Jacob Hensley, Owner and founder, District Dogs Inc.
Hensley’s early hustles as a budding entrepreneur included selling painted rocks as paperweights and hosting candy stand pop-ups around his neighborhood. It’s that spirit that inspired him to start a dog-walking business in 2014, a gig that fostered his idea for District Dogs, a doggie day care and boarding facility that now pulls in over $6 million in revenue and employs more than 100 people.
Armed with a business education, Hensley grew his dog-walking business to seven locations, including a slot at Amazon’s HQ2 scheduled to open next spring, and a recently executed lease at the Wegmans-anchored Carlyle Crossing in Alexandria. District Dogs has entered its next growth phase, Hensley said, and franchising plans are underway.
Take us back to 2014. What was the appeal of starting a dog-walking business? When I was a kid, I dreamed of opening a pet store. I was a shy, quiet person and animals always filled a huge gap in my life…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
