Living The Red Life - How This Woman Changed Thousands of Pet Lives (And Faced Backlash)

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

SUMMARYAngela Ardolino, a passionate entrepreneur, holistic pet wellness expert, and founder of CBD Dog Health, shares her journey from frustrated pet parent to industry-disrupting CEO. Angela began her mission after her own dog was diagnosed with cancer and traditional vets offered no real alternatives. Determined to find a solution, she took matters into her own hands, eventually formulating products that have now helped thousands of pets.In this candid conversation, Angela opens up about the resistance she faced from traditional veterinarians, the overwhelming importance of education in a misunderstood industry, and how she built a fiercely loyal customer base. She also dives into marketing tactics that helped her 4X customer value, the power of storytelling through real-life testimonials, and the challenges of being a woman trying to break into an industry dominated by skepticism and red tape. It's an inspiring deep dive into brand-building, perseverance, and true grassroots impact.CHAPTERS02:35 – The Unexpected Start of a Pet Wellness Empire04:54 – Formulating a Natural Solution for Her Own Dog07:21 – From Skepticism to Success: Vet-Approved Remedies09:43 – Tackling Misinformation and Standing Out in CBD12:05 – Building a Brand Through Education, Not Just Products14:40 – Hiring for Mission, Not Just Skills17:02 – How to Market When the Industry Says No19:29 – Subscriptions, Campaigns & Customer Love Stories21:53 – Big Business Meets Holistic Healing: The Tensions24:06 – Hard Lessons & Sexism in EntrepreneurshipConnect with Angela Ardolino:Founder of:CBD Dog Health – CBD & holistic pet wellness productsMycoDog – Mushroom & adaptogen pet supplementsWebsite for Education & Protocols: AngelaArdolino.comPodcast: Your Natural DogSocials:Instagram: @angelaardolinoFacebook: CBD Dog HealthYouTube: Your Natural DogConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

I lost my dog. I did everything my veterinarian told me to do, from feeding the food, to vaccinating her every year, to putting the pesticide pill down her throat. $15,000 later, I'm like, there is something wrong with this system. And that was the last time I was putting my health, or my beloved animal's health, in someone else's hands.

We got 100,000 customers, right? Over, you know, hundreds of thousands of bottles sold. There's got to be some strategy there not just a great product. A great product goes a long way but you still need marketing. Right. So what are some of the things you're doing to generate thousands of sales a week and a month like that? I believe my secret to my success is my... My name is Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red red light podcast I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week if you're ready to start living the red life ditch the blue pill take the red pill join me in wonderland and change your life what's up guys

welcome back to another episode of living the red life today we're gonna talk about one of my favorite topics no it's not red no red. No, it's not cheese. It's dogs. Angela, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. So I know you feel one of the biggest pet CBD brands in the world, over a hundred thousand beloved pet owners, vets using your product, you're changing. The most important life there is,

the life of our dog or animal. So excited for you to be here and talk about how you got this brand to become one of the biggest bests in the world. And over a quarter of a million bottles sold, if not more at this point, and a lot of fun stuff. So let's dive in. If someone doesn't know who you are, do you mind just giving the audience an intro?

Yeah, I'm Angela Ardolino, and lately I'm the crazy cannabis witch lady, you know, who makes dogs get better. Old dogs get up and walk again or get rid of their tumors or those types of things. So I'm like you. I love dogs. For a lot of people, they are sometimes the only way people experience unconditional love. So I love being able to transform their health naturally. And then at the same time, the pet parent learns about

their own health and wellness. So I just think it's a beautiful thing. Yeah. Well, and I'm, you know, excited to have you on. Obviously, you're a client working with us on the marketing side and in our new TV series where we're telling the whole story and also the controversy, which I'm excited to dive into. You know, I came from a health background. The medical world is a whole industry by itself and sometimes battling that can be tough

