I’ve always loved animals and had numerous different types growing up. I had dogs, cats, a bird, bunnies, fish, and guinea pigs—basically, anything I could beg and plead my parents to let me have. I had a few different breeds of dogs as a kid: German Shepherds, Brittany Spaniels, and two Miniature Schnauzers. My family got a male Schnauzer when I was around three; then, a few years later, my parents bred him with a friend’s Schnauzer and kept a female pup from the litter. She became my primary dog—her name was Gizmo, and she was my best friend. When I was a teenager, I taught myself how to groom her. She lived to be 17.

When I got married later in life, my husband already had a Chow Chow that was a show dog. He would put her in dog shows, and I would help him groom her at times. We later went on to have three kids, and I talked him into getting a Schnauzer. We named her Lilly. She was such a special dog to our whole family. She absolutely loved people so much that she would turn down treats if it meant she could go greet and make a new person fall in love with her too. She succeeded most of the time, even converting non-dog people as well.

We later decided to get a show-quality male and breed them, which resulted in a very sweet and awesome litter. I talked my parents into taking one of the six, and we kept two. I would take them all for walks and would always have people stop and ask me what groomer I took them to. I would tell them I did it myself. They would then ask if I would groom their dogs, which were usually a different breed, so I would tell them I only knew how to groom Schnauzers. I used to ask my husband, “How cool would that be if I could do that for a living? I could love on all types of dogs all day long and get paid to do it!”

So, I decided to go to grooming school and learn how to groom other breeds of dogs. I went on to work at a grooming business with multiple groomers and later worked at a boarding/daycare as their Master Groomer.