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Reprinted from the Spring issue of the NDGAA 2009's Groomer's Voice quarterly publication.
“Opportunity came knocking on her door, literally.”
Written by the board & staff of Star Academy for Pet Stylists, Inc.
Who was the first National Certified Master Groomer (NCMG)? Tamara Hollingsworth.
You could say that Tamara Hollingsworth became a groomer by accident or that opportunity came knocking on her door, literally. But we will explain that later.
This article is a short story about Tamara, how she became a groomer, the first National Certified Master Groomer and what she is doing now.
Pets like kind people
Since Tamara was born (1955), dogs seemed to get attached to her.
As a newborn, the family pet dog would snuggle next to her. Whenever the family would go over to a friend’s house, Tamara would check to see if they had a pet and try to get permission to play with it. When Tamara was around 5 years old, her mother would give her a comb, brush and a trash can and she would “de-shed” their Alaskan Malamute. Tamara loved this. She would sit on the living room floor next to the dog and do this all day. Her mother would keep emptying the trash can full of hair while her other sisters played outdoors. There was always a dog in her family.
New family and career
Tamara met Curtis in Colorado. After they dated for about 2 weeks, they got engaged and married a month later! Tamara said it was a blessing to have married him. His mother, Ruth, became Tamara’s best friend and was like a mother to her.
A few years later, Curtis and Tamara lived with Curtis’ parents & grandmother while they searched for a house to purchase. One day, one of Curtis’ relatives with a dirty white toy poodle came over to visit. Tamara naturally bathed the poodle even though she never had a poodle, let alone bathed one! Imagine the mess!!! Tamara remembered seeing standard poodles next door, so she decided to go over there and ask if she could borrow a “poodle brush” to brush out the wet matted toy poodle. The neighbor said that she was a groomer and asked to see the poor wet dog. Tamara ended up going to the grooming shop to watch the groomer fluff out the dog. Tamara was amazed at how fluffy the poodle turned out and gratefully thanked her.
A few months later, Curtis and Tamara purchased a new house approximately 20 minutes south of her in-laws. Tamara had her custom drapery business in her mother-in-law’s basement. Tamara would go over to Ruth’s almost daily to work on the drapes. Meanwhile, approximately 15 minutes north, the Dog Gone Dog Grooming Shop’s bather quit. The owner was desperate and needed a bather. Ruth’s next door neighbor, the groomer, remembered Tamara and told her boss about her. She went over knocked on the door and asked Ruth if her daughter could temporarily help them out as a bather. (Opportunity actually knocked!) Ruth laughed and told her that Tamara was her daughter-in-law. She just looked very young for her age. Of course, Tamara was excited and said sure!
NDGAA becomes important
When Tamara was introduced to Helen Flagan, the owner of Dog Gone, they took an instant liking to one other. Helen was a licensed member of the NDGAA and was a grooming instructor. In short order, Helen saw what she thought was a natural talent in Tamara. She told Tamara she would teach her to groom if she stayed and worked for her.
As Helen was teaching her, Tamara went all out. She closed her drapery business and worked 4 to 5 days a week for Helen. She would borrow Helen’s books. She would write down the names of the books she liked and purchased the books plus others from the local pet suppliers. She studied the books.
There was also a dark haired girl working at the shop that Helen taught. Tamara thought her name was Laura. Anyway, “Laura” was really first class! Her scissoring was beautiful. She loved the way “Laura” handled the dogs and how her dogs turned out. In between baths and grooms, Tamara would study the way she held the dog and her shears. She would ask her questions concerning the cuts and styles. She would tell her friends and asked them to tell their friends to bring their pets in for Tamara to groom. She brought in several new customers to the Dog Gone Grooming shop. After training and working there for a little over a year, Tamara asked Helen how she could become a member of the NDGAA. She filled out the membership application that same day!
Tamara would have worked for Helen forever. But something came up and Helen announced that she had to move to Arizona. That news crushed Tamara. “Laura” also did not want to see Helen go. Helen was the kind of person you would want to be around constantly. No one wanted her to move! But Helen sold her business. “Laura” announced that she was moving to Arizona, too. “Oh no!” thought Tamara, “I’ll lose my other teacher”.
At the same time Curtis’ mother’s health was declining. Tamara wanted to be with her to help her more, so Tamara quit.
