Woofie’s franchisee Marcie Campagnola, second from left, with her family and Bernedoodles.
Pet care franchise Woofie’s began as a small venture between friends in 2004 with co-founder and brand president Amy Addington following her passion and starting a new career.
Franchisee Marcie Campagnola did the same when she left her executive position to open Woofie’s of Castle Rock in Colorado in 2023. Her career, though, had already taken some different turns. “I started as a firefighter paramedic here in Castle Rock, Colorado,” said Campagnola. “When my husband and I wanted to start a family, I knew we couldn’t both be firefighters.”
She earned her nursing degree and, for more than a decade, worked in the Denver Health healthcare system, including as an emergency room nurse. In 2018, Campagnola became the CEO of Castle Rock SurgiCenter, an outpatient surgical facility.
“It really wasn’t my goal, but the opportunity became available and I took it,” she said. “I decided I was ready to take a break from healthcare and have some experience running a business.”
Business ownership was the next step, and the pet space was an obvious choice for Campagnola. As the proud owner of two Bernedoodles, Campagnola knows the importance of a good groomer. Woofie’s, which Authority Brands acquired in 2022 and has grown to nearly 40 locations, provides mobile grooming services in addition to pet walking and sitting.
Woofie’s loves a good groom (even if dogs don’t).
After attending a discovery day, which Woofie’s styles as “meet the pack” day, Campagnola was sold. “I thought, ‘This is our future’,” she said. “These people know what they’re doing.”
Using her experience as a CEO, Campagnola is confident in running her business. At SurgiCenter, she oversaw 50 employees. Organizing walkers, groomers and pet sitters is shockingly similar, she said.
A major aspect of franchising Campagnola found attractive was the support. Authority Brands provides a playbook for franchisees starting out and its staff are always in the background to answer questions. Being a franchisee also allowed Campagnola to engage with the community, such as by holding a Paws and Claws event to introduce the brand in her area.
“I’m new to grooming and I’m new to the pet sitting world,” said Campagnola. “I probably would not be successful in that if I did not have the support from Woofie’s.”
Campagnola’s journey is similar to the brand’s founders. When Addington founded the brand with neighbor Leslie Barron, they left stable corporate jobs to open their own business.
“We started off doing pet sitting and dog walking only,” said Addington. “And we built that business up over the years, and clients kept asking us about mobile grooming, which nobody was really taking on.”
Amy Addington is the co-founder of Woofie’s and a franchisee.
Quickly learning the industry, Addington took things head on, including bootstrapping the brand’s first mobile grooming van during the process. Once grooming became a part of Woofie’s, Addington saw stronger relationships with customers, and in turn wanted to see that go-getter attitude in the franchisees she met. Addington herself is making the switch to franchisee when she brings the concept to Delray Beach, Florida, later this year.
“Obviously I’m biased as a co-founder, but it’s a really special business and a special company,” said Addington. “I had that for almost two decades, and moving down to Florida, I could not find that level of customer service.”
The love of her own brand was just part of the draw. The other was the chance to see what her franchisees experienced in training and onboarding, which she still had to go through even with her experience. Seeing what franchisees learn and how they prepare was an important part of the process as Addington wants the next generation of Woofie’s owners to have similar experiences as her.
“It’s so amazing and it’s really special. I think of Woofie’s as a child that I had 20 years ago,” said Addington. “Being a female-founded business, it’s exciting to see new people coming into our system and a lot of them haven’t been business owners before, so it’s been really rewarding to work with people building their Woofie’s businesses.”