2020 Annual Meeting & Conference VIRTUAL

Speakers

Leslie Boudreau, BASVT, RVTg, CVPM, PHRca, SPHR

Leslie Boudreau

Leslie has been a Veterinary Technologist and Practice Manager in Southern California for over 30 years. She earned her A.S. in Veterinary Technology from Mt. San Antonio College, CA and her BASVT in Veterinary Technology – Hospital Management, from St. Petersburg College, FL. In 2011, she became a CVPM (Certified Veterinary Practicel Manager). Leslie holds three human resources certifications, PHR (Professional in Human Resources), PHRca (California specific Certification), and SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources). She is also a certified Harassment Prevention Trainer.

Leslie is the current Secretary and Emerging Leader Coordinator for the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA) Board of Directors. Since 2013, she has enjoyed serving on the VHMA Program Committee, serving on their Board of Directors, and lecturing at VHMA national conferences.

Leslie has authored practice management articles for national journals and publications and was formerly a practice management consultant for Novartis Animal Health. Additionally, Leslie speaks nationally on a wide range of practice management topics as a presenter for Practice Management, Human Resources, and Veterinary Technician conferences and continuing education programs. Leslie aspires to advance the profession through frequent speaking, advocacy and mentoring. Leslie is passionate about all aspects of veterinary practice management and helping the profession grow and adapt to future changes. As a speaker and practicing manager, she brings a real life, in the trenches perspective to her lectures.

In addition, Leslie is very active in Veterinary Technician legislation as the current President of CaRVTA (California State Registered Veterinary Technician Association). Prior to becoming president, she served as a member of the CaRVTA Board of directors, and on their Legislative/Regulatory Committee. She also sits on the Advisory Committee Boards for two veterinary technician colleges in southern California and volunteers on AVMA CVTEA site visit teams as the RVT member. She is currently serving on the national AVMA Taskforce on Veterinary Technician Utilization.

Leslie spends the bulk of her time as a Practice Manager at Animal Hospital of Huntington Beach, a seven-veterinarian, AAHA accredited, small animal and exotic practice in southern California. Locally, Leslie is very active with the Orange County Veterinary Hospital Manager’s Group and is a founding member.

Juno Brooks

Juno Brooks

Jono is a lifelong technology expert (fanatic) with over 15 years of experience as an IT Consultant within the veterinary industry and practices across the country. He is the Vice President of Technology at Animal Care Technologies, where he and his team have established themselves as innovators in cloud-based software and services for the animal health industry. His passion is to help veterinary professionals, practices, and industry partners harness the right technologies to succeed.

Dana Brownlee

Dana Brownlee

After years of working as a business strategy consultant with top IT firms, in 2003 Dana Brownlee founded Professionalism Matters an Atlanta based corporate training company. An energetic and innovative speaker and trainer, Dana has thrilled audiences with speaking events around the U.S. and globally. Her courses are specifically designed to provide best practices and techniques that participants can immediately apply in the workplace. Her business expertise has been featured by (or published in) CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Redbook, Working Mother, Forbes.com, and other notable publications. Her first book “The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up: Project Management Techniques from the Trenches” was published by Berrett-Koehler in February 2019. A nationally recognized speaker, Dana speaks to groups large and small on a variety of topics including tips for rescuing your meetings, dealing with the difficult boss, secrets of the “Thoroughbred Leader”, and discovering the keys to true work-life balance. She holds a BS, BIE, MBA, and PMP.

Timothy A. Davis 

Tim Davis

Tim concentrates his practice on labor and employment law in the exclusive representation of management. In this capacity he is recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a “Top Ranked Labor & Employment Lawyer,” by Ingram’s as a “Best Lawyer”, and by LRI as one of the “Top Labor Lawyers in America.” He advises and defends clients on all aspects of the employer/employee relationship with special focus on labor relations/union avoidance.

Tim is also active in the human resources community as a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and former President of SHRM-KC. He has been invited to speak at the National SHRM convention on labor relations topics the past nine years and also regularly speaks for state and local SHRM and other professional and business associations.

