07/20/2026
This weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Heart of America Grooming Show in Overland Park, where I took many seminar/certificate courses, learned from some of the top names in the pet grooming industry, spent way too much money at the trade show, and had an absolute blast doing it all with my incredible mentor Cayli B**r!
Now, I can’t lie… I have to have a moment to humbly brag about something REALLY COOL that happened over this weekend.
On Friday afternoon, Cayli and I got to chatting with one of the instructors from a seminar that we attended, and she mentioned that she needed a new demo dog for a class she was teaching on Saturday afternoon; the one assigned to her did not match the description of what she needed. She needed a dog with a big fluffy face for her demonstration, and Cayli and I immediately thought of the same dog: one of her clients, Namaste. She is the most well-behaved dog I think I’ve ever seen on our grooming table, she will quite literally fall asleep in your hand. Best part? Her mom was on board almost IMMEDIATELY, and on such short notice!
Now, here was the kicker: all demo dogs needed to be bathed and prepped the DAY OF their demonstration. That meant Namaste would need to be bathed and prepped (including a haircut of her body, the instructor only needed her head and face to be incomplete) the next morning. Cayli had already been signed up for classes all day on Saturday, I had been on the fence about going on Saturday, so I hadn’t yet registered. Namaste is one of Cayli’s most prized clients, so I knew she was thinking about how she could manage to bathe and prep her AND attend her classes for the next day. I’ve worked on Namaste a few times with Cayli, so I turned to Cayli and said, “Do you trust me?”
With full confidence and not a second thought, she said, “I trust you.”
I was simultaneously ecstatic and terrified. I was going to be prepping a dog for one of the top instructors of the pet grooming industry. My work would be representative of not only myself, but my mentor and my shop. I needed to make my mentor proud of what I’ve accomplished thus far, and prove to her that I was the right person for the job.
Well, you guys… I did it. I haven’t done many haircuts completely unassisted yet, but I think I proved to myself that I can do it with the right tools, products, and confidence.
Namaste did fantastic as a demo dog, and she got her face cleaned up and rounded out by a really amazing master groomer.
Thank you always to Cayli, for being the best teacher, coworker, and friend to me, and for having full confidence in me.
I’m so lucky to have this career 💚
