Today we’d like to introduce you to Anastasia Freimarck.
Hi Anastasia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Hello, my name is Anastasia and I am the owner of The Grooming Coop, a boutique salon that provides one-on-one canine grooming in the heart of downtown Cibolo.
The one-on-one experience provides a very safe, calm, and low anxiety environment which allows us to provide the best quality dog grooming in the San Antonio area.
The origins of my story start in a Russian Orphanage where I lived until I was four years old. I was blessed enough to be adopted by a military family that saved me from growing up on the streets in Russia. This blessing is the start of my American dream and led me to be where I am today!
My love for animals began at an early age and led to my introduction to Animal Science during my formative years and led me to my first job as a professional dog bather. I instantly connected with the animals and became the go-to person when someone was having difficulty bathing their client’s dog. I would always look forward to going there after school! After I graduated from community college and went to dog grooming school, I wanted to learn more, so I started my career as a veterinary technician by working my way up at a well-known national animal hospital by grooming for them and then becoming an official veterinary technician.
I married an amazing husband and co-owner of The Grooming Coop! We ended up rescuing a brindle cairn terrier mix (picture attached) at a puppy mill in Pennsylvania and named him Cooper because we found him in a chicken coop. After some time, my husband convinced me to move to his hometown here in Texas and I transferred hospitals to work down here as a veterinary technician. There were some complications and we tragically lost Cooper at the young age of one. We were very deeply sad for quite some time.
Some time had passed, and I had some medical issues and ended up being told I had two types of Lupus (an autoimmune disease that is uncurable). After learning how to somewhat manage it, I wanted to start a family but only had a tiny car. I found my dream card, and started to groom on the side while continuing my education as a veterinary technician. Our business then blossomed into what it is today. We named the business after our beloved Cooper, whose memories live on each and every day and will always be imprinted like paw prints in our hearts.
We have been fortunate enough to rapidly grow over the four years that we have been open and have opened up job opportunities during the pandemic. One of our biggest accomplishments is standing up an apprenticeship program where people with little or no grooming or animal-related experience have the opportunity to experience the dog grooming life. We have been highly successful and hope to continue and expand this program!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have experienced a variety of bumps along the way, including how to be an entrepreneur and other business-related issues.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Grooming Coop. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a one-on-one dog grooming shop in downtown Cibolo and provide high-quality grooms. We have packages that help with high anxiety dogs and offer puppy grooming training sessions that set them up for success in their grooming life. We are known for our excellent communication with our clientele and quality that is next to none.
We’re also proud of using all natural-based products and are excited to grow our brand so we can open to other areas to show who we are. Our brand is sought after and has statewide clientele that comes to see us. We are very blessed and love to meet new people and their dogs!
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
As a dog grooming business, we strive to support our local shelters and rescues in any way we can by providing service to those in need to help them find forever homes.
We welcome any collaboration from any other business that would love to help with this mission. Our continued growth as a business will ensure that we are able to provide more of these types of services to a wider range of rescues and shelters.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegroomingcoop.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegroomingcoop?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/thegroomingcoop/
- Other:www.tiktok.com/amp/tag/thegroomingcoop
