My Story…

Through personal and professional tragedies, beginning with the loss of my beloved husband to losing a million dollar insurance settlement, I have triumphed over extraordinary adversity. By turning my life-long passion for dogs into the largest doggy day and overnight care franchise company in the world, creating a related charitable foundation and raising a fabulous 12-year-old daughter as a single mom, I have accomplished great success. Through these experiences, I have gleaned personal wisdom and business acumen which I am eager to share with those who are searching for fulfillment, wishing to find strength to face life’s personal and professional challenges, or simply want a good read.

Bion and I began building a life together full of happiness and with a limitless sense of hope for the future. We were two highly motivated, energetic twenty some-things with entrepreneurial spirits and an abundant supply of energy. Together we conceived the idea of starting a doggy day and overnight care business born out of our love for dogs and the need for a market alternative to the bleak conditions of the traditional kennel environment. With this motive, Camp Bow Wow was born. The concept was totally novel and in many areas of the country remains so to this day - the philosophy is simple, Camp Bow Wow is a place where a dog can be a dog.

As a young couple from middle class families, Bion and I lacked the resources to start the business, so the plan was shelved until the “future”. The future for us would never come. Shortly after we finished developing the Camp Bow Wow business plan, my family treated Bion to a surprise private flight in an open cockpit stunt plane for his 25^th birthday. Bion loved adventure and was thrilled with the gift of this special ride. My parents accompanied Bion to the airstrip that tragic day that he died and bore witness to the crash that killed my best friend - my husband.

Bion’s untimely death had a paralyzing effect on me. For years afterwards, I lost sight of all the hope that gave me the drive to make something of my life. All the energy and spirit I once had was channeled into all the wrong directions. In an effort to cope, regain direction and jump-start my life, I hastily got remarried to a man I was close friends with in grade school. Unbeknownst to me, he had severe addiction problems which quickly contributed to the failure of the marriage and the seven year custody battle with his mother in which I become embroiled. Added to the shortfalls in my personal life were the loss of almost the entire $1 Million settlement from Bion’s crash in court costs for the custody battle, unreturned loans to friends and family, a series of bad investments and the failure of two start-up businesses which I founded. Nothing seemed to be going right.

Finally, in 2000, as a somewhat lost, single mom with only $83,000 of the dwindling settlement left, I was encouraged by my brother to finally start Camp Bow Wow. I pulled the dusty business plan off the shelf, rolled up my sleeves and jumped head-first into the most challenging undertaking of my life which has grown to be the one of the largest women owned franchise and pet industry businesses, the largest doggy day care company in the world and a $25 Million leader in the $47 Billion United States pet sector. This bumpy road has presented me with all sorts of tests and tribulations, but the rewards, mostly non-financial, have been unparalleled.

The timing to start Camp Bow Wow was perfect. I was ready to devote myself to a business I loved and felt I had no choice but to succeed…failure was not an option!

After investing the last of my savings and a lot of sweat equity, I opened my first camp in December of 2000 near downtown Denver. In 2003 I started franchising the concept and by 2007 sold over 200 franchise businesses. Camp Bow Wow came to fruition because I believed in myself and overcame fears and shunned naysayers. I respect and admire everyone who overcomes personal hardship, follows their passion and comes out on the other side shining with their version of great success. My story aims to offer encouragement and incentive as well as advice on overcoming extraordinary personal suffering to an audience who may be fearful of taking chances, growing or leading a business, or ultimately of achieving their dreams.