Woofboard was created by Lynna as a pandemic funemployed dream. She started this biz by making barkeuterie boards. You read that right. Charcuterie boards for dogs. Her biz kept growing and she opened her first storefront post-pandemic in downtown San Jose, right at the parking structure for San Pedro Square.

I met her at an event she threw a few years back and I was quickly pupsessed with her warmth, down to earth personality, and an obvious passion for not just the pups but the community she's grown.

 

 I use to do a lot of events pre-pandemic with small businesses. But I had an incredibly traumatic experience with a business that I lost a lot of trust with business owners. The red flags were there early on, but I was inexperienced and didn't trust my instincts. The flags included that they demanded free artwork in order to do business with them, they talked a lot of fluff about other businesses and clients, they were divisive, and all poop left the bag when they got personal about their political and hot topic beliefs. They shall never be named because I deeply believe people change and cancel culture limits growth. But the end of that relationship broke my heart and made me so anxious.

The decision to come out to events again isn't one I take lightly. It's almost a full-circle with that experience happening during postpartum of my firstborn and then the Woofboard opening being postpartum of my second born. The timing was poetic and I believe in leaning into kismet moments in life!

I'm not who I was back then. I have better, healthier boundaries. I am confident in myself. I no longer doubt my inner voice when it tells me something smells like poop. I've smelled a lot of poop as a dog mom and human mom. I can trust my senses.

I am so glad I trusted Lynna of Woofboard for this! TBH, it started as a DM. I saw she was opening her second location and I had just spoken to KristineChenCeramics about our next drop. Kristine and I were trying to figure out how to transport the goods and it was clear that a trip up would benefit both the caravan AND the timing worked so that I could offer my services to Lynna.

Yes, I could have charged for buttsniffer inks, but I wanted this to be the easiest and most successful for Lynna so I offered sketches FOR FREE!~ Also, who doesn't like free? And, TBH, this was also a trial to see if offering free sketches for clients would be worth it for businesses to invest in me and my time. (It is, exceptionally.) I will be putting together prices for how business of all stages can hire me to draw for their events!

As a business, I still wanted to make sure my trip and time was covered, so I offered pre-orders for #impawstos. THANK YOU if you are one of those who ordered. We covered all my costs a week before the event ;__; It made the experience much more care-free for me!

(some of the impawstos from the preorder pick ups. Use code WOOFBLOG and get one for 20% off!)

IT WAS SO FUN! NONE of us knew what to expect. And NONE of us expected a line down the block with a three-hour wait the ENTIRE time. Lynna had to cut the line because we would have been there until 7pm otherwise.

-All the treats you could ever want. I stocked my treats with my all-time favorite @wilderbites. We will have to do a collab in the future because I am PUPSESSED with Steph (the owner) and her big big heart. To see her flourish is pure JOY.
-The drinks! OMG. Nha Cafe killed it. I didn't get to try it until the end because set up was go-go-go and I didn't get a break (TMI: not even a pee break. Your dogs had more relief than me...) BUT I got to try it after and OMG! I loved them ALL but my favorite was the orange one. I love something light and refreshing. The owner did make me deeply appreciate the pandan mung bean one though. I am shocked how much I liked it.
-Here's some MORE tea- YOUR PUPS! Goldens were the BEST BEHAVED and BEST LIVE PAWDELS. You Corgis owe me fingers from how many chewed some off. Only the corgis tried to eat my entire hand. Elderly dogs are the sweetest and deserve to be brought in on a velvet cushion. There needs to be a mini-doodle meet up and, tbh, we could have just drawn one and made copies because they all were manicured the same. Do you have the same groomers?!?! Teddy bear mob. Everypawdy was just LOVELY and I am well loved on too by your pups.

Lessons Learned:
-Take a pee break. For reals. I think I just regulated again two days later.
-Bring something that's easy to eat. Maybe a green smoothie. Both hydrating and nutritious!
-ALWAYS PACK EXTRA! I thought we would cap at 75 illustrations. Nope. 120+ later... RIP my wrist and SO sorry to the last sketches that didn't get protective sleeves for their artwork.
-Invest in a waiting contact thing-a-ma-bob like they have on Yelp for restaurants. Looking into it. Any recommendations?!

If you're a creative and want a store to collaborate with, 10/10 recommend Woofboard. You can hear more about their future events on their website or IG!

If you want to learn more about being a good vendor (or organizer), read this blog. I've had 7 years of experience now and I've been so blessed to have learned so much from the businesses around me. I've also seen a lot of fluff go down. Let's build each other up and be successful together!

If you are a business that would like to work together or you'd like to hire me for an event, please read about how right here! :) I look forward to seeing if we're a good fit for each other!