Photos by Mike Forgie
lthough she went to college for marketing and graphic design, Nicole “Cole” Crow, CPDT-KA, CCDT, MGBS, CPG, realized that once in the industry, she didn’t really like what she was doing. She thought back to the jobs that helped her earn money for her degree—working at dog kennels and dog daycares—and came to the conclusion that working with animals was her true calling.
“I decided that I wanted to go that direction and start my own business, but I had absolutely no capital to work with,” Nicole recounts. “I then spent the next decade working at an animal hospital, studying everything I could about animals, and started a professional pet sitting business. This way I could build up my career and clientele with little start-up funds.”
“I took business classes in college and took additional classes at our local community college, as well as seeking help from S.C.O.R.E. to set up the backend of the business legally,” she shares. “I took plenty of continuing education to make sure I was doing everything the right way, including being insured and bonded.”
With a trained team in place, available to clients 24/7, Nicole watched as her business grew to hundreds of satisfied clients and knew it was time to expand. Originally, she thought she would just open a little boutique with pet supplies and run the pet sitting office from there, with maybe a groomer or two, but those plans changed quickly.
“Before I knew it, the grooming side absolutely exploded,” Nicole exclaims. “Within a year or two, I enrolled myself in grooming school. I was able to learn quickly with my experience with animals and the artistic side of my brain. I absolutely loved it.”
Over the last decade, Nicole has made Paws & Anchor, located in Bradley Beach, NJ, the premier dog grooming shop on the Jersey Shore. The salon provides specialized, cage-free grooming services with a focus on personalized, supervised care. Each dog is assigned to a dedicated groomer and is carefully monitored throughout the process to ensure safety and comfort.
“I love my team so much; they are all amazing humans, and I am so lucky to know them and even luckier to work with them,”
– Nicole Crow
“I love my team so much; they are all amazing humans, and I am so lucky to know them and even luckier to work with them,”
– Nicole Crow
“One of the biggest key strategies was utilizing Barkleigh’s continuing education business classes,” she explains. “The first couple of years, I was running my business completely wrong. I was able to save my business following their advice. There are nuances to this industry that are not covered in standard business classes.”
Nicole’s design background helped her understand that image is everything, so she made sure that all aspects of Paws & Anchor looked clean and professional, including how the groomers presented themselves.
“Stylists working in human salons look great when they go to work; I knew we should have that pride in ourselves, too,” she shares. “Everything the client sees, from printed and digital material to inside the salon to how we present ourselves, is so important.”
When it comes to marketing, Nicole has always gravitated to a guerilla-style concept from the ground up to promote her business.
“I worked for a record label for a while, where I learned a lot about guerilla marketing, so that’s initially how I started,” she explains. “But honestly, we don’t do and have never done a lot of advertising. We encourage word-of-mouth. We do the basics on social media, and we get involved with the community so people know about us. Basically, anything we can do on a small or non-existent budget. It’s a bit of a ‘if you build it they will come’ mentality that has worked for us.”
“I love my team so much; they are all amazing humans, and I am so lucky to know them and even luckier to work with them,” she exclaims. “One person is really great with old dogs, and we have another person that just loves puppies. I personally do behavior modification and training for the grooming process with my Master Groomer Behavior Specialist certification and my CPDT Dog Training Certification, on top of my grooming skills.”
All of the Paws & Anchor groomers participate in continuing education annually, and are also AKC Safety in the Salon certified, Fear Free certified and IPG certified.
“It’s so important to keep learning,” Nicole expresses. “Beyond our continuing education hourly requirements every year, we also reimburse our staff up to $200 a year for any continuing education purchases, and they have the freedom to make their own choices with what they are interested in. We also encourage our team to go to at least one of the grooming shows each year.”
Like in any business, she’s found that kindness goes a long way in aiding in success.
“We got a reputation for being ‘so nice’ early on,” Nicole shares. “I like to talk to clients like I’m their friend or family member. I like to be real and honest while also treating them with kindness.
“We also do a lot of client education,” she continues. “I might speak to a client at length about brushing, matting prevention, or little training tips for home. And, you know what—smile. Just smile, people—come on, everything is nicer when you smile.”
To build on their good reputation, Paws & Anchor has been involved in a number of community events since the beginning.
“We have also done that same setup for a lot of community events in our area,” she adds. “We’ve done charity drives, creative in-store events, and we regularly donate to charity gift auctions.”
Another way Paws & Anchor has given back to the community is by hosting a dog safety class at the local elementary school. And, earlier this year, Nicole welcomed the Pre-K class of Bradley Beach Elementary to the shop as part of a school trip.
“We taught them all to be groomers with stuffed animals,” she explains. “It was adorable! They wore smocks, ‘washed’ their dogs, watched a tutorial video of me grooming a dog, and then used a bunch of grooming kids toys that we purchased to ‘groom’ their dogs. We followed up by letting them put accessories on them. Who knows, they might be the next generation of groomers!”
With Nicole’s dog training background, she would love to eventually have a larger facility that includes a doggy daycare, training classes and a self-service dog wash.
“These are our goals that we are working towards,” she shares. “We would also love to move to a larger location where our clients have more parking.”
Her grooming philosophy is simple, believing most dog owners are just regular people with great family dogs who want practical services that are cute and stylish.
“They want their homes to have less hair in them, they want to spoil their little furry friend that follows them around the house all day, and they want to cuddle them and their sweet-smelling fur after they’re groomed,” Nicole explains. “We cater to each particular client, giving them one-on-one care and cater their services to what’s in their best interest and what is requested from their pet parents.
“After all,” she continues, “these are people’s furry children; their family members. They deserve the utmost, best care.”