She had the childhood dream to become a Veterinarian. As Lisa grew older and knew what she needed for grades to fulfill her dream, she ccame to realize that she couldn't make the grades for it. At that time she didn't know what she would do for a career.
Lisa was asked one day by her aunt if she would be interested in helping out working in a full line pet store. Lisa's eyes were reopened to another world of animal care. She learned a lot about Birds, Fish, Dogs, Cats, Rodents, and Reptiles. Then she had periodically watched the Pet Groomer that had worked in a small section of the basement in the pet store. The pet groomer was expecting her second child and was looking for another groomer to help out while she was on maternity leave. She couldn't find anyone and asked Lisa if she would like to learn. Lisa took her up on the offer but time wasn't in the grooming owners' favor. There was another groomer that worked in the grooming shop and that girl was supposed to help teach Lisa but she didn't. After a time the groomer was leaving and moving into a shop of her own. Lisa still had loyalty to her aunt so she stayed there working in the pet store. Lisa's aunt suggested continuing to groom pets. Her aunt helped purchase all the grooming equipment that Lisa would need to continue to groom. Lisa mainly learned how to groom some short-legged terriers, the rest of the breeds Lisa had to learn on her own. So she became a self-taught groomer.
In 2003 Lisa had a huge opportunity to go to Chicago, IL to go and see her first trade show and enter in her first-ever grooming competition. She had entered with her own personal dog "Bailey", a little Shih Tzu/Poodle cross, in the beginner mix breed competition. Her dog had eight months' growth of hair on him. When she was given the start, she noticed that she had no electricity to run her clippers, so she ended up completely hand scissoring her dog down to one inch in length. She also finished with fifteen minutes left on the clock. In the end, she took first place for mixed breed beginners grooming. In total, she has been grooming since the summer of 1987 and has found her career a very fulfilling and rewarding one. She has watched pets come and go. Now Lisa has started her own business.
