619: From Silos to Synergy: Building Better Pet Care Together with Dr. Christie Cornelius
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What happens when pet sitters and independent veterinarians start working together more intentionally? Dr. Christie Cornelius, Director of the Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association, joins the show to discuss the unique challenges and strengths of independently owned veterinary practices. She explores how pet sitters can play a pivotal role in improving pet health outcomes through strong communication and observation. The conversation covers evolving veterinary trends, AI integration, and practical ways to establish partnerships between sitters and clinics. Dr. Cornelius shares how trust, storytelling, and showing up consistently can build lasting community relationships.
Main Topics
Independent veterinary clinic challenges
Pet sitter-veterinarian collaboration
AI in veterinary care
Building trust and communication
End-of-life and hospice pet care
Main takeaway: “What they want is they want to be invited into your mission, and they want to participate in that, and then showing them how care is actually a collective act builds those lasting bonds.”
As pet sitters, we often feel like we’re doing it all on our own. But the truth is, the most powerful care happens when we collaborate. Pet parents are craving connection and clarity—they want to know that their sitter, their vet, and everyone involved in their pet’s life are on the same page. When we open the door to cooperation, we don’t just lighten our load—we build bonds that benefit the pet most. Invite others into your mission. That’s where the magic happens.
About our guest:
Dr. Christie Cornelius is a veterinarian with over two decades of experience, currently serving as the Director of the Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association. After founding Texas’s first water-based pet cremation and home hospice care business, she sold her practice to help launch BluePearl’s national pet hospice program. Now, she focuses on consulting and empowering other independent vets through leadership, business strategy, and community collaboration. Based on Galveston Island, Dr. Cornelius also provides in-home veterinary services in her local area.
Links:
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Independent veterinary practices, pet care, veterinary partnerships, community collaboration, pet sitters, veterinary leadership, business acumen, pet hospice, pet euthanasia, veterinary consulting, pet health monitoring, mental health awareness, AI in veterinary, pet care trends, professional trust
SPEAKERS
Collin, Dr. Christie Cornelius
Dr. Christie Cornelius 00:00
What they want is they want to be invited into your mission, and they want to participate in that, and then showing them how care is actually a collective act actually builds those lasting bonds.
Collin 00:14
Welcome to pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter today, we're brought to you by our friends at time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters. We are really excited to have Dr Christy Cornelius, the director of the independent veterinary practitioners Association. I worked on my articulation with that this morning so that I could get it out in one take. But we're really excited to have Dr Cornelius on to talk about a little bit about the behind the scenes of independently owned vet practices, as well as what it takes to help bridge this gap between pet care and vet care, and how we can have good partnerships and grow in our community. Honestly, Dr Cornelia is trying to pick one topic to talk with you about. Was really difficult. You have a wide range of interests, and you've spoken on a lot of stuff, so I'm really excited to dive into this and many other things for those who aren't familiar with you and your work, could you please tell us a little bit more about
Dr. Christie Cornelius 01:06
yourself? Yeah. So first of all, Collin, thank you so much for having me on here. I really respect the work that our pet sitters do. I think they are a great go between a great bond and people that I love to work with, and so it's, I'm it's a pleasure for me to be here. And when you asked, I immediately answered, so, so yeah, so myself. I am a veterinarian. I've been a veterinarian for 21 years now, and I graduated from Texas A and M University. I grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, in the Midwest. So I'm actually a Midwestern girl and moved down to Texas to go to vet school, and so completed my program, went out into general practice for a little while. I did some feline practice, emergency practice, so just got some things under my belt, and decided, after about eight years out of vet school, to start my own business. And so I started my first pet hospice and palliative care and in home euthanasia practice, which eventually also added on water based cremation for pets, which was the first in the state of Texas for that. And so it was creating an A to Z solution that kept everyone kind of tightly, tighten communications to make sure that none of these older pets, sick, chronically ill pets are slipping through the cracks. And we're we're gaining their you know, we're getting to them earlier, and we're able to better control their their pain through those things. But so I did that, and I actually ended up selling that practice in 2021 to Blue Pearl Veterinary Specialists, and it was to help them start their national pet hospice program, which they now have. And so I stayed on as medical director for a little while and decided that I wanted more experience with leadership and also business acumen in order to help other independent veterinarians to start their practices. And so I went back and got my executive MBA from Rice University last year, and since then, I've converted most of what I do over into consulting for other practices that do the same thing that I have done a couple of times, and I see that patients on the side on my where I live, because there's a shortage of veterinarians in the area, especially those that are available for In Home Services and over the weekend and after hours. And so it's kind of a perfect fit right now for me, I get to do a little bit of the vet side, some consulting side, and so now currently working on a new project to bring a community of veterinarians together so that we can all help each other get further faster.
