With the excellent experience of having a successful hands-on lesson with a grooming mentor, Liz searched for similar experiences in her area, but became disheartened when she couldn’t find any. So, she decided to try putting something together herself.

“This would be a great time to tell you an anecdote about how arranging to have someone come to my shop to teach was very difficult and of all the things that went wrong,” Liz quipped. “Honestly, though, it turned out not to be very hard at all, and everything went according to plan. I’ve hosted a Pet First Aid class, a dog trainer Q&A, Girl Scouts Pet Care badge event, and two hand-scissoring classes.”

So, who attends these events?

In addition to Liz’s two full-time staff members, she said, “There are quite a few groomers in the area. And I’ve had groomers come all the way from Vermont for a couple of the seminars we have hosted. The groomers who want to learn are willing to do a lot to get that education.”

When asked what her favorite venture so far has been, she said, “We held a mini dog grooming competition. That one was really important to me. ‘The Shear Determination Grooming Competition’ was more than continued education. We had a group of local groomers who had been preparing for a competition. We arranged a hand-scissoring seminar to prepare our dogs a couple of months before the competition. But when signups went up that year, they filled in less than three minutes, and most of us did not get in. It was our first local competition after the COVID lockdown, and most of us had been preparing our dogs for over a year.

“The thought of all that hard work not paying off was demoralizing to me,” Liz continued. “I thought maybe if we put on a mock competition, then we could all bring our journey to its payoff. We got a Master Pet Stylist to judge for us. I didn’t compete because I didn’t want there to be a conflict of interest. Walking around and watching the judging up close taught me so much that I would never have anticipated.

“The absolute best thing about holding educational events is the people you meet,” she added. “I’m not a people person, but all my best friends came from dog educational events. It’s the best way to find like-minded people with your values; people who you get to grow with and cheer on, whether that means you are cheering from the competition audience or cheering from the other side of the salon. After an event, the feedback I get most is, ‘Will you let me know when the next one is?’ I think that is some very positive input towards my efforts.”

In addition, Liz has been able to see how learning new skills affects her business. “The most popular niche service my shop offers is creative color,” she said. “We do anything from tail tips (rainbow tails seem to be a favorite) to full-body color work. And after a year of studying, we are pleased to be offering hand-stripping now, too. Vallery, one of my fabulous employees, has found a passion for it, and it is so cool to see the healthy change in the hand-stripped dogs’ coats.”

With great enthusiasm, Liz shared, “I would absolutely recommend other groomers try bringing educational opportunities to their areas. Social media has made reaching out and connecting with people so easy. Organizing events is easy; advertising events is easy. The hardest part is coordinating schedules. If you are intimidated about asking a groomer to teach a class, remember that they are just a person. Yes, an incredibly talented, successful, industry-leading person, but still a person!”

So, the next time you lament that you can’t work out a way to attend a grooming event, consider emulating Liz Jackson, a groomer from a small town in rural Maine who is making meaningful changes in the lives of fellow industry members in her area.

To conclude, Liz said, “A couple of groomers have said that they see me as the kind of dog-girl who lifts up other dog-girls. That is the person I want to be, and I’m sure hosting educational events is part of that.”