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When&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-he-him-gludt-01476741?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-woofies-rookie-of-the-year-franchisee-built-a-thriving-pet-care-business-in-north-baltimore-2732365" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Rob</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-gludt-9813862b7?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-woofies-rookie-of-the-year-franchisee-built-a-thriving-pet-care-business-in-north-baltimore-2732365" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Kelley Gludt</a> decided it was time for “one more chapter,” they realized it didn’t mean they had to start from scratch. Instead, they could return to something that had always been part of their story: entrepreneurship.Before joining&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=how-woofies-rookie-of-the-year-franchisee-built-a-thriving-pet-care-business-in-north-baltimore-2732365" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Woofie’s</a>, Rob and Kelley built diverse and complementary careers across multiple industries. Kelley worked as an editor before spending 20 years as a rabbi. Rob’s career spanned a wide range of hands-on and operational roles, including fire prevention, meat cutting, tour guiding, delivery driving, and product specialization. Together, they also had prior experience as small-business owners and franchisees early in their marriage.“Rob and I owned a franchise when we first married back in the early 1990s. We had already been small business owners,” Kelley said. “Then our careers went in very different directions. One day we looked at each other and said: ‘It’s time for something new.’”That decision led them to launch their&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/info">Woofie’s</a> franchise in North Baltimore in the summer of 2024, and less than a year later, they earned the brand’s Rookie of the Year award.<h2>A Family-Driven Return to Business Ownership</h2>For the Gludts, the decision to return to business ownership was about intention. “When we decided we wanted to get back into business together, we had some experience in franchising,” Kelley said. “Since this is going to be the last hurrah for us, we knew we didn’t have two to five years to figure it out ourselves. We wanted the turnkey business, the support, and someone who would get us up and running as fast as possible.”Their search was deliberate. “We did a lot of research. What we were looking for was something that wasn’t brick and mortar and was somewhat recession-proof,” Kelley said. “It had to be something we enjoyed doing and something we could do as a family.”That search ultimately led them to Woofie’s —&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/woofies-franchise-opportunity-2731735">a modern pet care brand whose values aligned closely with their own</a>.“From the first time we reached out to Woofie’s, they had a relationship-focused vibe, which is what we wanted coming from the nonprofit world,” Kelley said. “They were relationship-focused toward clients and franchisees.”That connection was also personal. “We are urban farmers, we have a flock of chickens, a border collie, and we’ve always had dogs,” she said. The Gludts were already living the lifestyle that Woofie’s serves, making the transition into pet care both natural and meaningful.<h2>Rapid Growth and Community Momentum</h2>Since launching, the North Baltimore territory has seen impressive traction. “So far, the business has been great,” Kelley said. “We have a lot of pet sitting on the books. We are busy, and it’s a lot, but it’s been great.”But for the Gludts, success is less measured by numbers and more by the ability to build something together. “Our son is incredibly involved in the business, and we are hoping he takes over the business one day,” Kelley said. “He is very involved, walks a lot of dogs, and does a lot of the back-end paperwork.”Another major factor in their success has been&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/woofies-amy-addington-pet-care-franchise-growth-2731646">the support from the Woofie’s team and network</a>.“The support has been great from the Woofie’s team. They have been incredibly helpful,” Kelley said. “Big or small things, they are always there. We had the company's founder visit to ensure we had the support we needed.”That level of accessibility has made a difference. “We’ve never felt like we were on our own… Our fellow owners have also been so supportive,” she said. “It’s a culture that they are very intentional in creating.”<h2>Recognition That Came as a Surprise</h2>Despite their rapid growth, the Rookie of the Year award wasn’t something the Gludts were chasing.“I was at the convention in Nashville, and I was shocked,” Kelley said. “It was very unexpected. You put your head down and get through it all, so it was really nice to have the hard work appreciated.”While their early success is significant, the Gludts are already thinking about what comes next. “Big picture, the goal for the business is to potentially fill out the territory and move into the city of Baltimore and crack the urban model,” Kelley said. “We have a lot of ideas on how to make an urban Woofie’s work.”Reflecting on their journey, Kelley said the biggest lessons go beyond the numbers.“If I could talk to myself from two years ago, I would say trust your gut, and it would be OK,” she said. “Of course, I probably wouldn’t have believed myself! Finding a good match is really important as well. You have to look past the number to both the product and the team.”In the end, success in franchising is about more than the investment. “You are going to be spending a lot of time with the product and with the team,” Kelley said. “Don’t just look at the bottom line number. You need all of it to work.”For more information on buying a Woofie’s franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies">https://1851franchise.com/woofies</a>.

