Registration
Early Bird Registration
Available April 19-26, 2026
Early Bird Price: $247
Early Bird Registration includes:
- Full access to the live online conference
- Recordings of all scheduled events for 3 months after the event
- Access to the attendee Facebook group
- Free BACG T-shirt
- Entry into our giveaway drawing for a Wahl Bravura 2 clipper
Winner will be drawn during the conference.
Regular Registration
Regular Ticket Price: $347
Regular registration includes:
- Full access to the live online conference
- Recordings of all scheduled events for 3 months after the event
- Access to the attendee Facebook group
What to Expect
This year’s conference includes:
- Live seminars and educational sessions
- Grooming demos with Q&A
- Small group chat times between classes with attendees & speakers
- Access from anywhere through Zoom Events
- A private Facebook group for attendees
- Recordings of all scheduled events available for 3 months after the event
This is the kind of event where you can learn something useful at 9:00 AM, rethink part of your business by lunch, and leave with notes, ideas, and probably at least one moment where you laugh because someone finally said the thing everybody was thinking.
Conference Schedule
Sunday, July 12, 2026
- 9:00 AM EST - You’re Fired: How to Get Rid of Energy-Draining Clients Without Being the Bad Guy with Danelle German
- 11:00 AM EST - Holistic Cat Grooming in Practice with Mercedes Schenk
- 1:00 PM EST - FIV+ Bobtail Demo and Q&A with Sydney Beers
- 3:00 PM EST - Are Memberships Right For My Cat Grooming Business? with Sherie Williams-Slattery
Monday, July 13, 2026
- 9:00 AM EST - Perfectly Imperfect Grooms Demo and Q&A with Mercedes Schenk
- 11:00 AM EST - Feisty Deshed Demo and Q&A with Melissa Hall
- 1:00 PM EST - From Grooming to Growth with Elizabeth Sanford
- 3:00 PM EST - Do I Need to Panic? Contagious, Complicated or Catastrophe with Lynn Paolillo
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
- 9:00 AM EST - Making It Work at Home: Salon Setup and Setting Boundaries with Sherie Williams-Slattery
- 11:00 AM EST - Am I the Drama? Demo and Q&A with Sandi Smith
- 1:00 PM EST - The Numbers Behind the Hair: Pricing, Profit & the P&L for Cat Groomers with Teija Heikkilä
- 3:00 PM EST - Conference Wrap-Up and Next Steps with Danelle German
Want more details? Scroll down to see the full seminar descriptions and learn more about this year's speakers.
Speakers
-
Sydney Beers
Sydney Beers is the owner of Kitty Corner Spa & Boarding, a cat-exclusive grooming and boarding facility. She has been grooming for six years, beginning her career in dog grooming before discovering her passion for feline care. Sydney launched her business in March 2025 after initially offering house call services, and earned her Certified Feline Master Groomer (CFMG) designation through NCGI in December 2025. She specializes in short coats, long coats, and comb cuts. At home, she is a proud cat mom to two Highlanders, Fox and Felix, and a long-haired bobtail named Max.
-
Danelle German
Danelle German, CFMG, CFCG, founder and president of the National Cat Groomers Institute and the world’s first feline-exclusive grooming school, speaks worldwide on a wide variety of cat grooming and business topics. Danelle has authored books, study guides, certification standards, and articles for various publications and is the inventor of the Catty Shack VacTM drying system as well as Chubbs Bars shampoo for pets.
-
Melissa Hall
Melissa Hall is a second-generation groomer who began her career in 1996 working alongside her mother and sister in Arizona. She became a Certified Feline Master Groomer in 2014 and has since built a strong reputation in the cat grooming world. Melissa is a Wahl Animal Brand Ambassador, NCGI Certifier, and offers private instruction to cat groomers at her salon. She owns a successful grooming business in Yuma, Arizona, including the state’s first cat-exclusive luxury boarding and grooming facility, and shares her home with both Persian cats and standard poodles.
-
Teija Heikkilä
Teija Heikkilä founded PET|VET M&A, Sales & Advisory (formerly National Kennel Sales & Appraisals) and has been a pet care industry pioneer since 1990—the year she opened the first dog daycare in the U.S. Originally from Finland, she has built a 34-year career driven by deep industry passion and expertise.
Teija has personally owned, operated, and sold multiple pet care facilities, giving her unmatched insight into what drives successful sales. As an active pet resort owner through 2022, she understands both sides of the transaction—what it takes to build value and, critically, how to sell for maximum return.
