The International Association of Professional Esthetic Groomers - the IAPEG

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The International Association of Professional Esthetic Groomers - the IAPEG

Certification built for today’s grooming industry.

The IAPEG brings together science, skill, humane handling, and pet-first standards for professionals who want safer practices, stronger credibility, and a more modern path forward.

06/10/2026

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS, JESSICA WILKINS, MGP! 🎉
Today, IAPEG is recognizing Jessica Wilkins for completing the Modern Grooming Professional™ training program.
Jessica joins a growing group of professionals who have chosen to invest in stronger standards, better decision-making, and a more thoughtful approach to the work they do every day.
Completion is more than finishing a program. It is a commitment to learning, growing, and continuing to improve the experience for pets, clients, and the teams we work alongside.
Jessica, congratulations on putting in the work and seeing it through.
🏅 Well earned. 🐾

05/28/2026

🏁 MGP COMPLETION — LINDSEY YOUNG 🏁

Congratulations to Lindsey Young on completing the Modern Grooming Professional™ program.

Completion matters because follow-through matters.

Lindsey showed up, finished the work, and took another step toward stronger standards, better awareness, and more professional responsibility in the salon.

That is worth recognizing.

Well done, Lindsey.
Keep going, this is where the real work starts. 🐾

05/26/2026

🎉 MGP COMPLETION — KIMBERLY CARRICO 🎉

Let’s give Kimberly Carrico the recognition she earned.

Every completion counts. Not because we hand out confetti for breathing, but because follow-through matters.

Kimberly completed her Modern Grooming Professional™ training, and that says something important: she is choosing to keep growing, keep learning, and keep building herself as a modern pet professional.

That is how standards move forward.

Congratulations, Kimberly.
This is a win and it is only the beginning. 🐾

05/25/2026

Essential oils and botanicals are some of the most misunderstood products in the pet industry today. Groomers, pet professionals, and pet owners are constantly being told that “natural” means safe, but when it comes to dogs and especially cats, that assumption can become dangerous very quickly.

In this seminar, Bullet breaks down the real science behind essential oils, botanical ingredients, toxicity risks, species differences, and why anecdotal internet advice is not a substitute for education. Learn why cats metabolize oils differently, why certain oils can trigger neurologic and respiratory issues, how poor formulation creates serious risks, and why professional therapeutic application requires actual training.

This is not fearmongering. This is professional responsibility.

Topics include:

Why “natural” does not equal safe
Dangerous oils for dogs and cats
How essential oil toxicity occurs
The truth about “therapeutic grade”
Why dilution alone is not enough
Diffuser dangers in homes and salons
Scope of practice for groomers
Veterinary collaboration and holistic safety
Evidence-based skin and coat care
The pet industry does not need more trends. It needs educated professionals who understand skin, coat, toxicology, and species-specific care. That standard is exactly why the MTPAe exists.

Essential oils can be toxic to pets, especially cats
“Natural” does NOT mean safe
Learn why anecdotal evidence is dangerous
Tea tree oil toxicity is real and preventable
Why diffusers may create hidden exposure risks
The truth behind “therapeutic grade” marketing
Cats metabolize oils differently from dogs
Proper formulation matters more than trends
Groomers must understand their scope of practice
Veterinary collaboration is critical for safety
Advanced skin & coat professionals require advanced education
Stop taking pet wellness advice from social media influencers with ring lights and zero toxicology training. Civilization has suffered enough.

05/14/2026

Professional standards are built in the boring little daily habits everyone wants to skip. Product handling is one of them.

Shampoo and conditioner storage, pump sanitation, expiration dates, humidity exposure, dilution practices, and inventory rotation all affect product integrity, skin and coat outcomes, and salon consistency.

Dara nailed this one in her new article for The Business Edge of the Shear.

Professional pet care is not just about which products sit on your shelf.

It is about whether you know how to manage them like a professional.

https://hubs.la/Q04gwhDX0

05/08/2026

📣 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM THE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK.

