Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Did you know that the pet care industry is a billion dollar industry and it is continuously growing?
But are the people who care for your pets growing as well?
I'm Dara Forleo, and on the Business of pet Care, we are going to
[00:00:16] Speaker B: talk about what really goes on behind
[00:00:19] Speaker A: the scenes of those grooming tables, those daycare walls, and those social media filters.
Welcome to this week's episode of the Business of Pet Care where we are talking about systems and decisions that are shaping the modern pet industry.
I'm your host, Dara Forleo, and today I am excited to share with you that I am joined by Christina I'm going to say it, Weigand, and she is the founder of a company called Honest to Dog Grooming. And let me tell you, Christina has been in this industry for 27 years as a groomer, a licensed veterinary technician, and now she is taking everything she has learned over the years and building legal documentation that is designed specifically to help protect grooming business shops and the owners and everybody who is working inside.
I am so excited to have you on Christina. Thank you so much for being here.
How are you today?
[00:01:34] Speaker B: I'm doing excellent. The sun is out in Buffalo, so well, Perry Rather. And that's kind of rare, so. And having a very good day. I'm honored to be here. Thank you.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: Great. Buffalo. Was there not just a grooming show up there not too long ago, or is it coming?
[00:01:51] Speaker B: It's coming. It's hopefully next year I can be a vendor. Not quite there yet, but yeah, it's Papalooza, Buffalo, Appaloosa.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Yep. Okay. I just saw something about that. I was like, well, there's another new one, so we're gonna have to look into that because we want a vendor, too.
So tell me.
I want to know a little bit about you. First. Tell me, how did you get into grooming? Vet tech. It all goes hand in hand.
What started this drive? Where did this passion come from?
[00:02:22] Speaker B: Actually, growing up, I hate we. My mom always liked fuzzy dogs, but we weren't really that good into going to the groomer. So I would take our dog and I would use my dad's beard trimmers and I would trim him up in our bathroom. And in the meantime, my mom would be banging on the door, don't you shave my dog? But it was necessary because Coco was matted.
And so then I started doing that for neighbors. And I've always sort of had like a high drive to make money. And that was one of my very first jobs. And then I wanted to. I Originally wanted to be a veterinarian, so I went to vet tech school. And then I realized the rigid schedule and working for someone else, it just really wasn't for me. And grooming was much better pay and the freedom and the connection with the pets. And I realized it was. That was for me.
[00:03:22] Speaker A: That is great. And can I just say, I love that you said I like to make money because I think there is a lot of people in the industry who are like, I'm not in it for the money, but we got to make a living.
[00:03:37] Speaker B: You.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: So kudos to you for saying that because I.
Still during that. Then you started as a vet tech, got into grooming. Is that the path I'm following?
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Oh, I actually started grooming when I was like 11.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: So a little poodle cockapoo mix that.
[00:03:59] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: My mom, she was one of those kind of wonderful mother, but one of the people that like, oh, I like my dog Fuzzy, but I'm not going to go to the groomer. So the dog would be matted. And I'm grateful for that because it, it put me on a path that I absolutely love.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: That's so funny. So I kind of got that same. We had a case hunt and my mom didn't take her to the groomer that often. I mean, I'm dating myself. This is back in the late 80s, early 90s. But yeah, I used to wash her in the tub, blow her dry in the basement with the blow dryer.
So, you know, we all get those starts. It's how we get into it. And that's, that's amazing.
But I want to know how did you get into making sure and wanting to do this digital side of it for the businesses? What's, what's that push? What does that look like?
[00:04:58] Speaker B: The push was if you go on grooming pages on, on Facebook or social media, everyone's talking about elevating our profession and it's usually through regulation and whatnot and that that's part of it. But what we really need to do is elevate our self worth. And actually Covid changed that.
The first wave, all the mom and pop shops had to close down and the wonderful corporations got to stay open.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: And then the second wave, we were allowed to stay open. We realized like hairstylists couldn't stay open, estheticians couldn't stay open. Dog rumors like dogs were getting skin infections, they were poodles. And dogs that have continuous growth coats, they will eventually pass away if they don't get haircuts. So we, it really struck a chord with a lot of groomers. Like, hey, we're essential, but we're not acting like it. We don't believe in ourselves.
And so I. I thought that I. I truly wanted to build a digital company because I wanted freedom. I wanted to be able to homeschool my daughter, too.
