Megan Sprinkle: [00:00:00] Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. Today our guest is a great example of possibilities in veterinary medicine. Dr. Ricky Walther will explain how he wrote his own job description for his ideal career, but he had some stepping stones up to that. Ricky was very involved in vet school, which was at
UC Davis, he was inspired by one of the leaders of their orientation week and decided to join the Veterinary Business Management Association, or VBMA, during his first week, and he later became the president. He attended the National VBMA meeting and that further opened his eyes to possibilities in veterinary careers and planted the idea of a particular path for himself.
He also decided to run for office for the National VBMA. And his connections there started him on a path of self-reflection, as well as connections that would lead to his current position with Pawlicy Advisor, a free platform to help understand pet insurance options. Ricky later started to understand that his personal why is around service, and he has created a fascinating career [00:01:00] as one of the few veterinarians involved in transforming the pet insurance space.
Now, unfortunately, Ricky's audio is a little rocky, but I am so inspired by this conversation and his positive attitude around veterinary careers, as well as his enthusiasm for making a difference in a unique area of animal health. So let's get to the conversation with Dr. Ricky Walther. When did you know you wanted to get into veterinary medicine?
Ricky Walther: Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here. , when it comes to when I decided I really want to be one of those people who always wanted to be a veterinarian. I think everybody in my life has told me that as soon as I could talk, I was telling people I wanted to be a vet.
but it really, was until I was in high school where I did this. I woke up one day and realized. Like I should actually make sure I know what that means. Like I should find a veterinary clinic that I can go to and, and see what this is all about. And so that, that was kind of my, I would say I've always wanted to be a vet, but the way I got into the profession and really got excited about it was as [00:02:00] a, I think a sophomore in high school, deciding to go in and I was like, I'm going to go get a job at a vet clinic.
And so I walked into a clinic that a friend of mine had actually volunteered at over a summer and told the practice, owner that I wanted to work there, and she asked me why and I said that I thought I want, I've always wanted to be a veterinarian and she kind of laughed at me and she's like, okay, well, I can hire you and, and you can work with our kennels and clean and, and kind of start there and work your way up
or I cannot hire you, and you can just shadow me for a couple of weeks and make sure this is truly something you want to do. I came to the clinic every single day after school for I think three or four weeks and saw what it really meant to be a veterinarian and working with the veterinary team.
And, that was really when I knew that this was the path I wanted to go down, and really the piece for me was, I love medicine and I think it's fascinating, but I loved. Seeing how the doctors help owners through a really challenging time, and what kind of [00:03:00] an impact we could make on not just the pets, but the people.
, I've always been a very extroverted person and love to talk to people, and so I think that was the piece that I was like, oh, I can do both. I can work with animals. and help people and their animals together. And that was really what sealed the deal for me. That's
Megan Sprinkle: a very wise approach. And I'm glad you learned very early on that there's a lot of people involvement into our profession because, you know, you get those people who say, Oh, I want to go into veterinary medicine because I don't like people.
And it's like, Mm, you might want to pick a different profession.
Ricky Walther: 100%. I would say like, it's funny because It's kind of like being a pediatrician, right? You can't do anything just with the dogs you to have the, have the owners involved in that conversation.
Megan Sprinkle: Yes. It very much is a people business, which I, you know, the funny thing is that a lot of times I hear, you know, I did love the animals and that's what initially attracted me. But a lot of times I also [00:04:00] hear though, well, what kept me in veterinary medicine were the people. And I think that's also a beautiful part of it too.
Cause, like you said, you get both, you get the animals and the people that come with it. So that is a really cool perspective. Now I know you. Went into vet school at UC Davis, and it seems like vet school was a really big part of your veterinary story. You were extremely active. A lot happened and all, and a lot of those things helped or came back around within your career.
So do you mind sharing a little bit about one getting into vet school? Did you have an idea of what you wanted to do and did that change? And feel free to share ways you got involved.
Ricky Walther: So vet school for me really was kind of a, a very pivotal . And the reason why I say that is because, I went to Davis , for undergrad, and I was animal science, pre vet, just like everybody [00:05:00] else and knew I wanted to go into veterinary medicine work, But I think, have a similar story to a lot of people where I got into vet school and then it was kind of this almost like, well, now what moment, right?
Like I knew I wanted to ultimately work as a veterinarian. I thought that I kind of liked the idea of owning a practice one day. And I remember the summer leading up to starting vet school, I kind of had a lot of anxiety around like, well, what does this actually mean?
And so I think I started and was waiting and really came in with the mentality of, like, I'm just going to absorb as much as I can I'm really glad that I did that self reflection of, not being 100 percent sure, because I think it made me really open to the things that were presented to me.
And I remember, UC Davis does what they call prologue, which is basically like the first couple of weeks, like, orientation and it was the prologue at Davis is led by 1 of the advisors for the Veterinary business management association. And I remember [00:06:00] he had kind of made a comment during the week around, what he does, he teaches some of the business curriculum and so I remember I was super nervous and I just got here. This person's not going to want to talk to me. I'm going to send him an email anyway. And so I sent him an email that first week of class. And I said, you know, I think I'm interested in business. Like, what should I get involved And little did I know that that 1 email actually led to him being a primary mentor in my life for 4 years during vet school.
