Peterborough woman employs family after build-your-own dog collar business goes viral with Mrs Hinch and Stacey Solomon custom

A Peterborough woman has been able to employ five family and friends – after her business has gone viral on social media.

Hailey Wells, 34, started her dog accessory business, My Pawchella, in lockdown, specialising in build-you-own dog collars and leads.

The business move came after her dad, a business owner and her former boss, passed away.

Not only did he employ Hailey but he also employed other family members; his death incidentally leaving them unemployed.

He passed away during the pandemic and Hailey, who had one dog at the time, threw herself into making quirky collars, from her conservatory.

She also made them for friend’s dogs and friends of friends.

After launching an Instagram page, she watched her different designs jump from strength to strength.

With the backing of celebrities including Faye Winter, Stacey Solomon and Mrs Hinch, My Pawchella has now topped 58,000 followers.

After three years, she’s moved from her conservatory, to a garage workshop, to a unit and now to a store opposite her house on Welland Road, in Dogsthorpe, which she opened in March, after continuous growth.

Her success story has meant she has been able to employ her family; including her brother, mum, sister, sister-in-law and her mum’s best friend who worked for her dad.

Between the six-strong-team they handcraft up to 200 lead and collar orders every week, launching products every season, with a surprise launch next week.

“It was like all this happened for a reason,” Hailey told the Peterborough Telegraph.

"We all lost our jobs because dad died. We didn't have the business anymore. Now, I've been able to employ all the family again.

“I've never imagined the business to be successful. This has sort of come out of nowhere, really.

“As it’s gone so viral online, it's just put us to where we are now.”

She continued: “All the leads and collars are all design-your-own, you can personalise and build your product and every last bit yourself, you get to choose every single element of the lead, which is why people love us so much.

“Everything is handmade here by all family.”

The design-your-own lead is the best selling product at My Pawchella and the hearts collection, notably the ‘heart of gold’ design is the one which has topped the charts.

Hailey said some customers have even bought 50 different lead designs.

“We say that people become My Pawchella obsessed. We have lots of customers who travel to our shop, we have customers who have travelled for three hours to see us.”

“It’s been a whirlwind three years, it’s gone from one step to another so quickly.”

“When dad went we all thought ‘what are we going to do?’ and this happened. We all thank our lucky stars for My Pawchella because if this didn’t happen we’d all be lost right now.

“It keeps us busy and it happened almost at the same time, it filled a gap for us all.

“It’s a brilliant success story for us and it’s something to be so proud about.”