How a founder-led pet brand rises to a $6.8M TikTok Shop (King Lou Pets)

We always talk about the power of founder-led storytelling on TikTok Shop (i.e. Canvas Beauty’s TikTok Shop success), and this week’s spotlight is a perfect example.

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If you’ve been reading The Tok for a while, you know we consistently say: you just need a founder who shows up on camera with clarity and consistency.

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King Lou Pets (@kingloupets) is one of the best case studies of that.

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When founder Clayton was laid off and grieving the loss of his first dog, Lou, he began researching dog nutrition. He discovered how many mainstream brands use overly processed ingredients linked to issues like CDM. So he created King Lou as a direct contrast to the big, faceless conglomerates dominating the dog-food industry by building a single-ingredient dog treats.

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On TikTok, he showed up exactly as he was: filming educational clips, funny sound memes, behind-the-scenes packaging moments, and everyday life with his dog Cookie. This mix of transparency, purpose, and personality is what built the brand.

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Nothing fancy. Just personality, product, and the pet that inspired the business.

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That authenticity built the brand.

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Today, King Lou Pets has:

• 67K followers on TikTok
• 116.9K items sold
• $6.8M total GMV
• $880.9K GMV in the last 30 days alone (2025/10/19–2025/11/17)
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And just like other breakout pet brands on TikTok Shop, their momentum didn’t come from viral luck, it came from patterned storytelling, a clear niche, and content that feels like hanging out with the founder and his dog.

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How did they build trust early?

Their earliest videos weren’t highly produced; they were raw, founder-in-frame, often using trending audio like:

This one.

Or something like this one.

This content created:

• A face for the brand
• A relationship loop with viewers
• A clear POV on dog nutrition
• A product that was easy to trust because you could see it

These before-and-after videos will illustrate how the brand evolved while keeping the same founder-led storytelling DNA.

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BFCM: King Lou is going big on Live Shopping

King Lou Pets is now leaning heavily into TikTok Live this BFCM. They’ve already scheduled multiple live events, which is exactly how pet brands dominate during high-intent windows.
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Expect discount offers, freebies, and Cookie making appearances (their Chief Tasting Officer).

King Lou also anticipated BFCM with a high-value, visual giveaway of Yeti coolers. Clayton announced face camera the giveaway with a wall of stack cooler ebhind him. He filmed himself going to the store and buy the cooler. He filmed himself filling the coolers with pet treats...

Giveaways, when well executed, work like magic. Authentic, relevant, raw ....
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​The bigger lesson for brands with a founder that is willing to be on camera

King Lou Pets didn’t scale because of a large ad campaign, they scaled because of its founder decided to be on camera:

• Since August 2021, Clayton advocating for this brand and his values.
• Clayton was not afraid to test a lot of different content format.
• Clayton embraced Live, investing time and resources
• Clayton is not afraid to be "sellsy"

As a result, King Lou Pet built trust before they built GMV.

Any brand with a founder willing to be on camera can do well, very well on TikTok Shop. Steal Clayton's MO.

It's not “how do we look polished?” but “how do we show up human?”