Our Team

Diverse Leadership Team.

Ken Barlow: Founder, CEO and Dugger's Dad

Ken runs the show, often reigning in Dugger’s excessive need to be forefront in videos and photo shoots. He is exceptionally skilled at starting new things and making them kind of a big deal: he created the award-winning City of Indianapolis/Marion County website (Indy.gov) that was named the best government website in the country. After that, he co-founded a government payments software company that processed billions of dollars in government payments - and was ultimately sold to a Silicon Valley VC in July 2020. Ken now seems reasonably comfortable with a lower tech lifestyle that includes tasks like weighing the benefits of Bully Sticks versus Collagen Sticks.

Maria Vasquez: VP Business Development and Dog Mom to Ollie

Maria is an experienced sales director who has worked with all types of businesses within the hospitality sector. Her magnetic personality has served her well as she has worked with client contacts at all levels to implement solutions - from creating retail store designs deployed to hundreds of locations to implementing new product trends for the local retailer. Maria travels around helping hotel, Airbnb, and brewery general managers understand the Dugger Dinner benefits, and crafting programs that works for their venue, with an uncanny knack to identify that perfect client bundle.

Marketing, Product and Packaging Consultants
As really the first company in a burgeoning new product space, Dugger Dinners utilizes various consultants as-needed to help us shore up our product, packaging and marketing solutions.  

Dugger: Founder, Chief Excitement Officer and Social Media Champion

Dugger is a 13-year old Shih Tzu / Bichon Frise mix, commonly called a "Teddy Bear" dog. He is not so much a teddy bear, though, when it comes to championing the rights of dogs who visit pet friendly destinations. His catch phrase is: "How pet friendly are you, really, if I can't get anything to eat"? Dugger's birthday just happens to fall on March 22, National Pet Friendly Day.  

Other Dugger Team Members:

Dugger has a handful of other devoted team members with expertise in operations, administration, fulfillment and marketing. He augments their salaries with cuddles and daily affirmations that sound suspiciously like invitations to scratch him on the belly.