Hello Dog Lovers I am Jeanne Mulcahy.  Let me tell you a little about myself.   I started grooming in 1969 after dropping out of Beauty School.   I realized that I liked dogs more than I liked people.  I learned to groom in a shop in Chicago called the Velvet Paws, where I met Romaine Michelle.  Her mother raised and showed Poodles.  Romaine groomed all of the Poodles for her mom.  She is the person who taught me how to groom.   In 1973 I married Mike Mulcahy.  We had three children.  I was able to stay at home with them and still groom dogs.  All of my children were raised in a grooming environment so it was no surprise that they all eventually learned how to groom.  My daughter Meggan has her own shop and my sons Ryan and Sean work in upscale shops in downtown Chicago as well as teach part time for me.   In 1987 I entered my first grooming competition.  I won the "Poodle Division" as well as "Best Scissored" dog and "Best All Around Groomer".  I was hooked.  I couldn't pass up competing.  In 1992, 1993 and 1994 I won the "Prestigious Barkleigh Creative Styling Award" and was on the cover of Groomer to Groomer for four years. My daughter was the youngest person to compete at "Intergroom".   She won a Silver Medal for hand stripping Terriers.  She was only 14 years old.  She has also won the "Barkleigh Creative Styling Award". My daughter and I traveled through out the country to compete in competitions.   I stopped competing in 2000 and started speaking and judging at the shows.   I started teaching in 1987 when someone called me and asked me to teach them how to groom.  I taught her and now she has her own grooming shop.  Word got out and soon I had may people wanting to learn.  I was working out of my home at that time so I decided to find a shop where I could open a school.  After speaking to the Department of Education for Vocational we submitted our curriculum and we were licensed as a Vocational school.  We called it "Great Lakes Academy of Professional Pet Styling".  We opened in 1994.

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