The Whole Veterinarian
Is it impossible for veterinarians to aim for more balance? The Whole Veterinarian podcast helps to share experiences and start a dialogue about how we can grow as people and professionals. As a female equine solo practitioner, mother and business owner, I've seen the challenges that face us. I want veterinarians to learn to be happier, healthier, wealthier and more grateful for the lives that they've created. Together, let’s learn how to develop a life we love.
The Whole Veterinarian
VET TRUCK CONDIFENTIAL: How to Incorporate Your Personal Brand in Veterinary Practice
It's likely that everyone could use a tune up on the idea of their personal brand. Listen in as Kelly, Misty and Stacey talk through their thoughts on personal and professional branding. It's an exercise that, honestly, none of us have done in awhile! We may be solid on our core values but clearly we still need some clarity in other areas ;)
We discuss the crucial interplay between personal branding and veterinary practice, emphasizing authenticity and connection. Listeners will walk away with actionable insights on how to integrate their unique traits into their professional identity.
• Importance of personal branding in veterinary medicine
• Personal vs professional branding in practice
• Strategies to enhance client relationships through branding
• Adapting communication styles for varied client needs
• Using core values as a starting point for your personal brand
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Welcome to the Whole Veterinarian podcast. This is a place where we learn to be happier, healthier, wealthier and more grateful for the lives that we've created. Hey there, stacey. Here Today I get to share another episode of Vet Truck Confidential with my friends Misty Gray and Kelly Zaytunian. We have a pretty rambling chat, to be honest. We're supposed to be talking about branding and personal branding, and it goes left a lot of times, but hopefully it's an interesting conversation.
Speaker 1:When I was listening back, I was actually struck with this idea of, you know, never really getting out of the phase of being pretty hard on yourself. I think, as high achievers, veterinarians are innately going to do that to themselves, and it's just a good reminder that, no matter how much personal growth or how much work we can do on ourselves therapy or surrounding ourselves by other high achievers, we really do need to be kinder to ourselves, and you'll hear it in a couple of the ways we describe ourselves in here. So if you're doing it to yourself, just know that everybody still does it and we can all get better, and so that's a hope for you is that you'll be kind to yourself this week. I hope you have a great week. Thanks for listening. Hey ladies, how's it going? Hello, hi, good morning Is it morning.
Speaker 2:It is for me.
Speaker 1:Not here, no, okay, all right. What are we talking about today?
Speaker 3:Hey, today we are talking about personal brand.
Speaker 1:What is a personal like? What is a personal brand? What do you guys think of as a personal brand?
Speaker 3:Well, I have clarifying questions. Are we discussing personal brand from a professional perspective? So are we talking about the brand of our practice?
Speaker 2:because it's us of both right. I don't think that you can necessarily separate one and the other entirely, so so the answer is both.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's interesting to think about it. When I think of personal brand and like some of the conversations I've had previously, or like having a social media presence, I think about it more personally. That's my initial gut. But then, when you're trying to relate this to like branding your practice or branding yourself as a professional, it certainly is interrelated. I just never thought of myself like working as a veterinarian and having a personal brand, although, like clearly I did, I was a solo practitioner for 11 years, right, so I think it is both. It's interesting to consider, like the different.
Speaker 3:And it can be different. Right, if you were cause, I would say, if you work in a group practice, if you work at Starwood Equine, you show up and the professional brand is Starwood Equine but, like, the flavor that each associate brings to the barn is their personal brand or expression within the practice brand as long as they're wearing maroon.
Speaker 3:As long as they have on maroon wearing maroon as long as they have on maroon. Because I would say, when I was in group practice, we shared clients and yeah, there's a subset of clients that would prefer me or a different vet, but, specifically, like the group of people that preferred me, preferred me because of like the things that make me me right, like my personal, brand.
Speaker 1:All right, well, like, what are those things?
Speaker 3:let's, let's dive into aspirationally, I like to be seen as someone that shows up with a sense of order and professionalism, but what I bring, I think, to the table is that I also I enjoy talking to people. I'm a pretty straight shooter within like practice. I don't like to like dilly dally over rainbow talk. So, for example, the clients that really liked me tend to be the more salt of the earth, plain speaking people.
Speaker 1:Okay, wait so. But is that because you're good at communicating, Do you think?
Speaker 3:No, because there were other people within the practice that I think are excellent scientific fact communicators about like actual practice that could describe conditions and treatment options better than I could, but they would use probably more scientific terminology and words and it would turn that subset of people off.
