After CoVid closed his cafe & catering business, Chef launches Woof Creek Nutritious Nature™
Tampa, FL, November 1, 2020 – Culinary and restaurant industry veteran Chef Scot Hill launches a new, holistically focused dog wellness treat & chew brand, Woof Creek Nutritious Nature™. Chef-crafted recipes like his popular freeze dried Rawr! Bites™ made with simple, select ingredients like the duck, rabbit w/blueberries pouch, are sold online at www.WoofCreek.com. Woof Creek is also available at local boutique pet stores such as Dog Gone Holistic in Riverview and Lithia, Florida, and Downtown Dogs in South Tampa’s Hyde Park, with more outlets to come.
“After 30+ years in the restaurant industry, having loved creating elaborate dishes for folks from St. Croix to Portland, Oregon and every place in between, I’m shifting focus to man’s best friend. Offering nourishing and irresistible rewards to puppers has actually been a lifelong dream come true!”
A Microscopic Motivator
CoVid hit the restaurant industry very hard in March 2020, and Chef’s newly renovated Downtown Tampa cafe & catering company, the BrightSide, closed its doors (indefinitely, as it were.) During the first few weeks of quarantine, rest and decompression from the mental and physical strains of running a hopping restaurant was, indeed, warranted. But it took no time at all for one anxious and stir-crazy Chef to wonder, like the rest of the country and the world, what to do now? Safety, health, home, family, and future livelihood were all up in the CoVid-infused air!
Always having found solace in his vegetable and herb garden, and cooking for his family, Chef found healthy chores and tasks around the house to allow time and space for bigger answers to come. But, by mid-April, nothing did; only mounting stress looming around him, his teenage kids and significant other. The unknown was just too big.
Addressing his and his family’s emotional wellbeing, the decision to adopt a fur baby was made, which would never, ever have been a possibility while running the cafe & catering company. The pandemic puppy dubbed Lily Lou, a standard poodle mix, and, in retrospect, the saving grace and inspirational muse, joined Chef’s household.
‘Woof’ Inspiration
Chef, throughout his adult life, had always hand-made his dogs’ nourishing food toppers, supplements and treats. With an education in people and pup nutrition, along with his expertise in flavor profiles and culinary techniques, the ability to know exactly what his dogs ate, with the best ingredients around, by his own hand, gave Chef a tremendous sense of comfort. Giving his dogs, now his new little Lily Lou, true love through food was a wonderful way to repay their unconditional devotion. And, with all of the scary unknown delivered by the corona pandemic, why not give this sense of comfort to all of his pet-owning family, friends, and community! Heck, why not the entire country; how ‘bout the world! All folks’ fidos deserve the boost in vitality, energy, health (and fabulous flavor) that Chef’s Lily Lou was devouring! His dog wellness venture was born: Woof Creek Nutritious Nature™.
First, The Treats
Chef Hill’s mission: to nourish the mind, body, and spirit of Lily Lou and her fellow puppy-peers, the world over. First, he’d introduce his holistically focused dog treats, which use whole animal proteins blended with fruits, vegetables and superfoods. Chef found that the more aromatic (stinky! which is vital, as a dog’s sense of smell actually trumps their sense of taste by !) and intensely flavorful treats he’d craft (animal muscles and organs are the smelliest and most healthful), the more irresistible Lily Lou found the treats to be. And, of course, the more Lily craved the treats, the easier it was to get her attention, lending to much more successful training sessions (another important part of a pup’s life, knowing the house rules and feeling safe, sound, and connected to their pack leader-person!)
The Bark Biz
Chef invested in test kitchen equipment such as a smoker (smoke anything and a pupper will howl with happiness) and a food dehydrator. He began creating a larger variety of small-batch wonders for test tasting and recipe fine tuning.
Once satisfied with his choice dog treat recipes, he focused on the business’s core building blocks. From logo and packaging to the web store, order fulfillment infrastructure, trademarking, accounting, customer service, quality assurance, and marketing, Scot had to have all of Woof Creek’s parts and processes in place for his heartfelt canine creations to reach all the puppers he planned to reach. Adding to his own professional experience, Scot recruited the help of his business-minded brothers, his significant other, who’d had 20 years of business experience under her belt, as well as small business consultant Pablo Arroyo, of the Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida, who offered invaluable perspective to Scot for the completion of Woof Creek’s business plan. In late July, once all these necessary components were ready, Scot, Lily Lou, and Woof Creek™ were off and running!
More to Chew On
Growth is key. Scot Hill always focuses on personal growth, and lends that perspective to his professional life, too. How else to improve the lives of dogs and their people?
Chews! Proper chews and gnaw bones are so helpful to busy a pooch during down time, as well as nourish them with important proteins and nutrients. So, the second doggie lifestyle and wellness choice by Chef was to dig in to find the best dog chew available for Lily and Woof Creek’s loyal pet parents to give their fur babies.
And Recipes! Chef had such a great time crafting treats with the help of his human and fur family, why not share with the world some of his amazing make-at-home dog treat recipes? Chef’s Notebook actually makes folks a part of the test tasting team! Chef Hill has been awed by the feedback: “Pet parents’ responses to my test recipes is so helpful! And they are glad to have created memories in their own kitchens with their families for their puppers!”