And I. I know that digital is the way to go. It provides. It's going to provide the amount of freedom. It's going to elevate our industry as well. So it was like, I. I get to serve the industry that I've been trying to elevate for a very long time, because I've worked for a lot of different types of salons.
I've owned a salon, the groom room pet spa.
And I just saw a lot of what everyone was talking about, and I figured this is the way I could contribute.
[00:06:37] Speaker A: Yeah. So what did. I mean, it's. It's crazy. I agree with you 100% that Covid really changed a lot, but not in all states either. It. It changed it in many states. I know. New Hampshire, we were deemed essential, but every state around us was not, and it created a lot of chaos. So you were in New York, and it was. You were deemed essential in New York also?
[00:07:07] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. During the second wave. Not the first one. Not the first.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: Yes. That same with us. The first one was not. And we. We fought as groomers.
Our state came together and. And it was like the one time that our state came together and was like, nope, we're doing this. And. And we were. They worked together. I shouldn't say we, because I was not part of it, but they did. They managed to get it done. And it was. They did a good job.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: We fought hard. Like, even during the first wave, I had clients that needed medicated baths, so I would keep the lights off, and I would just continue working because they needed me. And I also started making videos of how to, you know, how to learn how to groom dogs. And I do believe that pet owners can learn that type of thing. Yeah, some. Some things, you know, not as easily, like trimming around the eyes, but we also did see that a lot of dogs had trauma responses after Covid from home grooming. So it, you know, or not at
[00:08:11] Speaker A: all, because they were so thick after eight months of.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: I don't know if you experienced this, but I certainly did. A lot of people adopted dogs required haircuts during COVID and that's probably the last thing that they should have done, but.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Yep.
Okay, well, let's get over that part of this, right? Yeah.
Because I know there's gonna be people out there going, no, don't bring that back up.
So let's, let's talk about some of what are your, some of your, the. What are some of the most common ones that you have really taken the time, sat down, studied and gone, this is what it needs to be. And created those. How did you start developing all of
[00:09:05] Speaker B: this about my condition?
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Specific waivers, Just any of them. I mean there, I'm sure there was a process of protocol that you took to, to build up and start developing them over time.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: It's absolutely, I'm gonna say really quick
[00:09:21] Speaker A: before you go into that because I know there's a lot that go well. I just go on Chat GBT and write them up now.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: ChatGPT definitely helped me get my voice back because I actually I ultimately I also created the digital business to get out of a pretty crazy controlling situation. So I didn't have a voice then.
So back then. Absolutely. And nothing wrong with that, especially going on this show. It's helping me get my voice back because I've always been very well spoken. But I would say that I noticed there was a lot of just generic intake forms and they weren't really affordable.
They were more of buy this packet of 25, 50 or 100 and then you have to continue to buy more. And they didn't have specific things like sedation, which is a huge, that's a huge risk. Some dogs actually, you know, they're less able to be groomed once they're sedated because they're sensitive to light and sound and movements. And I know a lot of groomers that actually won't work on them. Yeah, no, it's, it's true.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: And I mean it's not something that a entry level or a groomer with not a lot of years of experience should be doing either.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Right, right.
Arguably it, you know, maybe should only really be done in a veterinary setting at least. You know, definitely prescribed in and administered by someone aside from the groomer. Yeah. But then I know, you know, I noticed there was very limited language on behavior and end of life grooming. It's one of the saddest discussions that we have and it's, it's honestly one of my least favorite to talk about because it's, you know, you're basically putting the well being of the dog first. You really, you throw vanity out the door, you may work on the dog as it lays down. You are only going to work on essential things. And all groomers know about End of life. And you know, that's, that's one of the most heartbreaking parts of our, of our careers.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: It is. It is. Yeah. We have to take a break right now, but we are going to come back and continue moving into the structure and what, what grooming shops and anybody really, what you need to be implementing and get more in depth in this in just a minute. So don't miss a second. We'll be right back. Okay.
Welcome back to the business of pet care. Want more of what you are watching? Stay connected to the business of pet care and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or ISO for bilingual programming in English and Spanish. You can also catch the podcast at NowMedia TV. Now Media TV is streaming around the clock, ready wherever you are. And we are back to the business of pet care and we are talking about identifying risk and what that looks like when you are building or trying to protect your business.
