Sara Erickson, founder and owner of AlaSkins, a premium pet treat company. Photo by Shad Selby.
Turns Out, Hard Things Are Really Hard…
’ve always chosen to do hard things. It started early in life, as it just seemed that doing normal things were often boring. Perhaps it’s part of some suppressed entanglement of childhood and wanting to prove myself, but I do find it interesting that people who felt ignored as children often do amazing feats in life trying to prove their worth. I’m not even sure I felt ignored, more like I was left out of the party being the youngest. You see, I come from an incredible family of overachievers, so it’s hard to keep up and stay in center focus when you have constant competition! I decided that introducing a new industry to the state of Alaska, pushing for a zero-waste mentality, and changing the way we do things in the commercial fishing industry seemed like the right project to tackle.
Leading with Passion
Prior to starting my business, I made a documentary exposing the dangers of farmed salmon,1 owned an online seafood store,2 sold fresh fish directly to fish markets and restaurants, exported Alaska salmon to Mexico,3 and teamed with a Napa winery to pair Alaskan fish with their wines.4 I know the ins and outs of Alaska fisheries from catching to selling, but in 2016 the timing was finally right to focus on a passion I had been thinking about since I was a little girl.
My thoughts about our wild fish, the dangers of open net fish farms, and my company were all formed early growing up in a commercial fishing family and spending my summers in Bristol Bay or on Cook Inlet. When I was old enough to join the “big kids” on dad’s gillnetter, he shared his passion for commercial fishing and the incredible gift Alaskans have been given with the almost endless cornucopia of fish in our waters. Dad often lamented about the wasted part of the fish and how it could be turned into a highly nutritious food for pets. I recognized early on the brilliance of that idea and was always on the lookout for the right time and opportunity to make it happen. But with all life’s detours and roadblocks, it wasn’t until 2016 that I was finally ready to take the lead and experiment with this idea.
Sara Erickson, founder and owner of AlaSkins, a premium pet treat company. Photo by Shad Selby.
Turns Out, Hard Things Are Really Hard…
’ve always chosen to do hard things. It started early in life, as it just seemed that doing normal things were often boring. Perhaps it’s part of some suppressed entanglement of childhood and wanting to prove myself, but I do find it interesting that people who felt ignored as children often do amazing feats in life trying to prove their worth. I’m not even sure I felt ignored, more like I was left out of the party being the youngest. You see, I come from an incredible family of overachievers, so it’s hard to keep up and stay in center focus when you have constant competition! I decided that introducing a new industry to the state of Alaska, pushing for a zero-waste mentality, and changing the way we do things in the commercial fishing industry seemed like the right project to tackle.
Leading with Passion
Prior to starting my business, I made a documentary exposing the dangers of farmed salmon,1 owned an online seafood store,2 sold fresh fish directly to fish markets and restaurants, exported Alaska salmon to Mexico,3 and teamed with a Napa winery to pair Alaskan fish with their wines.4 I know the ins and outs of Alaska fisheries from catching to selling, but in 2016 the timing was finally right to focus on a passion I had been thinking about since I was a little girl.
My thoughts about our wild fish, the dangers of open net fish farms, and my company were all formed early growing up in a commercial fishing family and spending my summers in Bristol Bay or on Cook Inlet. When I was old enough to join the “big kids” on dad’s gillnetter, he shared his passion for commercial fishing and the incredible gift Alaskans have been given with the almost endless cornucopia of fish in our waters. Dad often lamented about the wasted part of the fish and how it could be turned into a highly nutritious food for pets. I recognized early on the brilliance of that idea and was always on the lookout for the right time and opportunity to make it happen. But with all life’s detours and roadblocks, it wasn’t until 2016 that I was finally ready to take the lead and experiment with this idea.
Sara Erickson, founder and owner of AlaSkins, a premium pet treat company. Photo by Shad Selby.
