Community Highlights: Meet Grace Williams of Pawfection Boarding & Grooming

Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Williams.

Hi Grace, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Hi, I am Grace and I am 25 and I am living the dream!! I grew up on a small farm in Woodville MS, so I’ve always loved animals, but my love and passion for dogs didn’t really start until I was 13. My dad brought home a black lab named Boone and the rest is history. When I was 16, I started training our family lab to hunt and run field trials.

Fast forward a few years down the road, to where I was hired to train professionally at a training kennel here in Natchez. After 5 years of training professionally, I felt a tug at my heart and felt like Jesus wanted me to take a big leap of faith to pursue my dream, train just my personal competition dogs! But I wasn’t sure how I was going to support myself financially!! Well, that’s when the door opened up, for me to open up my own boarding kennel. A few short months after we opened, I realized how big of a need it was here in Natchez, as Natchez is a very dog-friendly town!! I also realized how big of a need it was to offer grooming services.

So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to try and learn how to groom. I had never held a pair of clippers in my hand and I had no grooming background whatsoever. What I did have though, was a determination to succeed and my faith in the Lord to open a new door that would allow success. My friends and neighbors embraced my new journey and let me practice on all their dogs and soon enough I started getting booked weeks in advance for grooming and boarding. I thought I was busy then!! I give God all the glory in that! I mean, you should’ve seen some of those first haircuts haha! Looking back though, I am so proud of where I started and how it has pushed me to where I am today, and how it continues to push me to be better every day!! We are now grooming about 70-100 dogs and boarding about 35-50 dogs a month. I love knowing that people trust me with their four-legged family members.

When I started, I wanted to provide a place where I wouldn’t mind leaving my personal babies if I had to leave them somewhere for just a day or several weeks. And where everyone could leave their babies and go on family vacations or business trips worry-free. When your pup stays with me, it has its very own vacation!! I always tell people, “You aren’t going to go stay at a hospital when you leave town, why put your pup at one?” I love all the dogs as if they are my own. What is so neat, is that each dog is special and each one has a unique connection with me!! This journey has been quite a joy!! If it wasn’t for my friends and amazing clients my dream would not have become a reality!!

I absolutely love what I do! This isn’t just my job, it’s my passion!! I am in a position every day to share the love of Jesus every single time someone comes through my doors to drop off or pick up their pups!! Working with all these amazing pups is fun, but no joy can compare to ultimately doing what He has called us to do. My job makes me excited and happy to go to work every morning. I operate out of the belief that no dream is impossible and no goal is out of reach, even when all the odds are against you. I learned at an early age to NEVER EVER GIVE UP and I am passionate about striving for the best.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I would be lying if I said it has been an easy road. Starting a business is not for the faint of heart, it’s a GRIND!! No one knows what goes into a business until they try starting one. But never underestimate the power of prayer and you know what they say – anything worth having, is worth fighting for!! There have been several bumps and setbacks along the way, but I reflect with gratitude on all God has allowed me to do with my business and how He has blessed me!

I would say a few of the main struggles have been trying to figure out the business side of things such as the paperwork and marketing etc. and then learning how to groom has been a learning curve for sure!!

Give me a good lab and some training tools and I’m golden, but the grooming has been a long journey of learning.

It’s not something I ever thought I would do, so it’s been a lot of learning the art as I go. Thankfully I’ve had some good coaches come in and teach me!!

We’ve been impressed with Pawfection Boarding & Grooming, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We offer boarding, grooming, and doggie daycare. We take great pride in our boarding services!! We allow long and short-term stays, we have 24/7 surveillance cameras, a climate-controlled facility, a licensed vet on call 24/7 and we have a big fenced-in play yard where the pups spend more than half their time while they are here!!

The dogs are never put to bed without being extremely worn out from all the playing they did with their friends!! We have nothing but 5-star reviews from all our amazing clients on our social media!! Our boarding and daycare services are well known in our little town!!

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The biggest things I’ve learned would be, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and trust the process!!

Choose to focus on the good and not the bad! Find good connections with people who support you and your dream!

There are many highs and lows throughout the journey. Leaning on Jesus and finding good friendships or mentors is the key to a solid foundation. That can be hard, as there are always people going to be jealous of you, especially when you start doing well, but don’t let that bother you!! If you look hard enough there will be a group rooting for you!!!

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/pawfectionboardinggrooming 

Image Credits
Oakwood Media by Kaelin Daye