So we are going to get down to what practical safeguards should every grooming business have in place. Christina, I'm going to let you take it from there.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: I would say it would be 3, 3 points.
A generic intake form and then specific, condition specific. And then after that, policies.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: We're not talking policies, employees, we're talking policies, customers.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Setting those boundaries.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: And here's the thing. If you have a great client that's always on time, you can have grace with those policies.
You can say you're always on time, but you were 45 minutes late today.
I'm not going to charge a fee.
You know, you can have grace with that. You cannot have grace when it comes to safety.
So there are, there are sort of two different lanes when it, when it comes to my consent forms, ones that you can choose to enforce, like no call, no shows, clients coming in every eight weeks. You know, maybe they truly can't afford it.
But when it comes to safety, protecting the pets, that's when you sort of need to be a bit more strict.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: No, that is true. You do have to be. And you do have those customers that you give an inch and they take a mile. Yes.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: And that's why you want the policy. That's why you want your consent forms in the back pocket. So you can, you know, you might even decide that they might be a better customer for a different type of salon.
[00:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
How should you properly structure these intakes?
What's that flow look like as far as first contact from the first time they come in, signing that? How do you suggest Digital. You know, I know we do the digital thing, but is it more. Let's talk about this. This is your first time here.
Let's have this personal.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: I'm actually working on digital and I would say the best structure is before they even show up.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Because like I was just saying, they can actually decide that they would rather go to a more informal groomer that doesn't really have set policies or boundaries. And I would say basically before they even show up because the intake can be stressful, you know. Yes, we are, we already know with our own pets, the worrying about something that could happen. My grooming shop in Buffalo, I actually allowed clients to stay and watch because I'm the type of pet owner that I would want to be able to see what's going on. Now I did have policies on no talking, no trying to change up the groom until I'm finished. Because if your dog is focusing on you, I can't get the, your dog to focus on me. And that is the safest way to do it.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: So I. Yeah, yeah, yeah, go keep. If you have more. Go, go.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: No, I would say I. So ideally it actually happens before the they even come in and it's sending
[00:16:38] Speaker A: it to them, getting them to recognize, not just blowing it off. I mean, I think it's, it's hard because I know earlier, before we got on we were kind of chit chatting
[00:16:49] Speaker B: and
[00:16:53] Speaker A: mentioned, you know, you go to the vet and it, or, or even just your own doctor or the first time you go to a hairdresser you have a consultation and that consultation comes with. Let me see, let's see, what are your expectations? What does this look like?
Any medical history, what do we need to know that that might get dropped in an intake that's not done in person?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: So
[00:17:25] Speaker A: there's a lot of ways to go with that.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And the stress of intake, you might forget all these different scenarios when you have a consent form that says this is the type of dog you have, like a seizure prone pet, all of the risks are described beforehand. So there's no surprise.
You run into issues with the clients, maybe even legal issues when they are surprised by what's happening. But when there's informed consent, then they know ahead of time this is, these are the certain things that can happen and this is how we're going to go about dealing with it if it does. We're dealing with living bodies and razor sharp tools.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
And a lot more than that. That's going.
But yeah, so compared to, to this. And then you said you're working on those digitals. The again we mentioned a little bit those kind of generic downloads. You know what, what are they failing? Where are they failing? For people that are doing this or not knowing even to prompt.
I say prompt your GPT to ask the right questions, to get the right answers and then have it almost vetted.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: Well, every grooming salon has different ways they want to run that salon. So if you just have a generic intake form that you can't customize, then that's what you, that salon sort of has to adapt that consent forms, policies and it should be the other way around. Right.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:19:03] Speaker B: You know they really need to be customized personal on because there's, there's, there's a lot of different setups. There's mobile, there's home based grooming and there's regular storefronts and they all come with their limitations.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: Yeah, they do.
And so that leads into my next question about speaking specific clauses and, and speaking the right language to prevent any type of disputes before they even begin.
[00:19:31] Speaker B: Yes, yes, I, I would say,
[00:19:40] Speaker A: Well,
[00:19:40] Speaker B: basic policies on how you want the client to operate. Like are you going to be able to bring your dog in every eight weeks so your dog can become accustomed to grooming. Otherwise the dog believes that the grooming is punishment.
So in order to set them up for success.
Yeah, I, I'm kind of failing at how to answer.
[00:20:06] Speaker A: No, it's okay. It's okay. So how should this, how should the protection differ from. Let's you just said it. Mobile home multi grooming salons. Do each of those multi shops have different, are they working under the same language?
