As a woman, as a respectful customer, as a human being - it is an incredibly sad day when someone feels such a blind privilege to violate and trespass over an individual's personal space and belittle them as if they were inferior.
Shelly not only belittled me, disrespected me, tried to embarrass me in front of his employees, but he completely violated my body and felt too comfortable touching someone he had only met twice and spoken to 3 times.
Shelly is incredibly disrespectful. I am ashamed I ever gave him and his organization any business. I know men like him all too well. If he can speak this way to an unsuspecting customer, then all my sympathies go out to current and past employees who have had to deal with his misogyny.
Let me start from the beginning. Saturday, April 3rd, at 10am, I walked into the Millstone Greenleaf facility. As I approached the reception desk, I noticed Shelly. He barely looked at me, didn't speak; simply turned his back to me and waved for me to follow him to the back training room.
I honestly wished I had taped the conversation. Thinking about it now as I write, it sounds like a scene from a movie. Shelly cut me off, wouldn't allow me to finish a sentence, and became more and more irate. His voice grew, his anger rose, and it felt like his sole mission went from the concern of the dog to making me feel small. Never in my life, as a concerned customer who has already put in over $2,800, have I been spoken to like this. Constantly being interrupted, belittled, talked to in such an aggressive tone to the point where I began to question if I should fear for my safety. All while the three male trainers, stood by, heads down in silence. Embarrassed does not begin to describe how I felt during those 20 minutes. And Shelly wasn't done!
He was so frustrated and appalled at the mere general questions I posed, that he decided to throw a tantrum. Even walking out of the training room to grab a copy of the contract I originally signed and wave it in my face. And at one point tried to manipulate the conversation and stated that I'd called him or implied that he was a liar. But I guess to a man like Shelly, anyone seeking a definitive answer and not the fluff he provides, is the enemy.
As calmly as I could, I told Shelly he couldn't speak to me with such disrespect. At that point I had no faith in him or his organization, and I did not feel safe. Yet, somehow he convinced me to stay for a training session with Trevor.
I left the first training session, feeling a mix of emotions. But deciding to push the thoughts and feelings aside to focus on the task at hand, I put my emotional blinders on and headed to a Starbucks about a 10minute drive from the facility to wait until my second training session with Trevor at 1pm that same day.
I brushed all thoughts of the uncomfortable interaction to the side. Giving Shelly and myself the benefit of the doubt and settling it to a miscommunication. At the end of the day we both wanted what was best for Thunder, and that's the thought I held on to.
As 1pm approached, I packed my things and Thunder into my car to began the drive back to Greenleaf. I walked into the facility and as I waited for Trevor by the reception desk, Shelly approaches me from the right hand side and makes his way around me until we're side-by-side facing each other.
With a smirk on his face he states "I hear the session went well". I shrugged and responded "Yeah it went ok".
What happened next is something I will resent and feel triggered by for a long time. Shelly, smirking, placed the palm of his hand on my cheek, patted my face twice, and then proceeded to further violate my personal space by trying to hug me.
In this moment, I'm frozen. Astonished by the audacity of this man.
Trying my very best to not cause a scene, being as calm as possible to not set off Thunder, I simply told Shelly, "Shelly, I just don't want you to get aggressive with me, because then I'll have to get aggressive back". He continued to smirk, shook his head and then walked away.
Trevor appears, I follow him to the back training room. We train for 40 minutes, but my mind is completely distracted by what just happened. Compounded by the lack of respect earlier in the day.
We end the session at the front of the facility. Towards the end of the session, Trevor recites a familiar script, "We'll stick with you until you see results, but there's a balance on your account and we can't move forward with any sessions until that balance is paid".
I felt sick, and numb at the same time. After being violated, embarrassed beyond belief, concerned for the safety of myself and Thunder - to be told I would not get any future help until I paid my remaining balance of less than $200... well, disgusted doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. I paid the remaining balance, a total of $184.78, got in my car, and as I began to drive away I broke down in tears. read more