Meet Marilou Lekanne Vaquer of Doggie’s Groom Mobile in North Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marilou Lekanne Vaquer.

Marilou, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We consider ourselves pioneers in the mobile pet grooming industry. When we first started in Miami in 1999, then called Miami Mobile Dog Grooming, we were one of the very first Mobile dog groomers in Miami. My wife, Beatriz was the first to start with the business. Beatriz is addicted to dogs (in a positive way!) and she found a job as a dog groomer for an Australian Mobile dog grooming franchise called Ausie Pet Mobile that a friendly couple bought and started here in Miami and where she received full training. Beatriz immediately fell in love with the whole concept and the profession and thought “I can do this and better!” So, we bought a second-hand van and built a grooming van from scratch. It was an immediate hit in the area. I was still teaching at the time but wanted a change badly. A dog lover myself the decision to join the business was easily made. Beatriz trained me for 2 years before I felt truly ready to go out with my own van. It has been the best decision of my life! I love all aspects of our business: from designing our website, the marketing, the fact that you own your own business and make your own decisions, and working every day with animals is the best! Next week, I’m moving to Los Angeles CA and we couldn’t be more excited! We love the beauty of California and we know that people will love us there as much as they do here in Miami because we deliver a high-quality service and we do it with all the love in the world! When you do something with love, things flow. We are proud of our beautiful red state-of-the-art trucks. We keep them top clean all the time. It’s important that your dog is being groomed in a clean sanitary environment. And we come to you. How convenient is that? A loving one-on-one environment for your dog. No cages, no stress, no nervous barking dogs around, no having to sit in traffic driving your dog to and from the salon, no having to leave your dog behind for many hours. It’s quick, it’s convenient, it’s pure love and a fantastic haircut and clean puppy!

Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, since we were one of the first in Miami to start in the mobile pet grooming industry it really picked up fast since we started. The challenge to expand to California has been a little bigger. It’s not easy moving to a new state and start a practically new business there, even though we’ve been with our business since 1999 and have all the experience in the world operating our business. It’s challenging figuring out the best marketing methods to get in front of new clients. I know that once they try out our services they’ll stick with us but the challenge is to get the clients especially since in LA we’re the new kid on the block.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We offer full service dog grooming at your home in our fully conditioned state of the art vans. We come to you so you don’t have to sit in traffic driving to and from the salon and your dog can enjoy a loving one-to-one environment right at his doorstep without the stress of other barking nervous dogs around him, no cages, no waiting for his owner to come and pick him up. Sure, there are other mobile groomers out there but I know that we are top notch. Our beautiful red trucks are always top clean and sanitary and not just at the end of the day but all the time. It’s important for your dog to be groomed in a clean and sanitary environment. Impossible to find a flea or tick or scary bacteria in our trucks! We offer excellent grooming. You will love your dog’s haircut. We are very confident about that. You’ll notice quickly that we truly do love what we do. We groom with love and a big smile on our face. Lastly, we treat our human clients with respect and proper manners. We respect your time. When we’re running early or late we will always let you know. We’ll text out reminders about your next day’s grooming session. We say thank you and good day, just because that’s the way we like to treat people.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think LA is wonderful for our business! There are millions of dog loving people in LA. People that truly care about their dog and that will appreciate our services and level of care. I can’t say whether the city needs to make improvements or not for small businesses owners like ourselves. I might be able to answer that question better in a few months or year from now. Is LA a good place to start a business like ours? If you do it with love, things will flow! It’s the city of angels after all so have faith in yourself and the universe!

Pricing:

• Small dogs up to 13 lbs $80
• Med dogs up to 25 lbs $90
• Med large dogs $90-115
• Large dogs $100-125

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DoggiesGroomMobile.com
• Phone: (310) 922-0283
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/doggies_groom
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/doggiesgroom
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dogallplaces
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/doggies-groom-mobile-miami

Image Credit:
Doggie’s Groom Mobile

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