Dr. Stephanie Van Deynze-Snell: Secrets to Great Leadership | From Farm Girl to Business Visionary - The Winning in Winnipeg Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I think any small business ownerwould know, any business owner knows,
like the number of decisions youhave to make a day, um, and kind
of the mental load that, that, thatcarries, because you want to make good
decisions, um, that definitely wassomething we had to learn very quickly.
Like, how do we make decisions?
How do we make good decisions andhow do we make them quickly enough?

(00:20):
So we're not holding everythingup, frustrating people.
Letting things be problems forlonger than they have to be.
So that was a very steep learning curve.
Hello, everybody.
This is the Winning in Winnipeg podcast,where we talk to top performing business

(00:43):
owners, executives, entrepreneurs,and local Winnipeg celebrities.
We get to learn who they are, howthey think, and we get to hear their
perspective about what's really goingon in Winnipeg and their businesses.
Today, I have the pleasureof speaking with Dr.
Stephanie Van Dyne Snell, aveterinarian co owner and CEO of Central
Veterinary Services in Oak Bluff.

(01:03):
Stephanie has been a business ownersince 2012 and finishes off the
trifecta of insanity with a marriageto her co owner husband and raising
three children all at the same time.
Get that right?
You did.
Fantastic.
Stephanie, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.
So, uh, very nice to meet you.
Um, I'm glad you're here.

(01:25):
There's a, there's a lotthat I want to dive into.
Uh, you have an, an interesting setup.
There are lots of differentaspects that we can talk about.
Uh, but first things first, telleveryone a little bit about yourself,
uh, kind of your origin story.
You know, are you bornand raised in Winnipeg?
I'm actually not.
I'm born and raised about an hourand a half southwest of here.

(01:46):
I grew up on a dairy farm.
So that's, I guess, likely where I fell inlove with animals near Holland, Manitoba.
Yes.
Yeah.
I have some friends from Holland.
Do you?
Yeah.
It's a great community.
There's lots of nice communities.
The Gowerlucks, they're potato farmers.
They were potato farmers anyways.
Yes.
Great family.
Yeah.
Great people.
Yeah.
No, it really is.
Mm hmm.

(02:06):
Yeah, so that's where I was, um, raised.
And, um, that's probablywhere I learned how to work.
We had to work from a young age.
You know, you always hear thestories about the, um, the
farm kids and the child labor.
And that was definitely mystory working from a young age.
That's a, that's actuallya very good story.
Is it?
Yeah.

(02:26):
Yeah.
Like that's the good child labor.
Yeah, it is.
You know, I, I, Looking back, itdefinitely gave me a sense of like, um,
purpose in a way because you're kind of,um, you have your little, little jobs
from such a young age and you know, you'reeight years old and you're responsible

(02:48):
for something small, but then you cando the whole thing and then you feel,
you know, really proud about yourself.
And I don't know, it's just kind of anice, a nice way to grow up, I think.
And of course being outside andwith all the animals and everything
as well is always really nice.
But yeah, that's kind of how I grew up.
And then I went to the University ofManitoba after I finished high school, I
did a biochemistry honors degree there,and then, um, went on to veterinary

(03:11):
school and then, um, yeah, and thenI actually practiced it out in, um,
close to Olds, Alberta for a while.
And then we moved back here to buy thispractice and, and kind of have been here.
Yeah.
For the last 12 years.
So I've got a few questions.
Yeah.
Only cows on your farm ordid you have other animals?
Um, it was mostly cattle.
We had a couple of horses thatwe rode and then, um, of course,

(03:33):
like the dogs and the cats.
Yeah.
And then like some, um, land as well.
So we did some grain farming too.
So, okay.
So you went to school, uh, U of M.
Yes.
And then University of Saskatchewan.
Yes.
Yes.
We call that God's country here.
Wait.
Saskatchewan?
Yeah.
It's actually quite beautiful.
I do love it.
I know it gets, it's gets a bad rep.
I'm from Saskatoon.
Are you?
Yeah.
Oh, I love it.

(03:54):
Yes.
I'm a, I'm a transplant into Winnipeg.
There you go.
Very similar.
Actually, as far as cities go, I findlike, like lots of good culture and
yeah, that's, that's pretty much it.
Um, and then how long were you in Alberta?
Um, well, I was there over like, likemy vet student summers here and there.

(04:15):
And then, um, and then not quitea year actually, I was graduated
before we moved back here.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
I lived in Brooks for a while.
Did you?
Yeah.
It's a nice community too.
That's got a, that's got alittle, uh, tinge of, a hint of
something to it when you drive in.
You can definitely smell it.
Yeah.
Yes, it is.
Um, okay, great.

(04:35):
So, uh, you went through.
Now, from what I read, itwasn't long from finishing to
getting your own clinic, really.
So for that one year from 2011to 2012, what were you doing?
I was working at the Mixed AnimalVeterinarian just outside Olds, Alberta.
Um, yeah, that's, that'swhat we were doing.

(04:56):
So we were, um, I was gettingmy new vet, new vet wings,
kind of stronger and stronger.
And, um, yeah, the, um, the practiceout there, because it was a little
bit more rural, I guess, where itwas about an hour or so from Calgary.
So we saw everything and it was, um, it,it was a really good place, um, to learn

(05:21):
how to do a lot of things and kind of, um,just jump right in and get practicing and,
um, gain that practice and the confidence.
Cause you really, you know, you geta hit by car dog come in and it's
like, well, if we don't do something,it's not going to make it to Calgary.
We need to do something.
So that's where it was.

(05:42):
It was a really, uh, a good spot to start.
I think it was really just thrown rightin and get really brave really quickly.
So it was great.
Now, when you guys werestudying, do you do everything?
Do you do large animal?
Do you do small animal?
Everything?
Yeah.
So when we go to write our, our licensingexam, they do, they ask you everything.
There's, there's questionson exotic animals.

(06:03):
There's questions on public health, youknow, all like the regulatory stuff, as
well as the dogs, cats, um, horses, cows,and, and the main animals we think of.
But yes, so when we're in school,there is some, you know, in your last
year, you can choose a little bit asfar as which direction you want to go.
But when you write the exam, you have tokind of know the basics of everything.

(06:24):
Um, so yeah, we, we learn everything.
There's a lot.
Yeah.
How did you know that,um, that matter was right.
For you, like when, when,when did you choose that?
And did you always know?
No, I didn't.
But a lot of vets do.
They, they know from an early agethat they want to be a veterinarian.
For myself, it was more one of those,you know, I was in my last few years in

(06:46):
my sciences and um, I started working inthe lab and I was like, I can't do this.
This is a little too slow paced for me.
So I actually started volunteeringat a vet clinic and I just
fell in love right away.
And it was, um, like the, theproblem solving the pace was, it
was, it was nice and, um, prompt.
Like, you know, it was like an animal'scoming in, you're doing something with

(07:07):
it and then hopefully you're makingit better and you're sending it at
the door and the next one's there.
And it was, It was really fun and,um, I loved the human animal bond.
I also fell in love with that.
Just the whole, whole environment of, um,really experiencing that, that love that
people have for their animals and beingable to help and experience and kind of

(07:27):
be a part of that was really special.
So that, that kind of was, uh, yeah.
That's what made me, um, want topursue it then after I had done
some volunteer hours and I did thevolunteer hours at central vet and
then that's where I ended up right now.
So it's all full circle now you,um, and your husband, uh, Dave, you
guys, were you married early on?

(07:49):
Were you like through school after school?
Yeah, it was right after school.
So we, um, well, so hegraduated a year ahead of me.
Okay.
And then, then I graduated, and then wewere married that fall, and then that
spring, we were, um, in, in a snowstormin March, in a U Haul, driving across the

(08:11):
country, you know, to move up here, aswe do, and then a, a week later, we found
out we were expecting our first child.
We kind of laugh now because looking back,I remember some of the people in our lives
at the time, like our, our, our lawyersare, um, the people at the bank that were
helping us with everything with, you know,kind of like the purchase of the clinic.
Um, you know, they kept askingus like, are you guys doing okay?

(08:33):
Like, are you doing okay?
Yeah.
And then we were justlike, yeah, of course.
Like, why not?
This is great.
This is so exciting.
And they're like, okay.
Cause you know, there's kind of these,like, I don't know, they had like a
list of the, of the big stressors thathappen in people's lives, and they're
like, you guys are taking a few of those.
You're doing all of them all at once.
Yeah, doing them all at once,and we were just oblivious.
We were, and then sometimes welaugh now because, um, we really

(08:57):
did just kind of Go into it thinkingwell like what could go wrong like
this is this is going to be fun.
This is like what we want to do Um, butif we would have known How difficult it
was going to be we might not have done,you know, we might have thought twice
I mean, hopefully we would have stilldone it because now we're on the other
side of it and it's like We're glad wedid, but it was definitely looking back.

(09:20):
It was a very intense time for sure.
Yeah.
Um, so the, the tractor, the trifecta ofinsanity is referred to, uh, by one of my
coaches that, uh, he talks about married.
Uh, kids and having a business.
Yes.
Yeah.
So what was the, uh,was there an aha moment?

(09:42):
Was there like, how did you guys decidethat you were, when was the, when
was the time that you guys decidedthat you were going to buy a clinic?
Um, yeah, we, well.
Really, even throughout like theend of vet school, um, we both
came from family farms and, youknow, kind of family businesses.
So, I think probably shortly afterwe, you know, were engaged in planning

(10:04):
our life, that was something, youknow, we were like, yeah, one day we
want to, we want to own a vet clinic.
Okay.
Um, but I think in our, in our minds atthe time, it was more like, That's the 10
year plan, but then it just all happened.
Not the six month plan.
Yes, yeah, then it all just happened veryquickly because, um, um, with Central Vet.
So, um, yeah, so Dr.

(10:25):
Ken Johnson and his wife Elaine,they started it back, I think, in 89.
And that was who I volunteered with.
And then I was a vet student.
I came back and I worked with Dr.
Johnson.
And, um, And I was actuallygiving him a call to see because
he had an RSVP for my wedding.
And, and I was, and I was like, okay,Ken, like, I know you're likely coming.
You probably lost the invitebecause you're so busy.