Toppers and Supplements
Also in Chef Scot’s product pipeline to roll out in 2021 are nutritional supplement food toppers. Canine dietary research and education has given Chef a thorough understanding of canine physiology, as well as wonderful new information on energy enhancing, life enriching ingredients that will benefit his dog patrons. From amazing dog-and-people-safe mushroom strains to probiotic sources, the unbelievable potential in so many dog-safe, ultra-aromatic, highly energizing and dog desired ingredients give Chef Scot all the best makings for his shakable mealtime accents.
Be the person your dog thinks you are.
Woof Creek’s motto. Chef’s brand is based on the belief that every dog should have the opportunity to enjoy rewards, and every dog-parent should have available to them a no-guilt, ultra-quality dog treat crafted with love. Woof Creek™ selects only the best, responsibly harvested and sustainable ingredients (“for the good of mother nature!”) from sources here in the USA. Woof Creek’s treats are made in small batches, with safety as the top priority.
Scot Hill, pet-parent first and foremost, knows that we all want our dogs with us for as long as possible. A healthy dog diet lengthens the life of our pets, reduces the numbers of vet visits and medicines needed, and therefore enriches a dog’s life. Woof Creek™ offers nourishing treats and chews that can be part of a dog’s complete wellness plan to help fulfill that goal.
And the feedback received thus far during Chef’s soft launch of the online store last month has been stellar. Scot is rightfully very proud of his accomplishments thus far. “People are great, but dogs… they are the best of us,” Chef Hill says with a snicker.
Pawsativity
Scot Hill has found a way to mix his creative culinary talents, his wide nutritional knowledge base, and his love for dogs, their people, and our world. He holds dear the belief that “through hard times, sharing a ‘Rawr! Bite of hope’” with his fellow pet parents can only be a great thing! “There’s always a bright side somewhere; the key is to not give up looking for it, even during a horrible time like this pandemic,” Scot continued. “My ‘bright side’ was a puppy, and baking healthy, tasty treats for her. I’m hoping that everyone finds their ‘bright side,’ and if I can help do that through Woof Creek, I’m a happy man. Afterall, kindness is irresistible!” And Woof Creek’s dog rewards seem to be, too: Irresistible. So, here’s to sharing Pawsativity: Woof!
Business Connects:
Website: https://www.WoofCreek.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woofcreek
Twitter: https://twitter.com/woofcreek
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woofcreektreats/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LilyLouChiefTaster
Email: Bark@WoofCreek.com
Call or text: (833) 703-WOOF (9663)
Q&A w/Woof Creek’s Founder Chef Scot Hill
Q. What are your primary responsibilities as founder and owner of Woof Creek?
I wear many hats (and aprons.) As director of operations, I do recipe development and trials, I manage a team of contractors from web developers, marketing experts, packaging and shipping folks, and a bookkeeper. I choose to handle all product Quality Assurance, customer service and Social Media management myself.
Q. What is your most significant business or work-related challenge?
Starting and managing an ecommerce business has given me a huge amount to learn, and I’m still learning! Just staying ahead of trends and driving traffic to our site keeps me on my toes.
Q. What’s something you battle daily?
Keeping my computer’s keyboard clean! Switching from treat making to, say, answering a customer’s email, can be very challenging, LOL!
Q. What is the best advice for people aspiring to start their own business?
Choose the moment wisely. If you’re fortunate, the moment will choose you. Then, dive in headfirst: commit!
Q. What’s a professional bucket list item you’ve checked off this year? and…
To start my own business, one that aligns with my ethics and philosophy.
Q. What’s a professional bucket list item you’ve yet to check off?
To fully introduce Woof Creek to dogs and their parents everywhere!
Q. What has the Pandemic impacted most in your launch of this new endeavor?
The impact of the pandemic, all the openings and closing and virus spikes and precautions, has made tracking data and planning very difficult. So, there’s a lot more “just go for it” and hope this decision or that shipment will work out!
Speed Round
Q. What’s your personal favorite social media platform?
Instagram
Q. What 3 words would the people closest to you use to describe you?
Funny, compassionate, wingnut
Q. What 3 words would a stranger you’d just met use to describe you?
Kind, easy to talk with, outgoing
Q. If you could have coffee with one person (dead or alive), who would it be?
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Q. What are your top 3 favorite animals (besides dogs)?
Llama, donkey, blue whale
Q. Favorite past time outside of work?
Gardening, nature walks with the pupper and family, raising chickens
Q. Name a guilty pleasure.
Ice cream and Tick Tok
About: Dog Star Nutrition LLC dba Woof Creek Nutritious Nature
Holistically focused, chef crafted dog wellness rewards.
Company Mission
Woof Creek Nutritious Nature™ is committed to creating ultra-premium quality and holistically focused wellness products for dogs. Our aim is to source responsibly harvested and sustainable human grade ingredients. We are dedicated to the idea that your dog can have a long healthy life with a mindful diet, nutritious rewards and a whole lot of love.
Contact
Contact Name: Lisa Monk
Title / Organization Name: Summergate Business Group
Telephone: 813.857.2992
E-Mail: lisa@summergategroup.com
Business Connects:
Website: https://www.WoofCreek.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woofcreek
Twitter: https://twitter.com/woofcreek
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woofcreektreats/
Email: Bark@WoofCreek.com
Call/text: (833) 703-WOOF (9663)