Today we’d like to introduce you to Ileana Rivera.
Hi Ileana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I’m Ileana Rivera a Certified dog & cat groomer and owner of Tails & Tubs Pet Grooming. I fell in love with pet grooming several years ago and started seeking knowledge and experience. The online certification course I was taking for pet grooming had an assignment to attend an AKC conformation event to learn about breed standard grooming. I quickly fell in love with dog shows and Bedlington Terriers. I got my own show puppy, NBPISS GCH Blenheim’s Living Legacy “Moon“ and began showing him and spent the next year learning hands on show grooming skills, coat care, and handling skills from my mentor Priscilla Boland. This experience only fueled my passion for pet grooming. I started building my clientele and have customers that drive to me from all over I also gain clients on the road at shows. I started to realize how multifaceted the pet grooming world is and how great the need is for skilled, experienced, and affordable pet groomers. It always shocked me how unregulated the pet grooming industry is, no where in the US requires any real formal training, certification, license, nothing! Anyone off the street could buy a pair of clippers, a grooming table, and tub and call themselves a pet groomer. It never sat right with me. I wanted to be educated, experienced, and safe. After a short time working in a corporate pet grooming salon and the lack of safety I witnessed made me realize just how unregulated it really is. I knew if I opened my own salon, created safety systems for myself, and provided the best services possible I could be successful. I did just that and now I am nearly 3 years in and have had zero accidents or injuries in my salon. In corporate and even most small salons you will find kennels or crates, bathers prepping dogs for groomers, and groomers shaving double coated dogs. Those are three things you won’t find in my salon. I am with each pet from start to finish, drop-off to pick-up, I educate pet owners about services that are healthiest and best for their pet based off breed, coat type, and condition. What Tails & Tubs is doing is a lot different from your average pet grooming salon and I am just getting started. I can’t wait to offer my services to even more of the bigger cities across the US.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would say for the most part my biggest struggle was competing with the corporate salons and other salons that are driven by volume or a very “get as many dogs in and out a day as possible” kind of energy and that’s just not me or what I am about. My priority is “every pet that comes in my salon leaves clean and happy and the pet parents are happy with the outcome too” I have a lot of clients who’s pets used to be extremely anxious for other groomers and the experience they have in my salon totally transforms them they are able to build confidence here and a relationship with their groomer.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work with a lot of anxious pets and some that have been turned away from other salons so knowing they have a chance here and watching them grow in confidence is really rewarding. I specialize in cats, I tend to get a lot of cat clients and I have always been a cat lady I have three of my own, Sprinkles, she’s 16 years old, Acorn, she’s 6 years old, and Puppycat, he is 1 year old. So, I understand that cats too need grooming where as I feel a common misconception is “cats groom themselves so therefore they don’t need to be groomed” while it is true that cats clean themselves, some cats fur is prone to matting especially longhaired cats, and they need regular maintenance things like, nail trims, sanitary trims, and ear cleaning or teeth brushing. A skill I’m most proud of is my bedlington terrier show groom that I’ve been working on and honing for some time.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
In the small business world interaction is everything! A like, comment, share, message, a review, it all goes so much farther for us small business than people realize. In an industry that’s highly un-regulated we rely heavily on reviews and our reputation/popularity to gain credibility and clientele. The best way for us to boost those things as small businesses is to help each other out. I love connecting with other pet groomers, small business owners, dog show people, because that’s my community not my competition. My only competition is myself and being better today than I was yesterday. The only way you get better is learning by others who are willing to share.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tailsandtubspetgrooming?igsh=YXp0aHIzaDc3Ynll
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18KKDFgZPj/?mibextid=wwXIfr