(10:46):
And are you coming to the wedding?
And, and then that's when he waslike, oh, I thought maybe you
wanted to move out here and workwith me or maybe buy the clinic.
And I was like, oh, is that even,and that's kind of what started it.
It was just kind of like this shockof like, oh, is that an option?
Like, is that something?
And then, and then,yeah, we talked about it.
And then actually on our honeymoon is whenwe decided we're like, yeah, let's do it.
Let's do this.
Cause we looked at a few other optionsthen in Alberta, cause we're like,

(11:07):
Hey, well, if we're doing this rightaway, let's make sure this is it.
Cause you know, there's other options.
So we did look at some otheroptions, including maybe, um,
like a startup was another option.
We looked at, um, differentareas, but yeah, this was, it
was the, it's an establishedpractice in a really good area.
And um, yeah.
And it was, yeah, all of the, theanimals kind of like the mix of

(11:28):
animals that we liked working with.
And so it was, is yourhusband from Winnipeg?
No, he's actually from Alberta.
Okay.
Yeah.
So he had a decision to make too.
Yeah.
That was a big deal.
Yeah.
For him to leave Alberta.
And now actually his whole family hasmoved out from Alberta and they're
all in Winnipeg now and they love it.
Yeah.
So it's, yeah.
Oh, that's great.
Mm hmm.
Um, so you guys, uh, a question that comesup quite a bit, uh, that we find and, and

(11:53):
very different answers almost every timeworking with your significant other, not
only working, but co owning a business.
So, so take me through that.
How was it, uh, you know, startingout, how is it now that you're in
operation and things have smoothed out?
Yeah, this is a loaded answer.

(12:14):
It was, um, it's definitely, um, wehad to Learn like what we were good
at, because I mean, when we went to vetschool, it was to become veterinarians,
we did not know how to like run a businessand then even the business experience
that we had was, was a family farm, youknow, we didn't have employees, didn't,

(12:35):
you know, we had suppliers a littlebit, but like, it was very different.
You didn't have clientslike it was different.
So, um, yeah.
Yeah, so it was definitely a lot oflike looking at each other the first few
years like, well, who's going to do this?
Like who's like, who knowswhat they're doing here?
Okay.
Neither of us.
Well, let's just like, let's ask someoneor let's figure it out or just, just

(12:56):
like, you know, go with what we thinkis best and, and that type of thing.
So a lot of that happened.
Um, yeah.
And then when I started, obviously,um, having the kids and then I was
on a very short mat leaves, because,you know, I had to get back into
the clinic, but, um, um, he, he waslike eyeballs deep in the vet stuff.
So, um, the vet clinic was growingat the time we had, um, just the

(13:21):
five vets, but the vet we hadbought from, he, he wanted to stay.
start finally taking some vacations.
So sometimes we were only down totwo, three vets, especially if I
was off with on, on a mat leave.
So basically it was, um, hewas, he just, he just dove
right into like the vet stuff.
And he was just, um, likevery high demand with, with
appointments and that type of stuff.

(13:42):
So when I would come back from themat leaves, it was very much like,
okay, well, I guess I'll handle, youknow, these, um, These things with the
employees or, you know, start workingon some systems to hopefully make it
better so that, you know, we have lessfires to put out and that type of thing.
And, and the way my brain wentbecause I'm a problem solver and
I'm very creative with, with kindof thinking, Oh, let's just do this.

(14:05):
Let's try this.
So, so I was always wanting to trydifferent things and kind of, um.
do better and kind of push the envelope.
And he was just like, okay, I'll just keepdoing the vet stuff so you can do that.
And so it actually ended up kind ofworking out quite well because, um,
because I was able to step back fromdoing a lot of the vet stuff and work
on human resources and things that areimportant, you know, to run a business.

(14:27):
And, um, he just kind of kept goingwith With the vet stuff and kept
that up so that I was had thatrelief to kind of step back and
work on some of the business stuff.
And then we took somebusiness training together.
So we were always on the same pagewith stuff, but it was, um, yeah.
Do you think it waseasier, easier or harder?
Like, are there more pros or more consto working with your significant other?

(14:48):
Well, yeah.
And this is something we'vetalked about and him and him
did hot on a little bit as well.
Cause like, um, There, there were timeswe would come home from work at the
end of the day and just be like, howdo people, um, that are married, how
would they not have a business together?
And, and, and like actually feellike they're on the same page.
Cause we just, our lives were sointertwined and it, it, it, it has

(15:11):
just been very, um, You know, we alwaysknow what's happening with each other.
And we always, you know, it's just kindof, and then at the end of the day, we're
just like that much on the same page thatit's just kind of, it just makes it easy.
So in that way, that's been, been good.
Um, and then, I mean, thedifficulties are, um, You know,

(15:31):
you're always butting heads.
It's, it's a little bit, like,you have to learn a little
bit within the clinic itself.
It's like, okay, together inthe clinic, we don't argue.
We argue, you know, at home, maybe we say,okay, like, I didn't like when you did
this, or I didn't like when you did that.
But in the clinic, we're a united front.
So that was something, youknow, you learn over time.
It's like raising kids.
It is.
Yes, it is very much.

(15:53):
Don't find front of the employees.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
So, so when you guys took the, whenyou, when you bought the clinic, there
was, there was five vets, including.
No, there was actually two.
Okay.
And then we came and then there was anew grad that I had actually worked with.
So Dr.
Samira, um, and she's nowone of the cohorts as well.

(16:14):
Yeah.
So, so she was a new grad coming in.
She was a year behind me in schooland, um, and then, yeah, so very
shortly we, we were up to the five.
Um, or like roughly four and ahalf because the previous owners
started stepping back a bit.
So, yeah.
And now where are you guys?
Now there's, um, myself plus nine others.
And then the, um, previous owner, healso does some consulting as well.

(16:37):
So, Yeah.
Okay.
That's great.
Yeah.
So two part question.
Hardest part about first startingout, you guys buy the, buy this
clinic, you're jumping into this,never really ran businesses before
other than family businesses.
Um, what was the hardest partjumping into that and then what

(16:58):
is now the current hardest part?
Yeah.
Um, the hardest part then waslearning how to run a business and
I think more specifically, um, just.
making decisions.
So it, because I, like I, I think anysmall business owner would know, any
business owner knows, like the numberof decisions you have to make a day.
Um, and kind of the mental loadthat, that, that carries because

(17:22):
you want to make good decisions.
Um, that definitely was something.
we had to learn very quickly.
Like, how do we make decisions?
How do we make good decisions?
And how do we make them quickly enoughso we're not holding everything up,
frustrating people, letting things beproblems for longer than they have to be.
So that was a very steep learning curve.

(17:43):
Um, yeah, that was one ofthe biggest ones I'd say.
Yeah.
And what about right now?
Now, it's, um, keeping up the, likethe momentum, I would say, and like
the interest in, in like, okay,like, what are we going to do now?
And, and, um, that's one of the things nowthat I really focus on because I want this

(18:05):
to be a clinic that people are proud towork I want clients to come and be happy.
So I think it's that That we're at thepoint of being, um, well established
and we have our, you know, our systems,there's always room to improve, but it's
like, okay, now what, like now we'relike working on kind of like the cherry

(18:28):
on top and, and that type of stuff.
And now it's like culture.
Yes.
For the employees.
Now it's how do we.
And it's maintaining that because we'lllike, you know, establish a good culture,
but then you have to keep maintaining it,which is, is, um, Which is something in
the last few years that I'm realizing.
It's like, you know, we spoke lastyear about what our communications

(18:49):
policy is, everyone, and it's like,like why is that not good forever?
Okay, we have to do it again this year.
Like, you know, it's, you haveto kind of repeat it 'cause you
have new people coming in andit's just human nature, right?
You kind of stuff slips off.
So it's that constant maintenanceof like, this is how we do.
This is how we do it here.
This is what we do.
This is what we want to stand for.
You know, that type of stuff.

(19:09):
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, business development,you had mentioned as far as
just how do we keep growing?
How do we, how do we keep interest?
Yeah.
Well, um, like we, We've often describedthe clinic as kind of this runaway horse

(19:29):
or runaway train that we're trying tolasso and trying to like get a hold of
or get control of because it actuallygrew quite quickly once we started
putting in some of like the basicbusiness stuff that That we had learned,
um, the first few years we were verymuch the typical, you know, we are vets
and, and we have a business, right?

(19:50):
So it was, we did vet work and wedidn't really run the business.
So we didn't really haveit have any marketing.
We didn't really have any, um, systemsin place to maintain like the team.
And, you know, so we had lots of employeeretention issues and that type of stuff.
So that was when I, I had kind of hadenough of that and I was like, okay, like.
We have a responsibility hereas business owners to do a

(20:13):
good job running this business.
You know, we have thesepeople that work for us.
We have these clients that come to us,these animals that come to us that,
and this is what we're here to do.
And we have a responsibility tomake sure that this container,
like this, this organization ishealthy and it's, it's running well.
And it's a good place forall these people to come.
So I kind of had that.
that moment a few years in where, youknow, and, and I was also done with

(20:35):
the fires and done with that stressof, of feeling so out of control
because like, we were really goodvets, but like the business was, was,
was not as, as, um, like it was, um,It was okay, but it wasn't where,
where I was okay with it being.
And, and, and like my husbandwas working so much too.
And it was like, is this what it'sgoing to look like until we're
into our 60, 70 is where you'reworking 60, 80 hours a week.

(20:57):
Um, and yeah, so then that's wherewe kind of started to establish
some of those things and, um,yeah, kind of go with that.
So, yeah, yeah.
So what was the, um, whatroute did you guys take to
start learning about, you yeah.
Yeah, so, um, there was, you know, there'sa few, um, yeah, kind of organizations

(21:20):
or companies that will train.
So one of the ones we workedwith, um, they, they focus on
veterinarians and they kind of help.
So it was basically just learninglike, okay, this is like, um,
how you read a profit and loss.
Like it was, it's really when Ilook back now at how little we
knew, it's actually interesting.

(21:41):
It's kind of funny to think that,that, you know, we have come so far.
So it's just like, okay, thisis how you read a profit loss.
This is how you want it to look.
Um, this is, this is basic marketing.
This is like marketing one on one, likeyou need to, you know, make sure you have
good customer service, which of coursethis all happened naturally for us.
So it was very much, um, like weweren't, um, completely out of water.