And 1 of the 1st thing he told me is, well, you should get involved in the VBMA. Here's when they're doing their info session. Go. And so I was, I was excited because I was like, okay, there's a club about business. Like, this is exciting to me. This feels like something
that were not veterinary focused. I knew I was eventually going to need business skills, communication skills,
and so I took that skill set and was like, Oh, this is really interesting. I can get involved. And see what comes of it. And so I remember I started by running for an officer position for, for the, VBMA, they always have a president elect. That's basically a 1st year student.
And so, just like many of the clubs, that kind of is a nice way [00:07:00] to get involved in leadership. and. Fast forward a couple of months, I was sent and as part of that position to the national meeting in Orlando for the national VBMA leadership meeting and I remember walking into way bigger than I had ever imagined.
I went to this event. They had a panel of, five people who are all veterinarians, all in different parts of the industry, talking about innovation and kind of the forefront of what was coming. And I remember watching these people sitting on this stage and, you know, none of them were still even in clinical practice and that just totally blew my mind.
I had no idea that people like left clinical medicine to do other things in the profession. And so I remember, you know, they were like, you should apply to be on the national board. I was like, well, I'm just a student to get involved in this. That's way too stressful and anxiety inducing for me at this point.
I'm going to go home and think about it. And I remember I went, I went back and, you know, I thought about applying to be part [00:08:00] of this national group and to run the national VBMA. Got really in my head. told myself that, you know, no 1 from Davis had ever done it before. They're not going to pick me. It's going to be too hard.
and so I didn't I stayed really involved at the school level. I ended up being really involved in like, diversity had fun with that, but , the next year went to, I felt that same kind of energy that I felt the first time around like, wow, there's so much out there.
I can be doing. I need to experience this. I want to learn what's out there. so that year, when 1 of the officers came up to me and said, you know, you really should apply for the national board. I remember you from last year. You know, we talked about it. You didn't apply. You should do it and I remember I was like, okay.
What do I have to lose? Right? Nobody from Davis has ever done this, but why not? Like, I can figure it out. And so I, I talked to every single national officer there. I learned as much as I could those 2 days while I was in Orlando. And I came back and I applied to be on the national board. And that [00:09:00] was something that was hugely out of my comfort zone.
you know, I've always done, like, kind of, like, local leadership stuff, but never felt like I was, able to play on like a national scale in any kind of capacity. So I put myself out there and sure enough I was elected to be on the national board and that experience, the 18 months of running the National VBMA with a group , was the best experience of vet school and it just catapulted my understanding of all the things that exist in veterinary medicine.
It solidified for me that, actually, Clinical medicine is exciting to me, but it's not my passion. Like, it solidified that the rest of this, helping veterinary professionals do what they do best, was where my passion lied. And so it was really fun to kind of investigate that during vet school and really set me up for A lot of other aspects I'm sure we'll get into around my career and kind of where I am now, but, I think that initial piece of putting myself out there, getting involved and [00:10:00] meeting people and building a network is really what changed everything for me.
Megan Sprinkle: Yes, and I'm glad you mentioned there the networking pieces well, because I think that is really big. I know some people still don't like the term networking because for some people, it feels icky, but it's not. It's really relationship building. It's, meeting people Broadening your, your, connection base, but also, I recently heard someone else explain networking as it's two sided, right?
It's also you being able to figure out what value you can offer other people. And so I really like that. And I think that's something I see in your in your career journey as kind of a theme. So I think that's really really important to kind of emphasize is that even when something feels intimidating Like talking with people not everybody is an extrovert, but it's really important to build these relationships.
We're a very close profession, meaning that, there's [00:11:00] only a few degrees between somebody else, you know, and so that is super, super crucial. And as soon as possible, like even in vet school, . And I don't know if this was part of VBMA, but did you, uh, experience the, it's called VLE, the veterinary leadership experience also during vet school?
Ricky Walther: Yes, so that, I think, to be honest, like, you know, the, the National VBMA is really what gave me the, like, exposure to, like, what career paths existed, but the one moment of my veterinary school career that really changed the way that I felt was actually VLE, so all the national board, get sent to VLE actually before we even know what position we're going to be, right?
So, like, we show up to VLE, we meet people, The people we're going to be running this organization with and then we go through a week long intensive, self reflection and self discovery kind of experience to really figure out, you know, the value we bring. And I think 1 of the things. That the VLE does an amazing job for the profession is really teaching [00:12:00] you the value you do bring to any kind of situation and helps with some of the Self awareness that I think is really necessary as a leader that was the first time i'd kind of been exposed to this idea of servant leadership and you know Helping others experience and and grow together and so that was, I was at the very start of my VBMA experience with VLE, and then to your point, I think it helped me with that other side.