-
Lynn Paolillo
With 20 years of grooming experience, Lynn Paolillo has been a CFMG and CFCG since 2011 and is obsessed with improving the lives of both cats and their owners through creating a positive relationship through grooming. Based in Hamilton, NJ her cat only business, Cat Naps Cattery provides a quiet, calm (and bark-free) environment for cats of all ages and breeds. When not up to her eyeballs in cat hair, she travels and teaches cat grooming around the U.S. at trade show events, private workshops and seminars as a Certifier and Instructor for the National Cat Groomers Institute and Brand Ambassador for Wahl.
-
Elizabeth Sanford
Beth Sanford, CFMG, is the founder of Whisker Park in Winter Park, Florida. As a Certified Feline Master Groomer with over a decade of industry expertise, including eight years of fully running Squeaky Clean Grooming, Beth has masterfully transitioned from hands-on service to strategic leadership. By implementing professional automation and streamlined operational workflows, she has empowered a high-performance team that manages grooming, boarding, retail, social media and much more with the highest precision. By shifting away from having a personal presence in daily tasks, she has successfully built a self-sustaining enterprise that prioritizes both quality of care and operational efficiency. She is now focused on turning that system into a scalable model, ready to grow.
-
Mercedes Schenk
Mercedes Schenk is a feline-exclusive groomer and owner of The Meow Mobile in Phoenix, Arizona. She is the author of Holistic Cat Grooming and founder of the Association of Holistic Feline Specialists. A Certified Feline Master Groomer and ANDIS Ambassador, Mercedes also runs What’s The Mews Magazine and hosts Pussy Talk, the podcast. Known for her bold, no-nonsense approach, she blends holistic care with real-world grooming experience, challenging groomers to rethink how they work with cats and raise the standard of care across the industry.
-
Sandi Smith
Sandi Smith is a Certified Feline Master Groomer (CFMG) who has been working with cats professionally since 2014, turning a lifelong obsession with cats into a full-time career. With experience across salon, home-based, and mobile grooming, she brings a deeply intuitive, hands-on approach to feline care. Sandi earned her CFMG certification through the National Cat Groomers Institute in 2018 and is known for her strong focus on reading the cat, managing energy in the grooming space, and working with the cat rather than against them. Her approach is rooted in respect, awareness, and connection—because cats will absolutely tell you how you’re doing, whether you’re ready to hear it or not.
-
Sherie Williams-Slattery
Sherie Williams-Slattery (CFMG, CFCG, Certifier), based in Sydney, Australia, transitioned to cat-exclusive grooming in 2020 and has since cultivated a loyal, membership-based clientele. Operating from a calm, private home salon, her work is defined by consistency, low-stress handling, and exceptional standards. A highly sought-after service, her business reflects a considered approach where quality, care, and sustainability are prioritised over volume.
Why Attend?
Because cat grooming is its own animal. Literally.
This conference is for groomers who want more than vague advice, recycled basics, or one-size-fits-all answers. It is for professionals who want to think critically, improve their skills, and build businesses that work in real life.
You’ll walk away with:
- Practical grooming insight you can apply right away
- Better ways to think through difficult cases
- Business ideas from groomers doing the work themselves
- More confidence in your decision-making
- Connection with other cat groomers who understand the highs, the headaches, and the hairy plot twists
FAQ
When is the conference?
July 12-14, 2026
What time do sessions take place?
Scheduled seminars, demos, and conference events take place between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM EST.
Where is the conference hosted?
The event will be hosted online through Zoom Events.
Will recordings be available if I can't attend live?
Yes. Recordings of all scheduled conference events will be available for 3 months after the conference wraps up.
What is included with Early Bird Registration?
Early Bird attendees receive conference access, recordings, Facebook group access, a free BACG T-shirt, and entry into the giveaway for a Wahl Bravura 2 clipper.
When does Early Bird Registration run?
April 19-26, 2026
What is your refund policy?
All ticket purchases are nonrefundable. If you’re unable to attend, your ticket can be transferred to another attendee. Each ticket provides access for one person to the live online event and the attendee Facebook group.
Attend Live or Catch the Recordings
Can’t make every session live? No problem.
All scheduled conference events will be recorded and available to registered attendees for 3 months after the conference ends, so you can go back, rewatch your favorite sessions, and catch anything you missed.
Seminar Descriptions
Sunday July 12, 2026
9:00am EST - You’re Fired: How to Get Rid of Energy-Draining Clients Without Being the Bad Guy with Danelle German
Problem clients don’t just cost you money. They cost you focus, joy, and momentum.
In this candid, no-nonsense seminar, Danelle German shares how she learned to stop tolerating destructive client behavior and start running her business on her terms. You’ll discover how pricing, policies, and clear communication can do the hard work for you, allowing clients to either rise to your standards or remove themselves from your schedule—no drama required.
