All change starts with an idea and a glimmer of a passion… Finding a Future in Doggie Day Care A Telecommunications Executive Follows Her Bliss to Become a Successful Franchiser By Elizabeth Garone When Amy Nichols says that her career has gone to the dogs, it’s a good thing. Ms. Nichols, a former telecommunications sales executive, is the founder of Dogtopia, a national chain of upscale day-care centers for dogs. Ms. Nichols approached seven banks before she secured a loan for Dogtopia Ms. Nichols always knew that she wanted to work with animals. “I didn’t want to sell animals. I wanted to be caring for them,” she says. But, after college, she thought she should get a “real job.” Following in her father’s footsteps, she chose telecommunications. In the late 1990s, she built a career working for a number of the big players: Bell Atlantic (which later became Verizon),… Read More
