The Art of Grooming and Industry Insights with Lulu Rodriguez

speaker-0 (00:04.194) Hi, I'm Karin. And I'm Elise. Welcome back to Poodle People, where we talk about all things poodles. speaker-0 (00:15.758) Today we are talking to Lulu Rodriguez, who joins us from Florida, where she is the US representative for the global hair care and pet product line, Artero. Artero is a 100 year old company and they sell three different lines, and we're really thrilled that Lulu has time to talk to us about her journey and her experience professionally. with Artaro. I actually have a small segment where I talk about the products that I use from Artaro and suggest some things that I think you might want to consider adding to your own tack box. speaker-0 (01:06.222) Let's get started with our guest. Hi Lulu! speaker-1 (01:12.374) Hi, how are you? Good. I'm doing very good. Thank you. I'm back from my vacation and it was a great time, so speaker-0 (01:15.318) I'm great. How are you? speaker-0 (01:23.156) Excellent. And hopefully you had a good week back and everything's falling back into place with work. speaker-1 (01:29.248) Yes, it usually does. Yep. It was nice because it was the first vacation since the like real vacation since the pandemic. So that wasn't associated with work. speaker-0 (01:31.777) It sure does. speaker-0 (01:39.468) good for you. speaker-0 (01:45.048) Good for you. So let's get started by telling me a little bit about your background and leading into how you ended up for work working for Artero. speaker-1 (02:01.282) Can do that. all right, so a long time ago in a place far, far away, I started working in Port Export, and I've always been in love with Newfoundlands since I was a kid. Somewhere along the journey of working in Port Export, I ended up getting my first Newfoundland. I thought I picked a great breeder. Guess what? I did not. But speaker-0 (02:17.485) Okay. speaker-1 (02:30.176) That dog was my education. So after 20 years of working with the same company, they came to me one day and they said to me, We're restructuring and you know, you've been here the longest time, and we think we can give your job to maybe three or four people and you can be on your way. And I said, Okay, that sounds fine to me. I'm not gonna stay where I'm not wanted. So speaker-0 (02:32.834) Mm-hmm. speaker-1 (02:58.284) I'll take my knowledge. The only thing was they didn't want me to compete with them. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do something completely different. And that, my dear, is how I became a groomer. Because I had my Newfoundland and I was like, you know what? I wanna do something with dogs. I wanna I wanna get involved in this industry that I love so much and that I know so little about, obviously, because like I said, my first boy, God bless him, he was my train wreck. speaker-0 (03:09.431) I love it. speaker-1 (03:28.224) So I decided to start working on learning about dogs. So I found a school down here in Fort Lauderdale and with some very, very talented individuals. And I started working with a poodle breeder. Okay, Mr. Michael Lamb from Kyara Poodles, and one of the ladies that he works with, who is Irina Pinkusovic. Okay, who is also a a a breeder and and in her own right, an extremely, extremely talented woman. All right. And Joanne Marino, who does party poodles. And so they were three of my teachers and they became my mentors. They became the people that I worked with. And Pina was gracious enough to have me follow her all over the place. And that's how I was I don't know if we can say it on this podcast, but I was her bucket bitch. speaker-0 (04:27.118) You can say it. speaker-1 (04:28.91) Okay, well that's what I was. Whatever she needed done, I did. I followed her all over, and in turn, I got an amazing education. So after I graduated there, I became a master groomer and I started doing some basic teaching there. My teaching was how not to kill the dog that's on your table. Any of those classes, those belong to me. Yeah, how to properly handle. speaker-0 (04:49.922) That's a good one. speaker-1 (04:56.034) How to do the basics, how to maintain your equipment, you know, all that good stuff. So I I was teaching there for quite a while and I ended up going with Pina. Pina is one of the top groomers on the planet, and she qualified for groom team USA. I don't know if you guys are familiar with that. We have an Olympic we have an Olympics of grooming. Yep. And so she qualified for the 2013 event in Barcelona, Spain. And so I went with her. again, I was her bucket bitch. Off I went. I, you know, I'm carrying your luggage. I'm doing whatever you need done because I'm going to this event and I'm learning more things and meeting more people. And that's that's what I started doing. And so off I went with her, and I met the Arteros. They were the sponsors of the event. And they were the ones that were organizing and getting everything together and everything ready. And so that was the first time that I met them. And I acted as groom team's translator. I do speak Spanish. I acted as groom team's translator and their tour guide. I organized some tours for them, and we all went together as a team to go see the sites. in Barcelona and it was a a lovely time. a little bit after we came back from that event, where by the way they did win the gold. Okay. Yay. Yes. And we came back from