UPDATE: oh my gosh! I did not expect such a huge response to this. Thank you all so much for your advice, support, and encouragement. I will do my best to get back to everyone, but I found a new gig less than 24 hours after quitting the position I posted about, so I’m very busy ATM! Better pay, better hours, with a full-time bather 👏 and only 20 minutes from my house.

ALSO: I am taking your advice to heart. Deeply. Our smallish town actually does not have a grooming salon, so I’m currently researching what would be needed to start a business here. I am opening my home to appts next week (since my new job allows me to operate as a contractor and create my own schedule - she is also okay with me keeping any clients that I bring to her salon via my own marketing, which is…amazing) in order to see if I can build a clientele in this area that would support an actual salon. I genuinely appreciate all of your input, validation of my decision, and expert support & advice. Thank you! ❤️

ORIGINAL POST: I started a new job a few months ago that promised 30% commissions plus tips, job ad stating $250-500 per day.

I was a groomer for a very long time. I did take a break for about 7 years, but I had 10 years under my belt. Vet care experience, as well, so a combined 15 years of experience handling & grooming animals.

This seemed too good to be true based on my experience, but it was mobile, and I’ve heard that it pays very well. I also researched mobile positions in this area after I saw that ad, and they all seemed to promise about the same, so I thought - why not?

I live about an hour away from the “office,” but my plan was that if it worked out, I would move closer. The area she lives in, where the van is parked, is a bit more expensive than where I am, but if I was really making that kind of money, it’d be worth sticking it out for a few months, driving two hours to and from work, and getting home extremely late to my kids until we could move over the summer. She was aware of this plan, I was very vocal about my intentions.

At first, it was wonderful and I was making exactly that. She only has one van, but I was getting 4-5 dogs a day on average, with a few 6 dog days in there. Great tips. 30% of paid services. She told me 30% went to her, and 40% to the business.

Then one day she sent me a text with an “oops! 🫣” and said she’d accidentally been overpaying me. She was supposed to be taking out some other business expenses before calculating my commissions. This would essentially remove about 10% of that commission (though she still considered it 30%).

Now I know that most mobile groomers charge a mobile fee to cover cost, but I’m pretty sure it’s not 10% of services rendered. I stuck around because I really liked the job, but it didn’t sit well.

I saw a pretty drastic decrease in pay.

I understand her position. I truly do. But it doesn’t make sense for me to continue to work there if it’s no longer a viable option for me to move closer due to not enough pay. The new pay is something I could make in a local salon weekly working normal hours instead of all the extra driving hours, etc.

So I brought this up to her today. And I hadn’t made my mind up yet what I wanted to do. But she said a couple things that really upset me.

“I went out on a limb to hire you knowing you lived far away.” “What do you expect me to pay, 100K a year?” She also mentioned potentially increasing my commissions again, but not to where they were initially.

So…like…I feel like I’m a pretty experienced groomer with a lot to bring to a company. She graduated her grooming course at the end of last year and bought a van, so I’ve got a bit under my belt to add to a company. Her clients rebooked me like crazy, and I heard, “they’ve never looked so good” on a very regular basis. It was nice to hear that and know I’d retained my skills.

So to feel like suddenly I’m a charity case instead of an experienced groomer who has been waking up at 5:30 every morning to get my kids off and get to her place by 7:30 and work 10-12 hour days, help grow her business, really upset me. I’ve been busting my ass for this person to help her create a lifestyle. I don’t want to work for someone who views me like that.

As for the 100K, that was never an expectation. However, she boasted about being able to make that kind of money with her company, and that’s where my initial pay was leading and would allow me to move closer so I could have a better work life balance. She also promised $250-500 per day in her job ad. And I signed a 30% commission contact.

As for the increased commissions, I think the first two statements soured me. She’d also already decreased my pay once, and I don’t want to work somewhere that I can’t trust to be stable.

So I quit. After those statements, I decided I would definitely quit, and I can find a local salon to work at where I may never make the kind of money she promised, but at least I’ll be close to my kids and not working insane hours.

But now I feel terrible. I feel like I’ve abandoned her. I know it was my choice to try this out. I did not put in a two week notice because the schedule is so intense, I won’t have time to look for another job while working the last two weeks. I feel like my time would be better served going door to door at salons and getting my completely neglected home back in order.

If I have to go back to remote corporate work to make the kind of money I need to survive and care for my kids, I will. But I truly do love grooming, and I really wanted this to work.

Am I in the wrong? Did I expect too much? I just can’t rest with this.