Karen Felsted, CPA, MS, DVM, CVPM, CVA

Karen Felsted, CPA, MS, DVM, CVPM, CVA

Dr. Felsted is a CPA as well as a veterinarian and has spent the last 20 years working as a financial and operational consultant to veterinary practices and the animal health industry. She also spent three years with the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues as CEO. She is active in multiple veterinary organizations, has written an extensive number of articles for a wide range of veterinary publications and speaks regularly at national and international veterinary meetings. In 2011 and 2017, she was awarded the Western Veterinary Conference Practice Management Continuing Educator of the Year and in 2014, the VetPartners Distinguished Life Member Award.

Sheri Gilmartin, CVT

Sheri Gilmartin

Sheri Gilmartin is a Credentialed Veterinary Technician and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for VetSuccess. She began her career in the veterinary profession over 26 years ago at a small animal practice outside of Boston. Since then, she's held various positions in both sales and marketing at Hill's Pet Nutrition, Vetsource, and Patterson Veterinary. Sheri is passionately committed to the veterinary industry and helping practices be more successful.

Esther Fraser

Ester Fraser

Esther Fraser is a Data Analyst at VetSuccess with a bachelor's degree in discrete math and a passion for bringing veterinary data to life. Whatever the context—from an individual practice to a large corporate group to an industry-wide study—Esther brings clear, actionable insights to the table. When she's not hunched over her computer, she's either trying to correct her posture at the gym or experimenting with crochet patterns.

Mark Olcott, DVM, MBA

Mark Olcott, DVM, MBA

Mark, a native of upstate NY, obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the State University of New York at Geneseo. He then earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University in 1995 and, in 2013, his MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Mark was a partner for several years in a multi-doctor small animal practice before leaving to start his own mobile ultrasonography business. More recently, Mark worked as an ER vet at a major regional referral hospital, where he was named by his peers as one of the Top Veterinarians in Virginia.

Kimberly Ness

Kimberly Ness

Kimberly Ness is a marketing strategist and consultant with Trone Research + Consulting, the brains behind Diggo. As part of her current role, she leads the research team focusing on uncovering key action steps that build loyalty between pet owners and their veterinary clinic—equipping veterinary practices to thrive in an increasingly competitive market for veterinary services.

Ed Goodman

Ed Goodman

Ed’s creative strategy, inventive thinking and management style have enabled him to navigate multiple career paths, rising to executive levels in entertainment, engineering, community design, marketing, branding, technology, organizational ecology, dreamscaping, experience design and more. He has over 30 years of interdisciplinary problem-solving experience, with consistent effectiveness in ideation and implementation of optimal solutions. Ed has extensive experience with industries including healthcare, urban design, entertainment, education, television, and economic development. He is an award-winning creative strategist and educational product developer, receiving the EXPY Award as the Experience Design and Stager of the Year and the Cindy Award for the K-12 Education Product of the Year. Ed is a leadership, experience design, and organizational change navigation guide for large healthcare networks. Together, Ed and Dave Goodman are co-developers of the Spiral Thinking Model, which is used throughout the Spiral 20/20 programs.

Heidi Hulon, DVM

Heidi Hulon, DVM

A native of Alabama, Dr. Hulon graduated from Auburn University with both her undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s of Science, Zoology) and with her DVM. She has practiced in a variety of areas during her career, including small animal practice (associate and owner), shelter medicine, Department Chair for a Veterinary Technology Program, and was a Technical Veterinarian for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Since 2011, Dr. Hulon has been a Regional Consulting Veterinarian for Elanco Animal Health. Her current role is as the RCV focusing on providing Beyond Product Value Programs to our veterinary customers across the country. Subjects in which Dr. Hulon has training are FRANK Communication Skills, in addition to Certifications as a Compassion Fatigue Professional, a Fear Free Professional, an Insights Discovery Practitioner, the Human Animal Bond and Positive Psychology Specialization. Dr. Hulon is very involved in organized veterinary medicine. She is a Past President of the Kentucky VMA and served for two years as Secretary/ Treasurer. She was President of the Greater Louisville VMA for 11 years. She was a member of the Alumni Advisory Council for Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for 8 years. She served on the Foundation Board for the Louisville Zoo for 16 years and was the Chairperson for the Conservation, Education and Collections Committee. Heidi lives in Auburn, AL with her French Bulldog, Hermione, and her parakeet, Roger Featherer. She has two sons, Spencer and Evan, who are now old enough to adult on their own (hopefully). When not working, she can found on the tennis court.