Starting anew
Tamara did not want to just quit grooming. She asked Curtis if he would put a tub and a table in the garage so she could groom her friends’ pets for pleasure on weekends. She did not advertise nor did she tell any of her former customers from Dog Gone Grooming. Through word of mouth her business grew. Her mother-in-law’s health improved and she came over to help sometimes. There were a couple of other groomers from Dog Gone who came over to ask Tamara how to groom certain breeds. They also asked about things Helen had taught her. Tamara enjoyed telling them all she knew. Tamara’s named her new business “Quality Pet Grooming Salon”. Her business quickly grew from 1 day a week to 6 days a week! Realizing it was not a good for her to work that much, she cut down to 5 days per week. At the same time, several people stopped by or called to ask her to teach them. In exchange for teaching them, they would work for Tamara.
Both groomers and customers would tell Tamara horror stories concerning grooming shops and groomers. Tamara wanted to elevate the reputation of groomers. She would attend the grooming conventions and shows and tell her groomers about new things she found or learned to groom faster or safer. She asked grooming associations and dog shows if they would stage their events in Colorado. At the time the larger shows and seminars were all out of state. It was so frustrating that she started mini seminars to educate the local groomers educated and to share ideas, thoughts and hints. Curtis, her husband, was instrumental in helping her to achieve her goals. The more often she gave the seminars, the better they got. Together they tried to make them fun and yet educational. Tamara enjoyed this.
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| At 22 years old |
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NDGAA Certification
Tamara found out the NDGAA would be certifying groomers. The certification would involve five practical grooming tests and a written exam. To become a Certified Master Groomer, you must pass them all.
Tamara wanted to become certified so she could help her local groomers. She asked Curtis to help her contact the NDGAA to find out what she needed to study and do. She studied the books and ordered the breed profiles. Tamara contacted her customers who owned the breeds required for the practical tests .She asked them if they would let her practice the required cuts on them and to take them out of state to get her certification. The certifying was to take place in Florida. It was easy to find dogs to practice the cuts, but hard to find owners who would let her take their “babies” on a plane and out of state! Tamara finally found two poodles, a cocker and a schnauzer to use for testing. But she was still lacking a short-legged terrier. None of the customers who owned a short-legged terrier would allow anyone take their dog out of town, let alone out of state! Tamara gave up and Curtis helped her find a Westie puppy. They bought one and Tamara did all she could to get its hair to grow faster! For months she would bring in her test dogs every week to be groomed. As she groomed them, she would time herself. The last two months before departing for Florida, she let the dogs’ hair grow out. They still came every week for a “pretend groom”. She would “pretend” she was grooming them and continued to time herself. Every one of the dogs, including the puppy, got to know which paw to lift up or move their head a certain way without Tamara even touching them!
The local veterinarian, who was also an instructor for a veterinary college, gave Tamara a break the cost for the dogs’ shots. He gave the dogs all the required shots and check-ups so she could take them on the plane. (He had also helped Tamara in her mini seminars by giving speeches and answering questions.) They were finally ready for their trip. Curtis told Tamara that he could hear the dogs barking all the way from Colorado to Florida!
When they first arrived in Florida, they would leave the dogs in the crates in their motel room, but they would not stop barking and crying. They could not let ruckus go on, so they put newspaper all over the floor and let the dogs out. But the dogs would not let Curtis & Tamara sleep. The cocker would hog the bed and growl at the other dogs who wanted to get on the bed. One of the poodles found a spot she liked on the lamp stand next to Tamara’s pillow. The poodle slept through the night and did not make any noise. The cocker was in the middle between Curtis and Tamara and the others on the end of the bed on each side. They were literally surrounded by the dogs. Whenever one moved there was growling, barking or whining.
Curtis and Tamara were exhausted! But before the testing was conducted, they had to bath and dry the dogs!
The first day with the judges of the NDGAA, Shirley McBride and Debbie, there was a lecture and demonstrations. The judges were kind and very helpful. Curtis and Tamara liked them very much. Afterward the lecture and demonstrations, Tamara took her tests. While Tamara took her written and practical tests, poor Curtis had to constantly walk the dogs, pick up after them, comfort and feed them. Tamara became the first person to have successfully completed all of the practical and written tests in just 2 days! There were others who had taken the tests, but not all at once. She also became the first CNMG.
One of the judges gave Tamara a Teflon comb. The dogs being from Colorado, then to Florida, Tamara thought maybe it was the change that caused their hair to have so much static. The Teflon comb helped stopped the “fly away” hair and hair clinging. Tamara was thrilled even though she was so exhausted, especially from lack of sleep and “jet lag’. The judges answered several questions Tamara had and gave their ideas and hints so that she could share the information with the others back in Colorado.