I'm thinking a house call groomer. Oh my God. There's so many different ways now in a boarding kennel and daycare. I mean that paperwork has got to be a mile thick.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say boarding and daycare. Like they might have a longer window of when they can groom the dog because the dog's going to be there all day.
And house call grooming, they need to understand the setup that's going to be. I know a lot of groomers that operate right out of the pet owner's bathtub.
Mobile groomers, they deal with space. They usually do one dog at a time and they, and they do one neighborhood at a time. So they have to have policies that reflect that Salons, a lot of times they're dealing with multiple groomers and sometimes it's a high volume salon. And so everything is a little bit different.
I've, I've known mobile groomers to need to unfreeze their water, water pipes or hoses in their clients bathtub. So they're all a little bit different.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a.
So what advice that's circulating in, in those communities out there that may sound helpful or maybe helpful, but actually really is increasing liability for a lot of these salons.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: I would say talking it out with the pet owner because yes, communication is important, but conversations can be forgotten and sometimes the understanding of what was actually communicating could be completely different from the pet owner, from, from the groomer.
They might, the owner might hear what they feel is most comfortable and they might walk away thinking two different, you know, two different expectations. When it's written down that you know that documentation exists in case you ever need to bring it up again,
[00:22:31] Speaker A: you have to have that. That documentation is huge. I'm amazed at how many don't.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: And it gets, and I would say pleasing the customer. When we came from a trade based profession, that's what we did. I mean I groomed since the 90s.
We just, in order to retain customers, we would try our best to please them. And sometimes that meant brushing out, matting and putting the dog through hours of unnecessary work. Just so, just so vanity was preserved. And that's frequently not the best course of action.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
If someone realizes today that their paperwork isn't strong enough and they're wondering about it, how can they reach you? How can they find you?
[00:23:26] Speaker B: Well, I do have a website and I have online presence.
I am going to start doing like TikToks and whatnot and of how you can deliver the, you know, basic language on talking to clients about signing consent forms. Because what I pointed to earlier was self worth. Most groomers don't even feel comfortable saying, hey, we're going to take a minute and fill out this paperwork and I'm going to explain to you certain risks as your dog ages or because your dog is seizure prone.
Yeah, I, I would say the language barrier is, is the biggest issue.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with you. It is that it. And so you're on face Facebook.
Yes, you're on Facebook.
Very active on LinkedIn. I love that by the way too.
[00:24:29] Speaker B: That's, I absolutely love LinkedIn. Yes, I do too.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: Oh my gosh.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: So we're going to take a break, but coming up we are going to be shifting to something less discussed but just as important and that is the emotional toll of grooming and how businesses prepare for one of the hardest moments that we run into.
We'll be right back.
[00:24:57] Speaker B: Perfect.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: Welcome back to the business of pet care. Don't miss a second of this show or any NOW Media TV favorites streaming live and on demand anytime. Grab the free Now Media TV app on Roku or ISO or listen to the podcast at NowMedia TV.
Now Media TV is available 24 7. So the stories you care about are always within reach.
And we are back grooming.
You guys all know, coming from a grooming background, it is a very, very personal work, a personal job. We get very involved, we get emotionally involved with aging pets, puppies. We are giving our everything and sometimes we do lose them.
So we're going to talk about that in this segment. We are going to discuss the emotional realities that business system really need to support.
So Kristen, after 27 years in the industry, how has the emotional weight of this work evolved?
[00:26:43] Speaker B: I would say that we are finally having a better understanding of how nervous systems respond to, to triggers into stress and trauma.
Our, our pets, you know, our clients and our own.
When something bad happens at a salon or something, you know, a mistake happens or a pet is cut, the owner is protective. We are protect. I'm very protective of my pet. And so being upset and anger is a natural response.
[00:27:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:20] Speaker B: So that's why we need to set boundaries ahead of time and let them know these things can happen. And this is how I have it covered if it does. And it also makes a, you know, it makes the client realize that we're a lot more experienced and we understand when things can go wrong because it's only a matter of time when you're working on a living animal that ages, that has trauma responses.
And so unfortunately, it really is sometimes only in a matter of time before something bad happens. So setting boundaries is essential and it always has been. And that's, I believe that that's a major part of what's been missing in our industry
[00:28:07] Speaker A: is having that, that thought. And because I think we all tend to think sometimes, especially young, I, I don't want to say young, but newer business owners maybe come in and go, that would never happen to me.