---
11:00am EST - Holistic Cat Grooming in Practice with Mercedes Schenk
What does “holistic” actually mean in a cat grooming setting, and how can it change the way we approach our work? In this session, Mercedes explores reframing grooming from something done to the cat to something done with the cat. We will look at how fear and stress affect multiple systems in the body and why reducing that stress improves both the grooming process and the cat’s overall wellbeing. Mercedes will share practical ways to build a foundation of continuous care with clients, approach grooming with the cat’s wellbeing at the forefront, and create collaborative relationships that support long-term coat and health maintenance. This session focuses on real feline physiology and ethical grooming practices, not crystals or fluff.
---
1:00pm EST - FIV+ Bobtail Demo and Q&A with Sydney Beers
Pre-Recorded Grooming Demo with Sydney's FIV+ Bobtail cat followed by live Q&A with Danelle and Sydney
---
3:00pm EST - Are Memberships Right For My Cat Grooming Business? with Sherie Williams-Slattery
Are membership programs a smart move for a cat grooming salon, or just another trend? In this session, we’ll take a practical look at adding VIP memberships to a cat grooming business. I’ll share why I introduced memberships in my own salon, how the program works, what I’ve learned along the way, and the changes I’ve made since launching it. We’ll cover the benefits for the business, groomer, cat owner, and the cats themselves, explore different ways memberships can be structured, and discuss how to present the idea so clients actually want to sign up.
---
Monday July 13, 2026
9:00am EST - Perfectly Imperfect Grooms Demo and Q&A with Mercedes Schenk
Pre-Recorded Grooming Demos by Mercedes where she shows grooms that the goal isn’t that “perfect” finish followed by live Q&A with Danelle and Mercedes.
---
11:00am EST - Feisty Deshed Demo and Q&A with Melissa Hall
Pre-Recorded Grooming Demo on a spicy kitty getting a full groom and de-shed followed by live Q&A with Danelle and Melissa.
---
1:00pm EST - From Grooming to Growth with Elizabeth Sanford
Growing your business shouldn’t mean lowering your standards or doing everything yourself forever. In this session, Beth Sanford breaks down how to create clear, repeatable systems for your salon so tasks, expectations, and processes can be taught, delegated, and trusted in someone else’s hands. She’ll walk through how to get what’s in your head onto paper, build consistency across your team, and create structure that protects the quality of your work while allowing your business to grow. If you’ve ever felt stuck being the only one who can “do it right,” this session will help you start changing that.
---
3:00pm EST - Do I Need to Panic? Contagious, Complicated or Catastrophe with Lynn Paolillo
FIP, FIV, FeLV, oh my! Many feline health issues can leave cat groomers unsure of how concerned they should be in a salon setting. This seminar breaks down the key differences in a way that is easy to understand and relevant to everyday grooming, without crossing into medical advice. We will cover what actually matters for groomers, including real world risk, what (if anything) needs to change in your salon setup or grooming approach, when a groom should be modified or stopped, and when referral is the better option. You will also learn how to ask the right questions and talk with clients clearly and calmly so you can set expectations, gather the information you need, and make confident, responsible decisions that protect the cat and the salon.
---
Tuesday July 14, 2026
9:00am EST - Making It Work at Home: Salon Setup and Setting Boundaries with Sherie Williams-Slattery
Sherie shares a tour of her home-based salon and how she adjusted her layout, processes and boundaries when making the switch from brick and mortar and a mobile business to being a home cat only salon. Followed by a live Q&A with Danelle and Sherie.
---
11:00am EST - Am I the Drama? Demo and Q&A with Sandi Smith
Pre-Recorded Grooming Demo with Sandi about how our own actions and behaviors can be creating the wrong energy for your cat groom. Followed by a live Q&A with Danelle and Sandi.
---
1:00pm EST - The Numbers Behind the Hair: Pricing, Profit & the P&L for Cat Groomers
You're great at grooming cats — but are your prices actually making you money? Most small grooming business owners set their rates based on what the shop down the street charges, not what their own numbers demand. And when it comes to the profit & loss statement? That monthly report from their accountant gets filed away without a second look.
In this session you'll learn how to price your services with confidence — factoring in your real costs, your time, and the profit margin your business needs to survive and grow. Then we'll walk through a real P&L statement so you can understand what the numbers are telling you: where your money is going, which services are actually profitable, and what warning signs to watch for before they become serious problems.
You'll walk away knowing how to:
- Calculate your true cost per groom — including the expenses most owners forget
- Set prices that cover your costs and build profit into every appointment
- Read your P&L without an accounting degree
- Identify where you may be leaving money on the table
Whether you're a solo groomer working out of a van or running a small shop with a team, this session will give you the financial foundation to stop surviving and start building something that lasts.
---
3:00pm EST - Conference Wrap Up and Next Steps with Danelle German