Speaker 1:Oh well, that's exactly what I meant. Are you a good communicator? In client speak, Like you just said, they're better at communicating, but I don't think that's true if they're using scientific words.
Speaker 3:Then maybe they're just better doctors.
Speaker 2:No, it sounds to me like you. What you bring to the table and what you're describing is the ability to connect with and understand the needs and motivations of the clients and provide them with the information that they need to make a decision that's best for their situation.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I also think I just connect more with people on a personal level. So we talk about the horse stuff and I understand what their goals are, but I also want to know what their next wedding anniversary is and what flowers they enjoyed planting this fall. I mean, I know a lot of random facts about people and those are things that I enjoyed talking about that stuff. So I like jokes.
Speaker 3:I'm not like if you're a particularly serious barn or establishment, I probably am a little bit too jokey. I'm trying to think if I've ever told a joke, I'm trying to think, if I've ever told a joke, well, I mean I don't say like hey, bill, knock, knock I know I just in contrast.
Speaker 1:I think I'm probably a lot more like, as one could guess.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like, if there's a good music playing on the barn, we're going to talk about it and I am probably going to sing some of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, musical lighten me up for sure.
Speaker 3:That's like a. I think that's just the energy that.
Speaker 1:I bring.
Speaker 3:Whereas you know there are some very much more like professional straight lace, like the horses come in and we're efficient and we move through and they get jogged. And they come in and you, the treatments are done and, like all conversation is focused on getting the appointment done.
Speaker 2:So if a client had to describe you? So to wrap that up, if a client had to describe you and like your personal brand or like what the experience is going to be. If Dr Misty Gray shows up to the barn, what would they say?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think they would say friendly and thorough. I think those are the two. We do talk about pretty thorough diagnosis, I don't blow things off, but friendly. I don't think he would describe me as incredibly professional or dry. Yeah, I'm going to say high-quality medicine, but with a lot of Connection.
Speaker 2:Connection. I think A say high quality medicine, but with a lot of connection, connection, a lot of chat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, stacey, what about you? I have to punch myself sometimes in the head and say self you're talking too much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's interesting because I also think that my clients would say connection, but it's done in like a very, not very different way, but a different way. There's also like phases in my life. I mean, there's parts of my life that I'm not proud of, that, like I was rushing a lot and that's not how I want to be practicing, and so I'm like second guessing myself and like thinking of, you know, like negativity, bias, right, that all comes up when I'm trying to think of it. But like in my best self, or like in my you know, like negativity, bias, right, that all comes up when I'm trying to think of it. But like in my best self, or like in my more recent years, I would say, or the very beginning, I think they would come away saying like they felt heard and that we had a deep connection. And part of that maybe is being solo, right, like it was always me seeing them. But part of it is that I value having a solid, strong relationship with clients so that I'm aware of kind of everything going on and they know they can come to me with questions and like if I don't know the answer, I'm happy to go find it or send them to someone who will help them.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I'm trying to like my personal brand as a veterinarian Gosh, I don't know I feel like I've lost it a little bit, but collaboration has always been a word from my practice. It still is, even as adding an associate and now a partner. Collaboration is huge for us. So like we want to be very involved and it's a small practice so we're able to do that, like being very involved in also their lives. I mean, I don't know what flowers they planted, but like I know about all their kids and family members and stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I guess I just think, like if I think about the clients that I had that were loyal, that I saw over the years, or, you know, like people that are not just fly by appointments, those are people that we have shared recipes. Or, you know, one man cuts up when he thins the bulbs out from the garden by his house. He'll save some in a bag for me and he'll ask in subsequent years how they're doing. There's just more of like I've cooked dinner. I've cooked a last meal for a client, but we didn't know it was their last meal, but he was coming home on hospice. What about?
Speaker 2:you.
Speaker 3:Kel.
Speaker 2:I probably won't come as any surprise, but I think people probably see me as like the fixer and not just like coming and fixing the horse that has a problem, but more of like the logistical air traffic control for whatever's going on Right, like we work at a lot of training barns. There's a lot of moving parts, there's a lot of scheduling things that need to happen and fitting this in and the right timing to get the horse ready for the horse show, or it's here for this very blipping time and the trainer's only here for this short amount of time Can we make it happen. And I think nine times out of 10, I'm going to be like there's a solution for this right, there's a way to make all of these pieces and parts work. So I mean, I think, stacey, just like you said, I feel like I've lost my personal brand in a sense, because I've tried really hard to make all the clients Starwood clients, not Kelly Zaytunian clients.
