I’m so excited for the kick-off of the new Canine Colors Certification Program! In less than a week, Brad and I will host the premier of “Canine Colors for Animal Caregivers”, written by Letitia Fox and myself. It’s a workbook that customizes the True Colors concepts to the veterinary and animal care field.

As a Certified True Colors Facilitator, it has been a dream of mine to create something that specifically meets the needs of those who work with animals. When the book Canine Colors was published and the author approached me to write a certification program at the beginning of the year, I couldn’t say “yes!” fast enough. Read the rest of this entry »

I just finished reading Tony Hsieh’s new book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. After seeing Tony and the Zappos team on CBS Sunday Morning a few weeks ago, I knew I had to read this book. The philosophies presented on the show were too in-line with my own philosophies and those we practice at Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center to miss the opportunity.

The book actually seems like three smaller books, in one. The first part of the book is a look back at Tony’s childhood and early adulthood and how he came to be the CEO of Zappos.com, Inc. It’s a very lively and interesting collection of stories that helped me connect with Tony’s sense of entrepreneurship.

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This week, Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center reached a milestone with their social media program: the clinic surpassed 1,000 total Fans on Facebook! In just a little over a year since we launched our practice’s Facebook page, with a lot of diligence we were able to grow our audience to more than 1,000 people. Why is this important?

• We are able to reach more people, through their preferred method of communication: their personal Facebook news feed
• We can alert more than 1,000 people to breaking pet news in moments
• We can feature links to new blog posts or clinic “news” in a friendly, non-invasive manner
• We can interact on a more personal level with our clients once they leave the walls of our practice
• More clients can recommend our practice to their friends via Facebook, the fastest growing Internet site in history

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My daughter is sixteen. She’s a musician whose most memorable experience her freshman year of high school was winning the state championship in concert orchestra (last year). This past weekend was her orchestra’s chance to defend their title and they placed…..third. The seniors down on the gymnasium floor looked devastated when their school’s name was called. I think they had prepared themselves for second place, hoping for first….but they didn’t even consider third as a possibility.

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A few weeks ago, I started reading aloud in our staff meeting, from a book that had been recommended to me: “The Little BIG Things, 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence”, by Tom Peters. This is not your typical “sit down and read all the way through” type of book. Mr. Peters writes in a style that is more like a blog: small chunks of relevant material that packs a punch.

In last week’s staff meeting, we read #5: “If Not Excellence, What? If Not Excellence Now, When?”, which led to a discussion about how little things we do everyday make such a big impact and can enhance or derail Excellence….it’s a choice really. Read the rest of this entry »

I am a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM). What does this mean to me, on a personal level? Almost more than I can describe in words. Working towards certification was a goal I set for myself more than 10 years ago. I was fascinated with the fact that I could achieve certification, thus validating my skills and knowledge as a veterinary practice manager. Growing up, I never knew there was a career path that would allow me to apply my managerial talents to the field of veterinary medicine…this just wasn’t something your average guidance counselor was talking about in the 1980′s.

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Loyalty, honesty and integrity. These are three key character values I look for in employees, co-workers and business associates. I also work towards teaching and instilling these values in the practice, on every level every, in every situation as it presents itself.

So what does this have to do with pet peeves? Everything! There’s nothing worse than running across situations time and again where one or even all  of these values are not only lacking, but blatantly thrown by the wayside. Walk the walk? Yes, I do! And for that, I expect the same in return. Is that asking too much? I don’t think so. Especially when you have the power to shape the culture of your practice.

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Your Practice’s Social Media Platform: Using Facebook and Twitter

Does your veterinary practice employ linchpins or factory workers? I recently read Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? It is a wonderful book not only for practice owners and managers, but also for the entire team to read and discuss.

Godin does a good job of explaining the history behind the workforce of the twentieth century and how our nation came to be a culture of “factory workers”. The new millennium has brought a need for fewer factory workers and more linchpins in your organization.

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It has been several months since I last published demographic data from our clinic’s Facebook Fan page. Our page has been up for more than six months are we now have 594 Fans…pretty respectable. The Fans breakdown to 75% women to 25% men. By breaking down the demographic even further, we can get a real feel for who our Fans really are:

• 48% are women ages 25-44
• 15% are men ages 25-44
• 10% are women ages 45-54
• 4% are men ages 45-54

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