This story first appeared in the March 31 issuer of the Community Voice. For your own subscription, call 270-384-9454.
Misty Davidson and her mother found a stray dog one day roaming the neighborhood when she was growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It really needed a bath and its fur needed to be groomed.
Bambi, as Davidson would name it, needed help. With her mom’s guidance, Davidson started taking care of the dog. She washed it, clipped its nails, and started grooming its coat.
It was a lot of work, a lot of long hours, but Davidson was having fun. That spark developed into a passion, and that was when Davidson knew her calling, when she dared to dream.
At the age of 13, she wanted to own her own grooming salon.
That dream has come true. Davidson opened Shear Perfection Pet Salon this week at 1001 Greensburg Rd., near the corner of Pickett Street.
“I gave her some awful looking haircuts,” laughed Davidson about Bambi. “My mom said if you want to groom her you can and that’s when I started to feel like I could do this for a living. There has always been a dream of, ‘when I get my own shop.’ To see that dream finally come true has been amazing. I designed this place myself.”
The journey to making her dream come true had a lot of obstacles that Davidson and her husband, Brian, had to overcome.
“This was not easy,” said Misty. “We had to get the ownership of the property, and get it rezoned. We had to work through issues with the banks, and then Covid hit, and we had contractors get behind. We put in a lot of our own labor and had countless nights working until early in the morning.”
The work is paying off as the shop is already booked weeks ahead. Besides cutting hair and toenails, Misty does physical checks on the animals. She is a certified Level 4 canine styling specialist and a graduate of the NASH Academy in Lexington. She is also certified in CPR for canines.
“Grooming is a lot more than just cutting hair,” Misty said. “We see the whole dog; we feel of the dog’s body and notice lumps and skin irritation. We are the first ones to recognize anything that could be going on with a dog.”
Misty has also gotten involved in competitive grooming, winning competitions around the United States and around the world. She won her first award in 2012 and has followed that with numerous honors.
“I am just naturally a competitive person,” Misty said. “I wanted to get into competition just for the fact it was competing. It was also an opportunity for me to learn more and a chance to grow as a groomer. It is nice to be recognized and be among the best in the country. It is an adrenaline rush.”
For now, however, her focus is on her new business. Just like the pets she works on, it is her baby.
By Scott Wilson
[email protected]
