Kara Hagedorn – The Solopreneur Who Built a $1M Dog Treat Brand from Her Kitchen

Last night, I asked if you wanted more stories from real people, not famous entrepreneurs. The answer was a resounding “Yes!”

So tonight, here we go with a great story of mere mortals like you and me who had their own breakthrough moment. Enjoy!

Kara Hagedorn was just trying to keep her dog healthy.

She was not thinking about building a brand.

She was not dreaming about quitting her job.

She was just a new dog mom reading the label on a store-bought bag of treats . . . and wondering what half the ingredients even were.

So she started baking her own. At first it was just for her golden retriever, Moose. Then her friends asked for a few. Then friends of friends. Then she was taking orders on Instagram.

Every night, Kara came home from her 9-to-5, rolled up her sleeves, and got to work mixing peanut butter and oats, hand-cutting bones, bagging orders in brown paper sacks with handwritten notes.

No website.
No Shopify.
No fancy branding.

Just a product people loved, a story they could relate to and root for, and a woman willing to say yes to the next right step.

She called it Moose & Me.

Kara’s Big Break

Her breakthrough came from a 19-second Instagram Reel.

It was a low-key post, just her kitchen counter, Moose drooling, and her voice explaining why she started making her own treats. The audio was shaky. The lighting was bad.

It hit 40,000 views in a week.

A buyer at a regional grocery chain saw it through a friend and reached out: “Can you deliver 500 units in 3 weeks?”

Kara had no label printer. No packaging supplier. No clue about how wholesale worked.

She said yes anyway.

She pulled a few all-nighters, learned on the fly, and made the delivery. That one store turned into five. Five turned into fifteen.

Six months later she quit her day

Today?

Today, Moose & Me does over $1M a year in sales with beautiful, Whole Foods-style packaging, boutiques, a loyal online following, and a growing line of natural pet products.

The Takeaway

Kara did not build a brand with strategy decks and consultants. She built it by solving her own problem, sharing it honestly, and staying close to her audience. Her big break did not come from a launch. It came from an imperfect story.

Steal this Strategy!

📖 Book – Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
A guide to building an audience by being generous and imperfect

🎥 Video – How to Make Instagram Reels That Sell
Short, sharp tutorial on creating low-effort, high-impact product videos.

🛠️ Tool – FREE Canva Label Maker
Design your own packaging and labels even with zero design experience

🌐 Website – Moose&Me
Go on, get some great healthy treats for your furry friend!

Overnight Challenge

Post a 30-second video about why you started. You do not need to go viral. You just need one right person to see it.

Go on. You can do it!

About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an entrepreneur. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business. Need a ghostwriter or a newsletter for your business? Contact Steve!