Episode #59 – Dr. Jennifer Merlo

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 plus years, I have built relationships with the industry’s top leaders and trailblazers. The People of Animal Health Podcast highlights 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 guests. You’ll be sure to learn something new in every episode. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode.

Welcome to The People of Animal Health Podcast. Today, we are joined by Dr. Jennifer Merlo, vice president of veterinary affairs for Fear Free. With a rich background in veterinary medicine, Dr. Merlo’s journey spans equine medicine, small animal practice, emergency care and practice ownership. A passionate advocate for fear-free veterinary care since 2016, she became an elite certified Fear Free veterinarian and owned North Carolina’s first Fear Free certified practice. Now, she’s dedicated to expanding Fear Free’s impact across the profession. Join us as we explore her inspiring career insights on reducing pet stress and her vision for the future of veterinary care. Jennifer, welcome on to The People of Animal Health Podcast. Thank you for being here today.

Thank you for having me, Stacy. I’ve been so excited to be on here and have this conversation with you.

I have been looking forward to it as well, Jennifer, and I would love to start off at the beginning. What was your life like growing up and where did you grow up?

Yeah, great question. So the team will always remind me of this. I am a born and bred Jersey girl, so they like to call me Jersey Shore Jen, only when my attitude matches that connotation of being from the Jersey Shore. So I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey. Unlike some of your other podcast guests recently, I didn’t grow up on a farm or have a great rural background story, just grew up in a middle-class home, but knew that this was the path that I was going to take. I was around animals, but didn’t raise any of my own or anything like that. I wish I had a great story like I was a 4-H kid or did something really cool with some backyard animals, but just was a girl who had some dogs growing up and learned to love animals at an early age. My parents will joke, they’ll tell you all kids have a imaginary friend growing up. My imaginary friend was a horse and its name was Black Beauty, and they knew from a young age that I was going to do something with animals in my life.

Well, when and why did you decide to become a veterinarian?

I was one of those very stereotypical girls that at the age of five decided I wanted to be a veterinarian for an unknown reason. Again, I don’t remember having a specific instance or a story or something that happened to an animal that I owned. It just was something when I was young, I loved being around animals. I just was drawn to them and so it made sense that I wanted to be a veterinarian. And I think it’s very classic. Every girl at some point in their life is like, “I’m going to be a veterinarian when I grow up.” I just never wavered from that, and that was the light at the end of the tunnel since I was five years old.

Wow. Well, your journey in veterinary medicine has taken you from equine medicine to small animal general practice, and now to your leadership role at Fear Free. What inspired you to shift your focus toward Fear Free veterinary care?

Yeah, that’s a great question. I actually just wrote an article for the webinar around this exact topic recently, and my journey towards Fear Free care really took off partway through my time as a general practitioner in small animal practice. And I hit that proverbial burnout period about 12 years out of that school. And I remember so distinctly walking into the treatment room at the clinic I was working at, which was a great clinic, we practice really high quality medicine, super awesome doctors and staff, but at that time, we just didn’t really know a whole lot about the emotional well-being of pets, or at least we weren’t focused on it. And I remember walking through the treatment room and seeing that very classic image of a couple of my technicians holding a chocolate Lab down to get his nails trimmed, and that dog was in the throes of panic, just flailing and losing control of his bladder and anal glands and just the whole, everybody, that typical moment that you’re like, wow, what are we doing here?

That’s stressful.

Yes, I remember taking that step back and being like, that’s why I’m feeling burnt out, because that’s not fun. Who wants to go to work every day when the patients that you’re working on don’t want to come and see you, when people are having to make their pets come in and it’s stressful and nobody’s enjoying it. And I really felt like that was the key to my burnout was that moment right there of I don’t want to do this if this is what it’s going to be going forward. And I had always been that kind of practitioner that sat on the floor and maybe did things a little bit differently. I just never had a name for it at that point. And it was right around then that incident happened. I started to really hone in on why I was feeling the way I was feeling, and then Fear Free launched in 2016, and I was like, there it is. There’s the better way. I know what it is now and now I have a name for it and now I can really have some scientific backing of it.

