Positivity

’20 Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones that you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 

Mark Twain.

So, this article isn't strictly grooming related, it can be applied to all things in life. It is about self worth, self promotion and positivity. 

I started grooming in 2007. This year is my 15th anniversary. I have had many ups and downs during my time as a pet groomer. I have been criticised and ignored. Thrust in to the limelight and publicly slated. I have been held to ridicule and threatened with harm. I have made the best of friends from all over the world and at the same time, unbeknownst to me, made many enemies. Whilst all of these things were happening I can absolutely promise you, I didn't waver, I didn't draw a breath, I didn't hide away. I was never diverted from my path. 

Let me explain why…

I was educated. I had knowledge. I armed myself with the truth. I knew the answers to the difficult questions. I deflected the nay sayers with intelligence. I didn't feel frightened. I stood my ground. I accepted many years ago that I will make mistakes but that I will also learn from them.  

Sometimes the right path is a very lonely one. I am very happy to walk alone. It was a hard lesson to learn at first but I leaned on those I respected and listened to the experience of those that have walked the path before me. I found that the correct path isn't always the most popular one. 

Having stood up and chosen this path, I have now had many successes, I have judged internationally at Grooming Shows. I am a busy MC in the UK and present lots of the shows. I appear occasionally on TV as a grooming expert. Im a consultant for a huge grooming brand and helped create the UK pooch Perfect for the BBC. I am known as a safety freak. Yes I get teased because I choose to vilify the use of harmful chemicals on a dogs coat but I'm totally fine with that. I would rather be known for this than the guy that nearly suffocated a poodle because I wanted his coat to be lighter and used a bleach to achieve it. 

Grooming doesn't come easy to me. Im not one of these groomers that can pick up a pair of scissors and make a poodle look like its show ready in 45 mins. It still, after all this time, takes a lot of hard work and concentration. No one knows it all. We are always learning. Educating ourselves and striving to become better. The next man may just know something that I don’t so I make sure I listen and learn. 

Going out alone and doing something you believe in is a little bit scary at times but how else are we to progress? If you don’t try you don’t know. If you try and fail you learn but If you don’t you've learnt nothing. You absolutely have to put yourself out there. Be open to ridicule. Who really cares? If you are threatened its usually jealousy because the person doing the threatening is probably just a bit upset with themselves that they didn't do it. Be brave. The worlds most successful people are the, what I call, ’have a go-ers’. 

If this article makes you say yes to something that puts you out of your comfort zone and challenges you to do something that you would never normally do, well then it has done its job. Even if it is only one person that it touches I will feel that it has worked. After all:

‘Mighty oaks out of little acorns grow’. 

So go on, push yourself, have fun, fail and learn but remember to laugh at yourself. succeed and celebrate, shout it from the rooftops. Be the best you that you can possibly be. Thats all that this article is asking of you. Try it, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.