Collin 03:48
Oh, it does take a lot of community, doesn't it, and too often we feel like we're over here all by ourselves, yeah, spreading and scrambling up a cliff.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 03:57
Yeah. We have to learn how to break down the silos and work together and collaborate and figure out where we all fit in an ecosystem.
Collin 04:06
Right now, when did you start working or associating with the independently, independent veterinary practitioners? Yeah, so the ivpa.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 04:14
I actually came on board almost a year ago. Last May, I came on as a director on the board, and so with that, I was also, I also took over as the chair of the committee for our outreach and public presentation. And so we're we're trying to gain more membership and more visibility within the community so that then other independent veterinarians can benefit from the from some of the things that we can do for them, to support them. I think
Collin 04:48
what's interesting is part, part of your your story is that you mentioned that, you know, you went to start a business, and I think that that's a very different mindset than a lot of people have, right the. Get into start a practice or do medicine or help people, is that a mindset that you see in a lot of people that you're working with is like, this is business versus this is a passion,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 05:13
yeah, because there is a business component to it. And if you don't profit, then you can't stay in business, and you can't stay in the community and continue to help others, you know, and it's not being profit focused, it's being people focused. It's being pet focused, but still also asking to be compensated for your time and expertise is really valuable, and it's just an exchange of value between, you know, two parties and so with that, always best to focus on
Collin 05:45
your audience. Yeah, serving them first. I know a lot of times when people ask, Well, what do we do? Right? They we, they think we're going to say, like, for us, oh, we walk dogs. We take care of people's pets and cats. And it's really we've had to work on our mindset of, no, I'm serving people. I'm serving people I've never I don't know about you. You let me know. I've never been called by a dog needing help, and the cats never helped pay for the thing. At the end of the visit, it's always a person who's got fears, concerns, anxieties, you know, past experiences that they're bringing in here that we're working with. And so we're a lot more of a people business than people really expect.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 06:19
Yeah, absolutely. And on top of that, pet sitters, they have to understand their value, and they have to understand how to communicate that value, because what you guys really are doing is you're allowing these pets to have better quality lives for a longer period of time. You allow the pet parents to go out of town and have a break from caretaking. They can feel completely trusted, trusting in you and taking care while you're partnering with the veterinary care team in case something happens. And so you know, in essence, you're not just walking dogs, you're you're helping dogs and cats lead longer, healthier lives, right?
Collin 07:00
Yeah, and, and we get to do that, right? And those partnerships are really a big part of what we get to do, because the owners do rely on on us to have those connections, to have those those bridges that we've built, and we're maintaining those with within the community, so that they, when they call, if they have that request, they can just trust this person has it completely handled. And that really it takes a lot of work on, on our end, to be reaching out, to be communicating all of that stuff, just so that something so quote, unquote simple can happen, right? Like it's it really is an immense amount of stuff.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 07:31
It is. Yeah, it's all about communication.
Collin 07:35
Now, as far as independent veterinary clinics, I was curious, from your perspective, what are some of the challenges that you're seeing them facing?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 07:44
Yeah, so right now we're kind of grappling with work you know, workforce shortages, rising costs for us as business owners, increasing pressure from, you know, corporate groups that have deep financial backing. You know, we as owners were stretched thin. We've got to handle, you know, HR and marketing and finance and clinical work on top of it. And so, you know, we sometimes lack some of the system support that is available in larger companies. But, you know, we do our best to be creative, and we work, we try to get more with less and so and really the effort is to try to keep the soul of our practices while we're doing it.
Collin 08:33
That's That's hard, because keeping the soul of the practice means that in a lot of instances, you still have to be human and vulnerable and kind of putting yourself out there in a world that is pretty demanding and will just take everything from you,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 08:47
yeah, yeah. And what a lot of people don't realize is that, yeah, we, we have this internal struggle that we, you know, deal with every single day, and it's, it's difficult to kind of figure out, you know, where the happy medium is and, you know, services offered and cost involved with it. So, but we as independent veterinarians, obviously, we have our community in mind. We have the pet owners in mind. We have the pets best interests in mind as we make decisions.
Collin 09:14
Yeah, I know in our little, little town that we live in, there's, there's only one vet clinic. It's independently owned, and it's the only emergency vet clinic. And it's interesting, because I know the community loves this clinic because of the services that they offer, but I know as a business owner going that costs them a lot from the personal side, being on call 24/7 as the only emergency vet, they don't get a light, they don't get a break, they don't get to step away because they're doing that for the community. So that tension between, what can I provide, versus what should I provide? And the pressures that places on on you as the business owner really is something you've got to how do you help people walk through that? That tension, um, you know. I I'm sorry.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 10:03
I'm going to stop here for a second. Sorry. Can you ask that question again? Sure.
Collin 10:08
Just, how do you how would you help somebody walk through that tension between knowing they can offer all these services to serve a community that the community loves them, but knowing the personal costs that that has on them in their life,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 10:21
yeah, so one of the things that I encourage is, you know, delegation and outsourcing and so, you know, there are support services out there to help us in different ways, but also depending on people like pet sitters and caretakers that can take some of that burden away from us as the main caretaker in a pet's life and a pet's parents journey. But, yeah, outsourcing some of those things makes it easier, and it drives, you know, community and collaboration. And I think it's it's just better for the greater good. And so if we kind of get away from thinking that we have to do everything and sharing everything instead, I think it's just makes a better
Collin 11:04
world for everybody. Yeah, I could imagine a scenario where maybe a pet owner has medications that they're struggling to administer to their pet and constantly bringing the pet into the vet clinic, into the always, and that's fine, right? Like, that's a service that they can provide, but that's time attention, that's, you know, things on the schedule. If they had someone who they could refer to and say, Hey, here's a pet sitter who can administer these meds, they'll come to your house. I trust them. It gets a little bit off of their burden. They're still helping to serve that, that client and that pet and knowing that they're cared for.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 11:36
Yeah, you know, oftentimes, pet owners will stop giving medications and not tell the veterinarian, just because they're having so much difficulty giving it, and they think that we're too busy to deal with those things, and so they just won't say anything. And then, you know, two weeks later, we check in and, you know, dog has a dog or cat hasn't been on medications. And so, you know, yeah, to have, you know, pet sitters in the community able to do those things for pet owners. A lot of pet owners find that very valuable.
Collin 12:08
Well, I know you mentioned one of the challenges facing independent vet clinics was larger corporate groups, and I know And recently, there's been a lot of consolidation, a big money coming into the side of those practices. How are you seeing that impact the industry?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 12:26
Yeah. So you know, when you know corporate consolidators come in, you know their main focus is scalability and profitability, and you can't do either one or or without the other. And so with that, and it's just because they have, they're on such a large scale, they have, they don't have as much ability or flexibility in terms of management. And, you know, some other things that innovations changes and things like that, being agile is something that is an advantage for independent or solo veterinarians. And so, you know, a lot of pet owners prefer the personal, the personalization, customer customization of care. You know, they like reasonable fees, and they like the flexibility that independents are able to offer in that. And so instead of the pet owner coming in and there's a protocol to treat this pet Well, there's nuances in and out of that whole thing. And if there's no room to be flexible, and this is how it's done, then you often miss the boat, and it's really not creating that customer experience that they expect.
Collin 13:40
Yeah, that personalized, individualized, one on one attention, right? That can be provided when there is that protocol, and that's something that I don't think we appreciate enough, is just the ability to, you said those two words, innovate and be agile. Think oftentimes, when we think of the big corporate these big consolidations, we think, Oh, they've got all the money in the world. They can do whatever they want, but as you pointed out, their primary focus is the scalability and profitability against all other things, right? And so really, a lot of that gets left behind, where they can't adapt or change or be flexible, whereas somebody else can,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 14:14
yeah. I mean, good or bad. You know, either way. You know, corporations serve a purpose. And you know, there are people that you know is it's exactly what they're looking for. And you know, some of it's based on time and availability. And so to make things you know smoother as far as their experience is concerned, some people just prefer that over other options.
Collin 14:38
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Collin 15:04
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Dr. Christie Cornelius 15:27
Sure. Yeah, so specialty practices is where we see the most consolidation, and I would say they're probably right now, at this point, about 75% consolidated, and so only about 25% of specialty practice is actually independent, and so the percentages in general practice are a bit lower. Consolidation is only about 40% and so we're still a majority independent in the GP practice those and depending on the niche practices and where you're at, you'll have different levels of consolidation. My particular niche I was in, which is end of life pet care, is very tiny portion that's consolidated. And it's because it's such an evolving niche that it's hard for these big corporations to take the time and the resources out to figure out how these models work and how to make them efficient. And so that allows us as independents to try to figure that out, and gives us some room and some time to do those things, because we're better at it.
