896 Jacqueline Prehogan: Co-Founder of Open Farm

28:27And I think, I just think it's a, it's a frame of mind and it's a cultural thing. And it also comes back transparency to us means how do we act? How do we, you know, interact with each other? How do we interact with our partners? And really living that every day. And I think that's critical to it, like not just being something that you say and fluffy, but something that you like genuinely live.

28:50Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Hi, Kara here. For small businesses, every hire matters, but so does your time. I felt that pressure firsthand. You know, a bad hire isn't just frustrating, it's expensive in time, money, and team morale. And yet hiring the right person can feel like a full-time job on top of everything else you're already doing. Sifting through applications, trying to spot the real standouts, second-guessing decisions, it can get overwhelming fast. That's why having a way to save time without sacrificing quality isn't just nice to have, it's critical.

29:34Kara Goldin:Luckily, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is built for that reality. It's your hiring partner designed to help you hire with confidence by surfacing only the right candidates without turning hiring into another full-time job. Posting a job isn't always the hard part. It's finding, connecting with, and screening the right candidates. Hiring Pro streamlines the entire process from drafting your job to shortlisting candidates and conducting AI-powered interviews for initial screenings. Their updated conversational interface lets you describe what you need in plain language, no recruiter jargon needed. Nearly 60 % of hires find a candidate to interview within a week.

30:17Kara Goldin:With Hiring Pro, you spend less time searching and more time connecting with the right talent. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash Kara Golden. Terms and conditions apply. Support for today's episode comes from Seed, the company taking a scientific approach to gut health. I'm selective about the supplements that earn a place in my daily routine. If I'm going to take something every day, I want to understand what's in it, how it works, and whether there is real evidence behind it. That's what stood out to me about SEEDS DSO-1.

31:01Kara Goldin:DSO-1 is a two-in-one probiotic and prebiotic formulated with 24 or probiotic strains to support digestive and whole body health. It also uses seeds via CAP technology, a capsule-in-capsule delivery system engineered to protect the probiotics through digestion and deliver them where they need to go. And this isn't based on marketing promises. In a clinical trial, DS01 was shown to improve regularity, reduce bloating, and alleviate gas. Plus, it requires no refrigeration, making it easy to maintain your routine at home or while traveling. Make your daily probiotic one of the more informed decisions you make today.

31:50Kara Goldin:Go to seed.com forward slash Cara Golden and use code Cara to get 25 % off. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business. Not the highlight reel, the actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it.

32:37Kara Goldin:And you realize quickly, connection isn't a nice to have, it's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity, you just need it to work every time. That's why AT &T business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business. Built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. OpenFarm is a certified B corporation. Why was that so important? And how does it affect, you know, the business decisions that you're making?

33:27So interestingly with B Corp, I remember like probably our third year in business. We've been we've been around for 12 years. We were like because we started we have a bunch of certified we have a bunch of animal welfare certifications, seafood certifications. We have like all these sustainability commitments like B Corp was like such a natural fit for us. So very early on, we started talking about it. But we realized that B Corp is, it's, you need to be organizationally ready to get your B Corp. It's not just about do we do the things, but do we, you know, are we ready to go through the whole process and sort of, you want to make sure you have the structure and the team in place to really support that.

34:11So we looked at it very early on. We decided, you know what, we don't think it's the right time. We just have a lot of other things we're focused on, a lot of other priorities in the business. And then fast forward, my God, we're coming up on our three year now. So okay, it was like, yeah, 2023 ish. That was around when we'll actually rewind from there a couple years, because doing your B Corp takes a couple years. So yeah, it was in COVID that we were like, okay, we feel like we're ready. We have the team, we have the structure, we're ready to put in the work. And it was just such a natural fit.

34:43To be honest, we were already doing pretty much most of it and a lot more because of our standards. So it was really a matter of going through the process and going through the audit. But for us, I wouldn't say that B Corp for us changed the way we do things because, again, we started with that mission from the very beginning. We've always done things that way, but it's such a great, number one, it's a community. So you really become part of this community with like-minded businesses. And number two is a really fantastic shortcut for consumers to really be like, okay, I see what this business is all about.

35:18This gives me an extra level of comfort, which is something we always want to do for pet parents. We just want to make it easy for them to find the level of trust in us, which we do not take lightly and we view as we need to re-earn every single day, but we absolutely want to just give them that comfort however we can. And B Corp is just a terrific way to do that.

