Today we’d like to introduce you to Clarissa Brillembourg.
Clarissa, before we jump into specific questions about your company, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have always loved animals since I was a little girl. I was that kid who at parties was always petting the dog or cat of the house, hunting for crickets to humanely catch and release them, or bringing wounded street animals to the house to care for.
In my career, I initially graduated with a master’s in film and tv design and I worked that field for a few years which took me to amazing places. Eventually, it brought me back to Florida where I wanted to settle down and spend time with my family. That’s when I decided to look back to what I truly enjoyed in my life, and after a lot of soul searching, I realized my true passion is animals.
So with a lot of excitement I started researching pet stores, dog bakeries, treat manufacturers, daycare places, etc. in my city of Boca Raton and in all that research stumbled into the web page of Woof Gang Bakery and the rest is history! Five years later we are going strong, with an amazing supportive clientele who encourages us every day to be better than the day before.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t always been easy. Opening a business in the USA is extremely intimidating and very scary, especially as a non-US citizen. Anything can tip the scales. Especially this area where we have A LOT of seasonal clients.
As a business owner, you put everything you have into your shop. Not just monetarily, but emotionally and physically as well. So it is very hard to separate your emotions from your business and often take every detail very personally (after all, that detail is there because that’s where I decided it should go, to begin with). When sales are slow you wonder what you did wrong, did you forget to sponsor someone? Did you all of a sudden get a bad reputation and customers are going somewhere else? the questions can make you spiral out of control, and it is not easy to just “shut them off” at the end of the day, so we often end up taking our job home with us. Most of the time we HAVE to even if we don’t want to because social media, bills, and emails still need to be caught up with.
There are a lot of challenges in owning a business, but by far the hardest one for me has been learning to not take everything so personally, and that other people’s opinions are just that, opinions. I’ve learned to take the advice I like, and discard (politely of course) the advice I don’t. I’m confident that with this method, along with other tools, I will find my recipe for success.
We’d love to hear more about your company.
Woof Gang Bakery is a franchised company where each store is independently owned. My little shop is the Lighthouse Point location and we specialize in baked goods and grooming. This past year we have focused on our bakery and have expanded our decorated cookie selection, our cake flavors, and our techniques for custom goods. We are extremely proud to do it all in house and I decorate each cookie and cake that goes out the door. We use only human grade ingredients and no preservatives. The most exciting part is that we have plans to expand the bakery further in 2020!
But what I am the proudest of is my team of amazing ladies (this store is all ran by woman power!) that set us apart from the competition. If I am not in the store to welcome you and answer all your questions I know I can count on them to make you feel as welcome and comfortable as possible.
My head groomer Zulay is always available and more than happy to answer all questions a pet parent might have about the process. She is very polite but honest, which our customers (and I) appreciate. Vanessa, who will greet you with a giant smile as soon as you walk in, is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to dog handling and nutrition and is always very eager to help our customers find what they’re looking for.
We strive to make our customers feel welcome and, most importantly, comfortable. After all, they are trusting us with one of the most important things in their life their dog.
What were you like growing up?
I was a very happy go lucky kid growing up, very few things bothered me and I always tried to look for the positive side in things. I’ve always loved animals so logically I wanted to be a farmer or a zoologist, or a dolphin trainer. I also really really love working with my hands and was always baking brownies and pies for my friends, doing some sort of artistic project, or crafting away a random present for someone (that’s how I got into theater design in high school!).
My after school activities often involved animals, and my default channel was always Animal Planet. But I also very much enjoy baking as I mentioned before, so when I graduated high school my dream was to take a year off to travel and learn to bake in Europe. Unfortunately, my dream didn’t come true back then. I went to college for business at first, and life took me a whole different direction and ended up getting an MFA in film and TV design.
15 years later I turned around and saw I looped back to where I started; baking and animals.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2016 Ne 36th St, Lighthouse Point FL 33064
- Website: www.woofganglhp.com
- Phone: 754.205.6150
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woofgangbakerylighthousepoint/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WGBLighthousePoint/?eid=ARDC_r_YM5uIlLvxqn-Xw2iygSs0ajz5_8lMlE0i6t8X-Z4yOrkBvHNU7U55SCOp9uJ8zuP8PNM61UN9
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/woof-gang-bakery-and-grooming-lighthouse-point-lighthouse-point-2?osq=woof+gang
Image Credit:
Picture of yorkshire terrier dog eating pink donut cake taken by @mialayorkie (IG) with our cake and cookies.
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