The Founders

The Only An Ocean wave aligned in 2009 during a brief pet industry trade show meeting in Chicago, between Cheryl Pedersen and Jolanda van der Basch. During the last two minutes of a weeklong show, Jolanda insisted she take Cheryl’s Poochie-Bells back home to the Netherlands, and introduce them to the European market. More interested in wrapping up the show than anything, Cheryl agreed, and the two women went their separate ways.

True to her word, Jolanda successfully introduced the new concept of a dog doorbell “PoochieBells” to the European market. A deep friendship began, and with it a renewed energy. Cheryl and Jolanda believed together they could open up a refreshing new distribution channel, and provide hope to like minded entrepreneurs. After all, Only An Ocean shouldn’t prevent innovative products from reaching their full potential. 

Years later, with millions of dollars in sales behind them, Jolanda and Cheryl have built out a best in class team, and Only An Ocean is doing what it set out to do.

Cheryl Pedersen: Based in Charleston, SC, Cheryl founded Poochie-Pets in 2005 with a single product, PoochieBells. Now the industry standard for dog training doorbells, Poochie-Pets has grown into a full line pet product company with distribution in over 5,000 top retailers. Her entrepreneurial spirit has been her fuel for success, and in 2015 she was recognized for her efforts when the industry named her, “A Pet Industry Leader – Woman of the Year”.

Jolanda van der Basch: Based in the Netherlands, Jolanda is the founder of Van Der Basch Trading. Leading the Van Der Basch Trading company, Jolanda personally scouts new pet products to introduce and distribute to markets in America, Europe and beyond. Her product introductions have been awarded at several industry trade shows and she continues to be recognized as an industry icon for product recognition.

Arnie Freilich: Arnie has over 40 years of senior leadership experience in both public and private companies. More than half of that time was spent as a management consultant focused on operational and functional excellence in marketing / sales / accounting and finance. He is the CEO of Financial Intelligence which provides specialized accounting, administration and data services to finance management of publicly-owned global and national companies. Arnie was also Chapter Chairman of Charleston SCORE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to business mentoring and education.