I think we all go into networking, like you mentioned, looking for like, well, who can we meet? And what am I trying to get out of it? And that's the part that I think sometimes feels. Or, or to, to, to many people. but the other like VLE really taught me the opposite is like, what, what are you bringing to them?
Like what you, you bring something to every relationship. You're part of, you're in control of how you show up in every moment, whether or not, you know, networking is, comfortable or not. I think the skillsets I learned in VLE really helped me to know that like, I [00:13:00] could process those emotions, understand I'm getting stressed and anxious.
Here's why I'm feeling like I don't provide value to the situation. I feel like I'm potentially not enough to be speaking to someone who's the CEO of a company or or these different people that you get in your head around their title. And I think VLE gave me the skills to be able to show up to that moment and figure out, like, well, what is the common goal?
What is what can I bring to the table? and that really boosted my confidence heading into this position. I had applied to be the president of the VBMA, but that it was a skill set that they saw in me and they actually gave me that. And I don't think without VLE and understanding kind of, like, you just mentioned that both sides of what.
Networking and relationship building within the profession is. I don't think I would have been a successful in it. As it was my job to talk to all of our sponsors, and manage all of our sponsor relationships, and the external communication with the industry. And I was often sitting across the table from somebody who was a [00:14:00] CEO of a very large company, or, Chief medical officer of a big company, and some of these people were like idols of people that I had, been watching their career and looked at them like, I want to be like them. Now I'm on theother side of the table, asking them for funding And so you have to kind of psych yourself up and get excited about it.
and a lot of those skill sets I learned in VLE. VLE is actually kind of interesting for me, because not only did I learn so much about myself, but it's actually the connection that led me to my current role.. And so that, I think it's just another piece around being open to opportunities and meeting people in really unexpected places.
A friend that I met at VLE, and that was in my group is the person who connected me to the company that I now work for. one of the things that, um, as I reflected more on my kind of networking journey and the journey I went through in vet school.
I think, you know, I viewed it at the time as I was just in the right place, at the right time, and [00:15:00] After kind of revisiting it, I've realized that I think also it's a really intentional piece that I chose to do, which was to be open to these opportunities, to put myself out there, and to be open to responding when somebody says something, and making those connections.
And I think that's something a lot of people sometimes I think that wrong around putting yourself out there, and networking is that like, it doesn't just happen to you. You don't just put yourself in these situations and hope that something's going to happen. You have to be intentional.
You have to go in open. To something that you may never have considered before, because those are often the actual opportunities that lead the longer term path. .
Megan Sprinkle: Exactly. Luck is when effort meets opportunity. So there is an element of the, you do have to put in a little work.
You do have to get outside of your comfort zone. And that's when you meet the opportunity. It may feel like luck, but there is a lot of effort still that you need to put in and be [00:16:00] a little intentional about some of those things, which you clearly have been. And, along those lines You currently work for a Pawlicy advisor, but I think you had an encounter with them in vet school, too, because isn't that when you started doing some pro bono advising for them, like giving them a different perspective?
And how did that happen?
Ricky Walther: That is that connection piece. So at VLE, my, group they have reached out to him and said, Hey, we're, we're working on, this really great marketplace that helps on insurance options. Would vets be interested in that? the friend.
Said, you know, I'm, I'm not really into, like, the business side of veterinary medicine very much, but I think I know somebody who could help you. And so he actually reached me. The same fall after VLE was in the summer, and said, Hey, like, Ricky, do you want to talk to this company? They have this really cool idea.
I think you might be able to help. And I remember I was kind of in my head about it and I was like, how am I going to help them? Like, I'm more than happy to talk to these people, but [00:17:00] like. They're starting a pet insurance marketplace. They're a tech company. Am I going to be able to kind of value?
, and so I took the meeting, I scheduled a call with them and, , I heard their idea, heard how they really wanted to simplify the conversation, give people options. And they wanted to do it right. They were brand new as a company and they wanted to make sure what they built resonated with the veterinary community.
And I remember, you know, on that call, they were asking me different questions. When they heard their questions, I was like, Oh, these are all questions about my experience, like an experience I know.
And every veterinary professional knows very closely is we've all been in the clinic. We know how these questions get asked, and so I realized very quickly that I did add value.
And actually a lot of the advice I was giving them was super helpful. And so one call turned into two turned into 10 and I just really kept in touch with them throughout all of veterinary school. Until I graduated and when I graduated, we actually formalized that relationship and, you know, [00:18:00] they wanted me to be their advisor for the profession.
so I offered to do that and so I graduated was working as a small animal veterinarian and on my day off, I had at least 1 call every week with their team to review different things they were thinking about helping them with, you know, how are they going to show up at conferences? So, it was, a journey of, you know, I made that connection was open to meeting somebody who, you know, had a different network than me and was able to make this mutual connection. And then I think what really helped was me being proactive around staying in touch with them being about what they were doing and being invested Helped to keep me front of mind for them and we really built a strong relationship that has now led into me working for them full time.
Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and I definitely want to get into that, but there's, there's a little bit in between. So you already mentioned, graduating and going off to your 1st job and
you've really been prepared in a lot of different ways to start. entering into the veterinary world. And you [00:19:00] also mentioned that you had been able to see lots of different possible career paths. And a lot of these non clinical roles were still really interesting to you. So how did you make that decision to transition from vet school to veterinarian?
And what was that first year like?
Ricky Walther: Yeah, 100%. So I think that when I was in vet school, you know, I was exposed to all these different career paths. I knew based on my experience with the National VBMA that at some point in my career, I was going to want to move. I just could feel that was what was pulling me towards it.
But what I know, what I knew that I needed first was really a strong medical foundation and I knew what it was like to work in the hospital, but I didn't know what it was like to have the stress and ownership responsibility that being the veterinarian leading the team is.
And so I made a very conscious effort to find a clinic that was high in the caseload with really good mentorship with lots of different doctors because I knew that [00:20:00] Learning quickly, different experiences within veterinary medicine was important to me. so I chose, I had done an internship at this clinic.
. And so I was, I stayed in touch with the doctors. I connected with them and ultimately ended up choosing to come on full time there.
, my transition out of vet school was a little bit. Unique, I guess, um, year wise, it's not unique in the sense that everybody who graduated when I did experience the same, but, you know, I graduated in 2020. I was sent home , 4th year of vet school, , because of the pandemic and. Started as a vet in the very height of the pandemic when we were really trying to figure out, like.
How do we even practice veterinary medicine in the constraints that are out there? And so my, my transition to being a vet was definitely rocky, I was expecting to go into this hospital where everybody knew exactly what they were doing, and I was just going to learn from them.
And instead, we all learned together, right? We learned what it meant to be veterinarians during [00:21:00] the pandemic. Together, and what it meant to stand six feet away from someone's car and talk to them to build trust and build a relationship when I wasn't able to do so over the phone and all those things that kind of came with it, which I think actually benefited me a lot because I learned so much about communication, learned a ton about how doctors work with each other, all things that have been really helpful in my career since, but I still knew . I wanted to spend a couple of years really learning what it meant. To be a veterinarian. And so that led me to my first role as an associate at that larger hospital.
It's also what led me to be a medical director for a for a DeNovo hospital that they were opening with a corporate group because I wanted to see what it was like to do that. Right? Build a hospital from scratch. Understand what goes into that and understand what it means to build a team
so I was very intentional with my, choices for those first two roles because I knew I needed to gain that experience in order to set myself up for a [00:22:00] nonclinical role. I told myself, you know, somewhere three to five years graduating was when I wanted make transition. I ended up making transition pretty much at the three year mark and I think part of it was because I felt more confident in myself
Megan Sprinkle: yes, I believe that really good leadership can also. Be further highlighted in really challenging situations. I was fortunate to work for a company with at the time. The leadership was fantastic in leading through the unknown of the pandemic and with 7 doctors. Like you said, that's seven different ways of not only veterinary medicine, but probably ways of leadership or talking to the other people in the hospital.
And so you really got to, sadly, very quickly, see seven different potential ways at least. I am sure there's some coming together to agree on [00:23:00] the policies of the hospital, but. Ways of understanding how to lead through the unknown. And leadership itself can be challenging. Leading in the unknown is even harder.
And so being able to see that type of leadership, I think is really crucial. So I definitely can see how that. Expedited your ability to see, the importance of leadership and all the different things in a hospital that can go well, but also go wrong. And how do you fix that? Like, how do you problem solve?
Because when you're in the unknown again, We're adapting. We're going to try this. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else. And I think that's, honestly, it's a really good way to approach a lot of different things. Because we're in medicine, right? There's a few things that will seem fairly routine.
Like vaccines. For the most of the part, there's always that one reaction, right? But for the most part, those things are kind of routine. But understanding how to [00:24:00] behave when things do not go well or as expected, I think is so, so important. And I'm sure that came up many times being in the pandemic for you.
Ricky Walther: Definitely. And I think that You know, graduating in the pandemic, I think one of the things that's interesting is you know, you are in the unknown every day. Right? And I think, I talk a lot about how well, how that helped me grow and learn this time and also want to acknowledge that it's not always easy.
Right? Like, that was a really hard time for, I think, pretty much everyone can agree in veterinary medicine. It was really challenging. And for me, you know, that showed up in, Feeling burnt out in what I was doing, and I'm lucky that I was given opportunities during vet school like VLE to really be able to understand and be self aware around what I was feeling.
And so what I think helped me is I could feel and recognize that something was draining on me. And instead of just being frustrated with it, I really tried to figure out like, [00:25:00] well, what is it about. life? What is it that I don't like? What do I want to try to find in an opportunity? and really, you know, I was somebody who experienced burnout pretty quickly because of all of those factors and all the stress.
And so, you know, 6, 7 months in, I was like, Ooh, this is, this is really hard. Like, I need to figure out a way to, to Move myself forward. And so for me, I really did a lot of reflection and fell back on the fact that I loved these leadership positions that I've held and having an impact and having a voice and made me feel valued enough to come to work every day.
