Wiggle Waggle Dog Grooming

My name is Meredith and I’m a 41 year old mother of 3. I have a 21 year old daughter, Anna, who is off thriving in the world finishing her degree at UNCW. A 17 year old daughter, Rachel, who is a senior in high school and making a place for herself in the world and she’s not letting anyone get in her way. And my baby, Jacob. He’s not a baby, he’s 12 and the sweetest soul you’ll ever meet, unless he’s playing fort nite. I have 2 dogs Cinder, aka ninner bug or ninner ninner chicken dinner, she’s a blue heeler walker hound mix. And Siggy, aka pig or piggly wiggly, we don’t know what breed she is. I’ve been a CNA, server, bartender, bank teller, a heavy equipment operator in the navy, even an armed guard at a nuclear power plant. My resume is interesting to say the least. I’ve always been jealous of people that just knew what they wanted out of life. I’ve had so many interests and been good at a lot of things but got bored really easily. Once I mastered the job I was learning I was ready to move on. I never just knew what I wanted to do. And it took something terrible happening for me to figure it out. Losing a spouse and a father to my children wasn’t easy and we still have our moments, but with out tragedy, with out mistakes, we don’t learn. We moved from Illinois back down to NC. My Home. I needed my family. I took a year off of work after my husband passed and readjusted my children and myself to this new life. I happened upon one of my daughters friends from when we lived here when the kids were younger and asked her she was doing and she told me about her just getting hired as a bather at petsmart and how they have grooming academy. I scratched my head and thought a minute and said “well damn I should look into that. I’m already grooming my own dogs. It’d be nice to actually do it right”. So I applied and I got a part time job at Petsmart as a bather. It was an introduction back into the real world. And I loved it. I loved the work. I loved the people. I loved the animals. Nothing gives you greater joy than making a flea infested baby feel relief. Or just to see the joy on a dog that just loves attention, even if it meant he had to get a bath. I worked my butt off and my way up from a bather, to going through their academy. And 800 training hours later I was an official stylist. I worked my way from bather, to stylist, to salon leader, to now opening my own salon. Some days it really sucks. I won’t lie. I get dog bit, arms scratched and bloody from sharp nails, peed on, pooped on, dogs that fight you and pull away and it’s a constant game of tug. Most days my back and feet are screaming at me at the end of the day. Sometimes you get so frustrated and you just stop and cry. And then it happens. That sweet baby that won’t let me touch his feet looks up at me and licks the tear away off my cheek and wags his fluffy tail. He still didn’t let me touch his feet but that sweet face knew I needed that smooch. It’s that right there that makes my job worth it. Not the best haircut, I mean it’s nice to nail it, but the ones that struggle and need a little more encouragement. The ones that leave the haircut maybe a little crooked but they let me finish!! That makes my heart run over with love. I keep my appointments one on one so I don’t have any extra stress around and that way all my attention is on that one dog and they can get it and out and back in their owners arms. I would love to have a bigger and busier salon. I’m sure my checking account would like it too. But for now I’m content in my 300 square foot space and I’m enjoying being a one man band