When Sadie Husted started baking during quarantine, she didn’t think she’d be filing for an LLC a few months later.
“I was baking a lot, and my family got sick of it,” the Chaska Middle School East student laughed. “So I decided to make something for my dogs ... but I wanted it to be so high-quality that humans can eat it and be totally fine.”
Husted, 13, is the CEO and founder of Wiggly Butt Company, making homemade dog treats with a focus on quality ingredients — their secret blend of oats, honey and peanut butter is safe for both pets and humans. Her brand has expanded since its launch in October from treats to merchandise to custom dog birthday cakes.
With the freedom to do schoolwork online, she had time to master her “Peanut Butter Perfection” recipe and started distributing her treats to neighbors last fall, who wanted to know how they could order more.
Next was coming up with a name, inspired by her two dogs Sparkles and Tucker. When they get excited, it’s not just a tail wag — it’s a “wiggly butt,” and the ideal reaction for any dog about to eat her recipe.
But it wasn’t until Sadie and her family decided to hire a designer for a logo that they realized her part-time gig could become a business.
“When the logo came back, we were like, ‘Wow, that’s really good. This looks so professional.’ It inspired the next step, evolving from a small neighborhood thing into a brand,” said Sadie’s dad Zach Husted.
Before their official launch, Sadie cold-called neighbors/customers, built a website, began producing a line of shirts, hoodies and hats with the logo and kept baking. When Wiggly Butt’s site went live in October, she sold over $1,000 of product in the first 24 hours.
“I was making treats nonstop, and it was a crazy process. We were learning all these new things, trying to figure out what people liked,” Sadie said.
“She’s learning so much that school would never teach. How to build a website, how to file for an LLC, how to package and merchandise product, all these things that will stick with her,” Zach added.
And when business slowed after the holidays, she started trying new things: like made-to-order dog birthday cakes, which can be modified for dietary needs like grain-free recipes. (Each cake comes with a birthday gift — one of the Wiggly Butt dog bandanas.)
Once she posted the first one on Facebook, last-minute orders began rolling in online. Because Sadie isn’t allowed social media, she collaborates with her mom Lindsey (also known as the chief operations officer) who runs her business pages and posts photos Sadie sends her.
Though she does most of the work herself, Wiggly Butt Company has been a way to connect with her family — her brother Henry is chief entertainment officer and and sister Hannah is chief quality officer — and local community, while sharing her passion for baking, Sadie said.
“I love seeing how happy the dogs are when they eat the treats, it makes my day. [Wiggly Butt] is something of my own that no one else has created, but I also can share it with my family,” Sadie said.
