Hello everyone! Many of you in the deaf community, about 30 people, have been asking me about my career. “How did you get into your career path with dog grooming?” Just so you know, this was a totally random path. My original dream job was to become a massage therapist. I was totally not planning to become a dog groomer. It is time for me to tell you my story. I’ll let you know, I’ll might cry, because I am very sensitive and emotional. I was born in Africa, this is the sign for Africa. I grew up with no pets. When I got to America with my family who adopted me, I learned they had pets. They have a dog. I was really scared and freaked out. I didn’t have experience with pets and dogs. That dog passed away three years later, so it was a short time with Disney. Here is a picture of Disney. I didn’t have a relationship with her. When Disney passed away, then as time went on, my dad went to Arkansas for his work, at the Ozarks camp, working as a doctor. I was very young, and I was so bored, that I looked at my mom’s phone. There was a text that showed a surprise, we got a new puppy with a picture of the dog, it was so white. I was so excited, and when the dog arrived, we decided to name the dog Elsa, like from the movie Frozen. This is Elsa’s sign name. I held her in my hands when she was 8 weeks old, that’s when I fell in love with her. I really wanted a relationship with her. I am a very anxious person and I get emotional a lot. I cry a lot and it was nice to have Elsa to connect with. I invested in training her, I am deaf and I wanted to teach her how to communicate with me. I wanted her to understand sign language. I trained her well and wow, we had a special connection. She is my best friend. She is there with me all the time, by my side. She always sleeps with me all the time. It was a great relationship, she is my service dog. She supports me, she helps me calm down, have less anxiety and reduce crying. At TSD, the deaf school I went to, I had to stay in the dorms. This made me have bad anxiety and was crying often. I couldn’t let go being without my dog. I was so paranoid about her and worried if she was ok. I must call my parents everyday after school finished. I would call my mom to check and make sure Elsa was ok. We have another family dog named Max, but it was really my brother’s dog. When my brother got Gus, we connected well too. I consider him my nephew Gus. I wanted to buy my own dog to help me with my anxiety and emotions. It was very tough for me and I realized I needed therapy. My dog Elsa passed away and it wasn’t easy for me to get through that. That was a tough year for me. When I was a senior, I was focused on going into massage therapy. My mom asked me, “Why not think about dog grooming?” I was like oh, hmm. My mom said “I notice dogs are very therapeutic for you, and they love you so much.” I realized she was right, so I dropped my career plan in massage therapy, because it’s important to be with dogs for my therapy. So that is my story, it all started because of my dog Elsa. I really thank my mom for being right, in choosing the right career path for me as a dog groomer, with therapeutic benefit for emotional support. Mom knows everything about me and has seen me through all of my experiences growing up with dogs. Finally, I have my own dog, Honey! Here she is! She is my service dog but she is the best dog ever! She reminds me so much of my dog Elsa. “Honey, say bye bye!” Have a great day! Ta-ta! - @ellasgroomingpage