Launching a new business can create a sense of nervousness but for Alexis Sprout, the owner, operator and sole employee of The Groom Vroom, any uneasy feelings were quickly put to rest on Day 1.
The Groom Vroom is a house call/mobile dog grooming service based out of Bridgeport that provides service throughout Harrison County.
Sprout previously owned Wagon Wheels, a mobile dog grooming service with a trailer, from 2018-2022 and had built up a large list of clients that were thrilled when they found out she was back in the dog grooming business.
As rewarding as it was when those clients reached out to her with the start of The Groom Vroom, the real validation came from the four-legged clients.
“They recognized me as soon as the first time the door was opened,” Sprout said. “They knew exactly what to do, exactly where to go. There was a two-year gap so it was great that they remembered me.”
Sprout, who lives in Bridgeport with her husband and daughter, is a 2015 graduate of Lincoln High School and was probably destined to work with animals.
“I started riding horses, showing horses at the Braxton County Fairgrounds when I was four years old,” she said. “They would have to strap my feet with a lead rope around the saddle because my legs were too short to go into the stirrups.
“I grew up on a farm in Lumberport with animals and have always loved animals.”
Sprout has also worked as a veterinary technician and at the hospital in between Wagon Wheels and The Groom Vroom.
“I owned Wagon Wheels for about four years and I ended up overwhelmed,” Sprout said. “I wanted a regular 9-5 job where I wasn’t my own boss so I closed the business down and went to work at the hospital.
“After I had my daughter in October, I would see my old clients out and I missed that bond. I told my husband I missed it and what if we did this instead of re-opening the trailer.”
With The Groom Vroom, Sprout brings all of her own equipment, own table, own dryer to a client’s home, creating a relaxed environment for the pets where they are comfortable in their own familiar territory.
She said it normally takes between and hour and two hours to groom a dog depending on what service the client wants and the size of the dog.
“I’ve groomed everywhere from inside the home to the porch to the garage,” she said. “The only requirement is I have to use their tub, shower, water hose, some type of water hook up.
“So far it’s been going great. I’m thankful and blessed that God has led me back down this path.”
Editor's Note: Submitted photos of Sprout and some of The Groom Vroom's satisified customers.
