Raynie Hosto has found the perfect business in her new franchise, Woofies of North and East Tucson. With decades of experience in customer service and a profound love of all creatures, Hosto didn’t buy a job, she bought a ministry that brings her pleasure and satisfaction.
“Woofies is really a combination of things I’m passionate about,” she said. “I love animals. I’ve had some rough days and my pets ground me. I have a deep love for animals, and I am passionate about providing customer service. It’s a combination of customer service for the humans and the pets.”
At its core, Woofies is a mobile grooming company, but Hosto considered it so much more.
“We go to the customers,” Hosto said. “We do mobile grooming, pet sitting and we do dog walking. Really, everything you should need with a pet… other than veterinary services.”
That means all pets—dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, rats and mice.
“We’ll even care for animals who have special needs,” Hosto said. “Recently, we cared for a diabetic dog. We learn their care plan on the front end. We do a free consultation with the humans and learn their care plan, and then we can come in and care for their dog because they’ve shown us exactly what to do in their absence.”
Along the way, pet parents are reassured that things are going according to plan. An app reports when and where the Woofies van has shown up, then pictures of the pet being cared for, followed by a journal entry that describes the services and condition of the pet.
“(Clients) know their pets are healthy,” Hosto said. “The pets are being fed, they’re being taken care of.”
Hosto opened her Woofies’ van doors on July 1. Almost immediately, she discovered an untapped market.
“I feel like now that I’m in this and experiencing this business, quite often people call in a panic because they’re in the hospital and they need someone to watch their pet,” she said.
“It’s just so nice to be able to say, ‘We got you. Don’t worry about it. We’ll show up; we’ll take care of your pet.’”
When Hosto said she would take care of a family’s pet. Sometimes, if she or a staff member is comfortable, they will take a pet home and care for it there.
She learned her customer service skills while working with a local grocery chain and 17 years with an Arizona state agency.
“I really thought my background had equipped me with the knowledge and experience I needed to run my own business,” she said. “I saw it as the next step in my career and at a time in my life when I could do it.
Hosto looked at a series of franchises, but when she met the Woofies team, they felt like family.
“(I felt like) you weren’t out there doing it on your own,” she said. “You have a support team to help you and I really liked that it wasn’t just mobile grooming. It was mobile grooming, pet sitting and dog walking because I think if you need a mobile groomer, chances are you’ll need somebody eventually to watch your pet… I like how it was all-encompassing.”
Woofies team answers its phones, too, which appealed to her.
To buy into the franchise, Hosto had to purchase an outfitted mobile unit, a Mercedes Sprinter. Woofies’ staff grooms on the van using water that they bring. After the water has been used to wash and rinse, it waters the trees on Hosto’s street. Hosto and her husband had to fly to Indiana to get the van, and the first time she saw it, she felt one thing.
“Proud,” she said. “Proud because I’m the first person in my family to own a business.”
Woofies of North and East Tucson’s boundaries from Corona de Tucson, through Vail to the eastern edge of Tucson, Sabino Canyon and then up to the Catalina Foothills, Oro Valley, Casas Adobes, and Tortolita. Fees for services depend on services, the size of the pet, and the breed.
For Hosto, the main thing is caring for family members who are also animals. In caring for the animals, she knows she is caring for their humans.
“That is so gratifying to me that clients don’t need to worry about their pet because we’re going to take care of them,” she said.
Woofies of North and East Tucson
520-771-0717
woofies.com/north-and-east-tucson
This article appears in Nov 7-14, 2024.
