For Temecula residents Lauren Jewel and Jesse Shane, business is going to the dogs — literally.
Dobermans Diesel and Dakoda and three-year-old Maltese-Shi Tzu mix Cupcake serve as inspiration and clothing models for Crazy Rebels. (Courtesy photo)
Jewel, 26, and Shane, 30, are dog-loving entrepreneurs who started an online canine apparel and custom dog portrait business in August called Crazy Rebels.
Their dog hoodies, collars and other attire are all made in the USA.
The couple’s three dogs – a young male Doberman named Diesel, a female Doberman named Dakoda and three-year-old Maltese-Shi Tzu mix Cupcake – serve as inspiration and clothing models.
“Our business was started from the love for our dogs. It doesn’t feel like work. We get to be with them everyday. We’re on a mission to outfit every dog in cool apparel,” Jewel said.
Jewel and Shane run their business from home and are diversified in their careers as well. Jewel also works as a writer, a marketing representative and she manages social media for other small businesses.
Shane is a graphic designer, artist and illustrator who has worked for a number of clothing companies.
Crazy Rebels took off after the couple started an Instagram account and began posting pictures of their dogs. Next came a presence on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. People loved Shane’s drawings.
“We kind of just built it through social media. It’s an instantly international company. We have customers all over. They don’t necessarily know we are in Southern California. We can cater to anybody,” Jewel said.
She said she and Shane couldn’t find collars for their dogs that they liked, so they created their own. Things expanded from there.
“We’ve hand-selected everything and all of our distributors and manufacturers are in the USA. We take great pride in that and will keep with that,” Jewel said. “People don’t mind paying for quality and we stand by our products.”
The hoodie comes in a wide range of sizes to fit any dog from the smallest pup to a large Great Dane.
“We have a lot of Doberman followers because of our Dobermans. The hoodie is super-cozy so we’ve been selling lots of those this winter,” Jewel added. She and Shane also hope to expand and get their products into some major retailers.
Shane is a self-taught artist and creates his drawings from a photo clients e-mail or send to him. The custom-made illustrations are a large part of the business and are growing in popularity, he said.
“People submit the photos. Sometimes they send a photo the size of a thumbnail and it’s quite a challenge to get the precision,” said Shane, who also designed the Crazy Rebel logo of a paw print over a pair of crossbones.
Crazy Rebels is a fun business, he added. “It’s very exciting because it’s growing weekly. It’s a labor of love.”
To learn more, visit www.crazyrebels.com.
Amy Bentley is a local writer and regular contributor to SWRNN.
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