When you work with dogs, there is a path that is
forged for you. You're supposed to keep your head
down, work hard, showcase your work, and eventually an
old person will tell you that you're good enough.
I thought, is this it?
Is this what I'm going to do forever, you know?
How did other people create a career for themselves that
lasts long after they passed away?
I decided to reinvent the way we groom our dogs.
I am Gabriel Feitosa.
I am 31 years old.
I'm the owner of Gabriel Feitosa Grooming Salon in
San Diego, California.
And my shop brought in $1.3 million last year.
We groom about 20 dogs a day, which is, say, 120 dogs
a week. I'm really bad at math.
So it's going to be like, what, 500 dogs a month?
Most of the dogs that come to the shop, they're not all
leopards and giraffes.
Most of them are regular haircuts.
We make about 20 transformational grooms a
month, I think.
Just make her different than any you've ever made.
Oh, yes, for sure.
All of the dogs, even if I do ten tigers, they're all
different tigers.
But I like a cutie mark.
What is mark?
Like? Like a little heart.
Oh, yeah. We can do it.
We can do that. So we decided that she's going to
have a pink and white inspired design.
So this design costs about $800.
It has carving and sculpting from head to toe.
So his name is Rusty.
He's going to be half leopard and half tiger.
So this process, I'm creating a print or two
animal prints. The most challenging part is that we
need to be precise.
The clients that want the transformations, they have
all their unique stories.
Sometimes it's because it's an event coming up.
I've done dogs for children with disabilities.
We've done therapy dogs that visit hospitals.
We've done people that just want to look really cool
with their dogs because everybody has their reason
and people fly from everywhere to get their dog
done. What I do brings so much joy into people's lives
and into dogs lives as well, and I have found a
purpose for it. You know, it seems like the kind of
thing that it just looks fancy and it's unnecessary.
But, the amount of smiles that you put on people that
are walking by and just see one of those dogs, I think
is a kind of experience that you don't forget.
The rent is one of the most expensive parts.
Product can get expensive.
Also, luckily, I'm sponsored by a lot of
brands, so that cuts down my cost a lot.
Having employees in California is really
expensive as well.
I have all the renovations that I've been doing.
Honestly, I invest most of my money right back into the
business. I feel like I created a safe space where
people come here and they just feel good, you know,
doing what they love. I grew up in Brazil.
I grew up in the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
Yeah, my family didn't have much and I kind of like fell
into dogs when I was about 12 years old.
I remember taking my sister's dog to the grooming
shop and I just thought, well, that lady did amazing.
I was like, wow, she played with dogs all day and make
money and I just got obsessed.
My family used to say that I didn't have passions.
I had obsessions.
I started grooming them and going every day for school.
My mom had disappeared for a while.
My dad had alcohol problems and I just thought that
spending that time with the dogs was magical.
It was also like escape from the reality that I was
living at the time. I think when I saw all the shapes
and sizes, all the different breeds, they
looked like different living sculptures and they
have so much warmth and heart inside, you know,
they're so kind.
Eventually, I dropped out of school to pursue dog
grooming.
I think I was making maybe $1,500-$2,000 a month before
I opened the business.
And when I opened the business, it didn't get much
better. If anything, I think it got a little bit
worse. Slowly, that increased.
It was really scary because I didn't know what to do.
I only had the room in the back.
I was like, you know what? I'm going to take over this
whole building. I didn't know if the people would
come. It was very challenging
to renovate this space.
Hiring people was a big challenge also.
I had no idea that I had to deal with creating a team,
making sure everybody likes each other and everybody
gets along. But I definitely was still living
paycheck to paycheck. I was always making sure I would
get the money, pay the bills and see how much is
left. And I started seeing how it brought joy to
people. I never imagined going from the slums of Sao
Paulo to Hollywood being on prime television.
But when I got to the show, I had this challenge that
was to transform your dog into another animal.
And I made my dog into a goldfish.
And that was the moment that I knew.
The hair dye has been going on forever.
It wasn't something that I created. There have been
creative grooming competitions for decades
now. I'm just doing it in a way that everybody can have
it. I think last year, which was 2022, was the year
that I actually saw things happening.
I think the money and the success is a consequence of
following your passion and your purpose.
If grooming dogs is the most random thing, but
that's what you love doing and you do it to the fullest
and the hardest you can, that can actually happen.
You know, I came to the U.S .
with two scissors and a clipper.
This salon is a dream for me.
I always wanted to work in a place where I felt
acknowledged as an artist and a professional.
Now I have a place and I can show the world that this
is also possible.