With her keen visual sensibility and artistic nature, Vivian Nash, a professional stylist since 1973, has long sought to set standards of excellence in the grooming industry. As CEO of the Nash Academy, the rigorous curriculum she designed creates graduates at the pinnacle of their profession. She has been responsible for the creation of the first international student and instructor exchange programs in the pet grooming industry between the Nash Academy and the prestigious Sepia School of Japan. She continues to travel to introduce the Nash System of education and to organize exchange programs with schools around the world. 

She has similarly sought to standardize and democratize grooming competitions worldwide by developing the first judging manuals for dog grooming competitions, the International Judges Association in 1998, which remains the leader in judging the most prestigious grooming competitions in the world. 

Vivian has originated and championed grooming methods which always put compassionate, kind and safe treatment of all pets first and foremost, and the Nash Academy curriculum focuses on the love of dogs as much as it seeks to develop the creativity and artistic expression inherent in dog grooming. 

In 2004, Vivian revolutionized the teaching of dog grooming by putting the renowned Nash Academy courses online, so that aspiring groomers could begin their educations at home, learning the theory behind the practice of the famous Nash methods, before attending hands-on classes at the Nash Academy. In 2008, she introduced two online reference databases which will further revolutionize the industry: the Canine Reference and the Groomers Reference, putting information concerning everything you need or want to know about the various breeds of dogs, including the bathing, grooming and styling of dogs, at your fingertips.

Internationally recognized for her grooming skills, Vivian has won international competitions and has been an international grooming judge for two decades. She has won Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award for Judge of the Year and nominated for judge of the year at Barkleigh Honors. 

Her informed belief in the importance of education led the Governor of Kentucky to appoint her to the State Board for Proprietary Education in that state, a position she held for more than 9 years. She is one of the most sought after speakers at industry conferences, known for her vast knowledge of grooming technique and her endless enthusiasm. She is also the "queen of scissoring," and teaches her innovative scissoring expertise at seminars as well. Love of the dog, however, defines and informs all that Vivian does in the grooming industry, and her ongoing desire to revolutionize now includes the development of new curriculum to help both experienced groomers and aspiring ones deal with the issue of state licensing of groomers, clearly the wave of the future in the grooming industry.