JUKI Spotlight: Tails Up, Pup

So many of our furry best friends are spoiled, and companies like Tails Up, Pup is here to help you do more of that! Tails Up, Pup, a small business run by Danielle and her husband Nick, is a dog mom shop that believes your dog deserves to be spoiled while keeping you in mind. They create the perfect duo for dog moms and their dogs, customizing and matching clothing items with pet bandanas! Follow along as we speak with Danielle about what it was like becoming her own boss and opening up Tails Up, Pup.

The Tails Up, Pup journey began in Danielle and Nick’s basement in 2018. After creating dog bandanas for her very own furry friends, and posting her final projects on social media, friends, and others started requesting their very own pet bandannas! With time Danielle realized her shop was growing, and after hosting her first black Friday sale, she brought in her husband Nick to help fulfill orders.

After 18 months of setting up shop in her basement, Tails Up, Pup found its first office space in Marietta, Georgia. Primarily an eCommerce business, Tails Up, Pup has grown into a storefront shop, where the company has continued to see new fans and customers every year! As time passed and Tails Up, Pup continued to be a success, Danielle and Nick decided it was time to grow their space and expand to the office next door.

With two offices under their belt now, Danielle could designate a production office and shop! Over time her team has grown to its current line-up, three full-time employees and one part-time. It’s a great success to hire your very own team, and at their small business, everyone has their hats to wear. Tails Up, Pup’s current team members include Lauren, their head seamstress; Connor, their cutter and handyman; Ensley, their Inventory manager; and Keelan, their other seamstress. With each member bringing in their own set of skills, Danielle says, “we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them.”

Using their JUKI TL-2000Qi machines, the Tails Up, Pup team has created slip-on and tie-on bandannas for their shop. Small businesses like Tail’s Up Pup are a great example of how small items like bandanas can turn into their very own business when you let yourself be creative and have fun! Starting from just a piece of fabric, their team uses personalized stencils for sizing, sewing techniques to keep their products looking clean, and pressing to create the perfect bandana. In addition, with machines in their line that can do embroidering, they also offer the chance to personalize your pet bandanas with your pet names! Using embroidery in your projects is one of the easiest ways to give a product a touch of personalization that you can’t find everywhere.

Having a great product isn’t the only reason so many customers continue to love Tails Up, Pup, but in fact, it is the community they have been able to grow and create through marketing on social media platforms! Social media marketing has been in their company DNA from the start, and as they first started as an eCommerce-only shop, social media marketing was a no-brainer for getting their brand out there. By consistently posting and interacting with their followers, they were able to see real growth in their shop! While Danielle shares Tails Up, Pup’s social media wasn’t an overnight success, it can instead be seen as an example of how a long and steady process can help you grow in the long run.

Since building their following online, Danielle shares how the community within Tails Up, Pup makes the business unique. When she and Nick first opened up their social media pages, they hadn’t set out to do anything special; Tails Up, Pup just happened. When they legitimatized Tails Up, Pup as a proper business, Danielle says terrific things started to happen.

“We started to find an amazing community of dog lovers that shared many of the same passions as us. Over time this has become what we like to call the Tails Up, Pup Family.”

This community has focused on inspiring others to pursue their passions, helping people build their confidence and spread happiness when the opportunity is there. With the TUP family ever-growing, Danielle and her team appreciate every new member that follows along and joins their journey.

Since Tails Up, Pup has opened, they have continued to grow their team, followers, customers, and even property. When asked about the future of Tails Up, Pup Danielle brought us back to how this business wasn’t even an idea three years ago. While we don’t know what the future holds, Danielle shares this, “I hope we can continue to add to the TUP family and keep pursuing our mission of inspiring others to pursue their passions, helping people build their confidence, and spreading happiness in any way that we can.”

It’s a big transition to becoming your own bosses like Danielle and her husband Nick. The hardest part was knowing when it was time to take a break. If you’re planning to open your own small business, it can be difficult finding that balance between work and personal life sometimes, but it’s essential to figure it out early on. Starting a business isn’t always fun and games and includes a lot of moments where you can be physically or emotionally drained, but being prepared will make life easier. As Danielle says, “-if you are prepared for the difficult times to come, running your own business can be extremely fulfilling and rewarding. Nick and I wouldn’t trade what we get to do for anything.”

Before closing our interview with Tails Up, Pup, we asked Danielle what advice she has for those out there who have been dreaming about owning their own business.

“My biggest advice would be to just start. Good and done is better than perfect and incomplete. Taking that first step is always the hardest part.”

Take advantage of the resources available and enjoy what the internet can do for you! Use the internet to start your side hustle when it’s time to open your business. Then, grow and transition from your old job to your new career. Financial stability is one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle when you own a business, so prepare yourself by creating business plans, marketing ideas, and learning your finances.

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about Tails Up, Pup, and how Danielle and Nick were able to grow their company from their basement to where it is now! With so many small businesses popping up over the past few years, we at JUKI love learning how you create and start your businesses. So check out the links below to learn more about Tails Up, Pup, and how you can get a sweet matching set for you and your furry friend today!

Click here to visit the Tails Up, Pup website!

Follow their Instagram here to keep up with new products!

Check out behind-the-scenes footage on their TikTok here!

Lastly, don’t forget to follow their Facebook here!