Collin 16:33
Yeah, and I think you know that may be surprising to some people, as far as usually when we think consolidation, it's going to happen around the kind of commodity, the more generalized practices or services, but to see that it's happening in the specialty services really is that just because, you know, there's more profit there, or it's easier to do because it's a smaller problem set that they're dealing with, So
Dr. Christie Cornelius 17:00
it's typically a smaller group that you're dealing with that carry very valuable assets, like MRI machines, and they have, like, top notch surgeons, you know. And so that's a lot of value for those companies that consolidate at that point and so, and that's the main purpose of doing that. And these practice owners that are in specialty, that end up being acquired, are not in position financially to continue operations into the future, and so they have to depend on, you know, deeper pockets. And so that's where we get kind of stuck. We can't evolve because we as independents can't get enough resources ourselves to move forward. So yeah,
Collin 17:45
yeah, that makes sense. When you're talking at MRI machines, yeah, for the consolidator, it's nice because it may already be there and you're not having to buy 1000 of them. And from the from the clinic side, you're going, man, I've got to have another MRI machine, so I need somebody with a little bit deeper pockets to make this. So it does make sense now, how those kind of work hand in hand to come together, yep, yep, yep, it's all show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome, right? Of understanding like, what's driving this? Yeah, exactly. I know we've mentioned it a little bit already, but I was curious, you know, as far as your perspective and seeing opportunities for pet sitters, dog walkers, to support our independent and local vet clinics.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 18:27
Yeah, so just as I mentioned previously, it's really forming a good relationship with these veterinarians, particularly independent veterinarians, because they're probably more apt to work with you as a, you know, pet sitter or dog walker. And you know dog walkers pet sitters, they observe pets daily. They often notice, you know, subtle help, subtle health changes before anyone else does, even the family, and because they have this basic education of observing a lot of pets, these pets can be helped earlier on in their disease stage, and so that helps to facilitate proper treatment sooner, and it helps to support the family And the pet as they move into the future.
Collin 19:23
Well, I love how you you said the word observing. And I think often we we forget the value in just being around present, watching, touching, feeling, listening when we're around pets, and that we might not be able to say, Oh, I'm going to, because the next step is the diagnosing, right? Is that okay? I've got to turn this into something. But from our perspective, we can go, huh? A lot of times it's just, well, this isn't normal, right? And the power in that for the owner, yeah, and the pet to just have somebody say, yeah, that shouldn't be doing that, right?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 19:57
Not typical. Yeah, right, yeah. You should. It checked out, and you know, it ends up being a differentiator for both sides. And so if you're at home observing pets in your position as a pet sitter, if you are documenting everything and you're writing down, you know what the dog or cat is doing, how they're if they aid or not, what the demeanor is, how active they are, if they're limping or not, if you keep track of those things, it's very simple. You can have a template for you and be able to actually share that information digitally, both with the pet owner and their veterinarian. That builds trust and that it builds trust, and that you're aligned in how they're recommending that this pet is being taken care of, right?
Collin 20:46
Yeah, those, those report cards, are really invaluable, where, in one instance, we're just we're we often think of it as, oh, I'm giving peace of mind to the owner, letting them know how their pets doing. But all of a sudden, if you really look at it from like a charting or observation perspective is this, if this was a long term study of this pet, you've got daily observations of all of these, these facets of who they are, that you can look back on and go, Oh, that's okay. Well, a couple months ago actually, you know, we were seeing this, and I think that that's, I think that's definitely an underutilized aspect of what we can bring to the table, yeah,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 21:22
yeah. And so what I would recommend for these pet sitters, you know, they're young and and you know, for the most part, and they're really into technology, is that, if you're on chatgpt, the best that you can do is say, Hey, I'm a pet sitter. I would like to create a report card or a medical record for the pets that I am pet sitting for that would be aligned with how a veterinarian or a veterinary team would want to receive that information. So and you know that'll set you up with that. And chatgpt is very helpful nowadays. It's much more advanced. It helps you with follow ups, and so can be very advantageous in trying to set up your business
Collin 22:07
properly, well. And you added that little clause at the end of a how a veterinary practice would want to receive this information, and that's really the key in helping this communication and this partnership. If I if I have a lot of information, but if I don't give it to you in an effective way or in a confusing way, you can't do anything with it. So to be able to say, I need it so that they can do something with this. And, man, that just really changes the value that you can come in and walk in with as opposed to just telling kind of a long I do this all of a sudden, it's a 15 minute long, rambling story, and I forget half the details, right? Like, that's not helpful,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 22:47
