We recently connected with Maggie Squires and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

The Matted Doodle as a business name has brought smiles to pet parent’s faces because it’s relatable; like the old saying “shit happens” so do mats. It has also allowed them to bring their pet to a professional environment without the judgement often associated with having a matted pet.

I came up with the name The Matted Doodle for my grooming business because for the last 16 years as a groomer I’ve watch the doodle breeds skyrocket in popularity as America’s favorite dog. The term doodle is a catch-all term describing the breeding of a poodle mixed with another standard breed, such as golden retriever, to get the ever so cute big old teddy bear looking dog.

From a groomer’s stand point this means breeding a coarse, curly, single-coated dog, the poodle with a thick double-coated breed such as the golden and resulting in a high maintenance grooming intense breed (i.e. the golden doodle). These breeds require daily coat care to prevent matting which unfortunately is often unknown before the pet parent brings their puppy home and has led to groomers working daily with matted doodles.

While many grooming salons and groomers have outright stopped grooming any doodle breeds due to unrealistic expectations from pet parents and the amount of time required to groom these dogs; I decided to embrace this challenging breed and the reality of the situation; matted doodles.

Through the name of my business I have chosen to make light of a hairy topic of matting and invite pet parents to bring the doodles, mats and all, and learn how to properly maintain their pet’s coat and understand the importance of a routine grooming schedule to prevent matting.

Maggie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began my grooming career 16 years ago at a corporate grooming store that had a training path to become a professional groomer. It was through this training program and being surrounded by veterans in the grooming industry that I cut my teeth in the field. In this fast paced, high volume, high stress environment it was either sink or swim.

Over the years, I worked as a lead groomer, a grooming salon manager, a mobile dog groomer and even went into veterinary medicine as a vet tech. While adding all of these aspects to my toolbox of skills which led me to be a better groomer, I realized what type of role and setting allowed me to thrive the most with the pets I interacted with. It ended up being a really simple formula- if I was less anxious and less stressed, the pets were less anxious and less stressed.

From those lessons, I decided to open my own business which focused on controlling the energy of a space that pets come into. By doing so I created a fear free grooming experience which has resulted in a positive experience for the pets, the pet parents and me!

I crafted my business plan around solving the main pain points in these three categories: the client’s experience, the pet’s experience and the groomer’s experience.

When looking at each of these problems, I found several overlaps that were solved by implementing one specific policy; allowing only one family of pets into the studio at a time. This policy allows the pet parent to come into the studio with their pet(s) and have an in depth conversation with the groomer and exchange important information regarding their pet(s). This also allows the groomer to problem solve with the pet parent in regards to their pet’s grooming maintenance and overall care. The pets are not overwhelmed and find the calm environment a place they can relax in. The groomer benefits from all of this by partnering with the pet parent to help keep a well maintained coat and having a dog that is much more relaxed on the grooming table.

This personal one-on-one service is a keystone to The Matted Doodle; it fosters bonds and trust between all parties and has led to a successful first year of business.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In the 18 months of deciding on opening a business to now; there have been many pivots and reassessing the business and as the business grows I’m still experiencing these moments.

One of the biggest pivots was deciding to open a brick and mortar grooming studio instead of a mobil grooming business. Most of my clients knew me as a mobile groomer and were use to the convenience of their pet being groomed in their drive way and I was unsure if they would opt for bringing their pet into a location for grooming. After I was denied a 100k loan for a mobile grooming van I had to pivot to a brick and mortar option.

To my surprise, these clients were going to follow me no matter the set up I was grooming in because of the trust and bond I developed between them and their pet. I now have clients who drive over an hour to bring their pet in for grooming and it showed me a van is just a van and quality trumps convenience.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was setting up the business, it was important for me to have a very personal approach when communicating with clients. I was nervous enacting strict policies regarding appointment cancellations or no shows or even charging fees outside of the standard services. I felt a client contract gave too much of a corporate salon approach and might leave clients feeling skeptical of my business.

After late cancelations became an issue and I grew frustrated, my business coach explained to me that a written contract with clients allows me to communicate expectations without an emotional tone which not only informs clients what I need from them but also allows me to react in a more professional manner.

I worked with a lawyer to write a client contract and now I feel confident and more in control when managing clients who have broke the agreement. It also allows me to demonstrate generosity when I make case by case exceptions from the policies in place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thematteddoodle.com
• Instagram: the_matted_doodle

Image Credits
I was unable to upload the photos requested – I’ll submit via email to Amy Flores.