Colorado best knows Heidi Ganahl as the founder and top dog of Camp Bow Wow, the country’s largest pet care franchise.

Heidi’s passions are canines, kids, and her country. 

Spurred from her love for dogs and concern over bleak conditions of the old style kennels, she conceived a better type of dog care business. As a single mom in 2000, Heidi launched Camp Bow Wow, investing the last of her savings. That fall she opened the first Camp in Denver, and three years later started franchising the concept. Now with over 200 franchises, Camp Bow Wow is one of the largest and fastest growing brands in the pet industry, and one of the largest pet care companies in the world.

Heidi was recently featured as one of the 10 Most Promising Entrepreneurs by Fortune Magazine. She led Camp Bow Wow to make the Inc. 5000 list 5 years in a row, and was named the Denver Business Journal’s Colorado Business Women of the Year.
Heidi’s a mom to four -- Tori is a college junior at Oregon, Hollie attends first grade in Boulder County, and twins Jack and Jenna are 3. She’s also married to the state’s top BBQ champion. Jason just opened GQue, his first restaurant, in Westminster.

She was blessed to move to Monument, Colorado from Southern California when she was young, and graduated from CU Boulder, followed by grad school at DU. She grew up in a loving family, but not a prosperous one, so she worked multiple jobs to pay for college, relying on student loans and Pell grants to fill in the gaps.

Heidi knows the challenges of hard work and of overcoming adversity. She believes quality, affordable education is key to success for our children, our economy, and our future. She cares deeply about Colorado, and is committed to keeping our state GREAT for all our children. Last year, she launched the non-profit Moms Fight Back to give Colorado moms a voice in how to make our state great again for our kids. Additionally, she serves on several non-profit boards focused on education, entrepreneurship, and school safety, including as a Director at the University of Colorado Foundation.

If you know Heidi, you know she bleeds black and gold. Her love for CU, along with her belief that we need to be the change we want to see in the world, is why she’s inspired to serve as CU Regent.