Episode #95 – Dr. Chris Carpenter

Purpose Before Position
Dr. Chris Carpenter shares his remarkable journey through Animal Health, pharmaceuticals, and Veterinary leadership. He discusses parasite prevention, mentoring future veterinarians, innovation, leadership, and the evolving Veterinary profession, while offering practical wisdom, career advice, and valuable insights for professionals, students, and aspiring leaders across the industry.

 

Transcript

Stacy Pursell:
Do you work in the animal health industry or veterinary profession? Have you ever wondered how successful people got their start and what led them to where they are today? Hi everyone. I’m Stacy Pursell, founder and CEO of The Vet Recruiter, the leading executive search and recruiting firm specializing in the animal health industry and veterinary profession. I was the first recruiter in the United States to focus exclusively on this space, building the first search firm dedicated to this unique niche.
Over the past 28 plus years, I’ve developed relationships with many of the industry’s top leaders and trailblazers. The People of Animal Health Podcast features the incredible individuals I’ve had the privilege to connect with throughout my career. In each episode, you’ll hear their stories, their career journeys, leadership lessons, and the impact they’ve made on the industry. With a wide range of expert guests, you’ll gain insights, inspiration, and ideas you can apply to your own career. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the episode.
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of The People of Animal Health Podcast where we explore the careers, leadership journeys, and insights of the people shaping the future of animal health. Today, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Chris Carpenter. Dr. Carpenter’s career has taken him across nearly every corner of the animal health industry, from private veterinary practice and military service in the US Army Veterinary Corps during Operation Desert Storm to leadership roles with Pfizer Animal Health, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and PetSmart Veterinary Services. He has built an extraordinary career at the intersection of veterinary medicine, business leadership, and innovation. Today, he serves as a CEO of the Companion Animal Parasite Council and is the founder of Vet Set Go, an organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing the next generation of veterinary professionals. Chris, welcome to the People of Animal Health Podcast, and how are you today?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
I’m awesome. I’m awesome. We’ve been, what, contacts forever. It’s always great to reconnect with you, see what’s going on, but we’ve seen a lot, haven’t we?

Stacy Pursell:
We have seen a lot and you’re right, we go way back together. But Chris, let’s start at the very beginning of your life. Tell me about where you grew up and what was life like for you as a kid?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I think that’s one of the most impactful things on my life. I was a military brat. My dad was Marine Corps, and in those times, people were transferred all the time. And the stat I always share with people is I went to 13 different schools before I graduated from high school.

Stacy Pursell:
Wow.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
I was always the new kid, moved all around the country, never out of the US, but always around the country and sometimes more than twice a year. And so I learned to adjust to the new environments and new people I met.

Stacy Pursell:
When did you first know you wanted to become a veterinarian? Was there a defining moment or a person who inspired you?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
It wasn’t a one person or one moment. I can remember the day I made the decision, though, and I still remember it. And I talk to people a lot about it with Vet Set Go because I have those conversations about aspiring vets a lot. And I was 11 years old. We lived, at that time, in Tustin, California. There was a military base there and we lived in Tustin, California. And I just looked at my mama and I told her, I go, “I’m going to become a veterinarian.” I mean, I think, like everyone, I loved animals, worked with them a lot, but I remember at that moment I said, “This is my decision. I’m going to become it.” And at the time I thought I was so unique. God, I made a career decision at 11, but as you know, most veterinarians make their decision before they’re 12 years of age because it’s just such a passion to work with animals.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s right. Well, looking back, what experiences during your childhood, you did talk about all the moves that you made, but what are some other experiences during your childhood that helped shape the person and leader that you’ve become today?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I think it’s still that first one and I can’t overemphasize what it’s like. And the reason is I compare it to my wife and my daughter who have both lived the same life, in that they grew up in the same place, have the kids they knew in kindergarten as their friends in high school and a lot of stability. When you move a lot, you learn to adjust and adapt very quickly. I mean, smallest things. I always give this example and people don’t even understand it who haven’t moved. When you move, for example, and you show up in a new location, it’s like the news at night is different. It’s new newscasters. People talk differently.
And people forget that a move from, for example, I made the move from Tustin, California to New Jersey, that’s further than most of the size of Europe. And the culture of Southern California, between that and New Jersey, was culture shock and they talked differently. The outfit I wore was so different. And so you just learn to adapt to the way people are different. And I learned to always adjust and I can’t even describe those moments really made. And also when you move, your family is your friends because it takes a long time to meet new people. So you develop a different adaptability and I would say that’s really defined who I am.