with alternative medicine. I think, you know, dogs and pets is a great starting point for that because it's even harder to penetrate the human side. But I personally, you know, I've had over 20 dogs through my life and seeing the power of natural remedies and alternative remedies. So I'm excited to talk about that and also how you just built the brand so big, so fast in a brand new territory, right? Because CBD, you know, I remember when it kind of blew up

during COVID and I was helping people with it and it was the wild West with Facebook ads and socials. So let's start there maybe, right? Like how did you build this brand in this new territory so quickly? Well, I started in, first of all, the medicine, I cured myself of disease. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, probably from being a crazy entrepreneur

and working myself to death. And I didn't want to take the pharmaceutical drugs. I was already living a pretty natural lifestyle. So I was kind of shocked when I was like, how did I get this? But RA can be pretty bad. I've had fly ins back in the health when I was a personal trainer over a decade ago and it was very you know bad for that day-to-day life right. I was very upset that I had been diagnosed. And most of the medical just alleviate the pain they don't you know

there's no. No it's another it's a first of all they give the same drugs for all autoimmune diseases and it suppresses the immune system and makes things worse. And then you just get something else and another disease and another disease. Well, I remember it because my clients, their immune system was constantly low because of it. Right. Couldn't plant. It made no sense to me.

Like when you really think about it, it made no sense to me. But that's not what sent me on my journey. I lost my dog. I lost one of my first dogs You know I waited till I had the yard and the house and you know Though the money to take such good care of this dog Yeah and at age six she was dying and I did everything my

Veterinarian told me to do from feeding the food to vaccinating her every year to putting the pesticide pill down her throat. So when that happened to her, and you know, $15,000 later, I'm like, there is something wrong with the system. And that was the last time I was putting my health or my beloved animal's health in someone else's hands. So when I got that diagnosis and they were like, well, here's Humira.

I'm like, no, thank you. Already been linked to lymphoma. I don't want cancer just so that I don't have joint pain anymore. And it's not a cure. It's just a bandaid. And there's always a side effect where things get worse. And how it's worse for animals is that animals

are considered to be property. So if I'm an evil player in the pharmaceutical industry, what a great way to experiment or make a lot of money by releasing a drug and there's no repercussions. I mean there are drugs out right now that like ApoQuil and Cytopoint who they have killed so many dogs with strange cancers and issues and you go to the pamphlet where you know it gives you all the precautions they're there. Yeah yeah yeah. And so many veterinarians and pet parents have written in and FDA goes just put it on your pamphlet. Well I- You never get that pamphlet. Yeah I mean it's I even find that fascinating in American

medicine like I remember moving to America and you see that, you know, coming from England, I see these ads on TV, right? And it's like, you know, this beautiful ad can cure all these things. Then the last 20 seconds is may kill you in 22 different ways. I always would laugh about that. And it's sadly the same in animals and the same in humans. And so I think what you're doing, you know, is obviously as an animal lover, it's great to educate the industry.

Cause the sad reality in both the human health space and animal is a lot of it too, is just absence of education for the consumer, right? And obviously CBD has come a long way in human health, but also animal health. So can we just talk quickly to catch the audience up maybe? What is some of the products you have and who are they for, how do they help the animal?

Well, all animals have something called the endocannabinoid system. So I basically make hemp, adaptogen, mushroom products that interact with that system. And that system is the master system. So literally it helps with everything. So everything from interacting with the 12 pathways of cancer and killing cancer and removing it from the body

to interacting with the five pathways of pain and stopping pain, stopping seizures. I've had dogs that didn't walk like Frenchies. I have a Frenchie on my logo because they're the ones that have the most problems. Yeah, yeah. A lot of genetic problems because of that. They're very big in America, not so much.

