Speakers
Jayne Gallagher
Who would have thought that someone who grew up in a "No Pets Allowed" household would end up spearheading some of the most iconic grooms in the country? Jayne graduated from the Jersey Shore Grooming Academy in the year 2000, took courses from the prestigious Nash Academy, and took private lessons from top pet stylists and GroomTeam members from around the globe. She marks herself as a perpetual student, always excited to stay sharp in her craft. She is an award-winning legend who is known far and wide in the grooming community, even being featured as a competitor in the 2021 cultural phenomenon Pooch Perfect on ABC Network. Jayne specializes in creative styling, salon freestyle, Asian fusion, poodles, and bichons.
Guzal Adekoje
Guzal Adekoje is an AKC Certified and National Certified Master Groomer with years of experience, and also an internationally recognized multi-award-winning groomer and speaker. She is the owner of a mobile pet grooming company and upscale grooming salon in Northern Virginia. Originally from Uzbekistan, she found her destiny in the United States in 2003, when she moved with just one suitcase and $200 in her pocket and built herself up to become a well-known business owner, groomer and speaker in the USA. Recently, in Barcelona, Spain, she took silver in a class competing against groomers from Korea, China, Spain, UK, France and other countries. As a well-rounded groomer, she has earned multiple awards in poodle, all other pure breeds, sporting, handstripping and freestyle classes.
Chris Anthony
Chris Anthony, weary from her travails in retail management and office work, found her calling when she discovered pet grooming. Her near fifteen year journey in this career has led her through many opportunities, experiences & life lessons, including grooming and managing in both small and corporate salons, and starting her own successful house call grooming business in New Jersey. Supplementing those life lessons by educating herself on the varying aspects of her career, she always sought out innovations in pet care, education, grooming techniques, tools and products. Now her passion for grooming & education has added more in depth knowledge on scissors, scissoring techniques and ergonomics to help preserve her own health and longevity in her chosen profession.
Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins
Jennifer has been grooming, breeding, and showing several breeds of dogs and cats for four decades. She opened Love Fur Dogs in Glencoe, Illinois and was later named "Best Groomer in Chicagoland" in 2015 by the Chicago Tribune. She was also featured on Season Three of the Hulu TV series "Small Business Revolution" as a Grooming Expert. A retired career teacher, an ICMG, and PGC credentialed, Jennifer is a grooming educator who also writes grooming articles and an award-winning blog. She founded the Illinois Professional Pet Groomers Association. Jennifer and her husband live with their retired show dogs, two miniature poodles and two Australian Shepherds. Jennifer looks forward to hosting groomer retreats in her new Forestway home in Virginia.
Stephenie Calhoun
Stephenie Calhoun is a mobile groomer in the north suburbs of Chicago with 10 years' experience as a groomer. She is captain of the Illinois State Grooming team and Certified Instructor with Nash Academy. Stephenie specializes in rehabilitating difficult dogs and loves to add a little bit of flair to all of her haircuts.
Dana Chavez-Rey
Dana began her career in animal care as a lead veterinary technician at the North Peninsula Humane Society. In 2005, Dana and her husband founded A Purrfect Groomer, then after 10 years they ditched the salon and hit the road in their new mobile grooming van, bringing the care and attention they gave to their salon clients to them. In 2016, Dana joined the Intellectual Groomers Association as a founding member and was on staff as an expert in feline grooming. As a staff member of IGA, Dana traveled the country giving seminars on feline grooming and certifying qualified groomers. In 2018, she joined Andis as a feline educator and tours the country giving demos and presentations on feline grooming, feline grooming certifications and the benefits of Andis products.
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.
Mindy Dinwiddie
Mindy Dinwiddie owns Classy Canine in Litchfield, Michigan. She began grooming in 2007, having her own shop by 2008. She started in a back bedroom of her house, growing her business to a storefront. Her experiences include daycare, boarding and training. All while consistently furthering her education by attending expos, seminars and private lessons from top stylists in the industry, Mindy has been competing for three years. With a passion for learning and teaching, she began speaking in 2017 after having one of her grooms published in Doodle Modern Styles Special Edition. Mindy is also a Brand Ambassador for Evolution Shears.
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.
