The Floofsters team (from left) Cindy Randall, Carolyn Press-McKenzie, and Latesha Hearth. Photo / Dean Taylor
She opened her first business at just 12 and now a Raglan entrepreneur is making waves again – this time with a new venture donating 100% of its profits to animal welfare.
Latesha Hearth, 35, has just opened Floofsters, a doggy daycare in Te Uku, Raglan, designed to give back to animals in need.
Floofsters opened three weeks ago, but the idea has been years in the making.
The paw-sitive concept – and even the name – was locked in five years ago, but council consents, finding the perfect property and picking a charity delayed its launch.
“It’s fun seeing it come to life,” Hearth told the Waikato Herald.
All profits will go to Huha (Helping You Help Animals), a no-kill shelter in New Zealand founded in 2001 by Jim and Carolyn McKenzie.
“[Carolyn] has been a big part of this project right from the planning stage. She’s got over 30 years of experience [in animal welfare],” Hearth said.
She has been a Huha board member for two years, and choosing the organisation as Floofsters’ charity partner “just made sense”.
Through her role, she hears of some “pretty gnarly” cases of animal abuse.
“It’s the absolute worst,” she said.
“It’s nice to try and do something to change it.”
Hearth won’t be a stranger to many, as she’s also the co-founder of Raglan Food Co, the company best known for its vegan coconut yoghurt, with business partner Seb Walter.
She later established the Values Trust, a charitable trust that channels profits from her businesses into causes she cares about, such as animal welfare.
For Raglan, a place she described as a “town of dog lovers”, Hearth believed a doggy daycare was a gap that “needs to be filled”.
“There isn’t a doggy daycare in Raglan,” she said.
“We have a dog, and it wasn’t something we could ever utilise here. We’d have to drive all the way into Hamilton.”
She said Floofsters felt like a “natural fit for the community”, while also serving as an awareness tool and fundraiser for animal welfare.
“It’s [a] need, but we also wanted it to be for a cause,” she said.
Hearth described herself and her family as “passionate animal lovers”.
“Mum doesn’t have any grandchildren yet, just granddogs.”
Floofsters is a “family-run charity”, with Hearth’s two sisters working onsite. One sister, Cindy Randall, manages the centre.
Her father, an architect, designed the building, while her husband used his “giant” industrial 3D printer to create the fit-out using recycled plastic.
Floofsters can cater up to 40 dogs a day, with separate spaces for big and small dogs.
There are indoor play areas with obstacles, beds, and even couches for a rainy day, and “big” outdoor areas with sandpits, paddling pools, and agility and obstacle courses.
Behavioural training is also done onsite, as well as an enrichment room for one-on-one physical and mental stimulation.
More than 60 dogs have already been signed up.
“It’s been quite a long journey,” she said.
Hearth was born in Dargaville and homeschooled, but always had a keen interest in business books.
At 12, she opened her first business buying and selling cellphones on TradeMe, and at 15, she was working full-time.
“I’ve always been doing this kind of thing, and I just really enjoy it.”
Hearth wants Floofsters to be a flagship model, and ultimately wants to expand across New Zealand.
She believed it had the potential to become a “big generator for animal welfare projects”.
“People often don’t have the money or time or resources to be able to address it themselves, and need a bit of support,” she said.
“I’m pretty excited to support the cause of helping animal rescues.”
Hearth welcomed anyone to visit the daycare’s store at 3205 State Highway 23, Raglan.
“Everything to do with Floofsters is all for animal welfare.”
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.