Here we are in our second week of school!  I can’t believe how fast it’s going and how exceptionally well the students are doing.  Right now they are taking some written exams, and we have cat carriers lining the hallway ready for them to get to grooming.  Today worked out great because nearly every cat owner said we can do whatever we want…you just gotta love those!  By letting them do what they want and practice what they need to, they’ll be able to prepare well for the practical tests that are on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  All of our current students really want to certify, which is fantastic, as it really is an option with the training program.

Danelle is preparing to leave for Moscow in a few weeks and I am preparing for the Atlanta Pet Fair Creative competiton.  I am so excited about the design I am working on. It is my most intricate to date!  Lots of bright colors, and my character is so cool!  The cat I am using is such a bad-a$$ that this most likely will be his best and most fitting look yet. haha!

I hope everyone can make it down.The Atl show is amazing, and we have so much fun every year…and it doesn’t hurt that it is close to Greenville, so the drive one of the best all year!

I am off to start today’s grooming.  We have a day full of Lion-Clips and Comb-Cuts!!!  Dirty-Hair Project…Here We Come!

I just recently returned from the NDGAA Fun in the Sun show in Orlando, FL.  It was my first time attending the show. Last year I sent Lindsay down to man the booth and many folks remembered her being there last year.

I did a 1 1/2 hour cat grooming lecture which was entirely too short.  (Are you reading this, Jeff?)  There is simply too much cat stuff to talk about that it takes way more than 90 minutes.  When you combine a creative cat groom with the lecture, it makes for a seminar that runs over time and makes the show host and seminar attendant come in and give “CUT IT!” signals to the verbose speaker.

Anyway, it was a great show and the interest in cat grooming was overwhelming.  The folks there were particularly interested in our forthcoming cat grooming school.  I think Floridians and Chicagoans are my kind of people:  cat crazy!

The best part of the weekend was the Halloween Party on Saturday night. My hubby went with me (it was my birthday weekend so we spent some time at the coast on the way down) and we dressed as pirates.  We were in the top 3 for the group costume contest and then I made the top 4 for the individual costume contest.

That wraps up the shows for me for the rest of 2009.  What an awesome year!!

Meet Crazy and Trustin.  GC, GP Manazakat’s Call Me Crazy of Bara is my kitty.  Grandpointed PR Cotnhill’s Trustin belongs to Lindsay.

The two boys had never met before the Hershey show.

But as you can clearly see, they became instant close friends. Almost too close, really.  Passersby always marvel at how well they sit on the table all weekend, unbothered by the noise, the commotion, the dog, the people……..but Lindz and I were amazed at how well they buddied up to each other and lay there side by side, so picture purrfect in every way.

I have concluded that this is what happens when cat whisperer’s get their hands on any cats…..they turn them into pussies.

We survived another year at Hershey Groom Expo, the USA’s largest grooming tradeshow ever.  Being surrounded by chocolate is never a bad thing.  And being in the middle of the all the hubbub of the grooming industry is never bad either, especially when you are working hard to make some changes in the grooming industry.

My first foray into the tradeshow arena was Hershey Groom Expo 2006.  I was minding my own business, happily grooming cats in little Simpsonville, SC when one day a Groomer To Groomer magazine arrived in my mailbox.  Low and behold, a grooming magazine!  Who would have thought?  It was August 2006 and Barkleigh was heavy into promoting the upcoming Groom Expo.  Not only was I amazed that there was actually a magazine for groomers, but that there was a tradeshow to go along with it. Little did I know that was only tip of the iceberg.

At the last minute I packed up my vehicle and headed north to PA, thinking I’d visit my first ever tradeshow and stockpile some nifty cat grooming products and tools.  After all, while I had been very active in the cat showing world, I was oblivious to the grooming world and figured they just had to have some new things I had not yet tried.  Being the type of person that is always in pursuit of newer and better, imagine my dismay when I discovered that in all that big huge trade showhall at Hershey Lodge nothing “cat” could be found. It was all dog.  Dog this, dog that, and more dog that.  I was ticked.  I was offended.  What bias, I thought. What gall!

Well, things always happen for a reason.  Fast forward a year later……Hershey Groom Expo 2007. My first industry speaking gig, and the first debut of the NCGIA.  It took a lot of work and a lot of talking, but here we are now, the world’s first and foremost cat grooming association made just for professional cat groomers.  The response to our training, certification program, teaching tools, and organization as a whole has totally blown me away!  I am in awe!

And I thank each and every one of you who have invested your time and resources into making yourself a better cat groomer.  I truly appreciate all of our members, our instructors, and those in the industry who have let me step up onto the dog sidewalk and pave a way for cats, at last.  I joke that my mission in life is “saving the world one cat at a time.”  I’m beginning to think it’s not really a joke after all.

