Fresh Mink™ Pets Founder & CEO Maria Lee-Driver created the all-natural pet product line in 2021. The products – shampoo and conditioner, pet fume, and natural sage – are easy to apply and freshen your dog or cat for up to a week. An entrepreneur and author, Lee-Driver’s vision for a pet line was realized when she wanted her “grand dog” to smell better. She began selling the product locally in North Carolina and buzz grew. She was invited to take her product to the largest pet event in the country, SuperZoo 2021 in Las Vegas.

“When I took my product to SuperZoo, Las Vegas in 2021, people kept coming up to me and telling me I was making history,” said Lee-Driver.

“I had no idea what they were talking about. That’s when I learned I was the only African American there with a pet product line.” Following SuperZoo, Lee-Driver developed multiple partnerships, including one with Entrepreneur Herman Moore. Moore, Founder & CEO of Team 84 – a minority CBE holding company that seeks out mutually-beneficial business partnerships – loved Lee -Driver’s passion and her products.

“Maria checks all the boxes for the types of businesses we like to support,” said Moore.

“First, she’s a passionate entrepreneur who has already succeeded in so many areas. Second, championing female-and minority-led businesses is at the top of our priority list. Team 84 is excited for the partnership.”

Lee-Driver’s entrepreneurial ventures began at the age of 19, opening her first salon, Re-Ons Designing Impressions. She would go on to own and operate salons for more than two decades before shifting to product development.

Lee-Driver began creating products while owning a children’s salon in Pennsylvania. Her all-natural products, Oria’s O’Shay, moved her from salon owner to product developer. In 2010, her products were accepted into Whole Foods Market, where she expanded into 23 of its stores. Maria is originally from Gloucester, Virginia and currently resides in North Carolina. She was the first African American gymnast in her town, the first to get a cosmetology degree in her family, and the first to own a Cosmetology and Barbering School.

Her Fresh MinkTM Pets products are available at the online store and are also featured on Chewy.com.