Sue Delegan Of Brutus Bone Broth: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To Make That Happen
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Recognize the impact of relationships: Understand that the people you surround yourself with directly influence your company’s culture, productivity, and ultimately, its success.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sue Delegan, Co-Founder and CEO of Brutus Bone Broth.
Sue is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and has a strong background in marketing and business. Before launching Brutus Broth, Sue co-founded and served as President of Ilios Dairy Brands, LLC, a dairy company focused on offering an innovative and natural alternative in the dairy segment. Sue volunteers at various community organizations and enjoys cooking, going on walks with her beloved pups and traveling with her family.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’m Sue Delegan, co-founder and CEO of Brutus Bone Broth, a woman-owned family business dedicated to pet nutrition. Our journey began with my rescue dog Brutus, whom I adopted as a sickly puppy. Using our family’s bone broth recipe, we nursed him back to health, and he went on to live an exceptionally long life for a dog his size.
The pivotal moment came on Thanksgiving Day 2016 when a family member asked about Brutus’ longevity. My answer was simple: “Love and Grandma’s Bone Broth.” We realized that adding bone broth to Brutus’ diet not only made his meals tastier but also provided additional nutritional benefits and improved digestion.
Inspired by Brutus’ story and hearing similar experiences from other pet owners, my sister Kim and I saw an opportunity to share these benefits with other dogs. We spent countless hours researching the pet market, consulting industry experts, perfecting recipes, and working on packaging designs. Our goal was to make our nutritious broth accessible to all pet owners.
This led us to found Brutus Bone Broth in 2017. Our mission goes beyond just creating a product — we’re committed to helping dogs live longer, healthier lives and giving back to the community. It’s been a journey of passion, driven by our love for pets and our desire to make a positive impact in their lives.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One of the most intriguing moments in our entrepreneurial journey occurred in 2020 when we received an unexpected call inviting us to appear on Shark Tank. This was a potentially game-changing opportunity that many entrepreneurs dream of. However, the timing coincided with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented significant logistical challenges.
At the time, my sister Kim was living in Hawaii, where strict quarantine rules were in place. Participating in the show would have required her to quarantine for over a month, which was simply not feasible given our business responsibilities. After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to decline the invitation.
In retrospect, this decision proved to be unexpectedly beneficial. Had we appeared on the show, we might have been tempted to give away a substantial portion of our business for what we now realize would have been an undervalued offer. By choosing to forgo this opportunity, we’ve maintained full control of our company and continued to grow independently.
To this day, we remain a bootstrapped operation, which has allowed us to retain complete ownership and decision-making power. This experience taught us a valuable lesson about trusting our instincts and the importance of carefully evaluating opportunities, even when they seem golden at first glance.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One significant challenge we faced early on involved a packaging mishap. We had 200,000 units of high-quality, sterilized packaging from Sweden en route to New York when we discovered a crucial wording error. Our packaging said, “with glucosamine,” but New York state regulations required it to say, “with added glucosamine.” We were at risk of losing $125,000 worth of materials and product.
This crisis quickly turned into our “holy @#$!” moment, followed by an innovative solution. We decided to use stickers to cover the incorrect wording, simultaneously promoting our philanthropic partnership with Project K-9 Hero. While this approach delayed our launch by a month, it saved us substantial time and money compared to scrapping everything and starting over — and ensured we were fully compliant. This experience taught us the value of creative problem-solving in entrepreneurship.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My father has always been a huge inspiration to me. He is the one that instilled an entrepreneurial spirit and taught me that no matter how tough times may seem, never feel defeated. He always told me why work for someone else’s dream when you can build your own?
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
“Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight, the story about how he built Nike into the mega brand it is today. Most people never consider the trials and tribulations it takes for someone to build a business. The sacrifices that are made to never give up on your dream. It always makes me laugh when people assume I am a millionaire because we have built a national brand and “sell in Target and Walmart.” I literally have had people tell me they wouldn’t buy my product because I sell it in Target and have “sold out to corporate America.” That couldn’t be further from the truth. I have put my blood, sweat and tears into this company to make the best products accessible to all pet owners, just as Phil Knight did when he was building Nike. People shut the door in his face, he dealt with near bankruptcy, yet he knew what he was building would change the lives of athletes everywhere.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?
Our father often reminded us, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” This simple wisdom rings especially true in entrepreneurship. The path of a business owner is rarely smooth, but what carries you through the challenges is an unwavering belief in your product and a deep-seated passion for what you’re creating.
