Tara O'Shea Keep Buffy's Bubbles Open

I am starting this fundraiser on behalf of my friend and past associate Tara O'Shea, whom I met seven years ago when she volunteered for a dog rescue I co-managed, Southpaws Express. She has since gone on, after a stint in the National Guard then working for doggie daycare and a grooming business, to found her own grooming shop, Buffy's Bubbles in Warwick, RI. Unfortunately, the challenges of starting a business were magnified when shortly after her business launched the Covid pandemic struck. In the time that followed she has gotten incrementally stuck behind the eight ball with debt she now needs to get out of in order to continue. Beyond our friendship, I want to help as I feel she has a business that is worth saving. During staffing crises, I have pinch hit in the shop for her and have been impressed seeing the dogs who come in really WANTING to be there, which for a grooming business is the best recommendation there can be. This is because Tara is so patient with them, gives them breaks whenever they require instead of rushing them through, and always gives them quality attention, cuddles and play. As someone who owns two coated breeds (Giant Schnauzers and Cocker Spaniels), I long ago resigned to grooming my own as grooming shops are so stressful. But this is not true at Buffy's Bubbles; the dogs are put before the almighty dollar and that shows in the smiles on their well-coiffed faces. Her regular customers appreciate her and drumming up business is not the issue. The challenge is getting out of debt so that she can afford to hire more help, enabling her to schedule more appointments and begin to thrive.

Tara is an industrious, hardworking, and extremely independent woman on her own since a teenager and she is bad at asking for help. An admirable trait until you find yourself too deep in the weeds, which is the situation she finds herself in now. It’s not due to any lack of self-sacrifice. During this time to maintain her business and get stable enough to hire employees (and perhaps gain some relief from the 80-hour weeks she works alone), she has sold her home, moved out of her subsequent apartment into temporary conditions to minimize expenses, returned her car to the bank and has been selling off personal items. Desperate actions, and her friends have encouraged her to do a fundraiser for a while now, but in recent times seeking help has become mandatory. She has heard from the RI Division of Taxation threatening to disrupt her business if payments are not made within 30 days. With no choice but to move forward with the fundraising, she has asked for my help due to the successful fundraisers I have done for dog rescue in the past.

Her emergency fund needs a total of $6,000 - $3,482 to the state and $2,600+ to the energy company. This will help her get out from under, hire help and take on more clients and get things moving in a positive direction. Ways to help are through donations to this fundraiser, purchasing great dog gear via her website at https://www.buffysbubblesllc.com/shop, or if you are local make use of her self wash service at the shop, and of course by sharing this fundraiser. What the future holds who knows, but what I can say is no one will work harder with any chance given to save her store and with how happy the dogs are to go there, it is a business worth fighting for.