When all of the testing was completed, Curtis and Tamara took a side trips to the old forts, shops and the beach. The dogs loved the beach! They had never seen the ocean. It felt great for Tamara to see the joy in them. Because the dogs had just been groomed, they looked great and got a lot of attention wherever they went. The dogs went back home happy. Tamara thought that if they could have talked, they would have talked their owners’ ears off about the plane ride, motel, the ocean and more.
Tamara taught most of the people she hired and other local groomers what she had learned in Florida. The NDGAA finally came to Colorado and the groomers there could test to become certified. Tamara told several groomers what to study and made up written tests for them, so they would have confidence to try to get certified. Tamara never charged them... She did this for free.
When her business was too big for her to handle, Tamara’s youngest sister, Lorna Gilreath was hired to take care of the paperwork and phone calls. There were times when she needed Lorna to help out, so she taught her some grooming. One of the other girls Tamara taught, Lia Whitmore also helped teach Lorna. They surprised Tamara one day when Lorna became certified by the NDGAA. Tamara was so proud of her little sister.
MOVED TO FLORIDA
Later, Curtis and Tamara moved to Florida. They sold the grooming business to her sister, Lorna Gilreath and Lia Whitmore, another groomer Tamara hired and taught. Lia was also certified by the NDGAA. Both of them continued to progress and educate themselves just as Tamara had done. Lia became one of the founders of the Colorado Groomers Association and accomplished what Tamara had strived for. She educated and elevate the groomers reputation! Lorna has entered various grooming competitions and won. All past students ended up owning their own business.
A NEW SCHOOL WAS STARTED
Tamara missed having her own business. She wanted to start doing the mini seminars again. She even thought of starting a groomers club. Curtis encouraged her to do what she wanted to do. They began searching for a grooming salon for sale or a good location where they could start one. A couple of grooming associations found out and asked Curtis if Tamara would start a grooming school instead. Tamara found that there were already a couple of grooming schools in Florida and balked. “No”, the others said,” there is a real need for a school on the east coast”. Tamara decided to visit the schools including some illegal ones. Because her method of teaching was so different from any one of them, she became determined to go ahead and start a school. It took a few years to get the paperwork done and put the school programs together to become a legal licensed grooming school. They continued to search for a location. It took a long time to find a good location. Just as time was running out, they found a place in Stuart, Florida. That was just the beginning. They had to design the interior, get permits, etc. It took a lot of work to put it all together. They were not allowed to advertise or enroll any students until they got the place inspected. Tamara started grooming to help pay for the rent and expense. The grooming business grew quickly. Although Curtis helped with everything, his parents came to Florida and helped. Their space passed inspection and they got their license from the Florida Board of Education. They named the school, Star Academy for Pet Stylists, Inc.
Slowly the number of students grew. Most learned of the school through word of mouth. They kept the number to a maximum of 12 ensuring the students would be taught properly. Quality rather than speed was of importance. They had students from South America, France, England, Africa and Peru. Several came from out of state. The oldest was in his “young” 80’s. Tamara loved teaching, but not the bookwork. They hired some help. Curtis helped with the teaching. Why not? He went to every show and seminar with Tamara .He often had to help her whenever her help did not show up or when they over-booked pets. Additional space was added and the school doubled in size.
What stops you?
In her long and still ongoing career, Tamara has never stopped learning about and teaching about new methods, equipment, ideas and style changes. She says she has learned through her mistakes as well as her accomplishments. She freely passes along her lessons and knowledge. Most of the graduates have followed her advice and continued to educate themselves by going to different seminars, shows and lectures. They will continue to read about and try new methods and equipment. Tamara is always so proud of them. It is very rewarding for her to see them succeed.
Students have used words like “perfectionist” and “ workaholic”, but also “patient”,” compassionate”,” kind” and “generous”. She is a woman of great integrity.
Tamara tells everybody to never feel sorry for themselves. Instead take adversity and make things happen. Strive to reach your goal. And if an opportunity comes knocking on your door, take it!
HOW ELSE IS TAMARA DIFFERENT?
What else can be said about Tamara Hollingsworth’s achievements? Oh yes, one last thing….she has been profoundly deaf since the age of three after a high fever.
For more information about the school go to www.star-academy.com , call 772-221-9330 or e-mail staracademyforpets@yahoo.com . Star Academy for Pets is located at 2201 SE Indian Street, Unit C-6, Stuart, Florida 34997.
Visit our facebook: StarAcademy Petstylists
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| “Pink” Linda, Tamara, Dana, Terri with Gizmo, Curtis, Patty with Angel |
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| Staff team of 2007
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| Tamara teaching a deaf student, Tahnee Brink how to take care of customers and to manage a business. |
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