Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hilarie Viener. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hilarie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The idea for Black Paw Memorial Pin came to life when I was sitting at the hair salon…while that might sound strange…innovative ideas can come at any time anywhere…

After many years of living in Manhattan not near my mother, I moved during Covid, and now we live within 30 minutes of each other. Siezing on that opportunity, she had begun to make a habit of popping in when I was at the hair salon (for those of you familiar, that can take hours and the company was always welcome). Soon she got to know everyone there and they too would await her arrival when I would hop into the chair.

So back to the salon… about a year into this routine, my mom came by a little later than usual to the salon…but lost was her cheerfulness and energy. She was just kind of, well, sad. Our usual group, who had been asking where she was, upon seeing her walk toward us, began to look at one another and ask if she was ok.

At that moment, I let them all know that her beloved dog of 15 years had passed away.

Having to say this aloud and watching everyone’s reaction, including my mother’s, was a profound moment.

Within minutes, word spread and other people in the salon joined in and almost everyone shared a memory or words of comfort, support and understanding.

It was one of those moments where time stood still…as I observed…

An instant later, I thought why isn’t there a pin? A symbol that speaks for the grieving person that lost their beloved pet. Just a small, but visible signal that will instantly let people know they are grieving and why…and that will allow others to recognize them and their circumstances, talk with them and maybe, hopefully be of some comfort.

Before we left the salon that day…Black Paw Memorial Pin came to life (at least in my mind…). But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and then talking about it.

Everyone I shared this idea with – told me they thought it was a wonderful concept. Many people told me that, “It’s true, there is no universal symbol for pet loss – and there should be”. This led to many, many discussions about what people go through when they lose their pet – how hard it is – how the grief is long-lasting and so different (from the loss of a human friend of family member) – and mostly how much they would appreciate being recognized in their time of sorrow.

As I began to think about the business part, I realized it needed to be a brand not just a product – as a brand will enable us to create a community. So just selling a “paw” pin wasn’t the full answer, it had to be designed and branded with the name of the company. It also became clear that there were not really enough resources or communities to serve this population, meaning those experiencing the loss of their pet and the grief that comes with that.

I had a working knowledge of the size and scale of the pet market, so when I started to look at the metrics I wasn’t too surprised to find that there are over 110 million registered dogs and cats in the US currently. That is just dogs and cats – and those that are registered, as I know many are not. From that I derived at a baseline in which to establish some projections then proceeded with developing the business plan and marketing models.

My career has been in global advertising, branding, and marketing which made concepting and developing the pin, creative, copy and digital assets more fun than work. The most challenging part was learning how to develop and operate an e-commerce platform. We chose Shopify and with some help (well – a lot of help!) from our small team we got it up and running.

We are in the first month of business now, and it is amazing to see the response. So far, the people that have received Black Paw Memorial Pins are nothing short of appreciative – that someone thought of them and their beloved pet – and they can wear a symbol that both honors the memory of their faithful companion and empathizes with their grief.

Hilarie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I founded Black Paw Memorial Pin because it was something that I could not stop thinking about – and knew it could be something that would help to comfort people when they are grieving. As soon as I watched people react to being told that someone (my Mother) recently lost their beloved pet and faithful companion, I knew that there should be an outward symbol – something that signals to others what that grieving pet owner is going through and offers a way to help or provide comfort.

And I could visualize right away, I could see the design, the colors and the description of it. And I knew from my career in advertising and branding, that if you can clearly articulate an idea, it usually can effectively come to life (pending of course there is a market for it).

I did a quick market analysis and trademark search and then…I talked with my trusted friends and family to vet (no pun intended) the idea. Out of those conversations, I not only gained support but discovered that my best friend (who became our Community Officer) wanted to join in this effort, as did my mother (who’s loss inspired the idea). Then a few other friends joined in and suddenly we had a little team and from there we went about building the brand assets and learning how to create an e-commerce business. With all of us very much engaged with our full -time occupations and busy lives, it took about a year to get to launch. We went live and made our first sale on Friday, November 11, 2023.

So, how did I get to launching a new brand? Well…I began my career at Wells, Rich, Greene advertising agency in Manhattan (New York) after graduating from American University in Washington, DC. Starting my career there literally all happened in one day in May of 1992, when I went in for an interview – met with HR – then the magnificent person who would become my boss and mentor (the late, great Phyllis Cerf Wagner) – being asked after sitting and talking with her for 3 hours – if I could come back tomorrow – saying yes – and – just like that – my new life started! (Yes, of course, there is ALOT more to it, but that truly is the gist of it.)

I was absolutely captivated by my new surroundings – the atmosphere, the brilliant people, the style and the energy – not to mention that the whole point was to create magic designed to inspire and influence. I could not wait to get to work every day, I just wanted to be there – where I felt connected, plugged-in, purposeful and motivated.

I have never forgotten – nor let myself get too far away from – that feeling. Knowing that I can be truly engaged with something and from that, along with others focused on the same thing, make a difference and create impact – is what I’ve strived to do every day since – and hope to continue to do every day.

I went on to work in global advertising agencies on “Madison Avenue” – as well as taking a little foray into foreign policy. After about a decade working at the world’s largest agency groups (Omnicom and IPG), I launched my first business venture – and then went back and forth, in and out of agency management roles culminating in becoming President of a boutique NY agency then EVP, North America of a global branding agency prior to taking a next-level leap into launching a boutique branding agency of my own, which is in operation now. In late 2020, I accepted the CEO role of a global social impact focused non-profit, which I have added into the mix.

To date, I have contributed to the success of over 100 brands in markets around the globe and continue to gain extensive experience in working collaboratively with start-up founders, global C-suite, world leaders, market movers, and non-profit boards – which has taught me how to be fairly fluent in impact communications, technology and human connectivity.

Now, back to Black Paw Memorial Pin, when the idea came to me – I decided that I wanted to pursue it and make the idea come to life. I wanted to experience building a brand-new brand, from idea to concept to reality – under the category of “you’ll never know until you try”.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have many stories that illustrate resilience, as a matter of fact, no one stretch of my journey to date (and I’m confident that each step in the future as well) has not required a healthy dose of resilience. Challenges are indelibly intertwined with owning and managing a business and being a leader. I think it is fundamentally important to realize and recognize that this is NOT easy, nor will it ever be. What will it be? Satisfying + Rewarding + Maddening + Frustrating + and a whole lot more – and at the end of each day and the beginning of the next, it will be YOUR journey to be proud of.

One piece of advice, you can always “hear” criticism or concern, but you don’t always have to listen. I have been told many times over that ideas wouldn’t work, or that I didn’t understand something, or that I wasn’t this enough or that enough – and yes, I worked in an incredibly competitive and tough environment – but I remained aware of the “long-game” and that over time many people come and go and many of them have very narrow vision – it’s good to try to navigate what is directly in front of you so you can visualize what’s beyond it.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I was involved in the sale of an agency. It was an agency I was President of…

Here is what I can tell you:
1) What do you want your legacy to be?
2) Make sure you understand why you are selling
3) Make sure you do a complete due diligence
4) Ask every single question you can think of
5) Map out exactly what you want your next immediate steps to be (career) and how you envision your future
6) Talk to people in the know that have sold similar businesses that have the same goals or future visions as you do

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