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You don’t need to tell Paragon students that Mentor Suesan Watson, CMG, is an inspiration! Paragon is delighted to celebrate Suesan’s recent recognition for her outstanding contribution to the grooming industry. She was feted with the 2024 AKC Leadership Award at the Barkleigh Honors gala in Hershey, PA, earlier this month.

In the words of Mark Dunn Executive Vice President of AKC:

“Leadership matters. Groomers who are educated, knowledgeable and confident can lead their clients, lead in their community and  lead in the industry. (Sue has) helped thousands of other groomers throughout her career. Her contributions have changed lives and helped shape the entire industry. She’s been a leader for more than two decades from the AKC Confirmation dog show ring to the grooming show floor. She was an original NDGA certifier. Her critiques, I am told, are always positive, uplifting and confidence-building.”

Dunn noted that the American Kennel Club has sought to improve lives of dogs and people who love dogs for more than 140 years, and that groomers play a vital role in pet owners lives by keeping pets happy and healthy. He called the award “penultimate.”

It’s a fitting award for Sue, whose career has spanned five decades. She is a double Certified Master Groomer with NDGAA and IPG who has competed worldwide, winning multiple placements along with several Best in Show and Best All Around Groomer Awards. She is a GroomTeam USA Alumni and has won three consecutive Cardinal Crystal Groomer of the Year awards and a Groomer of the Year presented by Wahl Clipper at the Westminster Dog Show. As part of the Wahl Elite Team, Sue travels to grooming shows to judge competitions and educate other groomers.

As a Paragon Mentor and Groominar® Network expert from the early days, Sue has literally helped develop thousands of individual professional groomers and groom business teams through Paragon.

“Sue possesses the perfect blend of excellence in terms of technical grooming skills and teaching skills,” said Paragon President Joe Zuccarello. “We could not be happier to have her on our team or prouder of her well-earned recognition and leadership within the industry.”

Sue, who’d just won Best-in-Class in the Model Dog division at Groom Expo, was both shocked and thrilled to receive the award.

“When I was 13 years old and groomed my fist poodle I never thought being a dog groomer could lead me to where I am today. Grooming is not just being a groomer, it’s more – you touch every animal with such care and such love – and it means so much to me,” she told the crowd. “To be in this family is such a special thing – I can’t thank you all enough for the warmth and love that you have shown me over the years!”

Paragon President, Joe Zuccarello, is scheduled to share his expertise – from perfect pricing to schedule management – during education sessions at North America’s leading pet retail trade show, SuperZoo 2024, August 13 -16 in Las Vegas.

Produced by the World Pet Association (WPA), the trade show historically attracts more than 16,000 pet professionals from 25 countries and features education, new product introductions, a grooming competition and networking events. More than 1,000 exhibitors from every pet product category participate and more than 900 products typically make their debut at the show.

As a perennial presence, Paragon brings education topics designed to help pet grooming businesses, independent and multi-store pet retail companies, and pet boarding and daycare operators discover best practices for a productive and successful pet business.

“It’s very energizing to meet with fellow pet care professionals and share our expertise to help take the headache out of grooming operations,” Joe said. He designs topics to reflect solutions to the pain points the company hears from grooming businesses of all types and sizes. As a pet business coach prior to Paragon presidency, he knows how small changes can net big effects in profitability.

Paragon’s 2024 SuperZoo Education lineup includes the following topics:

Retail Education – 4 Steps to Becoming a Competitive Employer – Aug. 13 – 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.

During this session Joe shares some techniques that business owners and managers can use to become a more competitive employer and reduce the time to qualify and hire quality candidates.

 Grooming Schedule Management – Aug. 14 – 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Joe explores the best way to maximize your grooming services production without underutilizing the skills of your grooming staff or overworking them toward burnout or injury. Joe demonstrates techniques for building a scheduling management approach that is customer-centric and balances staff performance.

Perfect Pricing for Grooming Services – Aug 14 – 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Joe unpacks how to know if you are pricing your services correctly.  Are you leaving money on the table? Do you struggle with raising prices? During this session, Joe will help business owners and managers understand how to set, raise, and correct pricing for grooming services to maximize financial rewards.