Woofie's Rookie of the Year: Gludts' North Baltimore Franchise Success

1851 Franchise

After wide-ranging careers, Rob and Kelley Gludt launched their Woofie's pet care franchise in North Baltimore in 2024, earning Rookie of the Year recognition in their first year.

This brand page has been paid for by WOOFIE'S. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

How Woofie’s Rookie of the Year Franchisee Built a Thriving Pet Care Business in North Baltimore

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When&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-he-him-gludt-01476741">Rob</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelley-gludt-9813862b7">Kelley Gludt</a> decided it was time for “one more chapter,” they realized it didn’t mean they had to start from scratch. Instead, they could return to something that had always been part of their story: entrepreneurship.Before joining&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/">Woofie’s</a>, Rob and Kelley built diverse and complementary careers across multiple industries. Kelley worked as an editor before spending 20 years as a rabbi. Rob’s career spanned a wide range of hands-on and operational roles, including fire prevention, meat cutting, tour guiding, delivery driving, and product specialization. Together, they also had prior experience as small-business owners and franchisees early in their marriage.“Rob and I owned a franchise when we first married back in the early 1990s. We had already been small business owners,” Kelley said. “Then our careers went in very different directions. One day we looked at each other and said: ‘It’s time for something new.’”That decision led them to launch their&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/info">Woofie’s</a> franchise in North Baltimore in the summer of 2024, and less than a year later, they earned the brand’s Rookie of the Year award.<h2>A Family-Driven Return to Business Ownership</h2>For the Gludts, the decision to return to business ownership was about intention. “When we decided we wanted to get back into business together, we had some experience in franchising,” Kelley said. “Since this is going to be the last hurrah for us, we knew we didn’t have two to five years to figure it out ourselves. We wanted the turnkey business, the support, and someone who would get us up and running as fast as possible.”Their search was deliberate. “We did a lot of research. What we were looking for was something that wasn’t brick and mortar and was somewhat recession-proof,” Kelley said. “It had to be something we enjoyed doing and something we could do as a family.”That search ultimately led them to Woofie’s —&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/woofies-franchise-opportunity-2731735">a modern pet care brand whose values aligned closely with their own</a>.“From the first time we reached out to Woofie’s, they had a relationship-focused vibe, which is what we wanted coming from the nonprofit world,” Kelley said. “They were relationship-focused toward clients and franchisees.”That connection was also personal. “We are urban farmers, we have a flock of chickens, a border collie, and we’ve always had dogs,” she said. The Gludts were already living the lifestyle that Woofie’s serves, making the transition into pet care both natural and meaningful.<h2>Rapid Growth and Community Momentum</h2>Since launching, the North Baltimore territory has seen impressive traction. “So far, the business has been great,” Kelley said. “We have a lot of pet sitting on the books. We are busy, and it’s a lot, but it’s been great.”But for the Gludts, success is less measured by numbers and more by the ability to build something together. “Our son is incredibly involved in the business, and we are hoping he takes over the business one day,” Kelley said. “He is very involved, walks a lot of dogs, and does a lot of the back-end paperwork.”Another major factor in their success has been&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies/woofies-amy-addington-pet-care-franchise-growth-2731646">the support from the Woofie’s team and network</a>.“The support has been great from the Woofie’s team. They have been incredibly helpful,” Kelley said. “Big or small things, they are always there. We had the company's founder visit to ensure we had the support we needed.”That level of accessibility has made a difference. “We’ve never felt like we were on our own… Our fellow owners have also been so supportive,” she said. “It’s a culture that they are very intentional in creating.”<h2>Recognition That Came as a Surprise</h2>Despite their rapid growth, the Rookie of the Year award wasn’t something the Gludts were chasing.“I was at the convention in Nashville, and I was shocked,” Kelley said. “It was very unexpected. You put your head down and get through it all, so it was really nice to have the hard work appreciated.”While their early success is significant, the Gludts are already thinking about what comes next. “Big picture, the goal for the business is to potentially fill out the territory and move into the city of Baltimore and crack the urban model,” Kelley said. “We have a lot of ideas on how to make an urban Woofie’s work.”Reflecting on their journey, Kelley said the biggest lessons go beyond the numbers.“If I could talk to myself from two years ago, I would say trust your gut, and it would be OK,” she said. “Of course, I probably wouldn’t have believed myself! Finding a good match is really important as well. You have to look past the number to both the product and the team.”In the end, success in franchising is about more than the investment. “You are going to be spending a lot of time with the product and with the team,” Kelley said. “Don’t just look at the bottom line number. You need all of it to work.”For more information on buying a Woofie’s franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/woofies">https://1851franchise.com/woofies</a>.

