From Grooming to Celebrancy – Julie Goodall’s Journey of Reinvention

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Welcome to the Pet Grooming Business Podcast with me, Bill Betts, where we give practical business advice to help you grow your pet grooming business. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay, the low rate payment app that gives you more. So without further ado, let's get going.

All right, welcome everyone, and welcome back to our. Our next episode. And this one is going to be a long one. I think it's going to be exciting and informative and going to be really interesting because we're diving into the business journey of Julie. Welcome, Julie. How are you doing? I'm really well, thanks, Bill. How are you today? Very good. And what, what part of the country are you, are you dialing in from? I'm in Wrexham, North Wales. City and famous for Ryan Reynolds and his mate Rob.

Yeah, I mean, has that lifted up the. Is it a town? Oh, absolutely, yeah. Yeah. I mean, the club's growing and now with city status and. Yeah, everywhere knows where Wrexham is. You can go to America and they'll know where Wrexham is. Insane. Have you met Ryan Reynolds yet? Have you? Well, he comes for tea every Thursday, so, you know.

Do people bump into him? Yeah, him and Rob are very, very community spirited, to be fair. I think Ryan Reynolds has got a house just down the road from here and I think. Or they stay in Cardon park, which is literally 10 minutes away from here. But yeah, I mean, they, they wander around, they go the turf, they go the matches. They. I think they go as often as they can. I mean, they've invested so heavily into it. Yeah. That their wives are probably telling them to go.

I have to. I think there's a Netflix program, isn't there? About. There is about how. Why he picked Wrexham. I have to have. Okay. Interesting. Very, very interesting. Yeah, yeah. Bit wrinkle at times, but interesting. How long have you been there? Have you always been. Have you always lived in Wrexham? No, originally from Hollywell, which is about 45 minutes from here. It's just my mum is moved to Connaught Quay, which is sort of halfway between there and here. Lived there and brought the girls up there, my daughters, and then met Mike, my husband, and we moved to Wrexham.

Must be coming up to 14 years ago now. Wow. And then whilst you're. After you moved, you then set up your. Your dog grooming business. Grooming Tales. Was that right? I did, yeah.

I was made redundant, which is. Was the crux of changing career. Before that I was in office management and PA and all that sort of stuff.

Seated and booted and very different to dog grooming. Let's just put it that way. You know, wearing power suits and. Oh, yeah. Heels and dresses and hair done every day. Makeup done every day. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. And then, and then I discovered dog grooming. Then you come home thinking of like. Dogs and hair everywhere.

So, you know, like you said, it's quite a big change, isn't it? When you got made redundant, did you always have. Did you know what dog groomers were? Did you know what they did? Did you take a dog? The groomers? How did you get. No, well, we. I had a little dog, Dolly, and I did know that she needed grooming and that's what she did. We took her to the groomers. I think she was traumatized. Sorry, shouldn't say that. But she was. In hindsight, she was.

And good friends of ours were self employed and were like, you gotta be self employed. I'm like, what the hell can I do? I've been a pen pusher for the best part of my life. Well, what do you enjoy doing? Well, cooking. Yeah, I'm gonna be a cook for anyone. Not baking or anything. And then I always wanted to be a hairdresser as a child and my dad, very old fashioned views, was like, absolutely no daughter of mine is gonna be a hairdresser. Oh, wow. Yeah, exactly.

So I didn't do that. And I thought, you know what, I could be a doggy hairdresser.

There's something in that. And I sat with it for a while and you know what, Mike's like, very challenging with conversation and everything else like that. So we had lots of conversations and I found a training school I really liked in Osworth Street. It was the Bristles with Debbie Night and she invited me over for the day just to see what it involved. It was a working salon as well, so it was like proper.

Um, so I went for the day and absolutely loved it. I thought, oh my God, why didn't I find this years ago? And because I'd been made redundant, I was very lucky that my course was paid for by the government at the time. I know, yeah. But there was caveats. So the caveat was it was an eight week course and I started it on something like the 1st of December and I had to have it finished by Christmas Eve and all the modules in and done and complete by New Year's Eve.

So it was like, yeah, right. I like a challenge, you know, I like a challenge. So I was set off on the challenge and I did it. Yeah, I got a distinction and, yeah, very pleased with myself and did you. Have an idea as to how you were gonna work? Was that your setup at the moment is at home, but did you think, I'm gonna rent a salon or I'm gonna. Oh, I looked, we looked at everything. Luckily we had a space house where I could set up and not dissimilar to what I've got here.

But no, I was the dog groom and I can groove dogs. And that was about as far as it went. That was the first idea was just get qualified, get qualified. See where we went. I remember waking up sort of early that New Year, thinking, okay, what am I going to do now?

So I thought to myself, right, I need a little part time job a couple of days a week where I. And then I can concentrate the other days of the week on the business and learn at the time. Again, the Welsh government did like a 12 week in learning into business course. It was one day a week and you learned about all the, you know, you tax. And the man from the Inland Revenue came to talk to us, Health and safety, what we needed to know about the councils and it was a whole mixture of businesses as new businesses as well.

So it was really interesting hearing other people's stories as well. And that was really good because it gave you an idea of sort of procedures and what documents to keep and what you needed and all the rest of it. So that was interesting. There was a bit of funding from that as well. When I say a bit of funding, it bought me, bought my stove.

That's how much funding there was. I don't think there's any now, but there was a little bit then.

And so I set up at home.

I was very fortunate to have a little pot of money and I bought my bath, my table, my stand, dryer, which I still have to this day. And they're all perfect condition if anybody wants to buy them. And then, yeah, I just started. How did. Did you. Your girls. I think you got two daughters, haven't you? Yeah, that's right, yeah. What sort of age were they then? Were you. Were you having to, you know, fit your business around? School run? Oh yeah, holidays. Meg was in. Meg was in college and Beth was in school.

So yeah, school runs because there wasn't a bus so backwards and forwards to school. So I had to slot in things around that and picking Meg up from the bus stop and yeah, like everybody who's got children, it was you. The joy of it for me was I didn't have to ask permission to go and get the kids from school if they were poorly I would just let people know and rearrange and people were fantastic. I mean, you know, the usual stuff.

And yeah, it was just like a dream come true, to be fair, being master of my own ship. Nice. And how did you find that you became busy quickly, was a good customer base? Well, I started the business in the May and I did actually have a part time job then. And my boss is brilliant. To be fair to her, she said, as long as that's done, you can do what you like in the afternoon. If you want to build your business, you build your business. She was brilliant.

Yeah, she was. And so by, I think that August, I gave my notice into my little job and started full time in the September. And of course, the phone didn't ring. Yes, September seems to be. And this is quite interesting going back. And there is a trend. 13 years. This is going back, isn't it? I think. Yeah. Thirteen years. And September was quiet. Yeah. And there's a trend, and I know that trend now, obviously, but I was like, oh, what have I done? And Mike's like, it's all right, hold your nerve.

