Family Support Makes the Difference

When Lissie Clark graduated from high school, she knew three things:

• she did not want to work in the fast food industry,
• she liked animals, and
• she wanted to promote awareness of fetal/alcohol syndrome (FAS).

She had skillful and caring support from her adopted mother and a friend who were ready to back her in whatever she chose to do.

Lissie started a dog walking business and was doing well. She was regularly walking a few of the neighbors’ dogs, but she thought that she could do better. She had an idea to give her patrons treats—a good tasting dog biscuit that she made herself. She talked to her mother and friend about it and together they developed a recipe and tested it on the dogs. The recipe was made from only the best ingredients and the products themselves were to look special and taste good to the dogs. When they finally settled upon the recipe, they began manufacturing the dog biscuits using the mixing bowls, cookie sheets, and oven space in their kitchen. Lissie dreamed about someday expanding her business and selling her dog biscuits, called Lissie’s Love Yums, to people who loved their pets.

Expansion required funds. With the help of her mother and friend, Lissie accessed funds through the Montana Job Training Partnership Careers through Partnerships demonstration project and the Rural Institute helped her with a Social Security Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS). They requested money for more equipment, raw materials, packaging materials, and a public service announcement to promote FAS awareness and Lissie’s Love Yums. They continued to manufacture the product in their home and kept control of the process, thereby guaranteeing the quality of the product. Each biscuit was made to their exacting specifications, with Lissie hand painting the packaging. They sold the Luv Yums weekends at a local flea market and baked the biscuits through the week. They contacted a local television station and produced the public service announcement.

Lissie accessed funds through the Montana Job Training Partnership Careers through Partnerships demonstration project and the Rural Institute helped her with a Social Security Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS)

Lissie’s success in business created a new opportunity for her. She was an articulate speaker and in the spring of 2000 was invited to present at the first national conference on self-employment in Missoula, Montana, sponsored by the Rural Institute at the University of Montana, the Montana Job Training Partnership, and Virginia Commonwealth University. She presented to a group of about 40 people on how she developed her business and produced and marketed the products. By then she had expanded the product line, offering a smaller version of the original dog biscuits vacuum sealed in a nine bone “Poochey Pack,” and a do-it-yourself dry mix with an accompanying dog biscuit cutter. Lissie’s Luv Yums were selling well in the local area, with a few orders coming from outside of the state.

Then lightening stuck. Another person who was starting a business through the Careers project began marketing Lissie’s products to people he knew in other states, and the orders poured in. Lissie’s Luv Yums bought another oven and Lissie and her mother began getting up a lot earlier in the morning to mix the dough and start baking. Then articles about Lissie and her business appeared in two national church publications, and the orders overwhelmed them. They had to hire employees, settling on two freelance bakers who baked the biscuits in their own homes using the premixed ingredients.

In November 2001, Lissie and her mother presented at a national conference in Reno, Nevada. It was impressive to see how far that they had come, both as business owners and as presenters. Most of the presentation focused on how they built the business, but Lissie was able to include information about fetal/alcohol syndrome. Although being a dog biscuit manufacturer never occurred to Lissie when she finished school, her business has given her the opportunity to do what she knew she wanted to do.

How to contact this small business owner:

Melissa Clark
Lissie’s Luv Yums
2917 8th Ave. North
Great Falls, MT 59401
(406) 453-2531