Pet care is no longer a "nice-to-have" category - it's a lifestyle category. Pet parents want trusted professionals and services that fit seamlessly into their busy schedules. That's where&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/">Woofie’s</a>, the full-service mobile pet care franchise, wins.“One of the biggest differentiators is our full-service mobile pet care,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwilsoncfe/">Jordan Wilson</a>, Chief Development Officer at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.authoritybrands.com/">Authority Brands</a>. “Woofie’s blends pet grooming, dog walking, and pet sitting, so it stands apart from concepts that focus on only one service line.”And the timing matters. Woofie's is no longer a small but emerging concept proving its model - it's a scaled, award-recognized brand, positioned for accelerated growth with the support and infrastructure of Authority Brands behind it.<h2>A Brand Built on Trust, Grown Through Service</h2>Woofie’s was founded in 2004 in Ashburn, Virginia, by neighbors&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/blog/women-in-the-pet-care-industry/">Amy Addington and Leslie Barron</a>, two corporate professionals who saw a gap in their own community for reliable pet care. What began with walking a single dog for $10 quickly grew as word spread among local pet parents who valued trust, consistency, and personalized care. As demand increased, the founders expanded beyond dog walking into pet sitting — including overnight and 24-hour care — and later into mobile pet grooming.Over the next decade, Woofie’s earned regional and national recognition for service excellence, including being named one of the Top 100 Small Businesses in the U.S. by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and appearing on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/12/21/woofies-is-looking-for-their-next-dog-groomer.html">CNBC’s “The Job Interview”</a>.After years of refining the model in company-owned operations, Woofie’s launched franchising in 2018. A pivotal moment came in 2022, when&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/authority-brands-acquires-woofies-and-launches-emerging-brands-initiative-301467530.html">Woofie’s was acquired by Authority Brands</a>. Since joining the Authority Brands family, Woofie’s has accelerated development, expanded its national footprint, and strengthened its operational systems — positioning the brand to scale more confidently while staying true to the community-driven values that have guided it for more than 20 years.<h2>The Strength of the Woofie’s Mobile, Recurring Revenue Business Model</h2>One of Woofie’s greatest strengths as a franchise is the simplicity of its model. At its core, Woofie’s is a mobile, service-based business. That means franchisees avoid the expensive overhead and complex buildouts that come with traditional brick-and-mortar concepts. Instead of managing a storefront, owners focus on scheduling, staffing, and customer experience, allowing them to scale as demand grows in their territory.At the same time, Woofie’s is not dependent on a single service, nor is it selling a job as a groomer. The brand is explicit that aspiring owners do not need to be groomers to start. They need to be business-minded leaders who can build a team and follow the playbook. The brand combines&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/choosing-a-mobile-pet-grooming-franchise/">mobile pet grooming</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/dog-walking-franchise-opportunity/">dog walking</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/pet-sitting-franchise/">pet sitting</a> (including overnight and bed-and-biscuit care at a sitter’s house) to create recurring revenue streams within the same household. Grooming clients often become dog-walking or pet-sitting clients and vice versa, increasing lifetime customer value without requiring additional marketing spend. And because the brand serves recurring needs, customers have more reasons to stay engaged year-round.“Our franchisees are very heavily community involved,” Wilson said. “Sometimes they’ll go set up at events and have their mobile service. In other words, it’s not just a service business — it’s a neighborhood brand.”Just as important: Woofie’s isn’t selling a job as a groomer.