You know, he's like, like, hold your nerve, you'll be fine. So many times have I held my nerve. This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay. Low Pay is half the price of Sumup and Zettle. So you keep more of the money that you earn. Rates start at 0.79%. So, yeah, came full time. And, yeah, the phone started ringing and the leaflet dropped because there wasn't much Facebook at that point. There was, but it wasn't particularly like it is now, for business at least. Um, and I went to all the hairdressers, I went to all the cafes, I went.

I stalked dog walkers. And.

Then the grafts. It's awful, isn't it? Things you have to do. But it worked. Yeah. You did the graft. And can you remember your first Christmas? Yes. Was it busy? Was it crazy? Yes. I had no clue what I was letting myself in for because I came up with this idea that, well, we'll get them all groomed before Christmas and we'll just offer bathing packages.

Oh, my God. I think I bathed every dog in Wrexham.

But it also got me my name out there for my first Christmas. Financially, it was fantastic. It was very lucrative and a lot of it was cash. Not that I hid any, but it was great.

But, yeah, it was knackering, but very, very rewarding. I think I didn't have to. I don't think I had to buy a bottle of wine or vodka for many a year. Yeah, that's something that's changed a bit. I think the amount of gifts have definitely started coming down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But back then, yeah, flowers and chocolates and alcohol. Yeah, yeah. And so going forward into, you know, going into what I call, like the battle rhythm of your business, you know, year after year, were you finding.

Were you working, like the hours that you wanted or were you over overbooking yourself? You struggling, were you struggling with the kids, anything like that?

The kids were fine. As they got older, they became more independent. Meg left home, so it was just best to contend with at home. And yeah, mostly that was fine.

But, yeah, yeah, it's the battle with the diary. Debbie always said when she was training us. One thing to note, ladies, is that you control your diary. Your diary does not control you. Well, those are the only words I never listened to, I'll be honest. Many a time I had Debbie sitting on my shoulder when there was a complicated dog in or a breed cut that I wasn't 100% sure on and all those sorts of things. She'd be on my shoulder. But when it came to booking my diary, she was nowhere to be seen.

She'd bettered off from my mind and, oh, many times I overbooked myself. I mean, at one point during the business, I had somebody work for me as well. Pam, she was fantastic. She came as work experience and never left.

She was brilliant, but I needed that. We were knocking out seven or eight dogs a day. Wow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I've been to your cabin and, you know, it's not big, is it? No. There was the one in our old house, right. But it wasn't any bigger than this.

It was longer, perhaps, but there was no more equipment in there because you don't need any more equipment, do you? You need your bath, your table and your dryers. That's all you need. But yeah, it wasn't much bigger, but, yeah, that's what we were doing. Knocking. That was at the height. And then. Then things happened and I had to drastically reduce work. Pam stayed, though, because she was. I loved working with her. She was great. And she became a friend and still is. But for me, four dogs a day was perfect.

Yeah. So you had a. Was that when you. You had some health complications and then I did, yeah. Yeah, I did. I had a brain tumor. So things took a very strange turn. I can't remember the name for your brain tumor. What do we call it? An epidermide. Or. To people who know me, it's a Squatter. The squatter, yeah. And I know you'll know. I know that you're very well now from the squatter. I am, yes. The squatter has been evicted. What did that feel like? You know, you're running your own business and then you're, you're reliant on your income coming in and then all of a sudden you get the sort of devastating news that, you know, the health is declining or is there's something wrong that you need to.

Well, it was a shock that any insurances are ridiculous. You know, they very, they don't cover self employed people very well and you need savings behind you. Regardless of your situation. You have to try and get a buffer behind you. I was very lucky because Mike works and so I didn't have to worry too much about the everyday running costs of the house. You know, I was very lucky in that respect. But the things I did pay for, well, there was no money to do that. And so we did have to draw our belts in like everybody else and then deal with the complications of and the upset and worry about not being well as well.

So did it stop you from working or did you just have to reduce down the amount of work whilst dealing with the appointments and the. Initially I had to stop, I just paused it, literally.

But because we didn't know what it was, how it was gonna be dealt with, I had to get in touch. Well, I had to go and see Walton and see the specialists and all that sort of thing. So that was a very worrying time. And to be perfectly honest, the business just was irrelevant, really. Clients were fantastic. They were absolutely brilliant. Well, we'll wait until we know what you're dealing with and we'll take it from there, or don't worry, we'll go somewhere else and we'll be back when you're back.

And I think, well, I was watching weight for 18 months. So the first two months, once we got a clear diagnosis and a clear path, a plan in place, I then started back to work. I was very cathartic going back to work. It felt normal, it was routine and that was what I was needing. And I would say 95% of my clients came back, which is brilliant. I was really chuffed with that. And then about 18, about 16 months after that, I then had surgery. I had declined that two months before that, then I had surgery and I was off work and we moved here.

I literally closed the business because I had. Didn't know. Well, we didn't know, just didn't know. So much uncertainty isn't there so much uncertainty to deal with? And closing the business is kind of the certainty that you need in a way. Rather than keeping everyone guessing and you thinking about your diary, you had to just focus on getting well in your treatment, didn't you? Absolutely, yeah. And it is difficult in one way, but in other ways, no, it wasn't. It became like, okay, this is what I have to do and if I'm going to get well, I just need to put everything in storage, not think about it.

We moved house during that time. We downsized and it was my sort of about 12, 13 months after having surgery and I was doing really well. I mean, I was thinking about getting a job or going, getting work or. My friend Jane came. Will you please get that stuff out of the, out of the bloody storage and get it in the garage? I mean, the garage was a rickety old garage door on it. It blew a hoolie through it. And I did. Mike put the water in and the electric in and people started coming back and we were like, oh, well, I can't keep doing it in here.

It's going to cost us a fortune to renovate this. Yeah. So we were sort of scouting for shops or something and I had a phone call off on the state agent saying, look, Julie, there's some units going. They're pretty basic but they're clean, they're brand new, there's water, electric, and they don't want a lot of money for it. Are you interested? Yeah. It's not a lot of money for it.

And there's free parking and all those sorts of important things. And I went, okay, let's go and have a look. So we went up and the deposit wasn't. I think the deposit you wanted was like 250 quid or something. Mike said, well, it's worth the risk. It is worth the risk to get you back to work. Let's see what happens. Well, it just took off again. Again, I would say about 80% of my clients came back. And then because of the positioning of where it was, it was quite a, a residential area.

So lots of local people came to because they could walk there. And it started grooming Tales was back up and thriving again. It was, it was magical, to be honest. It really was. Did you, did you make a conscious decision to listen to Debbie at time around your diary or did you just go for it again? Well, I went for it but then arranged it in a little bit, I think, you know, it was almost like starting from scratch with a lot more knowledge if that makes sense.

Yeah. So, yeah, I went for it and then started fitting it in around what I needed to fit it in around because Beth was still at home and stuff like that as well. So she still still needed some support.

But, yeah, it wasn't as much as when I was at home. And then Covid came. So I was there 12 months and Covid came.

