Hidden Gems: Meet Xiaru(Brittany) Liu of Hound Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Xiaru(Brittany) Liu.

Hi Xiaru(Brittany), it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
It all began with my two Whippets at home, whose unique physique made it nearly impossible to find well-fitting clothing for them. This frustration gradually evolved into a persistent passion – I started delving deep into pet apparel design, with a particular focus on this elegant yet often overlooked breed.
Along the way, I realized that many existing products failed to address pet owners’ deeper needs: we seek not just warmth, but also perfect fit, lasting comfort, and long-term usability. So I began personally taking measurements, creating patterns, and prototyping for hundreds of sighthounds, embarking on a design journey grounded in real-world needs.
Today, while our product range has expanded from single-breed solutions to diverse sizes and categories, our founding vision remains unchanged: to reach the authentic lives of pets and their owners through better-looking, more functional designs, conveying the warmth of companionship through thoughtful details.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think one of the biggest challenges was building the business from the ground up, largely on my own.

My family has a background in retail, so I grew up with some understanding of the business side of things. But I had never worked with factories or been involved in product development before. In the beginning, I was starting with very small orders, and honestly, it wasn’t always easy to get factories to take me seriously. When you’re a small brand with a small order, you’re not necessarily the customer they’re looking for.

So I had to learn everything along the way — how to communicate with manufacturers, how to develop products, how to solve production problems, and how to keep moving forward when things didn’t go the way I expected.

And I think the hardest part wasn’t always the business itself. It was the constant cycle of doubting myself and then finding the confidence to keep going.

Over time, I realized that building and running a brand is really about one thing: solving problems. You solve one problem, and then another one appears. You solve that one, and there’s another one waiting for you.

I’ve learned not to see those problems as signs that something is going wrong, but as part of the process of building something. Every challenge has taught me something, and little by little, that process has helped me become more confident — not because I suddenly had all the answers, but because I learned that I could figure things out.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Houndco is a pet lifestyle brand focused on creating beautifully designed, exceptionally comfortable products for pets and the people who live with them.

What started with a very specific need for my own Whippets has grown into a broader philosophy: we believe pet products should be just as thoughtfully designed as the products we choose for ourselves. They should look beautiful, but they also need to work beautifully in real life.

We specialize in pet apparel and everyday essentials, with a strong focus on fit, comfort, quality materials, and functionality. A big part of what sets us apart is that we don’t start with aesthetics and then try to make a product functional. We start by understanding the pet — their body, their movement, their habits, and their relationship with their owner — and then build the design around those needs.

I’m probably most proud of how much attention we put into the details that people may not notice immediately. The way something fits, how a dog can move in it, how easy it is for a pet parent to put on and take off, how it holds up over time — those details are really where we believe good design lives.

As the brand has grown, we’ve expanded beyond products designed for one specific breed, but that original mindset has stayed the same. We want Houndco to be a brand that understands that pets are not just pets — they are part of our everyday lives and our families.

Ultimately, I want people to know that Houndco is about making that shared life a little more comfortable, functional, and beautiful.

What are your plans for the future?
Looking ahead, I’m really excited about continuing to grow Houndco while staying true to what made us start in the first place.

We want to keep expanding our product range and exploring new categories, but we’re very intentional about how we grow. I don’t want to create products just for the sake of having more products. I want every new category to come from a real need and to have the same level of thoughtfulness in fit, materials, functionality, and design.

I’m also excited about reaching more pets and their people around the world. We started with a very specific community of sighthounds, but over time we’ve realized that the philosophy behind our products can resonate with many different breeds and lifestyles.

Ultimately, I’d love for Houndco to grow into a truly global pet lifestyle brand — one that people recognize not only for beautiful products, but for understanding the everyday relationship between pets and their people.

For me, the goal isn’t simply to grow bigger. It’s to keep building better, more thoughtful products and to create a brand that can become a meaningful part of the lives we share with our pets.

Pricing:

• not sure if it is about the pricing of our products
• if so, we have a range from $15 to $100 +

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hound.shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hound_co?stkn=OTd4cDdlMDN4MHli&utm_source=qr