And I just started to be like, every pet should be treated this way. I think being a mom, I know you’re a mom also really brought that down in me. When I had my daughter, it started to really resonate in my head of gosh, I would never go to the pediatrician and just hand my child over to them and be like, “Sure, sure. Just take them to the back and do whatever you need to do and I’ll wait out there.” And that’s not the type of care I would want for my child. Why would I expect that to be different for my pet who are family members? And as, I know Dr. Becker brought it up when he was on the podcast with you, people view pets as family members, as life partners, as children, so why are we not doing the same for our pets? And so, it all started going together, started really just investing in Fear Free, and then it just became a huge passion of mine moving forward.

Such a great visual of taking your kid to the pediatrician and taking him to the back. That would never happen. What mom would do that? Great points. Well, Fear Free has been a game changer in the veterinary profession. Can you explain the core philosophy behind it and why it’s so important for both pets and veterinary professionals?

Yeah, the core philosophy is really simple. I tell people we want to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress, and we want to change the way pets encounter care, whether it’s veterinary care, it’s going to the groomer, it’s going to daycare and boarding or even just in their homes with their pet owners, pet parents, we want to just reduce that fear, anxiety and stress that they encounter all the time. And for so long, I think the veterinary profession, and I only can speak about that because that’s what I know best. We really developed things based on what we needed and maybe what the clients needed. And we didn’t always take a look at it from the aspect of what the pets want or what the pets needed or how they were feeling. We know that emotional well-being is so important for physical well-being. We know that for ourselves. We know we need to take better care of ourselves. Mental health is important, making sure that we’re not stressed and all of those things, and it’s just as important for our pets. We just never really honed in on it.

So it’s really bringing that to the same measure as what we’ve been doing for quality medical care. It’s also quality emotional care for those pets. And we know that when we bring those two together, pets are living happier lives, they’re living longer lives, we’re able to do our jobs better. We feel better about our jobs. Across the board, across the pet health industry, pet care industry, we know that this industry is tough. If we can do it in a way that makes it more enjoyable for the pets, for the pet owners, it inherently then becomes more enjoyable for ourselves.

And Jennifer, you own the first Fear Free certified practice in North Carolina. What challenges did you face in implementing the Fear Free approach and what impact did you see on both pets and their owners?

I was lucky because when I got that bug in me with Fear Free and then I decided to open my own practice, I knew from the get-go we’re going to open a practice, it’s going to be a Fear Free practice, we’re going to strive for Fear Free practice certification and we were lucky enough to achieve that. So I was able to set the tone from the beginning. I think the biggest challenge I faced when trying to put that into practice was overcoming the ideals or the thoughts that people had of what veterinary care should be, and that was how we marketed ourselves. We said, “Come see the difference in veterinary care,” because we set up our practice to even look different. It looked like a living room when you came in. We had couches and toys for the dogs and we had cat trees everywhere and music playing, and it was just enjoyable.

But what I had to overcome was what clients had come to expect maybe elsewhere. So they were used to a get it done approach or something, their pet being removed from them and going to the “back.” And so, now we were doing everything in front of them. That was something that was new for them. They enjoyed it, but at first they were like, “Oh, this is unusual.” And when you would ask someone, “Well, how have they done at the vet before?” I don’t know. They always just take them away from me. I don’t know. So it was changing that mindset of you can be with your pet, it can be a positive experience. We’re not going to rush through. I’m not going to pressure your pet into doing this, and so maybe we don’t get that Bordetella vaccine today. I know it’s super important to you as the owner to get that, but your pet is too stressed and here’s why we need to hold off and have you come back another day.

I would say 99% of our clients loves that approach. You’re always going to have the one that’s like, “Not for me,” and then it makes it easy because then they’re not for us. They’re not the type of client that we wanted at that point in time. But what I saw mostly was a lot of clients who appreciated it and they were like, “Wow, this is so different. This is so much better. My pets never wanted to come to something like this.” We opened up our hospital and said, “Come into the treatment area. Do you want to come and watch the surgery?” We’ll say, “Yeah, you can come and watch. You can come and be involved in as much as you would like to be involved in.”

It was like a novel concept that there wasn’t this veil between them and the doctors and what was happening. So it was like this open communication. We were more of a team making decisions for their pets, and most of our clients loved it. The staff loved it. They liked coming into work and being able to advocate for their patients and say, “Hey, Dr. Jen, Fluffy’s really stressed. I don’t think we’re going to get much done with her today. Are you okay if I recommend that she come back on a different day?” They felt that energy to be able to really be a part of the healthcare team for those pets. And I think it just made for us so much a better experience for everybody that was there.

