Board of directors

Chris Bear Anthony | Chair:

Chris Anthony, weary from her travails in retail management and office work, found her calling when she discovered pet grooming. Her near 20-year journey in this career has led her through many opportunities, experiences, & life lessons; including grooming and managing in both small and corporate salons and starting her own successful house call grooming business in New Jersey. Supplementing those life lessons by educating herself on the varying aspects of her career she always sought out innovations in pet care, education, grooming techniques, tools and products.

Now her passion for grooming & education has added more in-depth knowledge on scissors, scissoring techniques, ergonomics and self-care to help preserve her own health and longevity in her chosen profession. A born and raised Jersey Girl, she's shown her commitment to learning new skills by reluctantly learning how to pump her own gas and being slowly won over to the belief that Central Jersey may, possibly, in fact exist. She's now thrilled to combine her native state pride with her love of grooming, by being one of the founding members of the NJPPGA.

Amie Tolomeo | Vice Chair and Corresponding Secretary:

Amie began her career in the pet industry after graduating from Rutgers School of Biological & Environmental Sciences. Nearly 20 years later, she owns her own small salon in South Jersey, Rockin' Pups, after having worked in private, corporate, and mobile grooming settings. She has studied and is certified in Pet first aid and CPR, pet massage for relaxation, Creative Color for pets and has kept up to date with the latest in pet industry education for pet safety, care, nutrition, and of course, styles.

Amie has combined her experience with grassroots community activism with her love of the pet grooming industry to become a founding member of the New Jersey Professional Pet Groomers Alliance.

Jane Cagney | Recording Secretary:

Owner of TLC Mobile Pet grooming for 13 yrs. I have loved and owned animals all my life, dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, even cattle. I worked in various technical positions through out a 25 year career in the corporate world of Cosmetics & Fragrance Packaging. A life changing opportunity allowed me do what I most love, which is work with animals. I jumped at it and never looked back. I bought my grooming business from a woman who was retiring. I attended the North Jersey School of Grooming part time and spent time with the previous owner getting to know the clients. It was

Grooming came naturally to me. I have an eye for what looks good and strive to make every pet not only look good but feel good. I groom both dogs and cats. My business has become so popular I bought a second truck, have one employee, who I trained and even with that we have had a wait list for 3 yrs. I absolutely love what I do, and going forward strive to share my passion, business knowledge, and can do attitude with other groomers.

Amy Peller | Treasurer:

Amy is the owner of Wag & Shine Mobile Grooming. She is an accomplished business leader with over 20 years experience in business strategy, marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Before launching Wag & Shine, Amy held leadership positions on major consumer products brands, including Matchbox, Centrum, Advil, and Emergen-C.

Amy's interest in the pet grooming world came from her long-standing love of dogs and her own experiences and challenges finding the right groomer for her dog. Amy started Wag & Shine with the mission to make every grooming experience a happy one -- for dogs, for clients, and for the Wag & Shine team. In preparation for building Wag & Shine, Amy immersed herself fully in the grooming industry, training in grooming salons and attending trade shows and grooming workshops across the country.

In her free time, Amy enjoys the company of her Australian labradoodle, Benny Hana, who has his own career as a dog model and therapy dog. Amy has a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.