The Business of Better Bath Time: How Lizzy Skelding Built Beastie
- Aug 1
- 4 min read
Pet owners dread bath time almost as much as their pets do. Humans contort themselves in order to wash the grime and dirt off their pets. You would think your animal would be grateful that you took the time to clean them. After all, there is no better way to wind down after a long day than with a warm bath or shower.
For your pet, however, bath time can feel more like torture. It is loud, overwhelming, and itchy (Bauhaus, 2021). So, how do you reconcile your pet’s wants with their needs? Beastie founder Lizzy Skelding set out to find a solution.
Skelding approached bath time with the same precision she brought to her chemical product development work. She wanted to understand why dogs hate bath time and how to create a better experience for both owner and pet.
She examined the chemical composition of various dog shampoos and conditioners and found that many are formulated similarly to shampoos and conditioners designed for humans. The problem? The aspects humans find enjoyable can have the inverse effect on animals. What smells, feels, or lathers pleasantly to us may make the experience more overwhelming for a dog. Consequently, both pet owners and their pets end up on the losing team.
That realization led Skelding to develop Beastie, a dog hygiene company designed to approach bath time differently. I spoke with her to learn more about Beastie, the thinking behind its products, and her journey building the company.
Interview
Why did you create Beastie ?
I’m obsessed with my dog. One of my favorite Sunday rituals was taking her on a long walk. We would come home to my 300-square-foot studio apartment, where my bed was also my desk and my living room, and her dusty paws would go all over my apartment.
My late husband would hold her in the hallway while I ran to put on a bathing suit and then basically manhandled her into the bathtub.
It would be 15 frustrating minutes of water torturing her just to get her clean. After doing this several times, I realized, “Wait. This is a terrible experience.”
My professional background was in cleansers and skincare. I knew I had the skills to fix this.
I realized the bath itself wasn’t necessarily the problem. Companies had designed the dog bathing experience from a human perspective. Those “lovely” bubbles were actually part of the problem.
Humans think of skincare as self-care—a moment to be present and take care of yourself. For dogs, it’s almost the exact opposite. They don’t understand the benefits they’re getting. They experience being held down while something foreign is applied to their bodies.
That made me wonder: What if I didn’t just improve the chemistry? What if I improved the experience? A well-formulated product isn’t only about chemistry or marketing. It should allow someone to connect and feel good while using it.
I realized that by removing the excessive bubbles, I could reduce frustration without reducing cleansing effectiveness. That led to the concept of a low-foam, quick-rinse cleanser designed to decrease the time and frustration associated with at-home baths. Bath time may never become the greatest bonding experience you have with your dog, but the products certainly shouldn’t get in the way of your bond.
Image courtesy of Beastie. How has Beastie evolved since its founding?
The evolution is twofold: it combines constant experimentation with learning who exactly our customer is.
Initially, I thought I knew who she was because she was me. But that wasn’t entirely true.
I spent years thinking about formulation. My background enables me to look at the back of a skincare product, digest an ingredient list, and understand what it says. But I realized that my customer doesn’t necessarily have the same academic background I do.
A lot of Beastie’s evolution has therefore been learning how to communicate with our target customer. People don’t necessarily think baths can be good, let alone that an oil cleanser could be the solution or that bathing could be proactive rather than reactive.
I work to undo those assumptions and help people understand that they can potentially have a better bonding experience with their dog through something as simple as a bath.
Image courtesy of Beastie. How do you incorporate Beastie’s mission into every product you develop?
The through-line is intentional design. Intentional design has many definitions. I define it as choosing everything with intention and basing nothing purely on assumption. When you approach product development that way, you naturally create a higher-performing, higher-quality product.
Dog shampoos and conditioners are often formulated from a human perspective first and then adapted for pets. At Beastie, we start from the dog’s perspective and question the assumptions behind every formulation and design choice. That’s what intentional design means for Beastie.
Image courtesy of Beastie. What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to start a brand?
People always say, “Start before you’re ready,” but that’s difficult advice because starting can feel enormous.
Instead, take the thing you most want to build and make it one step simpler. Keep simplifying until you have the most basic version of the idea you can actually test. Then ask one person about it. You’ll learn something, and that will allow you to take the next step.
Instead of telling someone to “just start,” I would say: Force yourself to translate the idea into something one step simpler, then ask one person what they think.
Image courtesy of Beastie. What does the future of Beastie look like?
At face value, we're currently a skincare and industrial-goods company. But Beastie will ultimately be a proactive health company that helps people better understand their dog's skin and environment.
Image courtesy of Beastie. Image courtesy of Beastie. Image courtesy of Beastie.
Images courtesy of Beastie.
Conclusion
Beastie founder Lizzy Skelding approaches brand building with scientific precision. She saw a no-win situation and created a better product designed not only to make bath time easier, but to further cement the bond between pet and owner.
References
Bauhaus, J. M. (2021, May 24). Why do dogs hate baths? (& tips for bathing a scared dog). Hill’s Pet Nutrition. https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/routine-care/why-do-dogs-hate-baths