(22:02):
Like, we kind of were doing okay.
We had enough momentum, but then whenwe started, yeah, putting in those,
those types of practices, then we alsorealized we needed to renovate and expand
the building because we didn't haveany where to really speak to the staff.
Like if we needed to have a one onone conversation with someone, we
didn't have anywhere to do that.
That was.
So we, yes, and then we expandedand renovated the clinic.

(22:27):
So then that was a wholeother project that we did.
And when we did that, the businesskind of took off because, um, we
all of a sudden had more space.
It was a nice place to work,a nice new building clinic.
And then we started implementing someof those strategies, those business
strategies, training the team.
So that was a big one, um, that lots ofpeople, I think just kind of overlook.

(22:47):
And, um, it's, it's kind of a.
Um, yeah, well, just even small thingslike, okay, like if we are going to do
this procedure, this is how we do it.
This is how we're all going to do it.
So we know what to expect from each otherbecause a lot of the time you get people.

(23:07):
Leaving a position becausethey aren't trained properly.
They never are confident in what they'redoing and then they're making mistakes.
And then the leadership is like, youknow, why'd you make that mistake?
Why'd you make that mistake?
And it's, it's almostalways a training problem.
So that was a big one that, you know, wejust actually started to train people.
Um, and then that helped, you know,kind of with the team retention

(23:29):
and then like the business was justtaking off and then the pandemic hit.
And then that was.
It was a whole other thing.
So yeah, we just kind of startedlearning like the, like the, um,
like the basic business stuff.
And then over the last few yearswe've been doing more like leadership
and, and looking at different waysto make sure, you know, we have like
a psychologically safe workplace issomething that's hugely important to us.
So, um, yeah, again, like moreof like the cherry on top, but

(23:52):
really when we get into it.
It really should be more important andmore of a focus than I think a lot of
businesses do put into place because it'smade such a big difference in just how it
just the experience of being in the clinicand how it feels to run that business.
Like you feel so much betterabout it when you know.

(24:12):
That you are being responsibleand saying, this is going to be
a psychologically safe workplace.
We want people to be able to comeand feel safe, you know, and do the
work that they want to do just ina safe and supportive environment.
It really sounds like asimple ask, but I don't know.
It's just overlooked a lot of the time.
Yeah.
So a few things there.
Um.

(24:34):
So at the start, it kind of soundedlike logic and common sense were kind
of your, your guiding point, right?
Um, there's, there's certain things like,well, we kind of know that we have to have
good customer service, but it may not beintentional or part of a, a bigger plan.
But as far as just starting out, youknow, generally speaking, if you have

(24:56):
a pretty good, uh, you know, barometerof what's not, not just right or wrong,
but how you would want to be treated.
Like if you can empathize with youremployees, if you can empathize with
your clients coming in, um, You know,that goes a long way without ever having
any systems or processes in place.

(25:18):
It does.
You mentioned another thing aboutdecision making, which is really
funny because not, not making adecision is making a decision.
Yeah.
Right.
It's a decision to be a horrible leaderand hold things up and all that stuff.
So it's, uh, you're right.
It is a very difficult balance of.

(25:40):
If I make this, I, I know I needto make this decision, but if I
make the wrong decision, which isfine, because we can always fix it,
but how bad am I going to mess up?
But, right.
So it's like, how do I, how doI make the wrong decision, but
just a little wrong decision.
Yeah.
It's been, uh, it's been neat to the, thespeed of implementation of things has to

(26:03):
be, you'll find that efficiencies reallygo up once you start making decisions.
That's, that's good.
Um, Why do you think that aveterinary clinic could fail?
Why would it fail?
I think right now, I mean, one ofthe biggest problems that's facing
our industry is, um, uh, we don'thave enough vets or vet tech.

(26:24):
So there's a majorshortage of professionals.
So right now that's thebiggest thing we see.
The ones that are struggling,they just, they aren't able
to retain or attract talent.
And, um, so then the, the owner ofthe clinic, which has to be a vet in
Manitoba, you have to be a veterinarianto own a vet clinic in Manitoba.
They end up.
just doing vet stuff and then they don'thave enough time to run the business.

(26:45):
Um, or they're just getting completelyburnt out because they're working 60 to
80 hours a week as a veterinarian andthen they're going into everything that
they need to do to run their business.
Um, so I think like that's why we seethe clinics failing that do fail and,
and, um, they're also the ones that areTrying to sell to corporate because that's
a big thing right now is the corporatetakeover of a lot of the private clinics.

(27:08):
Um, but then, yeah, some unfortunatelyaren't even able to because they're
just too small and the corporatesdon't even want to, want to touch them.
So it's, it's kind of a sad and thenthey just end up, I think, having to, to
close some of them, but it's, it's hard.
Like, there's a lot of people strugglingthat own clinics that aren't able to
retain and attract, um, the talentand I think location is, is one thing

(27:31):
because there's rural clinics, there'slike lots of animals out in rural areas.
So we need veterinarians out there.
Um, Northern communities,it's a huge issue as well.
So it's, yeah, that's a wholeother, a whole other thing.
That's, it's not just up to our industry,I think, to kind of look at that and,
you know, look at solutions and help tofacilitate the solutions because, um, you

(27:54):
know, it's a, it's a, um, yeah, basicallylike a public health issue at, at really,
in some ways it is a public healthissue because of all these animals that
aren't getting proper care and then theimplications that that has on the human
populations that care for the animals.
So it is, it's kind of a, yeah.
Are locums really big then?
Um, they're not that big inManitoba, but they are growing.

(28:17):
Um, yeah.
Yeah, it's, it's a growing field forsure that some veterinarians are choosing
to go into because you can control yourschedule and it's a little bit better.
And you don't have to livesomewhere you don't want to.
Yeah, you don't have to livesomewhere you don't want to.
Um, I'm hoping that the vet industrykind of catches up to what like
the human health field is doing.
You know, they'll fly in doctors for weeksat a time in the northern communities,

(28:38):
for example, or, but even, even withhuman healthcare, I mean, there's
a, there's a problem with getting.
Human doctors out intothe rural areas as well.
So at that point, it becomes, you know, upto kind of the government to step in and
that's kind of what they're there to do.
So hopefully we start seeingsome improvements in those areas.
Yeah.
What was COVID like for you guys?

(29:00):
That was intense.
So I remember, you know,watching this news coming on,
okay, this is going to happen.
And, um, right away, you know, we jumpedto, okay, well, if this happens, we'll
do a, and then if this happens, We'lldo B and trying to kind of, you know,
kind of anticipate what might happen.

(29:21):
So we were thinking, okay, well, if a fewpeople get sick, you know, we'll do this
with the team because like a big concernwas what if the whole team goes down?
We see hundreds of animals.
A week.
Um, you know, sometimes a day we will seeover a hundred animals a day for sure.
So it's kind of like, whereare these animals going to go?
Like, what's going to happen?
There's going to be the, youknow, the, like the suffering

(29:43):
that the animal goes through.
And then like the human caretaker,like, what are they going to go
through to watch your animalssuffer on top of everything else?
So, so that was a huge concern ofours right from the start was, okay,
what happens if the team goes down?
So we started making plans, but thenwhat happened was Um, yeah, basically
everything closed down all at once.
As people remember, I remember when theschools closed down like right after, and

(30:05):
then I had a panic attack because I waslike, now my kids are home from school.
I think we all did.
I remember this like, oh mygoodness, they're closing the
schools and this is happening.
And then just thinking, okay, nowI'm going to have to be like managing
this clinic with my Three kids athome trying to homeschool and I
was like, how is this going to go?
But, um, but basically, yeah, wekind of, you know, there was kind

(30:28):
of like a week or so there where wewere like, what's going to happen?
But within even a few days,people started to panic by.
So they wanted like a year'sworth of their dog food.
And so then it's like, OK,what do we do about this?
And and I think what was.
Unique about our clinic, we have a bigteam and we have a big client base.
Like we have like around 50 employees.
So, so just managing like thecommunications with the team was a whole

(30:51):
thing that, that we had to, you know,make sure we were on top of and making
sure that we were keeping them calmand like, okay, like, let's do this.
Okay.
Like, well, We'll put out acommunication that people can only
get two months of dog food at a time.
And because like, like we couldn'teven get the supply fast enough.
And then very quickly, yeah, there,there were supply issues because a lot
of the stuff we use in the vet clinic isused in the human medical field as well.

(31:14):
So then we were running out ofendotracheal tubes and like the prices
skyrocketed on some of these things too.
So, so we're just like scramblingwith all these moving parts
that we're moving so quickly.
Um, Then all of a sudden everyonewas at home with their animals and
they were like, Oh, well, this isa great time to bring my dog that's
been limping for a year to the vet.
Like, let's bring it in now.

(31:35):
So we were just inundated.
Like it was just, um, this intensedemand that we did not anticipate.
And then on top of that,everyone, everyone got a pet.
People who didn't alreadyhave, have an animal.
Um, so yeah, the whole, um, yeah, like theCOVID puppy boom was just a major thing.
And so that was very, verydifficult, I would say.

