Meet Priscilla Garcia | Pet Stylist & Jefita

We had the good fortune of connecting with Priscilla Garcia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Priscilla, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The thought process behind starting my own business was at first frightening. Prior to starting my business, I had job security where it came with full benefits, paid vacation, paid sick time, 401k, the whole shabang. Going from having a secure income to starting fresh and a new career was gray in the beginning. However, my initial thought was I was not going back to an office setting. There was has always been a creative side of me and sometimes with corporations, it is difficult (at least for me) to show the real you.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a pet groomer, my job is to build trust with our clients and show compassion. Sometimes we get rescue dogs who either are terrified of being groomed or never been groomed, or have had a bad experience. I feel what sets us aside is that we don’t push boundaries with our clients. For example, if we see a dog who is sensitive to having their paws touched, we do what we can and try again the next session. We give pointers to their pet parents to help desensitized their pets in between sessions. In my perspective, every dog has a timeline. Some need more patience and that’s okay.

What makes me proud to being a pet groomer is giving pets the opportunity to feel fresh, although some roll on the floor after their grooming session lol. Also, it makes me proud when pet parents send us follows up on their pets when we are trying to achieve a goal.

We continue to take classes during the year and also give pro bono work to dogs in need. I hope people realize that when people who charge their craft is because they took the time to learn and keep growing their craft. Our time and education is valuable, explaining this to people can be challenging.

I’ve learned that everyone is not for you and you for them. It’s okay to say no. Not every client is a good client. It took me years to learn this and now I value the word ‘no’.

I want the world to know about me and our brand is we are here to continue teaching pet parents about the importance of grooming and keeping their pet healthy. We give advice because we care about your pet. We build trust,and not push boundaries.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Depends on the city and what friend! If I am with my closest cousins/ best friend from NorCal, we rent an airbnb in San Diego. We do the brunch, drag show, and/or hit the county fair. There’s so much to do, but we do find local restaurants and support them as well.

Also, with my other bestie, Natasha, we like to plan donation to different shelters. What we do is gather items that shelters are in need of, donate and talk to the staff ,so we can spread awareness on what is going on in the shelters. Every rescue and shelter are hurting right now.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe the success to my mom,sister, business owners turned friends and lastly & most importantly, my husband.

The women on my mom’s side has the entrepreneur line. My mom has always had businesses growing up. The moment she got to the United States, she opened a Custom Bridal Shop and was also an amazing seamstress. She, also, had event planning business in the early 2000’s as well as a driving school. She is the type of soul who is a busy body and will find nothing to something to do and create a career. She started grooming 2018 and had asked me if i wanted to learn in 2019 when I would visit her on the weekends. She is the reason why I am a pet groomer today.

My sister is one of my biggest supporters. She would come and help me bath on the weekends and continuously is cheering us on. Also, she has a pet clothing business, Pretty Kitty Pet Accessories. She keeps pushing me to keep growing and expanding.

Encouragement from other small businesses turned friends. There are times were sometimes you feel like you can’t relate your business to your spouse or friends. However, I’ve met some amazing businesses who encourage and support our business. It makes having a business not as lonely. It gives me a different perspective on running a business. You learn the struggles from one another and yet find the light to support each other. There’s nothing like another business supporting your business. At the end, we all have the same goal and that is to spread the creativeness and positivity to others. It’s empowering.

Lastly, my hubby. Thank you is not enough. I am extremely lucky to have my husband since day 1 supported my career change. He always goes with my crazy ideas and is brains of our business. He is the reason for our expansion. So, thank you dearly Hubby for being the best!

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Image Credits
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