that event. I got a phone call and I was asked, you know, can you translate for the team? And I was I said to them, Well I've n I've never done that before, but I you know I can I I think I can. I'm a groomer and I th I you know I speak Spanish. I speak it well, I think I can learn the verbiage that's particular to our industry and I think I think I can do that. So they hired me to travel with the team. They invited the team back to an event that they do in Barcelona every they do it actually in Madrid every March. And they brought the team back. Okay, they had them come in and do it's an educational event where they showcase. speaker-1 (07:16.672) their work and s and things of that nature and they talk about what they're doing and the audience is mostly Spaniard and or of Spanish speaking and so our team did not speak any Spanish at the time. We didn't have anyone on the team that spoke Spanish. So we they went ahead and they would present and I would stand on stage and I would translate what they were doing. So that was my first job with Artaro, and I have been with them ever since. That was March of 2014. So we are now at the 10-year mark that I've been working for them. when they decided to bring the products into, which was at the end of that same year, they decided to go ahead and bring the products into the US. they asked me if I would once again help them out, if I would work with them and perhaps go to trade shows and things of that nature. one of the brothers was going to move here. for those of you that don't know, Artero is a a family-owned business. It was in 1909. And it was we are now on the fourth generation of owners. it has passed down from you know grant great grandparents to grandparents to so on and so forth. And we are now on generation number four. There are two brothers that run the company, Alex and Adu Artero. and one of the brothers, Adu Artero, decided to move here with his family and start the business here in the US. And that's exactly what he did. And so I would travel with him to all the events. from one of those events, we started going to the Poodle Nationals, and we have been sponsors of the Poodle Nationals now for quite a while. we enjoy that event that over at we enjoy PCA at Purina Farms. It's one of our favorite events. but we used to go when it was in Maryland as well. And so that is how I started working for Artaro. speaker-0 (09:23.746) That is such a great story. I love the serendipity of it. Like, you know, you you did what you wanted when one door closed, you just walked through the next door and walked through the next door and walked through the next door. speaker-1 (09:37.108) Yeah, and that's exactly what we did. And so here I am. I am a master groomer. Okay. I did get my master certification to as a groomer and I work with breeders and handlers. I have I know hand stripping and I I currently own another Newfoundland, not my first boy, my first train red boy, but I have another Newfoundland from a very good breeder. I have a home port dog and I have a beautiful Kayara Mini named Ian. Who is my my little boy who travels with us to all kinds of grooming competitions and things of that nature. Yeah. speaker-0 (10:14.827) Nice. So tell me a little bit about w the products that Artaro actually let's back up. In nineteen nine did they start what was the what were they selling then? speaker-1 (10:30.528) Okay, at the time they were selling sheep shearing equipment. speaker-0 (10:34.528) Okay, I knew they had some sort of livestock. speaker-1 (10:37.27) Yeah. Yeah, they were selling sheep shearing equipment. So those hand clippers that were you know non non electric, obviously. They were just like those hand clippers and they were sharing they were selling knives, okay, and sharpening and and things of that nature. Shears and and sheep shears and things of that nature. So that's where the business were. And knives. They did have a a cutlery area, which was very That was very standard then. You would go with a you know, like a cart and do carpeting and things of that. Yeah. So that's what they were doing at that time. speaker-0 (11:11.06) Yes, yes, yes. And that's a very natural progression t certainly to equipment. And then you can see how equipment led to all of the other products, the smaller, you know. speaker-1 (11:25.238) Yes, it is. And today today we do we do have three areas of our business. We do the pet care. we actually have a human hair care line. We don't sell product, but we sell shears and clippers and anything that you use in a style in a salon, okay, for people, we sell. So the chairs, the trolleys, the the blow dryers, the straighteners, you know, all of those things we do sell in Europe. We have we dabble a little bit here, but mainly it that that part of the business is in Europe. And the other collection that we have is an equine collection. We actually do have an an equine line that is very popular in Spain and we are looking to get some distributors and so forth here in the US. We don't have that yet going. speaker-0 (12:14.38) That's awesome. And is the manufacture in Spain or do you manufacture some things in the US? speaker-1 (12:21.526) We manufacture nothing in the US. Okay. most of the items are all the all the cosmetic products, everything that is a product to be used on our pets is manufactured at our factory in Spain. Okay. Shears