We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angèl Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angèl below.
Angèl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started dog grooming after getting my Austism Level 1 diagnosis and quitting my Industrial-Organizational Psychology career at the age of 27. At that point, I was the interim-director of Employee Engagement and Assessments at a global enterprise. I was “successful” but unhappy and wanted a different life for myself. I fell in love with dog grooming, and it just felt natural. I learned talents I never knew I had, particularly being able to care for dogs that are anxious and fearful. My sensory issues helps me understand them; the little things bother me too.
I leaned into that talent, and furthered my training by getting Fear-Free certified. I designed my mobile salon specifically to reduce fear, anxiety, and sensory overload. I work 1-1 with dogs, which removes them (and me!) from the stimulating atmosphere of a dog salon. I added sound paneling in the walls of my salon to reduce noise. I work with limited restraints to give dogs more freedom of movement. I have a diffuser which lets out calming scents designed for anxious dogs. I take extra time to desensitize them, and give them lots of treats!
Starting my own mobile grooming business, Precious Grooms by Angel, has been the most exciting part of my life. My husband and I, with help from his handy dad, built our mobile salon ourselves – the Hairy Chariot. It is truly a labor of love, and gave me the freedom to live out this dream. The Hairy Chariot has been on the road for just 5 short months, but through word of mouth, I am staying consistently booked out. I have an amazing group of clients – both dogs and people – and I can finally say I truly love my job!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
There are several ways to groom, with different philosophies on dog behavior and different techniques on handling, etc. In the grooming industry, you are often learning hands-on as an apprentice. What you learn in the beginning relies heavily on who is training you. Some “old school grooming” techniques is what I have had to unlearn as I have grown as a groomer.
I originally was trained to use the groomer’s helper with every dog! It sounds insane now, especially given how few times I have used the one I purchased for my mobile salon. The “chin hold” was used with every dog when doing every face. I was taught to not “give in” to a naughty dog because then they would just learn to be more bad. In reality they were anxious and we were just making them more anxious. All lessons I am glad I have unlearned!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I’m proud of being able to start my business with such little capital. I think the funding I was able to attain is very reasonable for most people. With a 10k loan from a credit union, we were able to convert a 6×10 enclosed cargo trailer into a mobile dog grooming salon. It meant learning a bit of several trades to make it happen, but my husband and I now know how to install plumbing, electrical wiring, insulation, etc! We saved money doing the grunt work ourselves, and only paid for a plumber/electrician to do a review of our work.
Contact Info: