Where It All Started......Starts......

I gave my two week notice to work on Friday, January 13th (lucky, huh?)...  It was one of the hardest and most liberating things I have ever done in my life.  My first day as a business owner and partner of Big Paws K-9 Grooming is February 2nd and I just feel like today would be a great day to "tell the story"...

            It all started back in 2000.  My parents purchased a little Yorkie named, Jessie.  She quickly (like in the same day) became a member of our family…and she also became very furry and was in major, horrible need of a haircut.  I’m not quite sure how my mom found out about Kathy and Big Paws K-9 Grooming but I’m sure happy she did!  

            Sure enough, I graduated from Hartsburg-Emden High School in May of 2000 and went off to play softball and get an education from Eureka College…and I found myself a poor college student, just like that.  One day, I just so happened to be home from school when my mom had to go in and pick up Jessie from the groomer.  So I took a ride along with her. 

            I’ll never forget walking down into “The Shop” for the first time.  It wasn’t at all what I expected.  In the basement of someone’s home was this cute little shop, a tub and all the fixings to groom up a pup to perfection.  I remember I was so excited to see all the “customers”.  Especially, a Golden Retriever, named Romeo, drying in one of the crates and crying for my attention.  Not only did I fall in love with Romeo’s sweet face but I instantly fell in love with the simple space that I will forever know as “The Shop”.  

            I didn’t know Kathy at all, but she had hair down to the bottom of her waist all pinned up in a clip.  She was very nice and she welcomed the both of us the minute we walked in the door.  She was cool with me walking all over The Shop and talking with Romeo and just visiting with the other pups.  Little did I know life would change for me after that day.  I left The Shop with my mom and Jessie, still a poor college student.  

            The months went on and summer break was quickly approaching.  I needed a job to make myself useful while I was at home.  I was talking with my mom about different possibilities for a job.  She mentioned that she would just ask Kathy if she would maybe want some help down in The Shop- it was worth asking, at least.  Turns out, Kathy remembered me and liked how I came in and made myself at home and instantly built a rapport with the dogs.  So, she decided she would try me out.  I gave baths and dried dogs, helped clean up and schedule appointments.

            The summer of 2001 would change all of our lives- Jack (Kathy’s husband), Kathy, and me (Angie Ballance, at that time).  I grew to be instant friends with both Jack and Kath and they took me in like I was one of their own.  Our friendship continued to stay strong through the years as I worked my Christmas breaks and Summer Breaks all through college with Kathy in The Shop.  They saw me through several events of my life like running for Fair Queen at the Logan County Fair, graduating college, Jack helped me get a job selling motorcycles at Chuck’s Harley-Davidson in Bloomington, marriage, a couple more jobs and having a baby.  I saw Kathy through several hair cuts until she no longer had to wear it all up in that big clip.  I saw Jack slowly come to the realization, year after year, that he was NOT the “Shop Manager”.  As all those years went by, I would still find myself in The Shop from time to time on a Friday afternoon or Saturday helping out- not so much for the extra cash, but because I missed it and it was a welcoming break from my everyday, “professional” life.    

           Here I sit today, 30 years old, and almost 12 years later, turning more than just the chapter of my life of leaving my 20’s…I’m going to go into business with Kathy at Big Paws K-9 Grooming.  She offered me a partnership in her business and I know I have some very big shoes (figuratively speaking, she really only wears a size 6) to compete with and possibly someday fill.  I have done a lot of training to take on this new venture and I have no doubts that I will continue to learn from the best groomer in town.  I guess I went out into the “real world” and realized that sitting in a cubicle, day in and day out, was not going to make me happy in life.  I have always had a passion for animals and working with them.  Nearly 8 years ago when I left Big Paws to pursue other things I didn’t know if I wanted to scrub dog butts my entire life.  I guess I just had to explore the world a little to learn that, for me, scrubbing dog butts isn’t so bad and it turns out, it’s exactly what I want to do my entire life.  I can’t describe how excited I am to be able to do, what I feel in a way, I was born to do.
        Furthermore, I can’t express how honored I am that Kathy has entrusted me to come in and share her business with me. That house on 1918 N. Ottawa St. has been a second home to me for over a decade and now I get to not only build the rest of my life there but I have been given the opportunity to have the freedoms of a self-employed individual doing something I love so much.  If this is the American Dream, then I’m living it, baby, and I’m never looking back!

-Angie (Ballance) Wulf