Roger Haston, Ph.D.

Roger Haston PhD

Roger Haston is a recognized world leader in animal welfare through his research and public speaking. Dr. Haston received a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of California Santa Barbara and an MBA in finance from Rice University. His career began in the oil and gas industry, working for Amoco and Arco in Houston, Texas. Dr. Haston moved to Colorado in 1998, where he started and grew Axis Geophysics – a successful business in geophysical data processing serving the oil and gas industry. He had a strong desire to give back to the community and became involved with the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, first as a volunteer, then later as a board member and board chair.

What began as volunteerism soon grew into a new career path as Dr. Haston’s passion for helping animals continued to grow. In 2012, he committed himself full-time to animal welfare, taking on the position of Executive Director at the Animal Assistance Foundation. There, he merged his passion for science, business, and leadership to help the animals of Colorado and beyond. In 2016, Dr. Haston joined PetSmart Charities, North America’s leading funder of animal welfare, as the organization’s Chief Analytics Officer where he focused upon data collection, interpretation, and analysis to predict trends, evaluate best practices, explore the impact of the human-animal bond and examine the future of animal welfare. In 2019, Dr. Haston recognized a need for a deeper level of science and analysis in the industry and started The Institute for Animals, which focuses on strategy, research, advocacy insight, and thought leadership.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in animal welfare, Dr. Haston has become an internationally recognized leader in data, trends, metrics, and analysis conveyed through impactful and approachable storytelling. He is a highly sought-after speaker who has presented on many animal welfare and economic topics at conferences and events around the world. He has touched thousands of people, both within and outside the industry, with his deep insights into the role of animals in our society.
Dr. Haston has served on the boards of Humane Society of Boulder Valley, Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund, PetAid Colorado, Catalyst Council, Emancipet, Animal Grant Makers, National Council on Pet Population, Alliance for Arizona Non-profits and Shelter Animals Count.

Elizabeth Helter, DVM, CVPM

Elizabeth Hetler, DVM, CVPM

Dr. Elizabeth Hetler is the Veterinary Business Training Manager at IDEXX, where she is responsible for uniting the clinical and economic importance of veterinary diagnostics. She completed her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, earned her DVM degree from the University of Illinois and is a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager. She practiced companion animal medicine in the Chicago suburbs and has held positions as an associate veterinarian, practice owner, medical director of a corporate practice and relief veterinarian. After over seventeen years in clinical practice, Dr. Hetler joined the IDEXX team to pursue her passion for helping the profession practice high quality medicine and operate thriving businesses.

Darren Osborne, MA

Darren Osborne MA

Darren Osborne is the Director of Economic Research for the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association and Economic Consultant for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, Veterinary Hospital Managers Association, several State VMAs, and veterinary study groups across North America. Darren attended York University and completed his Master's Degree in Economics in 1992. When he is not crunching numbers, you can find Darren playing guitar, running, swimming, or cycling.

James T. Penrod, CAE, FASLA 

James T. Penrod, CAE, FASLA

Jim joined the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) in August, 2015 as its Executive Director. The AAVSB is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to support and advance the regulatory process for veterinary medicine. The membership of the AAVSB consists of 62 jurisdictions representing all of the United States and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and nine Canadian provinces. Prior to joining the AAVSB, Jim worked with state and provincial regulatory boards while employed with the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, in Reston, Virginia, since 1991. Jim is a past chair of the Certified Association Executive (CAE) Commission and also served as a member of the examination committee for the program prior to his service on the Commission. The CAE program is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate association professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to manage an association in today’s challenging environment. While at CLARB, Jim received the CLARB Presidential Recognition Award for outstanding and tireless service to the Council in its efforts to protect public safety and welfare through leadership and innovative strategic management of the profession’s licensure exam. He was honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects when he was elected to be a Fellow of the association in 2010 for his leadership and management within the profession. In 2018, Jim received the Distinguished Association Executive Award from the Kansas City Society of Association Executives (KCSAE). As the KCSAE’s highest honor, the recipient of this award exemplifies the best in executive association management, continually bringing credit to the profession and the association management community.