(31:58):
Um, but I mean, It's a good problem.
It's a good problem.
Right?
So this is where it's like, you know,like I don't want to paint it in like a
negative light because there was a lotof people that lost their businesses and
we were at the point where we like, um,the team actually rallied really well.
And I actually, I could probably getemotional thinking about it because that

(32:21):
was one of the biggest things that I,that I took away from that, that whole,
it was like a two, three year period.
There was, was.
All the work we had done to reallysupport the team and, um, get a good
workplace like environment and like theculture and, and, you know, they say

(32:42):
when you do have that, when there isthat trouble or that, you know, Problem,
the team rallies together insteadof, you know, kind of breaking apart.
And that's really what we saw.
I can get emotional thinking about it.
Like I said, just because like theyleaned on each other and we all kind
of like, like that was the safe placefor us to come during a crazy time.
And like, we would even see, youknow, like if you guys don't feel like

(33:04):
coming in there, like, no, like thisis what we look forward to because
otherwise we're just sitting at home.
So we want to come in, we want to keepbusy and, and, you know, kind of be here
together and, and see all the animals.
And, and so that was just, thatwas a really big, beautiful thing
that kind of came from that.
And, and just kind of, yeah, kind ofreally seeing like what is possible

(33:25):
when you have that really strong.
Strong team culture wasa really nice thing.
Um, but yeah, the business grew likereally quickly cause we had hired a vet,
um, right at the start of the pandemic.
Um, that was already kind of inthe plan, but, but right away
we were like, we need more.
So like we very quicklyhired two more, um, and then.
Now the building's kind of full,otherwise we would probably hire more,

(33:48):
but, um, yeah, the building's kind ofbusting at the seams again with people.
So I don't know if another expansionis in the future, but, um, yeah, so
that's kind of what happened there.
And, um, we ended up, one of the biggestthings that, that was this kind of, um,
like kind of like a holy shit momentwas, um, we spent a lot of time trying

(34:12):
to figure out how to turn people away.
And triage because we were just sobusy and there was lots of clinics
that weren't taking new patients.
Um, we did our best to try to makesure that, that we could, like we
had hired a few, a few new vetsand we were able to hire vets.
So we're trying to hireand they couldn't hire.
We were able to.
Um, so then that was where, whenI was looking at, you know, for

(34:36):
example, the reception team,they're the gatekeepers, right?
So they would get so many calls aday and they would probably spend.
Almost half their time trying to triage,trying to explain that we couldn't
see you today because, you know, wewere so full with like urgent and
very serious cases or whatever it was.
So that was something that was verydisheartening for them because,

(34:58):
you know, they wanted to help.
So we saw lots of burnout with the team.
I mean, that's like one of thebiggest issues that, that we
see in the entire industry.
And like, our clinic was the same as, isespecially when you're growing so fast.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're going so fast.
And it was relentless.
Like the demand was relentless.
So it was very, yeah, we spent lotsof time just trying to support the

(35:19):
team through that, trying to keepup the communication with like the
public and like the clients thathad been with us for years, right?
Trying to make sure thatwe still had time for them.
But then there was all these newclients too that needed help.
And so it was, yeah, it was a veryintense time and we learned a lot.
We learned so much.
But now we're kind of waking up fromthat and being like, okay, like now

(35:41):
where are we at with some of this stuff?
And let's kind of get backto kind of a more normal.
Oh, the craziness is done.
Yeah.
Okay.
How do we grow again?
Yes.
Yeah.
Or even just, um, heal a little bit,you know, like there was definitely,
and I think we're kind of comingout of that now, but I would say.
Yeah.
2023 was, was a lot about healing,honestly, like even just, um, you know,

(36:06):
we had a lot of team members that weresaying like, this isn't the profession
for us, like, we cannot do this.
This is just too hard.
The, you know, it's just a lot.
So, but, but now they're kind of like,okay, no, I think we can do this again.
You know, just because it was justthe, yeah, the demand, the pressures.
Um, so do you find that youguys slowed down or you grew?

(36:29):
In a way that you could handle better.
We were able to become moreefficient, so that definitely helped.
So we were, yeah, so we,yeah, I guess a few things.
So we have become more efficient.
Things have slowed down a bit.
I mean, when everyone was gettinglike the puppies in that first year,
often you see a puppy like fivetimes, but once it's over a year,

(36:50):
usually you're seeing it once a year.
Maybe twice if there's, youknow, some kind of medical thing.
So that definitely, youknow, kind of that way.
And then there are some peoplethat did give up their dogs and,
and their animals that they didget over the pandemic as well.
So that's the thing.
And then, um, the other one, Ithink probably a lot of people
are seeing just, um, consumerspending is, you know, kind of down.

(37:11):
So people are less likely to.
Bring their animal in unless, um, youknow, they're really worried about it,
they'll wait a little bit longer at home.
Which is sometimes Yeah.
Works, sometimes doesn't.
So not buying a year worth of dogs food.
The dog food.
Food, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Or maybe they're holding off on, youknow, their spay and neuter until a
couple years old, like, whatever it is.
So, yeah.

(37:31):
So we're seeing like a decrease in Mm-Hmm.
in some of the services that we hadseen Spike during the pandemic, like the
space and neu of the dogs, and, and nowwe're seeing those kind of come back to.
pre pandemic levels.
So now it's just kind of going backthrough our old stuff from say 2019 and
kind of dusting that off and being like,what was it like before the pandemic?
Oh, right.
This is what it was like.
This is how we scheduled things.

(37:53):
So yeah.
So it's, yeah.
It's, uh, it's neat that once thingsstart, once you kind of get your
feet under and I'll say This fromexperience, actually, once I started
getting my feet under, uh, myselfand feeling like, okay, I actually do
know this stuff, you know, it's, it's,I'm becoming more proficient at it.
It, it definitely turns to more peoplefocused and your people, especially as

(38:19):
far as like, how do I support, you know,The employees better, you know, how
do I, how do I make your life better?
Yes.
Um, and not only, and it's, and it's onething too, you talk about mental health.
Um, I, I think that how people'slives are outside of work definitely
affects how they are at work.

(38:39):
Right.
So I always tell the, you know, there's.
You know, maybe six months of just,okay, you're not going to know much.
We're learning a lot, make mistakes.
We'll go, we'll go from there.
But after about six months to a yearand then after a year, um, it's a lot
about like, okay, well maybe we need tostart setting some personal goals, right.

(39:00):
And, and let's hit some, let'sget some, not just confidence, uh,
outside, but like, where can wegrow outside of work so that, you
know, we're making your life better.
Cause that's how I want.
I want everyone that comes in here,um, and we're, we're still pretty small
to, you know, be a better version ofthemselves if, if they do leave, or if

(39:22):
they're staying great, let's, let's getyou even bigger and bigger and bigger.
I love that you said that, becausethat's actually this last year and
a half healing from the pandemic.
We looked at our, our whole mission, like,like what is our mission at Central Vet?
What are our value statements?
And that's what we came down to.
We're like, like, what are we doing here?
And it was.
It's like, like, like, whydo we show up every day?

(39:44):
And that's what it came down to.
It's like, we want toimprove people's lives.
And that was it.
And it's like, right when we said it,it was like, that is why we are here.
This is why we're doing what we're doing.
We want to improve the lives of, ofcourse, the animals, like our patients,
our clients, like the people who, whotake care of the animals, obviously, but
then, yeah, we want to improve the livesof our whole team, like our employees.

(40:08):
And it, it.
That has become something that is likevery important to us and it's become a
huge focus and, and just like you said,it goes beyond like we just revamped our
performance, you know, kind of assessmentsystem because what you incentivize
is what you're going to see and whatyou kind of the behaviors that you're

(40:29):
going to see being put into action.
And so, so it's like, what.
behaviors do we want to see?
How do we start seeing that?
And you have to train people on them.
Like you can't, you can'texpect someone to, yeah, yeah.
You can't expect someone to belike, um, great at communication.
If you haven't said like, this ishow we want you to communicate and,

(40:50):
and kind of done an assessment,like, like where are you at?
Where can we help you?
Where can we like manage anyrisks that are there and where
can we lean into those strengths?
So we, we do a lot ofthat too, is looking at.
What are your strengths?
What actually do you like doing?
Let's make this job more meaningful foryou and, you know, kind of help you be
more engaged in your work because thenlike that's where you're going to thrive.

(41:13):
And, and that's something we've beenable to do, um, because our team is so
large as we do what we call like lotsof, um, Job crafting is, is, is the
name of, of the exercise that we do.
And we basically just lookat what do you like doing?
What do you not like doing?
And if, if you don't likedoing this, that's fine.

(41:33):
You don't have to do it becausethis person loves doing that.
So let's just get people doingwhat they actually like doing.
And that's, what's better for them.
That's what's better for theactual patient, our clients.
So yeah, we've seen a lot of success, justlike looking at, at strengths and, and.
Instead of always like really focusingon people's weaknesses and being
like, why aren't you better at this?
Just being like, okay, well,you're not great at that.

(41:55):
Let's manage any risk there.
Cause that's also important, butlike, what are you actually good at?
Like, let's do more of that andhelp you develop in those areas.
Cause that's where you see peoplereally coming along and, and
really shining in what they do.
So that's become reallyimportant for us for sure.
So strengths and weaknesses, youmentioned coming in, you know,
you and Dave were trying to figureout really, what are we good at?

(42:17):
What can we do, um, take methrough, you know, how you guys,
so it COVID skyrocketed you guys,but from 2012 to 2019, uh, take me
through how you guys were findingclients, how you were marketing,
advertising, anything like that.
What were your thoughts on thatand how, how has it evolved?

(42:40):
Yeah, I mean, we always wanted to doa really good job and I think that's
always one of the best ways to marketis just make sure you're doing a good
job because then word of mouth, right?
And, and, um, that transparency, like,and that, you know, kind of alignment
throughout the whole company hasalways been really important to us.
Like we.

(43:02):
We're kind and we expectother people to be kind.
We want our clients to be kind.
And it's just that, you know, kindof alignment as, as far as, as that
can sometimes be the best marketingstrategy is just that people know
what to expect from you, what you.
What you say you're going to do,you do it's called integrity.

