Teri DiMarino
An industry veteran, Teri has owned and operated successful salons and mobiles in Florida and California. A winning grooming contest competitor, Teri was a member of three GroomTeam USA Gold Medal teams. A multiple Barkleigh Honors and Cardinal Crystal Award winner, Teri was a regular columnist for Groomer to Groomer Magazine as well as a popular speaker and judge at seminars and trade shows across the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Cassandra Eye
Cassandra Eye is a groomer of 11 years from St.Louis Missouri. She has been mobile groomer for six years and worked in a salon prior. She operates a mobile grooming company called Furry & Fabulous with five employees and four mobile units. She loves attending seminars and furthering her education. She loves grooming the big, hairy dogs and personally owns a Great Dane and a Newfoundland.
Alyson Fisher
Alyson Fisher has been in the pet industry for over 10 years, beginning in rescue then moving in to pet resort ownership. She purchased a small pet resort in 2017 after having worked a high-stress international travel job for most of her career prior. She has grown that resort from three employees for 20-40 pets per day to now employing 40+ staff, has added two additional facility locations, and her teams care for 200+ pets daily. In 2022, Alyson joined the Gingr Pet Care Software team, working with owners to help streamline their business, help to fine-tune efficiency and grow. Her passion for the industry and strong background in business brings a unique set of skills.
Blake Hernandez
Blake Hernandez is a NCMG and three-time Barkleigh Honors recipient. He is best known for his online persona and caterwauling lyrics that speak to our industry. Blake has brought innovation and current outside trends to the grooming industry from Personality Marketing to the FoxEye, a phone holding device for the everyday groomer or aspiring influencer. Blake runs Foxy Roxy's Pet Salon in San Diego, CA, in addition to competing in grooming contests and dog shows all over the country. He is the co-creator and founder of GroomSource, an app made for groomers' continued education, as well as creator and producer of many products with Foxy Roxy's Supply Co. Blake was also a feature groomer in Netflix's "DOGS" documentary and a contestant on ABC's Pooch Perfect Season 1.
Denise Heroux
Denise Heroux owns Awesome Paws Pet Salon, a Cleveland-based chain with two locations and active plans for expansion. Awesome Paws fosters a healthy environment for employees and pets with a focus on employee investment and learning. While managing both locations and a staff of over 20 employees, Denise finds time to work with the Ohio Professional Pet Groomers Association, which she founded. The association focuses on setting a higher standard for pet safety, business-building opportunities, versatile learning experiences, and creating legislative fluidity in the industry. You may have listened to Denise on both the Women PetPreneurs and Small Business Hiring podcasts.
Barb Hoover
Barb has been active in the pet grooming industry since 1985. She is a National Certified Master Groomer and Certified Canine Esthetician. Believing in the importance of continuing education, Barb organizes, attends and teaches classes throughout the country on all aspects of the grooming industry. She has been interviewed by, and written articles for various trade magazines, been nominated for several Barkleigh Honors awards and won the prestigious David G. Salzberg Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Grooming Industry in 2007. Her book, The Difficult Dog, was awarded the 2018 Barkleigh Honor Award for Book of the Year.
Milena Kon
Milena started off in graphic design and direct sales before realizing that she wanted to do more with animals. So, she went into grooming in 2013. She is now the owner of Driving Me Knots (Mobile Grooming), DMK Bowtique (Pet Accessories), and DMK Marketing Solutions (Custom Graphic Designs). She started competing in Extreme Creative Styling & Creative Abstract grooming contests in 2015, and won Up-and-Coming Creative Groomer that same year. Her creative work has also been seen on "The Greatest Showman" with Hugh Jackman and "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix. She was awarded the Barkleigh Honors Creative Groomer of the Year in 2018.