35:38Kara Goldin:So Open Farm has been recognized as one of Canada's top growing companies multiple times. What has been the hardest part of scaling this business? You're a serial entrepreneur. You've done other businesses, but this one in particular, what has been the toughest part of scaling OpenFarm? The hardest part of scaling the business is less about scaling the business and more about the fact that every single thing, every single thing we do, we do it the hard way. Like we always have, because, you know, to have the mission and then to build, you know, I talked at the beginning, we call it the open farm promise, which is having the highest standards in sustainability, transparency, animal welfare, nutrition.

36:24You need to do everything the hard way. And so, you know, when I think about scaling the business, ultimately, it's been about how do you do that? How do you actually raise the bar on that, but in a very high growth environment, right? And I think a lot of businesses sometimes maybe, you know, can lose sight of what they set out to do or what makes them different. And that has definitely never been our problem. Like we've always been extremely clear. This is our reason for being. This is why we broke into the super crowded industry. This is how we deliver value to pet parents. And this is ultimately what we're passionate about.

36:59So we don't have the problem of deviating from that. But it's ultimately just the work and effort that goes in to scaling that at a super high level, at a fast growth level. And really that comes down to, number one, like being motivated to do it, which of course we are. Number two is the team, scaling the team. and we've been so fortunate as we've grown to be able to bring in just incredible team members that are, you know, literally leaders globally in many of their areas, like such as animal welfare, such as our, you know, our board certified veterinary nutritionists and to process, right? And to like really building the infrastructure and the organization around it.

37:41So there's no, you know, one thing, it's about all of the things, but I think for us, we don't look at it as like, oh, it's so hard. It's just what we do. This is literally what we do. We love to do it. And every single day is a million challenges. Everything is always done the hard way, but that's how we like it.

37:59Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Hi, Kara here. For small businesses, every hire matters, but so does your time. I felt that pressure firsthand. You know, a bad hire isn't just frustrating. it's expensive in time, money, and team morale. And yet hiring the right person can feel like a full-time job on top of everything else you're already doing. Sifting through applications, trying to spot the real standouts, second-guessing decisions, it can get overwhelming fast. That's why having a way to save time without sacrificing quality isn't just nice to have, it's critical.

38:43Kara Goldin:Luckily, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is built for that reality. It's your hiring partner designed to help you hire with confidence by surfacing only the right candidates without turning hiring into another full-time job. Posting a job isn't always the hard part. It's finding, connecting with, and screening the right candidates. Hiring Pro streamlines the entire process from drafting your job to shortlisting candidates and conducting AI-powered interviews for initial screenings. Their updated conversational interface lets you describe what you need in plain language, no recruiter jargon needed. Nearly 60 % of hires find a candidate to interview within a week.

39:26Kara Goldin:With Hiring Pro, you spend less time searching and more time connecting with the right talent. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash Kara Golden. Terms and conditions apply. Support for today's episode comes from Seed, the company taking a scientific approach to gut health. I'm selective about the supplements that earn a place in my daily routine. If I'm going to take something every day, I want to understand what's in it, how it works, and whether there is real evidence behind it. That's what stood out to me about SEEDS DSO-1.

40:09Kara Goldin:DSO-1 is a two-in-one probiotic and prebiotic formulated with 24 probiotic strains to support digestive and whole body health. It also uses SEEDS via CAP technology, a capsule-in-capsule delivery system engineered to protect the probiotics through digestion and deliver them where they need to go. And this isn't based on marketing promises. In a clinical trial, DS01 was shown to improve regularity, reduce bloating, and alleviate gas. Plus, it requires no refrigeration, making it easy to maintain your routine at home or while traveling. Make your daily probiotic one of the more informed decisions you make today.

40:58Kara Goldin:Go to seed.com forward slash Kara Golden and use code Kara to get 25 % off. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business. Not the highlight reel, the actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it, and you realize quickly connection isn't a nice-to-have.

41:50Kara Goldin:It's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity. You just need it to work every time. That's why AT &T Business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business, built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. When you were looking at adding SKUs, so you don't just have kibble, you've now grown over the years. How do you decide what to add and how fast do you do that? because I think so many entrepreneurs in all different categories are trying to figure out, you know, you hear innovation.

42:47Kara Goldin:If you sell to retailers, they want something that's new. They want to be unique. They want to be different, whatever it is. But, you know, when is it right for your brand to go and launch new products? I mean, great question. Number one, you know, there's no silver bullet answer, I would say. I think it's so, so dependent on obviously the product, the brand, the category, the distribution framework. You know, is it D2C? Is it omni-channel? Is it retail only? All these things factor into it. For us, here's, but universally, what I do think is sort of a common thread is this idea of how are you creating value, right?

