Meet Stephen Henry

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Henry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephen, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.

What I’ve found works best for me is to break up the monotony. Some days I’ll do 8 dogs, other days I’ll do 2-4. I have recently started competing at grooming competitions and that has refreshed me mentally. Taking time off to just relax at home is my go to when I’m really feeling the burnout.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I became a petstylist starting a boarding facility where I did a lot of the baths and nail trims. From there they moved me to their grooming department working as a bather. As I became more proficient, I was trained to be a petstylist. I wanted to open my own salon as I started figuring out my approach to dog grooming. I started Luxe Hound because I wanted a space where clients could get their dog groomed with high quality products and get quality grooms. What makes Luxe Hound special is that I was able to collect a group of like minded people who care about the work they do, the pets they work on, and the space they work in. I think that our clients can see that when they come in the door and that makes them want to come back.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think the three qualities that helped me get to where I am are: patience, compassion, and my desire to keep learning. Patience because some things just take time and rushing is not the answer. I tried to start my business the first time when I was only two years in the industry, I didn’t know anything yet! If I had rushed things and started anyway, I would not have the invaluable experience that I have now. Compassion is a big one, in this industry you have to care about the dogs but your employees too. Knowing when to say “no” to grooming a dog is huge and empowering your staff to have that boundary is so important. Clients respect when you take the time to learn their dogs and understand when something is too much. Employees can only work so hard for so long and they must have lives outside of your business. Respecting and recognizing when they need that break makes them want to continue working for you because you acknowledge them as human beings. No one knows everything and things are constantly changing. Continuing to learn and grow as a person and a petstylist has only improved my skills.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

My number one obstacle/challenge that I’m facing is my work/life balance. My business has only been open three years, so I understand that there are a lot of things that I still need to learn and figure out. So far, I’ve been working on scheduling myself fewer dogs so that I can split my focus on the back end of the business. That way, when I get home, I can relax and recharge for the next day. It’s not easy. I started the company with over 100 clients that specifically ask for me, so navigating that has been a challenge that I’ve had to handle day by day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luxehoundsalon.com

Image Credits

wild_ideas_photography ’25
Joseph saaid