Well, how has Fear Free evolved since its inception, and what new initiatives or advancements can we expect to see in the future?

Yeah, I think we’ve really expanded our scope, not only here in the States with how many different parts of the pet care industry that we’re impacting. Like you mentioned, we started in the veterinary sector, but now as you talked about with Dr. Becker, we’ve expanded groomers, trainers, petsitters, boarding in daycare, shelters. Dr. Becker is looking at what other ways can we expand? There’s so many other parts of the veterinary industry that we can have an impact on, and he works very closely with Temple Grandin. We’re thinking about what can we do there and expand that way. And we’ve expanded internationally, which is always very exciting when you’re starting to get people and practices in different parts of the world that are embracing this and hearing the impact that it’s had in those cultures and in the veterinary care there is so incredible.

I think what’s really exciting is that while we’ve done all of those amazing things, because Fear Free has had so many big opportunities, what we’re doing now is coming back and saying, “Okay, we’ve expanded. We’re reaching so many people. How can we reinforce what we’re doing and make it even better?” And so, we’re really focusing on education, which is what we started off wanting to do, was to inspire and educate people. And so, part of what we’re really focusing on in 2025 and moving forward into 2026 is we want to be the place that people come not only to become Fear Free certified, but become Fear Free members because they learn so much from our educational offerings that it makes them better pet care professionals and veterinary professionals. We want to be that place that they’re like, “Oh, I wonder what’s happening in the world of behavior. I wonder what things are changing that I should be doing for my patients. I need to go and check out Fear Free and see what education they’re offering, what additional courses I can do to make myself a better professional.”

That makes sense. And I know that some veterinary professionals may be interested in adopting Fear Free practices, but maybe they feel overwhelmed by the transition. What advice would you give to veterinarians or hospital owners who are considering making the shift?

Yeah, I love that question. We get that a lot, especially as when I started with Fear Free, I was leading the practice certification department, and my role has morphed over time, but I’m still very involved with that team and impacting implementation within hospitals. And that’s a question we get all the time, whether it’s from individuals or practices as a whole, is we want to do it, it just seems like so much. Change is scary and it can be overwhelming, and there’s so many processes and steps and things to consider. And I always tell people, start with one small thing. People sometimes get so focused on, we have to do all the things to be Fear Free. Do one small thing. Choose one thing out of the list of things that we recommend.

Maybe it’s we’re just going to start talking to owners about the body language of their pets. And then, you talk with your staff and you say, “Okay, let’s have a goal that we’re going to have 10 conversations this week of things that we’re noticing, and then we’re going to come back as a team and we’re going to discuss what we noticed on those pets, and we’re going to come up with some brainstorms on what we can do differently.” Maybe it’s that you just start to incorporate treats in some of your procedures. Maybe it’s just that you start to do procedures in the exam room and you’re not taking them out of the exam room into the back.

Just start with something small, achievable that’s going to give you a win so that you get that dopamine kick. You get that adrenaline of like, this is going well, let’s do the next thing. And I always tell people, if you’re not doing anything Fear Free right now and you add in one thing or you try two things, that’s one or two things more than you were doing previously. So that’s a small benefit to those patients that they weren’t getting last time. And then, you build upon that. It doesn’t have to be this all or nothing approach to doing all the things all at once.

That makes sense. And I like that advice. Just take one small thing and implement that, and then when you’ve got that down, start with the next thing and then it is not as overwhelming. Well, Jennifer, your background includes experience in equine medicine, emergency care, and practice ownership. How have these diverse experiences shaped your approach to leadership at Fear Free?

Well, one thing I really learned from all of those different experiences, well, two things I should say. One is communication. I’ve learned a lot throughout my different aspects of my career and how to communicate with different types of people. When I was in equine medicine, when I started off, it was a very male-heavy industry. It still is to a point, but I was working with some show horses and high-end race horses where it was a very male-dominated world. And here I was, this new grad little girl and had to learn how to speak their language and be able to stand up for myself and show that I knew what I was talking about.

Go into emergency medicine, that’s a whole different ballgame of how you have to communicate with people, because you’re sometimes dealing with some big scary things, sometimes some really bad news. You have to learn quickly how to talk to people with empathy and really be understanding and compassionate, and then practice ownership, all of those things all together. You are in charge, but you have a team that you’re leading. You’re also a doctor at the same time. So there were so many different aspects. So I learned really quickly and diversely how to communicate with people that I think I fully think that good communication skills are essential for a leader to be able to work with their team.

The other thing I learned was meeting people where they’re at. Not everybody has the same skill set. Not everybody comes from the same background. Not everybody comes with the same resources. And this is something I really learned in emergency medicine, and I really embraced and took wholeheartedly through the rest of my career even to where I am now. And it’s something that I strive for. Even with Fear Free as a company as a whole, we want to meet people where they’re at. Not every veterinary care looks the same. Not every grooming place looks the same. Not everybody, again, has the same resources or can do the same changes. So it’s how do we meet people where they’re at?

And I do the same thing when I’m leading my teams at Fear Free. Talk to me about what’s going on. How can I support you? What do you need to rise to do your job to the best of your ability, and what positions are the best fit for your skills? I hate to see when people are put in positions that they were never skilled enough to be in, and then they’re just, they’re not succeeding, they’re not flourishing, and you’re like, “Okay, that’s on me because I didn’t realize where you’re at and where you should be.” And so, I really try to take all of those things into account when I’m meeting with my teams, when I’m leading the team, when I’m meeting with other leaders to discuss strategic ideas, strategic planning. How do we communicate these things? How do we meet people where they’re out? How do we work together as a team to accomplish the goals that we want?

Yeah, I like that, because every situation and every individual is different, so I like meeting people where they’re at. Well, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about Fear Free veterinary care and how can professionals and pet owners better understand its benefits?

So I kind of touched on this a little bit. I think the idea that it’s all or nothing, that and if you’re not doing all the Fear Free things, then you’re not doing anything Fear Free. And again, I think it’s small little changes that can be made daily in practice, in a pet’s home, in a pet care facility that can make a big difference. Sometimes it’s the smallest changes that make the biggest difference. I also laugh because I think a lot of people envision Fear Free, and I often joke when I give lectures on it, I’m like, “People, imagine we’re in an exam room and there’s a dog just loose doing its thing, and somebody’s standing there with a treat and they’re like, if you don’t mind, could you come over and maybe I can give you your vaccine?” And it’s just chaos happening because we’re not doing all the things that maybe people were taught in school about actually holding a patient, and we’re going to work with the patient and do all those things.

So it’s not that we’re just, everything is just whatever the patient wants to do, it can just go do whatever, there is structure to it. We do want to make sure we’re protecting all of our staff. We want to make sure that we’re providing care and able to place our hands on pets. It’s just taking into account that the pet has a voice too in their care, and they’re allowed to say, “No, I don’t like what we’re doing right now. I’m not comfortable. I’m stressed and I want you to listen to me.” It’s being able to identify those things and then react to that.

So it’s not, again, I often hear Fear Free’s against Muzzles. They don’t let you restrain anything. It’s all about giving peanut butter. And it’s like it’s so much more than that. We’re really trying to educate people on how pets express their emotions to us. What are those subtle things that we often miss because we’re too busy looking at other things that we could pick up on sooner and make the experience better for the patient. And that, yes, there is going to be some level of fear whenever a pet goes to the vet because it’s a different experience, it’s a different place, but how do we minimize it to the best of our abilities so that they come in and have a overall positive experience?

Yes. And then beyond the veterinary clinic, how can pet owners incorporate Fear Free principles at home to help reduce stress and anxiety for their pets?

So I love that question because I think that it really starts at home. Pet owners want the best for their pets regardless of where they’re taking them, even if they’re just taking them to the dog park or out on a walk down the street. So it’s always taking a step back and again, looking at it from your pet’s perspective, what are they hearing? What are they smelling? What are they seeing? I mean, oftentimes I will think of that even in my own home with my pets, like, “Oh my gosh, we’re blasting this music because we’re having a good time on a weekend.” They probably hate that. What can we do for them? Can I put them in a different area? If you’re having guests over and you know that your pets get stressed out, talk to your veterinarians, find out what you can do ahead of time so that they’re more relaxed.

Taking advantage of the things that you know your pets like too. If your pet loves time with you and playing fetch out in the yard, that’s such a huge thing for them, and it reduces their stress. And when they don’t get to do that, their stress starts to build up. So just thinking about what makes my pet happy? How would I feel in this situation? Do they seem to be acting uncomfortably? Fear Free Happy Homes is our pet owner website. We have tons of really great handouts and infographics and educational tools so that pet owners can be better advocates for their own pets to be able to identify like, “Oh, my pet does always shake when we get in the car to go to the groomer. Maybe I should talk to my groomer about that. Maybe they can have some suggestions on how we can make this a better experience for them.”