43:33So I talked at the beginning of this idea of like our food philosophy and our, you know, we differentiate in a very simple way. that's sort of really easy for people to understand where it's like, this is how we think about nutrition and, you know, raising the bar on nutrition. And then it's really about thinking, how are we adding value through our innovation? And for us, that's always been about how can we deliver this central food philosophy that is super consistent for us in different formats that are going to, you know, resonate with pet parents, are going to help, you know, pets be more healthy.

44:04They're going to give them different options that are going to better suit their lifestyle, that they're gonna, you know, we have this sort of holistic approach called build the bull, which really allows people to come into our product ecosystem and actually play and have fun. And it, you know, it depends on the pet, but if it's a pet who, you know, likes to try different things and does well on different things, they can, they can absolutely mix and match and build. And our line is very modular. And I think for us, it's always just staying true to this, like, never sort of getting caught up in like, I'm just adding a product to add a product because I think I have to, it really has to pass not only, okay, like the proper stage gates of the process, but like the smell test.

44:45Like, do we feel like this is a fantastic product that we're all really excited about that we, you know, we know our pet parents are going to love. And so I think it really does come down to that. And absolutely, you're using data. You're looking at what categories in your industry are growing. There's no question that is a very big part of your process. But I just always think that on top of all the data, there's always a mix with you understand your pet parent, you or your customer, whoever they are, as we call them pet parents, and you're really sort of making sure that it feels right to you and you believe in it as a team that this product is ultimately going to add value to your pet parent and solve a problem.

45:28So that's really how we look at it. And that's probably a simplistic view. But I think that's beyond all the details, the common thread that can run between industries and types of products.

45:39Kara Goldin:Have you ever launched a product that maybe you thought, you know, this isn't going to work, but then it just really took off and you, you know, were pleasantly surprised? Oh, we've definitely had a few of those that I don't think we ever anticipated. One interesting one is bone broth. We've had bone broth for many, many years. And And I mean, I always just, and obviously for people, many people drink bone broth and see the benefits of it. It's the same thing for pets. And so we always thought that was a great product. You know, we launch it. I don't think we ever anticipated that it could become as big as it has for us and really, you know, a core product that was so widely adopted for pets and sort of created a category unto itself.

46:33So, you know, that's definitely an interesting one. But there have been, you know, there have been a lot of products like that. I'd say we have a line called Rawmix. And in that product, it's sort of, it's kind of almost like buildable in a bag. It combines, you know, freeze-dried pieces and kibble pieces and different types of, you know, coatings on the kibble, like bone broth and bone broth again, and stuff like that. And, you know, it's in the upper end of our product line. So, you know, when you go upmarket and when we did that for the first time, you know, we absolutely believed in it. And we said, like, this is a fantastic product.

47:08We believe in this category. We were kind of really a pioneer of that category. Some products existed, but we have like tremendously grown that and sort of really own that space. I don't think we ever anticipated, again, the success that that line would have. But I think it's just such another demonstration of pets or family and people are like, this makes sense to us. Like we are willing to, we want to go a little upmarket. We're happy to spend a little bit more for that sort of next level of nutrition. And they see the benefit there. And so that's sort of another one. I don't think we anticipated the extent to which our pet parent like really, really wanted to go like even more premium because we're already, you know, in that sort of play in that area.

47:50but they do because they really are looking for the best possible nutrition and we really focus on making our products accessible. So even our products at the upper range, making sure that, I would say it's like a monthly purchase for kibble. Ultimately, it is something that's in range and accessible to a very wide range of pet parents, which is a very big part of our goal and our mission.

48:11Kara Goldin:I hear a lot of people talking about itching dogs and I think that often they wonder if it's, you know, allergies, external allergies, but it often comes back to food too. And I'm sure you get, you know, different emails in your customer service. But is there one in particular that you find is kind of out there, is real? Somebody told me once that a lot of dogs are actually allergic to chicken, I think. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's fascinating, right? So because you think of it as for humans, very bland, right? And but it's... You don't hear a lot of chicken groceries for people.

48:55Kara Goldin:It's true. I don't think I've ever heard of that. Yeah. But I'm so curious if you hear, if there's something that's sort of surprising to consumers that you see a lot of. Yeah. You know, I think there's kind of like, First of all, there is a lot of commonality in sort of the challenges that pet parents face. And in a weird way, I feel like people find it harder and more overwhelming and confusing to feed their pets than themselves, right? Like for ourselves, like, okay, we go to the grocery store, we buy the things, we make a recipe. People get very confused and really need a lot of guidance. And part of that is just how confusing, you know, the industry is.

