At a time when the $104 billion pet care industry is exploding and experienced groomers are hard to find, Salty Dawg Pet Salon seeks to challenge the status quo and “pet differently.” By Lizzy Yeserski
At a time when the $104 billion pet care industry is exploding and experienced groomers are hard to find, Salty Dawg Pet Salon seeks to challenge the status quo and “pet differently.” The concept mirrors the hair care industry. Partners John Kanski, Winn Claybaugh and Gary Ratner have devoted the last 20 years to training a quarter of a million hairdressers – most notably through the world-renowned Paul Mitchell Schools.
“I called Winn and said, ‘Hey, I have an idea. What if we could take all the hard skills that we’ve been teaching hairdressers to create a training curriculum program and give our graduates another opportunity?’ And of course, he loved the idea,” Kanski, Salty Dawg co-founder and CEO, said.
Lori Dragomir, an instructor for the Paul Mitchell Schools and driver of Salty Dawg Pet Salon, revels in the idea’s genius and enjoys providing an alternate career avenue for hairdressers who may prefer styling dogs instead of humans.
“If the students understand the fundamentals of hair texture and density and everything, it’s an easy transition from the hair world to the dog world,” Dragomir explained. “I find that every student that comes ends up loving it. And I fell in love with it immediately.”
The real genius of Salty Dawg Pet Salon lies in the three-prong combination of the workforce, workflow and culture for franchisees.
The workforce refers to the army of talented hairdressers that Paul Mitchell Schools automatically generates for salons, while workflow points to the assembly line system that breaks the grooming process into three parts – bathing, clipping/tidying and the styling/finishing – that a master groomer performs. This system supports employees in physically demanding roles and encourages them to thrive.
And the culture piece?
“You’ve got to love what you do, and who you do it with, and who you do it for,” explained Kanski.
“This is the most amazing place that I want to be, and I never want to leave,” said Dragomir. “The students are excited to come over to the Salty Dawg and work. It’s the feeling of acceptance and love and the fact that we take individual learning very seriously.”
Lizzy Yeserski