and certain certain certain other items are also manufactured in Spain, like the smocks and things of that nature. And then we do have items that are manufactured in Taiwan. speaker-0 (12:50.062) Okay. So so Artero, you know, I you and I have talked before and I'm really just kind of thinking about this now because Artaro to me seems like it's a very hot brand. people are buying it when I'm at dog shows and using certainly the slickers and different things. So how did you become kind of a hot brand in such a short period? Because If you've only been working for them and they've been importing since 2014 to the US, that's a pretty quick acceleration of the business, right? speaker-1 (13:28.674) Yeah, it is. And and we have a couple of things that that I can attribute that to. Number one, our products are made by groomers for groomers. Okay. they're designed, they're not just items that are you know, picked and and chosen at random, okay, by a company that's making products for groomers. No, no, we we actually have groomers on staff, like myself. And so we have groomers on staff that work. in the production of the items. Okay, we have our our main product manager, product line manager, his name is Luis Martín del Rio. All right, and Luis is a groomer. He is a breeder of miniature schnauzers, he's a top breeder in Europe of miniature schnauzers and he used to do griffons. I don't believe he's working with griffons right now because he has dedicated a lot of time to Artero at this point. he is a top terrier handler. Actually he handles sporting breeds as well. So he is the one, he is the line manager for production. So things are tested and and modified and made by groomers for groomers. Okay we listen to groomers. They we if we put out a product, we wanna hear feedback, we wanna know if you like it, we wanna know if you don't like it and what you don't like about it. All right, we when we first came to this country, one of the things that our cans for hairspray were very tall. And one of the things that people would say was, I I can't fit it in my tack box. You know, I'm going to shows and I love your hairspray for my poodles, but I can't put it in my tack box. You know, can you make it smaller? Well, we did. We did. We listened to people, you know, we try to listen to those professionals that are using our product. And we take them seriously. You know, we try to modify cans or try to come up with new products based on suggestions that they make. we we modify brushes, we, you know, so that that alone I think is a huge difference from other companies that just make general product. Okay, we we take our our line seriously. We wanna be the line for professionals. And in order to do that, you have to listen to your professionals. speaker-0 (15:55.534) I love that. speaker-1 (15:56.354) So yeah, so that I think is one main thing. The second thing is that we brought it in and we brought it in with a full knowledge of the industry. All right. We weren't just you know, going in it blindly. Okay. We came in with a full knowledge of the industry and with people in the industry who already supported us. So people like Peena, people like Michael Lamb, people like Lindsay Dickon, who also shows Poodle for Ellen Phelps and and so forth. She does all the grooming and trimming and and so these are people that were already in the industry and opened doors for us because they knew the product, they like the product, and they knew what we stand for. So that opened a lot of doors for us, and we will be forever grateful for all those people that have taken apart and opening doors for us. But that's really what it is. It's been connecting to people. And listening to our groomers and our professionals. speaker-0 (16:54.114) Yeah, it's a lovely story. speaker-1 (16:56.415) thank you. Yeah. speaker-0 (16:58.058) It really is. One of the nice things about the podcast is that my personal subtext is interviewing people or talking to people so that I can show other people how to enter the industry in ways that they may not know. Yeah. And I think, you know, so many people want to work with their dog, but you know, for whatever reasons they're not a breeder, maybe they're not a handler. And just in talking to you, I I think people can start envisioning new ways, you know, of entering the industry and finding a career that's really satisfying. speaker-1 (17:35.874) And we need to bring people into our industry. We need to bring new people in. Our industry is, it's funny, our industry is large but very small. I tell people I can I I often travel with with because of the business and things of that nature. I often travel and it doesn't matter where I travel to, I never feel alone. speaker-0 (17:57.068) Yeah, that's nice. speaker-1 (17:57.698) Because there's always somebody that we've connected to that we know that we in whatever country it is, I don't think there's any country that I could go to and feel like I don't know somebody or like I can't connect to somebody or I can't post something and say, Hey, does somebody know somebody in this area that can help me out? Because we all know one another. Right. We all look out for one another. And that really is a beautiful thing about our industry. The other thing is that I think it's important For people to understand that our industry has many facets. There are lots of areas that you can work