49:41But there are a lot of it is issues based. Absolutely. You know, and you're not, you did not make that up. There are lots of chicken allergies. You know, people have, there's a lot of gastro issues. Man, I have a doodle. He's behind, there he is. You can see the picture of him, Ted. I had three pugs. They could eat anything. They were like all over our line. And then I got Ted. He's a very temperamentally, you know, tummied doodle. He's a Bernadoodle. And, you know, for him, I have him on very specific things in our line that work fantastically well for him. But it was a little bit of trial and error to see what worked for him.

50:19So gastro is super common. Another one is picky eaters, you know? And I almost feel like pet parents that have a dog that is a picky eater, like they literally go through like psychological trauma. Like it's a thing, you know, I don't know. Well, you have labs, so I'm sure you never have experienced this. labs. But like when their dog, when your dog goes up to their food and they just sniff it and walk away and they do that for three consecutive meals, like you start to lose your mind. You're like, oh my God, my dog isn't eating. My dog is starving. I'm not a good pet parent. You know, there's like, so picky eaters is really, is really a big thing and making sure that, you know, you can find products that are going to excite pets.

50:59Sometimes it's also about like switching it up a little bit is super important. But what I would say is probably most surprising, like even to me as now, you know, in my position and as chief brand officer at Open Farm, one of the teams that reports into me is actually what we call, like I said, our pet parent experience team, PPX, like the equivalent of customer experience. I think we had 150 ,000 tickets in the last 12 months, something like that. Yeah, we have a lot. We first of all take customer experience very seriously. Like we really are very focused on, you know, providing that consultation to pet parents.

51:38But these conversations, man, they are, first of all, many of them are so sophisticated. People are doing tremendous research, especially with AI. And they're also kind of really trying to figure things out and they're getting, you know, maybe they're getting advice from their vet. Maybe they got advice from their breeder. They're seeing things from influencers. They're seeing brand marketing. They're searching on AI. Like they're really just trying to to parse through a lot of information and a lot of times that is to sort of address a specific issue with their pet and maybe they've tried a lot of things so honestly we have seen it all okay I take that back there will for sure be like a hundred things that surprised me you know and that acts like three months but we've seen a lot and I think what surprises me the most is um the level of sophisticated sophistication now of pet parents and how they're so in the details, I think it's fantastic.

52:28And it just shows how much people care about their pets and how much, you know, they're really invested in them.

52:33Kara Goldin:Yeah, definitely. My kids say that as they've grown, my fifth and sixth children get so much more attention than they got. So I know it's so funny. So as Open Farm has grown, how have you personally changed as a leader? Yeah, great question. Well, first of all, you know, I think being in the business from the very beginning, you do a lot of different jobs, you know, at the towards the beginning, there was a time where, you know, we didn't have sales leadership, we didn't have, you know, we had a few, you know, sales reps in different territories across the US, Canada. done. My husband and I literally carved up the country.

53:17Sorry, the countries. It was like, OK, I had like the Pacific Northwest and like I had, you know, the southeast and I and every, you know, week, two weeks we were on planes and we were out. We were visiting stores and we were, you know, we were we were doing all that. Or, you know, before we hired our amazing CMO, like I was really running our marketing and I'm still very involved, but I'm not a CMO, right? And so I think as, you know, your business grows, like you at the beginning, like you literally do everything, right? You do so many different jobs, you know, between us. I mean, we've done a lot.

53:58And I think the most rewarding part of leadership is then being able to hire people that are so much better at you. That's the goal at all those different areas, right? And like, I remember when we were hiring our CMO as our first CMO and, and, you know, we were working with a recruiter and the recruiter's like, oh, you know, Jacqueline, like you need to, you know, they're going to be really worried that you're like not going to be able to let go. And, and I was like, I don't think you understand. Like, I can't wait to hire, you know, this role. And, and because I can't wait to bring, you know, in that next person that's going to be transformative for the business and bring in a transformative skill set.

54:38And so I think as a leader, you go from, I'm just figuring it out. I'm doing all these things for the first time. I am like learning, like I'm learning everything. I've never done any of these things, right? You go from that to I'm now a leader of people. My job is to bring people up, empower people, find amazing people that are way better than me that are going to come in and be transformative for the business, build teams, build the culture, right? And then I think for yourself, like it is about being able to let go and like loving letting go, to be honest, because you're like, this is so good for the business.