Stacy Pursell:
I can relate to that. I didn’t move as many times as you did, but I moved right in the middle of my high school, when I was 16. My parents moved out of state. My dad got transferred for a job and I can relate to that. It was a challenge. Well, what was veterinary school like for you and what surprised you most about that experience?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I don’t think it surprised me at all because I was in Nirvana. I mean, I got in, it’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t go where I went to undergrad. I went as an out-of-state student to Auburn. I was from Florida and I went up to Auburn. A lot of, again, differences in location, but it was the best move. I loved that I went to Auburn, best education, met new people. But I don’t know that anything in vet school was that different. Again, it was a lot of work.
I never studied so much and worked so hard, especially those first two years when you’re learning the general medicine. But again, it was my dream and I learned to just put the time in and work. Just to share this, I wasn’t the smart person. I wasn’t that person in your class who studies five minutes and gets an A. I’m the person who has to start studying a week ahead of time. And so I learned to manage time and work to things because it was, as everyone knows who’s been to vet school, it was a lot of volume and you had to do a lot and I learned to manage that.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, you also served in the US Army Veterinary Corps during Operation Desert Storm. What leadership lessons did military service teach you that you’ve carried throughout your career until today?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
So it’s funny, military taught me, and just as background, I went into the military because I thought I wanted to stay in and get a specialty in radiology. And so people don’t know this, but if you stay a couple years in military and then serve overseas, they’ll help you get an advanced degree on their dollar. And so I though, wow, that would be, because radiology is important for, they would pick a few because they would be the radiologist for the military working dogs in the military. And I thought I wanted to do that. So I tell all that to say this, is that I think the military is the first place I learned to adapt.
While I was on base, I had to do things that I never had done before. I ran three clinics. I was based in Maine. My boss was in Massachusetts, so I had nobody who I worked with and I served clinics up in Northern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. And so I would travel running clinics and I learned to take on a lot of responsibility. I was a young, brand new grad and I had to do a lot of things that I had never done before. And so I guess I learned, if you will, independence to just solve my own problems, to try to work through things.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, Chris, your career has included private practice, animal health, human healthcare, nonprofit leadership, and entrepreneurship. At what point did you realize there were many different ways to make an impact beyond clinical practice?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Again, it started with the Army and a friend of mine, we were in basic training and he said, “Have you ever heard about this?” We had just graduated from vet school and I’m sitting there going, “I’m never going to go back to school again.” And he goes, “Have you heard about this degree?” And I go, “What?” He goes, “It’s an MBA.” He goes, “You can learn business.” And I said, “Wow.” And he piqued my interest. I went up to my base in Maine and started taking classes and that changed my life. I fell in love with it. And I don’t know if this is exactly the question. What I learned is you think you know, I thought I wanted to be a practitioner, but I really realized that I wanted to do strategy. I wanted to plan bigger things. The army let me do some of that.
And then taking those MBA courses those three years, and by the way, thank God for the government paid. I mean, it was the best thing ever. And so I think what I’ve learned from this and what the Army taught me and I’ve learned since then, because I think it will go to all your questions, is we change as individuals and we learn new things that we might like and it’s okay to pivot. And since then, as you pointed out, I’ve been able to do so many great things with the veterinary degree that I just love this profession. People just don’t understand how valued a veterinary degree is seen through other professions, and I’m very grateful for it.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, you’ve held leadership positions at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and PetSmart Veterinary Services. You’re a leader today in your current role. Looking back, what experiences most shaped your leadership philosophy?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I would say I think there’s a lot of times, first of all, I believe there are a lot of times you aren’t growing if you aren’t above your comfort zone. And I’ve heard a lot of talk and there’s a lot of terminology out there about things such as imposter syndrome. I think that’s how you live life. You move yourself. If you’re comfortable and think you know it all, you’re stagnant. And I just believe that in leadership, you put yourself out there and you try to grow and you’re going to grow with your team. And it really helped me in all my roles is to realize, and definitely ask questions when you don’t know, but put yourself out there and try new things and you’ll discover a lot more about yourself. And that’s what I would say all my roles have taught me. As you put them out there, I think about how diverse they are and so different. But I think leadership comes down to being willing to take on new challenges, learn from the others around you and grow together.

