Speakers
Chris Bear Anthony
Chris Anthony, weary from her travails in retail management and office work, found her calling when she discovered pet grooming. Her nearly 20-year journey in this career has led her through many opportunities, experiences,& life lessons, including grooming and managing in both small and corporate salons, and starting her own successful house call grooming business in New Jersey. Supplementing those life lessons by educating herself on the varying aspects of her career she always sought out innovations in pet care, education, grooming techniques, tools and products. Now her passion for grooming & education has added more in depth knowledge on scissors, scissoring techniques, ergonomics and self care to help preserve her own health and longevity in her chosen profession. She is the owner/groomer at Have Shears Will Travel, customer service/sales Vp at Evolution Shears. Chris is also honored to have co-founded the New Jersey Professional Pet Groomers Alliance and serves as its current Chairwoman.
Anjie Coates
During her 37 years in the grooming industry, Anjie spent a significant amount of time learning about every aspect of grooming and business. She knew she had to share the knowledge she had gained and began teaching grooming and business so others could learn the secrets of her success. This has also led her to teach Pet First Aid & CPR classes for pet professionals and owners and become a HELP Master Chief Instructor. Her passion for continuing education is evident in her achievements, including CMRG, ICMCG, CCE, PGC, CMPTI, and PGCE. In 2023, her book, the first rabbit grooming book in the industry, “The Quintessential Rabbit Book,“ was published and won the Barkleigh Honors Book of the Year. She has been a web designer for over three decades and owns Coates Design, a web design company specializing in the pet industry’s needs.
Two days of education to help you learn more about how to keep your favorite tools and equipment in tip top shape!
Schedule
Sunday October 26, 2025
9AM PST Everything Shears and Beyond! (2 hour class)
It’s fairly safe to say that shears are a groomer's best friend, but how much do we really know about them? There are so many options! Straights, curves, convex edges, and bevels. What’s the difference anyway? Serrated, semi-convex, and titanium coated? \Wait, what? Swivels should be held differently from non-swivel shears? Straights, curved, chunkers and thinners, swivels and non-swivels, the options are seemingly endless; how’s a groomer to choose? Never fear; we’ll cover all of this and more; we need to know how to hold them, know why they’re folding hair, and when we should run. Today's two-hour class will take a deep dive into shears but also talk about clippers, vac systems, and other tools that can be used to improve our grooming ergonomics and our lives.
12 PM PST You Can do that with a Clipper vac!
Vac systems have been around grooming salons for decades now, but are still not an everyday sight in your average grooming salon. As we turn more and more to cordless clippers, the thought of being tethered turns some groomers away, some by the learning curve, and others by the mistaken assumption that it can only be used on certain coat types. Chris’s vac motto is “Every dog, every day!" In this class, we’ll join her in blowing those assumptions out of the water as we watch recordings of several grooms of different coat types with her trusty Hairvac. We will also discuss techniques, suction control, if there is a tie not to use it, and even cats! Join us for this video demo-packed hour and see how this tool can benefit your salon.
2 PM PST Tool & Dryer Maintenance (2 Hours)
Do you know how to change the brushes in your dryer? Do you know how to maintain your blades so you only need to have them sharpened yearly and they stay sharp? I will show you how to do all of this easily, and it will save you money, and help you to feel comfortable maintaining your own equipment.
Monday October 27, 2025
9 AM PST Salon Sanitation (5 Hours)
This course will teach you the best practices for proper sanitation methods for everything within a groomer’s purview. This includes all work areas, all tools, as well as crating. This course covers zoonoses, which cleaners will or won’t kill them, as well as the difference between cleaning, disinfection, and sanitation. You will be taught the best practices for handling this disease within a salon, mobile, or housecall setting. Safety in the salon and preventing injury to yourself and the pet are covered as well.
