'I operate a food truck for dogs'

One day I was out with my two dogs in Austin and stopped by a food truck. There wasn't anything for them; I had a taco in my hand and their mouths were watering. I thought, wouldn't it be cool if there was something for dogs; I would totally go there.

Two weeks later I drove with a friend across Texas to Florida to pick up a trailer I'd bought; it was a snow-cone truck with a freezer that we use now for doggy ice cream. With the booming food-truck scene in Austin, the city just really needed one for dogs. And it was in line with Austin's motto, "Keep it weird". I told the artist who painted the truck that I wanted it to crack people up. I want people to laugh.

Most of the time we're in south Austin, at dog parks and events. Austin has lots of dog-friendly restaurants so we might pull up to one where they're having a meet-up. We'll do a Yappy Hour at condominiums and they'll pay to put on a party for the residents' dogs.

We launched Bow Wow Bones almost three years ago, and it took a season for people to get used to the idea. Across the nation there's a call for healthy food, and it's also important to people what they feed their pets. We started off with the best human-grade ingredients that we could find, but I didn't realise how many people would care about it too. A lot of people ask.

Originally I thought we would do bacon-and-egg biscuits for breakfast, and banana nuts and steak-bone ones for lunch, then chicken and rye. Then it evolved to a variety of treat flavours.

Our bestselling biscuit is peanut butter, and we also have cheesy apple and salmon parmesan - the pickier dogs like that. We carry dog treats made by other local companies such as Chloe's Barkery and Healthy Hound.

I always had dogs when I was growing up in Abilene, Texas. A lot of Texans have working dogs but ours were indoor dogs, more like family members. We had a beagle when I was born, then a poodle and a Yorkie named Cotton; I had an older brother but I used to spend more time with Cotton. She would do tricks for treats, and we'd get her to twirl around like a ballerina. We had a red vinyl leash and I walked her for miles.

I studied biology and I wanted to be a doctor. But in my sophomore year my best friend had a heart attack. A week at the hospital showed me I didn't want to be a doctor any more. I kept my major in biology and got a minor in business administration. I worked for Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, discovering new medicines for the central nervous system, depression and diabetes. I've worked a lot on pain.

I put away a pretty big chunk for retirement, I sacrificed and saved, lived below my means. But in August 2011 the stock market took a hit and I lost a huge amount in one month. I was an entrepreneurial child - I sold gum on the bus in junior high, I always made money. So when I got my share statement I thought, I bet I can lose that money and have a lot more fun doing it.

Luckily, I haven't lost money. If you don't count depreciation on the truck and start-up costs, we started making money in the first few months. The most variable expense is fuel.

To be in the dog park on a beautiful sunny day, with my customers wagging their tails, I've been surprised by the amount of joy this business has brought me. For a lot of people their dog is their best friend, and for businesses like mine that can only be a good thing. This season I will probably add one more truck and I'm speaking to people in places like Nashville about licensing opportunities. It wasn't such a dumb idea, after all.

Portrait by Ilana Panich-Linsman

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