Professional Pet Groomer August 29, 2016

Professional Pet Groomer


Shadow: Annabelle Nordlund
Job: Professional Pet Groomer

Humans have Bloomingdale’s while pets have Groomingdale’s. Located in Billings, Montana, Groomingdale’s Salon & Pawtique offers professional grooming services that allow pets to be pampered in style. Along with grooming services they also provide a variety of classes such as Canine Good Citizenship, Tricks and Creative Movements, Nose Work and even Paw-lates. It is no wonder that Groomingdale’s has been voted the Best of Billings every year since it first opened. Much of their success is credited to Annabelle Nordlund, an experienced professional pet stylist.

Annabelle first got her start in the pet grooming business when she was 15 years old working an afterschool shift. As she transitioned into college so did her job. Her afterschool employment turned into a fulltime job as she continued to work for them. While attending Montana State University, Billings Annabelle was studying to become a nurse or a biochemical engineer. Yet she felt those majors weren’t a good fit for her. She decided to leave school so she could educate herself in her true passion, pet grooming.

“Live up to being the person your dog thinks you are.” ~ Annabelle Nordlund

While working to become a professional groomer, Annabelle dedicated her time to mastering her job. She was constantly learning and taking action through articles, summaries, courses, and coaching. This allowed her to win multiple first place awards in pet grooming as well as help each grooming boutique she worked for win awards of their own. The three pet grooming places she worked at each won the Billings Gazette Readers Choice Award while she was with them. Coincidence? I think not.

Annabelle found herself embarking on a new life when her good friend Stacey asked her to open a pet salon. Life has a funny way of using connections to set you on a career path to success. Annabelle took Stacey up on her offer and has been a valuable asset to the company ever since. Annabelle came up with clever name of Groomingdale’s Pet Salon & Pawtique as well as the company’s logo. What started out as a tattoo design of a poodle Annabelle had gotten on her collarbone soon turned into Groomingdale’s signature logo. Like her tattoo, Annabelle feels she will be with the Pet Salon & Pawtique for the rest of her life.

When Annabel isn’t working she enjoys taking her personal pets, Pistol, a miniature poodle, and Willow, a bluetick coonhound, on hikes to explore new trails. She ends her days with reading up on her passion in grooming magazines, books, and new articles on the Internet. Annabelle does a lot of research and attends grooming seminars regularly to continue her education. She loves learning as she pushes herself to be aware of the upcoming trends and information. One of the trends that was bought to my attention was Asian Fusion grooming. It is a 4-6 hour grooming process, which makes the pet look like a stuffed animal.

As I walked in the doors of Groomingdale’s Salon & Pawtique my eyes were opened to a new outlook on work. It was a place where going to your job on Monday didn’t seem so ruff. Annabelle lives out her passion every day and applies the loyalty seen in dogs to her own life. The joy she gets from her job carries over to her interactions with people and pets as she serves them daily. Annabelle showed me new tricks of the trade as she taught me the importance of finding work that unleashes the best of your talents.

Learned Lessons:

  1. Do work that embodies who you are.
  2. Spend as much time as possible learning and building upon what you’re best at.
  3. Find your own path to success by learning and taking action through articles, summaries, courses, coaching and whatever else you come across.
  4. Live in a constant process of learning, creating, testing and improving.
  5. If you are always learning you can never lose.
  6. Social connections can share your career path.

Tips of the Trade:

“Working with dogs helps me unleash the best of my talents.” ~ Annabelle Nordlund

“Never feel like you have hit the end of your education because there is always more to learn.” ~ Annabelle Nordlund

“If you’re not striving to learn then you’re falling behind.” ~ Annabelle Nordlund

“There is little more satisfying than seeing all of your hard work pay off in winning grooming competitions.” ~ Annabelle Nordlund