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MEET THE GROOMERS
Meet the Groomers: Text
COLLEEN
Owner/Groomer
My story of becoming a dog groomer starts a few years ago. While I was extremely satisfied with my current job at the time, I heard that age clock ticking time away, I knew I was missing that certain thing called “job satisfaction” in my business career. During those meaningful contemplation periods, my thoughts would always revolve to finding a career that would enable me to work with animals – specifically dogs. My thoughts over and over again kept coming back to professional pet grooming. Having shared my life with some special and amazing dogs, I never took our dogs to a groomer, having enjoyed the process of taking care of our fur kids at home, and quite honestly, not trusting anyone to care for my pets. The more I thought about this, I realized that I was not the only person to feel this way.
I had many, many hours of research and phone calls, absorbing as much information on a pet grooming career I could get my hands on. After a tour of the two pet grooming schools in Wisconsin, I chose to attend the Wisconsin School of Professional Pet Grooming in Oconomowoc WI. I had four months, 600 hours of intense schooling and hands on training. I knew the minute I started the grooming program, I would love every minute of it, and I did, even on the most challenging days. The look on a dog’s face when they came in for a groom, nervous and scared, and then the sense of love and respect I felt from the dogs when their grooming was complete, is a wonderful feeling that I will never get enough of. I am proud to say I maintained an A average throughout my schooling and I know I frustrated my instructor (in a good way!) because I coddled the dogs, and I am a perfectionist. I just knew how I would expect a groomer to be and my expectations of how our dogs would be treated and cared for. To me, the dogs in my care are my dogs. Always being gentle, caring, never forcing and treating them as the individuals that they are. I worked with many nervous and fearful dogs, and we worked thru their fears together, with patience, care and understanding.
I am honored to take care of each and every pet that walks into Muddy Paws Salon. It is important to me to have a relaxing and calm environment for the animals and I am not interested in moving a vast number of pets through my salon. Grooming is more than just cutting hair; it is my commitment to give my furry clients the most relaxing and trustworthy care throughout their visit.
Meet the Groomers: Resume
DANIELLE
Groomer
My journey toward becoming a dog groomer started when I was attending the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2013. Since I was a little girl, I wanted a career with small animals; but as I grew older, I still had no idea what path would be best for me. When my Aunt told me that she was going back to school to become a Professional Pet Groomer, it peaked my interest. When she graduated and opened her grooming business, I started shadowing her and also began attending grooming seminars with her to learn from the finest groomers in this profession. From the first time she taught me how to bathe a dog, I knew that this was the career for me.
One thing stood in my way from becoming a groomer at that moment....College. I was a competitive swimmer for 15 years and I worked very hard to receive a scholarship to offset my college education costs. This was an obvious opportunity I could not pass up. In 2017, I received my bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in general business and a minor in history.
After graduation, I returned to work in order to pay for my education at the Wisconsin School of Professional Pet Grooming in Oconomowoc, WI.
I started school in July 2018 and I immediately began to appreciate and love my chosen profession even more. I grew up with Brittney Spaniels that needed bathing only, so I did not realize there was so much to learn, especially pattern work with the many distinctive breeds. School gave me the solid foundation to work with many contrasting personalities and those dogs with health problems. After 4 months and 600 hands on hours, I graduated in October 2018.
I’m excited to have my business degree which has enabled me to help Muddy Paws behind the grooming scenes with bookkeeping, organization, marketing, among many other business related tasks.
My love and passion is strong for all animals, specifically dogs and cats, no matter the breed, age, temperament and health. Making sure the dog feels safe, secure, comfortable, and loved is what I strive for while grooming each and every pet.
I am excited to be a part of the Muddy Paws team and getting to know all of our wonderful customers and their awesome dogs.
Meet the Groomers: Resume
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