Chelsie-Jean Fernandez Designs Stylish Dog Accessories That Dog Moms Trust For The Fur Babies That They Love

Chelsie-Jean Fernandez Helps Designs Stylish Dog Accessories That Dog Moms Trust For The Fur Babies That They Love

Chelsie-Jean Fernandez is a lady boss that has spent over a decade leading multimillion dollar companies, primarily in the e-commerce product development space. Pairing her aptitude for web design with her love for animals, Boogs & Boop was born as a passion project alongside co-founding her main hustle, A Bunch of Creators—a one-stop shop for web application and e-commerce development. She believes it’s how well you listen to your customers (and pupstomers) and communicate that understanding back to them through valuable and unique products that make for a wagging tail. Chelsie grew up on Kauai, Hawaii and now resides in New York City with her longhaired dapple Dachshund, Isles (@luckoftheisles).

1. What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?

Boogs & Boop, LLC was born out of love for a longhaired dapple Dachshund (let’s be real, all dogs) and fashion. My Dachshund, Isles (@luckoftheisles), began his journey as a dog influencer about two years ago. As his Momager, I quickly became immersed in the pet social scene and just as easy as it was to become immersed, I fell in love with the community. It was my “break” from the real world as each pet profile I crossed was so positive and each pet parent I engaged with was so kind and supportive. They inspired me to begin Boogs & Boop with their open dialogue about wishes for more budget-friendly yet fashion-forward and safe dog accessories plus matching human accessories to show off their love for their furry friend(s).

2. Tell us about your business.

It used to be that pet fashion was limited to a colorful collar. But these days, pet fashionistas have taken over the fashion scene, with many pet owners showing their love for their fur baby through stylish wearables both for themselves and their pets. From fashion-forward dog walking accessories—harnesses, collars, leashes, and more—to dog toys, Boogs & Boop carries all things dog fashion. Our accessories are designed with your pet’s style and safety in mind. When a customer buys our products, they are directly supporting a woman and AAPI-owned small business.

3. Where is your business based?

Our business is based online at www.boogsboop.com with our main office located in New York City.

4. What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?

Before starting a small business, I had to think a lot about whether or not my idea was profitable and whether there was a market for what I wanted to offer. In addition to more tactical research, actively engaging in the pet community via Isles’ Instagram made it apparent that pet accessories and pet care have become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, especially as pet ownership increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Niching was also particularly important when it came to deciding what to sell as pet parents can be very particular about their dog’s fashion choices. Ultimately, I decided to proceed with my small business venture as there were (and continue to be) so many avenues of fashion pertaining to dogs, leaving a lot of room for creativity, unique branding, and fun. Then came the business name, product design, and finding a manufacturer.

5. What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?

I began by utilizing the existing reach of Isles’ Instagram. With over 8k followers, it was a great jumping off point to building traction while also testing new product concepts. In addition, Instagram’s primary advantage over other platforms is its visual nature. My business benefits from showcasing the product worn on pets, so Instagram has been the ideal platform to showcase that type of content.

6. What have been your biggest challenges so far?

Many entrepreneurs also saw an opportunity to enter the pet industry due to the uptick in pet ownership during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which created and continues to create more brand competition. Separating ourselves from the pack (pun intended) is challenging.

7. How did you overcome these challenges?

Market penetration continues to be a challenge; however, organic marketing has helped our business to generate traffic naturally rather than using paid marketing approaches. This is especially helpful as a small business with budget constraints. This approach has been aimed to raise brand awareness and bring traffic to our website while building relationships through valuable content and genuine conversation.

8. What is the best advice you have received recently?

“Test it.” While I’ve heard this advice many times before and have given this advice to others, it became increasingly important for my own business. If you blindly assume an idea will be a big hit, you’re risking a great deal of time, money and potentially other resources invested in launch. Testing new concepts before fully investing has helped me to make confident business decisions.

9. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

Reach out and talk to people who have already accomplished or done what you are trying to do. Always trying to solve a challenging problem alone, while it may feel rewarding once an answer is finally found, may take unnecessary time. Save yourself the headache by sending that one email, text, social media message, or reading community boards. You’re likely not alone in your struggle. I was happily surprised by how many people were willing to help me get off the ground.

10. What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?

As a company with a mission to give back to the pet community, there’s much I’m still learning in regards to charitable giving—sponsoring an animal, starting a fundraiser, making a gift donation (monetary or otherwise) and volunteering time—including the paperwork and regulations that apply.

11. What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?

In an attempt to hit our revenue goals, Boogs & Boop is focused on traffic growth by means of organic and paid marketing in addition to expanding our merchandise collection to include apparel for dog moms.

12. What is your favorite business tool or resource?

While not a typical “tool”, our most important resource since launch has been the online pet community. In addition, we use Procreate and Figma regularly to design new products.