Lesson 16 (2/2) - How to Take Care of Your Wellbeing as a Groomer

• Charging What You're Worth
• Primary Education

Lesson Outline

Theory

How to Take Care of Your Wellbeing as a Groomer 

Practical

Full Groom (Clipper + Scissoring)

Models

Meowdels

Lesson 16 (Part 2)

How to Charge What You're Worth

Presented by:

Grooming is an art. What we do is an act of love, compassion, artistry and uniquely ours.

Once you understand this, you can be gentle with myself, your emotions and with the cat on the grooming table

Groomer Burnout

Burnout is a type of psychological stress. Occupational burnout or job burnout is characterised by exhaustion, lack of enthusiasm and motivation, feelings of ineffectiveness, and also may have the dimension of frustration or cynicism, and as a result reduced efficacy within the workplace.

One reason why burnout is so high in the service industry is because of the high-stress work environment and emotional demands of the job

Grooming is a Fast-Paced Job

• Generally work starts at 11am and we usually end by 7pm
  
• Back to back appointments, which leads to physical exhaustion
  
• You may spend your days off trying to catch up on much-needed sleep
  

We don’t usually have time for lunch breaks

Groomer Burnout

Physical and Emotional Fatigue

Physically, you feel worn out. You don’t have energy for things that used to be easy to do. You probably have trouble falling asleep, waking up often during the night or sleeping too much.

 

You could also start experiencing feelings associated with depression include hopelessness, guilt, irritability, or other (more serious) symptoms. You might suddenly find that you now have a shorter temper. Perhaps you’re feeling more irritable; prone to angry outbursts, both at work and at home.

We are only human. One of the telltale signs of burnout is exhaustion, in every sense of the word. 

Our jobs are one of the few that get to work with animals on a daily basis and can be very fulfilling when we are physically and emotionally healthy so that we can carry out our job effectively and safely.

Groomer Burnout

Disengagement or Loss of Passion

You might find yourself waking up every morning and dreading going to work. You may realise that all of a sudden you don't love grooming anymore. 

Being a groomer may no longer feel as fulfilling as it used to for you and you could begin to respond negatively to your job environment. It's one of the confusing signs of groomer burnout. 

When you attend to a pet, you're just doing it for money, and you don't even care much about the occupation. 

At this point, you feel stuck alone in the job and that no one understands what you're feeling inside.

Groomer Burnout

Affecting Work

Your detachment and emotional exhaustion will spill into your grooming and you’ll begin losing focus. You’ll start getting more and more irritable, and care less about the quality of your work. You might start skipping entire workdays. As a dog groomer, you could even start treating your clients, both human and cat, poorly.

Burnout can be dangerous especially when we stop caring or remembering that we are working with live animals. 

Taking Care of your Body

• Eating healthy food
  
• Maintain good posture when grooming
  

Can you list a few more examples of what we can do to take care of ourselves?

Re-evaluating Your Lifestyle

• Is your business style or current employment right for you?
• Mobile? In-home? House call? Salon?
• Working Environment
• What is your ideal clientele?
• Is your passion dwindling because you want weekends off, holidays off, nights off?