Can you remember during that 12 months what your prices were or what you were sort of charging for the dogs at the time?

How did you. How did you feel about it, pricing wise? Yeah, like, everybody, I can't roll my prices up while you're paying rent, so you're gonna have to. Okay, reality of it. And I did put my prices up from when I was at home, well before I was poorly. And I did put them up, probably sort of.

Sorry, Bill, sorry for me. Something from like, 25 quid to 35 quid.

£25. I know. Don't. I know. I don't. That was my first dogs for 25 quid. Wow. That's what people were paying. Then we found a price list from when Emma finished doing her training and I think it was around, like, 30 pounds and. And stuff like that. Yeah. 2005.

I can remember our very first conversation. We'll probably come to that in a bit, won't we? But I can remember that clear as day.

So how did you. What. So you were obviously in the unit when Covid hit. What was the. What were your thoughts and feelings around, like, what we're going to do now? Well, like everybody, it was. We listened to Boris, didn't we? And we were shook. But I had had a bit of a feeling, the way the press was and stuff like that, like a lot of people, that there's something more to this. We need to be ready.

And I said to Mike a couple of days before, if we get shut down, if everything stops, I need to get to the unit and I need to get my small equipment. It doesn't matter about the big stuff. If they want to nick it, then good luck to them. But if anybody go, you know, you hear all this scary stuff. I said, I want my scissors. I want. There was books I wanted. I. We need to get boxes and just go and clear that out. So we listened to him.

We whizzed up the road, cleared out what I needed and came back and hunkered down like everybody else, but was very lucky with the Welsh government. They really did look after us. Because we were paying business rates, we got a grant.

And because my previous.

That Year's earnings. Yeah, because it was March, wasn't it? So the previous year my earnings were really good. So they were basing that on payouts, if you like. I think had three, three payouts and 10,000 pound grants as well, which was massive. Now that 10,000 pound grant converted here.

And that just helped you make the decision to bring your business home. Yeah, because we'd had planning permission passed, but I was really comfortable in the unit. It was great. But the thought of, right, okay, you speculate to accumulate, don't you? So we were thinking, right, we don't pay the rent, we've got this grant, let's do the unit, let's convert. So we had some friends in the building trade who weren't working. They did struggle to get.

Materials. Materials, that's the word. Thank you. And we just went for it. It was more expensive, obviously, because of the time we were all in, but it was a case of get it done and then when we're ready, we could open up and that's what we did. It was really good that you reinvested that money into yourself because you could see the potential of it sort of going forwards and helping you out.

I know, like our experience through Covid and your experience through Covid could be completely different to some others because we were, we were working within Ashford Borough Council and from what I believe, like Ashford Bar Council is very much like your. Your experience where they're very proactive with their grants. You know, we've. We completed one application form and then they use that every, Every time a new. Yeah. Came out, they just pushed it out. Whereas if you went 10 miles south into the next council area, I was getting messages from people saying we're not getting anything, you know, And I've found it a very.

It was very sort of. I suppose the words would be postcode lottery in a way. Well, it's very much that because I mean, we're Wrexham and Welsh council government. I mean, Chester's 20 minutes from here, as you know, and they didn't get anything as far as I'm aware. They didn't get much help at all. Yeah, the money was there, so. But it doesn't seem like they were distributing the money out for some reason. Not fairly anyway. Yeah, not to the people who needed it. I mean, self employed business, if there's no money coming in, you've got no food on your table and no roof over your head, have you?

Yeah, so there'll definitely be people listening to this going well. I think they really struggle some People really struggle to get, to get money. Oh, absolutely, I do and I do appreciate how lucky we were and are to have that for us really to use. We were very, very lucky. So you brought your business back home and I suppose Covid, like 2020, the end of COVID kind of reinvigorated, invigorated. Just saw the, another boom within the, within the pet grooming industry. A lot of people went out and purchased dogs during the lockdown period and then for some, a lot of people.

Thought they could dog groom too. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of should have gone to spec savers kind of home grooms coming out. Yeah. So there was quite a boom after Covid, wasn't there, with the dog grooming industry. Did you see that when you were with your appointments and diet? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think we've all got the term, haven't we? A lockdown dog. We all know them. They're so obviously different to pets who are, you know, normal situations. Yeah, lots and people get. Lots of people getting second dogs or lots of people getting dogs for the first time not knowing what to do with them, not knowing how to brush them, not knowing how to they should behave.

I'd actually saying that though I do have two customers who both got their family and they both got cockapoos during lockdown and they are the most beautiful dogs but they are the exception to the rule for all the other lockdown dogs. But to be fair, they've all come on beautifully and they're all lovely dogs in their own way, you know, like, like they all are. But yeah, there was, there was an influx of, of hairy poo dogs. Yeah, well, definitely you brought your business home and then obviously I launched my, my business, my coaching business around the end of 2020.

How did you discover myself and what, what I offered, can you remember? I'm not actually sure how we, I came across you, but it was probably some of the, the Facebook groups we were on and you probably popped up in a couple of those or people that were talking about you and I thought like I do, I'm a nosing bear, aren't I? So, you know, have to sort of get curious about this. So yeah, I think I just followed you for a while and then you were doing the one to one coaching.

I thought let's have a chat, let's have a chat and see if he can help me.

I think I was looking to bring the business into another level.

Yeah, I think that's what it was. Instead of it being, you know, A home dog groomer. I wanted it, and I think it was always a bit more elevated than that. But I did want to bring the processes in and to be a bit more streamlined. I think I know what my numbers were. And now. Well, I was going to say, can you think of, like, any specific goals that you thought, actually, I really need help around this or I need some support with that? Obviously it sounds like knowing your numbers was 1.

Knowing my numbers was creepy because I didn't. I did when I was doing my tax return and stuff like that, and I knew every month what the number was, but I wasn't actually.

I just. I just kept working and working and working. That was secondary. I just kept working and working, and as long as it pay for this and it pay for that and I pay for the overheads, I was fine. But there was something in the back of my mind saying I needed to know more and I needed to do things either better or easier.

When I meet groomers like yourself. You know, I think you must have heard about 8 years grooming experience by the time when we met. You can groom dogs with your eyes closed, standing on your head back to front, upside down, can't you? You know, you're. You're very established, you're very. You know your art, you know your trade, and you know how to do groom dogs. But then it's like, okay, we can groom dogs from morning till night, but actually, what. How do we make a good income?

Or how do we slow things down? How do we put our prices up? How do we market better? I suppose that's all the things that. That we're lacking. Yes. Yeah. And, you know, even if I were doing some things, there are easier ways of doing things.

And that was a relief in some ways. Just thinking, oh, my God, I never thought of that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I never thought of that. Oh, my gosh, I'm going to try it and it might not work for you. Everybody's different and we all work differently. But when you're offered a different way of seeing things, a different viewpoint, I think it's always good to have a go and challenge yourself at that as well. And you did challenge me at times.