Finally.  I could enter a grooming show contest that I was actually eligible to compete in. And I won!
Okay, so it wasn’t a grooming contest, per se.  But it was a contest.

I entered the Groomers Got Talent contest at the Hershey Groom Expo and won 1st place for a song I wrote.  Despite the fact that my voice was coarse, scratchy and almost gone the night before and still quite raspy the next morning, I was able to squeak out the song.  A few of the notes were a bit ragged, but hey………what can I say.

And to think I almost bailed on the whole thing right before it started.

Thanks for letting me brag a bit.  It’s just that I either find myself at shows (like Barkleigh shows) where I can’t compete in any competitions just because they are biased against cats.  Or I am able to “participate” in a competition, without the option to actually compete or win anything, because of one of those pesky show rules about speakers not being able to compete.  So for now….I am basking in my trophy and my new “diamond” ring prize, and the fact that Mr. B’s Productions whisked me away to their nearby recording studio to cut a single!

This groomer’s got talent, baby!

My Lifelong Dream – click to listen

Hershey is less than a week away!  I am excited as we gear up for the biggest grooming show of the year.

This year I will not be speaking, which is sort of a relief.  I am usually so overly busy at this show that I come home completely wiped out.  Since my schedule isn’t quite so full this year we will be able to do some booth demos with live cats – something I’ve wanted to do every year. In addition, I’ll be doing my usual demos in the Wahl booth.

At the NCGIA booth, we will be showing some live cats before their groom.  Then we’ll run downstairs to give them a good show bath before bringing them back up to the booth to dry using the CS Vac. As we perform all the finish work, observers will be able to pick up some handling techniques and cat-specific product usage tricks.

A few cats will then go with me to the Wahl booth for some clipper work while I do a standard lion cut, a creative groom, and whatever else suits my fancy at that particular time.

Something new this year at the show is the “Got Talent” competition on Saturday.  It is a luncheon event.  I took the plunge and decided to enter.  If you want to know what my entry is, you’ll have to come see for yourself.  I promise it will make you laugh even if I don’t mess it up royally.

See you there!

Three weeks from today, we will be in the middle of all the amazing events that take place at the Hershey Groom Expo.  It seems September has crept up on me, all of a sudden, and is now just around the corner.

I am rather excited about going this year.  Truthfully, I am always excited about Hershey, but this year we have so many new products to offer that there is now an extra sense of anticipation wrapped up in the usual hype.

We will be doing several cat grooming demos in our booth this year.  I’ll also be doing the usual demos in the Wahl booth, as I have done in years past.  So please, stop by and check out the ‘before’ kitties and then watch as we transform them into beautiful, clean kitties right there in the booth.

Please introduce yourselves to us when you stop by.  Many of you we already know and have had the pleasure of working with in the past.  But many of you are new to us. We’d love to put a face with the name.

See you soon!

The Chicago All-American hosted the first ever Abstract Creative Runway competition.  I “participated” with a cat.  I say “participated” because I was ineligible for competition because show rules state that speakers cannot compete.  But I find it hard to pass up on an opportunity to walk a runway with a kitty in tow

C2, my solid white Persian, was crafted into a black and white design and did a great job hanging with the big dogs and working the stage on Saturday night of the show.  I am proud of her.

The rules called for some sort of abstract design with little or no color.  The design had to be something that could be done in a day at the salon and something that customers would like done on their dog or cat.  No props were to be used.

Photo shoot after the Runway Competition

C2's abstract design

Some other entries

Being interviewed by Huber

What a weekend!  The Chicago All-American was a smashing success.  Lindsay and I were extremely busy at the booth as it seems the folks in Illinois are especially excited about cat grooming.  We really love those Chicagoans!

The Ultimate Cat Groomer Encyclopedia was a big hit as were the Breed and Color Flashcards.

The reason I entitled this “A Tale of Two Cities” is because I got stuck in Chicago for another day while wanting desperately to be back home in Greenville with my family. Lindsay and I were scheduled to leave at 7pm Sunday, right after the show. But some nasty weather hit Chicago and delayed or cancelled many flights.  Lindsay made it as far as Detroit, where she got picked up by her dad.  I ended up staying in Chicago for a whole other day until I finally arrived back home in Greenville last night.  We are both beat!

Despite the travel issues, however, both of us enjoyed the show greatly.  The seminars went well, the booth was busy, and we enjoyed talking to so many people.  The Abstract Runway went off without a hitch. I participated with my white Persian, C2.  She did a fantastic job and was such a hit.  I’ll post some pictures soon that Lindsay took.

It is good to be home.  For those waiting on their orders, everything but the book and the posters will be shipped out this week.