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Olivia Canlas of meowbox
After 64 episodes of the podcast, we have had a bunch of new listeners join us along the way. We know how busy life can get and sometimes you don't have the time to listen to a full podcast, however you might be really interested in what the guest has to say. And with that in mind, these blogs were born! These podcast blogs are in hopes to provide a summary of the episode and highlight key parts of the conversation with the guest, and if people wish to hear more they can check out the full episode. We will be starting at Episode 9 of the show, where we chatted with Olivia Canlas from meowbox, a cat subscription box that is filled with unique goodies and toys every month.
How did the idea of meowbox come to life?
As simple as it may sound, one night I was on Facebook, and I was getting targeted for this dog subscription box. I kept thinking to myself that it was cute, and then the idea of a cat alternative came to my mind randomly. I quickly Googled to see if anything already existed, and to my surprise nothing for just cats. I even searched the name "meowbox" and nothing. And from there the idea just skyrocketed. I've always wanted to own my own business, you know, like kind of doing things my way. I'm not afraid to like step up and lead and saw this opportunity to achieve that goal, and so I just went for it.
At what point did you realize that your idea was actually starting to become something more?
I took the leap and quit my dental assisting job in March, only a year after working there. My co-founder left his job shortly after and that's when we started to realize it was becoming "real". Leaving our jobs was at the same time exciting and nerve-wracking, as we both were comfortable in our jobs and enjoying them, but in the end we knew to grow we had to take risks. Taking that plunge was definitely when I started to think, "Oh gosh" this is really it. At the same time you start to realize that there are 20 million things to do at the company, and you're wearing a bunch of different hats all at the same time. In the end, as co-founders we had to trust the vision and the process and we understood the value quitting our jobs provided for meowbox's growth.
Would you say that execution is the #1 that holds back potential entrepreneurs?
For the most part, yes. So my mind I'm thinking of people who want to start a photography business, brew their own beer and open up like a tasting room. Someone who wanted to do a like a beer subscription box, or it's kind of cool actually yeah, I think these are ideas where I'm like yeah, yes, that could work. There is no doubt that people have amazing and wonderful ideas, but sometimes you have to act upon those ideas to make the magic happen. We live in this age where the ability to create and kind of manifest something is a lot easier. There is almost no barrier to being able to start their entrepreneurial journey no matter what that might be. In the end, however, you always have to do it because you enjoy it and if there is an audience for it, they will come in due time.