Photos provided by PupLuxe Grooming
hat sets us apart from a salon is just the convenience of having someone going to your front door and picking up your dog and not having to wait three to four hours for a dog to be done,” says Jessie Colon-Sanchez, co-owner of PupLuxe Grooming, the premier mobile pet grooming choice for the Orlando area. “This is a lot quicker and keeps the clients’ schedules on track.”
Jessie’s husband and co-owner, Johan Colon-Sanchez, likes to say they’re not just in the business of grooming, but in the business of convenience.
“People have very busy lives and don’t have an entire day to carve out for their dog’s appointment,” Johan adds.
In 2022, the couple went to the Atlanta Pet Fair together, and on their way home to Florida, they started talking about the idea of going mobile and writing down how they would want the business to grow.
Together, they found the perfect van, customized it inside and out, crafted a digital presence, and put all the systems and processes in place to establish PupLuxe Grooming, a full-service mobile grooming salon serving Orlando and its surrounding communities.
PupLuxe Grooming offers three packages: the Luxe Bath Service, which is an all-inclusive bath service, complete with premium shampoo and conditioning, blow-drying, teeth-brushing, nail trim, gland expression and more; the Mini Groom, which covers everything in the Luxe Bath Service plus a face, paw pad and sanitary area trim; and the Full Groom, which includes all the Mini Groom services plus a full-body haircut and styling.
Although he had never owned a dog or worked with animals, Jessie started working with dogs at a veterinarian hospital in Roanoke, VA, helping in the kennel and learning the vet tech side of the business.
“That’s where it kind of lost me, because I wasn’t a fan with all of the emotions that come with that,” he shares. “I had a friend at a pet retail store, and she told me about an opportunity for a groomer, so I tried and ended up falling in love with it.”
“I did dabble in mobile for a while, but then I went back to corporate because I wanted to learn all the management stuff and started taking things more serious,” Jessie explains. “I started listening to more influencers—all these incredible people who groom and take it really seriously—and I just wanted to be a part of that.”
Once he didn’t want to continue in the corporate retail space anymore, Jessie felt the time was right for his own mobile company, as he had success in his previous mobile experience. And since it wasn’t long after the pandemic, a lot of people were still wary about leaving the house and were uncomfortable about public places.
“COVID changed the landscape entirely; suddenly so many people were working from home and a lot of people moved here to Florida because it was one of the first states to open up, and there was a huge demand,” Johan says. “Within our first three months, we grew exponentially. The mobile model just made it easy to jump on the opportunity.”
With more than 10 years of marketing and design experience, Johan’s skills were the perfect yin to Jessie’s yang, who knew everything about grooming and managing a business as a salon leader.
“I love what I do and seeing my clients and working with the dogs. Now, with our team, I have more of a work-life balance, which also brings me fulfillment.”
“I love what I do and seeing my clients and working with the dogs. Now, with our team, I have more of a work-life balance, which also brings me fulfillment.”
Early on, it was challenging for the couple because they didn’t really know what to expect, so they were just taking things day by day and making adjustments along the way. Still, the calls came in quickly, and Jessie was working six days a week. They learned very quickly that scheduling is the most important aspect of mobile grooming.
“It was a hectic start and very explosive at the beginning,” Jessie recounts. “I did a lot of driving around because a big part of our marketing was our van—it’s big, black, and has faces of dogs on it, so it looks really cool. Almost all vans are white, so we paid to have it wrapped to standout.”
Today, PupLuxe Grooming has three vans, four groomers, and a fleet manager who manages all the bookings, social media and maintenance for the vans.
“Two of the groomers were people I had trained and taught how to groom, and I also found groomers on Indeed,” Jessie explains. “I love what I do and seeing my clients and working with the dogs. Now, with our team, I have more of a work-life balance, which also brings me fulfillment.”
As the mobile business continues to attract customers, the couple has thought about one day opening a brick-and-mortar shop to complement its business and appeal to those clients who don’t want a mobile groom for their dogs.
“Originally, the brick-and-mortar did not interest me, but now people are going out more and there are a lot of great benefits of having a store front,” Johan notes. “Right now, we store our vans in separate storage facilities and it would be nice if we had one central location where they can be maintained. We also can then have a retail model, selling treats, toys, and accessories.
“With a salon there is more room for scalability, and we find that really attractive. We are hoping that will be the next step; I think a fleet of three is perfect for one city,” Johan concludes.