in. When I first went into this, I didn't, I didn't know anything about, I mean, I knew how to groom my dog. I had taken some basic lessons to groom my own dog, okay, through the club. All right. So I knew how to groom my dog, do very basic, okay, but I I was unsure of what to do. And so I started asking some of these friends that I met in our industry. speaker-0 (18:30.082) Yes. speaker-1 (18:55.694) Through our club, and they were like, You'd be great at it. You should do it. Just go ahead, you know, give it a try. And I thank each and every one of the people that that encouraged me because in reality, I wouldn't be where I was today if it wasn't for my train wreck of a dog. Okay, who bless his heart was was my he is my soul dog. So my train wreck of a dog, okay. And my friends and fellow industry. you know, people that whether they were a breeder or a teacher or or you know, a another groomer that encouraged me to do what I do. speaker-0 (19:33.878) I love that. I I you know, I've entered the industry in a very different way than you, but I also have had dogs for a long time and I had I got my first dog, Max Lieberman, twenty years ago, but I just had two pets for the longest time, you know. It was just not on my radar that we we would do anything but go for long walks, you know, and love each other. And it it is a very different thing. and I still am very mindful of all of the things that I've learned in a very short period of time and all of the people who have helped me with that learning curve. speaker-1 (20:15.232) Yeah. And you're always learning in this industry. Yes. Always, always, always. There's something to learn about something. And and it that's one thing that I really love too. You're forever learning. Like it's never boring. I'm never okay. I talk to different people, different breeders. I see different dogs. I see I mean I we are forever learning. And that is just an awesome thing. I really enjoy that very much about our industry. speaker-0 (20:42.488) And your point about new people entering the industry, I think, is really wise because, you know, I'm also a horse person and I see so many parallels between horses and dogs. And we know that there are pressures as soon, you know, people will be crazy about their or kids will be crazy about their horse or their dog when they're younger. But as soon as they get older and they start having a social life, they start getting exposed to the pressures of social media and all of those things, that screen time starts eating into their leisure activities. And it just leaves less time for them to learn how to be a handler or learn how to ride a horse. You know, those are just realities of modern life. There are just fewer hours that are available to capture them when they're young. speaker-1 (21:20.972) Yes, it does. speaker-0 (21:38.198) So when I see young people, I'm I've seen some amazing young handlers who are just on fire at shows. And I thought, wow, I wish I had done that when I was a kid, but I just was not in that space. speaker-1 (21:53.42) Yeah, and juniors especially. Juniors are are really they're close near and dear to my heart. Like people ask me to do things for juniors. I'm like, Yeah, sure, of course. You know, like we'll do for juniors. Yeah. Because at PCA they're they have a very active junior presence at at the Poodle Club special. And they sell raffle tickets and they help do the ducky. There's a ducky thing that you throw duckies into a pool and on and so forth. And the owner of our company, he has young children. And it's and it's funny because anytime I see any of the kids, I go, You see that man over there? Go over there, he'll buy he'll buy raffle tickets from you. So just you just go over there and he'll buy them. He does. Invariably he does. And it's so funny because you know, and they'll call me and they'll let be like, you know, we need a a gift for a junior. Yeah, yeah, no problem. What do what do you need for the junior? Because It it's important. It they're like they are they are the future of our business, of our industry, you know, of our sport. And we we have to keep the the youth and and any new really any new people that wanna come in, we should be willing to lift them up and move them along and help them out. We really should. speaker-0 (23:11.286) Yep. I think that with juniors they may follow a similar trajectory that's common in horses where they kind of step out of the industry and start their careers and their families and then they come back into it when they have a little bit of leisure time. So I wonder, you know, if that will be a trend. But regardless, I think you are so right. I I try to spend not that I'm an expert or anything, but I try to spend as much time answering all of my puppy owners' questions because I remember what it was like when I was basically calling Jane Singleton and asking her questions because she was the only person I had. And now I have a much bigger network of experts that I can reach out to. But, you know, I know that All of it is expensive, you know, and you can make mistakes when you are just starting out and you have your first show dog. I actually have a pet parent who's coming over this weekend to use my equipment and she was, I think she was, you know, intimidated about coming. And I was like, just come and use, even if you just look at all of my brushes and combs, you'll