Meet Yuki Wakano of Royal Pet Grooming & Daycare

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yuki Wakano.

Hi Yuki, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am originally from Japan, I first came to the US as a high school exchange student in 1990. Then I returned to the US to pursue a film degree one year later. I have worked in Film & Commercial Production for 27 years as UPM and Producer until early this year. I have always wanted to work with animals, especially dogs all my life, and finally made a big step to leave career behind, to start own business this year. Royal Pet Grooming & Daycare in North Hollywood/Valley Village is my dream project. There has been a lot of learning curve and ups and downs, but I enjoy everyday working with dogs, and dog owners along with wonderful staff who came together to support my dream. All my life I’ve always loved and cared for many different animals, from bunnies, birds, chickens, and my first dogs are Chow Chow Mix Mom & Pup rescued from Animal Shelter in 2004. I currently have 2 rescued dogs Momoko (rescued out of Korean meat trade) & Sookie (rescued from backyard breeding operation) and they both work with me at the shop. Sookie and I also volunteer at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles as Therapy Dog team.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For my entire career life I have only worked in Film production. I have learned, grew, and loved working in the industry until in recent years I realized the passion wasn’t there anymore. I have struggled to find what my heart wants to do and I remembered my childhood dream was to work with animals. However I have never run my own business until now, so obviously there has been a lot of mistakes made in the first few month of starting this business and everyday has been a lot of trial and errors to this day. I am also a natural introvert, and dealing with public takes a bit of courage to conquer my nervousness. What helps me get up and keep going is the faces of cutest dogs with wagging tails, and working with staff members who also share the love of animals. It is a biggest challenge of my life to leave my career in the past to dive into unknown, but I am glad I did it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
In my last 20 years as pet parent, I have noticed cost of animal care has gone up quite a bit yet I have always struggled to find a good groomer who I can trust and care about animal’s well being. I decided to start a business where I would want to bring my dogs to be maintained regularly, so I priced modestly and yet use high quality grooming products and standard in practice. I also hired high skilled certified groomers who have genuine love for animals. I always make sure dog clients who come in are treated with love and attention, and minimize the stress during our visit. Our Daycare also represent “home away from home” where intimate human interactions are given to daycare puppies as if they’re at home. Our staff also bring their own dogs and they stay in our daycare space. We are also a big advocate of animal welfare and rescue mission. We have recently partnered with a local dog rescue organization to host dog adoption events at our shop on Sundays. I am hoping to be more active in dog fostering and adoption advocate in a future.

How do you define success?
As a new business owner, I still haven’t tasted so-called “success” so I can’t define it just yet, but I would like to get there at some point. Everyday is a trial and error, and making new adjustment and modifications, and learn from it. When we encounter issues, we have discussions to solve the problems together as a team. When we feel like we achieved our goal, we celebrate together. Happy customers, and receiving kind comments from them are very rewarding and keep us motivated to keep doing our best. When staff are working in happy stress-free environment, it shows in their work. Doing business maybe a building process and finding small joy in every step. Having a great team who is supportive of that process, definitely is a start of a successful business building I think. Our motto of “Stress-Free Environment” not only goes to both dog clients and dog parents but also our work environment, and maintaining that state, would be a great success to me.

Pricing:

• Full Service Grooming $50~
• Basic Bath & Brush $30~
• Basic Haircut $20~
• Daycare Full Day $40
• Daycare Half Day $30

Contact Info:

• Website: www.RoyalPetNoHo.com
• Instagram: royal.petgrooming
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/royal-pet-grooming-and-daycare-los-angeles-3