In 2014, while Mark was talking via Skype with his brother, who has a son with autism, his brother challenged him to develop a business model to employ adults with special needs. They kicked around a few ideas, and Mark’s wife recommended doing something dog-related.
Mark created the company EPIC in 2015 to start making this dream of creating a company focused on creating careers for adults with special needs a reality. He continued to work for corporate America while relying heavily on his faith to guide him in his new venture.
One of the first challenges was to create a treat that dogs loved. It took 2 years to develop a treat that dogs would choose over their favorite treat at home. It was worth the wait.
Today, when given the opportunity, over 90% of dogs given the Wigglewow dog treat test, choose Wigglewow treats over their favorite treats at home.
Wigglewow production began in 2019, when Epic Chef Dante successfully created over 250 treats. Before that, Dante had unsuccessfully attempted to get a job for 5 years since graduating from high school. In a step of faith, Mark quit corporate America to work on Wigglewow full-time.
Wigglewow continues to grow and issued 31 W2s to employees with special needs for working at Wigglewow in 2022. In October 2021, Wigglewow moved into its new location at 10529 Watterson Trail, Jeffersontown, KY, providing more space for gourmet dog treat production. Customers can now experience the magic that happens in “The Dog House” (Wigglewow’s production area) and get treats for their dogs.
Wigglewow continues to pursue its goal to become the largest employer of adults with special needs in America by August 10, 2029.
His Key to Success: Never expect anything more from others than you expect from yourself.
His Advice to other Business Owners: Your employees are your #1 asset, so treat them as such.
His Book Recommendation: Who Stole My Cheese