Jess Rona did not plan to become the person who made slow motion dog hair a cultural moment.
But she did. Because that is Jess.
She spent her twenties grooming dogs by day and doing improv at night. Both required reading a room. Both required timing. Both turned out to be the same skill set in a different costume.
She did not choose the dog life. The dog life chose her. And then she directed a music video about it.
The slow-motion blowout videos started as a creative experiment. The internet had bigger plans.
“If there were an award for best slow motion music video of fashionably groomed dogs on Instagram, Jess Rona would win it, hands down.”
-Hollywood Reporter
There is no award for that yet. We are all waiting.
Today, Jess is the groomer everyone in the industry knows and everyone with a floofy family member trusts. Her celebrity clientele includes some of the most recognizable names in Los Angeles. Her brand, Shmoop, exists because she refused to put anything near a dog's coat that she did not fully believe in. That is not a business decision. That is conviction with a very good conditioner.
Brands including Apple, Netflix, Valentino, Paul Mitchell, Ouai, Hilton, Casper, and several others have tapped her to create original content because nobody else does what she does.
She directed a music video for Tegan and Sara, guest-starred on New Girl and Drunk History, and executive-produced Haute Dog on HBO Max. The range is real.
Her masterclasses are the thing groomers keep coming back for. From first year to seasoned pro, they describe it the same way: finally closing the gap between what they could see in their head and what showed up in their work.
When she is not making dogs famous on the internet, she is at her brick-and-mortar salon on Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, or at home with her husband, Eric Edelstein, and two senior rescue dogs living their absolute best groomed lives.
Pawsome Press