I actually think because there's a lot more rules where you're from where you're not allowed to have a dog that can't breed. America breeds a lot of dogs for fashion. Right, so they're cute and small, and their faces are squished. Well, squished faces can't breathe appropriately, so helping those dogs is really,

I can't tell you how many we have, but yeah, we had one case that the dog hadn't walked for four years. And we met his owner, and he was like, I was like, just try it. Just trust I'm not gonna work on your work. Literally got home, literally gave him a dropper full. And then he went upstairs to his office

and turned around and the dog had, I mean, of course it was weak, but literally had dragged itself and was, you know, stumbling, walking up. And he was like, what is this? And this is what I hear on a regular. And now you've had thousands. Oh yeah, one case after another. I was like, what is this? And this is what I hear on a regular. And now you've had thousands.

Oh, yeah, one case after another. And it's often, you know, I've tried other products. It didn't work, other CBD products, it didn't work. I tried my dogs on five different medications and he's still in pain and he's terrible. I gave him one dropper of your stuff and he's up and he's happy and whatever. And it's because you're interacting with that system

and because I'm kind of a perfectionist. And I believe my secret to my success is my intention. And then my intention is to make, I've also educated. I went to the University of Vermont School of Medicine to their inaugural class on the study of cannabis. So I know about the system, how to make the medicine, how to grow the medicine, how to source the seeds. So when I couldn't find a product for my own animals,

I became that person. Well, a lot of the best, you know, as entrepreneurs, 90% of entrepreneurs I work with, at least, they're people that saw a problem in the market, most of the time they were figuring it out for themselves in some capacity. I got into fitness because I wanted to get into shape and all that, and then I started helping other people. A lot of the best products I think come from either your own gap in the market or figuring

it out, or you have maybe on a bigger scale like Elon Musk, you want to solve a world problem. figuring it out or you have, you know, maybe on a bigger scale like Elon Musk, you want to solve a world problem, right? Like have a, you know, a different place to live with your Elon's position or here, like a different alternative path to medicine for the dog. So, so important. And I would love to talk, you know,

obviously this is a business entrepreneur show and we're all, a lot of us are marketers, business owners. So I'd love to talk about the tactical side too. Cause obviously listening, you're passionate, uh, you know, a newish market emerged, right? You went all in, but let's now cook. We got a hundred thousand customers, right? Over, you know, hundreds of thousands of bottles sold.

There's gotta be some strategy there. Not just a great product. A great product goes a long way, but you still need marketing. Right. So what are some of the things you're doing to generate thousands of sales a week and a month like that? Education, education, education.

One of the first things we did is go on tour. Okay. So I'm the graduate, I'm the formulator now, I know how the system works. So we went on a tour with my two, you know, right and left hand, and they're both educated to go educate as many veterinarians, who would, anybody who would have us,

and then COVID hit. Yeah. Which was pretty good because of- We were doing grassroots, out, outlets. We went to California where cannabis is illegal for longer, and literally documenting everything at the same time, found vets who were using cannabis medicine so we could video them and

go the next time someone goes, well, my vet says it'll kill them. We'll go, no, look right here. This vet has been using it for the past five years. So then COVID hit. Well, I imagine- We just came in and started videoing. Just to pause, I imagine the vet side's a big piece, right? Because it's adding that level of authority almost, right?

It's great when the product owner says it's great, but everyone says that, right? So like having that third party validation, like how have you, you know, if someone's listening and they have maybe a supplement or a product where they want to get someone to endorse it, how did you go about that? Wasn't easy. Now, honestly, the only ones that we really do it with are the ones that are really using the medicine on a daily basis.

They've educated themselves, they know how to use it, and then they tell about a case, or a pet parent tells us about that they used it, how'd you find out? And then we reach out to the vet. But it is hard, because a lot of vets wanna be paid and we're like, don't you wanna know how this medicine works? Create partnerships, joint venture deals with any?

We tried to, we tried to, but didn't work so much. I mean, you still battled a lot with what their education is and they're not taught anything about it. Well, it's the same with doctors, right? Like I've worked with a lot of doctors and you have the small percent that like go on and do their own research and they continue to learn. And then you have 95 percent that are locked into what? There is nothing on cannabis or CBD.

