Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Deveau.
Hi Ashley, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
How I started and How I got to where I am today is journey that’s brought me a lot of challenges and rewards. When I was younger animals were always a passion of mine. I swore I was going to be a veterinarian and would have my own Clinic to help all the animals I could. Every animal I met I wanted to meet, touch, and talk to. I didn’t care how big, small, cute, or ugly the animal was I just wanted to pet and hold it. My parents would always tell me that I can’t touch every animal I see that I have to ask before I touch because the animal might bite me or even the worst situation, my allergies would act up because I am allergic to the world and even the animals, I work with on a day-to-day basis. But that has and never will stop me from loving god’s creatures that he put here on this earth. Animals were not in homes like they are now and not every household had some type of animal in it as well as dog grooming wasn’t as popular as it is today so I never in a million years would have thought I would have the opportunity to make animals look and feel special every day as a Pet Stylist. I will always remember the very first time I got to experience what dog grooming really entitle and what it really meant to be an AKC Breeder and groomer, I remember it like it was yesterday when my grandparents took me and my sister on a Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina one year like every other Thanksgiving with them. My family that we were visiting took us to go meet a new puppy they were bringing home and it so happened to be what inspired me to be what I am today. When I walked in this Amazing Ladies house with her Elegant and Gorgeous standard poodles just running around happy and free with no cares in the world but knowing that they looked and felt amazing. They were in their environment of Love and that’s when I fell in Love. After that Thanksgiving trip, I wanted nothing more than to learn how to groom dogs and to make it my life. When I moved to North Carolina at 17 I went right to my mentor and asked her to teach me what she knows. She taught me the genealogy of different types of breeds of dogs as well as what the breeding process means to keep those good genres. I also was taught how to groom all different types of Breeds that she had at her kennel. I fell in love with everything about what it meant to be a Dog Groomer and wanted to learn everything I could about this type of Career. She always told me that if you can groom a poodle then you can groom any dog that your heart desired and those words have stuck in my head everything, I pick up my clippers or shears and would make it my goal to be the Best Pet Stylist I could be. In the Early 2000s groomers were not as big as we are now because only dogs that would be out and about would be dogs that worked as police canines or dogs that were on farms. So, learning how to groom was Definity a lot harder than it is today. I couldn’t just go online and get a degree or even have a lot of options to go to a grooming school. While researching and trying to find somewhere to get a grooming certificate I found Penn Foster and quickly got my degree in Dog grooming as well as my Vet tech degree and my Pharmacy technician degree. I wanted to learn everything and anything I could about this New Career Choice I stumbled upon and from there the rest is history. But my real Grooming Career started in 2009 When I was given the chance to be a Grooming Salon Manager for a Petco Salon and able to train numerous Stylists within their business. From there I was given the opportunity to work for Woof gang bakery and grooming and learn what it was like to be an independent contractor to learn what it’s almost like to have my own salon. I was so nervous to leave my comfort zone with Petco to take on the new journey with Woof Gang but my customers showed me the loyalty they had to my grooming skills and helped me to Name My salon the Name it is today. 250 customers my first couple weeks showed love to My new Salon and we kept growing, After a couple of years and lots of new pups later. I was given the biggest chance of a lifetime and that was to open my own Salon. The chance to be able to make my salon look the way I wanted and run it how I have always seen I wanted to run my salon. I was even more nervous now because will my customers leave this new location we just moved to and go somewhere completely out of the way for some. I was afraid that I would have to start all over with a whole new customer base, But the day I opened my salon was the day my customers were no longer that. A customer. They are my family; they have watched me grow and evolve into the Pet Stylist I am today. My pack family showed me that what I have worked so hard for could really come true, 3000 pack family members, 4 Orlando Best Plaques, 67,000 Facebook followers, and 5 years later here we are! Ashley’s Pack.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
For any real successful business owner to say they have not had 1 single struggle while owning or opening their own business has to be a miracle. The struggles I have been faced with have had me wanting to quit year one all because of the location I have had my heart set on for a while. The location to me is perfect for my life and for my family, but little did I know this location was going to make me go stir crazy fast. There were going to be a lot more challenges ahead of me than I never prepared myself for as a business owner. My first problem was the building I was renting was never properly built per what the city said and they didn’t even know what my structure or building looked like. So that made me have to look for an architect and get draw out plans for what the space looks like and then what we as a grooming salon was going to do with it and get the city to approve this. Only took a whole year for the process, and a whole year of work lost. Then how bout the first bad Florida rainstorm that made a monsoon in our back-room area. It was downpouring inside our building so bad that we could swim under the water pouring into the building. Or what about the 2 times my salon was broken into? But the biggest challenge I faced as a business owner is how to run my business and still be a mother of 4 and a wife. This challenge is the most hardest, late nights and missed school performances hurt me emotionally and physically way more than any problem that would come my way because my children and family have always been my #1 priority and why I have been working so hard to make my dreams come true so I can show them that they can do the same when they go out on their own. But an even larger challenge I have faced is my oldest son. He was just diagnosed this year with a rare syndrome called Tatton Brown Rahman syndrome and it’s so rare the doctors don’t know much about it but he will have to be undergoing a very major spine surgery I wouldn’t be able to handle what he has thrown at me. So, for anyone Business owner to say they have no struggles, I would love to shake your hand because only lord knows all the real struggles it takes to be a really successful business person.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What does Ashley’s Pack do ? Well most people think we get to play with animals all day but it’s much more than that . To be a Pet Stylist it takes a lot of patience and understanding of the animals you have in front of you . Dog grooming takes a special type of skill and not ment for everyone . We get bite, urinated on , anal glands in the face . You know the real life of a dog groomer . But what we do that’s the most unique is we allow the youth to come inside our doors and learn what it really means to work with animals . They learn a responsibility of how to really care and love such an amazing animal as well as learning a skill they can use for a career in life. We have middle school students all the way to high-school who come daily to help out the pack after school or during their school breaks . It keeps them off the street plus gives them something to look forward to everyday. Our children need more skills to learn and need more people to build them up to greatness like the Pack does . They need more responsibilities, real schedules and consistency. They need strength and Ashley’s Pack always has their back and will help them succeed in anyway possible and I can promise you most grooming salons do not allow children or teenagers behind their doors. We allow high-school students to get community service hours and any other child who needs hours to become a greater person .
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Advice to a new business owner… Plan…Save… Plan……You never know what will happen and if you’re not ready for the worst then you won’t be ready at all. Make sure you have an accountant and tax person asap. I learned the hard way. I grew up watching my family own their own business and watched their struggles but watched as a child and now as I stand back and put myself as an adult in their shows I see why they were gone late nights and long hours because that’s the life you have to live in the beginning until it takes off. I got to watch my grandfather the master salesman works his magic to my father the man always with a pen and my big uncle making sure all the deals with done right with all the heavy equipment machines they sold. My family taught me how to be tough and ready for life when it comes to being a business person but no one is ever ready for running and owning something of their own and making it actually successful so educated yourself about everything that your business and career would include and make sure you write down all your goals and once accomplished keep writing down more because your business will only grow as much as you let it…. so, give it the water to grow and watch what it will sprout.
Contact Info:
- Email: ashleyspackllc@gmail.com
- Website: https://ashleyspackfl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyspack
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyspackllc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovVVpSIMoOCdmaX3mI5NpQ
Image Credits
Mick Levanon