Stacy Pursell:
Yeah, that’s good. And during your time at Animal Health, you helped launch innovative products and marketing initiatives. Was there one project that taught you the most about innovation, consumer trust, or leadership?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I think all of them, we had different partnerships, but I’ll just share this one story. But it’s one of those where I think when I started working in corporations, you learn to put your idea out there and there’s a lot of leadership around you. And if they decide not to do it, a colonel once said to me, and it’s one of my favorite quotes is one of the other candidates, we were in basic training and he was complaining about what we had to do to an older, grizzled colonel. And he said, “And why are we doing this and why are we doing that?” And the colonel said to him, he goes, “Son, there’s been times in my life when I’ve learned it’s just best to salute and move out smartly.” And I have kept those terms with me forever because many times I disagreed.
And the example I was going to give you in PetSmart, we were redoing our clinics. They were wellness clinics and we were moving to full service like the Banfield models. And person who was running the clinic said, “We want to keep them open as we renovate.” And I though, why would you do that? It’s going to be disrupted to pet owners. He was right. It turned out we went through the whole nation updating our clinics and owners never minded. They would’ve minded if we were closed, but they never minded some of the construction mess. They were excited we were building. And so I share that as it’s just one example that you don’t know everything, put your points out there, and if people don’t take them, maybe the other side, the other thoughts, they were right and you should go along with them.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, that’s a great example. Well, you have worked in both animal health and human healthcare. What lessons do you think each industry can learn from the other?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Oh my God. Animal health can learn from measurement. It is the biggest barrier in animal health that we don’t write prescriptions. I know people like that for different reasons. But here’s what I mean. Whenever we would do a program in human health, we could measure, like if I had an ad advisory board with doctors, we would get, they call it IMS data. I would see prescription data the next day for that doctor because they all write to pharmacies. It was measurable. I could see what was happening. Vet medicine, it’s amazing that we market like we do because we’re blind. We promote something to a doctor, then they go in their clinic and they start writing scripts and we don’t see that data. And so many times we’re blinded and we have to wait months for sales in. And I think things have gotten more sophisticated.
So that’s the thing that human health does really well. They metric well. But here’s the thing, I left human health because even though the dollars are bigger and the programs you do things like TV. I did TV commercials, I’ll never do those again. But it’s not as great as veterinary medicine, as you know, Stacy, we’re small, we’re 100,000 practitioners, close-knit group. I just love that about veterinary medicine. I wouldn’t change it for the world. And wishing for the big spends like they do in human medicine, I just wouldn’t do it. Never, ever.