So it was like, I that's what I thought. I thought I'd be like, you know, welcomed by the herbalist and the homeopaths, but no, I was even competition to them because it's the queen. It's the queen, cannabis is the queen medicine. It helps so many things. The system is named after that plant. So yeah, I was kind of alone. At first I was welcomed and oh cool, you know, here she is.

And then all of a sudden I became a threat because, you know, three things can replace hemp and mushrooms and an adaptin like ashwagandha ash, astragalus root is a game changer. I saw the research, I read the research where when you put them together they become more powerful and synergistic. I literally remember going, I wish I could have a product but what am I going to

make? Everything's been made. And now I'm like, nobody makes stuff. And all I do is make it right, you know, source the seed, you know, grow it in the right conditions, how it's supposed to grow, harvest it when it's supposed to. Profit isn't my intention and goal, making real bioavailable natural medicine is. Yeah. Because then when people use my product, one time they come back. Again. And that's why our retention is unbelievable.

Well, let's talk about that. Cause yeah, I know you're, you know, on the stats side, I won't share your exact figures, but I know you have a high lifetime value, a high average order value, you have lots of repeat customers. So can we talk a little about the strategies you have in place to,

let's start with acquiring the customer. I know that you spend thousands on ads and there's a few kind of key ads that work for you. Do you wanna take everyone through what they are? Yeah, I think what was important is that I'm my customer. So I knew that I had tried these things and they didn't work. So speaking to me and to the ones

that they've tried everything and it didn't work. And then being able to show proof. That was the first things when I went, started talking to holistic veterinarians, I go, this is who I am, this is what I do, what do you want? They're like, well, how do you use the medicine? Give us case studies.

So I was like, all right, went back to my rescue and took every animal with every problem, every age, had some partnerships with vets that would call me up and go, all right, I got another one, let's see what you can do. And every time I would be able to detox them, wean them off their pharmaceuticals, feed them a real fresh diet of real food,

and then treat them with hemp, mushrooms, and adaptogens, and always be able to bring them back to homeostasis. A lot of times I'd be treating lymphoma and their Cushing's disease would go away, or gosh, one, I was treating her seizures and her dementia reversed. So I was just like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. This is easy.

So what was cool is that I had multiple cases and pictures. So I got to start with my cases, prove it to the veterinarians, get it into their hands, get into the influencers or the practitioners that are, you know, doing this. Why, and I think that's so important if, you know, if you're listening, like the pictures paint a thousand words, right? So I know, you know, when we sit down on our kind

of coaching sessions and go through your ad manager, for example, three things that stick out for me is tons of before and after photos, right? And obviously with ad compliance, you have to be careful about those, but you have some great visuals of lump sizes, all of those things. Customer stories, right?

Like the, you know, every pet owner knows how precious their dog is, right, or their pet. So the testimonial side and the customer story is so important. And then I think the third one is what we talked a little about is education, right? Like, especially in a newer market where the customers may be less educated,

you have a percent that are educated that are looking for the product, but you have a massive percent of uneducated buyers that need to learn. And have a vet that's telling them the THD is gonna kill their dog. Well, most doctors, well, I've learned health-wise, doctors or vets or whoever,

they don't know enough about it, they just say, they just like fob it off, right? Because they don't wanna say, I don't really know. So they'll generally say, oh no, I don't think it's, well, research. But let's talk about the education. What are more tactical ways in the, for the marketing side, how do you educate?

Like content, influencers, blogs, like can you talk? Creating a guide, how to pick a product, how to use the product, dosing, dosing was the biggest question. Okay, yeah. And basically nonstop education. So literally have an education director was my like third big tire and teaching him

and then literally having him pump out content at the same time, training stores, customers, veterinarians, you name it, as many people as we could get the education to. Because when you're in something like this and it's brand new, you're gonna have people who come in who are bad players who make a CBD isolate

or something like that, which is actually dangerous or proven dangerous. And then that research comes out, then everybody goes, no, causes liver damage. And you that research comes out, then everybody goes, no, causes liver damage. And you're like, no, no, no, no, a full spectrum hemp extract, not CBD. So much education nonstop. Any of you doing video education?