They were. I remember sitting on Zoom and being interrogated by you and Mike whilst you're sitting in your caravan. We were.

We were on holiday and I said, oh, we've got a call this afternoon. He goes, oh, have we? Who we? Because it's normally Mike saying that. I went, this chap called Bill, and he's a business Dog grooming business mentor. His wife's been a dog grooming for years. He knows all about it. He goes, oh, he's one of my maids then, is he? I said, yeah, he feels for you probably. I said, but we're gonna have a chat and let's just see. But yeah, he did interrogate you a bit, didn't he?

Yeah, that's all right. But that's all right. Yeah, exactly. And the fact that you were like, no, it's cool, whatever. You sort of. Yeah, he thinks you're right. No, it's a, it's a big decision and there's, there's clients out there that have signed up to my services and they've gone and told their friends and family and they're like, oh, he's just a scam. He's going to take all your, he's not going to do anything for you. Why have you signed up with him? Well, he's going to break your business.

He's going to, you know, and it's always really interesting hearing the feedback coming in from friends and family. I'm like, it makes me dig in a little bit and make sure that, you know, everything does work out. But. Yeah, exactly, yeah. You know, you've got to do your due diligence, haven't you? You've got to, you've got to. It's a bit like what I say when you, when you're finding an accountant or web designer, you've got to be someone that you get on with, someone that you know you trust and you understand and so on.

You're happy to approach and ask questions. Yeah, because you know, you're sharing a big chunk of your income with somebody and you need to know that there's going to be results. But you also have to be prepared to put the work in yourself. It's not a one way street, it's got to be two way and you've got to be prepared to hear some things that are a bit uncomfortable and think, yeah, okay, move on, line in the sand and try something different. And it was very much that.

Very challenging at times. Yes, yeah, yeah, it was. No, and I don't mean that in an awful way, but it was, but I needed that at the time.

Can you remember anything specific or anything that you thought, oh, that's a bit like, that's quite a challenge or you know, ouch, that, that hurt a little bit. So like when he asked me that question. Yeah, I do. Pill.

It was our very first call before I bloody signed up to you.

I Still went ahead and did it. Yeah, we were talking and. Oh, just all sorts. Can't remember. We talked for a long time and Puppy Sessions was brought up by you? Me, I don't know. Or might have been Mike, actually, I can't remember.

I think he said, how much did you charge for Puppy Sessions? And I went very quiet.

What do you mean, what do I charge for Puppy Sessions? Well, tell me what. So I explained what I do and I didn't pay charge anything for Puppy Sessions. Nothing. Not a penny. And dogs were coming twice a week for six weeks and I wasn't charging people for my time. Is Utah net love.

Stupidity, I guess. I don't know. Probably a mixture of both.

I came off that call and I went, oh, God, Mike says you have a program for puppies. You just need to put a price on it.

So I did.

And within. How long did we work together? Sort of within the.

The program that, you know, it's six. The one to ones was. Yeah. The one to one was six months. Yeah. So from six months, I think I started at. Well, I started at zero and by the time we finished, I was charging £145 for puppy sessions. Incredible. Yeah.

You were selling them as well at that. It was not like you were charging 145 and no one bought them, but you're actually charging 145 and you're. You were selling them as well. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. And it was. Yeah. When I. That, that, that was the. That's just one of the things that you helped me see the light.

And knowing your numbers, you got a real clarity around that blooming spreadsheet. Oh, God, the bane of my life. Always has been. I hate spreadsheets, but, yeah, you made me do them every month.

Yeah. Now there's things on there I never even thought of. Never even thought of. I went, oh, God, yeah, that's a point. You know, you put your stuff in the washing machine, you don't think that there's a cost behind it because it's just there on the shelf, isn't it, at home? Yeah. Cost to do your towels and it costs to buy your mop and you dust pan and brush if it breaks. And. Yeah, all those sorts of things I. Always say to clients and people that I'm sort of working with is that we're not like, we're running a business, but we're not like the big businesses like Tesco's, McDonald's, you know, anything like that.

They can afford to have a bad day, they can afford to have A bad week, they can afford to have a potentially a bad month or maybe a bad quarter because they got, you know, they got investors, they've got money in the bank. They. They understand what they need to do to make their performance better. But as dog groomers and the small business owners, you can't afford to have that, like, run of bad days. You need to. You need to be all over that and understand what a bad day looks like.

Understand what a good day looks like. Yeah, I completely agree. And you know, your bad day might not actually be in your face. Bad day. But you look at the numbers, you think, oh, my goodness, what was I thinking? You know, why did I buy that when I could have had that instead of. And it's being smart when you buy things rather than.

It's shiny and bright. And I want it, you know, and I'm very guilty of that, as Mike will tell you. And you know that. Anyway. Oh, no, Raina in. She's off again.

Or, you know, sit on it. Do you need it or do you want it? And can you wait till they put a red, you know, some special offer on? Cause they will. Cause Christmas is coming up and they want everybody to buy that, for instance. Yeah, yeah. It's being smart with your money. Yeah. And then we looked at your branding, didn't we? We looked at your website and how you were putting your message out there. Some people might say, well, why'd you do all that if you're busy anyway?

But it was there to sort of pick up your. Your customers, wasn't it? To pick up your. Your confidence and your. Who you talking to. Absolutely. And it was also a sort of insecudos behind it as well. Isn't makes you. You're a businesswoman, man. You're a business person. You are an entrepreneur, if you want to call it that, because you're running a business. Of course you are. We sort of. That word was very 80s, but it's very true. We are entrepreneurs and we should be very proud of that fact and we should be able to do whatever we can to promote our businesses in a positive way.

And I think a website for whatever business you've got is crucial because everybody, they might stalk you on Facebook or Instagram as there is now, and TikTok perhaps. But people always, always go back to your website. It's almost that that's proof of your credentials, that's proof of who you say you are. Do you look like yourself on your website? Do you look like, you know, on your Facebook or your instagram the Persona you're putting over, is it the same on your website? They have to marry. You've gotta be really careful to juggle that properly because they're all marketing tools.

That's it. And if that silly old man in America decides to have a bad day and pull the plug on all the social medias, you still got your website because that's yours. Oh, yeah, nobody can touch that. It did happen, didn't it? A few.

Maybe last year or beginning of this year when Facebook went down, I suddenly thought, I bet there's a lot of people out there wishing they had a website and Google and email addresses and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, they can't touch that. That is yours. That's your domain. You pay for it. They have no say over it. But yet these silly people who, you know, might have a bad day and that power. Yeah. Can you remember or is there anything like coming out of the mentorship and then you came on and joined the program and carried on getting some support, but did you recognize your business after, like the year?

Had there been some rule? Had things changed loads for you?

I was making more money and working less. Working smarter, not harder. Yeah, I was. Put my prices up. I wasn't afraid to put my prices up. I was prepared to challenge people if they question me. And you know what? Nobody ever did not want. Oh, I tell a lie. There was one lady who did, and I turned around and said, well, I'm going to quote my husband then. And she said, what's that? Then I said, well, yes, I will continue to do it for the price. I'm doing it now, but he'll only have three legs groomed.