Stacy Pursell:
Hey everyone, we are interrupting the episode briefly to talk to you about today’s sponsor. This episode is brought to you by The Vet Recruiter. The Vet Recruiter is the go-to executive search and recruitment firm in the animal health industry and veterinary profession, dedicated to connecting exceptional employers with high caliber candidates. With a deep understanding of the animal health industry and veterinary profession and a vast pool of talented candidates, we make the hiring process seamless and efficient for the animal health and veterinary employers who have critical hiring needs. If you are an employer in search of top talent or you work in the animal health industry or are a veterinarian ready to take the next step in your career, look no further than The Vet Recruiter.
The Vet Recruiter has placed many of the industry’s top leaders from CEOs to COOs to chief veterinary officers to VPs of marketing and sales and heads of R&D and chief scientific officers. We have built sales forces for many leading animal health companies and have placed more veterinarians in clinical practice than any other search firm in the US. Ready to take the next step? Visit thevetrecruiter.com today. That’s thevetrecruiter.com. And now let’s get back into the episode. Well, today you lead the Companion Animal Parasite Council. And for listeners who may not be familiar with CAPC, tell me about the organization’s mission.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah. If I had to pick, it’s make sure everyone’s aware of the threats that parasites play to pets and the dangers associated with them. And that, first and foremost, I think the goal of CAPC did is create guidelines within the profession to talk about what’s best practice, but then it’s moved out to make sure people are aware and give doctors the tools they need to educate pet owners because it’s so easy in today’s world, ever since program launched and we’ve been able to give a pill or a once a month dose and things disappear, people forget what a threat and what a threat not only to pets, but also to the family parasites can play. And that’s what CAPC is about. Remind everyone how important protection and testing is, but also at the same time, make sure we’re up-to-date on the latest technology. There’s been a lot of amazing things, especially in diagnostics, that have come out and keeping practitioners up to date on what tools are out there for them.

Stacy Pursell:
What are the biggest challenges veterinarians and pet owners face today, regarding parasite prevention?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I think complacency. I think again, these products work so well. And listen, maybe I’m going to sound a little bit like an old school guy, but a lot of practitioners who, less than 10 years out, just haven’t seen what it’s like when … I mean, I think about the products where people would put organophosphate dips on their dog that would, if you put those on cats, it would kill them. They would use something called flea busters, which was a borate type salt that they sprayed all over houses in Atlanta to keep fleas out and yet we could never control them.
And what I’m getting at is I think the biggest danger for the younger practitioners is it’s so easy now to put a drop on or dispense it. And they get so much pushback from owners who say, “I don’t want to spend the money.” I don’t think they truly understand what will happen if they don’t spend the money because parasites, the zoonotic potential, the threat to the family, and here’s the biggest thing. Dr. Craig Prior on our board put out a really great article. I think the human animal bond is where it is because of what we’ve done with parasite protection, because we can now all bring pets in our beds on our sofas and we don’t care. In the days when I was practicing and there were proglottid cysts all over the back of a dog or there were loss of fur to fleas and black movement all over a dog, no one would’ve ever been that close to their dog. So it’s complacency. I mean, we’ve got to remember we’ve got to keep protecting or parasites will come back.

Stacy Pursell:
That’s a good point and a good reminder. Looking ahead, what trends do you believe will shape the future of companion animal health over the next decade?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Wow, that’s a powerful one. And I mean obviously the one that everyone would stumble into is AI and technology. I just think, you mentioned that I have been in other industries and heard of other opinions. I just think we should never belittle what a veterinarian is. We are a key medical provider. No one goes to school like us for the eight years. We are, I think, beyond the equivalent of doctors. We have so much more we have to learn and it’s to remember our place in that world. Sometimes I feel, a lot of times when you’re myopic and only look at vet medicine, we minimize who we are. I think the vet profession, like you said, you and I have been together in it forever, it’s the best profession and we need to act like that. And remember that the veterinarian is critical to family health. They’re critical to the community and we need to think that way as we chart our way forward.