Right.
It's so easy to think of that as being, we're invincible. I got it covered. It's never going to happen.
And
[00:28:35] Speaker B: the old school groomers, or the old school groomers, they're just like, oh, we, we've pushed through it. We figure out as we go, yeah, that just doesn't work anymore. Especially if you want to be a respected profession, you're not just gonna, you're going to verbalize everything. You're going to have, you know, there's a cause and effect.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: And I don't think people realize today, or maybe we're starting to a little bit more how quick and I think I talked about it maybe not last week, but the week before for how quick that if something bad does happen and you don't react properly, how fast that spreads and if you're not prepared for it before it happens, you don't get another opportunity to fix that.
And that's huge.
If it's.
Oh my gosh. I'm going to think back to when I first came out of grooming school back in the, the mid-90s.
I heard a dog and took his tail with a mat splitter and cut that tail. And it was, it was bad. It was enough that the tail had the tip of. It had to, had to be amputated. But the problem was that I didn't know how to react to it. I wasn't prepared for it. Luckily I worked at a vet clinic and they. It was a rescue dog that was just coming in Pyrenees that hadn't been done in years.
And I had a tool that I had not been trained on, had no idea how to use it.
And you got a groomer fresh out of grooming school thinking they know what they're doing and what that trauma did to me.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Yes, yes. And then you don't want to.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: God.
[00:30:42] Speaker B: And then you don't want to touch another dog for several months. And it's funny that you, you talk about mat splitters because when they sell them at Petsmart and Petco, one time I had a customer come in and run it through the dog's ears. Like, you know, it's, it's very dangerous.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: They're very dangerous. I mean, after that. I've never touched one since.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Never had one since. I'm like, nope. And you know what? We had one at the school and for our in person and I trained on it that you don't use this.
This goes in the garbage.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: There are much better ways.
[00:31:18] Speaker A: There are so many better ways. We are so much, we are so many. We are educated more than that now.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Yes, thank goodness it did.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: It took its toll. It, it affected me. And having to tell the owner was probably one of the hardest. Now again, I'd not known that check in process. I didn't have to check the dog in. I didn't have a relationship with the owner. Somebody else checked the dog in, somebody took him back. I had the dog in the bath on the table. And then they go, you need to go tell the owner. And I'M like, oh, okay, here we go.
Oh, my God. Yeah. I don't know why I didn't walk away then and there.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: We're basically stewards of emotion. We need to know how to explain how things are going to. Can happen. And eventually they're going to. And then once they do happen, we have to be able to properly care for that with a calm nervous system. So like I was saying before, we're not only dealing with our nervous systems, we're dealing with the pets and the owners. It's an incredibly emotional career.
[00:32:27] Speaker A: It is. It is.
How. So the, the consent forms going back to those. How are they going to support groomers in this? Emotionally, just beyond the protection side, but we get beyond the legal side. How. How are these going to really help enforce? It gives you a sense of comfort that you have this.
[00:32:49] Speaker B: Well, as far as enforced, you can never really stop someone from, you know, placing a lawsuit against you. But if you set boundaries ahead of time and say, you know, you want your dog dematted and your dog could result, it could have a trauma response. You could, you could scratch the skin, you know, your dog, you might uncover.
I've seen maggots uncovered before in, in severe matting.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:33:22] Speaker B: And so it just sets that language ahead of time. So when, when something eventually does happen. Because there are groomers that specialize in senior dogs or they, you know, they specialize in behaviorally challenged dogs. You really don't want to do that unless you, you can deliver the language ahead of time and say, these are the things that can happen.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: Because if you don't, you, you also don't really know.
It's not like you know what you're, you're talking about. You want to demonstrate to the owner that, hey, I've seen this happen. I've got it covered. Here's the, you know, here is everything that we can do if something bad happens.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: And that's what you need. You need to have that.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: Here's where we do.
[00:34:07] Speaker A: If something happens.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: And that's the thing. Absolutely. All dogs age.
[00:34:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:11] Speaker B: All dogs are puppies at one point. All dogs need to be completely introduced to grooming at one point.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
So many little things.
[00:34:21] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: So many little things.
And, and, and that real quick. We're going to take a break here in a minute. But end a life grooming very, very rarely discussed.
