ASHLEY LAWRENCE  OWNER

Growing up I was always surrounded by animals. I remember filling in the ‘my pets’ section on the first day of school with the names of all 5 horses and 7 dogs. My sister and I used to volunteer, ride and compete with 4-H. Though I don’t compete anymore, I still love to trail ride, especially where my pups can come too. In 1997, my mom bought into a grooming salon and it was there that I found my passion for pet styling. My mom’s rule was that I couldn’t start helping with the pups until I could see over the tub; luckily I’m tall! I started helping wash and dry the pups in exchange for soda and candy during the summer and eventually that grew into learning how to groom and working after school and on the weekends. I kept working through college and when I graduated USF in 2012 I told myself I would just work full time grooming to save up a little money before I started working in my field. However, I could never find the right time to leave because I couldn’t imagine finding anything I liked to do more than what I was already doing. In 2018, I opened my very own grooming salon, Ready to Paw-ty Pet Spa. Around the same time one of my dogs, Ellie, started having severe allergy issues. She was always scratching and scabby and uncomfortable. I tried all of the pills and shots the vet had, anything to make her comfortable but all the while concerned about the side effects. I started doing research and looking into holistic alternatives and was astonished at how simply changing her food and giving a few supplements almost completely resolved her skin. From this, the inspiration for our natural pet market was born and as they say, the rest is history!  

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