Alumni Profile: Beth Goldberg '87

Launching a business -- what a treat!

Laid off in 2001 from a marketing job with a prominent dot-com firm, Beth Goldberg faced a long, slow search for a position to match her talents. Clearly, the economy had gone to the dogs. But when a Polish Lowland Sheepdog puppy joined her household, Goldberg started to suspect that "the dogs" might be a fine place to go.

So she set out to build a business, Latka's De-licious Doggie Treats, catering to canines with a menu of home-baked cheese- and peanut-butter-flavored goodies.

Beth Goldberg '87 with her pal Latka

Goldberg spent many years building a successful career as a marketing and events management professional. Her most recent job was at iVillage.com, a major Internet community for women. As director of offline marketing, she promoted the iVillage brand by sponsoring women's events around the country, forming partnerships with women's organizations and developing cross-promotions with companies that sold complementary products and services.

Losing that job was disappointing, but one consolation of unemployment was having plenty of time to spend with the dog she acquired in early 2002. Goldberg named the puppy for Latka Gravas, Andy Kaufman's character on the TV show Taxi.

"I decided to start baking for my dog," said Goldberg, an avid baker since childhood. Latka loved the treats she whipped up in her tiny Manhattan kitchen. So did her friends' dogs. Soon, she was selling her wares on the Web (www.de-licioustreats.com) and through a neighborhood pet spa and boutique.

That success inspired Goldberg to further test the entrepreneurial waters. "I figured if I was going to dip my toe in, I might as well dip two toes in," she recalled. Before she knew it, Goldberg was doing what came naturally -- networking with the media community and looking for innovative ways to promote her brand.

Since January, she's seen Latka's De-licious Doggie Treats featured in the New York Daily News, on the iVillage Pet Channel and in several pet trade publications. Goldberg has appeared with Latka on TV's Food Network. She's sent samples to numerous stores. She's started a doggie birthday club on her website, formed a team for DogsWalk Against Cancer, sponsored prizes for a monthly contest in the Manhattan Pet Gazette and helped raise money to renovate a neighborhood dog run.

Although the economy has turned consumers into cautious spenders, that apparently hasn't hurt the market for pet treats. Postponing parenthood until well into their 30s, many people have affection and money to spare, and they happily lavish this bounty on their pets, Goldberg said. She is no exception. "I would say I spend the majority of my disposable income on toys and treats and everything I can possibly do to please my dog," she confessed.

Pet owners shopping for Latka's Treats can choose from a broad array of pooch-pleasers: treats shaped like valentines, Easter bunnies and dreidels for holiday gifts; teddy-bear treats packed with a toy bear in a paw-printed basket; treat- and toy-filled baskets with stars-and-stripes, flower-power or birthday-party themes.

One of the rewards of launching her business, Goldberg said, is the chance to apply all she's learned in her career on her own behalf. Exploiting those skills on a limited budget is a challenge, but it's an exciting one, she said, because it forces her to come up with unusual ways to promote the business. "If someone were to invest in me and give me several million dollars, I wouldn't be as likely to create all the partnerships I've been creating. I'd be spending the money, instead of coming up with out-of-the-box ideas on how to make things happen on a shoestring."

Another perk, of course, is hanging out with the company spokesdog. The business brings Latka bonuses as well. "He gets all the broken treats, or any treats that come out with a funny shape," Goldberg said.

And he's emerged as something of a celebrity, at least on the Upper West Side. "We'll meet people at the dog run, and I won't mention our business necessarily, and they'll say, ÔOh my gosh, that's Latka! I know his treats,'" Goldberg said, laughing, adding that she hopes her dog's fame doesn't grow out of proportion. "I want him to have a nice life. And I want him to have privacy. I don't want the paparazzi always following him around."

-- Merrill Oliver Douglas, MA '82