Terence O'Neil, CPA, CVA

Terence O'Neil, CPA, CVA

Terry O'Neil is the partner-in-charge of Katz, Sapper & Miller's Veterinary Services Group. He has been with the firm since 1999. Terry provides veterinary hospitals with business, financial, and tax advice to assist with the growth and management of their businesses. He aids clients with tax and strategic planning, forecasting, budgeting, mergers and acquisitions and/or sales of businesses, debt structuring, employment incentive contracts, financing, business valuations, buy-sell agreements, and other business and accounting services. In addition, Terry is responsible for the preparation and review of financial statements and tax returns. Terry often speaks at conferences regarding profit improvement, veterinary business valuation, succession planning, financial benchmarking, and other business topics.

In addition to representing numerous veterinary medical practices over the last 30 years, Terry was previously the CFO for a group of eight veterinary medical practices and was a stakeholder in the business. He was also a regional financial analyst for a national veterinary medical practice. Terry assisted with the sale, purchase, integration of new acquisitions, and the preparation of regional and national budgets. His work as a CFO and with the national organization allowed Terry to gain valuable insight into how the private and public veterinary medical practices operate. Terry is responsible for the management of the Veterinary Study Groups' database of veterinary hospital financial data for over 400 hospitals across the country. Leading this database allows Terry to identify trends and opportunities.

Melina Palmer

Melina Palmer

Melina Palmer, host of The Brainy Business Podcast, has dedicated her career to seeking answers to these questions for herself and her clients. The first individual to graduate from the University of Washington’s Global Honors Program with a degree in business, her senior thesis was presented at the Association of Consumer Research Symposium in Hyderabad, India. A lifelong learner, she went on to pursue a Master’s in Behavioral Economics from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology conducting a research project on improving savings behaviors using simple nudges. A Filene i3 alumna, she loves to bring innovative practices to organizations and help bring BE concepts from academia into application. At The Brainy Business, Melina works with companies and entrepreneurs to understand the small changes that can make a big difference in product programs, pricing, change initiatives, branding, internal communication, and marketing messages “brain friendly” to increase engagement and ROI.

Philip J. Seibert, Jr., CVT

Philip J. Seibert, Jr., CVT

Phil is a Certified Veterinary Technician celebrating his 41st year in the veterinary profession. He is currently a full-time author and consultant specializing in the regulatory issues facing veterinary businesses.

Because he has taken the lead in "deciphering" the regulatory agency rules affecting the veterinary profession and has been able to provide practical, veterinary-specific advice Phil has earned the reputation of the veterinary profession's OSHA expert. Recognizing the power of interactive learning, Phil is the founder and Director of the OSHA Center on the Veterinary Information Network. He regularly teaches several interactive courses on VIN and VSPN.

Phil became the first veterinary technician to evaluate and accredit veterinary hospitals for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) because of his extensive clinical and managerial experience and skills. The experience of "inspecting" over 1,200 hospitals has given him a unique perspective of our profession that he uses to provide the most practical answers to our profession’s issues.

He has contributed to several well-respected professional works including McCurnin's Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians, Five-Minute Veterinary Practice Management Consult and Veterinary Practice Management Secrets. He has authored numerous books and videos for the American Animal Hospital Association on practice safety. His self-produced books, The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual and Safety Issues for the Veterinary Hospital Staff are in their sixth editions and his newest book The Complete Veterinary Practice Controlling Controlled Drugs Manual was just released in January 2020!

Phil is the author of many journal articles dealing with veterinary hospital administration which have appeared in national publications such as Journal of the AVMA, Veterinary Economics, AAHA Trends, Veterinary Forum, DVM Newsmagazine, the Veterinary Technician, Veterinary Practice STAFF and Veterinary Practice News. He is also the founder and Managing Editor of the profession's only safety-specific newsletter, The Veterinary Safety & Health Digest.