So up to you, really.

Anyway, she went somewhere else and she came back a couple of months later. Yeah.

And do not be afraid to put your prices up. What was the. Can you remember any sort of major factors that stopped you from putting your prices up? Was it fear or lacking confidence in your work, anything like that? Probably all of the above, Bill, to be fair, because we all have sort of imposter syndrome, don't we?

Who do I think I am charging more than £50 for a dog? What am I thinking? Oh, my God, get the prices up. Just do it. Honestly, you're worth every single penny. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. He's a dog groomer and she's putting her prices up in January and good for her. Good for her. You know, we don't know what's in people's purses. So who are we to assume if they don't have enough. I think that came from you, actually. We don't know what's in people's purses, but we don't know.

That's probably Robin. It's probably one of Robin's on somebody, isn't it? He got quite animated and it's like, well, who are you to assume what people can and can't afford? How dare you assume what people can and can't afford. Yeah, you know, that's not our right to assume what people want or don't want. And actually I was talking about this yesterday with someone who was arming and arming about doing spa treatments. And I remember a program member actually had a customer in front of them and they were like, oh, they will never sign up to a spa treatment.

They don't look like the kind of person that wants a spa treatment for their dog. So they, they offered it to the previous customer, but they didn't offer it to this customer. Turns out that they got a complaint or moan like a few days later saying, I don't know why you offered my friend a spa treatment when she, when her dog came in, but you didn't offer me a spa treatment when my dog came in. I just wanted to know why sort of thing. And that it just goes to show, isn't it?

We can't assume what people. People walk into the door. It's. It's our job to offer and it's their, their privilege. Is he decline or accept. Yeah. To decide what they want. Not. Yeah, we can't assume what, what they want or how much they. It's very true. Yeah, it is. But we do. Yeah, we do. And I think some of that is fear, lack of confidence. All of the above. But ultimately it's. We've just. It's our business, it's money in our pocket and that's what we got to think of.

So the next sort of. And part of your life and part of this podcast really is now sort of focusing on, you know, we, we worked together throughout, since 2021. You've been part of one to one coaching, you've been part of the program and then kind of in the background as well, sort of watching and listening, I'm sure. But the next sort of part of your life is now starting to open up and I wanted to sort of examine what made you decide to start to leave your business and how have we helped you to do that?

I suppose. Okay. The real reason why I decided to put my, I don't know, my Energies. And my thought process other places is because I hurt my back. I properly hurt my back. I was out of action for nearly four weeks. And during that period, I felt very sorry for myself, as you do.

And then once I started to get better, the realization was, Julie, you're in your mid-50s. You're not going to be able to keep doing this.

So then it's a whole of, okay, what am I going to do? So I looked at the avenue of training and it's really not for me. Really? Yeah. In dog groomers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I looked at that. I have some very good friends who do that. So I talked to them and I thought, it's really not for me. No, it's not for me at all. So that was ruled out. Then again, it was like, what the hell am I gonna do? And I'm a bit of a universe girl and the moons and things, as you know, and the universe started putting things in front of me that I had to investigate.

And I'm like, okay. And it just got brighter and brighter. This shiny pretty thing over here, Al I just started investigating it. And you know, I like to research things properly, which I did, and got in touch with some training schools, found one that suited my way of learning because it's completely different now to post surgery, pre surgery. And I thought, I'm going to give it a go, but what's the worst can happen? And I put it to Mike and he again, he said, well, you know what if it doesn't pan out, it doesn't pan out, but what's it cost us?

You know, it's not a lot. It's fine. Just go for it. So I can remember messaging you, by the way, Bill, I've got some new custom news.

I don't know how where this is going to take me, but this is what I'm going to try. But I was going to become a celebrant. So I just started the training. I was still working, grooming, still the same, still four dogs a day. So nothing had changed. Except in the evenings I was doing some coursework or weekends I was doing some coursework and I qualify for that. Like, oh, crikey. Then I got a website. So I knew how to set up that business and I knew how to set up that business so that I wouldn't struggle like I did with the grooming, which, thank you very much, Bill, your program was so invaluable for that as well.

And I did actually use trello and spreadsheets.

And yeah, it's made A massive difference to how I was able to build that business really quickly. Yeah, I've been watching it and perhaps we can just rewind a little bit. Yeah, sure. Where did you find out or you said like things started to appear in your universe. Had you googled celebrant and that's why Facebook stuff started coming up or had you gone to a wedding and spoken to a celebrant or. Yeah, it is quite out there. It is quite out though. I mean it's so far removed.

We did have a celebrate our wedding. My brother in law acted as a celebrant for us at our wedding. So I'm sort of aware of it in my sort of, you know. Yeah, there so sort of in my vision. But it was never, I never thought, oh my God, I could do that. You know, never in a million years thought that. And I've always been a reader and a bit of a pottery with writing and stuff like that. Nothing major but you know, bits and bobs and it just kept popping up on socials.

I'm getting emails and I must have somewhere clicked a button. I know I must have because the reality of it, I must have done something somewhere. But now I'm very keen to think that the universe sent it to me.

And Google, universal Google. Yeah, Google helps. Yeah. Or Alexa was listening to my thoughts. Yeah, maybe. So what does a celebrant do and how do you actually make an income from being a celebrant? So a celebrant has many different hats and for myself I have the immense pleasure and honor of holding a wedding ceremony for couples and I also have the honor of holding funerals for people. You can also do namings, which doesn't have to be just babies. There's all sorts of different variants of that and yeah, that's what I do.

Excellent. What sort of training was was that like? The training I did, it was online and then you, after so many modules, you were then given a mentor and you had to do ceremonies. So whichever, say the wedding one, we'll go with the wedding one for instance. So I had a mentor for eight weeks and during that eight weeks I had to write wedding ceremonies, three wedding ceremonies, perform two with an audience and a live stream. Oh God. What was that like? It was horrible. Oh God.

And you know what? It's worse when it's people, you know, it's all right when you've got a room full of strangers. They don't judge you, they just think you're amazing. They don't think what the Hell, the first wedding I did, we had a houseful. So we had. The kids were there, so Meg was in charge of the music. Little James pretended to be a dog.

Was he a walking the dog? I can't remember. Jess was a musician. This is the grandkids. So everybody was involved and it was great fun. I don't think I was very.

But everybody laughed and they were supposed to laugh. That was the main thing. And I got good marks. I passed and I got really good marks for that one. The second one, again the same. It was a little bit more low key because of the way the script was and everything else.

But yeah, that was lovely. We did that in the garden. And then the funeral one was, as you would expect, a bit dour. In the summer room, we had to have a pretend coffee. Oh, God, the things we had to do. But we had to write it from start to finish. I think there was. Was there two or three funerals? I can't remember. The funeral course was a lot longer than the wedding course, which was a little surprising. But, yeah, it makes absolute sense. And they were thorough and the mentors were.