Alaska’s state constitution has strict laws prohibiting selling and profit-making off any part of our sport or subsistence-caught wild fish, even its waste. With this restriction front of mind, I purchased a few hundred pounds of fish skins from a commercial processing plant that was willing to sell me their pink skins from a skinless canning line. I bought a couple of home countertop dehydrators and started figuring out how to make treats that dogs would love. My goal was to create single-ingredient products, so I decided to also purchase halibut and cod skins to create a three-fish snack lineup to add some variety.
I named my company AlaSkins, created an LLC, figured out the packaging, and started giving dog treats away to friends and family to see how their dogs liked them. Of course, my dogs were always the official taste testers, but I quickly discovered other dogs were crazy about them too! I created a website (AlaSkins.com) and sold them online. I wanted to sell to pet stores and gave away free bags of AlaSkins to entice them to sell my products. People began buying them and orders started coming in online. Finally, my idea had come to full fruition and I was thrilled!
Data and Ideas
In the U.S., we spend more than $5 billion annually on dog treats, and another $5 billion on nutritional supplements. People are sick of giving their dogs food and treats that are filled with harmful ingredients, and AlaSkins gives dog owners a healthy alternative. I had created something that dogs loved, a highly nutritious treat made from a single ingredient, and was using a normally wasted part of fish and turning it into value-added product. AlaSkins helps fill the demand for what people want for their pets.
It all sounds great, right? If only it was that easy. Oh my! How difficult the journey has been!
Tackling New Ground
I had originally started making dog treats out of my kitchen, but the entire house smelled like a cannery and the counters were constantly slimy. I knew that in order to really turn my passion into a business, I would have to make some big changes that would stretch my leadership abilities. I turned the garage into a mini processing plant, bought real, industrial-sized dehydrators, and hired employees to come work at the house. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but AlaSkins continued to grow. In December of 2019, I quit all other work to focus solely on AlaSkins.
In the early winter/spring of 2020, I bought everything I needed to open a retail store in Soldotna and moved AlaSkins into our first official processing plant in north Kenai. It was a little daunting, but I was excited about selling AlaSkins dog treats directly to the large influx of visitors who flocked to the area during the summer months, and I was thrilled to have a larger and better equipped plant.
Just when I thought I saw a faint light of success on the horizon, COVID-19 hit. I had taken the huge and scary step of launching AlaSkins, and suddenly no tourists were coming to Alaska. I was sick, and even panicked. I had invested in new equipment and store furniture, become a Ruffwear dealer purchasing a huge amount of dog clothing and accessories, and hired more employees. I had absolutely no idea how I would pay for the tens of thousands of dollars I had put on my credit cards to get the business going.
AlaSkins are made of 100% wild Alaskan fish skins – salmon, halibut, and cod.
Lessons Earned
Lesson #1 – Don’t finance your business with personal credit cards. Get a business loan before you need it; otherwise, you won’t be able to get one when you need it.
But then a remarkable twist happened: local Alaskans fell in love with AlaSkins and bought them for their dogs. No tourists came that year, but the locals bought enough bags to keep me afloat. I’ve always known Alaskans were seafood connoisseurs, as our fish is truly incomparable worldwide, but I had not counted on the fact that Alaskans would want that same quality for their pets as well.
Lesson #2 – Don’t underestimate your local community. They can save your ass—and they did that for me. I’m now a true believer in buying local, even if it’s more expensive.
Two years after opening the retail store in Soldotna, gas prices began to soar, and I knew I would have to make some changes. I needed to consolidate and find a place where I could combine my retail and manufacturing plant in the same location. In August 2022, AlaSkins moved into our second official plant. Making this leadership decision saves me hundreds of dollars each month in gas driving back and forth every day. In a perfect business world, I would like more retail space, but people and their dogs love coming to the store, getting free samples, and seeing us make AlaSkins fresh every day.
True to my original zero fish waste goal, we continue to explore new ways to eliminate waste by turning what was once considered fish waste into a valuable resource. In addition to AlaSkins dog treats, we started a new CBD halibut and cod pet treat line, and also sell canned halibut (and soon salmon), which comes from all the extra meat off the skins.
