Meet Simone Gipson of The Furry GodMother in Kennesaw

Today we’d like to introduce you to Simone Gipson.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Simone. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Since I was very young, I’ve always been around animals. From hiding stray cats from my parents to owning just about any small animal you can imagine, I’ve always been interested in them. When people would ask me when I was young what would I want to be when I grown up, I would tell people that I want to be a veterinarian.

I’ve had turtles, birds, baby chickens, dogs, cats, hamsters you name it. I attended to try Pre-Vet school but quickly found out that wasn’t the right path I wanted to take. I got hired at PetSmart in 2009 working in the pet care area. I learned how to care and feed snakes, tropical fish, small animals, birds, etc. Working in the pet care department didn’t satisfy me enough. By 2010, I switched departments and started training as a barber. I learned how to bathe a dog, clip the nails, clean ears and how to properly restrain dogs safely. I quickly got promoted within a few months and was sent to a grooming academy where I learned how to official groom dogs with clippers and shears.

Within a month of training, I received my professional grooming certificate and from then on, I worked my magic. I never knew I would love making pets look and feel good as much as I do. I got promoted to a salon manager after a few years and noticed I still wanted more for myself. I’ve always wanted to become my own boss but I didn’t know where to start. After grooming for almost 11 years, I’ve decided to take a risk and leave PetSmart and start my own dog grooming company. It’s been running for a few months now but business is anything but lacking. I have big plans for my brand but I don’t want to give away all of my ideas just yet lol. You’ll just have to stay tuned and see.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My job may look easy to some but in reality, I do have days that stress me out. Not every dog wants to be groomed. I lift dogs two times even three times my weight at times and I’m a small person. I can get a bit while I work, scratched amongst other things. Working for a corporation limited how I wanted to run a business and made me feel like I didn’t matter at times.

The Furry GodMother LLC – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is a dog grooming company. I make sure that a fur baby gets anything from ears cleaned to nails getting clipped to a bath and haircut. My clients tell me that I make the cutest faces for their babies and that they can tell that I live what I do by the way I interact with their pets. I’m the most proud of my company being able to set a standard Of grooming to my customers that they know their pet will look it’s best. What sets me apart from other grooming companies is that I’m a Black woman who grooms dogs lol. You don’t find that often.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I want to start off saying that I feel like I’m already successful as far as taking the gut to quit a job I had for almost 11 years to jump on my own idea of starting my own business that’s growing day by day. I’m blessed and so humble. I feel like success is what you make it. I’m successful in being happy that I’m my own boss and of course making money.

Contact Info:

• Website: TheFurryGodMother.co
• Phone: 470-399-5455
• Email: thefurrygodmotherllc@gmail.com
• Instagram: thefurrygodmotherllc
• Facebook: thefurrygodmotherllc

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