Meet 14-year-old entrepreneur Ava Dorsey, whose dream of making healthy pet food has grown into a USDA-certified organic baked goods company called Ava’s Pet Palace.
Ava started her business out of a love and passion for animals and wanted to spend more time with her pets, including the family dog Rock. She’s noticed that a lot of the things Rock eats have some unhealthy ingredients – not to mention a very long ingredient list. To solve this problem, she set out to develop recipes that were completely organic and preservative-free, with as few ingredients as possible.
“For me, healthy food has always been organic and natural ingredients,” says Ava. “When I make cakes in the kitchen, we only buy and use organic ingredients. Now that my business has grown, we work with larger kitchens. And they only use organic ingredients.”
Family story
Ava’s parents have been supportive of her dream from the start. At first, they helped her bake cakes and took her to local gigs to sell them. Now, she sells her stuff to pet lovers in all 50 states and is expanding monthly into new pet stores. In June 2020, her mother left her real estate career to become the first full-time employee of Ava’s Pet Palace.
Her father helps with special projects, and her two younger sisters help when they can. The family’s current pet, Lacy, a Miniature Pinscher mix, is the official taste tester. She loves all the flavors like Cheeze Pleeze, Peanutty Paws, and Gone Bananas. (Check out all the delicious flavors at avaspetpalace.com.)
A growing business
When this high school freshman entrepreneur isn’t taking the pet world by storm, she enjoys baking all kinds of human desserts like cookies and cakes, and reading factual novels. She also enjoys spending time outside cycling, walking the dog, and hanging out with friends.
So what’s next for Ava’s Pet Palace?
Ava is busy developing new treats for both cats and dogs while continuing to expand new stores to sell her products. She’s also excited to add a new storage bag, toy, leash and necklace to her growing product line.
According to Ava, her aim has always been “to create a healthier world for our pets, people, and planet.” With Ava’s Pet Palace, she has been creating a healthier world for our pets. With her passion and what she has achieved, there is no telling what she can achieve in the future.
Follow Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and on Ava’s Tiktok @avaspetpalace.
