From left to right: Danielle Napier, Sharon Sowers, and Erin Clark

by Vickie Holt

The world is filled with people who know, firsthand, the woes that come with working for someone else. For many, that means long hours, low pay, no respect, antagonism, and stress placed on them by bosses, co-workers, and employers.
For as long as there has been employment, employees across the globe have dreamed of the day they could be free of unhealthy work environments. They have dreamed of going into business for themselves and being their own boss. In 2020, Danielle Napier, Erin Clark, and Sharon Sowers did just that.
In 2008, Daniele began attending Hollins College. In 2009, she started working part time at Petsmart. The one thing she knew when she her received degree in Biology, however, was that she did not want to teach. Instead, she investigated further opportunities with her employer. She didn’t want to work full time on the floor, and she didn’t like the idea of going into management.
In 2010, almost on a whim, Daniele agreed to a grooming position, and was off to Petsmart’s grooming academy in Bristol. There, she studied under a certified master groomer with over twenty years’ experience.
Daniele really loves dogs, and as it turned out, she also really loved grooming! “It’s really fun,” she says, “but it’s also really hard work. Not as easy as it looks.”
As for Sharon, Petsmart was her second job, after beginning her work life as a teenager at McDonald’s. She started in 2005 as a cashier, not knowing much at all about the grooming services. After a year behind the register, however, she wanted to become a bather for the in-house salon. She loved learning about all the different breeds and seeing all the breeds. After two years as a bather, she decided, like Daniele, to go to the grooming academy. When she came back, she had absolutely fallen in love with grooming. “The more you learn,” she says, “the more it draws you in. You learn something new, every day!”
(Left: Sharon Sowers grooming Haggis)

