Women Petpreneurs

Riza Wisnom is an Asian Freestyle grooming expert with three published instructional books on the subject. Her work has been featured on the cover of Groomer to Groomer magazine in the USA, Toilettage magazine in France and online in The Huffington Post. She has been industry nominated for several awards and was also a contestant on the ABC TV pet grooming show Pooch Perfect. She has taught in conferences and private seminars around the globe including England, Spain, Portugal and many venues in the US. She is a 37 yr grooming veteran and owns a posh salon in Delaware.

Stephenie has been grooming for 10 years. She is the Training manager of Calling All Paws, a certified Nash Academy instructor, Former Illinois State Grooming Team Captain, and Owner of The Meditative Grooming Academy. Stephenie lives with her husband John in Waukegan with her cockapoo, Nibbler, Irish wolfhound mix, Addison, 2 cats, Chiana and Fry, and 2 turtles. Stephenie is obviously passionate about animals and teaching but also enjoys her hobbies of gardening, foraging, and cooking.

Brianna Burns ( soon to be wellendorf ) started in a corporate environment and knew she had to do bigger things . She progressed later in life and started doing trade shows where she found her passion for teaching . Since then she's opened and created a successful grooming business in Des Moines Iowa called Clipper-Doodle-Do and created a trade program for her local community college and is opening a salon inside a dog park bar called paws and pints

Michelle Knowles, MPAI, ICMG, owner of All Things Paw, has over 30 years of experience as a private and professional pet care provider. Michelle is a Certified Master Groomer and a Master Pet Aesthetician. She has apprenticed, volunteered, worked, owned and managed in salons, kennels, zoos, and veterinary hospitals across the country. Michelle has also been trained in Tuscany, Italy in therapeutic work, hand stripping and advanced dermatological care. She has an ISB certification in skin and coat care, extensive experience with fear and trauma recovery, elderly pets, and a focus on managing allergic/dermatological disorders. Michelle is certified through NDGAA and IPG and teaches advanced aesthetics at the Whole Pet Grooming Academy and is a nationally recognized speaker in her field.

Samantha Palya started her grooming career in the year of 1996 at Great Lakes Academy of Professional Pet Styling. She entered her first competition at the All American Grooming Show in 1996. From then she earned placements in poodles, and handstripping in her division. She was awarded Best Groomer and Best Groomed Dog in Show for a handstipped terrier at Groom Expo in 1998. At the age of 21 she opened Absolutely Pawfect Pet Styling. Samantha apprentices to help give opportunities to future pet care professionals. She holds certificates for CPR and Pet Safety, Skin and Hair, Salon Sanitation, Canine Body Language, Dog Gurus College, Pricing for profits, and many more. As of recent she has been speaking on The Dog Gurus platforms in her advancements in grooming enrichment.

Gabby Phinney began her entrepreneurial journey into the dog world at 13 years old starting her first business making and selling homemade dog treats. At the age of 18 she started her own pet sitting business, Gabby’s Whole Pet Care. While pet sitting on the side, Gabby worked full time at a farm and garden store running the pet department. There she became certified in Pet & Equine nutrition and helped pets and their owners with all their nutrition needs. Gabby started pet sitting for Dara Forleo, the owner of the Whole Pet Grooming Academy in 2016. Dara was the driving force behind Gabby finding her biggest passion as a pet groomer, and encouraged her to go through The Whole Pet Grooming Academy’s Canine Stylist Program. After graduating in 2017, Gabby worked at a corporate salon for 3 years, growing her knowledge in the industry through continuing education workshops, expos and the competition ring. In the fall of 2019 Gabby started her house call business, Canine Cosmuttology in New Hampshire. Since t

Tami Vornbrock started training and showing dogs at the age of 15, and her first jobs were working in the pet care field. In 1996 she graduated from Grooming school and has owned her own grooming business since 2006. She has achieved her ICMG with International Pet Groomers, NCMG with National Dog Groomers Association of America, is a Certified Canine Esthetician, and earned her Pet Groomer Credential from World Pet Association. This is the first standardized test available to groomers.

Robyn MichaelsRobyn Michaels is a retired dog groomer. She started grooming in the late 1960's working for hobby breeders. She has placed in grooming contests and titled dogs in ASFA field trials, obedience, rally, and conformation, and has helped others choose show dogs. She started investing in the 1980s and is now happily retired. She blogs at disparateinterests.wordpress.com and writes fiction and nonfiction.

Samm Hutchison is the Owner and Founder of Bear’s Bites and the Co-Founder of the Bear’s Bites Foundation. Samm started Bear’s Bites after struggling to find good quality treats for her own dogs when they were diagnosed with food allergies. Samm and her husband Co-founded the Bear’s Bites foundation after struggling to figure out how to pay for their family dog Tank’s emergency medical bills and decided that they wanted to help families never have to worry about the bill while in an emergency situation with their fur family.