And that was actually what kind of led me to my medical director position of, putting myself out there again, again, a year and a half out of school. Being a medical director doesn't sound like something I could do, but, you know, I, I. the doctor saw something in me, saw that my skill set would lend well to it, and let me take the leap, and I think the reason I let it myself.
Take that leap is because of the reflection that I went through during that 1st, kind of [00:26:00] period of burnout I know I want these leadership opportunities. So I might be scared of them, but I know it's going to drive me And then it was also things like, I loved, I did reflection and realized, like, I love new puppy, new kitten appointments and getting to tell an owner, like, all about the preventative medicine that they can accomplish and like what they can prevent their pet from getting in the future if they do certain things.
and I liked that way more than managing, you know, a diabetic cat, like, and for different people in our profession, I think there's different things we like. And so, for me, kind of telling myself those things was actually what led me to the position that I took next, starting a hospital inside of a pet store, you know, and getting that kind of preventative medicine mix every day of people walking into the store with a new pet.
And so. I think that that really helped re energize me in veterinary medicine, and it was being intentional around looking at like, this is what I do like. And then continuing to check in with myself over, over [00:27:00] time.
And that's really kind of, I think what led me to ultimately re confirming to myself that these things that I wanted in a, in a job were different than clinical medicine.
Yeah.
Megan Sprinkle: And I definitely see how your appreciation for preventative medicine also plays into the pet insurance side of things, because those are prime times to talk about insurance is puppy and kitten visit.
And I still think it's so funny that you had said that the first hospital that you joined was a very large percent. I think you said 60 percent of the practice was like, you English and French Bulldogs, which also are very good opportunities to talk about pet insurance.
Ricky Walther: Yeah, you're, you're correct. So the first pet insurance became a theme because I had met Pawlicy Advisor as a vet student, right?
And so I knew about insurance and was learning about it slowly over time. When [00:28:00] my first job, when I started at a hospital that worked with a bulldog rescue, and so therefore we saw a very large percentage of French bulldogs, English bulldogs, and mixes, coming through our doors, it was very obvious to me and actually very much highlighted the need about around talking around financial pieces of preventative medicine, right?
It's not just about the medicine. It's also about preventative finances and having a full conversation with owners around how they can pay for the treatments that they're looking for for their pet over the lifetime of the pet. But it was very obvious to me to see, you know, owners that did have insurance or that we did, we talked about insurance quite a bit as you can imagine with the breeds we saw, and the owners that did have insurance and and made that decision really were able to do more and not worry as much and so I loved seeing that as a doctor.
practice and it made those conversations with them. Hard to have with the owners that didn't know it was an option. I can't tell you the number of [00:29:00] people who came in and, , and they'd never heard about it before, well, you know, and maybe that owner might've actually benefited from it if they'd known it existed.
And so I became really passionate about the financial pieces too. and also just, it became part of my, my kind of spiel. Like I learned how, you know, when my Frenchie. Preventative medicines feel is different than other dogs, right? And so I liked learning how to customize it. To be what that owner needed to hear because most of these people spent a lot of money on this dog, without any idea of how much money this dog might cost them over the life of the patient. How do we make it feel like a partnership? And how do I help them understand, like, they need to actually also be really careful on which policies they choose and making sure that's going to cover the kinds of things that their pet is going to get and that they needed experts to help them with policy gave me kind of a nice.
It was nice to know they existed because I had an out to, , licensed professionals that could answer those questions for my owners and direct them. But I think that, yeah, you're, you're right. That. The [00:30:00] insurance piece was always kind of a thread, and my experiences double clicked just how important it was, which really helped me to feel like when I made that change, I was doing it because I was making a difference.
Because for me, that's one thing I learned very early in my life, and I think is what led me to veterinary medicine and kept me excited, is that service matters to me a lot. It's a huge core value of mine is to, to be in service of other people. And so that's how I look through a lot of lenses
and so Vet Med, you know, filled that and, wanted more. I wanted to have a wider impact. And, you know, my role now gives me that ability to, to impact a wider audience.
Megan Sprinkle: and even you mentioned that there's not a lot of veterinarians that are sitting inside of the , pet insurance world.
So your perspective, your seat at the table is extremely valuable to make sure that we really are making the best opportunities when it comes to pet insurance, because I think we all understand that [00:31:00] insurance is important. But we don't always necessarily know, like, what is the best way of doing this?
Right? Because we don't want the human insurance. They've got, they've got their issues. . Right. But then there's still some challenges over here. So you got to have all of these different perspectives that can come together to really, Vocalize and figure out problems that solve what really is the best for the pet and the pet family so that we can continue to serve them and do what, you know, what we came to do in veterinary medicine.
So I think that's so crucial. And I'll get excited about pet insurance. So I'll, I'll try not to talk too much about it, but with you coming into Pawlicy advisor as a full time position, , they actually, it sounds like kind of said, well, we need a chief medical officer role, but they'd never had that role before.
