At the end of this career report our best advice is to get involved and stay involved. You can do that now even before your career has started. There are plenty of groomers that don't go to trade shows, don't subscribe to grooming publications, well we could go on. It's a shame. There's always more to learn in this field but it's up to you. It can be a job, or it can be a career that brings you joy and pride. The latter usually comes from staying proactive in your industry and never closing yourself off from learning more.
 

Many hardworking people have taken the time to create new outlets for grooming education and events. Their numbers are at a record high. Support your industry. Build a professional library. Subscribe to serial publications.

Join associations. Attend trade shows. When you own a grooming business, learn more about small business management too. Sure you can sit back and earn your living from pet grooming, but you can keep the excitement going. Don't overwork. Come back to PetGroomer.com, we're always growing, there is no end in sight.

Participate here. Thousands are coming by each week, and there's plenty more room for you. We're always looking at ways to get more information out, but you are in the driver's seat to make your career what you want it to be. People come into grooming for the joy of working with pets, stay in love with that idea. We are living proof that if you hear about "groomer stress" or 'groomer burnout" that it is real, but we said "No!" Whatever it was creating it, which was in the past mostly a lack of information unlike today, we never accepted it.

We studied, we conquered, we opened ourselves to new ideas, we talked with other groomers and stayed out of gossip and politics, and we learned small business management. Now 47 years later we still love our industry.

We see its weaknesses, we see its challenges but they are so outweighed by the great aspects of pet grooming, and those darn wonderful pets who gave us thousands. We are people, and people do occasionally get into ruts. Come on! Join us! Maybe you will never get into the ditch with others because we have given you so much information and leads to others. But you're bound to run into some with burnout. Good, give them a lift. Spread your inspiration. Keep up with latest, stay frosty! That's what the world of PetGroomer.com is all about. If anything is special about us, it's nothing that isn't possible with you. We never accepted that we couldn't have all the prosperity we wanted from this industry wide-open with opportunity today. We simply got involved, and 47 years later, we're still involved!

Staying informed is important. Here are some suggestions:

Magazines & Newsletters

For our list of suggested magazines and newsletters, click here.

Grooming Associations

For a list of associations, click here.

Calendar of Events

For the PetGroomer.com Calendar, click here.

GroomerTALK Community & Blogs

Join and participate, or view privately with registration, by clicking here. Be sure to read the GroomWise℠ Blogs too!

PetGroomer.com Classified Ads

You can place FREE ads in the Help Wanted & Job Wanted section, and the Used Products & Equipment section. Advertising in other sections is pawsitively cheap too! Come read the ads updated daily year round, click here.

Find A Groomer Directory for Pet Owners

When you want to advertise your business, or perhaps suggest your employer to advertise their business, come to Find A Groomer Directory for Pet Owners. It's free. Over 5,000 businesses listed offering the most detailed listings anywhere in pet grooming. Click here.

Groomer Pedia™

What's this? First, Groomer Pedia™ is a new online encyclopedia where people of the industry help us to write definitions of industry terms. It opens in June 2008 and for many months thereafter it will be updated daily as the data comes in. For years we expect this reference to grow, and we're even going to do a print version by bulk postal mail. The Groomer Pedia™ Hive™ is a special message board that strictly limits discussions to the terminology, unlike GroomerTALK™ Message Board where we talk everything grooming. We think you will find our busy hive quite interesting as it matures.