Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Hurme.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
To begin with, I am a first-generation American. My mom is from Cuba and my dad is from Finland. From an early age, I was taught that hard work is the key to success. You can be smart, but if you don’t have the work ethic, then what does it matter. I also found that I was born to be an entrepreneur. From a very young age, I started finding ways to make money, whether it was through a lemonade stand, charging all family members $1/minute for shoulder massages, flipping items on eBay, etc. With all that being said, I will reiterate that I am a first-generation American. Why? Because when your parents come from nothing and being stable is the dream, risk aversion comes into play. Because of this, I went to college to study finance and held off on starting the business for years because I needed to get a “real job.”
I finally realized that there is never a right time and so here is where it begins: As dog owners, we know how important our four-legged friends are. In fact, they aren’t just friends, but family. The idea for The Modern Dog Company came about in 2017 when I (Dani) had a difficult time finding trendy dog accessories at reasonable prices. The only options seemed to be seemingly unattractive pet store items or nice-looking boutique pieces that really broke the bank. I wanted to create something that had the premium look & quality without the premium price.
So two years later, after the inability to shake my idea and a year of planning, The Modern Dog Company was born. After launching in July of 2019, just three months later, my friend Adam Intihar, who owns PetWants in the gulch, reached out about getting involved. For me, the success of the company was the most important thing, so I brought him on as a 50/50 partner. I knew he could bring knowledge, ideas and so much more to the table. After agreeing to work together, we essentially paused business and started working on new products, ideas, designs. This started around November of 2019. For the next 8-9 months, we completely redesigned the products and officially re-launched in August of 2020. After the relaunch, we worked with a company to rebrand (give us an identity through colors, fonts, graphics, etc.) We are now in about 12 stores across the country, plus selling online.
For us, it’s also big to give back to the community and get involved where we can. We have participated in campaigns with Doug the Pug through the Doug the Pug Foundation, the Boys and Girls club through 615 Day with 102.5 the game, and we are in Nashville Humane. We always try to push and promote rescues and ultimately make a difference in the community.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Starting and running a small business is never smooth. Money is always tight. When you are selling custom-designed products and you have to order all of the inventory upfront – this can be a big financial burden. It seems like we’re always getting out of a jam, whether it’s because our retailers come in with a big wholesale orders or our online ads are kicking butt for that month. Overall, we’ve really been growing, but expenses add up and no matter how well we do in a month, it’s always stressful.
Also, timelines are never met. If you need something on a Tuesday, you won’t get it until Friday. That has been a big challenge working with designers and manufacturers. You may have a specific due date in mind, but you are at the mercy of their timeline.
Negative feedback can also be a struggle. If we sell 100 of an item, but just one person has something negative to say, the focus falls on the 1, not the 99. Being mentally strong and not taking things personally is something that we’ve definitely had to learn.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Aside from running The Modern Dog Company, I work full time at AllianceBernstein as a regional consultant (internal sales). I basically work two full-time jobs at the moment.
After graduating undergrad at Stetson University with a degree in finance, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a job. I decided on going to Florida State University to get my Masters of Science in Finance. After graduating, I joined Morgan Stanley as Wealth Advisor Associate (creating financial plans) and then left Morgan Stanley in November of 2019 and join AllianceBernstein in December of 2019.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I played college soccer at Stetson so I’ve always been big into sports. I’ve tried almost every other sport but I’d say my biggest passions are soccer, bowling, piano (mom forced me to play for eight years but now I’m glad she did) and horseback riding.
I am first-generation American with Mom being from Cuba and dad being from Finland. I’m from South Florida but have been in Nashville for over four years and have no plans on leaving. I am a Christian and go to Crosspoint.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.themoderndogcompany.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themoderndogcompany/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themoderndogcompany/
Image Credits
Photos were taken by @calllmedree