So they kind of said, What do you think it should be? And so how did you go about because it's kind of a neat opportunity, right? You can put in [00:32:00] some of the things that you, you're very self reflective. So, you know, some of the things that are really important to you, but then also having to figure out what's good for the company, right?
And their needs. So how did you go about like basically writing up your job description?
Ricky Walther: That's a great question. So it was, so that was really important to me, right? It's like, I wanted to make this transition to have that impact and to provide that service. And like you mentioned, there aren't a lot of veterinarians in the pet insurance space.
, comparatively like in pharma and things like that, far more medical professionals, which makes sense, but there's still a need for our voices in all of the aspects that touch what we do in the clinic. Right. And so pet insurance for me, one of the biggest thing I wanted to do was make sure that this role allowed me to one, make sure that the decisions the company , was making that we with any tangential company, right?
That like. Most of the people that work in the company are [00:33:00] not familiar with what it's like to be in a veterinary clinic, right? That's not their background and totally fine. And we needed to build in ways to make sure that I could help catch those things, right? And I mean little simple things like we've all seen the like marketing ad where the dog is standing on their leg that's in a cast. And vets are going to look at that and be like, that doesn't make sense. Right? And so tiny, tiny little things that needed to be in my job description around like catching something like that, that maybe nobody thought of that makes it resonate and feel more genuine and show up as the right brand right within in the profession, all the way up to the pieces you also mentioned around advocacy and advocating for what we want insurance to be and what thousands of hospitals across the country want it to be, . So I needed my job description to span a lot of things. I didn't have experience in what this looked like, so the way I wrote my job description was networking. It was using my network and connecting with the people that I've met over the last five years to go to a bunch of people, some that have had this job, but others that not necessarily were chief medical officers, but worked for companies that, [00:34:00] you know, what, what do you see your chief medical officer doing?
What do you wish they would do more of? How can they kind of the role that makes sense? And I think what I found from that is that the, the idea of being a veterinarian and a role like a chief medical officer within a company. Can mean a ton of different and it means a different thing to every company.
And so I kind of got overwhelmed and said, Oh, my goodness, there's so many things that I'm supposed to do in this role. And then I did have to do exactly what you mentioned, which is we're a startup. We're still growing and we're still growing to have the impact we want that. Right. And so it's, what do we need now as a business?
That really helps to grow. And where can I provide value? So I started looking internally at, like, what are my trans translational skills? , what am I good? I know what it's like to be in the hospital. I know what it's like to have these insurance conversations. What resources did I want in clinic that I didn't have that would have been helpful?
And so that's actually where I started. I started building out, like, what can we do? What kind of. [00:35:00] Resources. Can we provide veterinary teams? And I kind of helped grow our customer success side of the business first. And that was kind of where I started in their role. When, when you ask like, what is my job description?
The answer is it changes all the time. Right. And that, and I think that that's exciting to me. My job description is to be responsible for the user journey of veterinarians from the time they meet us as a business all the way through to hopefully when they've partnered with us for multiple years and feel really confident in having this conversation with the pet owner.
There's lots of little things that fit in along the way and that's where I involved my, network to figure out like, what are those things that, you know, as I look at five to 10 years, what do I want to accomplish in this role? And some of those. A bit farther down the road, right?
Where we, we are a bigger company and we have a bigger impact and all those kinds of things. And some of them are more short term. And so my job description involves everything from those edits on marketing, helping with copy that that goes out to the next building resources for team. I also have a ton of [00:36:00] experience with conferences.
I help with a lot of our conference, how we show up at a conference and what into that is thanks to the national VBMA and running the national meeting gave me those pieces. But it's been for me, it's been around. How, like, all these translational skills of things that I didn't know I was going to do in the future, bringing them into role now involves advocacy.
It involves customer success sales teams work directly with that teams and our product is free, right? So we don't want anyone to feel like we're selling them. We want them to feel like we're a partner of theirs, right? Because it's a free service. We want to make sure that the hospital can utilize it to the best of their ability.
And so that's a very different. Perspective and something that I helped those teams with as well. And so it's been really fun for me to kind of look at that. And then the most favorite part of my job is helping on how can we partner and strategize with other people in the industry on ways that we improve Cause one of the things that, you know, anytime I speak, I [00:37:00] really tried to make sure to say this, but. Pet insurance isn't a solution for every single pet or every single owner. And We have to know , right, like we have to know that and be willing to talk about it in conjunction with all of the other financial tools that exist within the profession.
For vets and vet teams, when they're in the room with the owner, they need to not just have one option, they need to have multiple options when it comes to finances. And that's really how we're going to help with this concept of financially triaging with an owner and really moving that needle forward.
So, that's where I see my role kind of growing and that's what's exciting. and Knowing what to do day one was talking to a lot of different people and relying on my skill set and I think that's 1 thing that I really like to highlight with others around my career. And I love talking to students about this.