Speaker 2:So there is a degree of like clients. So there is a degree of keeping a little bit more professional so that anybody is welcome at the barn and the clients know that I have full faith in everybody that's on the team where, if they show up in maroon. You're going to be well taken care of. But yeah, I think push comes to shove. If somebody needs me, I'm going to be there to help them solve the problem, or I'm going to make sure that I get the resources for them that are needed.
Speaker 3:Like Kelly, I have not seen you practice. We're the best of friends. We know so much about each other. I've never actually witnessed you practicing, and yet I envision you to exude competence. I would assume that competence would be part of your brand.
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 2:I mean, I would hope so Right.
Speaker 2:And I think there are certainly clients that I've had for the past 15 plus years who the office knows to build an extra time because they know we are going to chat about the last vacation they went on and how their family members are doing and what books they're reading and shout out to Bill and Margaret they always give me the best book recommendations.
Speaker 2:But at the same time I think I value, I place more value probably on the taking care of what needs to be taken care of in an efficient manner as appropriately as possible in whatever situation and motivation, like we talked about for you previously, like I think I can pivot in how I approach a case and that probably just comes with time right and with like an understanding.
Speaker 2:Like I'm not going to be the one that shows up to the barn and lists off every possible treatment option out there for every single case, because I know this client over here does not want to refer or this client has no desire to do X, y and Z invasive procedures and then this client over here wants to know exactly what's going on. They want to be referred sooner than later. So I think that feels really good to be able to know the clients well enough and know what their needs are, to meet them in a place that they feel like they receive the information that they need to make the best decision for their horse, in a manner that doesn't feel like forced or like they're being put in a position of like saying no to something that they don't want to. I think that that was certainly like. That's been something that has been established over time.
Speaker 1:This is a total sidebar and has nothing to do with what we're talking about but like that is a hurdle for young equine veterinarians, right, and like that's.
Speaker 1:I just have to say it, cause it's so big and so important that like I think that gets glossed over in onboarding or mentorship or or anything like. For someone listening to this, that's like that's the kind of vet I want to be. Like that takes time and like history with people. I just want to throw that out there. But I also well, have I seen you practice? I don't know that I've seen you practice, but like efficiency comes to mind for me. Like just purely because like someone doesn't have three techs and have like efficiency not as a top priority, but I think that's probably also developed because like so important in those big training barns like which is just not a world we practice in, that like that has to be that efficient to like make that happen and get all those horses seen in one stop and things like that. So part of our brand probably also like develops, like how our practice is.
Speaker 3:Right, but does the brand develop because of the practice or does the practice develop because of the brand? Like Stace, if you were a person that had visions of big barns and high efficiency and lots of work, you would likely hire more technical, you know, and because that, is the?
Speaker 1:I think it's. It's probably a little bit of both, right Like could I have thrived in a different situation? I think I probably could have. Is that how this practice that I developed worked out? No, and am I happy in the way it worked out? Yes, but like it's probably a little bit of nurture and nature, both kind of merging. Certainly some people's personalities wouldn't fit doing what I do or doing what Kelly does.
Speaker 3:Well, and I I did have a big show barn that I did all the care for for several years, um, and that would have been the perfect situation to have multiple technicians so to get stuff done. Um, and I will say when I look back on those appointments, I did well there. We had a good relationship. We were Stacey's, making a face which no one on the podcast can see, but I was successful professionally there. They liked me and there were the aspects of that appointment that I enjoyed were the thing were the parts that I've taken with me to do elsewhere. I enjoyed that because I went there once a week and worked with the same manager. I got to know how the horse show went, where they're going next weekend, who was traveling where, who's going back to Ireland.
Speaker 3:It was the personal relationship that I was sad to lose when I left there. But I also left those appointments feeling very like I would have to take some deep breaths when I left. I would be pretty rattled after just because of the fast pace and trying to get as much done and you know, like the cutoff time and I could do it. I did it for a long time but I wasn't sad to leave that part of it. The part that I still am sad about is that I want to know how they're doing. It was the people part and, like some of the horses that you're connected with and see over like, I would like to know how they're doing. I miss that part of it. I don't actually miss the. It wasn't thrilling to do that high intensity type of work.
Speaker 1:Okay. So I think this discussion kind of lends itself to the question of if we're maybe like not in a buttoned up super professional role, or if you have to do that but that's not you like, how do you balance staying authentic while also presenting as a very competent equine veterinarian?
