Why The Pet Grooming Is 20 Years Behind (in a good way)! 🤔

Happy New Year Daily Groomers!

If you’ve ever driven past a Paul Mitchell School and thought… they’re everywhere, you’ll want to hear this one.

This week on the podcast, we sat down with Winn Claybaugh, the Dean + Co-Founder of Paul Mitchell Schools (the largest school network in the professional beauty industry)… and now a co-founder of a pet grooming venture called Salty Dawg.

I’ll be honest: I went into this episode thinking we’d talk “beauty industry crossover” stuff.

What we got instead was a masterclass in:

• building culture on purpose

• writing systems down before you “need” them

• hiring for attitude (and avoiding the superstar trap)

• and why grooming is sitting on a wide-open opportunity that no one has fully captured yet

Sharing my rough notes below 👇

A Quick Winn Backstory

Winn is one of those people whose resume doesn’t make sense until you hear him talk.

• Opened his first salon ~40 years ago

• Never went to college

• Never became a hairdresser

• Barely graduated high school (“apparently they want you to show up… I was busy”)

And yet…

He built an education empire and has been credited with revolutionizing professional beauty education.

Now he’s looking at pet grooming and seeing what the beauty industry looked like 20 years ago and that’s exactly why he’s excited.

Meet Winn (in his own words)

A few themes that popped early:

Hard work + hustle (and his definition of “hustle” is important)

Surround yourself with better people

That willingness to surround himself with people better than him is a big reason he’s been able to scale.

Culture Isn’t Something You “Add Later”

This was the part that got me.

Winn’s point: you don’t create culture… you already have it.

He gave the perfect example:

You walk into a restaurant and in 30 seconds you can tell if you like it before you’ve seen the menu or talked to anyone.

That feeling? That’s culture.

A few culture truth bombs:

• You can have the best strategy and systems in the world -> culture decides whether they work.

• Your values aren’t what you say…. they’re what your behavior proves

“Build It and They Will Come” (But He Means Team + Customers)

Someone asked: how do you attract great people early, before you’re “proven”?

Winn’s answer wasn’t fancy:

You build a culture worth joining.

Not with slogans… with consistent behaviors.

He hammered the point that passion is visible:

😂 but also… true.

The Systems Piece (aka why “great groomers” won’t save you)

This section is going to hit for anyone who’s tried to scale.

Winn’s stance is firm:

He used Disney + Ritz-Carlton as examples:

• you don’t show up with your own version of Snow White

• you don’t say “no problem” at Ritz (you say “my pleasure”)

• the brand is consistent because the system is consistent

Two qualities of a real system:

It’s written down

Repetition

Also: the six words of a failing company:

If you’ve ever felt stuck in “how we’ve always done it”… that line stings for a reason.

Hiring Framework: Attitude > Skill

Winn didn’t mince words here:

Because he’s hired the talented “superstar” without the right attitude… see what happens.

Best practices he shared:

• You’re always hiring (even if you’re “fully staffed”)

• Interview people multiple times + at different times of day

• Let multiple team members interview them (they show different versions to different people)

• Hire slow, fire fast

And yes, he said:

😂 …and his logic was basically: if they have a pattern of hating authority figures, eventually you’re next.

The “I’m Too Busy For Culture” Excuse (his response was… direct)

When asked what to do if you don’t have time for culture / giving back, he said:

His point:

Don’t delay the stuff that makes your business sustainable.

Build it into the system now because that’s what attracts:

• customers

• great employees

• loyalty over time

He also tied “giving back” to retention:

People want to buy from brands that contribute.

But more importantly: your best employees want purpose, not just a paycheck.

The Moment That Hit Me: “Value Your People”

Near the end, I asked:

If a grooming business owner takes only one thing from this episode… what is it?

Winn’s answer:

And then he made it real with a story:

He calls hundreds of people each year on their birthday.

Not a text. A real call.

Sometimes they ignore the call on purpose… just to save his voicemail.

He said people have told him:

• “My spouse forgot my birthday, but I knew you wouldn’t.”

• “I still have your voicemail from 10 years ago.”

Then he dropped the line that should be on a sticky note in every salon:

Whew.

Why Winn Thinks Grooming Is Wide Open

This was the big thesis:

Meaning:

• tons of demand

• mostly mom-and-pop

• massive opportunity for modern education + brands + systems

• pet parents are spending more than ever (and treating dogs like family)

And that’s why he’s building Salty Dawg: to bring a more modern playbook into grooming especially around education and professionalism.

If you’re an owner trying to:

• scale without chaos

• seeing hiring as a constant battle

• struggling to retain good people

• or trying to build something bigger than “just grooming dogs”

This one is worth a full listen.

See you on the next one,

Alex

That’s all folks! Keep calm and groom on 🐶🤘