Speakers and Staff

Amie’s passion is cat grooming and has dedicated her career to finding the safest, most effective ways to groom our feline friends. She has taught at Groom Expo, the Northwest Grooming Show, All American Grooming Show and was nominated for a Barkleigh Honor in 2014 for Up and Coming Speaker.  Amie lives in Summerville, SC with her husband, 3 children, 3 spoiled cats and 2 Chihuahua mixes. She has been grooming since 2002 and is currently employed with a veterinary clinic.

Barb has been active in the pet grooming industry since 1985.She has recently earned her CCE and NCMG status. Believing in the importance of continuing education, Barb organizes, attends and teaches classes throughout the country on all aspects of the grooming industry. She has been interviewed by, and written articles for various trade magazines, been nominated for several Barkleigh Honors awards and won the prestigious David G. Salzberg Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Grooming Industry in 2007. Her book, The Difficult Dog, was awarded the 2018 Barkleigh Honor Award for Book of the Year.

 Helen J Schaefer, National Certified Master Groomer (NCMG), Certified Canine  Esthetician (CCE)  is a Top ranked internationally competitive groomer, industry speaker, and educator. She is best known for her resilience, dedication, and sound advice. In the ring, she specializes in American Cockers, Kerry Blue Terriers, Bichons, and poodles, especially in the European Secondary Trim.

In the salon she is best known for gentle cat grooming techniques, hand stripping of harsh coated dogs, Terrier grooming, and stunning personality trims. She is a vital member of the operations team for Heart + Paw, helping develop continuing education programs for the groomers and helping streamline the style service processes.

Helen has been nominated for multiple Barkleigh Honors for both her educational speaking engagements as well her content creation.

She was the recipient of 2020 Up and Coming Speaker of the Year. She was again nominated in 2021 for Speaker of the Year as well as a 2021 Groomer of the Year Nominee, her VLog “Groomer Problems” won the 2022 Podcast of the Year Barkleigh Honor.

Cassandra owns a mobile grooming business with 5 employees in St.Louis Missouri. Her business opened in 2017 and is on the 8th year in business! She has been grooming for 13 years and enjoys teaching seminars to educate and inspire groomers! Her teaching resume includes teaching mobile and business classes at seminars in the Midwest like The All American Grooming Show, Groomfest, and RWGroomX and hopes to add more events to her speaking schedule.  Cassandra also operates a groomer and pet themed retail company in which she crafts handmade gifts for groomers and pet lovers alike! Look for her at the grooming trade shows. 

Laura has been grooming since 2015 and opened Laura’s Paw Spaw in 2019. She opened the Paw Spaw wanting to work with a wide variety of pets and provide individual care for each of them. Though she loves getting to work with all dogs and cats, Laura has a passion for doodle and poodle grooming. She also loves being able to rehabilitate nervous or aggressive dogs that have been turned away from other groomers. Laura finds fulfillment in providing a positive, safe, and relaxing environment for the Paw Spaw staff and the pets in her care. She also offers creative grooming services including permanent and temporary hair dye, which really helps to bring out a dog’s personality! A frequent speaker at The Kansas City Grooming Conference, Laura has a passion for continued education and is a Certified Canine Esthetician. Laura has two dogs at home (Ezdeath and Buddy) and two ferrets (Pike and Grog).

Shelby began her career as a bather in a corporate salon in 2018 and now manages Laura's Paw Spaw, a high-end grooming salon in Kansas City, Missouri. After sustaining facial injuries after a dog bite in 2022, she's developed a passion for mental health and trauma recovery in the industry. She hopes that by discussing these difficult topics with her fellow pet professionals, she can help make this a safer and more compassionate career. Aside from her interest in mental health, Shelby has a passion for terriers and is known in her salon as "the crazy Westie lady." She enjoys getting to know difficult pets and tailoring their grooming experiences to their needs. Shelby is proud of the part she gets to play in making the grooming industry a more mindful and compassionate place.

Garoleen took her grooming course in 1979 at Colby (KS) Community College.  Dog grooming began her lifelong passion for all things dog. She has worked as a groomer and vet tech in small animal and mixed practice vet clinics  early in her career. As a young mother opened a home salon and later owned and operated a grooming/ boarding business in Smith Center, KS. She retired from full time grooming to pursue other careers but continued limited grooming appointments. Eventually laying down the shears for good to allow time to travel to compete in dog shows and enjoy her grandchildren  Currently Garoleen owns and operates Jhawk Farm LLC, a pastured poultry operation. She assists her husband Joe with their commercial cow/calf herd and commodity crop farm in rural Smith County, KS.  Garoleen is an AKC Breeder of Merit for American Hairless Terriers under the kennel name Wilsong.  Her 3rd generation of champion “Becks” earned the distinction of the #1 Owner Handled AHT in 2024.