Stacy Pursell:
It’s harder to get into veterinary school than human medical school. And many people don’t realize that veterinarians, patients can’t talk to them like human doctors’ patients can speak to them.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, so many other ways. And here’s the thing, and here’s what I love. I’ll talk about it in the positive. Everyone joined our profession because they shared this bond of a love of animals. I mean, in other professions, I don’t know that some of those truths ring true, but that’s what I love about our profession. It’s built on passion of the doctors and the technicians in it. And when I went over to human, I could tell that wasn’t there 100%. Sometimes people went into that profession for different reasons, and you can tell.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, you founded Vet Set Go to inspire young people to pursue veterinary medicine. What inspired you to start Vet Set Go?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
My own experience. I was 11 years old. I think I mentioned that to you earlier. I was in Tustin, California. I just told my mom I want to be vet, and she said two things. I still remember what she said back to me. She was in the kitchen, she looked over, she goes, “You better study science and start working with animals.” And I went out and tried to volunteer. And that is still the biggest problem in vet medicine is that students want to volunteer with animals, they want to volunteer with veterinarians. They typically made their decision in middle school and they can’t find places that will take them in.
And here’s what we know too from a work that Jason Johnson and Banfield did from a survey is that if they don’t get that experience, they start doubting they want to become veterinarians in high school and drop out. And so Vet Set Go is about helping those students get experience, get the animal experience they want, work around veterinarians, and feed their passion so that they go through high school motivated, like I was, to keep going.

Stacy Pursell:
You’ve often said that many veterinarians know they want this career before they’re teenagers, like you. Why is it so important to reach young people early?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
And that’s the reason because we’ve got to keep that passion going. I think also be welcoming as a profession, meaning I just was given another presentation earlier today and in talking about how lonely it is at that phase that I was describing to you. I was 11 years old and I’m out there trying to volunteer and no one knows I’m pursuing the profession. We now have ways, I have a volunteer app and such. We know students who are out there working and through programs, we work with Antech to give scholarships out.
We can find those students who are out volunteering and say, “We’re so excited to have you.” We can encourage them and be that profession that rides along with them as they go through junior high into high school and then even into college because it’s an incredibly long road to become a veterinarian. And I think all of us, at all times in our career sometimes sit down and go, “God, is this even worth it?” And I feel what Vet Set Go is about is being there in those early years saying, “We want you, we’re so excited, and we want you to meet some of the people that you’re going to join.” So that was a long-winded answer, but hopefully it shows you what I believe we should be doing.

Stacy Pursell:
What can parents, teachers, and veterinarians do to better support students interested in a career in veterinary medicine?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
One of my favorite doctors who’s out there letting all kinds of students volunteer in our clinic is Dr. Stephanie Jones. And she has this great thing. It begins with yes. And if I would say one request to every veterinarian, every veterinary group, every technician team is that you let them come into the clinic. Just what she says, “You don’t have to plan an itinerary. You don’t have to have a day planned for them. All they want to do is be there with you.” And all clinics have to do, and this is especially true for some of the bigger groups who want to protect themselves from liability, bring these students into your clinic, have a day, have an open house, and let them be exposed to the dream. I mean, you truly change lives when you do that.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, and you might find your next employee. You might find your next veterinarian.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
That’s exactly-

Stacy Pursell:
I’ve talked to plenty of veterinarians that pursued a career in veterinary medicine because they worked in a clinic in high school.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
So true. So true.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, Chris, looking back over your career, what has been the most surprising lesson that you’ve learned?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
That you were never going to be what you think you were going to be when you were an 18-year-old and made your decision. I have pivoted so many times and I don’t know if that’s because I learned who I was or I was changing who I was. And again, so when I was 11 and I wanted to be a vet, I wanted to work around animals. Then I started taking the MBA courses and I go, “Oh my God, I’d love to do these bigger projects. I love being creative. I love changing.” It’s that your career always changes. I mean, I think you and I have seen a lot of doctors who are like, “Oh, I’m in clinic and I’m burned out.” I went into practice. I was there a number of years and then I said, “This isn’t for me.” And it’s not that I don’t want to be a veterinarian, it’s that I want to do something different in vet medicine.
And that’s what I would say I probably know better than most people in our profession is that there’s so many opportunities. When I was in human medicine, those doctors, I was on a product, we were launching one of the most targeted therapies in human oncology and I was meeting with the top 12 oncologists in the USA and their respect for my degree as a veterinarian, they didn’t treat me any different other than a colleague. And it showed me how our profession is viewed by other professions. We are medical doctors and we are in the best profession. And I just wish everyone could go on my journey because what I realized is it’s okay to say I don’t want to practice anymore. It’s okay to get an MBA and do other things, using my knowledge in different ways. As a matter of fact, I think the way our careers are so long anymore, it’s best if you do that. You got to pivot. You got to keep reexamining yourself and saying, am I happy now or do I want to try something different?

