Your dog isn't ugly or basic — so why is their leash?
and that's exactly how it all began.
Christine Abdelmalek, the brains (and heart) behind Pink Papyrus, had her “aha” moment on a totally ordinary Costco run with her husband, Kirollos. She saw the cutest dog on the street… with the ugliest leash ever. Boom — lightbulb.
Only one small hiccup: she was a full-time pharmacist, pregnant with her first baby, with zero product design training or experience.
So what do you do? You skip the rest of the shopping trip, curl up on your worn-in leather couch, and launch your vision from there.
And just like that, what would eventually become Pink Papyrus was born — a brand dedicated to making dog accessories that are stylish, functional, and anything but ugly and boring.
AS SEEN IN
A BRAND IS BORN
Pregnant with her first child, Christine had the idea for their future brand on a Costco trip with her husband, Kirollos. Hours of brainstorming in the parking lot sparked a dream that day. Later, on a car ride from Las Vegas, they settled on the name Pink Papyrus—“Pink” for Christine’s obsession with the color, and “Papyrus” honoring their Egyptian heritage.
Fun fact: The brand was almost called The Pink Elephant!
$1,000 & A NEWBORN
With no capital, design experience, or clear plan—and their first baby on the way—Christine and Kiro started small: Christine hand-made dog t-shirts from home with a $1,000 investment. By the time Isabella arrived, she was selling custom tees on Etsy, learning both parenthood and entrepreneurship on the fly.
DESIGNING PRODUCTS OF HER OWN
Christine decided to design her own products, and take her ideas from sketches to reality. She began sourcing all her own material, hardware, and manufacturing partners—all while still working full-time as a pharmacist.
She also upgraded her work space from the couch to the laundry room (hey! space is limited, and you gotta use what you got!)
Big leagues. Small space.
Pink Papyrus landed seasonal placement at Dillard’s, selling gift sets. To save costs, Christine and Kiro assembled thousands of sets themselves at home before shipping them to the warehouse—an experience that made Christine vow never to buy a gift set again.
HEY! WE NEVER GOT PAID FOR THAT
Pink Papyrus expanded into an east coast women’s boutique, both in-store and online. Things were great until Christine and Kiro realized they were never paid. After months of unanswered calls and emails, while the store continued selling out of their products, they learned the retailer had gone under and been acquired, leaving a loophole that meant Pink Papyrus—and other brands—would never actually receive payment.
THE PETSMART PARTNERSHIP
They were down, but not out.
Christine and Kiro received an opportunity to partner with PetSmart. They funded the first production run by cutting expenses, selling a car, committing to eating only canned tuna, and saving every penny. That year, Pink Papyrus launched their rope leashes at PetSmart, and Christine finally left Walgreens to run the brand full-time.
THE GREAT PRODUCT BOOM
In 2022, Christine and Kiro welcomed their second child, Raphael into the world.
Pink Papyrus began to grow their product offering and grow their team. Through it all, Christine refused to leave her cozy little laundry room office.
She still takes all her Zoom meetings with her signature red washer and dryer in clear view behind her.
GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT
After many years of repetitive requests, Pink Papyrus finally launches their dog harness collection. It goes on to sell out multiple times.
Christine has a face to face meeting with the buying team at Chewy, and they decide to partner up in launching Pink Papyrus on the Chewy platform. It becomes a huge success and continues to grow.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Isabella recently said that when she grows up she wants to be a "Pink Papyrus Product Designer" and Raphael is really into unloading product inventory into the warehouse bins. He's not too concerned with whether the product is going to the correct location.
Christine and Kiro will be married for 11 years and are still thrilled they named the brand Pink Papyrus and not the Pink Elephant.
The big family debate is whether or not they should always have laundry machines in Christine's office to make her feel at home.
TEAM PINK FAVORITES
JOIN THE PINK PAWTY
THE PINK PAPYRUS PAW-SPECTIVE
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