see things and you can make decisions on how you want to spend your money. And that's so valuable. Yeah. speaker-1 (24:31.788) And you know what we do? well, what I've done, I do I have done classes where what I will do is I will tell the the owners, okay, I'm gonna do a class on basic, let's say you're gonna do basic brushing, bathing, you know, maintenance techniques, so that some of these people who are not into the sport but are owners, okay, can then at least maintain their dogs in between summer. So speaker-0 (24:58.765) Yeah. speaker-1 (25:00.442) What I will do is I will tell them, bring me your equipment. We I want you to come, we make a day, okay, and we can either do it as a group, okay, and I volunteer for some of these. I've done it with a couple of pet owners. I've done it with my club for the new fees, you know, and what we do is we have them bring in the tools that they have. Bring me what you own. Let me see what you bring me what you own, bring me your dog, okay. I want you to give them a a bath and a brush out, you know what I mean? So we get it in a condition where we can work on it. All right. And invariably that may not be the same condition as a professional would work on it, but it it still tells you where they're at in the process. And so that's important. And I I ask them to come in and I spend some time with them. I go over things like line brushing and combing and what products to use and how best to handle those products. How do you use a clipper? How do you so to do basic maintenance, you know, and things of that nature. We're not gonna do a whole big grooming class, but enough so that they can be at home and their dogs can be comfortable and they can be clean and sanitary and safe in between those grooms with a professional groomer. You know what I mean? So we do that a lot. I have done a bunch of those. And I have volunteered my time to do some of those for for people. So speaker-0 (26:28.372) The more the skills develop, the more the owner can present a close to finished dog so that the professional groomer or handler just has to put a lighter trim or realish on the coat and it's in a better, closer to show ready finish. Makes it lovely for the groomer. speaker-1 (26:48.098) Yeah. speaker-1 (26:52.13) Yeah, no, and it it it does it helps tremendously. It helps them to understand better what the process is. It helps them to know, you know, when something is truly matted. Unfortunately nowadays, you know, people don't understand that they need to get down to that skin. You know, they they're brushing. We we call it brushing with a spoon. Okay. You know, they they don't really get on the bottom. Yes, the top looks nice, but that's just your top half an inch. Then after that. you know, the bottom is pelted and it's important for people to understand and know how to do that. So we offer those things too. We like to offer those types of classes and we our our tarot likes to promote education. And so a lot of times people will reach out to us and say, Hey, we're doing you know, this or we're doing that. Can you help? And we'll put together some kind of goodie bags or something like that. You know, for people to be motivated to come to these seminars and to learn some things. Yeah. speaker-0 (27:53.144) Yeah, I love that. So, how much time do you travel? Are you still on the road quite a bit for Artaro? speaker-1 (28:01.376) We okay, for Artaro, I do two shows a year in Spain, one in March and one in November. Okay. I still do the translation at that show that they did that I started in 2014 and I've done translation there ever since. So I still do I still do translation for that. I still they they have a grooming competition where I do their live stream. Okay. I do it in a mixture of English and Spanish. We do like a you know some parts are in English, some parts are in Spanish because there's some international people listening. So we work on on both languages and that. And then other than that, I do about six shows a year in the United States. We do AKC Nationals, which is speaker-0 (28:46.637) Okay. speaker-1 (28:50.592) In November in in Orlando, and that's a dog show. We do PCA, the other dog show, and then the rest are trade shows for grooming. speaker-0 (28:58.679) okay. speaker-1 (28:59.766) Yeah, we do trade shows where we go and we represent, we show our products, we want people to touch the products, feel the products, work with the products, that type of thing. You know, and and then we have distributors that actually sell the products at the shows. speaker-0 (29:15.414) Okay. so since this is poodle people, what would you suggest if someone were buying you know, they have nothing in their tack box and they have a poodle, what are the basic things that you would suggest they buy in the Artero line? speaker-1 (29:21.068) Yeah. speaker-1 (29:33.826) metal comb comb well we have a beautiful selection of of metal combs available okay we have like our our one of my favorites is the giant gold comb that goes through anything we have a blue comb that's nice and then we have we have a specific boot poodle volume comb which is very nice so we do have a beautiful selection of combs okay I would suggest that they buy speaker-0 (29:36.107) Yes, absolutely. speaker-1 (30:03.392) A good slicker brush. Okay. I like our double flex slickers. So whether you have a small dog or a