We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Priscilla Garcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Priscilla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve taken was switching careers and finding what I wanted to do in life. Prior to the pandemic, I worked for a well-known musical instrument company as an HR representative, went to school for business management and got certified with employment law. I thought I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. However, I found myself feeling burnt out, and coming home frustrated (working 12 hour days, and being on-call) from my job. On the weekends, I would go visit my mom and she started doing house pet grooming. She would ask me if I wanted to help her and, naturally, said yes.

Fast forward to the pandemic, March 2020, I get laid off from my corporate job (just like most of us). I told my husband that I was not going back to an office job; I needed a change…

I called my mom and told her what had happened, and she asked if I would love to groom until I found out what I wanted to do. She paid for my online classes, received my First Aid/CPR certifications, taught me the ropes about grooming.

We started doing house-calls, advertising in our neighborhoods,and started grooming in our houses. Because many salons closed down, we took the risk of starting Leo’s Pet Grooming. Fast forward to June 2020, we both buy our first bus.

As someone who has always had stability, medical insurance, paid vacation/sick time, the whole shabang, this was an area where it was gray to me. So, buying a van and not knowing what was next was a risk and it was a scary risk. But something about purchasing the bus, felt right.

My mother and I would get the worst of the worst dogs: pelted, full of ticks, aggressive, you name it! We’d have clients cancel last minute, wouldn’t pay, super neglectful to their pets ( we learned from these red flagged clients).

Fast forward August 2021, and I started Fresh Paws Mobile Spa. My mom ventured out and I started my route. Building our bus from scratch was a huge risk for my husband and I. We didn’t know where to get funds and where to start. We dipped into our savings and started our build.

*As a pet groomers, we go through many roller coasters of emotions, especially as a mobile pet groomer. Appointments need to be within a certain time frame in order to reach your next appointment on time, we are a one man show(we don’t have help), our van occasionally breaks down, we have to be careful on the road, etc. *

We expanded our business in September 2023 with a second unit and found our second groomer end of October.

We now have two units running, have an amazing team, help rescues, great clients and continue to expand.

As a business owner, we have to take risks or else we’ll always wonder the ‘what if’. As a business owner, I learned that stepping out of the gray and failing, is okay. It’s okay to fail, you try again until you find your niche.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I thank my mother for introducing me into the pet grooming industry. She has always been an entrepreneur and taught us what hard work is like.

When she arrived with my sister (by herself) from Argentina, she immediately found a job as a seamstress. Then opened up her Bridal shop on 7th street in Long Beach, where we lived in the back of the shop for a bit.

She has had an event planning business, a driving school, cleaned houses and now has her own mobile pet grooming business (ig: @leosmobilpetgrooming). She is the type of person who always finds nothing and makes a job out of it,

Also, I look up to my sister. She, also, is in the pet industry, but styles instead. She has a 9 to 5 job and has her business,@prettykitty_petaccessories.

At Fresh Paws Mobile Spa, we offer pet grooming services for cats and dogs. We, also, specialize in dogs with behavioral issues. We’re a one on one service, provide pet grooming services at our clients door steps, and are stress-free/cage-free.

I am proud of our clients who go the extra mile to make us feel comfortable, proud of clients who trust us with their furry family members and continue to support us and refer us, we are proud of our clients who book with us and pay on time, we are proud of our clients who listen to our advise because they want to see their dogs succeed,and lastly,
I’m proud of our groomer, Melissa, for being the best biggest team player/groomer.

We treat your furry family members as if they were our own and do not push boundaries. We build trust and a relationship.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

My first van that I purchased with my mom was funds from my savings and severance package. The van alone was $21,000. However, because this an ended up being a lemon vehicle, my mom and I ended up only paying 14k. Later, she bought the bus from me which was applied to my unit.

My first,first unit, my husband and I dipped into our savings. The unit(van alone) was 41k, the build was 30k, and equipment within another 12k. All of these funds were from our savings.

Second unit, some funds were from our profits and the rest from our personal savings. Second van was 47k, the inside build was 35k, and equipment was 14k plus recruiting costs, about 1k.

I learned about small business grants after I got my second unit after taking classes at Cornell University.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me has been our clients, other small businesses, and other pet businesses. There’s a community out there that is always hyping you up, sharing your content. Most of the time, our clientele are referrals. We thank these businesses for sharing Fresh Paws Mobile Spa.

Additionally, we do a lot of pro bono work for rescues (we may not post it, but the fact that we can help dogs in need, gives us that feeling of giving them a second chance at life).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.freshpawsmobilespallc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freshpawsmobilespa
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freshpawsmobilespa
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fresh-paws-mobile-spa-fullerton

Image Credits

Entry picture by @backinaflash_photography
picture of the kermit and miss piggy(my personal dogs) @lzgphotography