We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michele Padron. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michele below.
Hi Michele, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout
When I was experiencing “groomer burnout” (which is sadly more common in our industry than I’d like to admit … I mean, we get into this industry because we love animals, why would we be burnt out of being with animals, right?), I wanted to leave the pet industry completely and make a total career change. I was in a toxic environment, underpaid and underappreciated, and suffering from postpartum depression. When I was ready to quit, I searched for jobs outside of the pet industry, but never got called back after any interviews. So instead of making a career change, I settled with leaving for a new grooming salon.
A year later, I still struggled to find a grooming workplace that was meant for me. My mental health suffered because of the shop hopping. During this time the pandemic hit as well, which made things even more difficult. I finally decided to just stop working for others … I was going to become my own boss.
Starting up Emmy’s Paw Spa has literally been the best thing I could have ever done for myself. Of course there are still struggles with starting a new business … it doesn’t come without its difficulties and hurdles. But the burnout is gone, I am so in love with my job and make every effort to learn more and more about ways to better my craft and make my business flourish. I attend grooming tradeshows and make new friends with other groomers from all over the country. I set my own hours and give myself every holiday off (and even an extended Christmas vacation) to spend more time with my family. I get to pick who I want to service and do not tolerate anyone who disrespects me or my business, and I don’t let them walk all over me. I get to pick clients that I can have a mutual respect with. I get to choose which products I want to carry and use on my clients and have an environment that I can decorate and thrive in. Most importantly, my boss (aka me, hehe), respects and values me. (:
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 am a mobile dog groomer servicing south San Diego, CA–so primarily the Chula Vista area, but I do go to Coronado, National City, Paradise Hills, Spring Valley, Bonita, Imperial Beach, and Otay Mesa area. I work on any and all types of dogs, so long as they are not aggressive and it is safe for them to be groomed. I am working by myself, so I have to take into consideration if it is safe for me to groom this dog, and if it is safe for the dog to be groomed, period (i.e., extreme medical cases or extremely senior dogs, etc).
The most exciting part about my job is that since I am a one-on-one groomer, I get to build special bonds with people’s dogs. Sometimes they don’t take to the grooming process immediately, and with these cases I ask that I see them more often, like every 2-4 weeks, so I can build that relationship and trust that this experience is not as scary and stressful as they perceive it to be. Many of my clients have dogs that have terrible anxiety outside of their home or they are dog-reactive, so by it just being the two of us and being right outside of their home, they eventually learn that they are in good hands.
Mobile grooming has been a very convenient form of dog grooming for pet parents that work from home. They literally just have to hand me their dog and I’ll get everything done inside my self-sustaining mobile grooming van parked right outside of their home and then walk the dog back to their front door. Sometimes the pet parent doesn’t even need to be home. My latch-key clients provide me with a door code or key so I can retrieve and return their dog and then I send them an online invoice to pay by the end of the day. This eliminates tons of scheduling conflicts, especially for people that are always so busy but still need grooming done.
An important goal for my business is to definitely participate more in community events, whether it be pop-up nail trim services at apartment complexes in my area or donation drives for local animal shelters. For myself as a groomer, I would love to enter the world of grooming competitions. I participated in a contest at the grooming tradeshow held in Pasadena in February as a feeler to make sure I actually wanted to be a part of the competition world, and it was so exhilarating and fun. Grooming competitions also help us to enhance our skills by receiving invaluable feedback from masters in the industry, which I can then incorporate into my grooms for my clients.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three things I would say that were most impactful for my journey to becoming the business owner I am today would be …
1) Know your worth. Many of us groomers undercharge for our services because customers or even management (if you are an employee) question us with our pricing. “She’s only 5lbs, how hard could it be?” “It’s just a bath, it shouldn’t be that much or take that long.” That 5lb dog could be crocodile-rolling all over the table and biting the groomer’s hands or tools, making it unsafe to groom that dog. That bath that “shouldn’t take that long” could be a husky with compacted undercoat that’s rock hard on their skin requiring extra conditioning and brushing and time. People don’t understand what we do as groomers and it is important for us to educate them and explain the process we do. Charge your worth because you took the time and effort to learn a skill and do it safely and correctly.
2) Value yourself. Don’t let others walk all over you, make you do things outside of your job description, and don’t give you the time of day to voice your suggestions. I used to work for people that were not groomers, so they didn’t understand our job very well (even if they thought they did). They overbooked us because a haircut is just a haircut, right? “What do you mean that you can’t get through the 5 extra dogs on the waitlist today? They’re really wanting to get in.” Remember, NO is a complete sentence. There were plenty of times myself and my fellow groomer colleagues tried to give suggestions and voice reason with the non-grooming owners, whether about the products we used, or how to schedule, or why we can’t continue to groom 100lb Buddy because he has stress-induced explosive diarrhea when he’s forced into the grooming room, but we were dismissed. If your management does not respect you, you do not belong there.
3) Have grace with your clients. You will learn the difference between clients that take advantage of you and clients that value you but need a bone thrown every once in a while. One thing I learned is that your flexibility will go a long way with clients that respect you. I have young kids, a toddler and an infant, and there have been a couple of times where at the drop of a hat I’ve had to cancel on my clients or reschedule. With the clientele I have now, I have never had an issue with them giving me lip about rescheduling their dog at last minute because they know I do the same for them when they need to move appointments around. The ones that did not respect my time (no show, reschedule/cancel every appointment) or do not give me grace with cancelling are no longer clients of mine (see the beauty of being in control of your clientele?). Respect must go both ways.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
If I am with a dog and I feel overwhelmed, I take a step back and count to 10 while taking deep breaths. Dogs are masters at reading our energy, and if they feel me getting overwhelmed, especially if it’s because of something they are doing, they’re not going to do any better with me. So I bring myself back to calmness, counting and taking deep breaths, and give myself and dog a break to relax our energies. Listening to a podcast also helps me calm down from being overwhelmed. Since I work by myself having podcasts in my ear gives the illusion that I’m listening to friends talk, especially if they are grooming podcasts.
If I am overwhelmed with a difficult situation having to do with a customer (over text message), I give myself some time to relax before responding to anyone. The last thing I want is to come off as unprofessional and disrespectful. As a business owner, I’m the person that has to resolve all of the issues now, I don’t have anyone higher up to pawn these situations off to anymore. However, I don’t mind that too much because as much as I hate confrontation, this helps me learn to communicate better with people in a positive and respectful manner.
Contact Info:
- Website: emmyspawspa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmyspawspa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmyspawspa
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmyspawspa
