Whiz Kid: Haley Liem Grooms Dogs, Designs Rooms and Gets Paid in Sunglasses

Each week, the Whiz Kid column spotlights an accomplishment of a student or student group. This week, we feature Haley Liem, an Oakland Township student who will be a senior at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Pontiac this fall. Liem is an aspiring interior designer who recently started her own dog grooming business.

Haley Liem

School: Notre Dame Preparatory School

Accomplishment: Liem, 17, is especially talented when it comes to interior design and merchandising and has designed several displays at Oakland Optometry in Oakland Township. She also has her own dog grooming and petsitting business.

Key to Awesomeness: The 17-year-old Oakland Township resident's hobbies range from dog grooming and interior design to sewing and riding horses.

As an animal lover, Liem has volunteered at Animal Sanctuary Rescue, and she apprenticed in dog grooming at the in Oakland Township. She has also worked for the Wet Noses Pet Camp in Rochester, and this year, she joined the Notre Dame Preperatory School Equestrian Club.

"When I turn 18, I want to volunteer for Leader Dogs," she added.

Her forte, however, is interior design.

"I love design," said Liem, who is heavily influenced by her godmother, also an interior designer. "I'm always moving around furniture," she joked.

Liem is already putting her skills to good use by designing several displays inside Oakland Optometry in Oakland Township.

Liem first designed a display at the clinic as part of a design class she took while attending last year. Her skills were quickly recognized, and practice co-owner Ann Marie Roy has since invited Liem back regularly to update the store's displays.

Liem changes out the displays seasonally using items from her own home, things she has found at the dollar store and items from around the store. Though she may not be paid in money, Liem said she is sometimes "paid in sunglasses."

And if interior design doesn't pan out, Liem says she has a backup plan.

"I'd like to open a doggy daycare someday," she said.

Last month, Liem began operating Petsitting & Grooming by Haley out of her mother's Oakland Township home. For more information, call Haley at 248-891-4261.

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

Each week, Oakland Township Patch seeks suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens, and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to editor Jen Anesi. Be sure to include all of the following information:

• Nominator's name
• Whiz Kid's name and age
• Whiz Kid's school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• Whiz Kid's key to awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)