More than ever, women are choosing Entrepreneurship. Empowered Women International helps women by giving them the training and tools they need to succeed in starting and growing their business. Laura Rojas is one of the past participants of EWI’s Entrepreneur Training for Success (ETS) program. Her business is Animal Company.

A Passion for Paws

by Aisha Sowe, EWI Intern          

More than ever, women are choosing Entrepreneurship. Empowered Women International helps women by giving them the training and tools they need to succeed in starting and growing their business. Laura Rojas is one of the past participants of EWI’s Entrepreneur Training for Success (ETS) program. Her business is Animal Company.

Working with animals is Laura’s passion. Growing up in Colombia, she studied Veterinary Medicine at Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia in Bucaramanga and became a Veterinary and Zootechnical Doctor in 2007. Laura emmigrated to the United States from Colombia in 2017.

Upon arriving to the U.S., Laura learned that she would need to acquire certain credentials to legally practice as a Veterinary Doctor in her new home. This process can take many, many years and resources. However, Laura was determined to continue working with animals.

“Not for a single minute did I consider working on anything that would take me away from pet hair, wagging tails, and friendly barking. So, I decided to start my venture as a pet groomer while pursuing formal education.”

Laura learned about EWI through a local friend and joined the Entrepreneur Training for Success (ETS) program in October of 2019. ETS is an EWI program to help women entrepreneurs develop a business plan to start or grow their business. Some of the activities and exercises that she took part in were establishing a vision and mission for her company, performing a market analysis, developing marketing strategies, and creating a vision board to determine her short and long-term goals. During her time in the program, she received the guidance and knowledge she needed to expand her business.

Today, Laura is operating her own business called Animal Company founded in 2018. They offer personalized, in-home pet grooming services. “This is very convenient to the [pet] owners as they will avoid the stress of scheduling an appointment, struggling with the traffic for dropping and picking up the pet at their local grooming salon,” she explains. Their services includes nail trimming, ear cleaning, bathing, and grooming for dogs and cats.

Animal Company has been operating for about 2 yrs. “As a Veterinary doctor in Colombia, I have experience handling and working with animals and considering my knowledge in managing animals, decided to provide an expert grooming service focused on the well-being of the pets and adjusted to the owner’s needs.” Laura says. They operate six days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Animal Company is also a family affair; her husband helps out on the weekends by setting up tables, driving, and cleaning up after grooming services.

Laura plans to expand her business into a network of groomers that would work using her brand and providing the same quality service to their customers. “In addition, I am looking forward to including the selling of cosmetic products for pets,” she added.

The training and skills Laura acquired through EWI’s Entrepreneur Training for Success program will have a lasting impact on the success of her business.

“Thanks to Empowered Women International, I overcame several obstacles and difficulties in developing a marketing strategy, customer management and the related costs of my business.”

EWI Alum, Laura Rojas with her Mentor, Wilmarie Hernandez at the ETS program final Pitch Event.

When describing her time in the program, Laura said,

“Empowered Women International was a wonderful experience, very productive and beneficial to my business...The freedom to express questions, fears, and feelings make me proud to have graduated from this EWI program”.

After participating in ETS, she gained confidence on the creative decisions she makes with her company. “Knowing the fundamentals of my business, I feel the conviction and firmness necessary to grow.”

Like many immigrant women who come to U.S., Laura found a way to continue working her passion through Entrepreneurship. Empowered Women International was there to help her create a sustainable business doing what she loves! Animal Company serves DC & neighboring areas.