Ask us anything.

No experience is required. Most people start with their own pets and a real love for animals. Training begins with safe restraint, bathing and drying, and you work on real client dogs from week one with an instructor beside you.

Yes. The minimum age is 14. Students under 18 enrol with a parent or guardian's approval, and can train up to 18 hours a week during school terms and up to 40 hours a week outside them.

No. Grooming is a physical craft learned by repetition. It is not a degree with an age curve. What matters is whether you can stand for a stretch, stay calm with a dog that does not want to be handled, and show up. If you are unsure, ask on the call and the team will tell you the truth.

Talk to the team. The call exists for exactly that, and they would rather tell you honestly it is not a fit than enrol someone who quits in week three. You can also visit the salon and ask to speak to a graduate.

Almost everyone is bad at it for a while. Grooming is muscle memory, and muscle memory takes reps. That is what roughly 400 hours with an instructor beside you is for. The team will also be upfront on the call if they think grooming is not the right fit for you.

Someone from the team reaches out to book your call. The call is 30 to 45 minutes, phone or video, with real questions about where you are and what you want. You get the tuition figure and your options on the call. Bring your spouse or partner if you like, and you can ask to speak to a graduate. Then, if it is a fit, you can visit the salon in Greenville and enrol under a written agreement, usually within about thirty days.

30 to 45 minutes, by phone or video. The team asks real questions about where you are and what you want, walks you through the three routes, and gives you the tuition figure and options on the call. You can bring your spouse or partner, and you can ask to speak to a graduate.

Yes. Ask on the call and the team will arrange it where a graduate is available.

Yes. Visiting the salon in Greenville is optional, and recommended if you are unsure. It is a working business, open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Ask on the call and the team will set it up.

It is a five-month programme of roughly 400 hands-on hours, roughly 20 to 24 hours a week inside the salon's Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm hours. One week of make-up classes is built in at the end.

Yes, that is how it is built. Training is roughly 20 to 24 hours a week inside the salon's Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm hours, so most students keep their job while they train. The team will work out the week with you on the call.

There are two scheduled intakes a year, 1 November and 1 March, plus open enrolment between them based on salon capacity. Ask the team on the call what the next available start is.

You pick up where you left off. One week of make-up classes is built into the end of the five-month programme.

Yes. Training happens inside a working Greenville salon on real client dogs, not mannequins or practice rooms. You are hands-on with a real dog from week one, and you are measured against professional salon standards, the quality paying clients expect when they come back every six weeks.

Charles and Vicki Haynes, who have owned Sunnyside Grooming Salon since March 2018. Charles runs the business and Vicki is the lead groomer. They have 36 years of grooming between them and both still groom weekly. When you train here, the people teaching you are the people whose name is on the door.

Online courses cannot put a clipper in your hand with a live dog on the table. Sunnyside trains you inside a working salon on real client dogs, with an instructor beside you instead of delayed video feedback, tools included instead of buy-your-own, a certification for the hours completed instead of a certificate of completion, and a salon you can walk into instead of a website.

Moving up a route partway through may be possible, on terms agreed in writing. Ask the team.

Roughly 400 hours of hands-on training over five months, a certification for the hours you completed at Sunnyside Grooming Academy, and a professional toolkit worth about $2,100 that is included and yours to keep. Route Two adds career support and Route Three adds the fundamentals of working for yourself.

On completion you receive a certification for the hours you completed at Sunnyside Grooming Academy. It is not an accredited, licensed or state-approved credential, and it is not a professional licence. It is issued by Sunnyside Grooming Salon LLC. Requirements vary by state.

Requirements vary by state, and rules change, so confirm with the relevant South Carolina authorities. Our certification is for the hours completed; it is not a professional licence or a state-approved credential. Many salons hire based on skill and hands-on hours.

We do not promise a job, an income, or a business of your own, and we are not going to quote you a placement statistic. Individual results depend on the individual. What we can say is that you finish with real skill, real hours and a certification for the hours completed. Route Two, Career Launch, adds a career roadmap, resume and professional profile, portfolio and interview preparation, employer introductions where opportunities are available, and a defined period of post-graduation support. It is not a placement guarantee.

No. Route Three, Independent Groomer, covers pricing and service strategy, client acquisition, local marketing, personal branding, reviews, referrals, rebooking and retention, and scheduling, capacity and business economics. It is not a salon-opening programme. Opening a physical location is a separate undertaking that realistically requires substantial additional capital.

The hours are hands-on animal handling, which is the same core skill underneath a few different animal jobs. We do not promise any particular career outcome.

Tuition varies by route and is discussed on the call, never published. You get the tuition figure and your options on a 30 to 45 minute call with the team. There is no cost and no obligation for the call.

Yes. Payment plans are available, and the terms are covered on the call. The initial payment is non-refundable once made, and there is no trial period.

The initial payment is non-refundable once made, and there is no trial period. That is why the call, and an optional visit to the salon, come before you sign anything. Enrolment is under a written agreement.

Yes. A professional toolkit is included and yours to keep: professional clippers, blades and guard combs, straight shears, thinning shears, a slicker brush, a steel comb, a high-velocity dryer and a nail grinder. It is worth about $2,100 and you train on it from day one.

Training happens at Sunnyside Grooming Salon, 518 Hunts Bridge Rd, Greenville, SC 29617, phone (864) 252-4890. Sunnyside also runs a salon at 10 Reid School Rd, Taylors, SC 29687, phone (864) 236-1510, but the hands-on academy is in Greenville.

The Greenville salon is a straightforward drive from much of the Upstate, including Greer, Travelers Rest and Taylors. You need to be within reach of Greenville roughly 20 to 24 hours a week. The team can talk through your commute on a call.

Call (864) 252-4890, email sunnysidegroomingsalon@gmail.com, or use the form on the Apply page. The academy is at 518 Hunts Bridge Rd, Greenville, SC 29617.

The salon is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Training happens inside those hours.

We're enrolling now through January 1 for the March 1 intake. Seats are capped so every student gets real chair time with an instructor beside them, and the March intake fills from January onward. If you want a seat, the call is the next step.

Yes. Enroll by January 1 and you get current tuition locked for the March 1 intake, first pick of your training days (Tue to Sat), and an extended period of post-graduation support. Tuition itself is the same for everyone; the bonuses add to it. Bonuses apply to enrollments agreed in writing by the deadline and are confirmed in writing on the call.

Yes. When someone you refer enrolls, you both receive a referral credit toward tuition. Mention their name on the call, or have them mention yours, and the team handles the rest. Details are covered on the call.