Episode 51 – Greg Geckles

Do you work in the animal health industry or veterinary profession? Have you ever wondered how people began their careers and how they got to where they are today? Hi everyone. I’m Stacy Pursell, the founder and CEO of The VET Recruiter, the leading executive search and recruiting firm for the animal health industry and veterinary profession. I was the first recruiter to specialize in the animal health industry and veterinary profession in the United States, and built the first search firm to serve this unique niche. For the past 25+ years, I have built relationships with the industry’s top leaders and trailblazers. The People of Animal Health podcast highlights the incredible individuals I have connected with. Throughout my career, you will be able to learn more about their lives, careers, and contributions. With our wide range of expert guest, you’ll be sure to learn something new and every episode.

Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode. Welcome to The People of Animal Health podcast. Today we are joined by Greg Geckles, the newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer at DOGTV, the world’s first streaming platform designed specifically for dogs and their humans. With more than 25 years of experience in animal health, Greg has held leadership roles at Nationwide Pet Insurance, the Bridge Club, and more driving growth, innovation, and strategic partnerships. Now he’s bringing his expertise to DOGTV, leading revenue initiatives, and expanding its global impact. Join us as we dive into Greg’s journey, insights on the pet industry, and what’s next for DOGTV. Greg, welcome onto The People of Animal Health Podcast, and how are you today?

Oh, well thank you Stacy. It’s good to see you, and it’s… I’m having a great day, hope you are as well.

Well, Greg, we’ve known each other for many years. I’d love to start off at the beginning, what was your life like growing up, and where did you grow up?

Life was great. I was born in Kansas City, grew up in the Kansas City metro area. I lived there my whole life, went to college at the University of Kansas, and then began my career right there in the animal health corridor.

Well, Greg, how did you get into the animal health industry?

A bit of a funny story. I thought I was going to be a clinical psychologist when I first went to the University of Kansas, and after I was about done with my studies realized that was not going to be my future, and not what I wanted to do. So I went back to school, to journalism school there, studied advertising with the idea in mind that I would go on to be like Don Draper from Mad Men, and make Nike ads. But I stayed in the Kansas City area and the agencies there are really focused on animal health. It is the animal health corridor. So my first job, instead of making sexy Nike ads like I imagined, I had clients. My client was Boehringer Ingelheim, and I worked on the products Septelub and Lubiseptic for large animals. So that’s how I got my start. Was fortunate enough to work on several products, and then transition to Stevens & Associates where I had the chance to work on companion animal, and fell in love, and have never looked back.

Well, Greg, you have an extensive background in animal health and pet-related businesses. What drew you to DOGTV, and what excites you most about your new role?

I’ve known about DOGTV for quite a long time. Back before they actually had a streaming app available to make it available without a specific cable provider, and then I was a customer, and I saw the difference it made in my own dog, as far as just keeping him relaxed and chill. He really loved it, and so I became a believer in the products. And then when I began talking to Becky, our CEO, and learned about some of the exciting stuff that’s going on and just the changes that are happening right now overall in the media landscape as far as cord-cutting and streaming opportunities, it seems like just the right time. So I’m super excited about the future of DOGTV, and being able to help more pet parents.

Well, you’ve had leadership roles in pet insurance companies, and also in the Bridge Club. How has your experience in these different leadership roles shaped your approach to revenue growth and strategic partnerships at DOGTV?

I think probably the biggest thing that I’ve learned over the years is to spend enough time in evaluating the opportunities that you can find partnerships that have the lowest effort to execute for both parties, along with the highest return. There’s always opportunities out there. Some of them have much bigger upside and lots of promise and glory, but those usually come with a pretty extensive level of effort to execute, and a lot greater risk of not being able to execute it in the way to achieve those kind of lofty expectations. So finding that balance of risk and reward. And also really focusing on, especially for DOGTV, what’s the value to our partner?

Being on the opposite side where I had folks want to approach me quite a bit for various opportunities, especially in the pet insurance world, there were many times that you had to think about it like, is this really going to be, is this great for me or is this just great for them, and so they were trying to find a way to make it good for me? And so if it’s not an easily identified value for the partner, probably not the right one to spend the time on. Really make sure and spend your time where you’re going to have the greatest impact.

That makes sense. Well, DOGTV is a unique concept, TV designed specifically for dogs. How does DOGTV create content that truly engages and benefits pets and other companion animals?

Well, we actually have five patents on how we create the content. It is pretty amazing. So dogs are color-blind. They see in blue and green, and so one of the things we do is we alter the colors. And you would think that we would make everything blue and green, but what we actually do is we blow out red… And pardon me, blue and yellow, but we blow out the red and green. Because by pumping those colors up to a level that doesn’t look right to humans, it actually creates a greater contrast for dogs so they can actually see it, so it’s better for them. There’s also always motion on the screen because without motion, dogs will not pay attention to it.

The music that we compose has specific beats per minute that we make sure everything stays within, so tempo and various melodies are very important. And then sound frequencies, there’s certain sound frequencies that dogs respond to, and so all of those elements go into it. So there’s a lot of work that goes on in post-production, but that’s how we produce it. And the interesting part is we actually, it was studied at Tufts University then Purdue, and we’re actually working to repeat the Purdue study, go a little bit deeper. But what we found was in the dog study that actually reduced cortisol levels, so stress and anxiety can be reduced by a relaxation programming.

That is so interesting. Well, your role as Chief Revenue Officer involves expanding DOGTV’s market presence. What strategies do you plan to implement to drive growth both domestically and internationally?

Well, we’re going to focus on distribution opportunities that are most likely to meet dog owners at the moments that our current subscribers have told us that DOGTV has really helped them. So we get testimonials all the time from folks who will tell us, “Oh, my dog had terrible separation anxiety, and every time I’d leave, it became an issue. And then I found DOGTV, I turned it on, it’s really helped them, especially when I’m not around.” A lot of folks have told us in their return to office, they’ve adopted dogs during COVID. They’ve told us that in the return to office period, they’ve struggled because their dog struggled with separation anxiety, and DOGTV has been a great help to them. In veterinary medicine, I don’t think we’ve ever really been able to communicate with veterinarians to help them understand the benefits available to them, because there was just a little bit of a disconnect in how it could benefit them the most.

But really in addition to their clients who are struggling with dogs who have anxiety for all of their dogs, and I am specifically talking about dogs because this is DOGTV, not overall pet TV, but for their canine patients who have gone through surgery and are in a period of recovery, or those who may have a soft tissue injury and need to be on restricted exercise, limited movement, DOGTV’s, relaxation streams are incredibly valuable to help keep their pets, keep their patients comfortable in a good stress-free relaxed state. So that’s something that we’re really going to focus on this year. We’re looking at a few possible partnerships to help us spread that to pet owners and help veterinarians, communicate the benefit of using a tool like DOGTV as one of the pieces in helping those dogs recover.

Well, as more pet owners turn to technology for pet care solutions, how do you see DOGTV fitting into the larger pet industry landscape?

One of the things that we have is, I’m going to have to jump ahead and give away a little bit of what may be coming later. We’re about to launch our second channel. So DOGTV was always designed to be TV for dogs. That is our core, and we will always have that piece of the business. But instead of just DOGTV, we are now DOGTV Networks. We are on the cusp of launching our very first free ad-supported streaming television channel, which will be called DOGTV Unleashed.

And one of the programs that we’ve started development on that will be available on DOGTV Unleashed is called Things We Woof About. And we will be able to feature a lot of these great technology solutions that pet parents may be looking for on the Things We Woof About program. And that program is actually designed to be able to walk pet owners through the customer experience and what it’s like to, whether it’s purchase, or subscribe, or use any of these products that we find that we’re able to present.

Well, from your perspective, what are some of the biggest trends right now in the pet industry and how does DOGTV plan to innovate in response to some of these trends?

One of the biggest trends is the increase in cat ownership, which we do have Cat Week, which we produce once a year. I will say there are no plans to make DOGTV pet TV or cat TV. We are DOGTV, that’s going to be who we are, so we’re not going to deviate from that, but that is a big trend that I see.

I also see another trend that isn’t necessarily DOGTV, I don’t want to say related, but would be the move to feeding fresh diets. That’s one that’s been going on for quite a while and we’re seeing a lot more, or at least I’m seeing a lot more momentum behind that change over to fresh food diets. Fresh food, freeze-dried, kind of away from the traditional kibble. Those are probably the two big that, and we continue to see that an emphasis on adoption. I think as more millennials and Gen Zers continue to enter pet ownership, acquisition through adoption is going to continue to, I think accelerate. I think that’s going to be something that we’ll see more of in the future, and I certainly hope so.

Yeah, me too. Will you have successfully built strategic partnerships in previous roles? What kinds of partnerships do you think could be game changers for DOGTV?

I think the types of partnerships that could truly be a game changer for DOGTV, being able to partner with some of our telemedicine and telehealth providers. We know that they get telephone calls from pet parents that are struggling with pets that are experiencing anxiety, and to be able to use DOGTV as a tool would love to partner with them. It’s one where we can easily provide them with tools to allow dog owners to try DOGTV free and see if it’s a solution that can help them with their pet’s anxiety. We also have content that’s for exposure, so if your dog is very reactionary to say, doorbells ringing, we have content that pet parents can stream and use to be able to try to condition the dog to be less reactive to those kind of things. So I think telemedicine and telehealth partnerships would be great, because it’s a tool.

Since there’s no side effects, there’s nothing that really could go wrong. You’re not going to have an adverse event with DOGTV. It’s something that anybody could prescribe. You don’t have to have a license to say, “Hey, give this a try and see if this will help.” So I think that could be a tool in their arsenal, would love to have some additional partners work with us there in that part of the space.

Also, any other product or service that’s subscription-related, to be able to partner together and have DOGTV as part of that value add an added value for their consumers, especially one where we may be able to produce and deliver some content to help pet parents use other products better. Video is an incredible platform, and since we have it available, and not only can it help their dog but help educate them, I think that could be a real win-win as well.

That makes sense. Well, Greg, as someone who has worked across various facets of the pet industry, what advice would you give to businesses looking to tap into the booming pet market?

Research, research, research. I think one of the things that I’ve seen quite a few times throughout my career is an overestimation of a product’s ability to impact the overall pet industry. We see folks bring out the big numbers on how much money is spent on pets every year, but not every product is going to be good for every pet. And I think really understanding what your true market opportunity is would be the number one thing I would say.

So research really hard and understand what that true opportunity is, and also what avenues you will need to use to capture that market opportunity, and really understand the expense of using those avenues. I, the vet industry, it’s not inexpensive to enter the vet industry with a new product. People really need to understand that, and like I said, with pet owners, it is one where we see people throw around the big number on total pet spend a lot, and that’s not really the case. We need to be a little more realistic about what our market opportunities are.

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I don’t know that it’s necessarily a surprise, but just how warm and amazing the people in this industry are. Not only did I have a chance… You know, I’ve spent most of my career working in animal health, and there was a period of time as I was working in the ad agency business, that I had clients on the human health side as well. And I can tell you it’s a big contrast as far as the overall acceptance and support that you see in the two industries. I’ve never met anybody in veterinary medicine who isn’t warm and engaging and open and willing to help anybody, and I think that that’s one of the most remarkable things is it is something that I’ve appreciated for my entire career. If you need help and you ask, somebody will be there to help you.

I would agree. It’s so interesting. I was just sitting here thinking about, you and I both have journalism degrees. I also worked at an ad agency earlier in my career. You did too, we have that in common, and you just mentioned how warm and amazing the people are in this profession, and that’s the thing that drew me to this profession or industry back in 1997. I was placing executives in the consumer packaged goods space, and I got a search in this industry, and the people are what draw me here and have kept me here over all of these years. How have you seen the profession change over the years that you’ve been involved?