Erin had only ever worked at Petsmart, having started in Richmond in 2002, at the age of sixteen. For the first ten years, she worked in pet care, which included fish and small animals. In 2010, however, she became a bather for the sole purpose of the better hours and better pay. Once she was in, however, she discovered she really had a knack for it.
In 2011, Erin decided to move to the area, as she had attended college here while maintaining her job at Petsmart. With no real affection for Richmond, Erin transferred to the Roanoke Petsmart and promptly went to grooming academy. Unfortunately, her experience had not been as inspiring or as pleasant, and it wasn’t until she was in the grooming salon with Daniele that she really felt like she learned anything valuable. That’s when she decided, “not only do I have a knack for this, I really like this. This is great! I can see myself doing this for a long time.”  (Right: Erin Clark grooming Lexi)
All now working as groomers in Petsmart, the three women became good friends, not only with each other, but also with their regular clients. They shared a philosophy that put genuinely caring for their clients at the top of the list.
Unfortunately, 2011 was also the year that Daniele began suffering from multiple difficulties and tragedies in her personal life. This also created difficulties with her employer, and in 2012, she was let go from Petsmart. Though life seemed to be beating her down, she picked herself up that same day and went over to Nature’s Emporium on Brambleton Avenue, where she’d heard that the owner was thinking of offering grooming services. As fate would have it, the manager, district manager, and the owner all happened to be preset in the store that day, so she walked right in and said, “I hear you’re wanting to create a grooming salon. I can do that.” Before they could stop to think, she also added, “I work here now.”
A few days before that, Erin had begun a week off in order to clear her head and check out some possibilities. She had become uncomfortable with the corporate way of operating what should have been a more personal service. She also had growing anxiety over in-house changes. “Things were getting weird,” says Erin. “I could see the writing on the wall. It was getting toxic.” She had even been told about the Nature’s Emporium opportunity, but Daniele had made her daring move before she could check it out. Once Daniele had told her what had happened, however, the decision was quick and easy. Within a week, Erin was Nature’s Emporium’s newest groomer.
The two women started fresh at Nature’s Emporium with no clientele. As their former employer did not allow the groomers access to client information, they had no way to let clients know where to find them.
Eventually, however, they did build a loyal group of patrons with the philosophy they shared – genuinely caring for their clients. More than clients, the folks who came to Daniele and Erin for their grooming needs also became their friends, connected on Facebook and other social media. Things were going great!
It would be 2016, however, before Sharon also followed. She was comfortable at her job, and admits to a mindset of feeling safety in that comfort. She was also attached to the clients she had been working with. She had an epiphany, however, when Petsmart was bought out in 2015. Small things changed, and it was no longer “comfortable”. That’s when she decided so speak with Daniele about “getting the band back together” at Nature’s Emporium. She wanted to work again with people who knew what she was doing and how she wanted to do it. She also wanted to get away from a corporate atmosphere.
As it turned out, however, Sharon’s timing couldn’t have been worse. The ownership had changed at Nature’s Emporium, and the new owner’s focus was the bottom line. This made it difficult for the grooming trio to continue operating under their shared philosophy. The work environment that had been so fun and satisfying before was becoming toxic.
In addition to the mental and emotional discomfort, Daniele began suffering physical discomfort, as well. Too many large dogs and affected her shoulders. Grooming is a physically demanding job, and Daniele was finding it more and more difficult to groom full time. She loved her clients and she loved grooming, but the misery and her physical difficulties were becoming too much.
In 2017, a loyal client gave her a way out. Bill Webster got to know Daniele through Bogie and Bandit, his two frisky Coton de Tulear pups. Because he had seen how she’d started and built the grooming portion of Nature’s Emporium, he offered her a job. She would be taking care of his office at Collegiate Pacific, a producer of wool felt products for showing college and university team spirit.
Knowing she could no longer groom full time, she took Mr. Webster up on his offer and began working for him, part time, in 2017. She just couldn’t leave grooming behind completely. She loved it so much, and all her friends were there. In March of 2018, however, she made the final break and went full time with Collegiate Pacific.
Despite the new career, Daniele never left her friends. Daniele, Sharon, and Erin all kept in touch, and she was still able to connect with her client friends on social media. As time went on, conversations with Sharon and Erin continued to reveal their ongoing misery. They would talk again and again about how nice it would be to open a grooming salon of their own – a subject that had been a frequent topic of discussion since long before Daniele got her new job.
Actually, the three groomers had been actively looking for a place since 2016! Since most of their clientele was already in Southwest County, they tried finding a property in that area, but no one would rent to a grooming salon. They searched constantly, and even expanded their search closer to Downtown Roanoke. Still, building owners refused to let them occupy.
Continuing to hear about the awful conditions Sharon and Erin were still experiencing, Daniele decided to double down on the search. Because she had a job, she wasn’t necessarily looking to groom again, but she was determined to make this happen for their happiness.
Eventually, she expanded her search into Vinton where she finally found Paul Welsch. He was the only property owner to give her a shot, and in December of 2020, the deal was made for the storefront at 123 East Lee Avenue.
There were a lot of people, including clients, ready to help make this dream come true. They were starting from scratch…again. They needed equipment, tools, fixtures, supplies, and everything else on the business side of things. Daniele sold her Jeep. Erin and Sharon both contributed. Erin’s mother financed a large part, and Daniele’s mother also chipped in. As Daniele tells us, even Erin and Sharon’s clients offered to help.
Erin’s husband, Paul, chipped in and was a tremendous help in getting the place set up for business. There was a lot of painting, sanding, and fixture work to be done. Despite still working at Nature’s Emporium, even Erin and Sharon helped in their off hours. Paul, however, is responsible for the beautiful epoxy work on all the floors. “We even painted our initials on the bathing room floor,” says Erin.
After all was done, Pawsh Salon for Dogs opened its doors on March 15, 2021. Knowing the opening was imminent, both Erin and Sharon had left their jobs and were able to start grooming on day one.
For the first few days, they were dusting the surfaces to keep busy, but by the end of the first week, they were hopping.
Erin and Sharon had been made to sign no- compete contracts after Daniele had left Nature’s Emporium, which meant they could not disclose to any of their clients that there was a different grooming business they could go to, even for a period of time after leaving employment. They were not permitted to call their clients and tell them to come to the new place.
Circling back around to the social media friendships they had created with their clients, however, it wasn’t difficult to let innocuous posts do the job. Also, their clients began messaging them and asking why they weren’t there anymore. It didn’t take long for their old clients to find them.
They also found new clients in Vinton really quickly. Almost as soon as they were open, business owners and employees in the downtown Vinton area began bringing in their dogs. Soon, even citizens from the church and surrounding areas started asking for appointments.
For the first year, only Danielle and Paul owned the business because of the no-compete agreement. While Erin and Sharon were doing most of the grooming, Daniele built the website and created their social media presence. Because of her full-time job with Collegiate Pacific, as well as her ongoing physical difficulties, Daniele mainly helps with the ‘bean counting’. She also helps with the training and guidance of newer folks, like Hannah Spence, who was a bather for three years at another salon but has trained to groom at Pawsh and will soon be grooming full time. There is also Sarah Atchinson, who is the newest bather at Pawsh.
In January of 2022, Sharon and Erin became clear of their no-compete contacts and were finally able to become official co-owners! Things have been going so well at Pawsh that, come next January, the trio will have paid off all their start-up debt. All three are eagerly looking forward to that day, as it will allow them to begin paying their groomers far more than industry standard.
“Money is necessary to run a business,” says Daniele, “but you don’t get it if you don’t care about your people and your clients. You have to show them respect and love instead of digging in their pockets.”
After their shared experiences, the trio strongly feel the right thing to do is to treat employees the way they deserve to be treated, with good pay, vacation time, sick leave, and Holidays – all paid because it’s earned and deserved. They also believe in allowing their groomers to set their own schedules and to select their clients. “As an employee,” says Daniele, “It’s hard to come to work every day and treat clients with love and respect when you are not receiving it from your employer. This business does not need to be rich. Priority one is treating clients and employees well.”
With that in mind, the plan is to keep the business at its current size. They don’t want to become a sweatshop – cramming is as many groomers and customers as possible. It’s not about the money. Over-crowding the salon creates chaos and stressful situations for the dogs, which customers are trying to avoid by coming to a salon like Pawsh. Still, Daniele tells us they have room for one more groomer and are seeking to hire.
Pawsh Salon for Dogs uses Chris Christensen products. After many years of trial and error, they decided that spending the extra money on high quality, show grade products was worth it. They offer grooming packages such as Bath & Brush, Touch Up, Full Groom, Puppy Bath, and Puppy Trim. They also offer nail trimming and grinding, as well as nail repair. Clients may also take advantage of a variety of different specialty shampoos and fur treatments.
Pawsh Salon for Dogs • www.Pawsh4Dogs.com • 540-997-2974
Open Monday – Friday, 8AM – 5PM • Saturday by appointment