They were lovely, but they weren't fluffy. They didn't. If you thought. They thought you'd done not very well, they would tell you. But they would also guide you into. Right, okay, so you haven't quite understood that. So maybe do this and that, go over that again, come back and we'll talk. So, yeah, it was really good. I found it really good. Doesn't suit everybody, but it suited me. I find. I think the wedding and funeral industry is very high pressured, isn't it? You know, you've got one opportunity.

I think this for all the people that work in that industry, the photographers, the catering, the chauffeurs, everyone that works. You've literally got one day. Not to put pressure on you, but you got one day to get it right. All right. Feels like no pressure to say. No pressure. Yeah, absolutely. I have my little routine before I go out there and perform. I am very much an introverted extrovert. I've discovered. I love my 35 minutes standing there performing because I'm performing in front of these people for these people.

It's wonderful. And then I go home and shrink into my cravings and don't speak to me for an hour. I just need to decompress. It takes a lot of energy, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah. Far more than I anticipated. To be perfectly honest, I was quite surprised with the. Yeah.

What's the. Just for my curiosity, really. What's the difference between a registrar and a celebrant. And do you have both? How long have you got? You have to have both at the weddings, I suppose. No. Okay, so your registrar does the legalities.

They are governed by, obviously the governed, the government. And there's certain things has to be said because it's a contract between the two. So it's signatory. And there's a few sentences you do have to say, however, saying that you don't have to have them there on the day. Most of my couples go, a couple of days before go and do that. Almost like when you register a child's birth, you don't celebrate their birthday that day. I'm on my spiel. No, Bill, I'm trying to sell it to you now.

I don't want to renew your vows. You go to some grotty offices to register your child's birth, don't you? Yeah, pretty much the same for a wedding, to be fair.

So then on the wedding day you have this wonderful celebration. So I still. My couples still do their. I do. They write their vows, they exchange their rings. So all the traditional things you would imagine that would be in a wedding ceremony that is all included within what we do. Yeah, I see, I see. And what trend, what would you say? Obviously, you've gone from pet grooming to being a celebrant, working with dogs to working with people. What would you say were your sort of transitional skills?

What skills have you bought from your dog grooming world to your celebrant world? Well, my salon has been more like a therapy room sometimes. Yeah. So people skills, whether you like people or not, you still have to have them. So that has been immense. But yeah, I'm very much a people person and I think if you can deal with a snappy dog, you can deal with any. Anything, really. To be fair, running my own business within here, again, I'm not too concerned about pricing. I feel quite confident in my skill set and what I can do.

Bit more now I'm more established because you've got that recognition behind you and stuff like that. I suppose it's like being in the dog grooming salon. Your first year, you're always a bit tentative and how am I going. And then second and third years, you're growing in confidence and you know you're good and you know people like what you do. And it's the same with any business, I guess. I really like. I really like that, that you sort of just gone out there and said that. I know I'm Good.

You know, I know that people like what I do and so many pet groomers are out there. They are good, but they doubt themselves. But as a. As a business owner, I always say you've got to be your biggest fan. You'Ve got to be your first and last cheerleader, because the bits in the middle might just go. But as long as you believe in yourself and you're doing the best you can, then nobody can call you out, nobody can criticize you. And, you know, using the dogs, as long as those dogs go out, they smell nice, they look nice and they're happy.

You've done a great job. Yeah, that's it. That's it. What is it? Colin Taylor always used to say.

Good is good enough, I think. Yeah, is the saying. And that's something that my wife Emma's sort of always taken on. On board as well. I think it's also having that knowledge that, you know, you can't please everyone and you can't work with everyone and you don't want to work with everyone. No. And I think the beauty of having your own business is you can suck those people off if you want to. And I've done that over the years. There's not a lot, not a lot. I've been very patient with most, but there have been probably a handful of people who I've said, I'm sorry, I can't.

No. For whatever reason, you know, dog's naughty or they're naughty and, you know, the dog might be an angel, but if they're an absolute pain in the backside to work with, who wants to do that? Yeah, that's it. Now, I can see like you've, obviously, we've discussed, like, your transferable skills, your communication skills, people skills that you can bring across, your business skills just stand out, like straight away. And as I've been watching you sort of build your celebrant business, you can see all the. All the skills that you've done, you know, that you brought over in your branding, you know, how you've set yourself up on social media, how you get yourself out there, website, straight away, well, branded, you know, really nice looking, really good flow.

You're just taking all these business skills across and hopefully I will ask you in a minute about your pricing and how you decided to do your pricing. But the next level up for this, and I've noticed with your socials, is you're getting out there and you're networking. You're part of that get shit done club. Yeah. I host one of those Now. Yeah, that's it. I was like, this is amazing. Yeah, it's great. I love it. Yeah, it's absolutely brilliant. I love networking. I've met so many amazing people that.

God, yeah, it's insane what people do for jobs. And what you've kind of embraced there is that you've. You've understood that business is a. Is a solo game. You know, business is a team effort. And obviously you've invested in mentors throughout your. Your business life with the Welsh mentors, myself. And I think you've. You've reached out and listened to mentors within the celebrant, you know, trained as well. And it just shows you, doesn't it, how you can accelerate your journey by. By getting in touch with these people and networking and listening and helping them out as well.

Probably, yeah. I mean, the. The worst thing people can say is no. That's the worst they can say. And if they say no, that's fine. They have their reasons for saying no.

I helped out a fellow celebrant a couple of weeks ago. She was poorly. She was rushed to ae. She was really poorly, bless her. But she had a funeral to do that afternoon. So we've got this little WhatsApp group network of celebrants, and she put an SOS out. And I said, yeah, I'm free this afternoon. I was grooming dogs when I said, yeah, I can do it. I can be there for that time, no problem. I'm thinking in my head, right, get this one done. Mike Bass, that one.

Yeah, we're fine. Luckily, Mike was on board. He was in here anyway.

And off I went. And I have had the most amazing testimonial from the funeral director of the day. Said she just waltzed in, calm as a cucumber, so graceful. Got it done. And nobody would have known that she wasn't the celebrant that was booked. I had read that script once before. I don't know how I did it, to be perfectly honest, but I did. And I did it to help somebody out. And it's amazing what you'll do to that. But what I mean, trying to get at here is networking and having that network of people.

I've had it in the dog grooming where Blaster's gone and I've got a spare one being able to help somebody out. Clippers as well. And it's happened to me when the Blaster's blown up. Oh, my God. I've got two dogs in this afternoon and a week booked up. Somebody's lent Me one might not be as good as the one that's broken, but while that one's being repaired or I get a new one, it's perfectly adequate, you know, and you need that, you need that backup and it's so important.

As a solo business owner, the only people we talk to are the dogs, the owners, our partners, if they're nice, and our kids. And it's not the same as working out there in the big wide world.