Is that like. I did write my own job description, which means that you can too. Like, if you want to do something in veterinary medicine, you need two [00:38:00] things. You need to have an idea of what that is and how you get there. You need to understand the business impacts of how those things happen, right? So you can't go in and just say, I want to do something.
That makes nobody any money and doesn't have any way for anybody to fund it, right? , so you need those two things to be true about what you want to do. And you also need people. You need to have that connection. the right questions. Find the right people and the right advice.
Because an idea doesn't turn into an actual reality without a lot of people's input. I think that's exciting to know that as a, as a DVM, I can do a lot of different things. I can do clinical practice, I can do a lot of other different jobs, and I can even build my own. And I think that that was really freeing.
And I think something that, like I, I wish I had known that the Build your own option existed a lot earlier because I think it would've given me a lot more time to investigate it.
Megan Sprinkle: Yes, definitely. I mean, that's 1 reason for the podcast is right. Really showing the [00:39:00] possibilities. And a lot of that is understanding some of the ideas, but then being able to attach your personal values with those possibilities and writing it yourself. But you make such a great point. That parts of that is not just being able, which sometimes even this part is hard to put into words, what you want, but also to be able to understand the other side of the equation, the business side of the equation, because if you don't understand the business needs and the value that they need to make something successful, then.
One, they either may not buy it, or two, it may be short lived because the business goes under. Because, right? I mean, that may be extreme that one person does that, but, you know, it is important to be able to look at that perspective and you being in a leadership role, also, Yes, you bring really unique value, but you also have to understand the company as well so [00:40:00] that you can participate in those discussions and bring your perspective to make it relevant for the business.
And, it can be really challenging. I think some people forget about that part. And then also the great, I love the third is you also have to have a team. Very rarely do we do anything in life. All on our own, how we got into vet school. Yes. It was a lot of work on our own, but there were probably people who encouraged us, who gave us the experiences, like all of those things, like life is not done in a singular bubble.
Life is a team sport. You really need other people. So being able to account for the others in the equation, I think is so huge.
Ricky Walther: Yeah. I like what you actually just mentioned around, you know, kind of weighing, like there's a lot of things that the people do.
One of the things that's been really interesting to me, I did like, I'm, I'm a veterinarian, my experience with insurance is one. What's been fascinating to learn is all of the pieces that go into how consumers and actual owners want it to operate and [00:41:00] how sometimes the way the vet teams wanted to operate in the way that owners want to operate are not always the same.
Right and so, like, when we talk about any issue. That's worth solving in veterinary medicine. There are many sides and many factors that have to be considered . But like you mentioned, it's about a team of people coming together, sharing ideas. I know full well that Pawlicy advisor and myself, even.
Are not the only people that can make these changes, right? Like we need lots of other people to be part. How do we have this conversation? And we need more people to do similar to what I did. And what many people that you've had on this podcast have done, which is to think about a new idea and a new way of trying things.
And it's okay if it fails, right? Like many, many things, like nobody accomplishes anything without failing a couple of times. We just normally only hear about the part that went well, right? We don't hear about the. Many other things that didn't go the best that they could have, and how we learned from them to get to the end result.
And that's, I think, another really important piece. Um, it's just understanding that any issue [00:42:00] we're solving is super complicated. And that's actually what I like about it, right? It's kind of what I think brings a lot of us into the training system when it comes to the medical aspect, right? Like, these are puzzles that have to be solved.
These puzzles exist outside of a clinical case. They exist in a lot of other ways, too. So it's kind of fun, because some parts of my job today are the exact same as what I was doing as a doctor. I'm still looking at a problem, analyzing it, figuring out what the possible causes are, and how to fix them.
Right? And skill set can be translated. Absolutely any role. and it's something we're really good at as doctors. And, I think that's something that's fun to be able to tell people is that they can take that. And, you know, I work on a lot of our operational efficiency.
Never thought that was something I would be good at, but because I'm a doctor and I'm used to running a team and I know what needs to happen and what happens when things fall through the cracks. I'm really good at also looking at those same things in a business process, and so I think it's all about knowing your skill sets and knowing what you kind of want to achieve
Megan Sprinkle: yeah, that is [00:43:00] definitely huge is to recognize and I definitely see it in veterinary professionals is we learn a lot of different skills that can be very translatable into other areas. And I think that's one way that makes us so adaptable and flexible in what we can do long term if you are interested in different ways to.
take your career is to be able to recognize that vet med can actually really equip you with a lot of different skills that are going to be very valuable in a lot of different settings. So I'm glad that you recognize that. And I'm glad that, some of these other companies also recognized it as well, whether it was, Doing a, uh, from scratch clinic, uh, and also becoming a chief medical officer for a young company.
I think those are, those are people that could see that, skill set in you as well. Well, I don't know if I fully have time to ask you this question, but like I said, I'm very fascinated by pet [00:44:00] insurance and I think it has, Been in the news. It's been some hot topic for lots of different reasons, but I would love like a hot take from you when it comes to where we are today, because we've got lots of articles talking about rises of veterinary prices for care.