&nbsp; Woofie’s positions itself as a lower-cost entry into pet services — the estimated initial investment ranges from approximately $180,423 to $294,651, as reported in Item 7 of the Franchise Disclosure Document. For many candidates, this hits the sweet spot: a business you can build and scale without the heavy buildout and long construction timelines of traditional brick-and-mortar concepts.<h2>The Backing and Support of Authority Brands</h2>Looking ahead, Woofie’s is well-positioned to leverage the emotional pull of pet care, along with the operational support of a multi-brand franchisor. As part of Authority Brands’ portfolio, Woofie’s can lean into shared resources, proven playbooks, and growth expertise to support franchisees."The operations and support team is very in tune with our network and works one-on-one with our owners,” Wilson said. “They involve their franchise owners, and they utilize them for best practices to ensure we’re offering the best product to our clients." And in pet care, the product is trust. Woofie’s protects that trust with training and standards designed to professionalize service delivery across markets. The brand’s partnership with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.akc.org/">American Kennel Club (AKC)</a>, for example, gives Woofie’s teams and franchisees access to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.akc.org/products-services/akc-safe-grooming-program/">AKC S.A.F.E. Grooming Program</a> and standardized safety training and certification pathways. Additionally, the brand also has premium strategic partnerships with Vet Telehealth and The Farmer’s Dog, elevating service quality and brand trust.“The fact that all of Woofie’s support team is so accessible has exceeded our expectations, and this gives us great confidence,” said Teferi Dejene, owner of Woofie's South Riding, Virginia.<h2>Why Now: The Category Is Rising and Woofie’s Is Still Wide Open</h2>The<a href="https://americanpetproducts.org/industry-trends-and-stats"> amount spent on pets in the U.S.&nbsp;</a>(products and services) in the last year was over $128 billion. Pet grooming, once an afterthought, has become a consistent, high-value service. The United States&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-pet-grooming-services-market-report">pet grooming market&nbsp;</a>is now worth over $2 billion, with the global market topping $6.89 billion.&nbsp;And&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics">with over 96 million households owning at least one pet</a> and pet care spending continuing to climb, pet parents are spending more on services, not less. Convenience is also becoming a deciding factor. Woofie’s is built to capitalize on that shift."The mobile grooming spa concept has exploded in popularity, largely driven by the shifting work landscape,” said Wilson. “The need for a convenient service like this is highly correlated with people transitioning back to the office after working from home."At the same time, Woofie’s remains in an expansion phase with meaningful territory availability, giving early- to mid-stage owners the chance to enter while whitespace still exists, but with a concept that’s already proven and supported at scale. The brand is currently prioritizing expansion in Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Los Angeles, CA; Cleveland, OH; Charleston, SC; San Antonio, TX; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; and Charlotte, NC.So, who is the brand looking for?&nbsp;“Woofie’s is a fantastic business opportunity for the right person — someone who loves pets but understands that success comes from running it like a professional operation,” Wilson said. “You don’t have to be a groomer, but you absolutely have to be ready to be a business owner. If that sounds like what you are looking for, Woofie’s is an amazing opportunity in the booming pet care industry.”For more information, visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://ownawoofies.com/">https://ownawoofies.com/</a>.

image of woofies franchise, the Full-Service Pet Care Franchise for Modern Pet Parents

With mobile grooming, dog walking, and pet sitting under one brand, Woofie’s delivers multiple revenue streams and a convenience-first customer experience.

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How Woofie’s Rookie of the Year Franchisee Built a Thriving Pet Care Business in North Baltimore

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