10/21/2026
Tonight, I’m feeling extra proud of my Franklin crew. 🥹🐾❤️
Today was just a SMALL taste of the absolute chaos that’s coming our way this holiday season… and boy, did we get a preview. 😂
Between the doodles, schnauzers, and dogs with criminal records longer than their grooming notes, Cherokee was on her FIFTH aggressive dog of the day. 😭🤣 By that point, we were considering putting a muzzle on Cherokee just to keep her from telling me exactly what she thought about my scheduling decisions. 😂 Sorry, Cherokee. Love you! ❤️
We even had to call in reinforcements from our Trenton location! Ren made a special celebrity guest appearance to help us survive the madness. ⭐😂
And let me tell you, the boss (me 🙋♀️) owes these girls an apology for the Doodle Dandy Disaster she so confidently booked. 🤣
But here’s what really got me tonight…
After some of these girls worked 10, 11, and even 12-hour days, after dealing with difficult dogs, nonstop appointments, and barely having time to breathe…
They still managed to do two things:
1. FINALLY eat the lunch their very apologetic boss sent them. 😂 Apparently, feeding your employees is the least you can do after personally scheduling their villain origin story.
2. LAUGH. ❤️
At 8 PM, when the madness was finally over, they were still laughing. Still joking. Still leaving with good attitudes.
And what makes that even more incredible is knowing that some of these girls weren’t even done working for the day. They still had to go home to their OTHER full-time jobs… being moms. ❤️
Tonight, I took one last look at our security cameras before calling it a night.
And there it was.
A clean lobby. A spotless bathing room. Kennels cleaned. Grooming stations reset. Everything put back in its place and ready to do it all over again tomorrow.
You would never know the absolute circus that took place inside those walls today. 🎪🐩
And I just sat there looking at those cameras thinking…
What in the world did I do to deserve a team this golden?
Because here’s the thing. I can buy the equipment. I can build the business. I can book the appointments (apparently a few too many doodles 🤦♀️).
But I cannot buy the kind of heart these girls bring into my salons every single day.
That comes from who they are as people.
They show up. They work hard. They care about the dogs. They help each other. They laugh through the chaos. And even on the days that test every ounce of their patience, they still find a way to give these animals kindness and love.
And THAT is something I will never take for granted.
So here’s your little reminder as we head into the busiest season of the year…
PLEASE BE KIND TO YOUR GROOMER. ❤️
You might be picking up one dog, but your groomer may have already handled ten others, cleaned up more bodily fluids than they’d care to discuss, wrestled a doodle the size of a small horse, skipped lunch, and still has a family waiting for them at home.
It takes a special kind of person to work in this industry.
But it takes an even more special kind of person to do it with kindness, patience, laughter, and love.
And somehow, I’ve been blessed with a whole team of them.
To my Franklin girls, and Ren for coming to our rescue today: I see you. I appreciate you. And I am SO incredibly proud of you. ❤️
— One very grateful (and slightly guilty) salon owner ❤️
And can we all bow our heads and say a special prayer for Carley’s back? Because whatever position this is, I’m pretty sure it’s not covered by workers’ comp. 😭🤣🙏 AMEN.
