hen Molly Forbes was 11 years old, she wanted a dog of her own. And when a local woman who bred AKC Australian Shepherds and also taught obedience and agility classes agreed to give Molly one of her show dogs, it came with a catch.

“She gave me one on the condition that I would learn how to train it, groom it, show it—all the things,” recalls Molly. “She was my mentor and my boss for a lot of years.”

Spanning more than two decades, Molly immersed herself in nearly every aspect of the dog world—from breeding and showing to training, grooming and veterinary care—all experiences that led to the creation of Gold Standard Dog Grooming in Charlotte, NC.

Unlike many groomers entering the profession today, Molly didn’t begin at a formal grooming school. Instead, she learned the old-fashioned way—through years of hands-on mentorship. Each summer she stayed with her mentor, traveling to dog shows and working alongside her while learning every aspect of caring for dogs.

“We would travel to dog shows and, obviously, when we were home, I was learning how to groom,” Molly shares. “It was just a long process over a lot of years.”

Those early years exposed Molly to much more than grooming. She worked around boarding dogs, training classes, daycare programs, breeding operations and veterinary care, giving her a broader understanding of canine behavior than grooming alone could provide.

“I think it gives me a more realistic approach,” Molly says. “It allows me to read the dog’s body language a little bit easier than someone who maybe hasn’t been exposed to it. I have an easier time seeing problems before they happen.”

And that perspective carries over into every appointment. For Molly, a successful groom isn’t just about producing a beautiful finish—it’s also about understanding the dog standing on the table, recognizing stress signals and making the experience as positive as possible.

After years of grooming professionally in upstate New York, Molly and her husband, Mike, decided it was time for a change. The couple relocated to Charlotte in 2020 to be closer to family and enjoy a warmer climate, but Molly didn’t rush into opening a business.

“We spent a couple years just kind of learning the lay of the land of Charlotte, figuring out what neighborhood I wanted to end up in,” she explains.

By then, Molly had spent years working in different grooming environments and had developed a clear vision of what she wanted her own salon to look like.

“I’ve been in the business a long time,” Molly notes. “I’ve seen a lot of different ways of running a grooming shop and just felt that it was the right time. I had enough opinions about how I wanted things done and definitely enough knowledge and experience that I wanted to open my own shop.”

And so, Gold Standard Dog Grooming opened in 2022 with one guiding philosophy: quality over quantity. However, launching the business wasn’t quite as straightforward as Molly had planned. A zoning issue delayed renovations of the salon for nearly a year, leaving her with a difficult choice—wait for construction to finish or find another way to begin serving clients. Molly chose the latter.

“During that time, I actually got a mobile van and started running things with the van while I was waiting for the physical shop to be open,” she explains.

What could have been a frustrating setback turned into an effective way for Molly to introduce her new business to the community.

“The branding on the van helped,” she shares. “It started getting the name out there. It started getting the Google reviews coming in. It started building name recognition.”

Once the storefront finally opened, Molly didn’t invest heavily in traditional advertising. Instead, she focused on social media, neighborhood Facebook groups and building a reputation through customer referrals.

“People have to catch your name somewhere, then they Google you, there’s good reviews, and that brings them in. Then they tell people,” she notes.

As Gold Standard Dog Grooming grew, Molly discovered that hiring talented groomers was only part of the equation. Finding groomers who shared her philosophy proved to be the greater challenge.

“It’s tricky to find groomers that are the right fit,” Molly states. “Grooming competitions are important to me. Continued education is important to me. I want people that want to be really good at their craft.”

Today, the salon includes a receptionist, multiple bathers and four additional full-time groomers, creating a collaborative environment where everyone is willing to help each other when needed. Despite the growth, though, Molly hasn’t changed the philosophy she envisioned before opening the business.

“We don’t do high volume,” she explains. “I want quality over quantity. I want groomers that really want to do high-level haircuts.”

Another important foundation of Gold Standard Dog Grooming is communication. Over the years, Molly has found that many problems between groomers and pet owners have very little to do with the haircut itself. Instead, they often come down to expectations.

“Typically when there’s an issue with a client, it’s usually because of a breakdown in communication between the groomer side and the owner side,” she explains. “Something that I really push with every single person that works for me is we have to have clear lines of communication with the owners.”

Whether a dog is nervous, matting requires a shorter trim than expected or something unexpected happens during the appointment, Molly wants clients informed every step of the way. That philosophy also applies when mistakes happen.

“We’re not perfect as groomers,” she admits. “If something happens, we’re going to talk to the owner about it and hopefully make it right for them. Our owners appreciate that.”

When you walk into Gold Standard Dog Grooming, one thing quickly becomes apparent—there are very few secrets. Rather than hiding the grooming area behind closed doors, Molly designed the salon so clients can see nearly everything that happens.

The 2,000-square-foot space features an open floor plan where dogs are bathed, dried and groomed in full view. And while the open design can be noisier than a traditional salon, she believes the transparency gives clients peace of mind.

“They know we’re not mishandling the dogs in a back room,” shares Molly. “You can see everything.”

While she enjoys preserving traditional grooming techniques—particularly hand stripping—Molly also recognizes that today’s clients ultimately decide what works best for their families.

“We educate first,” she explains. “If they want their wire-coated dog clipped, that’s their choice. At the end of the day, the owner is the one who lives with the pet.

“I would love every terrier that came in the door to get hand stripped,” continues Molly, “but that’s just not realistic.”

Today, Gold Standard Dog Grooming is fully staffed, and Molly is beginning to explore opening a second location. But for now she’s enjoying being able to spend more time pursuing one of her favorite parts of the profession—grooming competitions.

“The shop is at a point where I can now step away a little bit,” she explains. “It frees me up to go to more grooming competitions, which is how I find growth as a groomer.”

Another goal of Molly’s is to host more educational seminars at the salon to educate her groomers, but also other groomers in the area. As someone whose own career began with a mentor willing to share her knowledge, Molly hopes to do the same for others.

Regardless of where her career takes her, one thing will remain unchanged for Molly and Gold Standard Dog Grooming: quality will always prevail over quantity.