Oh my gosh. I think back, it was just in the conversation at VMX with some folks who have also been in the industry for a while, and we talked about the early days and of TNAVC, and the Marriott lobby bar, and how much business got done and you thought, wow, wait a minute. People actually did business in the bar after hours during the conference? And those were things that really happened. We saw, we have seen such massive consolidation of distributors, we’ve seen consolidation in the corporate hospital space. We’ve seen some big, sweeping changes, and of course, the changes amongst the pharmaceutical companies.

And I still remember when Bayer was one of the largest animal health pharmaceutical manufacturers there was and a huge presence, and now it’s kind of like, “Hey, who owns which products that Bayer sold off?” So it’s really changed so drastically, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. I mean, it is great that we’ve seen some of these changes. I know that they’ve been good for pet owners and good for veterinary practices. I just hope that they, as we continue to see the evolution of the industry, that we never lose that core of the people that made it up, and the type of people in the industry. I think that that’s the thing that I hope we never see change is just the good, well-intentioned nature of so many of the people in this industry.

I agree with you. What does your crystal ball say about the future of the veterinary profession?

Oh gosh. You know, I was asked this question last year at Global Pet Expo, and my crystal ball said we would see a mid-level practitioner, and we did. Colorado made that a reality last November. So I think we’re going to see more changes like that where we will see a reflection of things that have worked. I think we will be more open to looking at what’s worked in human medicine to see that happen in the veterinary industry. I think if some of the legislative work that’s going on right now opens up HSA accounts to cover things like veterinary care and pet insurance, that we will possibly see some big changes come in that space that will make it easier to pay for care. I think we’ll still see some more consolidation of corporate practices, but I also think we’re going to see a greater emphasis on new de novo corporate groups like Modern Animal and Pet Folk, and folks who are really taking a different approach to how they deliver care for their clients.

Yeah, I agree with you. We’re seeing a lot of the de novo model right now. Well, Greg, I want to pivot back to talking about your own personal career. What has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight through during your career?

Oh, gosh. I think it’s really being able to dream big. So many times… There are some partnerships and some efforts that I’ve pursued heavily in the past and I know can make a big change, and you’re swinging for the fences, and sometimes you strike out a lot, and you just got to get up and be able to keep swinging. And sometimes that’s not, I would say that’s probably the toughest when you feel like you just haven’t been able to make it, to just find the strength to try one more time. I think that’s really important. Never give up. Always know that someday you’ll be able to make the change that you expect.

And for me, being able to have a positive impact on pets and their owners and leave that as… When I finally call it a career and am able to enjoy the golden years, I want to be able to look back and say, “I made a difference.” And I think that’s… The only way you’re going to do that is if you just don’t give up and keep trying, keep swinging.

That’s so good. Well, we know that successful people have habits that help lead to their success. What are some of your daily habits that you believe have helped you to achieve success along the way?

I think probably the most important daily habit is to give yourself quiet time. There was a great book called Thinking, Fast and Slow, and sometimes I think thinking is underrated. You really need to give yourself time to be quiet. Let everything around you be quiet. Don’t… Turn everything off, don’t read. Maybe go outside, go for a walk, get some fresh air, but give your time to really think and just think through the various situations, and understand what you’re trying to achieve, and where your roadblocks may be. But we get really caught up in the needing to check boxes and move faster. And if we don’t take the time to slow down and think through what we’re doing, we don’t always do the right thing. So I would say daily habit, make sure and carve out time for yourself.

Yeah, that’s hard for some people to do. That comes up often in this busy, hectic world that we all live in. What are some strategies that you would give to people that are just so busy and haven’t been carving out time for themselves, or they’re not stopping to be quiet? What could you share with them?

I believe it’s important enough to treat it like if you were a consultant or a independent business owner, and treat your quiet time like a client. Schedule it, put it on your calendar, block it off, and don’t treat it as, “Oh, well, I can move that,” or, “Oh, well, I can cut into that, because that’s just my time.” Your time, that piece of time is really, really important. And if you make it the same time every day, then that also makes it easy because that’s just kind of your… Everybody, when you’re scheduling things or you post your calendar, if you’re never available from 12:00 to 12:45 every day, whether that’s your lunch break or your quiet time, and maybe it’s both, but make sure that you have that time where everything can kind of shut down and you can spend the time thinking.