Paragon Groomer Education & Training will also be exhibiting in Booth #1739 and will welcome visits from pet businesses who want to leverage the company’s industry-leading training platform powered by Melissa Verplank’s  curriculum to produce highly skilled grooming professionals.

“We are thrilled to share ways pet retail businesses can increase their foot traffic and basket value through the development of grooming services, and to show the latest tools for training professional groomers,” said Annalisa Signorelli, Director of New Business Development.

If you or your associates plan to be at SuperZoo ’24, stop by to say hi and learn what’s new in professional pet groomer training.

Not planning to attend the show but interested in learning more about options that help petcare businesses grow their own groom teams? 

Book Some Time with our Sales & Client Relation Specialist!

Pup Relief Tour Heads to Nigeria for Intensive Dog Grooming Workshop Feb 8 – 15th powered by Paragon Curriculum

Four trainers. Twenty-five students. Eight days. Two job offers. And a lot of dogs! The inspired mind behind the national sensation of the Pup Relief Tour is going global with his quest to promote the grooming profession in an intensive skill development workshop in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

Paragon School of Pet Grooming is delighted to lend professional curriculum support to Brian Taylor, aka the “Dogfather of Harlem,” and his team of volunteers as they prep to train 25 self-taught groomers who will vie for employment at a popular daycare, boarding and grooming operation. The tour kicks off February 8^th, with Paragon providing the training curriculum, process and procedures.

Critters Veterinary Centre in Lekki, which also serves as a boarding and grooming facility, is hosting the workshop and supplying the dogs. In addition, Critters will offer employment to 2-3 groomers exhibiting impressive skills and potential which will significantly improve the groomers’ annual income.

“Paragon’s mission is to elevate the grooming profession, in North America, and around the world, through excellence in skill development. We’re thrilled to help Brian and his team bring the highest level of groomer training to this outreach project,” said Joe Zuccarello, President of the Paragon School of Pet Grooming.

In preparation of their departure, the volunteer trainer team brushed up their coaching skills using Paragon’s online training platform, and were supplied with additional textbooks and materials to make the most of the intensive workshop.

Taylor cited Paragon’s curriculum, textbooks, beautiful illustrations, and instructional videos as key advantages of the Paragon partnership.

“The school’s curriculum is rooted in the unmatched experience and teachings of industry icon Melissa Verplank, Certified Master Groomer, and their team is hand-picked from the best of industry experts. This is an incredible opportunity for groomers in Nigeria to access this kind of content not readily available in their country,” Taylor said.

Taylor is passionate about opening avenues to the grooming profession at home and abroad. The banker-turned-successful grooming business owner became a social media sensation during the height of the pandemic when he spearheaded the non-profit Pup Relief Tour in 15 cities across the United States. The team groomed 1918 pups whose pet parents faced financial hardships and raised awareness of pup health and well-being through grooming.

For the Nigeria venture, Taylor is joined by Pup Relief Tour Ambassadors, Labree Blaxon, Owner, Fluffy By Nature, (California), Latonya Smith, LC’s Detroit Salon, (Michigan) and Gianna Richardson, Gia Styles Grooming (Virginia). All have successful pet grooming businesses here in the U.S. and are primarily Black-owned.

Together, Paragon and The Pup Relief Tour are committed to raising awareness of the shortage of dog groomers and to help pet lovers discover the lucrative opportunity of a career in pet grooming.

Planning to be at WPA’s SuperZoo show August 23 – 25 in Las Vegas? Stop by and visit the Paragon & Learn2GroomDogs.com team at booth #7563! And if you own a pet business, don’t miss President Joe Zuccarello’s talk on How to Add Grooming Services to Your Retail Store to Drive Traffic and Profit!

Our partners at WPA put on a great show!

Here are some of the highlights for SuperZoo 2022:

• 800 New Products
  See, touch and test debut products in every category to get ahead of buying cycles—and the competition.
• 1200 Exhibitors
  Source the hottest products and trends in the marketplace to delight returning customers and attract brand new ones.
• 20,00 Pet Pros
  Meet, mingle and talk shop with people who “get it” to generate new ideas and lasting connections.
• 65 Education Sessions
  Uncover marketing, hiring and other business-boosting insights with SuperZoo’s industry-leading education program

Register here: https://www.superzoo.org/attendee/registernow/

Our good friends at Artero are getting ready to host some of the most prestigious groomers from around the world in this 2-day Grooming Extravaganza May 15 & 16 in Atlanta! ARTERO JORNADAS is a unique spectacular show which has been celebrated in Spain for over 15 years.