Speaker 2:I think I try to make the space for the personal connection and time to ask those questions and make sure that, especially for individuals who like need to have that little bit of transition period of time and small talk, I build that in and have a conversation with the technician before we get to the barn of like I'm going to go and whether it's like a solo owner, like I'm going to go and catch up with them.
Speaker 2:I know that we need to talk about X, y and Z that happened in the last six months since I saw them, or whatever. You can get the dental equipment set up or start the TPRs on the horses or the trainer. While you all get these things set up, I'm actually going to go, step into the office and have a connecting meeting with the trainer, see how the show went, see if there's anything else going on that I need to know about, update her on a couple of things, whatever. So then I kind of like have that time and then have a very like verbal okay. So we're here today to do blah, blah, blah and that is that transition time of like okay, friend person that I have this connection with, now it's time to put on the hat of like focusing on your horse, not on you.
Speaker 1:I think it's easier for me, Like it's not a super formal practice, so it's. I don't feel like I have to switch too too much.
Speaker 3:I think informal is a good word. I think maybe that's what I keep saying Professional, I am professional and it's like rubbing against me to say like someone wouldn't think that I'm professional. I actually really value professionalism, but I'm more informal. I think that's the word. When you say that, that's hitting me better and, interestingly, I don't like small talk in regular life. I don't like talking about things that don't matter. But I do better, but I do deeply care about the people in the situation and I think I'm a highly sensitive person and so the ability to do work with my hands and have like be able to start exams and, you know, touching the horse and doing a job while catching up with people works really well for me.
Speaker 2:It doesn't for me, cause that's like once you get me going, I'm going to be buzzing around like a bee, getting whatever's on my list. Brain trains rolling.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like there's a technician over there, there's one over there, we got this horse going over here. We almost to the point sometimes where I'm like I get twitchy if somebody's like standing around like what could you be doing, what can you go, you know, and like I mean sometimes I'm like okay, time to just take a minute, but it's really hard. I want to be efficient and I think partially because like that is just my nature, but also because like the sooner that I get this done, the sooner that I can go on to the million other tasks that I have and it ensures that I can go home on time. And like I've really been making it a goal to have all of my work done before I go home, like I don't, I've been trying not to open up my computer at night at home, like it stays in the bag and that to me is a successful day when I don't have to pull it out and get any work done.
Speaker 3:Do you get um like when that buzzing around and that's happening in my body, that feels like um dizziness, like lightheaded dizzy, like I can't, I'm not grounded, I can't get everything back. Do you feel that way?
Speaker 2:I do on occasion. Yeah, I'm like it's like if anybody listens to the Anxious Overachiever podcast. That's like, like Kelly, if it takes like if we have to do three horses instead of four horses right now, if there's only two animals being examined instead of three, or you know what I mean Like it's okay.
Speaker 3:I just avoid that feeling at all costs, and you seem a little bit to thrive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I enjoy it. I enjoy being busy and I enjoy feeling like a lot is being accomplished.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I avoid that feeling. It doesn't feel like I. I think I'm always looking to feel grounded. I think that's why I like to like kind of like cozy into what I'm doing. I don't want to rush through it. I also want to be done at it, like I've got an end point in mind and I want to be done and finish up, but I think that's why I schedule. I'm better at scheduling. Like I've got an end point in mind and I want to be done and finish up, but I think that's why I schedule. I'm better at scheduling. Like I kind of know how long stuff takes me right now with the type of work that I'm doing, and I just try to only fit in, like only schedule, what I know can fit into that amount of time, because I don't like to feel hustled.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I certainly, like, I'm very aware of it for myself. Yeah, and I certainly I'm very aware of it for myself. I think my self-awareness of that buzzing, because I also don't want any client feeling like I've just zoomed in, zoomed out, poked the each and every one of my patients and I want to be sure that what we're doing is going to get us great outcomes and have clients feeling really happy about it. There's a balance in that right To kind of meet my feelings and needs of like the go, go go, while also making sure that nobody is feeling like they've been rushed through an appointment.
Speaker 3:I have a question for both of you. For an appointment to be successful this is going to be the S coming out of me, because I already hear it. I'm going to use the word feeling For an appointment to be successful from the perspective of the client. When you leave, if you've held up your values, your personal brand, what is the feeling that your clients would have felt about that appointment?