We are conducting an anonymous survey, because assumptions are not a strategy. We want to know what grooming professionals actually think about learning, training, and professional growth.

There are two surveys:

🧾 One for grooming business owners
✂️ One for grooming professionals

Your answers are anonymous.
Your perspective matters.
And yes, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to be heard, because we want to listen. (You do not need to complete both.)

👉 Business Owner Survey: https://hubs.la/Q04fZ0tY0
👉 Individual Groomer Survey: https://hubs.la/Q04fYSTx0

Take the survey. Help us understand what professionals actually need.

05/06/2026

🏁 NOT EVERY WIN NEEDS A CERTIFICATION TO COUNT. 🏁

Today, we’re celebrating two professionals at WPGA who completed their employee training through the Modern Grooming Professional™ employee training program.

No post-nominal.
No big credential announcement.
Still absolutely worth recognizing.

Their training covered the things that actually shape daily salon work:

⚙️ workplace standards
🐾 behavior awareness
🧴 skin and coat foundations
🛡 safer handling principles
💬 professional communication

A stronger salon is not built on "I thought you knew that" and “they’ll figure it out.”

It is built when people understand how to show up, how to handle dogs, how to communicate, and how to work from the same standard.

So yes, we celebrate this too.

Because progress counts.
Training counts.
And professionals who take the work seriously deserve recognition.

Well done to both of you. 🔥

05/03/2026

Still letting employees treat your rules like they are optional?

No.

Join Bullet Brown and Dara Forleo on May 15, 2026 at 6:00 PM Central for a seminar on leadership, boundaries, and hiring smarter.

If you are tired of being disrespected, ignored, or stuck in the same hiring cycle, get in the room.

Free for IAPEG members
$40 for non-members

👉 USE THE REGISTRATION ZOOM LINK TO REGISTER https://hubs.la/Q04fdfl50

This one is for the business owners who are done playing nice with bad habits.

Not a member yet?
Then let’s do simple math.

Paying $40 per seminar adds up fast.
That is $480 a year for just 12 seminars.

Or for $180 a year, you can step into IAPEG membership and get:

20+ hours of structured course content
12 seminars
An additional $1,200 in value through courses, seminars, and conversations inside the Modern Grooming Community monthly

So the real question is: Why are you still not a member?

https://hubs.la/Q04fdtHp0

04/21/2026

Can we stop pretending that the industry has a onboarding process?

Handing a new groomer a schedule, a station, or the keys to a van and saying, “this is how we do it here,” is not training. It is laziness with a time clock.

And then people act shocked when staff quit.
Shocked when hiring ads never come down.
Shocked when good groomers get fed up and leave to build something better for themselves.

This industry has a bad habit of confusing proximity with leadership. Just because someone works in a salon and know how to bathe or groom does not mean they know how to onboard, train, or lead a team. At some point, grown adults running businesses have to ask themselves a better question:

Are we actually training people, or are we just tossing them into the mess and calling it experience?

Because if you are not willing to build better systems, better onboarding, and better standards, then no, you are not helping this industry move forward.

You are helping it stay exactly where it is. Read this if you want to know if you are in a toxic work environment or not. https://wholepetnhcom.blog/2026/04/21/8-signs-youre-in-an-unhealthy-grooming-environment-and-what-to-do-next

04/01/2026

A grooming team does not become solid because everyone knows how to hold shears. ✂️

It becomes solid when the team is working from the same standards, making decisions the same way, and understanding what is expected of them from the moment a pet walks in the door. 🐾

That is what creates a salon people can actually rely on. ✅

The Modern Grooming Professional™ was built for that.

This is not another course on how to groom.
It is the professional foundation behind how a team works, communicates, handles pets, and protects the quality of the salon as a whole. 🧠📋

If you are trying to build a team with more consistency, more awareness, and less guesswork, this is where that starts. 🔥

Address

Childersburg, AL
35044

Website

https://www.theiapeg.com/

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