Get to Know: Maev

I discovered Maev on instagram and fell in love with the clean look of their site, the fact that it was started by two women, and the personalization of their products. I wanted to know more! Lucky for me, one of the founders (Christine) sent me some great answers to my questions, and!! MPCC readers get a 30% off discount on their first order, just use the code MONPETIT30 at checkout. Get ready to meet Maev!

Tell us a little bit about how & why Maev got started?

So we made Maev official to the world in February of this year (very weird timing with COVID), but Katie and I have been working on Maev for the last two years. She and I met three years ago in grad school, but it really started in 2015 when Katie adopted her perfect Italian Greyhound, George. 

Katie had been living in San Francisco in her early 20s and after growing up with dogs, decided she was ready to get a dog of her own. So she started signing up for almost any Italian Greyhound rescue organization out in California and after a year of waiting, she and George finally met. 

And it was really Katie's experience that brought about the idea behind Maev. She'd spent the year before adopting George seeking permission from friends and family, who each told her she shouldn’t or couldn’t adopt a dog - she wasn't ready for the responsibility, it would be expensive, it would upend her life, and the list went on! But at some point, she just stopped asking for permission, and decided to just do it. The process was hard, but the best decision she's ever made. There's something just totally unique to finally getting a dog of your own in this in-between stage of your life. 

The thing is, Katie wasn't alone. There were so many people who shared Katie's experience: living in cities, getting dogs earlier, having big meaningful jobs and trying to make it all work. And it’s really hard raising a dog, building a career, having a social life … all in a city that wasn’t made for this. It didn't feel like anyone in the pet category was designing wellness products for us and our dogs, for our lifestyles together, for our unique needs and our unique relationships. No one even saw us a customer. 

So we set out to build it: The highest quality nutrition and wellness products for our dogs that are also intentionally designed and modern. We've never felt like you had to sacrifice design for function. We've always believed you can make incredible, healthy products for our dogs that are also beautiful, well-designed and affordable.  

I love the personalization of the supplements, meals, and snacks. Do you have a vet or nutritionist weigh in?

Yep! So in the two years leading up to our launch we worked with clinical vets and nutritionists as well as holistic vets on both coasts to develop our base formulas, calorie calculations as well as personalized vitamin recommendations. That's what really pushed us to focus on real foods instead of synthetics - everything you find in our products is sourced from real food sources, including the vitamins and minerals in our bars. We keep a couple of clinical nutritionists as advisors to bounce ideas off of as we think about future product development.

What's your favorite thing about running a company that caters to pet parents?

This is such a tough thing to narrow down, but I'd say it's two really interesting and interrelated things. The first is how personal of a relationship we can build with pet parents. Obviously, their relationships with their dogs are some of the most important relationships out there. That level of intimacy between a dog parent and their dog is one of a kind. You start to become each other's person and your bond can't be replicated. That intimacy they share then extends into our relationship with dog parents - it means we get to have really unique, interesting, in depth conversations with users. It's really special.

And the second piece that's related is just how educated and engaged dog parents are. We have such interesting and deep conversations with our customers who are so educated on nutrition and wellness and what makes their dog tick and what they love in products for themselves and for their dogs. The level of engagement and education our customers have motivates us. It's so inspiring to have those conversations every single day and to know that you constantly have to raise the bar because people care so much about their dogs. It's fun and it's inspiring and it's what pushes us to want to get better every day.

And George - we'd love to hear more about his personality, his likes and dislikes?

Oh George, he's really one of a kind. We really mean this description not sarcastically, but more of a representation of George. So...George is a young gentleman - the kind you don't often meet anymore. He's polite, posh, and wise beyond his years. A retiree who loves to sleep in, sunbathe, and have worldly conversation with his mom. As a people person, he struggles with separation anxiety, so he tries to spend as much time as possible among/on top of loved ones. He's still getting used to being a big brother to Boone, a doberman pinscher we recently adopted. Surprisingly, George is an alpha, weighing in at just 15 lbs.

Any news for Maev in the future, especially in light of COVID-19? 

Right now it's about growing the business and learning as much as we can from customers. We see ourselves dabbling with retail in the next few months as things slowly start to open back up. Dog products are really sensorial, so it will be important for people to be able to experience our brand and products in real life. Our other focus will be in expanding our product lines.

Above all, we're focused on our relationship with our customers (both humans and dogs). Anything we do next is going to be done based on the feedback, conversations and relationships we have with our customers. We love our community - people are so engaged with our products and our brand. That's what makes this worthwhile. It's through that engagement with customers that our products actually come to life. Otherwise, we're just building products to sit in the fridge or on the shelf. So anything we do next at Maev is going to come from what we're hearing from our customers. Without a doubt. 

Small businesses need our help every day, but especially now during COVID-19. If you'd like to see your pet biz here or if you’d like to submit a business you love, holler at me via email. We would like to highlight small businesses committed to diversity or are women-led, who operate with kindness and transparency.