“CEF wanted to see us succeed and while they required a lot of information to approve the lending, they were supportive and helpful throughout the entire process.”
– Marcie Campagnola, Owner

Q&A with Owner, Marcie Campagnola

Give a high level overview of your business. What products or services you offer, where you're located, etc.
We offer pet sitting, dog walking and mobile pet spa services. We serve all of Douglas County and have been in business in Colorado for 1 year.

What inspired you to step into the world of small business?
I spent 30 years working in healthcare, the last 5 years working as a CEO navigating the challenges of Covid and expansion simultaneously. I decided if I was going to put that much time and energy growing someone else's business I could put the same effort into developing a business for my family.

What neighborhood is your business located in and what do you love about that location?
Our business is located in Douglas County Colorado. We purchased 2 Woofie's territories because It was important to us to be able to serve all of Douglas County due to our history here. Our children are 6th-generation Douglas County residents.

What lead your business to seek out new/additional funding?
We provide a luxury service and it is important to provide our clients the best. We underestimated start-up costs to maintain the quality team and equipment our clients deserve.

Describe your difficulties in obtaining funding for your small business and how that impacted you and your small business.
As the owner, I stopped working my previous job to develop our business, relying on my husband's income for our personal expenses. Though we showed revenue, because I wasn't drawing a salary, I wasn't eligible for a business loan with our bank. Our business would have closed without CEF funding.

What was different about working with CEF compared to other lenders?
CEF wanted to see us succeed and while they required a lot of information to approve the lending, they were supportive and helpful throughout the entire process.

How did the funding you received from CEF make a difference for you, your employees, or even your community?
Our business likely would have closed without the funding. The SBA loan allowed us to stay solvent and to help keep our team of 30 employed.

Tell us about some of the defining moments for you in your business, whether struggles or successes.
A defining moment for our business was when we had enough clients and bookings that we had to grow our fleet to keep up.

What is something you're looking forward to in the next 3-6 months in your business?
The increased revenue that the holiday season should bring.