We need that support and having other. People'S opinions and feedback and suggestions and ideas and inspiration is, is so brainstorming is amazing. Over a cup of tea. Yeah, I would, I will, I will say, hand on heart, if I hadn't found my mentors, I, I really genuinely don't think I would have been, be here and have the one, the confidence to give up a full time salary job, you know, and move and move forward and have the knowledge to do things like podcasting, to set up Facebook groups that, you know, is really accelerate your journey.

Tell us about your the Get Shit Done or it's Get Get It Done club. I've put in words. Oh, no, no, it's just Get Shit Done club. She has to do the it because of social media. Yeah, yeah. I met Laura many years ago and we've been friends on and off for probably about 20 years, on and off. And she became made. She was made redundant and started becoming a business coach and a whole marital mindset coach, which is where she started. Then she started bringing in business coaching and stuff.

And we've always sort of been in each other's worlds sort of a little bit. And I think we were, I don't know what we were doing. And she said, I've got an idea. And she came up with this idea. That's brilliant. You've got to try it. So she did in Chester and that took off.

And such a vibrant room full of mainly women. It isn't just for women, but predominantly women business owners. And then she opened another one in Nantwich and then said to me, would you host one in Wrexham? And I'm like, well, yeah, of course I will. Let's have a go. And Bloominette is brilliant. It's really, really good. I mean, financially, I don't get a great deal from it. I do get enough to buy my lunch if you like and cover my time. But it's more than that. It's just, it's really nice.

I get to showcase what I do because obviously I welcome everybody and they explain who I am and I always Try and do something creative within that little bit or informative. And then we have guest speakers and we have sponsors and. Yeah, it's really interesting. You've actually become like a mini business coach as well.

Oh, yeah, I guess so. Oh, oh. Do you find yourself regurgitating and saying, no, you need to look at your branding and you need to look at your marketing and have you got a website and. Oh, yeah. Do you know numbers?

And how do you do this? Oh, have you thought about that? Yeah, very much so. Hadn't even thought of that, Bill. Yeah. And here's a spreadsheet just to really destroy your world. Yes. Branding Queen. Yeah, I know loads of graphic designers, I know loads of copywriters, know loads of. Yeah, I know lots of people I would never have thought of meeting. But it really accelerates your business and, you know, how long have you been doing the. The celebrant work for? It'll be four years in January. Wow.

And it's really sort of taken off. Yeah. And tell us about your pricing with that. Did you go. Did you fall into that trap of looking at everyone else and charging what they. Well, I did, yeah. I did look at everybody else, I'll be perfectly honest. But I also looked at people further afield as well. So down your area, because of course Meg's down there and then Manchester, because that's where Beth is. So I thought, you know, let's just have a good range. And then North Wales and I got an average.

I put them together and I averaged and I thought, right, how much do I need? For me, it might be okay, what they're charging. That might be okay as well. But no, that's undervaluing my. That's. No, that's wrong on so many levels. I don't feel comfortable charging that. So let's have a. And you have to feel comfortable with what you're charging either too. You know, if it's too low or too high, you've got to find what suits you and again, what you need as well, primarily.

So I am one of the most expensive in North Wales. Awesome. I am, I am. And I not. I'm not shy to say it either. Was it always your intention to replace your dog grooming income or was it always looking to run alongside and then it's kind of like, oh, actually, I can now step up. It was the intention to replace the dog grooming?

Not initially, because obviously it's the unknown, isn't it? I've known celibants who trained like I did. In fact, there was One lady who trained alongside me, she only lives a couple of miles away and she had two weddings booked and did them and hated them. Hated it. And she passed her work my way. And yeah, she just. I can't do it. I don't want to. Okay, yeah, that's fine. And bravo to her. Recognizing that, you know, and myself and a few others said that to her. Don't think you failed.

Don't think of it like that. Just didn't work out how you planned it. That's fine.

But yeah, it was always the intention, I think, subconsciously to replace it. And how big has that decision been? I know we had a catch up a few months ago about closing the salon. How. How hard has it been or how easy has it been? It's been 18 months in the doing. So that in itself will tell you how difficult it's been.

Initially it was a case of going through my, my, my file and, and let me show you very much.

Your card system. My card system? Yeah. Do they stay or do they go? And that was pretty much how it was. How difficult are they? Not just the dog, but the owner as well. Like I said before, they might be a lovely dog, but they can be hard work, as in that they don't cooperate standing all the time and they're wiggly and, you know, all the things that we have to put up with.

It was a really, really hard decision to close.

Really hard. And I've really struggled with it because I have this bond with the dogs. A lot of the dogs that I've groomed In the last 10 years particularly, I've known them since they were puppies and they haven't been anywhere else unless when I was poorly.

And then they came back, but they haven't been anywhere else.

So how did you actually come to the point, come to the decision that it's time, it's time to transition across full time into being a celebrant? Well, it was down to my back again, to be perfectly honest.

Last week. It was last week, Wednesday week, yesterday. I was on a call to Laura and we were chatting and I got very upset. I'd had to cancel Dogs that day cause my back was so bad. And the owner was lovely, absolutely lovely. And she just said, oh, Julie, I'm so sorry to hear your back's bad again. And it was the word again that got me. She was lovely and, you know, and she was absolutely fine about rearranging, but it was the again. And I'm like, this isn't gonna get any better.

Bit of a reality check kind of. Yeah, yeah. It was almost. And it was like, oh, oh, God. And I'd had a conversation with another friend. She's hurt her back with work. Completely different. She's a harpist, which. Yeah. So she's hurt her back very similar to mine. And she said she's going through the same trials and tribulations with the thought process as well. And she said, what I don't want to do is have no business because I've had to cancel everybody and they've gone elsewhere. I want to go out on high.

And I'm like, yeah, me too. And I was talking to Laura last week and I was looking at the box with cards in. I went, I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I'm absolutely done. And decision made. Came down, told Mike and said, well, I've been waiting for this conversation.

And I told everybody that afternoon. I cried a lot that day. I'll be honest. I broke my heart. Broke up Thursday. I was fine.

Moving on to your new chapter. Yeah. Decision made. And it's much easier once you've actually done that. Line in the sand, isn't it? Line in the sand. It's done. It was a fantastic time of my life and I don't regret any of it. Even when you're on your knees with exhaustion, I don't regret any of it because I loved it up and I still love it when the dogs are on the table. I love dog grooming. I always will love dog grooming. The dog grooming doesn't love me anymore.

It's given you the skills, it's given you the time, it's made you the person that you are now to be able to move on as well, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. I've so much to be grateful for. So much. I've met some amazing people. Met this fellow called Bill. He was a bit of a one, but he's all right.

But I've met so many amazing people, you know, been to Crufts lots of times, and going as a pet professional is so different to going as a member of the public. You feel that you got this kudos, don't you? You know, you can hold your head up a little bit and so, you know, well, what do you do? Well, I'm a dog groomer, so I know what I'm talking, but. And I'll still say that when I go. Yeah. Can you see yourself coming back to Crufts, or is it all going to be wedding fairs and.