medium, you know, to large dog, we have brushes that are available for both of those and they're double flex. One side of that is for there's a black side and a gray side. The black side is a little bit, has a little bit more tension, and so that's for dematting. And then there the other side would be for fluffing or just you know, brushing out. speaker-0 (30:26.542) Okay. speaker-1 (30:32.086) So we have some amazing soft slicker brushes that are great. And we have a very for those of you that show dogs, we have a a butter soft metal pin brush. Okay, that is so soft and so nice for those spray ups and things like that. we have one item that is very different. I've not seen it elsewhere, and what it is is a it's a slicker. Okay, that has pins pointing up on one side, pins pointing down on the other side. Okay, on the head on the body of a pinbrush. So imagine it if a slicker had a baby with a pinbrush, okay, that's what you would get, and that is super nice to do brush-ups and brush-outs, and just like because it doesn't break hair, it doesn't snag hair, it's super soft. All right, and you know that hair is valuable. Yeah, for us poodle people, hair is valuable. Every little hair, you wanna keep that. speaker-0 (31:35.24) I actually haven't seen that brush. Does it have a name? What should I be searching for? speaker-1 (31:39.988) It does. It's called the Nova Double Slicker Brush. speaker-0 (31:44.012) Nova double slicker, okay. speaker-1 (31:45.688) Yeah, it's called the Nova double slicker brush and it is really really nice. One side has the pins facing in one direction, one side in the other, and it's really nice because they're super soft and it's just nice to you know go through the bracelets, you know, and and those up, or or if you're working on a spray up and you just want to you know slowly build those layers up, it's super nice. So I love those would be the things that I would definitely recommend. as far as slickers and pin brushes and things of that nature. speaker-0 (32:19.436) And where would you suggest people buy your product? speaker-1 (32:23.96) You know what? You can you I I would I could be greedy and say buy from me and me only. Okay. As far as like buy from Ontaro. But in all honesty, we have close twenty distributors in the US. Okay. All of them are amazing, amazing distributors. Find the closest distributor i in your area. speaker-0 (32:36.558) Two speaker-1 (32:49.11) Okay, you can go online and at the bottom of our website you'll see where it says distributors and you can find somebody local if that's your preference. You can definitely order from directly. And if it's your first time ordering, there is a code that will give you 10% off your order. So yeah, that's an awesome thing. That's always nice. And it'll it'll it'll give you the code. Sign up to be a professional. Okay, on our website, you get better pricing. speaker-0 (33:07.586) That's awesome. speaker-1 (33:19.338) So that you can get professional pricing. Whereas, and that could be for anyone that's in our industry. That's if you're a groomer, a breeder, a handler, a trainer. Okay. Anyone that is in, you know, a an industry professional can sign up for pro pricing. So I definitely advise that they do that. speaker-0 (33:38.286) So I think I told you the story of buying my first arterial comb that I was so in love with. Huh. If you don't remember it, I'll just quickly tell you that. Okay. I was at the Bluegrass Classic and I was working with Jodi Garcini, who was grooming my dogs, and she had this very fine comb. And I don't have a super fine, really long one. speaker-1 (33:48.619) Yeah, tell me again. Tell me again. speaker-1 (34:02.989) Right. speaker-0 (34:03.808) So I went searching. I found one at a stand that was for sale. I bought it. And by the end of the show, I came home and I did not have it. So so I searched and searched. It was fine all the way through, and that's what I wanted. I didn't want half fine, half medium. and I actually found one for sale through Target. So Target is obviously an Artaro distributor, which I thought was kind of interesting. speaker-1 (34:13.485) Yeah. speaker-1 (34:22.797) Yeah. speaker-0 (34:32.034) They had all kinds of Artero products. Yeah. So I was able to get it the next day. and I love it. I love the really fine comb. speaker-1 (34:34.814) my goodness. speaker-1 (34:43.145) You probably got our regular volume comb, okay, which is a fine comb all the way through. You either got that one. Is it does it have a blue back or a no? No, you got that one for sure, because that's the only one that's fine all the way through. And that would be our bare regular volume comb and it's P983 would be the speaker-0 (35:03.662) I recommend it. You'll have to go through first you'll have to line brush with your pin brush, then you'll go through with your poodle comb and then you go through with the fine comb and you get a really lovely finish. Yes. Jodi sent me home and she said work on this dog. And I worked on my dog and I came back the next day and she was like much better. And I was like, Okay. You always want the stamp of approval. speaker-1 (35:24.328) There you go. There you go. speaker-1 (35:30.718) Absolutely. And you know, the the good thing too is if you're not certain of something, if it's somebody that's listening to your podcast and isn't sure, okay, we're really easy to talk to. All