There will inevitably be moments of doubt and difficulty. It’s during these times that your commitment to your vision becomes crucial. Your passion serves as the fuel that propels you forward when obstacles arise. Remember, it’s the very fact that it isn’t easy that makes your journey unique and worthwhile. Embrace the challenges — they’re often where the most valuable lessons and innovations emerge.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Our impact extends far beyond introducing an exceptional product that benefits dogs and their owners. We’ve taken on a broader role in shaping the future of business and social responsibility. Through our Kids Committee and mentorship programs, we’re nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs. Our collaboration with the Pet Sustainability Coalition underscores our commitment to environmental stewardship. Additionally, we’ve fostered hundreds of charitable partnerships over recent years, emphasizing the importance of giving back. This multifaceted approach allows us to not only run a successful business but also to instill values of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and philanthropy in the community.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
In my experience as a co-founder of Brutus Bone Broth, one of the significant factors holding women back from founding companies is the persistent underestimation of women-owned businesses in the entrepreneurial landscape.
Despite our success and innovative approach, we had to navigate the world of manufacturing and the pet food industry — both of which have historically been male-dominated.
In the early months, we were given well-meaning advice to limit our business to boutique pet stores, with some calling our national brand aspirations “crazy.” Had we followed this advice, we would have missed opportunities to help a broader range of pet owners and achieve what we knew deep down was possible.
While external input can be valuable, it’s crucial for women founders to:
- Trust their intuition, especially on major decisions affecting their business and target consumers.
- Maintain confidence in their original vision, even when faced with skepticism.
- Critically evaluate advice, taking what’s useful and disregarding what doesn’t align with their goals.
- Be willing to pursue ambitious plans, even if they go against conventional wisdom.
- Recognize that their unique perspective might be precisely what sets their business apart in the market.
Overcoming these barriers requires resilience, confidence in one’s vision, and a supportive network. It’s crucial for aspiring women founders to trust their instincts, seek out mentorship, and not be discouraged by initial setbacks or skepticism. By sharing our stories and successes, we hope to inspire more women to take the leap into entrepreneurship, knowing that it’s possible to overcome these challenges and build thriving businesses.
Can you share with our readers what you are doing to help empower women to become founders?
At Brutus Bone Broth, we’re empowering future women founders through our Kids Committee initiative as well as our Ambassador and Junior Ambassador Programs. We publish an educational newsletter for our Kids Committee that shares real-world business lessons and problem-solving skills, providing young minds with valuable insights into entrepreneurship. We have numerous women on-board as ambassadors and junior ambassadors — they help us to execute sampling, demo, and other events all over the country. For many of them this is a part time job that serves as additional income, or as they work their way through college, grad school, and even high school for our youngest Junior Ambassador! We involve them in our business as much as possible so that it’s valuable professional experience and not just an hourly position.
This might be intuitive to you but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women bring unique perspectives and innovative approaches to entrepreneurship. As founders, they often excel at creative problem-solving, guided by their intuition — like how our family’s nutritious bone broth recipe would be valuable to other dog owners. This intuitive understanding of market needs can lead to groundbreaking business ideas. Women founders tend to be collaborative, recognizing that entrepreneurship is not a solo endeavor but a collective effort.
Women founders also often prioritize building strong, trusted teams and networks, understanding that the company they keep directly impacts their business’s success. They value knowledge sharing and mentorship, both giving and receiving advice within the entrepreneurial community.
Lastly, women bring resilience and passion to their ventures, qualities essential for navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship. Their ability to trust their instincts, even in the face of skepticism, can lead to groundbreaking ideas and successful businesses that might not have existed otherwise. By becoming founders, women not only create opportunities for themselves but also inspire and pave the way for future generations of female entrepreneurs.
Can you please share 5 things that can be done or should be done to help empower more women to become founders?
- Redefine “entrepreneur” as “collaborator”: Recognize that building a business is a collective effort, not a solo journey.
- Build a strong support network: Seek partnerships, mentors, and advisors. For me, this started with family but expanded to a broader professional network.
- Embrace knowledge sharing: As female founders, actively participate in giving and receiving advice within the entrepreneurial community.
- Cultivate a trusted team: Go beyond hiring to build a team you truly believe in, fostering an environment of trust and openness.
- Recognize the impact of relationships: Understand that the people you surround yourself with directly influence your company’s culture, productivity, and ultimately, its success.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Making higher education more accessible to lower income students. I have heard way too many times that high school age kids that may be gifted in the classroom or talented in sports do not apply to college because they don’t feel it is attainable or that even if they were to get in, they would not be able to afford a 4-year education. My father always said, “An education is the greatest gift I can give you; no one can take it away from you.” As our population ages and people are retiring, we have a new generation coming into the work force. We need to make sure that they are equipped to continue to help our economy thrive.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, serves as a significant inspiration to Kim and me. Her journey as a female entrepreneur, particularly in the early stages, resonates deeply with our experiences. We find her resilience in the face of challenges and her ability to build a thriving business empire truly admirable. Blakely’s story not only motivates us but also exemplifies the potential for women to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable success in the business world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Visit BrutusBroth.com to learn more about Brutus Bone Broth and follow us @BrutusBroth on TikTok, Instagram, X and Facebook.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
Sue Delegan Of Brutus Bone Broth: Why We Need More Women Founders & Here Is What We Are Doing To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.