We were lucky to catch up with Pearl Sharpe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pearl, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission? 

So my mission is to help young mothers and women, in general that are struggling and finding a career path, or opening up a business as single mothers, or just women trying to make it in this world. I hope that I can show that no matter the hurdles you have to climb the adversity you have to face that it can be done. If you work really hard you stay motivated you surround yourself with like-minded people or people who are More elevated in the industry that you would like to get into and just chase your dreams and so my mission is to see all of my beautiful women be successful and know that you can do it no matter what anybody’s telling you

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?

My name is Pearl, I’m a pet groomer in Murfreesboro Tennessee and I own Pearly pawz pet grooming. I have been grooming for 10 years and a business owner for two. I fell into this industry because my dad told me I had to graduate high school and get a job as soon as possible. He gave me 30 days. I struggle a lot with mental health, i have bipolar disorder, anxiety, and ptsd. I needed a career that could settle my brain and my nerves. Grooming did that for me it saved my life, being able to make something beautiful and feel good made me feel good. Then I got j to teaching other people how to groom and gave them the same peace I found.

I started Pearly Pawz because I worked for a lot of companies and I saw a lot of things, and I wanted to change the grooming world. I wanted groomers to be able to come and work for me and have freedom to be expressive in their craft and be able to also take care of their kids if they needed to and know that this is a career not a job, and I wanted them to enjoy every single day of work. I also wanted a place where people brought their pets and felt comfortable and felt like they were part of the family.
We also make it a point to educate on how to take care of their pets, and they felt comfortable enough to come to me with all of their concerns and needs for those pets, I run this business as a single mother raising a beautiful seven year old daughter, with no family and no friends I’m in Tennessee alone, and my mission is to show other women that it is possible to be a single mother and own things and grow a business, and be happy and fulfilled.

I teach owners and others about pet grooming and what goes with it. I love to educate about my industry and see people’s perspectives change.
Every one calls me auntie because I make you feel welcomed and like the aunt you run to when moms not listening.

I’m proud that I’m doing it, I come from nothing I started with business with nothing I got a investor for a build out and opened my doors with $100 in my account. I prayed and had a small following of clients and here I am working on year two. I’m proud that as a single mom with no help at all I balance running a business and being a mom very well. And others see me doing and wanna do it for them self’s

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I lost a business I opened with friends in had. I made a lot of mistakes on that journey. So may things i look back on and say pearl you could have been better, acted better, worked harder and Spoke up sooner. When I lost that b business I thought about giving up grooming I was left, feeling like the worst human on the planet, and feeling like I failed not only myself, but my daughter and I sat down and I journaled, and I prayed, and I looked for guidance and I got back up and I opened up Pearly Pawz less than three months after closing the first business I knew that I had made mistakes previously and I needed to correct them and move forward and not give up on my dreams

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

To not be too friendly and to learn that sometimes business has to be business that you can be peoples friends and you can be clients friends, but you also have to remember that you’re running a business and you have to learn that line between the both because it’s a line that can easily be crossed and leave you very empty and starting over

Contact Info:

• Website: Pearlypawz.com
• Instagram: Pearly Pawz or kailaandmommy
• Facebook: Pearl sharpe
• Youtube: Pearly pawz
• Other: Pearly pawz in tiktok

Image Credits
I want to think my mom, Celeste Sharpe and my dad, Chris Sharpe and my granny, Pearl Sharpe, my best friends DeAnna and Ariel and of course , my daughter Kaila 🥰 for all the love and the support on this journey, you guys mean the world to me