You’re talking to me right now, because this is an area where I need to get better in.

Yeah. Well, it makes a big difference. It does.

What advice would you give the younger version of yourself?

Oh, take the risk. “The only thing that you have to regret are chances you didn’t take,” and I can’t remember who said that. It’s a great quote, but it’s so true. And I think the older I get, the more it rings true. And we all like to stay in a comfort zone, but yeah, take the risk and… Never be afraid of believing in yourself or betting on yourself. I’ve had the chance to do some consulting work on a couple different occasions, and it can make you nervous, but if you believe in yourself and you know can do it, it’s a wonderful thing, and you can surprise yourself sometimes with just what you’re able to do.

Well, there’s no growth in the comfort zone.

Oh, no, never.

Well, what message or principle do you wish you could teach everyone?

Oh, wow. We’ve heard it a lot recently, and I’ll just… Just, be kind. I think kind of going back to what I love about the animal health industry and the people inside it, you know, it is an industry filled with kind people. But in any industry and in all sorts of business dealings, not everything is going to go perfect, and things can be a little rough. But I think it’s always important to keep in mind that even though situations may not be ideal, if you always approach everything and everyone with a sense of kindness and keeping that, that “be kind” mantra at that front and center, you’ll never be unhappy with how you responded to a situation.

That’s a principle I learned from my mother as a young child. She said, “Kill them with kindness.” She says, “You can never go wrong with being kind.”

That’s right. She was a wise woman.

She is. Some of our guests say that they have had a key book that they read that really helped them to change their mindset and their approach to success. I know you already mentioned one book about Thinking, Fast and Slow. Are there any other key books that you’ve read that have had a tremendous impact on you? If so, I’d love to hear that story.

Actually, I’ve got a book that I keep nearby that it was a gift, and this was a Barnes and Noble Book of the Year, and the title is The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. It is a very simple read. You can read it in, the whole book in 30 minutes maybe, maybe an hour at the most if you read really slow.

It is not a book that’s going to give you answers to business questions, but we all know that EQ, emotional quotient is so important these days. And kind of going back to that, treat everyone with kindness, think about how you are interacting with people, how you’re approaching situations. It really is, it’s just one of those reset life-lesson little books that you can read quickly, and it kind of puts you in that right frame of mind so that way you can achieve the things that you want to achieve, but do them in a way that’s going to help everyone.

And it also is one that’s great if you’re having that moment of, a lot of folks run into the, what’s it called, imposter syndrome moments. And this is a great book to overcome that and realize just the impact that you can have. So without giving it all away, I’ll just say it’s a great one, whether you’re just wanting a pick me up, or a… It’s also a great gift. I think once you read it, you can’t help but feel good.

Such an interesting title. And the title of the book doesn’t really give away what the book is about, so I’m intrigued. I’m going to put it on my watch list.

Oh yeah. It’s fun and yeah, it is. It’s about a boy, a fox, a mole, and a horse, and the friendships among them. It’s great.

I love that book title. Well, Greg, you’ve got the mic. What is one thing that you want to share with our listeners of The People of Animal Health podcast before you drop the mic today?

I think the one thing that I would share is for anybody in the industry right now, I hope everybody has a sense of gratitude for being part of it. I know I’m grateful that I fell into it. I can’t imagine being in any other industry, and not everybody will be so lucky. So practicing gratitude, and just being thankful for the opportunity we have and the opportunity to make a difference, not just for pet owners, but especially for the pets in our lives. They are so important, and they’re the ones without a voice. So we have the opportunity to help them have the best life, and I can’t think of a better way to live. So, gratitude.

Practicing gratitude, and being grateful. So important. Such good advice. Well, Greg, thank you for being here with me on The People of Animal Health Podcast. I enjoyed having you as my guest today.

Well, thank you for having me. It was a great time, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

I look forward to seeing you soon, too. Bye-bye.