Stacy La Point, President and Founder of Fresh Is Best®, started her company almost 25 years ago when there were very few options for fresh pet food and healthy treats. The lack of options inspired her goal, which remains today, to produce raw, human-quality, meat-based, grain-free pet foods and treats, and make them available to pet caregivers on virtually any budget. After all this time, her company remains small and committed to the quality of each batch.
As an avid pet lover, Stacy began her interest in pet nutrition when her dog Jade, a 6-year-old German Shepherd, was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease (an auto-immune disorder) in March of 2000. It was that research, to help Jade live with the disease, that led her on a journey of changing her own way of thinking about pet nutrition, food, health, and longevity.
Stacy started preparing dog food at home with a few well-known authors’ books on pet nutrition as her guides. That led to making food for the pets of several friends and family, whose interests were piqued when they saw the success of raw feeding. Word continued to spread and soon there was a waiting list of people wanting fresh food for their pets. She took on the help of an animal nutrition scientist and, in 2001, was able to ensure that the accepted nutritional profiles for dogs and cats, as determined by the Association of Animal Feed Control Officials, are met, or exceeded in each recipe.
Stacy named the company with her belief in mind that pets are our truest companions and deserve the best fresh foods for a healthy long life. Now, almost 25 years later, Fresh Is Best® continues to serve fresh whole food, to dogs and cats all over the United States.
Susan Howell, DVM, graduated with her veterinary degree from Washington State University in 1997 and is the owner of Thrive Wholistic Veterinary Care. She is dedicated to changing lives—one pet at a time—through functional nutrition, whole food therapy, Chinese medicine, muscle testing, acupuncture, and soft tissue manipulation. She holds certification in TCVM acupuncture and food therapy from Chi University, is an Advanced Nutrition Response Testing practitioner, and is currently an Animal Normalization Therapy (ANT) student. She worked in industry as the Veterinary Support Professional for Standard Process, Inc., teaching veterinarians and pet parents the value of whole food nutrition. She has served as a director on the Board of Directors for the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA).
Dr. Howell’s greatest joy comes from education that leads to application—supporting each individual pet’s wellness and natural ability to heal so that they can live their best and longest life. She is also the proud pet parent to two rescue dogs, Jenny and Rush.
Dr. Kelly Hood started her professional career in the music industry before switching gears to veterinary medicine.
She started working in a kennel of small animal hospital and over time worked her way through various aspects of the field including general practice, shelter and emergency medicine before gaining acceptance to the Veterinary College at North Carolina State University.
While in vet school she was an active member of Christian Veterinary Missions and went on five trips to the Cherokee and Navajo reservations and also volunteered with the ASPCA deploying three times with the medical team to care for animals in need.
Since graduation she works primarily with companion animals and after hours urgent care. In her downtime she enjoys reading, music, hiking, and sewing.