We've got, you know, access to care talks. We've got some companies who have. You know, I don't know if it's firing the, their policies, but, you know, basically saying we're not going to give you a policy anymore and which is kind of terrifying. and then you even mentioned that, you know, pet insurance may not be the right answer for every single pet, which I also find very fascinating.
Again, I'm sure we could do a whole episode on this, but just in general, high level, where do you feel right now that the pet insurance is and the part that it can play? And what are you looking most forward to and kind of bringing that to Vet Med?
Ricky Walther: Yeah, so I think that there's two things that I think are really [00:45:00] important in kind of what you just highlighted.
One, we're at a pivotal point, right? In that things are coming to a place where we have to start thinking more about the financial aspect. Of care, right? It's, it's inevitable with the way that prices are increasing with the, with the kind of tightening of owner's discretionary income, every owner that has a pet is looking for ways to afford the care that we all want.
nobody can argue with that point. And that's going to require a multifaceted approach, right? It's going to acquire innovation in the insurance space to make sure that these policies are sustainable and that they can be continued to be supported. And I think something we're going to see a lot of changes over the next couple of years around what it means to be a stable insurance products something that, you know, we're really excited for us to continue to work with our partners to help.
Innovate on and then I think it also really is important for the veterinary community to change how we talk about things, right? We can't do what we've done I [00:46:00] think for a long time which is every every vet for a while had their spiel of like I recommend this one thing with a solution or a payment plan or any of those different insurance, right?
Whatever that option is. I think we're used to having something quick and easy And we need to all kind of understand that it's not a quick and easy conversation, right? And so I think the profession needs to brainstorm and come together on ways that we get creative around how we have these financial conversations with vet teams, so that they can have them with us, right?
How can we position different products that exist in the market together, to help owners, you know, when one maybe has a shortcoming that another doesn't, right? And so it's about a multifaceted approach to this financial topic. and I think the other thing is that requires advocacy on the behalf of the owners, right?
We experienced as veterinary teams. We see these owners go through these really challenging times in the room, and we need to help all these companies that are creating solutions that could help [00:47:00] them understand what the true pain points are and how can they help solve them. And so again, kind of back to what I mentioned, right?
Like any problem we're solving in veterinary medicine is multifaceted and requires a lot of collaboration. And so what I'm excited about and excited to be part of is watching a lot of companies that thought they were in. Markets are in different parts of the profession that didn't connect working together.
Um, and that's what I'm excited to see I'm excited about some of the opportunities that we we've been able to have around working with , you know Tech companies, PMSs different things like that to help revolutionize the way that we talk about insurance But also how we work with companies that have nothing to do with pet insurance, right?
And just have are part of that financial story And so that's what i'm excited about and I think that as veterinarians You You know, if you have ideas, if you have thoughts, if you have ways you think that this could be better, it's reaching out to the people who are in these rooms, myself and others, , to help bring those To the surface, because not like, I don't think anybody has the magical answer, [00:48:00] right?
There's not a single thing out there right now that fixes the rising cost of care and financial affordability of care, but there's a lot of different people working on how we do solve that. And so I think being part of that is what I'm really excited about. And I do think rightfully so we are at a pivotal point.
This is going to show up in the news. It's going to be there. We're going to experience these changes. And it's all about, I think, how we react and come together to solve similar to how the whole profession came together to solve how the changes that happened with the pandemic, right? We need to see that same thing happen with a lot of this access to care, affordability of
Megan Sprinkle: I think that's an amazing response. So thank you. And I get very excited when we can bring so many different groups together to solve a problem. I used to use the word connector because I just, I loved that. I didn't always know my value except that to bring people together.
I can definitely see that because I do see such this an amazing potential to solve [00:49:00] problems better when we can do that. And so that whole mix is super exciting to me as well. So again, I can completely relate to that. And so we only have a few minutes. So I'll, I'll just give you my last final question.
And that is, what is something that you are most grateful for? I
Ricky Walther: am most grateful for the fact that the people I have met in this profession have always embraced the ideas that I have. One of the things that I'm most grateful for is just the fact that everybody. Who I've encountered in veterinary medicine, like you said at the beginning of this, that people stay for the people in this profession.
It's so true. I'm grateful for the fact that I can call pretty much anybody that I've met throughout any of my veterinary journey and ask them a question. And bothering them. They'll give me an honest answer and they're transparent and open, right? Even if that's something that's gonna, you know, help me potentially more than it helps them.
It's okay to them. And that's what I'm grateful for is that we have really amazing people in [00:50:00] this profession. and I'm just lucky that I get to work with so many of them on a daily basis.
Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your podcast app, subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn, where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn, on the website at vetlifereimagined.
com. And brand new is that you can text me to send me a text message. Find the link at the top of the show notes below that says, send us a text message. I want to thank our longtime sponsors, fire consulting, and we'll use who support the podcast over on our hosting platform. Buzzsprout. You can support the podcast to just check out the show notes for a link.
And I hope to see you next time on that life reimagined.