right. You can always send me an email. All right. My email is super simple. It's Lulu at Artero.com. Okay. So I I tell people send me an email. Okay. Find me on Facebook. Friend me on Facebook. Okay. I answer questions all the time. All right. I have no problems about when you text me or when you call me or when you when it doesn't matter to me. If I'm available, I will pick up, I will answer. Okay. And I'm a little neurotic, so I don't like to see those little red dots that show that you have unanswered messages. Okay. So I will answer your emails. Okay. And and usually within 24 hours you will get a reply back from me. If I'm available, I'll do it right away. We're we are really easy to talk to. And that goes for all of our staff. Okay. All of our friends. We're we're all like cut from the same kind of cloth. You know, we'll talk to you, we'll help you. If you're not sure of a product, if you're not sure what to use, just let us know. And we'll be more than happy to help you guys out. speaker-0 (36:44.822) really love hearing that because I'll admit that I thought Artaro was this big, you know, very corporate kind of company. And it's so not. I mean, I love that, you know, it's a family business and it is you are completely approachable. You are a groomer. And I really didn't know any of that. And I'm just so glad that I was able to connect with you and learn all of this stuff from this. speaker-1 (37:07.886) We appear large, but we're we're really not. We are a family owned business. Okay. They they are, you know, nowadays it's almost taboo to say, we treat you like family, because that's not a good thing. That's not that's not what kind of family, because most families are dysfunctional. So yeah, no, that's not a good thing. But we really we really do treat our people and and we speaker-0 (37:23.214) Right. Right. speaker-1 (37:36.084) we do treat it like families and I have to say that Artero treats me like family. I go to Spain and I go to their parents' house for dinner. You know, they they take me back and forth wherever they go and I don't have to worry about anything. You know, so it is it is actually amazing. We try to do the same with our staff here. You know, we try to make people feel excuse me, feel important because they are. Mm-hmm. They are without our staff, without the people in our warehouse packing the orders up, okay, without the the ones sitting behind the chair, you know, in the office speaking to clients. Okay, we're nothing. We're nothing. We're nobody. You know, and that to me is super important. That to me, that's what we want to be known for. That we are approachable, that we are we're not just a company, okay. We're somebody that that We really care about what we're doing. speaker-0 (38:37.036) Yeah, speaker-1 (38:38.838) And that's super important for us. We really do care about our dogs, our our you know, our furry mem family members are important. And we all have them. We have them in the office. We have well, it was funny because I'll tell you a quick story. We couldn't have a dog in the office up at Artaro because you know, what what would we do with them in the meantime? So when the owner wasn't there, when the owner was there and he had his own dog. you know, no problem. Like if you go to if you go to Spain, there are three dogs always in the building. Okay. The owners are there, there's always three dogs, and there's a a toy poodle. Okay. There's a Spanish water dog and there's a miniature schnauzer. Okay. And they're they're always at the at the office if the owners are there. Okay. Because each owner has a different dog. here, okay, I have my dogs, but I'm not up in the office in the warehouse all the time. So And so we don't have, you know, that accessibility. So we ended up getting a bird. So we have we have a bird and the bird lives in the office. Okay. And she's taken care of by all of our staff. She's spoiled rotten. Okay. We named her blade. We named her blade. speaker-0 (39:56.962) Blade. I love that. Yes. speaker-1 (39:58.446) We named her Blade. So Blade lives lives at the office and wreaks havoc at the office. Okay. She flies through the warehouse. And so if you guys ever find feathers, okay, by any chance or or you know, bird fuzz in your order, that's what it's blade. speaker-0 (40:19.318) That's fabulous. that's really a great story and definitely shows how much you guys love animals. I love that, you know, you know, since you can't have a dog with you, you've filled that need with blade. speaker-1 (40:35.138) Yeah, blade. Blade is blade is our brat. Blade I walk in, I walk in, blade is a cockatiel. And I walk in and the first thing blade does is go, What you doing? Whatcha doing? I'm like, I'm here to work. What are you doing? speaker-0 (40:54.958) There's a story in today's New York Times about a foul-mouthed cockatoo that four hundred people applied to adopt. my so hopefully yours is not cursing at you. speaker-1 (41:08.994) Mine is a cockatiel, not a cockatoo. Okay. And and they don't have quite as much vocabulary as our cockatoos do. Okay. But yeah, she she and she mimics the sound of when somebody arrives. You know, our beeper goes off every time somebody comes into the office. And so she makes the same sound as the beeper. So when people when people walk in, yeah. Yeah, and she's she's definitely opinionated. She knows who she likes and where