What, what do we need to understand about that? And preparing for those appointments?
Do you have any. And if not, that's fine. We can move on.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: I would say that the hardest conversation is that the dog could pass away during that, especially if it's, if the dog has issues with seizures. And because I do, like I said, I have a senior intake, but I also have an end of life, that amount of stress.
Depending on how often the dog is groomed and how well they take to you and how long you've had a relationship with that dog, it can be the last time that that dog is either groomed or that grooming appointment can unfortunately end that dog's life. Yeah, we use very loud Air Force machines and even in a situation like that, I wouldn't recommend that. But you, you don't know what goes on in certain salons. There's a lot of different old school ways. There's new ways being implemented. There's, there's all these new tools. So I remember back in the day that they had cage dryers that had heating elements on them and they would cook these dogs and thank goodness they've been out loud outlawed in a lot of states, every state, I think, at this point. But yeah, I, I guess when you've been in the industry this long, you've seen how bad things can go. And unfortunately, not every grooming salon or groomer evolves. Some of them are just like, oh, I've done it this way a million times. Yeah, you know, it can get.
[00:36:20] Speaker A: All right, we're going to take a break. We will be right back and we are going to continue the conversation right after this message.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:36:56] Speaker A: Welcome back. This is our final segment and we've had some really good conversation today.
You know, a lot of this is something that can, I think some people can think that this is something that can be done very easily.
And I think, I think there's some questions that need to be asked, some things that need to be answered that are going a little more in depth to what it looks like if you're just writing your own releases or taking them from somebody else and what this looks like on a larger level than just being done yourself.
You know, Christina, I think, I think what I'm trying to say here is how, what makes, what makes you different and stand out from all those others and what have you done for yourself, for your education to help give this solid, solid structure to the industry?
[00:38:13] Speaker B: Well, I do work with a few lawyers that are fluent in what needs to be included in consent forms across every single state.
It's always a good idea, if you have any doubts, to have a lawyer look over your forms.
That was already done with us. That was one of the first steps when I was writing different policies.
I was looking at what was included in other consent forms and whatnot. And I also thought what needs to be added? Because there was a lot of stuff, especially when it comes to condition specific policies and clauses.
So I would say they do need to be specific to every state, but there are lawyers that specialize in that and they can say, hey, this is going to float wherever you go. Now, if we start getting it, because I do custom forms, if we start getting into oddly specific clauses and policies, that's where I will have to reach back out to my lawyers and have that looked over.
[00:39:31] Speaker A: So, yes, no, that, that's good to know because I think that's a big question and what that looks like and that even still, as a small business owner, you should have a legal team, there should be somebody protecting your back also.
And we can't go blindly into everything, but to know that the structure for these and everything that you are doing has been that foundation is built and solid.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:40:08] Speaker A: That is huge. I mean that, that just, that makes it. I didn't copy and paste it off as I'm gonna say chat GPT again. And here you go. Have fun with it. Right?
[00:40:20] Speaker B: No, absolutely.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Yeah. So walk us through how this form library is structured and customized. How would you. What, what's the first start? Somebody comes to you and goes, christina, this is what I need. What do you got?
[00:40:38] Speaker B: Well, you start off with the owner's name, the pet's name, specific information, history of grooming.
Are there any parts where your pet doesn't like to be touched? Are there. Is your have maybe a patella luxation or a heart murmur or is it ever have a seizure?
All of that. You need to have your policies in there about specific to your shop.
You need to have an area in there that says I have read all this and I have understood it.
[00:41:17] Speaker A: In a situation.
Is there a clause about not being held responsible for underlying anything that's not been pushed forward? Trying to. How am I saying that? You know, anything that hasn't been provided up front by the owner because, you know, sometimes they don't want to say, oh well, no, he's never bitten anyone. His last words.
[00:41:47] Speaker B: Yes, there's a part in there that says I have a disclose all known information about my pet or if the groomer discovers unknown underlying causes, the groomer is not responsible for it.
Yes, yes, there's, there's multiple clauses that cover a lot of those different scenarios.
[00:42:17] Speaker A: Again, so it's not just one form, not one big long one. It's let's piece together what works for your business.
[00:42:27] Speaker B: Yes, yes, absolutely.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: And that's good because again, every two business, they're all different and somebody. What is important to somebody may not be as important to somebody else. Some groomers.