Meg Ioffredo
Meg Ioffredo has been a pet professional since 2012, beginning as a bather at a corporate salon. Since then, they have taken every continuing education opportunity available to them and proudly have numerous titles under their belt: certified Pet Tech instructor, certified feline master groomer, rabbit groomer, certified canine esthetician, fear free certified, and more! Now, they turn their gaze on being an educator to give back to their grooming community, with a focus on cat and rabbit grooming. They also run Elevation Media Management, a small business that can do everything from managing social media posting to graphic design. This interest in social media blossomed when Meg ran a successful house call business in Florida. They realized how powerful of a tool social media can be for businesses, and now they want to share with you!
Markie James
Markie James is a NC native, member of Foxy Roxy Pro Team, member of the NDGAA, and graduate of the CVCC Advertising and Graphic Design Program. She has been grooming for over 14 years and owns Bark Side Pet Grooming which has won numerous local awards for excellence and quality. Markie has competed in grooming competitions where she placed Best First Timer, Third Place at APF 2020, Honorable Mention at APF 2021, and Third Place at Safari Palmetto 2022. Recently, she had an article published in Groomer to Groomer Magazine.
Alyssa Kasiba
Alyssa Kasiba is an international award-winning creative groomer. She has almost 15 years of grooming experience, and she began competitive grooming in 2016. Over the past years, she has specialized in creative grooming from competing on stage to teach the know-hows. In the 2022 season, Alyssa won 30+ awards nationwide, was on the cover of Groomer To Groomer magazine twice, and ended the year winning the Barkleigh Honors Creative Groomer of the Year. You may have seen her featured on Night Line News, Good Morning America, or as a Finalist on ABC's dog grooming competition show, Pooch Perfect. Alyssa has found a passion for teaching the art and creativity of grooming and can't wait to share it.
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.
Brenda Mendez
Brenda represents a fresh voice in the grooming industry. With more than 30 years of experience in various salon settings, she has developed a unique perspective to learning and a motivation to stay involved and encourage innovation. Brenda's laid-back style and humorous approach to teaching has her encouraging her students and peers alike, "Never limit yourself to one source of learning." Along with owning a successful cat-exclusive grooming salon, Brenda is an Internationally Certified Master Cat Groomer and Certified Professional Groomer with IPG. She has been a Master Cat Groomer Certifier for PCGAA and she has recently joined Pet Tech as a Pet First Aid and CPR Instructor.
Jay Scruggs
Jay and his wife, Michelle, own Here Comes the Groom, a highly successful mobile grooming salon in Germantown, Tennessee. Jay has won multiple Best in Show and Best All-Around Groomer awards and helped GroomTeam USA win the Gold medal in Calgary, Canada, in 2001. Jay was named American Groomer of the Year in 2001, Groomer of the Year Award at Westminster Dog Show in 2002, and Grooming Judge of the Year in 2004. In 2003 Jay won an International Gold and Bronze medal in Barcelona, Spain, helping GroomTeam USA win the silver team medal. Along with Sue Zecco, he teaches seminars and offers a video series under the "Super Styling Sessions" title.
Elena Volnova
Elena Volnova is a co-founder of Dog Fashion Spa brand and PetStore Direct distribution company. She has over 10 years of retail, e-commerce and marketing experience in the dog grooming industry.
Olga Zabelinskaya
Olga is a Certified Master Groomer and owns two grooming salons, Elite Pet Spa & Boutique in Madison, NJ and Grooming Gallery in Morris Plains, NJ. She has multiple BIS and Best All-Around Groomer wins as well as two prestigious Winners Circle Champion titles. Olga is 2009 and 2010 American Groomer of the Year by Cardinal Pet, and was awarded the Lynne Carver Memorial Award as Best All Around Stylist 2009. Olga was born in Russia where she had a Master Degree in Engineering and finished law school. Olga was a GroomTeam USA member 2008-2012 and won the Silver medal in Belgium, 2011 as a part of the traveling team. Olga co-hosts many pet fundraising events.
Sue Zecco
Sue is a 2011 Barkleigh Honors Award winner. She is a Certified Master Groomer with both the National Dog Groomers Association (NDGAA) and the International Professional Groomers (IPG). She has been grooming for over 30 years. She has won multiple grooming awards, including her biggest show accomplishments: 1998 International Groomer of the Year and 1999 Oster Invitational Tournaments Grand Champion. Sue has been a member of GroomTeam USA since 1997 and broke all records in 1999, earning 113 points. She is also a Wahl Clipper Corporation spokesperson. With Jay Scruggs, she conducts a series of full-day seminars called Super Styling Sessions. Sue breeds Standard Poodles under the "Dreamcatcher" prefix.