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On the ShelfBy The PetRetailNews Desk3 min readAugust 29, 2026
Pawse Hired a VP Whose Entire Resume Is Opening Specialty Doors. The Channel Priority Is the Whole Story.
Pawse created a senior role and filled it with someone whose track record is winning shelf space at independents.
Pawse hired Craig O'Keefe as Senior Vice President of Business Development, a newly created executive role.
The resume that matters
O'Keefe's prior stops: Executive Vice President of Sales at Dog Owners Outdoor Gear, Senior Vice President of Sales at Dog Gone Smart and P.L.A.Y. (Pet Lifestyle and You), and Co-Founder and President of California Solutions/Pet Aromatics. The company said he has decades of experience in the pet products industry and will lead the sales organization, oversee strategic business development, and focus on expanding distribution across pet specialty, independent retail, and natural grocery channels.
Pawse is a CBD and pet wellness brand. The company said it has built a reputation for science-backed products that dealers and pet parents trust, and that O'Keefe will help establish Pawse as the premier brand in the pet CBD and wellness category.
Our read: the channel priority is the whole story
Executive hires are only news when they signal a strategic shift, and this one does. Pawse created a senior leadership position and filled it with someone whose entire track record is opening doors at independents and natural grocers, not mass, not Amazon, not DTC performance marketing. That is a bet on brick-and-mortar specialty.
The CBD and wellness category is competitive. Pawse is choosing a path where you hire someone who knows how to win shelf space in stores that still value premium positioning, and the hire itself tells you they think that path still has margin in it.
What it is NOT: a signal that Pawse is abandoning online. It is a signal that they think the next phase of growth lives in physical retail, and that the person who can deliver it is someone who has done it before for premium brands in adjacent categories.
If you stock CBD or joint supplements, O'Keefe will likely show up with a pitch in the coming months. The company said his focus is expanding distribution and building key retail partnerships across pet specialty and independent retail.
The decision you are facing: do you have the category space to add another CBD line, and does Pawse's specialty-first strategy mean they will protect your margin better than the brands already racing to Chewy?
The failure mode is assuming the pitch will be the same as every other CBD brand. If O'Keefe brings the approach he used at prior brands, the pitch will likely emphasize retailer support and channel strategy. Know what you want before the call, because the rep will ask for something specific in return.
For brand operators trying to win specialty distribution for the first time: Pawse's hire shows one path. Hire someone who knows how to win shelf space at independents, and build the pitch around protecting the retailer's margin instead of racing to the bottom on price.
Where this lands
Pawse said O'Keefe's leadership will be instrumental in bringing the brand to more retailers and more pet families across the country. Bradley Kerrick, Co-Founder of Pawse, said O'Keefe is one of the most accomplished sales leaders in the pet industry, and that his deep industry relationships and strategic vision make him the ideal leader to drive the next phase of expansion.
The company said demand for premium pet wellness products continues to increase. The question for independents is whether that demand translates to sell-through on your shelf, or whether it stays online where you never see it. Pawse is betting it translates, and they hired someone whose entire job is to prove it.
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