she wants to go. And who she wants to go with and she take makes her rounds all over the office. Same thing. speaker-0 (41:43.662) Just like a dog. Yeah. Well, Lulu, I have just loved talking to you and getting to know you better. And I cannot wait to see you next year at PCA. Yeah, it'll be really exciting to really spend some time talking to you again. And I am so grateful that you had some time in your day to share with this podcast. speaker-1 (41:56.342) Awesome. speaker-1 (42:09.72) Thank you for having me. It really is an honor to have people think that I have something to say. That, you know, that they think that that there's something worth listening to. I I love this industry. I love the people in our industry. And Artaro is is just a such a large part of our lives. you know, for the staff and for for myself. All right, that it it really is important that people understand where we're coming from, who we are, and what we're really about. You know, and if you guys are ever at any of our shows, you go by AKC Nationals or PCA, you know, come to visit us, come to the booth and tell me where you heard about us. And, you know, we're always happy to talk and to chit chat and and to help out. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out. We are more than approachable. speaker-0 (42:59.544) Thank you. You are really a great ambassador for Artaro. And it seems like they value you and know that. So that's love really lovely. speaker-1 (43:02.827) thank you. speaker-1 (43:08.418) Thank you. I appreciate that. And and we l we work hard, we do. But we also we also know what's valuable. So speaker-0 (43:17.718) All right. Well, thank you so much for your time. speaker-1 (43:19.97) Thank you. You have a great evening. speaker-0 (43:22.254) Bye bye. speaker-0 (43:36.536) I thought it might be nice to follow up Lulu's interview by telling you some of the products that I use from Artero. I sort of thought that I didn't use that many Artero products, but I do use more than I thought, and I love specific things, and we'll definitely be looking at more things, especially in light of the conversation that we just had. So I started with the Artero Flash Maddox. Sorry, Artero Flash and Artero Maddox. The Maddox or Matte X, I'm not sure how they say it, but that product goes a really long way and it is perfect when you have something that is really matted and you need to put that kind of oil or lubricant into the hair and get it out so that you're not damaging the hair or your dog's skin. That product is absolutely fantastic. I use the Flash as well. the Mad X is really dear to my heart. Another thing that I love from Artaro is Protein Vital. It's a little bit pricey. It's $49, and I actually need to order more, but it is totally worth it. I think it's so luxurious, and I love to use it on a dog that's either dry or has really long damaged hair, and you can leave it in. I've experimented by leaving it in after shampooing for an extended period while I'm doing something else with the dog. And I also have put it on trouble spots overnight. so I think it's a really fantastic product. the $49 bottle or little jug will last a long time because you're not going to be using a lot of it. And it is a really thick Viscous kind of product, so it won't be your all-over conditioner. you'll use it in your hot spots or or your damaged spots or where you have real trouble issues. so Lulu and I talked about combs, and I have the giant gold, which is a $38 comb. it's not my favorite to be honest. I love the bear comb. speaker-0 (46:01.958) that's the one that I really adore. It's $35. and I don't have the tango, but I would recommend it because it's a really good handled comb and it's good for working mats out on a poodle. I have something that's similar and I do put that to use a lot. So those are three combs that I do have from Artaro. I strongly recommend you get the bare comb because that's the one that has the fine teeth all the way across. I also noticed in looking through these the Artero website that somewhere along the line I had the Artero D-matting slicker, which is a bargain at $20, but I have no idea where it is and I haven't seen it in years and I didn't really remember that I had it until I was looking at their website. so it is artero.com and then you'll go to the pet care section. It's a really fabulous website, nice and fresh, very modern and easy to use. And when you sign up, you do get a discount. Just remember as Lulu suggested that you sign up as a professional and then you'll get your discount in your mailbox. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoyed hearing what I use right after we talked to Lulu. Again, if I had to buy just three things from Artaro that I will always buy, it's the Mad X, the Protein Vital, and the Bear Comb. Hope that helps. speaker-0 (47:43.758) Thanks for listening and remember a poodle will change your life. As this episode comes to a close, I'd like to remind you that you can get in touch with me on Instagram at StrongContestant No O. You can email us at Poodle People Podcast at gmail.com, or you can visit my website at Scotch Corner Standardpoodles.com. I am also taking reservations for my next litter with Emma. So if you are interested in a poodle puppy, please get in touch. speaker-0 (48:26.648) Thanks for listening to this episode of Poodle People. See ya next week.