Hard Things are Really Hard…
With all the success and growth AlaSkins has seen throughout the last few years, keeping the business viable remains incredibly difficult. It’s hard to lead and be the first in an industry where there isn’t a business model already created—no road map and no plan to mimic. It’s just me, trying to stay creative, positive, and disciplined and follow food safety and seafood industry rules, all while staying focused on convincing Alaska that a premium lines of seafood for pets is a fantastic economic opportunity for our state.
It’s also difficult living in Alaska, especially when many state leaders still have a 1960s mindset and are rarely receptive to new ideas. Why would they listen to some chick in Soldotna who thinks she has an answer to help stimulate state’s economic growth?
Lesson #3 – Don’t listen to politicians who act like they know it all, because frankly they don’t. Unless your idea promises to be wildly successful, it’s doubtful they’re willing to take a risk. Always take their advice with a grain of salt. Believe in your dream and keep pushing.
Stay Focused
The logistics and cost of getting fish skins is difficult. Alaska is a huge state and certainly not road friendly, so driving to most processing plants to pick up fish is impossible. Oftentimes, fish are coming on a barge to Kenai from plants in Seattle that are processing Alaska fish. The cost of transport and storing the fish in freezers is huge. As I don’t have adequate freezer space, I take frequent long road trips year-round to pick up more product. Besides the cost of fuel, electricity bills are outrageous, labor cost is high, and I’m constantly juggling to make payroll. Yet as a business leader, if I focus on the difficulties I’ll never keep going. I just take it day to day and trust that somehow tomorrow things will look different. I’m one of those Disney fanatics that still believe miracles can happen if we only believe.
Lesson #4: Very few people in your life will really care about what you’re doing. They might find it slightly interesting, but your thing probably isn’t their thing. It’s a priceless gift to find those who will support and keep encouraging you. Listen to and treasure those people!
Leadership is Learning
To help with brand awareness, we actively contribute to the health and vibrancy of our community and state. AlaSkins was a sponsor of the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race and currently sponsors two female Iditarod dog mushers who wear our AlaSkins banners on their sleds. Additionally, we sponsor the Kenai River Brown Bears hockey team, pet shelters, 4-H Club, senior centers, and many other community events and fundraisers. We just completed our second year at the Alaska State Fair in September and saw our sales double from the prior year. In fact, our total sales have grown by 33 percent every year since 2019, which keeps me hopeful that by the time I’m 105 years old, I will be officially out of debt!
Some might call AlaSkins a dream, although I believe it’s much more than that. I have no guarantee where AlaSkins will be in a year or five years down the road, but I remain positive. I’ve rewritten my business plan many times as it keeps changing while I’m daily learning and mapping out its future. I don’t know what other little start-up company in Alaska has more potential than one entering an annual $10 billion market! No other company has yet to do what AlaSkins is doing. We’re the first and I’m excited to lead in this arena and blaze the trail.
So, as it turns out, hard things really are hard, but I’m a firm believer in AlaSkins’ mission and what we offer, and I remain committed to its success.
Lesson #5: Learn to embrace difficulty, because difficulties are constant. Overall you’ll be much happier in life as you start to see your character develop and true grit emerge.
Do you have a dream? I dare you to mix something up, embrace the challenge, stop talking about it, and just go for it!
1A Fishy Tale, a documentary exposing the dangers of open net fish farming and its threat to our wild Alaskan fishery. 2Wild Alaskan Salmon Company, 2004-2014, www.seabeef.com 3Wild Alaskan Salmon Company, 2004-2014, fish broker 4Wild Alaskan Salmon Company, 2004-2014, Merryville winery, Napa Valley CA
Erickson is the founder and owner of AlaSkins, a premium pet treat company located in Kenai, Alaska. AlaSkins are single-ingredient pet treats made of 100% wild Alaskan fish skins from salmon, halibut, and cod. Learn more at AlaSkins.com.
