Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Karcz.
Hi Jessica, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My past experiences all combined in the best way to help me build PupList.
I started in international development, working with communities and solving real-world problems where resources are limited and outcomes matter. It taught me to focus on what people actually need and value.
Later, I moved into tech and worked as Head of Solutions at TikTok. That world taught me the other side of the equation— product behavior, distribution, and what it takes to build a platform people genuinely want to use every day.
PupList combined that professional experience with a huge personal milestone: becoming a dog mom to my soul pup, Buddy. In those early puppy stages, I was overwhelmed by the choices and expenses—what to buy, what I truly needed, and which brands to trust. At the same time, friends and family wanted to support us, but pet gifting is tricky: people guess, buy duplicates, or choose things that don’t fit a pet’s age, breed, or lifestyle.
And I remember thinking: we have registries for weddings and babies… but bringing home a pet is a major life moment too—emotionally, financially, all of it. People want to show up for you. We just didn’t have a good way to let them.
So I built the thing I wished existed: a pet registry that’s personalized and curated for your specific pet and needs. The goal was simple: make it easy to get the right things, and make it easy for your people to help.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t always been smooth, but I’ve learned a lot—and I’m so proud of what we’ve built.
Creating a marketplace from scratch is no easy task. It takes a lot to build not just a website, but a real platform where people can create registries, shop, gift, and contribute in a way that actually feels easy. There were a lot of late nights making sure the experience worked the way I pictured it in my head—clean, intuitive, and genuinely fun to use.
Second, there’s the awareness piece. When you’re the first to market with a new idea like this, there’s a process of helping people discover it exists—and then get to that lightbulb moment of, “wait… why haven’t I always been able to do this for my pets?”
And lastly, as we grow, I’m really protective of that loving, dog-mom feeling that inspired PupList. I never want it to turn into a lifeless, oversized marketplace. It should always feel like it was made for modern pet parents by modern pet parents—warm, curated, and full of that “I love my furbaby like family” energy.
As you know, we’re big fans of PupList. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
PupList is the first-of-its-kind pet gift registry + product marketplace for dogs and cats. That means you can shop all your pet essentials —but we also offer features that set us completely apart. Most notably, our registry feature lets pet parents create a personalized list of products based on their pet’s breed, age, and more—then friends and family can gift items directly to you. We specialize in helping pet parents feel supported, especially during milestone moments like adoptions, new puppies/kittens, pet birthdays, and holidays.
Big marketplaces may offer tons of products, but they don’t help make pet parenthood easier. PupList brings premium curation, personalization, and community support—so you’re not just shopping, you’re finding the right things for your pet. We’re building the place you go when you want pet shopping to feel thoughtful, simple, and actually helpful.
And I’m really proud of the brand experience we’ve built—and the heart behind it. PupList feels modern, premium, and friendly—like someone with great taste who loves pets just like you do and genuinely wants to help. We’ve built relationships with hundreds of brand partners, we’ve grown to tens of thousands of users, and we’ve done it without losing the curation and trust that make this whole thing work. Bringing home a pet is a major life moment, and we believe it deserves the same celebration, community, and practicality we build around other milestones.
Any big plans?
Long-term, my vision is for PupList to become the default place people go to celebrate and care for their pets at every stage. People already see their pets as members of the family—we’re just building the platform that finally matches how they actually feel.
A big focus for us right now is expanding the “support” side of the platform, because pet parenting isn’t just about buying cute things (although at PupList, we love cute things). That means scaling our Cash Funds feature so community support can extend beyond products into real-life costs like vet bills, grooming, and boarding. We’re also investing in tools that help pet parents make smarter ongoing care decisions—like comparisons across services (insurance, vets, and more). On that note, we’re looking to expand our partnerships with local Austin shelters and pet service providers to build more connections for pet lovers in our own community. Basically, if you can come to PupList for the right products and the right guidance in one place, we’ve done our job.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.puplist.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pup.list/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564853905577
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/puplist/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pup.list
