Life

“Should groomers be licensed?” is one of the most highly debated questions in the grooming industry at this time. Most groomers believe that there should be some way of separating them from a person who simply reads a book, watches a YouTube video or two and thinks they can be a groomer.

The kind woman who trained me to groom dogs in the early 1980’s happily shared her knowledge about Poodles, Cockers, Chows and every other breed that graced our grooming tables. But she never let me touch a Scottish terrier. Scotties were her breed.

It wasn’t just the thought of going off the road, but the fact that at any given point in my day, no one other than myself knew where I was going or where I had been. That was a scary thought.

“I was one month out of grooming school and had been grooming for just two weeks when I attended my first show,” said Krista Creekpaum. “Learning more was my goal, and eight years later, it still is. It’s true, the more you learn, the more you want to learn.”

“Saving just one dog won’t change the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog.” — Richard C. Call, Philanthropist, Community Leader

Intergroom, which took place in April at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, continued the Barkleigh trend of double digit growth for the 2018 year. This year’s show prevailed with a 14.9% financial increase, a total of 2,841 attendees and over 100 vendors, making it the 3rd largest grooming show in the world, behind Barkleigh Production’s Groom Expo and Groom Expo West.

“Oh Michell. I have a problem with hoarding shampoo. I go to trade shows and learn about new shampoos and then I buy them. All of them. If I read on Facebook that someone likes a shampoo for a particular coat type, I buy it.

SECAUCUS, NJ – Many people have seen the list of the most popular dog breeds in the country. However, that list only includes roughly 16% of the purebred dogs that are registered with the AKC.

“Dear Michell, I have been a bather in a dog grooming shop for over a year now. I see that the groomers make more money than I do and that frustrates me because I spend so much more time on the dogs than they do. I would like to make more money, but I am perfectly happy to continue bathing dogs.

“Last September I was walking through the Groom Expo trade show with Sam and Cynthia Kohl,” says Vicki Zwart, owner of Heritage Pet Center in Parker, Colorado. “Strolling toward us was the industry renowned ‘Dogfather’, Joey Villani. When Joey spotted Sam, he called out to him—“Here comes the legend!” As Sam and Joey shook hands, I began to think about the story behind Joey’s comment.”

“Age is a state of mind. Rather than ask ‘how I keep going’, instead ask ‘why would I stop?’”