Don’t be fooled by her charming Instagram feed. Jess Rona isn’t just an amazing dog groomer, she’s a dog grooming juggernaut. With 193,000 Instagram followers and a reality television show on HBO Max called “Haute Dog,” in which three aspirational groomers vie for the title of “Best in Show” and a $10,000 prize, Rona has combined her passion for grooming and acting into a successful brand.
Rona started grooming dogs to earn a living in between acting jobs. As an actor, she has appeared on New Girl (FOX), One Mississippi (Amazon Prime) and Hollywood Darlings (POP TV). As a filmmaker she also worked with Bissel to create a docu-style branded content series, and she has developed a cult following on social media for her signature musical slow-mo blowout videos of adorable canines. She’s even created a book, “Groomed,” in which she shares her memorable moments of grooming the pets of celebrities like Katy Perry.
A whirlwind of energy and creativity, you might be surprised that Rona’s even got time to groom dogs, and yet she does. We found her in her super kitsch shop at 656 North Larchmont Blvd., working to make all the neighborhood dogs look as glamorous as their celebrity counterparts when we stopped by this week to take a photo of her new sign and meet face to face (from a safe distance and appropriately masked).
“I want Larchmont to have the most gorgeous dogs in the city,” Rona told us. She had just signed her lease before the pandemic closed down nearly everything. But after completely remodeling the former antique shop space, she is now open for business, sign and all, offering a full range of grooming and spa treatments, and hoping to build up a practice for the talented team of groomers she’s assembled.