Or I hear people all the time, “I take my dog to the dog park, but he doesn’t seem to like it. Well, then maybe we don’t take him to the dog park anymore.” Are you doing it for you or are you doing it for your pet? And then, start to identify those things and hone in on the things that make your pet happy.

You have such good advice, Jennifer.

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And Jennifer, with your extensive experience in different aspects of veterinary medicine, what do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry today, and how can Fear Free help address them?

I still think one of the biggest things that we face is burnout. This industry is tough. We inherently attract very driven people who have high goals and want to achieve them. I myself am a perfectionist. I can’t even say I’m a recovering perfectionist because I’m still very much a perfectionist, and I think that we attract that type of mentality and we get burnt out really easily. I know I did. I’ve gotten burnt out numerous times in my career, and I think until we figure out a way to really address that and help our professionals in a meaningful way, we’re going to continue to see that. That’s one of the things I love about Fear Free and what really drew me to it is because it did help make my work experience more enjoyable and helped make it a place that I enjoyed being at, even just being in the building, feeling that calm sense of being there. I loved working with my patients again. I loved the relationships I was able to build with my clients because they trusted me because their pets liked coming to the vet’s office.

One area where I see it really making an impact is with our staff and utilization of our staff. We know that that’s a hot topic where everybody’s always talking about how do we utilize staff better? How do we improve efficiency and things like that. And with Fear Free, it provides education to staff so that they’re again part of that healthcare team. They’re able to utilize their resources, their education, their skills to the utmost of their ability. They’re no longer just a person there, but they’re part of making the decisions. They’re advocating for pets. They’re picking up on body language.

Even from the beginning of the visit when the CSR first greets them, they’re the ones that are saying, “Hey, Fluffy came in the front door and seems a little bit anxious, or we noticed the cat was in the carrier and we could hear it vocalizing a little bit. I think its FAS is a little bit high today.” And they’re enjoying their jobs more because they’re able to be a part of the team rather than just someone who’s there to answer a phone or take an x-ray or something like that. And it really helps give purpose back to people’s positions and role in the veterinary hospital.

Yeah, everybody’s part of the process.

Exactly.

Everyone feel comfortable. Well, outside of your work, you have a full house with pets, family, and even chickens. How do you balance your professional life with your personal passions? And do any of your own pets have Fear Free success stories of their own?

Yeah, I wish I could say that I have learned how to balance those two things, and you would think this far into my career I would have, but it’s still something I struggle with, and I think that’s the reality of what this profession is. It is really hard to balance those two things. I love my job at Fear Free. I love what I do. I love being able to educate people and come up with new ideas and work with my team. I think one of the curses of working from home is it’s always right there, so it’s very easy to just stay on the computer a little bit longer or just check an email. So I’m blessed because I have a husband who keeps me in check a lot, and I have kids that say, “Hey, you said you were going to be done at this time and now it’s time to do something with us.”

So they really do help me. I’m also blessed that my kids are very sports-oriented, so we have a lot of commitments that pull me away from getting away. The thing that I’ve really learned in the last few years, and it took listening to some really great podcasts was become intentional about the time I spend, whether it’s time at work, and then be very intentional like, this is my six hours I’m focusing on work. And then, be just as intentional about the time when I’m away from work and saying, “I’m going to close the laptop and I’m going to really be present for the softball game,” or this bonfire that we’re going to make out back or just going out to dinner with my husband and I’m going to seriously just focus on that and everything else will fade away.

So it’s still a work in progress. I’m definitely not 100% good at it. I have some great times and some others, but I do try to really be intentional about that. I’m glad you asked about the Fear Free success story. So my one dog, Simon, he’s a Brittany Spaniel, and we fell into the proverbial pandemic puppy trap. I was doing some relief work at that time and was doing relief work at a emergency hospital, and this cute little five-week old Brittany Spaniel was in there with Parvo and the owners couldn’t afford treatment, so they were going to euthanize him, but they opted to sign him over to the ER. And I walk in and here’s this cute little baby dog with a note on his cage that says, “Needs a home.” And well, I was just suckered in right away. He was adorable.