Stacy Pursell:
Yeah. And if you’re not happy, there’s so many other avenues you could go.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
So many. And again, I love the profession because all it takes, well, you know better than anyone. You could do a podcast on it. There’s so many ways you can connect with others and find out what they’re doing and really explore all the avenues in vet med.

Stacy Pursell:
Yeah. Well, every successful career includes challenges. What has been the biggest adversity you’ve had to overcome and what did it teach you?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yeah, I think it’s all the pivots. And every time you have to take humility with you and here’s a great example. As I was leaving, there was this reason Pfizer Animal Health decided to move up to New York and they came in, this is one of my favorite stories. I met my wife at Pfizer Animal Health. We came back from our honeymoon and her boss had left a message on her phone saying, “Hey Katie, Pfizer’s moving to New York. You have to move up with us or else you’re going to lose your job in three months.” And we were like, “Great, we’re going to lose our job.”
So we had to look at other opportunities and we actually decided to move into human medicine and that was the reason why. I didn’t want to live in New York City. I pivoted to human, but I had to take a job so far below what I was in animal health to get started. I had to prove myself, once again, much later in my career to the people in human medicine and show them I could do, and I was happy to, but it was a little ego bust. But I guess that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned. You’re going to have setbacks, especially if you try to change your career, but just believe in yourself and you’ll deliver. I mean, I think the worst thing in the world is to stay where you are and not be happy. I think new challenges, they make us young and it was the best move I ever did, moving over to human.

Stacy Pursell:
Life’s too short to be in a role where you’re not happy.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Oh my God, amen to that. So well said.

Stacy Pursell:
What daily habits or disciplines have contributed most to your success?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Mine is I don’t think I’m the most smart, maybe I’m not the most creative. I’m just tenacious. Just keep driving. Keep moving forward. You always have setbacks, especially now that I’ve run smaller organizations like Vet Set Go and CAPC. Sometimes people don’t want to work with you. Sometimes you aren’t getting the support you need and you just got to look to yourself and pivot and find a new way, but don’t give up. Just don’t quit.

Stacy Pursell:
Good advice. If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Wow, that’s a really good one. And I don’t know that it would be different, but I would say that it would be sooner be open to new opportunities. Don’t be so rigid in this is what you have to be. You don’t have to be that practitioner. You don’t have to be that exotic animal vet. You don’t have to be that board certified radiologist. Be open when you see something that intrigues you and explore it. That’s what it would be.

Stacy Pursell:
Chris, the veterinary profession has changed tremendously throughout your career. What changes have impressed you the most?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
What I love about us is we’re still immersed in the community, yet the technology we use is so far, so much more advanced and the medicine we’re practicing is so much more advanced. We talked about parasitology earlier. The parasitology is a great example of how far we’ve come. The diagnostics, especially some recently that have been launched, are so accurate and precise. Veterinarians have so much technology at their hands, yet we’re still that local person in the community with close contacts to the people we live around. And I don’t think that’s true for human. As a matter of fact, I know it because I was in it and it’s a different world in human medicine. I’m proud that we’ve never lost that connection to clients. Although some of us, and we all have our stories, sometimes clients can be trying, but thank goodness we’re still so close to them and thank goodness we’re still there for those pets that they love. I’m really proud of that because if you look at human medicine when I was in it’s not like that a lot and we should be proud of that.