Oh, no, I love Crufts. I love it. I might not go every year, but I do love it. It's never going to leave me, is it? You know, dog groom is in my blood, but I just can't do that job anymore. You know, you can still love something without actually having to be in it, and I am. I'm not leaving your group. I'm still nosy.

I've got rid of some groups. I really can't be bothered with that. But I'll never get rid of yours. And you'll always have the, the program there to help you with, you know, because the, the, the business advice, you know, it, it. Yes, it's tailored or aimed at dog groomers, but it transitions across all fields. Yeah, it does. As you, as, as we can see with your, with how you've set your business up. You know, you've used some of that advice and experience to, to implement in your new business.

Yeah. And I still some read some of the books, you know, the books you sent initially when they landed on the door, I'm like, what the hell are they? Okay. I still pick them up from time to time. Oh, there's something in here. Let me have a read of it. Yeah. One of my biggest, biggest regrets is stopping reading from like when I was 18. Like, I read or I listen to books mostly now, but they're so they can. Your brain just reconnects stuff, doesn't it, when you're listening or reading these books?

Yeah, yeah. However, I mean, I use the books, use the knowledge that's in them. Might not actually be so apt to what you're doing, but there'll be something that sticks in your mind when you think, oh, I know how to do that. Yeah, I'm going to try that, see if it works. And it might just be something and nothing and it makes all the difference. So what's 2026 looks like then for your. Are your transitions full time into your celibate business? Are you slowing down? Are you, are you, you accelerating?

Oh, I'm ramping it up.

Well, November is, is a.

I've still got five weddings to do in November, so that's, that's really busy. There's also. I've not been nominated for two awards as well. Incredible. So those results are on the 9th and the 11th, so. But I'm a finalist, whatever happens. But God, do I want to win. You need to, you need to get that, Is that out there? You need to get that on your. Yeah. Social medias. Yeah, there is. I mean, the voting's all Been done now anyway, but it's down to the judges and stuff like that.

So fingers crossed. But as I say, I'm a finalist and I'm still a new business, you know, so that is great. And next year, as of Monday, just gone. I've got 16 weddings booked for next year, which is great.

Do you have a target or a goal that you're looking to? Of course I do. My mentor said, yeah, 30 for next year. Oh, wow. So you're almost like pretty much halfway there already. Yeah. Booked in? Yeah, yeah. I mean I'll finish on 26th wedding. So the way it's gone, it went to seven weddings the first year, 14 weddings last year. I'll be finishing on 26 weddings this year and be 30, maybe 35 because you always get last minute ones a couple each year. That. That's how it's been for me anyway, the pattern.

So yeah, it's all very exciting. I won't go into exact figures but you know, if you get 30 weddings next year and I don't know if we should put a target on funerals, I'm not sure if that's very nice but it's a fact of life. It is. But will that like replace your. Your income from dog grooming if you hit those goals? Yeah.

And when it was. When it was at a very good. Good rate. Yeah, yeah, it will. And be easier on the back. That's what I was gonna say. Yeah. And my. This lovely space is going to be boarded and plastered and made into. I've only just come up with the name. With a story Studio. Very nice. So that's what it's going to be. It's not going to be a wasted space. It's not going to become a junkyard or anything like that. It's. And I'm still going to keep me doggy ornaments and stuff like that because, you know, it's part of my life.

One question I have or something for you to be mindful of and look out for is you're going from being a very busy dog groomer working sort of four or five days a week to running a different business which doesn't require as much time but requires more brain power. Be right in your. What are you going to do with the spare time? Are you thinking about hobbies? Are you going to be taking Mike out?

Hobbies, My garden, the allotment. See a bit more of my mum.

I'm still into my cold water dipping and things like that.

So yeah, it's just a little bit more time because I can work from anywhere doing this, absolutely anywhere. And that's the beauty of it. Yeah. Sometimes I find some of my clients come to me and they work six days a week, five days a week, and we manage to accelerate their income and reduce their hours. And then they're like, now what? You know, they don't get. They struggle with the. And most people say, how can you struggle with extra time? But you're so designed to work on you.

So just find something that you or your body or your mind really enjoys, whether that be going to the gym for an hour or going for a walk with the dog for an hour. You know, if you do that every day, it gives you so much peace.

And, you know, you just find something that helps you just unwind a little bit or recharge the batteries, however you want to look at it, really, because the dog grooming is hard. It's hard graft. It's very rewarding, and it's a lovely job if you can get the balance right. But I would say you look after your back. Yeah. Have to look after your back because, you know, without that, you can't do anything. So go for the. Find a masseuse who's really good and who knows what they're talking about.

Not just like, oh, duty salon one. Go find somebody. It's in between a sports massage and a nice massage. You want something in the middle. And not a chiropractor as such, but you need someone to look after you back. And do Pilates. That's amazing as well. Look after yourself. And then obviously, you'll be tucked away in your story studio because Mike's retired, so, you know. Has he got his own hobbies to get on with? Oh, yeah. He's out walking today to do a recce for a trial run.

Is he? Yeah, he's going trial running. Has he finished the Land Rover that was on your driveway? No, not yet, no. That's next year's project, I'm told.

Yeah, we'll see.

I think, you know, you've got incredible knowledge, and it'd be really nice that you. It's nice that you've entered that mentor coach sort of arena, although you. You didn't quite realize you had. But I think that could be something to sort of look at going forwards as well, if you wanted another. Another hobby. Well, yeah, I mean, I can talk to people all day long, as you all know. I can chew anybody's ear off.

It's something to consider, certainly. Yeah. Hadn't even given that a thought, but it's not so much time you spent in a, in sort of an arena of a certain industry. It's the knowledge that you bring with that as well, isn't it? Yeah. And common sense and enthusiasm, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you do have to sometimes ask some, some awkward questions. I know. And you do.

You're very good at that. So if people want to find out a bit more about what you do, what a celebrant does or want to contact you or follow your pages, how can they get hold of you? Oh, I'm on Instagram, Facebook, little tiny bit on TikTok, which I have no clue what I'm doing on there, but there we go. I'm told I should be on there. So my face is on there sometimes. So it's very simple. It's ceremonies by Julie Goodall. It is what it says on the tin.

Really excellent. And you've obviously go and follow you and watch your journey. It's an incredible journey to watch. And if anybody wants to reach out about anything, I'm always happy to chat honestly, you know, because I know how difficult it is transitioning or even realizing the realization was very painful that shine a lot. I can't do this forever, you know, or even if, you know, people have just qualified and they're like, oh my God, I've installed a dock here. I don't like it. But you've got all the equipment, you've got everything.

Oh my God, what am I going to do? You know, that must be a horrible situation to be in as well. So, yeah, if anybody wants to have a chat, I'm always. The door's always open, kettle's always on. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for your time. I really enjoyed your listening to your journey and I'll enjoy watching the. The journey continue as well. Well, you know, you know where I live too, so don't be strange yet. Oh, excellent. Take care of you anything. Take care, Bill.

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