(43:23):
Yeah, it's just very simple.
Um, yeah, kind of, yeah, kind of whatevermarketing rules, but, but yeah, we
did definitely make sure we had like areminder system put in, you know, all
kinds of kind of like the boring things.
But.
Yeah.
Also the important things becauseI know myself as a busy mom.
I love when I get reminders Yeah,because I know some people they're

(43:43):
like, oh, we don't want to annoy people.
I'm like no I'm gonna forgeti'm gonna forget I need my
reminders So it's like that.
Yeah, like really sharing that wasperspectives amongst the team so that
you know They kind of think oh, yeah,someone else might like this if like,
you know, whatever it is So that'skind of been so yeah, so we do that.
Um we would do things like, um, youknow, once a month we would have

(44:06):
something that we would focus on.
Like, let's do like, um, like a spayand neuter month and get all those
animals that haven't been spayedand neutered, but maybe should have
been, you know, kind of reduced thebarriers for getting them in to do.
Um, to get those procedures done.
So we kind of had like a marketingcalendar that we used, um, before the
pandemic and, and that type of stuff.
But, um, yeah, and then wejust made sure we had a good

(44:28):
website, um, things like that.
So, um, yeah, but that was, you know,the vet industry has been growing, um,
there isn't a lot of marketing to do.
Um, yeah.
And it's, which is kind of a little bitdifferent, but that's where, like with
our marketing, we're very much like, wejust want to, um, just really be that

(44:52):
good word of mouth out in the communityand just kind of, because we are dealing
with a very important thing, likethat's, you know, that's the health of
someone's you know, kind of family member.
So it is something that, thatwe take really seriously.
We just want that to be, be somethingthat, that is, you know, kind of set
in the community is like, yeah, like ifmy animal's sick, I want to bring them

(45:15):
to Central because, you know, we trustthem, you know, that they're going to
take care of them and that type of thing.
And honestly, like, The vet clinicsin the city are like, great, right?
Like it's really almost any vet that'swhat they want because we do actually
care so much about our patients.
So it's actually just more sogetting a good word of mouth for
the whole industry out there.
Cause sometimes, you know, therecan be some things that are said

(45:38):
about vets that aren't so nice.
I think that's where we just, we justwant to be like a really good example
of like, you know, this is what vets do.
This is really what we're here todo and, and hopefully people, you
know, kind of really see that.
Cause I think that's, that's abig, a big piece of it too, because
we want people to trust vets.
And I don't think I could thinkof a bad thing to say about a vet.

(45:58):
That's good.
I don't think I've ever even heard one.
Oh really?
That's good.
I mean, I've always, it's always been apositive experience and always been great.
Yeah.
Um, what's some advice that you wouldgive to a vet med student that is
either finishing up or, or, you know,going through school, uh, coming out of

(46:18):
university, what's, what's something that,you know, you've kind of life skills.
You need life skills inwhat, in what respect?
life skills and habits like wellnessand lifestyle habits that are going
to support you in the long term.
I think this probably applies to reallyany young person because once you get

(46:40):
into the real world, you know, it's,it's, it's not sustainable if you're
not, um, taking care of yourself.
You know, we, we talk about this leadingself is kind of one of the topics
we talk about with, with our team,especially like our leadership team.
So.
And a lot of small business ownersaren't very good at it until they

(47:01):
realize they have to be good at it.
And then it's, and then things startfalling apart, things start falling
apart because you're falling apart.
Right.
So that's where it's, um, thatwould be something for sure.
Really anyone in university, anyone,I mean, it's, it's hard to tell
young kids that really haven'tbeen through that much adversity.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You need to sleep.
Yeah.
So it is definitely one of those thingswhere I, I recognize that sometimes

(47:24):
you, you need that discomfort,that adversity to kind of be like,
Ooh, I, I can't do this anymore.
I need to actually start sleeping.
Mm-Hmm.
and eating properly and exercising andhaving healthy mindset habits and Right.
Looking at my, you know, maybelike my, um, mental health.
physical health, but then also spiritualhealth, like my connection with

(47:47):
myself, the connection with, you know,kind of my community, because people
just, they don't, and that doesn'teven have to be religious, right?
It can just be like thatconnection with yourself.
Like, oh, how am I feeling about this?
What do I actually want out of this?
And just learning how to, to be selfaware with like what you're actually
experiencing, just, you know, insteadof just going on kind of autopilot.

(48:10):
Yeah.
Kind of autopilot.
And when did that bring your hand?
When did this startbeing big in your life?
Um, when the kids were, were smalland, and when I was, so when we
started renovating, expanding theclinic and the business started really
growing and, um, we had, um, ourmiddle child, she didn't sleep well.
So I, yeah.
So very sleep to torture.
Yeah.
It was a very, yeah.

(48:31):
So that was a really difficulttime for me, especially, I
think for my husband as well.
That was when he was kind of.
You know, just getting like reallyburnt out, working like 80 hours
a week, um, late at night, right.
Doing emergency calls.
And so I just remember, and, and a lotof the stuff that would play through my
head was, Oh, it's, it's because I don'tknow what I'm doing because this, because,

(48:53):
you know, it's a lot of negative stuff.
And, and then I started just realizing,well, that doesn't serve me at all.
I need to, you know, Learn how to have agratitude practice, I need to learn how
to make sure I'm going for a walk everyday and just disconnecting from everything
that's happening at the clinic and andthen you start reading about some of that

(49:14):
stuff and it just becomes, it becomesyour saving grace like it just becomes
something that is makes you feel better.
So then you want to do more of it.
So that was when the kids weresmall, it just became like, it was
like, we were getting really burntout and it was just something.
And then even more now that the kidsare getting a little bit older and we're
kind of through the pandemic, it's like,okay, like, like what, what else can

(49:37):
we do to make sure that this is likea sustainable thing for us long term
because it's, you know, like the mentalload of owning a business is intense.
Like it's just very heavy andyou become such a strong person.
Um, or I think you just, youburn out and you leave, right?
So it's, you kind of have to goone way or the other, otherwise

(49:57):
you're not going to last.
And I think sometimes too, it's,um, people, um, they've, they've
asked me, they're like, how doyou do everything that you do?
And, and I said, I'm like, well,it's, it's not comfortable.
Like it, it, it was very uncomfortable.
And that's, and that's the truth.
It was, but I can do more now and feel.

(50:21):
You know, healthier doing it because ofa lot of the, like those life skills.
Yeah, that you, you learnand you have to learn.
Otherwise you would just,you would have to leave.
Do you think that people can learnthem without going through them?
Or is that just something that likelife experience starts beating you down
enough that either you sink or swim?
I don't know.
That is something I have thoughtabout because I've, because I've

(50:43):
become so passionate about this.
And, and like, I want to speak tovet students and just be like, yeah,
you know, you need to get a gratitudepractice and you need to do these
things because otherwise, you know,you're going to get burnt out or, you
know, I, I really want you to succeed.
And I don't want you to sufferthe way that, you know, we
had to or whatever it is.
And I want to go and like,tell them these things.

(51:03):
But then I started thinking,I'm like, would they listen?
That's right.
Yeah.
Because there's not enough discomfort.
in their lives yet maybe forthem to think that that's real.
We had a wellness class in universitywhen we were in vet school.
I remember there was a wellness classand I was like, I don't need that.
I'm fine.
And then like five yearslater, I was like, Ooh, shoot,

(51:24):
I should have taken that.
I should have taken that wellness.
Well, I read my notes from halfa page that I talk all semester.
It was fantastic.
Yeah.
Cause I was doing green festival.
It was so fun.
And then it was, and then you're inthe real world and it's like, wow,
I could have probably used thatmindfulness class that they taught then.
But.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, you're right.
If the pain, if the pain is notgreater than the pain of changing,

(51:48):
you're never going to do it.
Right.
Yeah.
It's, um, yeah.
Understanding and looking at,uh, or, or understanding that
what you focus on growth.
I mean, that's a, that's a big oneand in talking about gratitude,
um, because as a business owner,it's really, it's really funny.

(52:09):
All we do is.
Look at problems because it's andthen we hire employees to handle the
stuff that's going right and thenwe focus on the problems, right?
And even when we have people thatare good enough to start handling
problems, then we just get problemsthat they couldn't figure out.
Yeah, yeah.
And so, you know, itreally is up to us to.

(52:33):
Focus on or choose what we focus onand that's, that's a really big one.
Yeah, it is.
And then I think the other huge thingthat made a difference for me was,
um, leaning into that, you know, kindof those situations where it's like,
wow, this is a big problem, but it'salso a big opportunity and that.
When I switched my mindset in thatway to be like, this is exciting.

(52:57):
We get to solve this problem.
And then after things are going tobe so much better and getting excited
about, you know, that opportunityto improve things instead of it
being like, Oh, another problem.
That was people think you're crazy.
However, yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You get through it.
Yeah.
It, it, it almost becomes excitingnow when someone comes to him, I'm
like, okay, let's like figure it out.

(53:18):
Yeah.
And it's nice to know.
So that's something to be like, Reallyare intentional about asking for feedback
and some people are like, oh well We don'twant to say because it might i'm like no
just if it's bad even better I want tohear the bad stuff too because I I just
want to know what everyone is experiencinggood or bad Because then that's where
you know If you're experiencing somethinggood We want to know because maybe we can

(53:40):
do it even better or we can expand it insome way If we're doing something bad like
we want to know and I think that's wherelike like I hope most business owners
can You lean into that a little bit more.
I think some are still afraid.
Sometimes when I talk to people orI hear things, it's like, Oh, you
need to, you need to ask for feedbackand, and be honestly wanting it.

(54:01):
And like, yeah, just recognizing thatit's really, it's kind of a gift.
It's like, okay, you could do this better.
Okay.
Well, like that's awesome.
Now I know now I can do this betterand I can do things even better.
Mm hmm.
So it's just kind of thinking alittle bit larger picture instead
of letting the ego get involved.
And well, there's a hard part about,um, the biases that come when you are

(54:25):
speaking with your employees becausethey have a, they have a much different
perspective than you do, right?
So yeah, they're nevergoing to have the same.
It's definitely interesting to hearwhen they're, when they are giving you
the feedback and you start and you, andthen you have to, Not compartmentalized,
but you have to really break apart.
Okay.
What is valid?
Yeah, and what is a bias or what is justcoming out of either their frustration

(54:47):
or what is, you know, what is accurate?
What, what, what haven't Ibeen communicating properly?
Right.
And that could just be the okay, Fred.
Yeah.
Here, here's what I do all day.
It's like, hi, I'm the problem.
It's me.
I didn't communicate that, that properly.
That's right.
Well, ultimately all,everything is our fault.
It is.
Yeah.
If you want to break it down toeverything, I hired you and you're

(55:08):
an idiot, so that's my fault.
It is.
Yeah.
It's so true.
And I think it's just, if you can sit withthat and be like, yeah, at the end of the
day, it's, This is all my responsibility.
So there's really no, no point inwasting energy and being like, well,
they did this and they did that.
Like, it's just, you either fix itor you fire them and you move on.
Yeah.
Right.
And you, and learn from it so thatyou're not doing the same thing

(55:30):
over and over again, ideally.
But yeah, yeah, it's so true.
So, uh, you guys are out in OakBluff, just outside of Winnipeg.
Is it, uh, do you think itwould be the same being in
Winnipeg as on the outskirts?
I think so.
I mean, like we have a lot ofour clients come from Winnipeg.
A lot of them.

