Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Kline and Scott Avera.
Nancy and Scott, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started in 2003, I was working in the pharmaceutical industry, I wasn’t feeling good about what I was doing. I had just adopted another dog from a rescue in downtown LA. It was run out of Modernica, a furniture manufacturing company in DTLA. I was impressed that they rescued dogs off the street and helped the homeless with their pups. I was inspired to start a dog bed company and support what this group is doing.
Additionally, with several dogs living at the beach and lots of windows, there were no dog beds of quality on the market, that matched our decor and accommodated our dogs in nicer upholstery fabrics. I went to my first trade show in October and two months later quit my rather cushy pharma job and began manufacturing dog beds in South LA.
Three years later, my husband Scott joined me and took over my extremely messed up accounting and put in systems, processes, and automation. After expanding and renting larger warehouses, we finally purchased our own commercial building in 2012. We have a wonderful team that has been with us for many years. We have watched them grow, get married and have children.
We are all a dysfunctional family but extremely efficient. The culture of our company is one of autonomy, creativity, and inclusion. Scott and I both wanted to create a work environment vastly different from what we had experienced. It’s unconventional, but it works.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, we made a lot of mistakes. The business evolved. Scott set up EDI to do business with large companies. It was a struggle to make and ship large orders. We have patents. We were sued by a larger manufacturer for patent issues… really they were trying to put us out of business and bully a smaller company. We were sued in the first state, and it was thrown out, sued again and we sued back and would not settle for over a year.
My attorney said, “settle, this is hurting your business.” I felt it was unjust and not right. We had done nothing wrong… so we finally settled and moved on. It was an expensive lesson. Lawsuits should not be done or decided emotionally. We definitely did things differently. We did not sell to stores that sold puppies. The puppy stores called me “stupid and said I would be out of business.” We selected our retailers based on businesses that had similar company values.
We had rescue Pit bull type dogs (our pups/shelter pups/pups that were not ever going to make it out) all over our website… not big crowd pleasers back then. It was against most people’s advice, but it was who we were. I felt it was important to be authentic.
Please tell us about Animals Matter, Inc.
We are a boutique pet product manufacturer. We specialize in manufacturing high-end pet products. We manufacture in the USA. We are known for the brand, quality, and social responsibility… rescue/adoption promotion and supporting animal causes.
We started the first shelter dog day foster program at our warehouse. I am most proud of not selling out quality for mass distribution, brand integrity, our charitable contributions to making dog’s lives better, since inception and staying true to ourselves.
What sets us apart from others is… our commitment to quality (manufacturing in the US and making products with the dog’s/cat’s comfort first and foremost) our commitment to our customers (we are available to them 24/7), our commitment to our team (they make us great), our commitment to the funding of social causes (Dogs Playing for Life shelter program, Spay & Neuter and local vetted rescues), our commitment to being authentic.
We have unique benefits. We offer human and pet insurance, paid vacation, yearly raises, cell phones and dog and cat food.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Hanging with my dogs and horses, summer days and the beach.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1290 N Valdivia Way Palm Springs, CA 92262
- Website: www.animalsmatter.com
- Phone: 310-944-9699
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @animalsmatterinc
- Facebook: Animals Matter Luxury Pet Products
- Twitter: @animalsmatter
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
