Small Business, Big Dreams: The Story of a Young Entrepreneur

At just 16 years old, Braelyn Bryant is one of London’s youngest entrepreneurs to have opened a storefront in our ever-growing community. Brae’s Barkery, a charming, unique establishment offering healthy, homemade dog treats to London’s furriest of friends, recently opened its doors to both canine companions and their human counterparts.

As a junior at North Laurel High School, Braelyn began experiencing anxiety and depression that made it difficult for her to get out of bed some days. After making the decision to switch to homeschooling in September of last year, Braelyn is not only ready to graduate high school but now has her own business, something not many teenagers her age can say.

“It feels unreal, kind of,” Braelyn said of being only 16 years old with her own business. “I’m glad that I have something to look forward to because when I went to homeschooling, I didn’t have anything else to do. Now I have something to look forward to.”

Braelyn’s venture into making homemade dog treats began in September when her mom, Beth Bryant, stumbled upon a TikTok video of someone else making their own dog treats. The Bryant family has three dogs of their own, including Braelyn’s dog, Ruby, a Pomeranian who had a near-death experience with a storebought milk bone. It was that traumatizing experience and Braelyn’s love for her dog that inspired her to look for healthy, safe alternatives to storebought treats.

Braelyn would spend hours researching and experimenting with different ingredients to create the perfect treats to feed her family’s dogs.

 After seeing how much her own dogs enjoyed the homemade treats, Braelyn, with the help of her mother, created a Facebook page where she began offering homemade dog treats for sale to others. Eventually, that grew into the mother-daughter duo creating cabinets with packaged treats to go inside other businesses throughout London and other nearby communities, offering their homemade dog treats to customers of other establishments, including places like local dog groomers and coffee shops.

In November, after quickly growing their customer-base, Braelyn, along with her mother, began looking at locations for a storefront for her growing business when they stumbled upon what Braelyn said was the perfect location for Brae’s Barkery.

Braelyn, with the help and support of many of her family and friends, began working on preparing her storefront to open.

Her brother, Caleb, helped to design the logo, other family members helped to repair holes in the walls and paint beautiful artwork to hang on the walls and on the windowfront, while Braelyn began looking at other items she could offer in her storefront as well as her homemade dog treats.

Brae’s Barkery officially opened for business on February 1st, offering a plethora of dog-related items, including her homemade dog treats, a “raw bar” of healthy, fresh options for our canine companions, locally made t-shirts, blankets, dog toys, jewelry, and home décor. Many of the items inside Braelyn’s storefront are from local small businesses, much like herself.

But at the core of Brae’s Barkery are the homemade dog treats, crafted with love and care. Each recipe is meticulously developed to ensure it meets the nutritional needs of dogs while tantalizing their taste buds. Braelyn said she is even picky about where her ingredients come from, shopping at the farmers’ market and local butchers to find the freshest ingredients for her furry clientele.

Braelyn, a determined young entrepreneur, has transformed her passion into a thriving business. Despite facing mental health challenges, Braelyn's resilience and creativity has propelled her to success. Her journey is a testament to the power of perseverance and the belief that dreams can be realized regardless of obstacles, using her business as an opportunity to overcome some of those obstacles.

“I felt like this would help me with my anxiety, having my own storefront and not being forced to interact with people but by choice,” she said, as Braelyn admitted that she has grown to enjoy interactions with her customers rather than shy away from it.

“I am definitely starting to get used to interacting with people, like interacting with strangers. I am trying to be more open to talking to people and making people feel welcome when they come in. I want to make sure that my customers feel comfortable.”

Since much of her business came from her cabinets she had set up inside other local businesses, Braelyn had not had the opportunity to see her customers face-to-face until her storefront opened, something that has been eye-opening for the young business owner.

“It’s crazy to see the amount of support that people will give you, people you didn’t even know were there,” she said. “It’s crazy to think we have a storefront now, I never expected it. We started just posting on Facebook and then it has just grown from there.”

Braelyn hopes to see her business continue to grow and thrive, with dreams of one day seeing a warehouse full of her homemade dog treats. She has plans to offer pet adoption opportunities at her storefront, as well as other monthly activities people can do with their pets.

Braelyn said she wouldn’t be where she is without her support system, including some friends who help out at the store and her mom who has been Braelyn’s biggest supporter along the way.

“My mom has always been super supportive of anything we’ve ever done,” Braelyn said. “She’s always done her best as a single parent. I know she loves us and cares. She has put a lot of time and effort into this, so it just makes me really appreciate all she’s done for me.”

Beth even helps at the storefront in the evenings and weekends, as well as in the kitchen when Braelyn is making treats.

“I’m super proud of her,” Beth said of her daughter’s success. “I know she’s had a few struggles, but she’s really opening up. She’s been working hard and staying the course. I couldn’t be more pleased with her, honestly.

“It does my mama heart good, because you worry. There were times, a couple years back, that it was a really scary time for her because of her anxiety and depression. Seeing her grow and go out and do things and do this by herself, it just does my heart good.”

Braelyn hopes to see more friendly faces in the coming months, inviting people to bring their four-legged friends into the store when they come to visit, as well. Every Tuesday at Brae’s Barkery is “Ruby Tuesdays,” inspired by Braelyn’s dog Ruby, where dogs can get their own pup cup in-store.

“This is a safe space,” Braelyn said. “Even if you don’t buy anything, this is a place you can come to and feel safe.” 

Brae’s Barkery is located at 1501 South Main Street, Suite L. The barkery is open Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Follow Brae’s Barkery on Facebook for more information and updates.