(55:50):
So, um, the, the main benefit wehave is we have a little bit of land.
Yeah.
So it's, it's really nice.
You know, we, we have our clients walkingtheir dogs out in, in, you know, kind of
the trees and on the grass and Very nice.
So that's been really nice.
Yeah.
'cause we've looked at some of theclinics in the city and we're like,
well, where do they walk the dogs?
Mm-Hmm.
, there's no green space here.
Where are their horses?
Yeah.
Where do their horses go?
They don't have horses, which is, yeah.

(56:11):
So that's another thing too, right?
So we're able to have likethe horses and stuff, so Yeah.
Yeah.
But yeah, I think that'sbeen the main benefit.
Um, the.
One of the challenges is that thedrive, because I mean like the,
um, the South perimeter and theperimeter in general, especially in
the winter is, isn't always great.
So that's been something we'vehad to deal with on and off.
Um, yeah, but other thanthat, outside Manitoba, do you

(56:32):
think it's, is it different?
Uh, do you know that owners, yeah,other places, big network of veterans
across Canada that were, do you thinkit's different outside of Manitoba?
Is it the same?
It's very similar.
Um, I mean, there's someprovinces like where, um, you
don't have to be a vet to own.
So there are some vet clinics in,you know, say Alberta, we have a

(56:54):
friend who he's part of kind of likea small corporation of vet clinics
and they'll have, um, you know,kind of like, like a manager that's
like a registered vet tech as well.
That's, that's an owner.
So, so yeah, so that'sa little bit different.
You don't have to be a doctor to own adoctor's a medical clinic here, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's still.

(57:15):
Now is that trailing otherprovinces or are we ahead?
It's just a little.
We, um, recently opened up the vet act,like the province of Manitoba, but that
wasn't something that they changed.
So I think it was when the vet acts wereestablished in Manitoba, that, that was
how it was established was that a vethad to own, um, but yeah, so yeah, so

(57:37):
across the provinces, I hope it does.
Um, The vet techs are a verypowerful group that are vet
professionals, just like veterinarians.
It's almost like the nursesand the doctors, right?
And, um, they, they wantmore in their field.
They want growth opportunities.
Um, we have, we have an amazing teamat our clinic and I think we have

(58:01):
like 15 RVTs and they're, um, Theywant ownership opportunities too.
And like, some of them would be amazingactually on like my leadership team.
I have RVTs and I'm just like, if,if, if we could sell like a chunk
of this business to you guys, like Iwould love to, just because they've
been there since the start there,you know, they're acting like owners.
Yeah.
Um, Yeah, so I, I hope it says that issomething I want to see in my lifetime is,

(58:26):
yeah, kind of somehow trying to get, getRVTs allowed to own owning in Manitoba.
What was the conversation or impetusfor allowing another owner to come in?
Yeah.
So, yeah.
So doctors, she's been with us sincethe start, like you said, and, um,
she, she came on as a new grad rightafter we bought and, and we actually

(58:47):
worked at the clinic together beforeas like vet students and volunteers.
So I had known her for years andit was something that was, you
know, kind of important to her.
She had already been doing some,you know, kind of owner like things.
So it was one of those thingswhere, um, yeah, we just, it was.
She wanted to, and then she also has somestrengths that Dave and I don't have,

(59:10):
so it was kind of one of those thingswhere like, yeah, you bring something
that like we don't as an owner, andyou know, this is important to you, we
want to see you stay, um, you know, wewant to give people the opportunities,
because even if, you know, someoneelse came and said, you know, we would
like to also, you know, kind of buy in.

(59:30):
that is something that, that we wantto be able to do because I think having
ownership, you know, kind of as aveterinarian is, it's, Like, as far as
the, like the trajectory of, of your wholecareer, it is, you know, something that
is important for some people, they, theywant to experience that and, and it's

(59:50):
getting harder to start out on your own.
There's lots of corporate, um,like lots of corporate buyouts.
So there's fewer andfewer private practices.
So yeah, there's equity fundscoming in and, and yeah, like
for the corporate clinics.
Yes.
Yeah, totally.
Yeah.
Totally.
Um, Are you, take me through your daily,are you a routine person or are you not?

(01:00:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I mean, my daily.
So I, right.
Yeah.
Cause I don't practice asa veterinarian anymore.
So I, um, I, we have acommunication system.
On our laptops, on our phones, so wedo a lot of, yeah, Microsoft Teams.

(01:00:37):
I think lots of people arefamiliar with Microsoft Teams.
So we do like lots from there.
So, um, the days that I go into theclinic, yeah, it's, it's a lot of
like, okay, how's everyone doing?
Projects that I'm working on.
So I kind of split my time between likethe projects that I'm doing for growth.
Like right now I'm building atraining management system, like an
online training management system.

(01:00:58):
Um, so just kind of, yeah, learning,learning how to build that.
It's been a whole other thing.
Could you have said that 12 years ago?
No, I know.
And we actually just did it likea whole online store as well.
So that was something that wedid at the start of the year.
So it's just always learning.
So those types of projectsare things that I'll work on.
So that's kind of what likehalf my time is, is to do that.

(01:01:18):
And then the other half, it's just, Ihave an amazing team that I've kind of
put into place that like works on kindof like, like the major areas, like
one of them does, um, large animal.
medical services, like the horsesand the, um, the cows, which kind
of manages the large animal team.
And then we have like asmall medical services.
And so she kind of makes sure thatlike the surgery, the dentistry, the

(01:01:40):
small medicine and all of that is likeflowing and everyone's trained and
doing things like they're supposed to.
And then we have like our marketingand then we have like our, you know,
kind of administration and it, HR.
So I just get to kind ofsee what they need from me.
I, I, um, you know, kindof organize the meetings.
So I like, you know, kind of.
We, we meet at a high up level tokind of look at numbers and just kind

(01:02:03):
of see like how we're doing, wherethings are going, what's our strategy,
how are we doing with that, you know,this quarter, that type of thing.
And then we meet then with kind of whatwe call like our middle layer management.
Um, so we do that once a monthwith like, you know, All of
the leads, like the team leads.
So we have, you know, like a lead forthe assistants, for the RVTs, like
the techs, the doctors, the receptionteam, the office team, the inventory.

(01:02:28):
So we meet there.
So I, you know, kind of runand organize those meetings.
And usually there's a componentof some training, but also just,
Kate, like, what do you guys need?
Let's collaborate, work together.
It's a whole other thing when a team.
Gets larger.
So that was something I had to learn.
Cause when our team was like roughly30, we didn't need that middle layer

(01:02:48):
of management, but as our team grew, Iwas like, well, we need, we need more
focused leadership because things werestarting to fall through the cracks.
So yeah, that's kind of whatmy workday looks like now.
It's just kind of, yeah, really.
organizing those routine meetings andjust kind of keeping everything going,
answering questions, making decisions.
I make a lot of decisions.
Just do this.

(01:03:09):
Okay.
Yeah.
That sounds good.
And then learning how to, um, likeempower them to make decisions in
their own roles has become, you know,something that's, it's been really
rewarding because they like it.
And then it's nice because they'llbe like, this is what I did.
And I'm like, amazing.
Thank you.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Now I didn't have to do it.
Yes.
Yeah.
And like, you probably made abetter decision than I would have

(01:03:30):
because you were in it in, inthat specific area than me too.
So, yeah.
So that's been something else too.
That's really made a big difference forus in running the business is, is, um,
learning how to ask those questions.
Like what do you think?
And um, you know, kindof how would you do this?
Like, this is what we need you guys to do.
How do you see this working?
And just kind of like learning how toask those questions has been, um, been

(01:03:55):
something I would see in the last.
two, three years we've really been doing.
And, um, it, it has made a hugedifference in just like really having
solutions that actually work better.
Cause sometimes if I would justcome up with a solution and
I'd be like, okay, do this.
And they'd be like, well,what, that's not going to work
because of this, this, and this.
And I'm like, oh, I didn't know,you know, because it's so large now

(01:04:16):
that I don't know the intricate,you know, what's going on.
details of every single thingthat everyone's doing anymore,
whereas at one point I didbecause I was doing them all too.
But, um, yeah, so that's been somethingas the team has grown, just learning how
to ask those questions and how to engagethe team and coming up with solutions
that are actually going to work for them.
Yeah.
It's been really fun.
It's fun seeing what they do.

(01:04:38):
Yeah.
Once you give people agency.
Yeah.
And they are able to, it really empowerssomebody when they're, when they
know that they can make a decision.
It, uh, there's a big change that goes onthere because there's nothing like getting
your feet cut out from underneath you.

(01:04:58):
Um, what have been the biggestinfluences in your, in your life,
whether it's a mentor, a professor,a book, a place, anything.
Yeah.
I guess, yeah, like when you say book,the first, the first thing that comes to
mind is, um, like I love Simon Sinek andlike Brené Brown, Adam Grant, those guys.

(01:05:20):
But, um, when I read, read Simon Sinek'sbook, um, he has a couple of ones,
like one is, you know, like to findyour why, start with why, um, Leaders
Eat Last, those types of books, um,that, that really helped to kind of
blow open my perspective of like whatit means to be like a good leader.

(01:05:44):
Um, so those were very impactful for me.
And like the start with why too, right?
Because at the end of theday, You have to have a deeper
purpose for what you're doing.
Um, and that, and that helps to preventgetting burned out and getting, you know,
kind of disengaged with what you're doing.
So, so that was very impactful andjust kind of, um, helping the whole

(01:06:06):
organization and team understandtoo, like, this is why we're here
to do what we do, like I spokebefore, but yeah, so that's kind
of, those books were really good.
And, and as far as, yeah, from like a.
personal ever level like my mom and dadhave always been, you know, they work hard
and they're not afraid to, to do things.
And that's always been somethingtoo, that I've, I've learned.