[00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah, some groomers want you to come every six weeks, some every eight weeks. Some don't really care.
Someone 24 hours notice for a cancellation. Sometimes it's 48.
Yes.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: What do you think is the mist? The number one mist?
[00:42:59] Speaker B: I would say grooming history and areas of the pet that they don't like being touched.
[00:43:06] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:43:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
That's an easy one to cover because if you start, you know, if you want to trim the foot and the dog has a terrible reaction to it, you're going to want to know ahead of time, you're going to want to know how to support that dog.
I would. And medical issues, those are frequently left out in med. In, in the consent forms.
[00:43:29] Speaker A: Yeah, that, that, yeah. Again, because if you don't know to be asking for it or if they're prone to ear infections, if they're. They've had an eye ulcer at some point. Yes, anything like that.
How do you balance the affordability for businesses with the. That legal protection?
[00:43:50] Speaker B: I haven't seen any forms that you can just pay for the PDF and then print it out for the lifetime of your business.
It's usually you pay for a pad and there's like 25, 50, 100 and then you have to continuously reorder.
And like I said before there, it's someone else's policies that you have to adapt. So none of it, none of it's customizable. So what I can do is can sell you a PDF that you use for the lifetime of your salon and you can have your own specific policies because your shop is customized to your needs and your space and the amount of groomers that you have. And you know, if you're a home groomer, you might have, you know, rules and regulations from your village on when you can operate and when you cannot operate. So every, every single grooming setup is different, so they really need to be specific and it's way more affordable than always having to reorder, because that's pretty much what I've seen.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: Yeah, that's interesting because I, I mean I've, I've always had ours done, so I've not even written my own. It's always been from, from somebody else for lawyer wise, but. Or it's come generic from the software companies.
[00:45:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:45:19] Speaker A: And you know, that's. Is this something that can integrate with the software what they have. Or would you say this is another layer of it?
[00:45:29] Speaker B: Yes, I know you can integrate it with groom or. Because you can upload your own documents and they can be sent digitally, which is excellent, especially until I create my digital platform.
I pretty much started this business with kind of next to no funding. So kind of building my way up to.
Takes a long time and we're approaching a year now, so I'm super proud. There's so many different things and avenues we need to go in once funding, more funding allows for it. Oh, yeah, I'm excited.
[00:46:10] Speaker A: Ending battle of small business owners needing more funding.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: Yes. And when you, when you write out your business, nothing goes as planned. You have to be able to pivot. Pivot. If you can't pivot, then you, you really shouldn't even try. Or you, you need to learn how to pivot because you can have this business plan and you're going to do this, this and this, and it doesn't work out that way. And that is, never does. What makes you successful is navigating all of those situations. It, I, it took me like three months just to get a. The email that I wanted, which is so ridiculous. But there's, you know, the harsh reality of things don't always go as planned.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: Yeah, that is so true.
All right, well, it has been a pleasure having you on. I am going to ask for all the groomers that are listening today, tomorrow, and those that want to operate more confidently, get some started tomorrow. How can they find you? How can what, what is the first step they should do besides contact you to get them set up?
[00:47:21] Speaker B: They should look me up at honest to doggrooming.com they can check me out on LinkedIn, they can check me out on Facebook.
And eventually I would like to get something going on Tik Tok, where I deliver how to hand these consent forms to pet owners without freezing up. Because that is the number one issue.
The number one issue I hear groomers saying, is I couldn't, I could never approach this with a client because first of all, you're trying to.
Your timing is precious. So you get a dog in the door, you don't want to have them fill out paperwork, which is why my digital platform is coming. So they can do it before they show up.
But it just feels wrong for groomers to do it because we've never been taught to do that. We've always been a trade, you know, a trade profession, not a professional profession. So.
[00:48:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:48:15] Speaker B: So I, I would, I'm eventually going to create language that makes it easier to talk about with grace, with respect and understanding of things are eventually going to go wrong. They can't. Especially if you specialize in dogs with special needs, which is something I used to do. Yeah, yeah.
[00:48:41] Speaker A: No, I. You know what? You could not have ended it on a better note right there.
That's so well said. Thank you. I can't even compare.
So thank you so much again for being on and to the viewers.
Christina said it. I don't need to say anything else.
Don't let a stressful event be a business crisis.
Have it handled. This has been the business of pet care. I am Dara Forleo, and I will see you next time.
