Never Stop Learning

I am just sitting here with my poodle reflecting. I have done it…soon to become a Certified Master Cat Groomer and presently a Certified Feline Master Groomer. How did I do it? The only answer I can come up with is pure determination to learn everything I could about cats and grooming cats. As I traveled on my journey I was not satisfied until I had done everything I could. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. Trying to get my fifty-five year old brain to learn and remember information with which I was unfamiliar with was no easy task. I’d study and study and study and then look back at the outlines and the cards I’d prepared and guess what….BLANK!!!! Every time I took exams I was terrified. Nobody wants to fail, so there was a lot of self-imposed pressure to do well. In addition, I’d never owned a cat so much of the information was foreign to me. Almost everything I did was new but I persevered. I consider this to be one of the biggest accomplishments in my career.

Learning about cats and how to groom cats was so worthwhile. I always felt this was a missing link for me. The day I woke up and had my revelation about cat grooming, I took action. I looked into both cat grooming schools, gathering as much information and asking as many questions as I could. Since I went through both schools, The Professional Cat Groomers Association of America and the National Cat Grooming Institute of America, I got to wrangle cats with the best of the best! Daryl Conner was kind enough to take me under her wing to groom kitties in her beautiful state of Maine. Grooming cats with Danelle German (the Iron Chef of all cat groomers) and Juli Anderson was WOW! I will always be in awe of their grooming skills. They are all true cat people with a gift.

Cats need to be groomed. This is a fact. If more groomers furthered their education in this specialty field, the result would be more trained cat groomers in our world. These groomers would be knowledgeable on the subject and motivated and inspired to spread the gospel of cat grooming. Cat owners need to be encouraged and educated as to why they need to have their cats groomed on a maintenance schedule, just like dogs. Who would benefit? The cats would! I have seen some sad things. If these kitties could only talk to us… they would say, “Give me a bath, get rid of my fleas, comb out my tangles, clip off my painful mats, trim my nails and clean my ears. Deshed me so I can stop coughing up hairballs! Blow out my coat so my hair is clean and fluffy. I love feeling good and looking beautiful.” As owners are educated about starting to groom their kittens at an early age guess who else wins? The groomer!

This last week I’ve gotten private messages and email about cat grooming school. I urge you all to look into it. Go back to school. Work on your skills. Get certified. The information is so valuable. There is so much to learn and it’s right there waiting for you. It is worth the time, effort and expense. You will gain so much confidence and you will feel a sense of accomplishment when you graduate. This not only will reflect in your attitude and your grooming, your customers will notice. Your feline friends will thank you for it. Having those letters after your name, CFMG, CMCG, will always remind you that you climbed to the very top of the mountain in your chosen profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Monty's Mom]

Congratulations on your certification, Ellen! Great perseverance and enthusiasm for taking on the next challenge.

[Ellen Ehrlich]

Thank you Lynda!

[Chris S]

Great article with this one!!