But because he spent his couple of days in the beginning of his socialization period in a veterinary hospital and in the ICU veterinary hospital, he has some fear associated with going to the vet, even though we go to a Fear Free certified professional, love her office, he gets nervous going in there. So we’ve definitely had to work with him. He gets his PVPs before he goes in, but I’ve worked with desensitizing him to people touching him, looking in his ears, touching his back legs, cutting his nails, doing all the things, and we work with him every time we go in and he’s getting better. He still gets nervous, but now he’ll let them do a full exam without getting too upset.

So it’s always, again, small little things over time. I didn’t expect him to turn around really quickly. He’s five years old now, so we’ve been dealing with this for five years, and every time it’s a success story, I’ll say, okay, great. He let you do an orthopedic exam, and he didn’t get upset and he wasn’t nervous and shaking and he did better. And so, we take those little wins every single time we go into the vet.

That’s a great success story. Well, Jennifer, what has been the most surprising thing to you during your career in the veterinary profession?

I think how much my own path has changed over time. So when I was in vet school, I was 100% focused on equine medicine. If you had asked me at that age, early 20s where I would be in 20 years, I think I’m going to be an equine practitioner, an internist, and working at some big referral hospital, and I had my plan set out, and even to the point of I did my small animal stuff, I did my rotations, but that was information that in my mind was like, it can go in and it can get dumped back out because I’m not going to need that later in life.

So to see now looking back how it’s changed over time and just the different avenues I’ve gone down, it’s really cool when you look back because what other career? Do you get to twist and turn along the way and be like, “Oh, I think I’m going to try this now, or let me take a job at this emergency clinic and see how that goes?” And then, going into now industry and being like, okay, this is completely new and different, and being in business negotiations or coming up with education timelines for the whole year and things like that. Those are things I never expected to do. So I joke with vet students now, I’m like, “Whatever you think you’re going to do, you may end up doing it, but just keep your mind open and absorb as much information from people that you meet, network, get to know people because you never know how your path is going to change over time.”

Yeah, that’s so true. And I like what you said about turns and twist. We’ve had many podcast guests that started out thinking they were going to do one thing in the profession, and now they’re doing something entirely different. Well, along that, how have you seen the veterinary profession change through the years you’ve been involved?

I think what I’ve seen and when I first started in the veterinary industry, I was 14 and started assisting at the first vet clinic. Then veterinarians were so revered for what we did, and we were so overall trusted. With the advent of technology and things like that, I think looking back, I remember the doctor I worked for when I was 14, she had this cute little clinic that was attached to her house. First of all, kudos to her. It was attached to her house. Her clients knew exactly where she lived, which to me now I’m like, “Oh my gosh, could you imagine?” And they respected her. They respected that that was her home, and they did not bother her in that home. But she was so respected. What she said was the answer. There was no, “Well, but I looked it up online and this is what it said.” And I never saw her having to really defend what she was telling her clients.

Technology is a great thing, and I think that it’s definitely helped us. I think now it makes me sometimes sad to see where we’ve gone to now, where I feel like veterinarians are questioned so much, and I think we’ll get the pendulum will swing back. But while the technology has helped us, I think it’s also interesting to see just how tough it is now to be a veterinarian and how much you really have to have a little bit of a thick skin and also just have some confidence in yourself to be like, “I know this answer. I know what I’m talking about, and I’m going to provide the best care and hope that my clients really believe me, feel confident in me, build that trust and that rapport so that there is that level of respect and trust that there was when I first started in the industry.”

Well, what does your crystal ball say about the future of the vendor profession?

I think it’s going to be really great. So I think that there’s so many amazing things that are coming out. I actually love talking to new grads because they come out with such enthusiasm and energy, which makes me so happy. I think with the advent of Fear Free and other programs like it, I think the focus on emotional wellbeing and just what makes a pet happy and comfortable will continue to grow and evolve. I think this idea of having veterinary clinics that really cater to the comfort of clients and pets is going to continue to blossom. You see groups like PetVet365 where all of their hospitals look like somebody’s living room, which I think that’s great.

I think we’re going to continue to see lots of different models of veterinary care come out. I think as people are really focused on spectrum of care and access to care, we’re going to see different ways of providing high quality care, recognizing that one size doesn’t fit all. It doesn’t have to be the gold standard you were taught in school anymore that you can do veterinary medicine in lots of different ways and being open to doing lots of different things in your career.

Well, talking about your own career, what’s the biggest challenge that you’ve had to face up to this point throughout your career?

