Today is a big day, Butch is now five! Holy smokes, what the heck just happened? I can remember the first day I got him, he was so precious and now he just wants food and naps... lol. And lots of adventures!
Butch's birthday is very symbolic for RMD, it is when we started the journey three years ago.
Three years ago today, we started the RMD dream. We had no followers, no customers, no products, no suppliers and no content. But we had a vision.
To inspire others to enjoy the outdoors with their dog making a lifetime of memories along the way.
So this day, three years ago, we started posting every day on Instagram from our adventures in the mountains. We made a plan developing the branding, website, social media, product line, developing supply chains and building a community.
Everything was a first, we had no idea what we were doing, but we kept grinding. We got up early, stayed up late working on our craft. We still don't know what we are doing... lol.
By October of 2018, we were ready to launch the website with the first RMD product line-up. There was one sale by Lara King and then silence.
![dog on bridge bow lake](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0016/7811/4852/files/butch_on_bridge_bow_lake_600x600.jpg?v=1625544079)
It's a very lonely art form starting a business with no sales... lol, but we kept grinding.
Slowly over time, sales trickled in, customers would tag us in their posts and we had a very expensive hobby as a side business... lol.
But we never ever lost our conviction, we knew this was going to work. What kept us going?
You did, our customers, our community, your adventures, your stories, your dreams, your laughs, your dogs!
No one could have planned what happened in 2020, but COVID-19 was a very pivotal event for us. The branding we worked on started to pay off, everyone started shopping online and if you didn't already own a dog, you did now and our sales grew exponentially!
2021 will be a transformational year for us with the store opening later this month. We love our customers and we can't wait to have a place to welcome you into our home.
People who know me may say I'm pretty hard to read, deep down I have a very soft heart.
I'm very sentimental and I get very emotional thinking about what has happened over the past three years. Dogs do change lives, Butch changed mine.
I love him to pieces and he inspired me to follow my dreams. All you need is a spark and you can make your dreams happen too!
Thank you for reading this newsletter and thank you for being part of the journey. You are RMD!
podcast
Yes, a podcast! If you want to learn more details about how Rocky Mountain Dog started, changing your career and how RMD started listen to this podcast hosted by Samantha Taylor from Dalhousie University. I may even get choked up in this episode... lol.