55:11And then you have to keep transforming yourself. You have to keep evolving. And I think for me, that's been such a privilege. On the one hand, I'm still learning so much. There is not, I've never stopped learning for a day, which I love, but then having to keep stepping up because you gotta keep, you have to keep adding value to the business too, right? but I think the other thing that's really cool is when you do that and you let yourself do that you really start to discover like oh if I just open up my mind I'm open-minded and I believe in myself like I have other talents I never knew I had I mean I was telling you before we came on like I you know I went to to business school I went into accounting can thank my mom for that it was okay in her defense it was a good background to have for business I was the worst accountant ever Or I applied to law school because I didn't know what else to do.

56:00But I never, ever considered myself a creative person. I was like, I'm not a creative person. Like, that's not me. I grew up in, you know, a house of, like, both my parents were lawyers. Like, it was just not, like, it wasn't, you know, an artsy environment. And then as I went, I was like, wow, like, I am creative. I am. And actually now, as, you know, I'm 40 years old, I'm, like, that's, like, my joy is, you know, being in like very artistic side and creativity. And frankly, even at this age, discovering so many more skills and abilities because I'm open minded and I'm not I don't give myself any narratives of you can't do this or this isn't you if anything is possible.

56:38So I think it's such an opportunity as a leader to evolve and open yourself up to that. And then you never know what's going to happen. Like it's going to be an amazing journey one way or another.

56:47Kara Goldin:Yeah, definitely. What advice Last question. So what advice would you give to founders who are building in a crowded category, knowing what you know about this consumer and or your consumer and, you know, how much they've changed over the life cycle of your brand as well? I think that product quality and things like that are really important. But what other advice would you give to founders? Look, I mean, I would say that now having been in the industry, I'm like, I remember when I came in, I saw all these lifers in the pet industry. And I was like, wow, look at that. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm like a lifer now.

57:29You know, I've been in the industry a long time and I've seen a lot of, a lot, a lot of companies come and go. And I think that the biggest thing and what I think I always honestly blindly believed in because I just knew, I was like, all I know is that what we're doing is different. I know there is a white space and I know that this white space is genuinely important to pet parents like they're connecting it on like with it on like not only just like I want this or I need this but like on a values level like even on like an identity level which you know good or bad you know this is what I think is important in terms of how I nourish myself and how I nourish my pet and how I take care of my pet you know and looking at it coming back all the way to the beginning of our conversation to that, you know, that food philosophy.

58:20And that's something that, and again, having a mission and really being true to that. And I think that, you know, the big, you know, I think the other thing that, you know, you see is kind of like doing something to say you did it, doing something because you think it's what people want to hear. You know, ultimately, you have to believe it. Like you have to live it. And I think we, I can tell you here at Open environment, we never cut corners. Like when we're having these conversations, it's like such an easy answer. We always figure it out because we have a very clear North star. And not only does that allow us to like really deliver on the products.

58:58And like, again, we see it as we have to re-earn that trust every single day, not only because we have to do it for a pet business because we want to, because it's what we love to do, but it also allows us to tell an authentic story, right? Like we, I always talk about what we do and what we say. So I just, what we do is again, like living the mission, like delivering on our, on, on, you know, the open farm promise. But the, what we say is telling a true and authentic story about what we do. Right. And if anything, our problem is always like, we have way too much to say. We have so much to say, but all the cool things we're doing, how do we do that in a simple and engaging way?

59:31We don't want to be overwhelming, but we are telling ultimately a true and, and, and impassioned story that is authentic. And I think that that, I think when we talk about what how the pet parent has evolved and how just consumers have evolved, they're smart. Their bullshit meters are excellent. And I think in this world of all the like fake things, they just want something real.

59:54Kara Goldin:Yeah. And I think just being real and being you and doing what you say and being transparent goes an exceptionally long way. So again, these are simple things, but I think they're ultimately like some of the very most important. So Jacqueline, thank you so much for joining us today. What you and your co-founder husband are doing to build Open Farm is amazing. So pet parents are super, super happy, but I'm just so proud of what you're doing because I think you've built a brand that is authentic, transparent, super, super solid. And yes, my labs love it. So I am a happy pet parent for sure with OpenFarm.

1:00:46Kara Goldin:So thank you again for joining us. And thanks everyone for listening until next time on the Kara Golden Show. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks again for listening to the Kara Golden Show. If you would, please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Golden. I would love to hear from you too, so feel free to DM me. And if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building Hint.

1:01:35Kara Goldin:We are here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Thanks for listening and goodbye for now.