Stacy Pursell:
Yes. If we looked into your crystal ball, what do you think the veterinary profession and the animal health industry will look like 10 years from now?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Ooh, yeah. I think it’s more, again, there’ll be a lot of technology changes. There’ll be a lot of people and they’re already doing it, pushing the envelope on how we deliver medicine and such. I just think we need to never walk away from the fact of who we are in the community, that expert on health, not just pet health, but community health and also very immersed in the community. I love that practices are local and in a certain area we usually, I don’t know if this is still true, but when I was practicing, we only attracted from within a mile or so radius. I just love that immersion and I hope we keep, what would I say, that personal connection while still growing, like we have technology-wise.

Stacy Pursell:
Is there a particular book that has had a significant influence on your leadership or your life?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
I forget the exact title. It was Malcolm Gladwell’s, and I think it was called The Outliers. I mean, his books and it’s just helping … Here’s something I’ll share is one thing I’ve learned is vet medicine, when I started taking classes, is so much like business is that when we have a case, we do diagnostics and tests and then we go on to make a differential and then we do the treatment. It’s the same in marketing. We do market research. And what I loved about Malcolm Gladwell books is he did so much research to say why do things happen? And it’s really been an important part of me as a marketing person to make sure I really understand the insights of a market before I try to make creative for it and such. And I think that’s just really important is that book really taught me, if you’ve read his books, he digs down to the numbers and really comes out with insights that are amazing and it really has changed how I operate when I try to plan something.

Stacy Pursell:
I have that book. It’s a good one.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
A great one.

Stacy Pursell:
What message or principle do you wish you could teach everyone listening to our podcast today? Or what lesson do you wish somebody could learn earlier in their life?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Oh, it’s what we talked about, and I’m going to be very redundant. Maybe I’ll be a marketer and do good messaging over and over again. Pivot. Pivot when you’re not happy. You’re not going to be happy the whole time you grow as an individual, you’re going to change. You may have made a decision and then get there and go, oh no. I mean that’s as small as a job or it’s bigger, as the role you’re doing, then work to get out of it. So I went into the military. You asked me earlier about my military career and military had a lot of things I wanted, but what I realized when I started taking the MBA classes is industry what I wanted.
I would go to these night classes with all these other students and I go, oh my God, I want to work in companies like that. I want to do big things. This is where I really want to be. I don’t want to be a veterinary radiologist anymore. I learned more about myself. And I guess that’s the thing. Keep learning about yourself and then pivot to make yourself happy. You said something earlier that is so important. Don’t be unhappy and stay. Move on. You can do it. It will be uncomfortable a little bit, but do it because it’s the rest of your life.

Stacy Pursell:
Good advice. Chris, before we wrap up, if you had the opportunity to speak directly to every young person considering a career in veterinary medicine or animal health, what would you want them to remember?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
I would tell them what you and I have been saying together. I love this profession. I love everything about it. I love its smallness. I love the impact we have on people. I like the reason we exist, which is to help animals. I still think it’s the greatest profession ever and I say it every day. I say it to everyone I work with. There’s nothing I’d do differently. Never ever.

Stacy Pursell:
Finally, you’ve got the microphone. Is there anything we haven’t discussed that you’d like to share with our listeners before you drop the mic today?

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
No, it’s that same theme. I think for a while, and I see a lot less of it, there was a lot of, oh, woe is me, this profession. If you don’t, it’s bad here and bad that. It’s a great profession. I know. And I think I can speak with authority because I was in other professions in human medicine. And trust me, for example, working with oncologists, they’re no happier than you are in a vet clinic.
But the other part is go explore, then. Find out who you are. What parts of your job do you not like? Don’t just sit there and be discontent. Find out what makes you tick and then move on. And that’s what my favorite thing is, is that we control the ship that is our lives and just shift and move on and you will be so much happier. And that would be the thing I would share with anyone at any phase of their career now. If you’re not happy, explore who you are and start sailing that direction.

Stacy Pursell:
Be the captain of your own ship.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Yes. Amen.

Stacy Pursell:
Well, Chris, thank you for being my guest today on the People of Animal Health Podcast. It was so nice to have you here and I enjoyed our discussion.

Dr. Chris Carpenter:
Always great to reconnect with you. Thank you.