What is your name & how many children do you have?
Hi! My name is Kate Holloway. I am the mother of three very active “tweens” – ages 9, 12, and 13. I love this stage of motherhood. No more carrying a diaper bag and the kids have not quite figured out that I am not really that cool! I know our days are numbered on that front, and I am taking every opportunity to spend time with them now. Which leads to why I left my career to work with my husband in K9cuisine.com – to better balance my work and home life. Now we just bring our work home! Funny how that happens! 
What’s the name of your company & the inspiration behind it?
Our company, K9Cuisine.com has been a growing enterprise since 2007. Five years ago, we adopted a therapy dog with severe food allergies. In order to better understand her needs, we did a tremendous amount of research on pet food ingredients and found that while we thought we were feeding her a “healthy diet”, we were actually feeding her grains and vegetable proteins her body could not metabolize. Sourcing nutritious food was challenging and we were disgusted with the poor service internet sources provided. We believed we could do it better and launched K9cuisine.com – a service company which provides nutritious, all natural pet products.
What is your current business struggle?
We have celebrated tremendous growth throughout our tenure. Many months we have grown at 50+ percent each month. (doubling sales every other month) While in this economy I am very grateful for the growth, because our efforts are focused on “strong service – rapid order response”, (ie. maintaining our record of 98% of all orders shipping within 24 hours and 99% customer satisfaction), such rapid growth makes it ever more challenging.
We recognize providing stellar customer service is the key to our growth. We must constantly tweak staffing and inventory levels to ensure customers continue to receive that level of service regardless of how large we become.
What is your current business goal?
We would like to continue to expand K9Cuisine.com by reaching new markets and continuing to educate pet owners about nutritious pet food ingredients. We plan to open a “brick-and-mortar” store- a destination for dogs & cats and their owners to come sample treats and new toys and share pet nutrition information. Eventually, we’d like to franchise those stores and continue to grow the K9Cuisine brand.
What one quality do you think is a “must-have” for a mom entrepreneur?
Actually, I believe there are 2! First and foremost one must have “balance”. I know right now, raising my 3 children to become responsible, contributing adults is my most critical task. But working in a job that I love, promoting a brand that I absolutely believe in – promoting healthy diet alternatives for our pets – is extremely rewarding to me. Having worked full time all my adult life, I have a strong personal need for “adult” communication and the mental stimulation that comes from communicating with customers, industry professionals, and coworkers. Balancing my personal need for business interaction and the inherent demands that business provides with the day-to-day needs of my 3 “real bosses”, is often a major challenge. Which leads to the 2nd “must-have” for mompreneurs – a keen sense of humor! One must be prepared to step back when things get crazy – put things in perspective – and have a good laugh.
What one thing or person has been very instrumental in your success?
As overused as this may seem, I would absolutely have to say, my husband. He is the most amazing boss, co-worker, friend, co-parent, I could have ever been blessed with. He encouraged me to leave my former occupation to come work with him on the K9cuisine.com venture. He knew when he hired me, that our kids needed me to be a mom first and an employee second. He totally gets it and on multiple occasions picks up the slack to afford me the opportunity to balance home and work!
What are your 3 favorite blogs?
K9Cuisine blog
What is your favorite quote?
I have several, but at this stage in our crazy lives, I am reminded daily of this quote from Mother Theresa. “I know God won’t give me anything I cannot handle. I just wish he did not trust me so much!”
What advice would you give to a new mom entrepreneur?
At the end of the day, when you are taking inventory of all that has transpired today and all that must happen tomorrow, try to step back and prioritize things accordingly. To help prioritize “issues”, I ask myself two types of questions.
With my kids, will it affect the person they may become as an adult? If so, is it a characteristic I would or would not choose to have in an adult friend?
In business, will it affect our business 5 or 10 years from now? Will I be thinking about this issue 10 years from now?
In a nutshell, choose your battles wisely, and don’t sweat the small stuff!
How can we connect with you?
I am just getting started on Twitter and can be reached at k9cuisine_Kate, on Facebook, Kay Holloway, and the contact page on K9 Cuisine.
Related posts:
- Mom’s Best Friend : K9Cuisine Review My dog, The Dude, was my first child. We adopted...
- The Mogul Mom Features…the ladies from isABelt What is your name & how many children do you...
- The Mogul Mom Features…Valerie Viera of Sprigs This week’s Mogul Mom interview is with Valerie Viera, founder...
- The Mogul Mom Features Heather Schoenrock & Connie Pope of Jack’s Harvest What is your name & how many children do you...
- The Mogul Mom Features…Traci Bisson of Bisson Barcelona AND The Mom Entrepreneur Blog This week, I’m proud to feature a kindred spirit, Traci...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This is what I enjoy the most and take away from Mogul Mom is the opportunity to learn from other women entrepreneurs who are smart and possess family values and willing to share their journey with others. I always look forward to receiving my Mogul Mom emails!
Kudos Heather!
Twitter: heathall
April 12, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Thanks, Ros–and thanks, Kate for sharing such a wonderful story. I so relate to you on many levels.
Have a great day.
Heather
I follow them on Twitter and was delighted to see them here. I think it takes ultimate guts to quit a job to go out on a venture like this. Sounds like Kate is a very wise woman. Great family photo too!