his is 55 for me, and these eight poodles are part of my story.

It all started when I was 14 and working at a kennel. At 20, I graduated from grooming school, and that is when I fell in love with the industry. I saw Creative dogs and said to myself, “I will do this one day.”

In the 90s, I started competing with all breeds but gravitated toward poodles. I had many private lessons with top competitors, including Liz Paul. At that time, I could only compete a couple times a year but loved every minute of it.

I also stepped into the ring with my Creative design, and after competing for many years, I was ready to step it up. So, I went to learn from the best of the best in Creative, Angela Kumpe and Lori Craig. I pushed myself year after year to get better, which eventually lead to competing in Abstract Runway.

I was so fortunate to travel with my dogs all over the U.S. through competing, and was even featured on the CBS morning show. I also got picked to be in a documentary on Creative grooming, Well Groomed, which ended up at South by Southwest film festival and on HBO. My heart dog, Gucci, and I went to so many festivals that year and I loved every minute of it.

Then, when 2020 hit, things took a turn for the worst and I almost lost my life to COVID. But little did I know that 30 groomers from all over the U.S. showed up one weekend and groomed all of my clients for me. I still cry about it to this day, and I’m not sure if everybody will ever know how grateful and humbled I was that they did that for me.

When I tell you my pink poodles have a purpose, it’s true, because they are my story, and every poodle in this photo has a story. I truly love this industry and thank God every day for allowing me to do what I love, because life is short and you never know when it’s your time. So live life to its fullest and enjoy each day, take a trip, eat the cake, and buy a poodle.