Video, yeah. Anyone who will have us in the retail side, there's deaf rent, there's, I don't know what they are, organizations or apps that we go in and educate them. Lots of free education. Literally traveling around, I've been on tour since I've started. Two years ago, I did get invited,

the biggest holistic veterinarian has a huge following, invited me to go on tour with her because of course she uses all the products herself and they worked. And it's great when you get someone like that and they try your product and it works because then they're like, oh yeah come here I want to talk to you. Well you only need a few of those big... Well there aren't only a few and everyone else is threatened by you but yeah it is yeah it was weird it got very lonely and weird and I thought the holistic

community would like, let me in, which they did. And now they want me to shut the hell up. When you start selling hundreds of thousands of bottles, it changes, right? Do I have to see your ad again? Oh my God, I saw you again over here and I'm like, uh-huh.

So what else markets and why is like, one thing I wanna talk about that I know you're doing a great job of is increasing average order value. You know, you free for X what the customer pays. What are some ways you're doing that? Obviously, you have a lot of products. Are there any tactics and stuff you're doing? I also have a podcast.

Yeah. So I'm constantly bringing on the veterinarian who's going to tell me what they did to learn in school and then tell me how they use my medicine out of the times. Gosh, constantly now it's telling customers and having them basically do it. We had a campaign called 100,000 Pet Parents Can't Be Wrong and it's just one pet parent after another going, this is my dog, showing the dog, telling the story. And then because it really is,

like one dropper full sometimes, literally can take change a dog's life. So- And that led to, you have a massive subscription, right? Thousands of customers on repeat billing. So how did you build that side of the subscription? Being able to offer them, hey, you want free shipping?

And that's just for checkout. So it's like a club or like they get specials? It's more they get specials and free shipping and that type of thing. We do have Facebook groups, big Facebook groups that's more kind of like a club. I'm now considering doing maybe something, with me, with the following,

because now we've got so many holistic practitioners and nutritionists who are learning what the veterinarians aren't learning. You know, I thought the first time a pet parent walked into the vet office and they did the checkup for the dog that had the cancer, had the, you know, hemangiocarcoma, had a tumor on their spleen, and it went down 10 centimeters that they'd go,

whoa, what'd you do? And they'd go, oh, I'm taking this and this. And then I thought my phone would be ringing. Yeah, yeah. But I think also doctors and vets, somewhat in their defense a little, is they're also scared of losing their stuff. Oh yeah, like vets, California,

were scared to even talk about it. And I'm like, are you kidding? There's also freedom of speech. If you think it's a good thing. Yeah, but I mean, a lot of like you walk into a pet store, a vet, and even what they sell is all the crappy pet food and crappy products, right? So yeah, I think-

We're in a bottle. It's big. Yeah, yeah. And I didn't do anything I was supposed to. I didn't put it in a box. I'm like, that's a waste. I didn't do anything I was supposed to. I didn't put it in a box and like, that's a waste. I'm not doing that. Okay, well you can't be on Amazon. Okay, well then I'm not gonna be on Amazon.

We're on Amazon. Anyway, yeah, over time you kind of look. Exactly. And I know another big step for you now is, you know, you've already become so dominant in this industry, but maybe expanded into retail and building out that side. So any other, you know, we've covered a lot already

just as we come to a wrap today, any other big breakthroughs in marketing or business that you wanna share with the audience that you've had along the way? Like I know the community has been big, the education you've emphasized, I know you're running a lot on the ad side and maybe let's touch on that.

So you're running Facebook ads, whatever ad platforms and socials.. So you're running Facebook ads, whatever ad platforms and socials. Well, we're a CBD company, so we're restricted on a lot of things. Just about anything that will have us, we'll do it. And you're spending thousands a day running on those platforms. And you've got the podcast as well. That's right.

And socials, organic. SEO, I mean, we're pumping out blogs. we have our team, you know, team of writers that are pumping out blogs, we have vet techs that work for us. Yeah, right. What about influencers? Do you have much with influencers? A few, but never have, we haven't done too much on influencers. I came from the, your dog, I want you something to be wrong with your dog so that I can send you something we tried and it works and then you become an influencer. So it was a little difficult, especially in the pet side. Yeah, it's not just like a box of chocolates

where anyone can eat it, right? So there's gotta be a reason behind it. Right, your dog already has to be experiencing joint pain or have cancer. And then that's a big ask too, for them to try something new and whatever. So it's more of that they reach out to us and hopefully we can establish.

Well, usually, that's why the education's so key because most people don't even realize it's an option. Right, then the dark house cancer, the vet goes take these pills, maybe the tumor, you know. And that's not okay with me, that's okay. I want more than anything to know that you do have options. And then what's great, here's my website where I have one case after another,

and I tell you exactly what I did, and I show you all the pictures, even if they're gross and looking. So, you know, who else does that? You know, who else? I was an expert, you know, who's actually- Yeah, you've really gone above it. And that's why the brand's grown so big.

And I think that's a great lesson. If you're listening, like, you've gone beyond the direct response, just ads, landing page, Shopify store. Like you've really built a real brand, a real community. You're doing all these challenges, the educations, the tours, the podcasts, the spending the time at the grassroots and that's why you have a brand for many years.

So last couple of questions for you as an entrepreneur. I always ask everyone, like we've talked about the wins, the big, you know, amazing things. What's one of the biggest losses or challenges in business that you came through and come out the other side? Gosh, losses. Or difficult moments, right? Whether it was-

Well, I remember, you know, being a woman ain't easy. Yeah. I remember, you know, learning to write a business plan, knew exactly what I wanted to do, went to the SBA 25. Go to the SBA to get a loan. I'm sitting with the counselor. He goes, I just want to let you know

this is one of the best business plans we've ever seen. Send, I sent it, I made copies. I sent it to everybody to show them what a good example is. It's incredible. But can I ask you something? What's a pretty little lady like yourself wanna do this? Why don't you get married and start a family? Well, I was like, what?

Yeah, crazy. So, but still, like, I'm still so damn naive. Like, it still blows my mind how naive I am. But I feel like a lot of people are. And a lot of people, that's why I love what you're doing. Because a lot of people think you're gonna do incredible things. You know, I've put cancer into remissions,

stopped seizures, got dogs to walk again. Where is everybody gonna come celebrate and invite me? No, you have to be. Yeah, that's the thing, I always remind them, like, you can have the best product in the world if no one sees it and never help people. Right, and nobody's gonna be able to talk about it or prove it or whatever.

Yeah, I think we all get into business thinking great product is just gonna sell, but it's like. That damn movie, build it and they will come, no, they don't. Yeah, they don't. Constantly tell them in their face. Yeah, and once you build the product, you have to literally just become a marketer because your main job as a CEO

is to now just get it to the world, right? Like that's how, and I failed for many years until I realized that, and then when I realized that, I got 100,000 people on my fitness programs and changed thousands, tens of thousands alive. It's a great reminder to finish. So let's leave that last quick question. If someone wants to find you, maybe try the product, maybe they have a friend, relative with a pet that could use it, where can they buy it?

You bet. AngelaArdalino.com is my website if you want to be education, see my protocol, things like that. But my product is CBDDogHealth.com and MycoDog.com are my mushroom and adaptogens. And my podcast is Your Natural Dog. Love it. Love it. There you go, guys. That's a wrap. Fascinating episode. Hopefully some great takeaways and learning how to push through in this whole new industry with everything almost against you. But you've done it and you keep doing it. So congrats. Thanks. And guys, keep crushing it. Take care of your pets. I'll see you soon.