Sierra Elbert wears many hats, including wife, mother, pet owner, entrepreneur, pet stylist, program developer and educator. “My family is my whole world” Elbert exclaims. Her family includes Cory, her husband, Grace, her daughter, Kip, her son, Aspen, a rough-coated collie, and Sterling, a Dandie Dinmont Terrier. Elbert’s mother owned a dog salon when she was growing up, so she learned first-hand how to groom dogs with finesse, “having a mother who is a dog groomer is like having a father who taught you how to change the oil in vehicles”. After you are around it so much, it becomes second nature,” explains Elbert. Although she learned her trade from her mother. Elbert earned her Master Pet Stylist (MPS), International Certified Pet Groomer (ICPG), and Petcare Dermatech Specialist (PDS) certifications recognized by the international society of canine cosmetology (ISCC)

Olyvia is an amazing young woman who will be doing great things with her life. At 14, she is the youngest Pet Tech Pet First Aid Instructor. This ballerina has dreams of running a wildlife rescue refuge. I have no doubt she will succeed.

Brittney has been grooming dogs for a year. She works at Puppy Haberdashery as the company’s Chief Operation Officer. They specialize and creative grooming, colors, poodles, and doodles. She's wanted to work with animals all her life and loves waking up and working every single day!

Denise Heroux owns Awesome Paws Pet Salon, a Cleveland-based chain with two locations and active plans for expansion. Awesome Paws fosters a healthy environment for employees and pets with a focus on employee investment and learning. While managing both locations and a staff of over 20 employees, Denise finds time to work with the Ohio Professional Pet Groomers Association, which she founded. The association focuses on setting a higher standard for pet safety, business-building opportunities, versatile learning experiences, and creating legislative fluidity in the industry.

Having grown up on a hobby farm in SE Minnesota, Kemlyn had access to numerous different animals. She was a veterinary technician for many years, as well as adog trainer and in-home pet consultant, and pet groomer/salon owner. Kemlyn has two children and lives in Winona, MN with her husband, Tommy Stockstill. To round out her family, they have two cats and three dogs.

Kate Klasen is the owner of a holistic pet spa, Balanced Paws in AZ. She is Fear Free certified, a Reiki master, crystal healer, and certified canine esthetician. Kate is also certified through Science Dog on canine nutrition and teaches classes on pet foods. She brought her passions together when she formed The Frontline Coalition with Malinda Malone, where she brings in her past experience as a first responder and teaches emergency preparedness skills for people and pets, including Pet Tech CPR/First Aid. The Frontline Coalition teaches human CPR/First Aid and is an official training center for the American Safety & Health Institute. Kate is also certified to teach the American Heart Association curriculum as well. Kate has recently studied sound therapy through Pima College and paired up with Iso-Sync Labs for their pet line of calming tones which was released in August 2021. Kate also works with a holistic veterinarian and has added in PEMF treatments into her salon modalities. Kate’s passion as a WH

Mary talks with the Number 2 groomer in the United States. Helen's journey over the last couple of years has been nothing short of amazing.

I've known Anjie for a couple of years and am always amazed at her drive. She's the first to help out a fellow groomer and she is fast making her mark in the professional pet industry. She is definitely a rising star and look forward to see what she's up to next.

Mackensie Murphy is a second generation groomer who started grooming at the age of 18. She dove into the world of competitive grooming and quickly rose from ranking in the top 10 for Groomteam USA her first year out to winning Up And Coming Groomer Of The Year in 2012. Mackensie has also dedicated herself to educating other groomers world wide She currently has an advanced grooming program held at Iowa Lakes Community College. Over the years Mackensie has received some of the industries most prestigious awards including 6 Lis Paul Memorial Best Scissored Poodle awards, A Silver and Gold Medal at the World Grooming Tournament with GroomTeam USA in 2015 and 2017. Most recently, with the support of a full sponsorship with Love Groomers, she also brought home the Tom Mcgloughlin $10,000 Superzoo Jackpot, and most recently 2021 Barkleigh’s Honors Groomer of the Year.

Chris is a career pet stylist and dog person of over 30 years. Currently she is the owner and operator of Finer DeTails Pet Spa & Wellness Center, and Special Kneads Canine Massage in Mazomanie, WI. She is an award winning competition groomer, has multiple national grooming certifications from the NDGAA, IPG, and is a Certified Canine Esthetician specializing in canine skin & coat care and nutrition.Christein is the first pet groomer and industry teacher to ever gain her accredited title as a Holistic Animal Educator, thru the HAA. In addition to her efforts within the grooming salon and its industry, Chris is the founder of the Wisconsin Association of Professional Pet Stylists/WPGA and MPGA, cofounder of the NAGA, and as a breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, she also sat as the WI State Director for the National Cavalier Rescue Trust and helps in small breed dog senior rescue & foster work.Chris actively writes and is the author of several industry guidebooks and continuing educational co

Heather Blomquist started grooming 33 years ago at the age of 16. After working at a couple of salons and 11 years as a veterinary groomer, she opened Spotted Dog Pet Grooming in Puyallup 6 years ago and then a second location in Bonney Lake last year. She earned her NCMG 2 years ago and is one of the founding members of WAPPG.