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. Amie lives in Summerville, SC with her husband, 3 children and her 3 spoiled cats. She has been grooming for 16 years 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.

Jessie Jaggers owns and operates  Sharp Edges in Midwest city, Oklahoma.  He began sharpening at the beginning of 2017 in large part because his sister, who is a groomer and owns a salon in a rural area had trouble finding someone to service her equipment.  After looking into it and doing research he decided to give it a try. " I figured if it didn’t pay the bills at least I could sharpen my sisters blades and shears. " It turned out to be one of the best decisions he has made.  He loves his work and  serving the grooming and veterinary community which make up 95% of his business today.  Jessie is also  passionate about educating groomers about caring for the equipment that helps them make their living.  When he realized that most groomers are not given any formal instruction on the care and maintenance of their tools and equipment, Jessie decided that he could do more than just sharpen for groomers. He could help educate them so they could get the most value out of their tools.

 Misti is our promotions and marketing specialist. She works tirelessly to bring in sponsors and donations for our swag bags, raffle and speaker gifts. We couldn't do this without her.

Amber began her yoga journey in 2005. Her interest in the philosophy of yoga grew and in 2022 she signed up for yoga teacher training so she could share her love of yoga with others. She is a 200 hour registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance.  She has groomed in the KC area since 1995 and currently lives in Kansas City with her husband and 2 pups and owns Pawzen Pet Salon in Lenexa, KS.