When Holly Hayes was laid off from her manufacturing job in Dubuque, she found a way to turn a loss into an opportunity by embracing her passion and opening Barkin Bubbles, Holy Cross’ new dog grooming salon. Originally from Dubuque, Hayes worked in manufacturing most of her life at locations like A.Y. McDonald and John Deere.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have some of the very high in-demand manufacturing jobs, but then the pandemic hit and I got laid off,” said Hayes. “It made me think about getting down to what I love doing in life, which has always been animals.
“Dogs have always been there for me in good times and bad. They give me peace and joy in life.”
Deciding to turn her lifelong love of dogs into a career, Hayes set out to get the certification and skills she’d need. This was made more challenging by the fact that most of the training schools were closed for COVID.
“During the pandemic, I decided this was what I wanted to do, but all the schooling was closed as well. I was able to do online schooling to get my certification in dog grooming. From there I’m currently mentoring with my favorite dog grooming place in Dubuque.”
Hayes said she chose to focus on dog grooming because there’s a high demand for it with many animals having been adopted during the pandemic. She also empathized with the struggle of finding a groomer after having trouble getting one for her own dogs because none of the existing businesses were accepting new clients.
While Hayes lives in Millville, she decided Holy Cross was the perfect place to set up the new business due to it being an accessible location for customers from areas like Peosta, Dyersville or even Dubuque. Working with the city of Holy Cross, she signed a lease for the city’s old library and city hall building at the start of this year and began remodeling it to suit the salon’s needs and get it up to code.
Hayes said, “We were really lucky to get this facility through the city of Holy Cross. They were great with helping us out doing the lease for us.”
Barkin Bubbles officially opened March 1 and offers services from a simple bath and brush to full-service dog grooming with trims and shaving or anything else customers need to be done. Hayes services all dog breeds but specializes in large dogs ranging from coon hounds and golden retrievers to great Danes, Irish wolfhounds and Burmese mountain dogs. However, she said small dogs are expected to be the bulk of the business.
According to Hayes, dogs should be groomed every couple of months or as needed depending on breed. She plans to remain in Holy Cross if the business is successful and eventually expand both building and services, with a possibility of offering boarding at some point in the future. Hayes also said that owning a grooming salon requires a large support system and she is grateful for the support of her boyfriend Luke Goedert as well as her family and friends for helping to make Barkin Bubbles possible.