In just four years Stephanie Zikmann has gone from being a local dog groomer to an authority worldwide as The Holistic Dog Groomer.

She’s written a book that led to a series of children’s books, has a regular column in Edition Dog magazine, runs the Holistic Grooming Academy and has spoken at events all over the world.

Stephanie’s passion is the emotional and physical needs of her canine clients, bringing pet professionals from all backgrounds together to make their lives better.

She’s revolutionised grooming and through her academy she’s changed the lives of hundreds of groomers and how thousands of dogs are cared for.

By being bold and putting opinions out there that not everyone agrees with has meant Stephanie has seen the dark side of what happens when you’re in the public eye.

After sharing her thoughts on Pooch Perfect, she experienced death threats which caused huge distress.

Stephanie took time out, built herself up and bounced back much stronger. 

Now she incorporates the emotional toolkit she built for herself into her training to support her students. 

Key topics and timings in this episode:

1.28 - Who Stephanie is and what she does. 

2.15 - Stephanie talks about how she got into the pet industry. 

3.25 - What life is like living with four dogs including two Tibetan Mastiffs!

5.09 - Stephanie explains what holistic dog grooming is. 

7.22 - How Stephanie developed her holistic dog grooming education and business. 

10.45 - The holistic grooming approach.

14.11 - What steps Stephanie took to get her business out there.

18.48 - We talk about Stepahnie’s book, the Magic of Holistic Grooming.

20.21 - How her community has helped to boost Stephanie's business.

23.16 - The impact media opportunities have had on Stephanie’s business. 

25.31 - How Stephanie started the coaching programme that's now helped people all over the world.

29.35 - Stephanie's advice for overcoming challenges from other people who have different opinions.

31.26 - What happened when Stephanie shared an opinion about Pooch Perfect and was attacked online. 

35.14 - How Stephanie picked herself up.

37.45 - She shares how self employed people can overcome the highs and lows and build resilience.

44.53 - What’s next for Stephanie?

46.33 - Where to find out more about Stephanie and the Holistic Grooming Academy.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Find out more about Stephanie at https://www.stephaniezikmann.com/

Learn about Holistic Grooming at https://courses.holisticgroomingacademy.com/

Read Stephanie’s article in Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/380502

Check out her profile on the Edition Dog website: https://editiondog.com/pages/stephanie-zikmann