(01:06:27):
I've, um, leaned into, youknow, it's like, well, what's
the worst that could happen?
At least if we do it, we'll knowif it's going to work or not.
So that's been kind of amentality that I've always had.
I have a, a greater fear of notknowing than I do of, um, not trying.
So that's, yeah.
Always been something that has reallyhelped me, I think, make, make the

(01:06:50):
jump when maybe others wouldn't, Ithink, because like, that's, that's
the comment I'll get sometimes.
It's like, oh, you're notafraid to do these things.
Like you're not very risk averse.
And I'm like, I'm not very.
Yeah.
I'd rather fail than regret.
Yeah.
You need to, you need toknow that you've tried.
I was on the fire departmenthere for 11 years.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
And then that was enough.

(01:07:10):
Yeah.
Like it was just, there was something elsebeing like, yeah, okay, this is enough.
Let's go do this other thing.
Yeah.
And I'm like, I know.
And that's my, and yeah.
So when you're asking my day to day stuff,so now I, I am back taking courses because
it's like, almost like, okay, well now Ifeel like I know how to run a business.

(01:07:31):
I feel like I know how to lead a team.
Of course, I'm still learning.
I'm not.
I'm of course 100 percent perfectand I never will be, I'll always be
learning, but I, um, I am like, I, Iwant to be able to help and like lead
people even beyond the clinic wall.
So I'm doing my, like performor, um, professional coaching
certification now as well.
So it's just like, and so I'm doingthe high flow coaching through

(01:07:54):
the flow research collective.
It's like a fascinating,like neuroscience backed.
Um, yeah, basically.
Like how to perform your best.
And it's also like wellbeing focusedas well, because you perform your
best when you're your best self,you know, physically, mentally.
So, yeah, so that's, that'swho I'm doing it through.
So that's what I'm doing now.

(01:08:15):
I'm hoping to bring some of that stuffback to the team and then maybe like.
the greater industry as well.
Like when we're talking about VETstudents and stuff too, it's like, how
can we give them the tools to actuallysucceed so they're not getting burnt out?
Cause it's just such a huge problem.
I think, I don't know if you'reaware of like the suicide rates
and that type of stuff in VET Med.
I don't know how much of thatmakes it into the public.
Oh yeah.

(01:08:35):
I never know how much this, thismakes it into the public awareness.
But then again, I've neverheard a negative thing about it.
Yeah.
Which I mean, that's, that's great.
That's pretty nice.
Maybe you're just sayingthat, but that's good.
Um, yeah.
I'm not even just saying that.
I literally.
That's good.
I'm actually glad.
So maybe we're making headway.
Cause yeah, for the longest time it waslike, vets are just in it for the money.
And it was like, what?

(01:08:56):
Like not at all.
So anyway, that was hard, butanyway, so yeah, the suicide rate.
So, um, Yeah, it's, um, vets arenow we've, unfortunately we are
like the most at risk for suicide.
We've it used to be dentists pastthe dentist, so now it's actually,
yeah, we're two to four timesum, more likely than like the.

(01:09:18):
The general general population, um,it's hard to, it's hard to talk about
it honestly, and they actually justdid a study, um, through the, um,
the American Vet Medical Associationlast year, and I think they surveyed
something like 1, 500 vets and 20.
It was just over 25 percent hadconsidered suicide in the last year.

(01:09:43):
Crazy.
It's so sad.
Why is that?
Why, why?
Yeah, it's, I mean, it'sa combination of things.
So the, lots of moral distress in thejob, honestly, there's, um, it, you know,
it's a unique situation where We wantto help these animals and we have to

(01:10:06):
work through the human to be like, okay,well, this is what the animal needs.
And like, we, we wantto save your dog's life.
Um, but that'll be a thousand dollars.
Like, can you imagine?
Like, it's so hard.
It is, it is really hard.
So, um, yeah, the, the moraldistress that comes with trading.

(01:10:27):
Um, you know, health for money andit's, we don't, I mean, I always think
if I could like, like if I had onewish for the vet industry, it would
be that it would be like the humanhealth, you know, healthcare where
you could just go, you could help,you could do whatever you wanted.
And then, and then there was,you know, kind of like the, Like,

(01:10:49):
like the universal health care forpets, like that would be one thing.
And I think that would, that would goa huge way in, in, in helping with like
the moral distress that, that vets facebecause, um, that is, is really hard.
So that's a big one.
Um, yeah.
And then just like the relentlessdemand has been another one in,
in the more recent years too.

(01:11:09):
So when you're going all day and youknow, you don't have time for lunch, you
don't have time to go to the washroomand then you do it again the next day.
And then you have.
clients complaining because,you know, this or that, or they
can't get in or whatever it is.
It's just, and we saw that during thepandemic, like you're trying so hard
and, and you're just, at the end ofthe day, you're just, you know, you can

(01:11:31):
hardly walk out of the clinic sometimes.
And maybe you did lose a patient, whichis just, you know, it's, it's horrible.
Um, And then on top of that, you getlike a board complaint and it's like,
it's like, what are we doing this for?
Like, we're killing ourselves.
And then, and then we don't havethe, but then that's like a,
um, human nature thing as well.

(01:11:54):
Right.
To focus on the negative.
So that's something too, we tryto tell our team, like, you know,
you've, you helped, you know, Yeah.
I see 15 animals today times,however many in a week.
And then maybe you had one personthat, that wasn't happy with, with what
happened and you know, that's tryingto focus on like the good that we do
every day, but it's, yeah, it's hard.

(01:12:16):
Yeah.
I completely understand and canrelate to that in that I will
build a 3 million house and Icannot stop thinking about that.
Some of the little imperfectionsthat people are like, that's
what are you talking about?
Yeah, you know, like don't letthat bother you, you know, you

(01:12:38):
did four thousand things, right?
Yeah, and one thing is like,yeah, not to your liking.
Yeah, you know, so yeah whatwe focus on grows Absolutely.
It does.
Yeah, so we have our little signs thatthey can read as they walk out of the
clinic like Stop and take a breath.
What's one good thing that happened today?

(01:12:59):
Yo Really think of one patient thatyou help today, that type of stuff.
And, and we love when we get the positivefeedback from our clients, like when we
get like a good review on Google or, youknow, someone sends in an email after
and says, you know, thank you so much.
And, and then, and we, we alwaysshare that and we say, Oh, we
had this really nice message fromso and so and it's, it's great.
It's just huge.
It goes such a long way.

(01:13:19):
Um, because yeah, the, the few here andthere when you just try so hard, cause
that's the thing, you know, we're, we'rehere to improve the health of your animal,
but it's not guaranteed, like, whichis, which is hard because I think people
think, okay, well, we're going to do thissurgery and you know, it's just going
to be, it's going to work, but you know,and you know, We have to talk about the

(01:13:40):
risks, obviously, like if it's a goodprognosis or not, but you know, when it,
when it ends up not being good, I mean,that, it's hard, it's hard for everybody.
Yeah.
So it's, yeah.
I imagine, Mm-Hmm.
, I think I, I kind of come intothis with rose color glasses.
Mm-Hmm.
, I mean, every vet I know, I've, I'vereally known that they've wanted the best.

(01:14:00):
Everyone comes in to help.
Mm-Hmm.
, um.
I dated a girl in high school.
Her dad was a vet.
He had a clinic.
One of the girls that marriedinto that family, she was a vet.
She ended up buying the clinic.
Like they were fantastic peopleand just wanted the best,
loved animals, loved helping.
Oh, that's so good to hear.

(01:14:21):
Yeah, that's good to hear.
I imagine, though, that just likeany, absolutely any profession,
there's bad apples, right?
That 20, 20 percent of peoplethat are just, you know, not
great or shitty human beings.
Yeah.
And I think that's maybe where thatwhole, of like, The vets are in it for
the money because I think like that'sbeen, uh, I'm sure there probably are.

(01:14:45):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Just like there's doctors and justlike there's, I mean, I'll increase
that for the lawyers a littlebit, but yeah, you know, their
profession, I'm fine with that.
Yeah.
The lawyers that I do love, they, theyknow, they know the rest, but yeah, it's
the same with any profession really.

(01:15:05):
It is.
And I think that's the thing too, likeat the end of the day, because it, it
was something I was so sensitive aboutwas, you know, I never wanted anyone to
say, You're just upselling or this orthat, because it was, because there is so
much moral distress that goes with that.
So I, you know, looking at ourpricing structure and how we price
things, like I wanted everythingto be like very transparent.

(01:15:29):
And if there was someone that was evergoing to ask me, well, like, why is
that so much that I would be able toexplain, you know, the exact decision
making process that went into, youknow, putting that price tag on that
service, because, you know, we have to.
We have to pay the team at the end of theday, like that's the main thing, right?
Like we need to keep this businesssustainable so that we can open our doors

(01:15:51):
the next day and help another 100 animals.
Like it's just, I think that's thething sometimes that because human
healthcare isn't like that, peopleget kind of confused where it's like,
well, how can it possibly be that much?
It's like, well, you like, and, andlike, we do advanced procedures.
Like, I think that's the other bigthing people don't understand about,
about vet clinics is, you know, we.
We do the dentistry, we do advanceddentistry, like we'll do extractions

(01:16:15):
and, um, and, you know, like removalsof, you know, say like a mass, like a
tumor in the mouth, like we take thatoff, you know, we do like spays, neuters,
emergency surgeries, if there's likea blockage in the stomach or there's,
you know, bleeding in the stomach,there's, it's all very advanced, yeah,
and there's like the, the whole lab,the ultrasound, like it's all the, yeah.

(01:16:37):
And then for multiple species,so it's just this huge, you know,
there's just like a lot of, um,a lot of different things we do.
So there's lots that goes into it, lots ofequipment, lots of skilled labor, right?
So it's, yeah, that same principle iswhy, um, I would say four years ago.
We completely convertedto cost plus transparent.

(01:16:59):
Everything is, because I always wantedpeople to understand where their money was
going and not have to guess about stuff.
And like, here's the cost.
Here's how much we make.
Here's why.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I agree.
It's great because I think when youdon't do that, yeah, because I think
when you, when you are transparent,then there's nothing to hide behind and
you can sleep better at night insteadof saying, well, this is the price

(01:17:21):
and, and we're not going to explainwhy then you just feel, I don't know.
And then even the team.
They have a hard time getting behind it.
Right.
So it's just kind of, it's just better tobe transparent and kind of unapologetic.
It's, you know, that, yeah,we have to pay people.
We have to pay ourselves.
Like we have to, you know, this is a, thisis a business too at the end of the day.
So, yeah.
And I don't, I mean, there'spros and cons to both of them.

