Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Amos.
Hi Alicia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I spent 11 years in the United States Air Force, and in 2018, during what would become my final duty station in Colorado Springs, I had a spark of an idea I didn’t yet realize would change my life. I was pregnant, raising my 7 year old daughter, caring for two dogs, and navigating a brand new diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. My dogs loved to play outside, which meant they were always dirty — and smells, pregnancy, and MS symptoms do not mix.
At the time, I couldn’t afford regular grooming appointments for both dogs, and one of them wouldn’t tolerate a groomer anyway. That’s when I discovered a small, local pet supply store with self wash stations. They provided everything , shampoo, conditioner, aprons, towels and it was inexpensive, clean, and only five minutes from home. I remember thinking, “This is so convenient. Every community should have something like this.”
I didn’t know it then, but that thought would follow me for years.
In 2019, I was medically retired from the military and moved to Maryland to start my civilian career. We had a home with a big yard, which meant the dogs had even more room to run and get dirty. I often found myself reminiscing about that self service dog wash in Colorado, wishing something like it existed locally. I kept thinking, “Someone needs to open a place like that.”
Then the world shut down. COVID changed everything…how we lived, how we worked, how we valued time and community. It shifted my perspective. In January 2022, I decided that I would be that “someone.” I researched and eventually purchased a K9000 self service dog wash machine, complete with hot water, shampoo and conditioner dispensers, and a built in dryer. My plan was to place it inside an existing business, like a car wash or pet store, but that proved harder than expected.
During this time not only did I decide to buy the dog wash machine, I had also started an LLC that I planned to have several businesses under. I began a cold pressed juice business as well as a residential and commercial cleaning company. I believed I had a plan for that year and the ones to follow but MS had a plan of it’s own. Although I managed everything the best I could and tried to push through symptoms, the reality was that my health was rapidly declining and ultimately collapsed.
By October, I had been out of work on disability for seven months. I reached a point where I couldn’t use the bathroom, shower, brush my teeth, or even sit up in bed without help. As a veteran I reached out to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and they were able to get installed a stair lift in my home and me fitted for a motorized wheelchair, but eventually even those things didn’t matter as I couldn’t get out of bed at all.
In November 2022, I was hospitalized with COVID and sepsis from an infection doctors couldn’t identify for months due to a medication I was taking for MS. I spent a week in the hospital, and when it was time for discharge, they recommended sending me to a rehabilitation facility because of how weak and frail I was. On the seventh day, despite everything, I told them I wanted to go home. They warned me about the long road ahead and advised against it, but they discharged me.
Going home was harder than I imagined. Nothing felt normal. I tried to return to work with accommodation, but recovery was slow, painful, and humbling.
And yet the idea never left me. The self wash. The convenience. The community. The “someone should do this.” Even when I couldn’t walk, the vision stayed alive.
When my husband received orders to deploy to Turkey for a year, everything shifted again. My sister had just moved to Georgia, my parents and best friend were still in Tennessee, and I had no real support system in Maryland. So, we packed up our home, put everything in storage, including the dog wash that had been sitting untouched in my garage for a year, and I moved with my son to Tennessee so I could recover and have help while raising a kindergartener.
Even with family nearby, that season was incredibly hard. It’s indescribable to go from the person I was before MS, strong, active, independent, leading in the military…to someone who had been near death and was now trying to rebuild piece by piece. I didn’t recognize myself, and I didn’t know if I ever would again.
Then, in March 2024, I received a job offer back in Maryland. At first, I wanted to decline. I was scared. I doubted myself physically and mentally. I had become comfortable in my fear, convinced I wasn’t strong enough to start over. But I prayed about it, and doors began opening in ways I couldn’t ignore. Everything aligned for me to move back to Maryland and into one of our family homes.
When I returned and started my new job, something shifted. I felt a peace I hadn’t felt in years, not because of the salary or the title, but because I was finally stepping into a season that felt aligned. From March 2024 through June 2025, I focused on healing, motherhood, and rediscovering joy. I gardened. I became team mom for my son’s football team. I served as PTO vice president. I was present in my life again.
But the dog wash… it stayed in storage.
I talked about it constantly, especially to my sister. I’d visit it from time to time, just to stand there, admire it, pray over it, and dream about the day it would finally sit inside my own store. I wrote down three goals for 2025, and one of them was to “sell/open my dog wash.” Deep down, I never wanted to sell it. I believed in it too much. I believed it was needed in the community.
But three years had passed. My husband started reminding me how much space it took up, how much money it was costing, how it wasn’t being used. And after everything I’d been through, I had paused all business ventures. I wasn’t moving forward but I never stopped believing.
Still, the pressure got to me. I listed the machine on a consignment site. Offers came in, four of them, all below asking price. And every time, something in me said no. It didn’t feel right. I had prayed too long and too hard for this idea to let it go so easily.
In May 2025, I had a sudden thought: Look for spaces for lease. And there it was, a location I had noticed a year earlier while driving. I reached out to the property manager. It was 800 square feet with a negotiable lease…exactly what I had always envisioned.
I toured the space, and it felt perfect. But the biggest question remained: Could my machine even be installed here? Without that, there was no business.
The property manager connected me with a plumber. I didn’t expect much as people often don’t follow through. And honestly, part of me hoped he wouldn’t. I was nervous. What if it did work? What if it was finally time?
When he arrived, he initially said it wouldn’t be practical. The building was already established, and adding the plumbing would be too expensive. I felt relief washing over me, an excuse to walk away. Imposter syndrome was loud.
But then he paused. Stepped back. Looked again. He went to the other side of the wall, took measurements, and said he could run a pipe through the wall into the bathroom and install a pump that flowed through the toilet. He gave me an estimate and promised a written quote.
And then… silence.
Two days became three. Three became seven. Seven became two weeks. Nothing.
I took it as a sign. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
The property manager checked in and offered another plumber. I agreed, but inside I was ready to give up. I even told myself that if I got another offer on the machine, I’d sell it and be done.
And then exactly one month later the plumber finally reached out with a written quote that was $1,000 less than the original estimate.
At the same time, another offer came in for the machine.
It felt like a crossroads: Sell the dream, or step into it.
I prayed harder than ever. I asked for clarity. I asked for courage. I asked for confirmation. And slowly, the distractions fell away. The fear quieted. The purpose grew louder.
I chose the dream.
From that moment on, every barrier that popped up was removed just as quickly. Every challenge had a solution. Every doubt was met with reassurance.
I set a date, October 1st, and committed to it.
From the day I signed the lease, it took 53 days to open my store.
Fifty three days to bring a three year dream out of storage and into reality. Fifty three days to step into the purpose that had been waiting for me since Colorado Springs. Fifty three days to honor the version of me who fought through MS, motherhood, fear, and uncertainty and still believed.
This is how Thyri’s Tubs & Treats was born.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, managing MS alone is a daily challenge. I was in the process of buying a house and going through the initial steps of a divorce. Funding was an issue as I hadn’t specifically planned on opening a store and I was working mostly on my own to get everything done.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Upon getting out of the military I still wanted to work with the government. So I do Agile and Project Management consulting for companies.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’m not sure if I would view myself as a risk taker or not. There’s usually an amount of anxiety or fear associated with taking risks and my outlook on risk taking is that sometimes you just have to do it scared.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thyristubsandtreats.com
- Instagram: thyris.tubs.treats
- Facebook: Thyri’s Tubs & Treats
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/thyris-tubs-and-treats-fort-washington
