partner Christian Kjaer and together we launched ElleVet Sciences.
I reached out to veterinary schools to find out if we could do a clinical trial using the hemp strain that we had identified as potentially efficacious and the rest is history! We did the first ever clinical trial on dogs with osteoarthritis with Cornell Veterinary School using our proprietary hemp oil and it was a huge success with over 80% of dogs responding very positively. We have the first published paper on this study and a very successful company selling our product to veterinarians and direct to pet owners.
The Pets in Need Project was an idea I had when the economic impact of COVID-19 became clear. The homeless population had fewer resources than ever, which meant so did their pets. Christian and I always wanted to have a charity division of ElleVet Sciences, but hadn’t yet determined what that would look like. COVID-19 was the catalyst and helped us hone in on how we could make the greatest impact to help within the homeless communities.
When you started your business, did you ever envision that you would be where you are now?
We thought that there was huge potential for a good hemp product for animals but we weren't sure. You never know if a new business is going to succeed or even make it through the first year. I think 90% of new businesses fail in the first year so we tried to focus on doing it right, doing the studies, making a great product and building our brand and hoping it would be a success. ElleVet Sciences grew exponentially and we could never have predicted this level of success. We went from packing chews in my living room to moving into a huge facility within 2 years.
The Pets in Need Project was similar, in that we saw a need, we tried to address the need as best we can, and hoped it would be successful and get some attention. To date we have treated more than 1,000 pets.
I think that if you feel something is right, then take the risk, do your best and do the due diligence and then take the leap. If you don’t take a chance then you can’t succeed.
Was there ever a time that things didn't fall into place, struggles or challenges? What were they and how did you get passed it and grow from the experience?
Oh, all the time. There are hurdles and challenges constantly. The legal aspect of hemp has gone through so many changes and that has been challenging, but we take it one step at a time and keep focused on providing the best product.
We have had some supply chain issues and equipment issues and the normal challenges of any business. We know we have a great product and we have a positive attitude of, we can overcome any obstacles, they are all temporary and also, that there is always a solution.
We try and learn from every experience and to use that knowledge to smooth the way going forward and to have back up plans for many different contingencies.
For The Pets in Need Project, we learned on the ground, literally. We had challenges of extreme heat, long lines of people and how to address medical emergencies. We have the same attitude-we can solve anything, we just need to figure it out, and figure it out fast!
What was the biggest lesson you learned while starting and growing this business?
To stay focused while being flexible, and to have a great team. To not get distracted by other avenues the business can take and to build on your core product before adding others. It’s easy to say, we should do this and this and also this and then you end up not doing any of them well. Have great communication with your partners, and good customer service is everything!
What would you tell a FEM that is struggling in her business and feeling like it's too difficult?
Challenges are part of the process and how you meet the challenges can be the difference between success and failure. There are always solutions and try and keep that attitude and know that challenges are temporary. We had one instance when due to confusing legality around hemp, our credit card processor stopped allowing hemp sales. We suddenly had every transaction on our website denied and no sales. Within a couple of hours we decided to send every single order without payment and had a form printed up telling people to mail in a check to us. People were so blown away by this that we ended up gaining customers and built a huge amount of goodwill. It was a challenge that could have shut us down but we were flexible and it ended up a success.
What continues to inspire you to keep on growing your business?
The customers. We take pride in our product and having the best possible customer service, and we hear all the time from customers that we have their dog an extra year or two of good quality of life, or made their dog happy again, or that is listening to them meant so much. This gets me up in the morning.
The Pets in Need Project is incredible. We have touched so many lived directly and literally saved the lived of pets right there on the street. It’s a life changing experience to be able to do this.
Final advice for those thinking of starting a business or looking to grow their current business?
Stay focused and learn to pivot when needed.
How can FEMS find you and learn more about you?
You can find Amanda on Facebook and Instagram @Ellevetsciences and on LinkedIn @Amanda HowlandInstagram. You can also learn more at https://www.ellevetsciences.com