(01:17:45):
And I think that anyone that does itthe other way too is, is completely,
um, I mean, has the right to do that.
Yeah.
and unapologetically as well.
And if people want to go with that, cool.
Yeah.
And that's their prerogative as faras, uh, you know, I always think
about the, uh, that old adage aboutthe, the guy fixing, fixing the thing

(01:18:09):
and he comes in and he taps it witha hammer once and asked for 5, 000.
Well, you didn't pay me for fixing it.
You paid me for my 20 years of experience.
Right.
So there's also that perspective as faras just like, uh, I think that we as
business owners have to really thinkabout what we care about and how we sleep

(01:18:30):
at night and what's important to us.
And it may change, right?
You know, you, you havedifferent experiences and then,
Hey, we're going this way now.
And anyone that doesn'twant to come with us.
Yeah, it's true.
Yeah.
It's like a whole, like when youtalk about being in alignment
with, you know, this is what we.
This is what we do.

(01:18:51):
This is how we're going to do it.
And the people who align withthat will want to work with you,
the people that don't fall away.
And that's fine too.
You have to be okay with that.
Otherwise you just are trying tomake everyone happy and you can't.
So well, that conversationgoes along with values.
And that's my, my, my next thingtoo, is, um, you know, how,
how important, uh, our values.

(01:19:12):
And is that something that you found earlyon, or is it something that came within.
The business training orforcing you to figure that out.
Yeah, I think, um, more.
In the last two years, I would say wehave like, you know, like our official,
these are our value statements.
Um, but very early on, we kind of knewlike, these are our personal values.

(01:19:36):
This is what we want toinstill in the business.
And, and that, that had to be, you know,kind of in alignment all the way through,
because if we were, if, Um, we're kindand you know, we had a receptionist that
wasn't kind or a client that wasn't kind.
It was like, we don't do that here.
It's not working.
Yeah.
So that became, um, very early onhow we made decisions, you know,

(01:19:57):
it's like, this is what we do here.
You're not doing that.
You know, either you start doingthat or, you know, you can't be here.
Um, and then, yeah, more officiallyin the last, you know, In a couple
years, we're like, yeah, we needto get our value statements down.
Like what are our value statements?
And then that has strengthened our abilityto make decisions and align all of our
decisions with those value statements.
And like our mission, missionstatement, like that much more.

(01:20:19):
And that's been a very powerful exercisein just letting everything else fall away.
And even when we do our strategy now, it'slike, okay, like what aligns with this?
When we choose to work with certainpeople, like, you know, we have, um,
certain rescues that we work with,for example, or, um, different,
different, um, yeah, kind of what ourfundraising activities that we'll do.

(01:20:41):
And it's like, um, what doesthat organization stand for?
Do they align with whatwe align with, you know?
And then, so it's just, that's beena really, if, if there's like one
thing I hope all business ownerscan do is just get that in early.
That took us years to get in, andit would have been way easier to
make decisions more, more quicklyand confidently if we had been like,

(01:21:04):
does this align with our mission?
Does it align with our values?
Yes or no?
And then you just, it's so mucheasier to make your decisions and good
decisions and strengthen that and totrain your team around those decisions.
It makes it so much easier to explainto someone, you know, what's going on.
We can't have you do this because,you know, it's, it's not kind
and compassionate and that's,that's one of our core values

(01:21:25):
and that's what we do here.
And if, and if you can't do this,then, you know, you can't be here.
So what do you think?
And you just basically can throw itback at them and, and it's up to them
to kind of align with that or, or not.
And then the decisions become easy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What is, so you've beenin Winnipeg for a while.
What is your favoritething about Winnipeg?

(01:21:47):
Oh goodness.
I actually really like Winnipeg.
Um, the, yeah, like Ilove the culture I find.
Cause I did live in Alberta for abit and then we would go into Calgary
and it was like, Where's the culture?
Like, this is such a young citycompared to Winnipeg, which has like
a little bit more of like a, I don'tknow, it has like the street, it

(01:22:09):
has like, you know, kind of Osborne.
I love court and I lovegoing down to like academy.
I don't know.
It's just kind of like the, the cultureand like the history of the city.
I love that we have like the humanrace museum now and that type of stuff.
Um, little restaurants.
And I love the diversity inWinnipeg, honestly, again, comparing
it to Calgary, where it was.

(01:22:31):
A lot of the same thing, it seemed like,you know, again, maybe I wasn't there
long enough to really get into it, butI, I love the diversity in Winnipeg.
I think there's that, that, thatstrength that we'll always see, um,
yeah, kind of within the city and ourability to kind of stay strong during,
you know, kind of maybe economic.

(01:22:51):
difficulties or during the pandemicor whatever it was, I feel like there
was, there wasn't a lot of panic justbecause it's like, oh, well, there's
that, you know, kind of that, you know,you can always look into different areas
or there's the other options for work,for example, for like the, like the
younger population or whatever it is.

(01:23:11):
So I don't know, that's somethingI've always thought that was a
strength of Winnipeg for sure.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna let you think about thiswhile I while I go through this new part
of the show Okay, you were we'll say it'scalled the winning shout out Okay so the
winning shout out goes to goes out toanyone or anything or any business or
Anything around Winnipeg or in your lifethat you want to give them a shout out.

(01:23:35):
That's either absolutely killing ithelping you out That you know, they
you don't think that they get enough uhrecognition or, or anything like that.
So, uh, I'll go first.
Okay.
So, uh, huge shout out to, uh, flagfootball, Manitoba, who my nine soon to be
10 year old plays in amazing organization.

(01:23:58):
Um, all of the benefits offootball, very little of the risks.
It teaches them so much stuff.
Uh, my son, when he first startedone of his first games, he was.
Balling and the one of the uh, one ofthe directors came up and the older
older gentleman And I was I I actuallycouldn't access the uh, the the fields

(01:24:26):
and uh, I saw him talking to emmet andWithin probably five minutes of that
And it ran onto the field and startedplaying like just fantastic organization.
They're growing, uh, reallyfast and some great sponsorships
coming through the pipeline.
That's going to even skyrocket them more.
So I just, I just love it.
And he loves it.

(01:24:47):
So it's fantastic.
So sounds good.
So not to put you on the spot, but if youcan think of anything that you would like
to highlight, um, the floor is all yours.
Sure.
Well, I guess since I'm in health care,I, I have to talk about my now friend
and she started out as like my businessconsultant and like a coach of mine.

(01:25:08):
So Amy Oliver, um, and now she has AmyOliver and co and, um, she has helped
me Um, me personally and our businessimmensely in the last three, four years.
Is she local?
Yes.
Okay.
She's from Winnipeg.
Beautiful.
She's a pharmacist.
Um, she did a lot of, she used to own ashoppers and then she worked for corporate

(01:25:29):
shoppers and then she left to do her MBA.
And now she has this, this healthcareleadership business and, and she, she
consults and she coaches and she, um,helps veterinarians and pharmacists.
medical doctors, um, you know, kindof all the different fields and,
and her main focus is, is leadershipand, um, healthy organizations.

(01:25:52):
And, uh, yeah, she's a really good exampleof, of leading from the heart, which I
love because it's, it's just like, well,like, what are we actually doing here?
Making things better, makingthings a better place.
And so, yeah, I would love to,I would love to shout out Amy.
Big thank you to Amy Oliver.
She's been, um, yeah, she'shelped me and so many others.
So definitely.

(01:26:14):
I like it.
Well done, Amy.
Uh, so you knew you were comingon, uh, probably gave it some
thought, you know, the phrase thatyou don't know what you don't know.
I may not have asked you something thatyou either wanted to touch on or highlight
or showcase or anything like that.
Um, is there anything that I can.
That we can talk about or that we canuh, that would help you guys in any way.

(01:26:39):
Oh goodness Yeah, I think well,I guess we touched on it briefly.
It was just the um, the The mentalhealth problems that the whole industry
is facing and I think it's very commonacross the healthcare industries right
now So that is definitely one I think isum when we when we think about about the

(01:27:00):
vets and just how we can support them.
And, and that's always somethingI hope that I just want people
to know so that they understandthat it's like, we're people too.
We're, we are just doing amazingthings behind the scenes that, that
you don't always see, but then alsolike when you're coming in, we just
love that encouragement that we do get.

(01:27:22):
It just, it goes so far.
And then, and then, yeah, justwhen we, when there are the.
the times when maybe somethingdoesn't go, you know, the way
that, that you want it to go.
It's just, it's just to speak to us,like actually ask like what's going on.
Cause we want to maintain thosehealthy relationships and, and just

(01:27:43):
that, that healthy, um, workingrelationship that we have with people.
Cause like at the end of the day, we're,we're all in it to like help the animals
and like to see them get better and.
Right.
Do well.
So yeah, that's maybe one thing,just cause I think a lot of people
don't realize that, that that'sbeen a big struggle in the industry.
Um, yeah, and it's, it's a lot of thework that, that we do at central too,

(01:28:05):
is to kind of show how we can likework on that at like an organizational
level and then hopefully be an examplefor other clinics and other healthcare
fields on like how we can supportpeople like while they're at work.
Yeah.
So yeah, that's probablyone of the ones we'll need.
T shirts made.
Hug of that day.
Yes.
There we go.
November 27th.

(01:28:25):
Oh, I love it.
Perfect.
Hug of that day.
Okay.
Well, this was fantastic.
Thanks for, for coming here andsharing, uh, your experiences.
And I know that there's, there's peoplethat listen to the podcast that are,
um, Maybe they know somebody that,you know, is, is going through vet
med or wanting to start a companyor a clinic or anything like that.

(01:28:48):
So I'm sure that's invaluable tothem listening about some of your
struggles and successes here.
So, um, I'm, I'm reallyhappy for you guys.
I'm glad things are going very welland, uh, you are welcome back anytime.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for having me.

All Episodes

Dr. Stephanie Van Deynze-Snell: Secrets to Great Leadership | From Farm Girl to Business Visionary

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Are You A Charlotte?

Dateline NBC

Stuff You Should Know

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Dr. Stephanie Van Deynze-Snell: Secrets to Great Leadership | From Farm Girl to Business Visionary