My name is Anna Stowell, I am a professional dog groomer. I own Zoom Groom in Hopkins MN. I started my company with my mom in 2010. I am a natural born entrepreneur and problem solver. I started several businesses when I was growing up. I had a dog sitting business, a dog walking business, and I did several lemonade stands. I was driven to provide for myself and accomplish my dreams which mostly consisted of horseback riding lessons and pretty much anything to do with horses. My family was working middle class. My dad had a steady, good paying job, and my mom was a stay at home mom. I always got everything I needed, but I didn’t always get everything I wanted. I grew up with 3 siblings and sometimes things were tight financially, so I was quick on my feet when it came to creating income for myself. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in the mid 2000s and the 2008 housing market crash added to my family's hardship. We ended up losing our house and filing for bankruptcy. In a few short years our world had been turned upside down. My mom was going to have to get a full time job, which was a huge change for our family. My siblings and I depended on her. Being the problem solver that I am, I took it on as my mission to figure out a way for my mom to produce income while being at home. I decided we would start grooming dogs. My mom was never formally trained, but she learned the ropes from a friend and groomed our family dogs growing up. I presented the idea to my mom, and I convinced her it would be a good idea. I would handle everything. The thing about dog grooming in Minnesota, and many other states is that it is completely unregulated. Anyone can pick up a scissor and call themselves a dog groomer, which is exactly what we did. I created an ad on craigslist using pictures that were obviously found on google, and I got tools from the local pet store. We began getting calls. This was the beginning of my career as a professional pet groomer. What started out as my mom and I grooming out of the basement of a rental house, is now a successful salon with 9 full time groomers.