Artero will feature 12 of the top Groomers from around the world who will share their expertise and extensive knowledge! (Several are Learn2GroomDogs.com experts, including Victor Rosato, shown above!)

The extravaganza promises to be educational, fun and interactive!

Featuring: Riza Wisnom, Lindsey Dicken, Irina Pinkusevich, Michell Evans – The Grooming Tutor, Pammie Charmichael-Hogg, Luis Martín del Río, Jessica Adorno, Fan Yu, George Goginashvili, Jay Scruggs & Sue Zecco – Super Styling Sessions

Guest Hosts: Victor Rosado & Sue Zecco

Brought to You By Edu Artero & Alex Artero.

Pssst: Paragon Students USE CODE PARAGON50 to get 50% off ticket prices!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/694874052

Pet businesses knows good grooming staff are worth their weight in gold. In this special Webinar, Paragon President Joe Zuccarello teams up with partners at the Professional Animal Care Certification Council (PACCC) to give you 4 Ways to Win the Employee lottery! As an extra bonus, webinar attendance is worth a CEU credit in PACCC’s credential program. Check out the details below and register early!

Employ Differently: How to Compete for Employees and Win

WHAT: It is a great time to talk about how you can put your business in the best position possible to attract and retain employees! How? By Employing Differently!
Join Joe Zuccarello, President of Paragon, and the PACCC leadership team for this PACCCC Educational Series. Learn the FOUR main elements to being a competitive employer in a world where it seems almost impossible to find employees.

PRESENTER: Joe Zuccarello, President of Paragon. leaders in grooming education. He possesses more than three decades of experience in the pet grooming, product development and pet business consulting disciplines.

WHEN: April 4, 2022 at 2:00 PM in EST

WHERE: Online via the link – click below to register. The webinar is FREE but you must register to be able to access. Easy.

Register Now

Melissa Verplank, CMG, petentreneur and founder of the Paragon companies, was recognized by Pet Age as one of the “Power 50” influencers and visionaries who’ve improved the pet care industry.

According to the popular trade magazine and media brand, the inaugural Power 50 list is designed to recognize the people whose vital work has made a substantial impact on the pet market. The selection team identified the people influencing the pet care community in positive way.

“The Power 50 honorees are making important contributions to the pet care community, to the well-being of companion animals and using their dogged drive and steadfast leadership to pursue uncharted territory in the pet care industry,” Pet Age wrote in its article.

“I am deeply honored to be included in this collection of outstanding industry icons,” Verplank said. “Our work at Paragon is truly a team effort and our impact on the industry was made possible through the synergy of our collective talents.”

Honorees of the Power 50 include mavericks such as Chris Rowland, CEO of Pet Supplies Plus, Mike Bober from the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, and Andrea Faccio from Nestle Purina.

Pet Age cited Verplank’s involvement in the ground level of the voluntary certification testing programs, where she earned her Certified Master Groomer title in the mid-1980s. She was a member of the traveling team for GroomTeam USA, representing the United States in World Team Competition in France in the early 1990s. Later, she was the GroomTeam USA team coordinator, served on the board of directors and currently sits on its advisory board. She assisted in the start-up of the International Judges Association and is an approved grooming judge with the United Showmanagers Alliance. Today, she remains a highly sought-after industry speaker, contest grooming judge, author and a two-time Cardinal Crystal Achievement winner.

Verplank’s foundational Notes From the Grooming Table and Theory of Five are perennial top sellers in the grooming instruction category and underpin the curricular development of Paragon’s educational platform. Verplank founded Learn2GroomDogs.com in 2011 and took the renowned Paragon School of Pet Grooming online in 2018 to extend its reach, training individuals and corporate teams.

“Our unifying mission across the Paragon companies is to elevate the grooming profession and those who work in the industry to the highest possible standard through continuing education. For my own skill development and the thousands I’ve witnessed who’ve become better groomers, I know first-hand that education is everything,” Verplank said.