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groomer<strong>to</strong>groomer.com<br />
8<br />
Irina Pinkusevich<br />
T here’s no s<strong>to</strong>pping Irina<br />
Pinkusevich when she<br />
sets a goal for herself. This<br />
enthusiastic, little dynamo thrives<br />
on challenge and really performs<br />
under pressure. She has worked<br />
her way in<strong>to</strong> the winners circle<br />
and she plans <strong>to</strong> stay there.<br />
Irina was born and raised in the<br />
Ukraine. She came <strong>to</strong> the United<br />
States as a teenager. Irina’s first big<br />
challenge was overcoming a language<br />
barrier. When she arrived she did not<br />
know a single word of English. Irina<br />
learned the language, then studied,<br />
<strong>Groomer</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Groomer</strong> • Vol 28 Ed. 9 • Jan/Feb 2009<br />
2008 Winners Circle Champion<br />
By Kathy Hosler<br />
worked, and went on <strong>to</strong> become an<br />
American citizen.<br />
While Irina was going <strong>to</strong> college,<br />
she got a part-time job as a bather/<br />
fluffer <strong>to</strong> help support herself. One<br />
day Irina’s boss got very sick and<br />
couldn’t work, so eighteen year old<br />
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Irina groomed all the dogs by herself.<br />
That first day of solo grooming<br />
was surely a trial by fire for the<br />
young Irina, but she was determined<br />
<strong>to</strong> do the best job that she could.<br />
“When I face a challenge,” says<br />
Continued on page 53
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