Meet Heidi Maskelyne, founder of ProDog Raw

I’m Heidi Maskelyne, founder of ProDog Raw. Before launching my business I worked in law for about six years before going on to run another company, but I was always obsessed with nutrition, ever since I was at school, I wouldn’t eat anything without knowing what the benefits of it were.

When I bought my first house at 23, I went straight out to find myself a puppy, Drago. Drago, unfortunately, suffered from IBS from a young age and so I began to prepare my own food for him as he couldn’t seem to tolerate regular ‘pet food’. I then got a second Shar-Pei, Phoenix (from the same dam and sire of Drago) who I fed on a regular, yet expensive, kibble. Devastatingly, Phoenix got diagnosed with a cancerous tumour aged only 3 and died quite young for a dog of his breed.  I couldn’t work out why he got cancer and especially so young, being that he seemed to be a healthy dog with a good lifestyle.

Drago went on to outlive Phoenix by a good few years, which again got me thinking ‘why’? The only difference I could fathom in my two boys genetics and lifestyle was simply their food and the type of nutrition they had consumed. It was when I began to investigate the ingredients of the kibble feed I’d been giving Phoenix that I had my light bulb moment. I distinctly remember wanting to bang my head on the kitchen counter as I had the realisation.  I’ll never EVER forget that moment. It had been right there in front of me, all these years I had been carefully selecting my own diet, I had never really considered what I had been feeding my dog in this dry, processed food. Essentially, most of the ingredients found in processed pet food simply don’t belong in a dog’s diet or body. They are of poor quality, intensively refined and nutrient void.  It isn’t natural for dogs to eat these little brown biscuits every day of their lives.  It's absolutely not how they would elect to eat given choice.

It was at this point I knew I had to turn this negative into a positive. I wanted to make a difference and educate as many people as possible about the harm we are doing to our dogs by not feeding them a natural diet.  It became my mission to help save as many dogs as possible. Dogs are naturally carnivorous, it was only during world war two when supplies were scarce that we turned to kibble, and for some reason, we haven’t gone back.

And that was the inspiration behind me starting ProDog Raw.

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?

Education is absolutely our main goal. I’d like to think that is what sets us apart from other businesses.  More than anything we want to raise awareness and help educate people about the benefits of a biologically appropriate, fresh, raw food diet.

We will also never alienate competitors. If someone tells us they switched their dogs to a raw diet but with a different brand, that is still a win for the raw movement and that is still another dog that now has a much lower chance of developing disease unnecessarily.  The ProDog Team embrace that and provide help and advice to all to seek it, customer or not.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far as an entrepreneur?

Our biggest challenge has been the trajectory of the growth, admittedly it is a good problem to have, but it has been a challenge maintaining our core values while at the same time providing for a rapidly expanding customer base. Managing upscale effectively has been a key skillset.

When I started ProDog Raw, personal service and genuine care for our customers (two-legged and four-legged) were our fundamental core values. If a customer had a question about their dog’s nutrition, I was there to help them. We want to maintain this level of care and communication with our community as we grow, but sometimes it is difficult to balance that with the continued growth.

What are your thoughts on failure?

First of all, you have to take a look at your perspective on the question. Is it failure or is it personal growth? I know that if I do fail, I will have done everything I possibly could have to achieve my goal, and I’m okay with that. You have to be resilient and tenacious; I refuse to let these dogs down when they have already been let down by so many before. That is what drives me day after day and gives me the belief I need to keep going.

Which entrepreneur has inspired you and why?

It would have to be Joe Wicks. I have followed him since his journey began and he has continued to remain real and true to who he is and what he believes in. Money or success doesn’t seem to have changed him and he still has that same passion that he had from day one. He is still mad about what he does and is determined to continue helping people adopt healthier lifestyles. It really is an admirable quality that he has stayed true to himself and his family.

What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?

Have belief even when others doubt.  Go all out for every opportunity you can. You aren’t going to get your way every time but if your passion is genuine it will always shine through and eventually, it will be recognised, and the results will follow.

When I was applying for the Lloyds Business Award, I had never done anything like it before and had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I could only do my best and that nobody could talk about my business better than I could.

Whenever I do have moments of self-doubt (as we all will at some point), remembering why I am doing everything in the first place is key – to educate people on how important nutrition is for a dog’s health and wellness.  I just tell myself ‘It’s for the dogs Heidi’ and usually my mindset is flipped back around very fast, I dust myself off and get on with it.

And one final tip, don’t quit. You will go through hard times, lots of them in fact and this is when the negative thoughts start creeping in, as the stress is building! My experience has taught me however that the majority of times these moments occur is when you are on the brink of turning a corner, of something momentous happening. Stick with it, remember your why, and you will see the hard work pay off.

Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?

Every morning I wake up, no matter the weather or how I feel, and go out for a run with my dog. I don’t check my phone before I go, or take it with me, it’s just me and the dog. It helps me get into the right mindset ready for whatever the day has in store for me.

What plans do you have for your business?

Last year we tripled our growth, and this year we are projecting to grow the same again. From past experience, we’ve learnt to be prepared for increased demand and have been busy getting everything ready ahead of that peak.

We have developed a new website due to launch any day now and planned a new structure for the logistics and added layers to the team. There is a risk involved, but we are confident, and you have to speculate to accumulate. We have to be prepared and ahead of the growth to prevent us from playing catch up later down the line and to ensure our community continues to receive the best possible service.

In terms of wider growth, currently, around 15% of UK dogs are on a raw food diet. I want to see that number rise to 50%. I’m not saying I want 50% off all dogs on ProDog, but I would love to see that at least 50% of UK dog owners switch their dogs to a healthier, natural diet and lifestyle.

What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?

The most important decision I made with the business was to make what we did with ProDog Raw an ‘experience’ rather than just a product. We have made it an experience from start to finish, from initial introductions where we focus on educating dog owners, providing answers to any questions they have, to guiding them through the transition to a raw food diet. We will be there every step of the way through this process to hold a customers’ hand if they need us and this we hope will ensure our customers stay with us long term, for that sense of community, advice and support in addition to great raw food!

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

It is key. If you don’t love what you do, you won’t go that extra mile and you will eventually lose interest. Everyone on my team has the right attitude to do what it takes to get the job done.  

It isn’t by any means a requirement that you own a dog to work with us and there are people on our team who don’t, but everyone understands what it means to love a dog, what it means to have a shared connection with an animal, to understand the highs and lows of these relationships.

What we tend to find is that the people who want to work with us have themselves benefited from discovering natural nutrition for dogs and that they want to help spread that message.

Any new product launches we should know about?

I would say that six out of 10 dog owners who have been coming to us with queries about their dog’s diet have questions related to allergies. Raw dog food is great at helping combat these allergies, it takes time, but the benefits are clearly there. However, we now know we can go one step further and develop a special menu that is specifically beneficial in combating certain types of intolerances, so we are looking at this next for the ProDog pack!