Myself, probably, if we’re going to be honest, Stacy. As I said, I’m a perfectionist, and I think that has been my biggest thing to overcome is I struggle with the idea of failing, not getting something right, making a mistake, not being perfect. And it took me a long time, even when I was in practice, to be comfortable saying, “Hey, I don’t fully know the answer to your question, and that doesn’t make me a bad vet. It just means I don’t have that exact knowledge in my brain at this moment, but I know where to get it, and I know people I can talk to get you information.” So I think I still struggle with wanting to be the best at anything I do, and realizing that that’s not always going to happen and that it’s okay if it doesn’t happen.

Well, you mentioned something earlier. You were talking about being intentional as a habit that you practice. What are some of the other daily habits that you believe that have allowed you to achieve success?

So you mentioned before, I have a busy household. We have three kids. I have two dogs, two cats, five chickens. There’s a lot going on at my house, and both my husband and I work from home. The kids have sports and lots of obligations. So finding quiet time is difficult in our home. So I, a few years ago, started getting up around 5:00 A.M. and I come down and make my coffee, and that first hour of the day from 5:00 to 6:00 is mine.

My family knows that that is my time to come down, to read, to do a devotional, to just spend some time in thought about what my day looks like, setting myself up and grounding myself for the rest of the day, because once the kids are awake, all bets are off. It just becomes craziness. And then, you get started with meetings and the whole day is gone before you know it. So I started doing that probably about five or six years ago, and it has really made a difference in just giving myself a good feeling for the day. I can tell on the days that I don’t start my day that way, that it doesn’t go as smoothly as when I do.

Well, you’re intentional about carving out time for yourself every day.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

What advice would you give the younger version of yourself

To be more patient with myself, I think. I, in all aspects of my life, was always focused on the next thing and didn’t really enjoy the moment that I was in. So I would go back and just tell myself, be patient. It’s all going to happen when it’s supposed to happen. Enjoy the times that you’re going through. Enjoy the people that are in your life at this moment. Enjoy the job that you have at this point in time, and just try to soak up as much as you can from it, and don’t be so worried about what’s next or where you’re going or what you’re going to achieve and things like that. And also being patient with myself that you’re going to make mistakes and it’s okay, and you can recover from them. There’s no mistake that’s too big that you’re not going to get back up and move on. And it’s more about what do you learn from them, rethinking mistakes and making them more of opportunities in your head, and how do you learn from this? How can you grow from it, and how do you do better the next time?

Yeah, be patient and enjoy the moment that you’re in.

Absolutely.

That’s good advice. Well, what message or principle do you wish you could teach everyone listening to our podcast?

I think one of the things that we focus on at Fear Free is really emotional and being kind to animals. I think it goes further than that. I think what I’ve really learned in this industry is be kind to everyone. I see so much of people in today’s world of criticism or judging or shaming, it costs nothing to be kind and being kind to everyone will get you so much further and brings you happiness and joy and makes your day better. So what’s the harm in doing that?

Such a good principle to live by, be kind to everyone. Well, Jennifer, some of our guests said they’ve had a key book that they read that really helped them in their life. Do you have a key book that has impacted you the most?

Yeah, that’s a really great question. I think there’s two things. So faith is really important in my life. A lot of times I start the day by reading a portion of the Bible just to get my head straight. I think that book has taught me a lot about life in general and just the person I want to be. Along those lines, anything by Brene Brown. I will say I’m a huge fan of Brene Brown. I’m currently reading Daring Greatly, and I was reading it out loud to my husband the other day because it resonated so much with me because I have a very hard time with vulnerability. And so, her books always just break it down to things that I can understand a lot better and then can appreciate and relate to, and really have helped me shape how I treat other people and how I go forward in certain situations and look at them in a different light.

Well, Jennifer, 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?

Yeah, I think I’m going to go back to my be kind. Be kind to everyone, not only to others that you come in contact with, but to yourself as well. We are all learning and growing all the time. I love the old adage of you learn something new every day. I think it’s completely true. Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, be kind to animals, and just enjoy this amazing industry that we get to work in.

When my kids were young, they went to a school that had a theme that said, it’s cool to be kind, and they would wear these T-shirts that said it’s cool to be kind. And I love that theme. So be kind to everyone. You can’t go wrong with that advice.

100%.

Well, Jennifer, I enjoyed our conversation today. Thank you for being on The People of Animal Health Podcast.

Thank you for having me, Stacy. It was a blast.