Speaker 2:I want my clients feeling like there is a plan in place, like, certainly if it's just a vaccine appointment or something like that, I want them knowing these are the signs that they need to look for. You know, should there be any sort of high immune response? Right? I want them feeling just like wholly understanding of what has just happened and what next steps might be In a bigger case. I want them to feel like they've absorbed all of the information necessary to think about next steps or next decisions, or like I really like to play the game with clients of you know we're doing this today. If this doesn't work, or if this is the outcome, we're going to go down this workflow of next steps and if this is the outcome from today, this is the workflow of steps. So I like people feeling and again it comes down to me like results driven right.
Speaker 1:Knowing. I'm just thinking we should add this to the discussion because go ahead, yeah, go ahead, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I like people to feel like they know what the next three steps are going to be basically in the appointment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm like laughing to myself because my first thought was like feelings.
Speaker 3:You did kind of roll your eyes. I know I did.
Speaker 1:But like, if I think about it, I lands right in like sea territory. Like I want people to end the appointment having felt heard and listened to and like thoroughly understood. Maybe they don't even want that because they're not a C, but that's what I want, so interesting. How about you, mist?
Speaker 3:If it's been a successful appointment. When I leave, I want them to feel like a sense of cozy happiness. I do. I want them to be like that was so nice.
Speaker 1:I mean, like this is crazy, like this is so disc oriented and like interesting to think about, like I have started thinking about communication styles of my clients, but like the final wrap up, could you apply that?
Speaker 3:Right, because this is centered on our like I'm saying successful appointment this client would have this S response at the end.
Speaker 1:But that wouldn't work for 75% of the population.
Speaker 3:Well, and when I think about most of the clients that are attuned to me, that prefer me most of them are not S's. Those aren't the clients that, like it's actually D's and C's that prefer? If I had to guess, I mean like, obviously I don't know exactly, but those are more in line, they're not S's.
Speaker 2:So, like I train your question, stacey, I train that at the tech program when we do the disc communication discussion and I use, like, the vaccine example your D is going to want you to tell them that they need to monitor for X, y and Z and they need to schedule an appointment for a booster from two weeks to this day. Like, right, short, sweet. Here's what you need to do as follow-up for this case. Your I's are more interested in when they can get their vaccinated dog to the dog park so that they can go and see their friends again and hang out and socialize.
Speaker 2:Your S's are more concerned about like, how is that patient going to feel? What are signs of any concerns or issues? And it's so great that you brought your pet in today, like to make sure that they're all up to date on their vaccines. You're such a caring dog, mom or dad. Right, vaccination it was when they might see clinical signs of reaction, what they should do if said signs occur, when they need to actually call you for additional care or assistance. When the booster is, when the follow-up annual schedule is going to be right. So, like I do, kind of wrap up my meetings when I know who I'm talking to, with more or less detail based on who I'm talking to.
Speaker 1:We've delved into other topics, but I want to kind of bring us back to personal brand and tie it into the idea of knowing core values, knowing the type of brand of practice you might be joining so important right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think your personal brand it's the portion that you bring into your practice. So I do think that you can join a practice that has like a practice vision and practice brand and that you can fall into line with that. But there's a sense of ownership and control that a person can take by being really solid on who they are, what their values are and we've talked about that a lot and then kind of how you want to present yourself to clients because you are your personal brand, Like you are, how you show up. If it's not an alignment, it's going to feel pretty awful.
Speaker 3:I think and stressful day in and day out, to be presented differently than how you feel on the inside.
Speaker 2:I agree, I think it could become a drag right, but I also, I would also say as sort of devil's advocate I don't think that it is wrong to present yourself in the way that you need to to meet the needs of the clients that you're serving. You know like turn on whatever that looks like for your work hours, as long as you find that balance and are able to, you know, outside of work and when you get home or are out with friends or whatever you feel like, your authenticity is not compromised by doing that right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was kind of thinking like core values you're not going to be able to change. I do think you can adapt your brand a little bit to mold and it's probably going to change a bit with different life stages as well, right? So okay, how do we want to wrap this up?
Speaker 3:I'll also leave you with some thinking points. I think it's helpful to think about what makes you unique as a veterinarian, how your personality can shine through in your work, and maybe think of some of the things that are quirks or habits, things about you that your clients seem to love or even to joke or gently tease you about, and how that can be part of how you present yourself with authenticity throughout the day when you're practicing.
Speaker 1:I think that's a fun little challenge is to like embrace some of those quirks. I think we can be really hard on ourselves. So try to think of some of those things and appreciate them. All right, ladies, thanks for chatting. We will talk to everyone. Listening sometime soon Sounds great Bye. Thank you so much for spending some of your precious time with us. We so very much appreciate it and truly hope that it helps you just a little bit. We hope you are doing well and we will talk to you again soon.
