Inspiring Conversations with Joshua Medenblik of VIP Grooming Salon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Medenblik.  

Hi Joshua, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I have always loved animals ever since I can remember and have had many pets over the years. After I graduated from high school, I wanted to find a career that worked with animals but wasn’t sure which career path I should choose. It was while working at a pet store that I was in awe of the art of pet grooming. I went to a local grooming school and fell in love with grooming. I worked at a few grooming salons and at a veterinarian for a while and then decided to open my own shop in my home. My parents were moving to Grand Rapids, and I decided to make the move with them. While in Grand Rapids, a friend from the Chicago area texted me and told me about a grooming shop that was available for sale close to where I lived. We eventually bought the shop, remodeled it, and have been in business now for over 8 years. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In the beginning, there were struggles. Funding a business is one of the hardest struggles. Some days we made $5 for a nail trim, while other days, we made nothing at all. There’s a reason why they say 18.4% of small businesses in the U.S. fail within the first year. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We LOVE animals! When a client comes in with their fur baby and leaves it with us for grooming, we treat it as our own pet. Clients that walk into our salon always compliment on how clean it is and how good it smells! We use products that are from Italy and are designed for a pet’s particular coat type. All of our groomers are certified from a pet grooming school. 

I am a Certified Pet Aesthetician with Iv San Bernard USA, which means I can offer Ozone Spa Therapies to help animals suffering from hair loss or allergies and help regrow their hair or heal their skin. 

I am also in the process of becoming a Certified Feline Master Groomer (CFMG) from the National Cat Groomers Institute (NCGI) which is organization that helps improve cat groomers in their skills and provides education and support. 

I am also an approved cat hair vendor which means I send all my cat hair to a lab that uses the cat hair to develop allergy medicine for humans. 

I volunteer my grooming services for local pet rescues in the area and provide nail trims, grooming, skin therapies, etc., at no cost to the rescue so the pet can find their forever home. 

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
The timing of the shop being for sale and a friend letting us know about it was wonderful. We would have never known about this had we not been informed by her. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vipgroomgr.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VIPGroom/