Jameson Kon
Jameson has a degree in International Business Management & Marketing, and has always had interests in working with animals at a young age. After working for a massive online retail company, managing over 300+ employees amongst 7 different call centers both domestically and internationally, he decided to jump right into the world of grooming with his wife, Milena. Now the proud owner of Driving Me Knots (Mobile Grooming), DMK Bowtique (Pet Accessories), and DMK Marketing Solutions (Custom Graphic Designs), his ability to multi-task and market the companies since 2013 is only the beginning for the DMK branding.
Amanda McGrath
Amanda is a Certified Feline Master Groomer with a unique talent for time management and organization. She has over 15 years of grooming experience and opened her own salon in 2009 where she grooms both dogs and cats. In addition to grooming, she has also worked in the veterinary field for the last 20 years. Amanda is currently on the management team of a four-doctor small animal veterinary hospital in New Wilmington, PA. By combining her experience in both industries, she created a consulting firm that helps veterinary hospitals improve their grooming departments and provides interview coaching and business organization training.
Katelyn Peterman
Katelyn has an impressively diverse grooming career that spans more than 16 years. In that time she has worked in many states across the nation in both private and corporate salons, veterinarian offices, kennels, and mobile grooming vans. In 2018, 11 years into her grooming career, Katelyn completed her NCMG Certification with the National Dog Groomers Association of America. Focused on honing in on her craft, she found her niche of geriatric grooming and the comfortable, respectful handling of every pet. Katelyn is an award-winning groomer in the both the USA and Canada, and in 2020 she started a grooming-industry-based podcast called The Rough In, which was nominated for a Barkleigh Honors award in 2021. Katelyn is now focusing on developing an educational platform that centers around putting the pet forward on both the grooming table and in client interactions.
Kelsey Ann Sexton
Kelsey Ann Sexton is an award winning Nationally Certified Master Groomer, International Speaker and Journalist with two decades of Professional Pet Grooming experience. She owns an award winning salon outside of Nashville, TN that focuses on customer relationships for routine pet grooming services. Kelsey was nominated for Barkleigh Honors Speaker of the Year in 2022 and 2023. She has a passion for continued education in the Pet Grooming Industry collaborating with several brands to help everyday pet groomers both seasoned and new.
Jessica Uzzetta
Jessica Uzzetta is a Nationally Certified Master Groomer with a passion for continuing education and bringing groomers together to better the industry as a whole. She has been competing in grooming competitions since 2012 and earned multiple first place and a Best in Show award, quickly reaching the highest level in three short years. She is a single mother of two beautiful girls who owns and operates two upscale pet salons and mobile grooming businesses in Wentzville, MO. She is passionate about her Poodles in showing, breeding, rescue and education. In addition to grooming, Jessica has also been an active Veterinary Technician for almost 20 years. Her passion for animals and education to her clients, peers and the public are shown every day.
Joey Villani
In 1998, Joey purchased the Nash Academy in New Jersey which he owned and operated until 2008. Now a well-known pet industry speaker and judge, Joey has been nominated 14 times for the Cardinal Crystal and Barkleigh Honors awards. He has been enthusiastically involved with Intergroom International for 33 years and has been instrumental in expanding the organization's reach into Belgium, Italy, and France. Joey is one of the original members of the International Judges Association and has made many television appearances. Today, Joey continues to innovate and explore new dimensions in the pet care and grooming industry. In early 2009, Joey became part of the Animal Radio on-air staff where he is known as "The Dogfather".
Shelby Westfall
Shelby began her career as a bather in a corporate salon in 2018 and now manages Laura's Paw Spaw, a high-end grooming salon in Kansas City, Missouri. After sustaining facial injuries after a dog bite in 2022, she's developed a passion for mental health and trauma recovery in the industry. She hopes that by discussing these difficult topics with her fellow pet professionals, she can help make this a safer and more compassionate career. Aside from her interest in mental health, Shelby has a passion for terriers and is known in her salon as "the crazy Westie lady." She enjoys getting to know difficult pets and tailoring their grooming experiences to their needs. Shelby is proud of the part she gets to play in making the grooming industry a more mindful and compassionate place.