yeah, the best thing you can do as a pet sitter is ask the veterinarian how you would like to be communicated with. You know, if you're reporting on pets that are home, or you take the initiative of just sending the information and say, Hey, I watched this animal. I just want this. I want you to add this data to your medical records if you find that it's valuable,
Collin 23:11
yeah, yeah, because we don't want to be if they're, if they're email based, or even just phone based, or if maybe they have an intake form that we need to be following, or if we need to be including, yeah, it's, you know, it's simple things like include the, please, include the pet name or the owner name each time you communicate with us, so we can reference our files. So I'm not having to scroll through here to see everything when we make it easy, really, that's, that's where we get a lot of the, the amazing kind of care,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 23:36
yeah, yeah. Or create a report card or medical record and say, and talk to one of the technicians or office manager at a practice and say, hey, does this align with your current medical record system in that you could easily pull this into your systems without any effort and just make it easy. Let me know how that works for
Collin 23:55
you. Yeah, because if they're having to do a lot of transcribing on their end or retyping or nobody likes to retype information. I It's every time I have to do it, I I die a little inside. I think this is a waste of my time, right? I shouldn't have to do this, and it really knowing the stress. And I think it's important that we we remember that sometimes a simple email or a simple text message or even a phone call, it may only take a few seconds for us to put together. It may be asking hours of work on the back end for somebody, and the more that we can align ourselves more closely, it helps a lot of that communication and processes run even faster right at the end.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 24:36
Yeah, yeah. So you want to try to create a seamless and experience for everybody that you can
Collin 24:41
right now, we talked about some of the benefits. I was curious, from your your perspective, what are some of the risks if pet sitters and veterinary clinics are not aligned well and aren't communicating well?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 24:53
Yeah, so I think probably one of the biggest risks is fragmented care. You. Know When communication breaks down. You know, pets can suffer because of the delayed diagnosis or duplicated treatments. Some clients may receive some conflicting advice, which can create some confusion and actually erodes trust and so and I think one of the worst things and lack of collaboration, it can actually breed professional tension, like we had talked about earlier, the silos and the lack of communication, which ultimately is just detracts from the quality of care that you're providing for the pet,
Collin 25:34
right? Yeah, that conflicting advice. I see that happen in even simple things like knowing what kind of terms to use for behavior. And I know a big one that gets thrown around a lot and pretty carelessly is things even it's like separation anxiety, where that, where we can throw that term out, and what we're trying to communicate is, well, there's some there's some stress going on and some underlying stress here, versus the actual clinical term and definition of what separation anxiety actually is. And then there's this, you're cross talking. I'm using the same term, but I'm using something completely different, meaning wise. And it gets really confusing when there's two people, let alone three, and I'm having to go between the owner and the vet and myself, right? All of a sudden it's like, oh, this. Something has gone off the rails here.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 26:21
Yeah, yeah, it's you have to be really careful, you know, when you're in that position, not to give advice, but to say, Hey, I noticed this. I think it would be helpful, maybe if you told your veterinarian this, and see what they say about it,
Collin 26:35
yeah, and kind of redirecting and then, and then furthering that conversation, right? And saying, hey, what? Let me know what they say. And then maybe we
Dr. Christie Cornelius 26:42
can go from there, follow up, let me know what they say. Yep, exactly.
Collin 26:47
And those, those silos, it can be really damaging when, when you have that tension, because if just from an at an industry level, if this silo refuses to talk to this silo, or if there's some assumptions about what somebody else is doing, these preconceived notions and biases that come into play. It really does damage the future for the next person who comes in, or the when there is a need for working and collaborating together.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 27:14
Yeah, yeah, so I would err on communicating more than you think that is normal.
Collin 27:21
Yeah. And, and early too, and I think too often, we communicate way too late and and not enough, and going well, let me laugh times. It's just let me come in and introduce myself and start this relationship before anything is needed or asked or any serious work is coming along together, because the more, the longer I can nurture this relationship, the more professional trust now we have, the better this is going to be. And we can, we can, you know, it just improves everything for everybody, yeah,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 27:52
for sure. And your main goal is to establish trust, and that's how you do it. You get to know each other, yeah?
Collin 27:57
Thinking one step out now, as far as just the community as a whole, I mean, we've mentioned a few times of how these they're community focused. They want to help people. How can communities come around these independent clinics and vets to help and sustain them together?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 28:17
Yeah, I think you know, if we're together, if we create some opportunities for collaboration, you know, outreach events in the community, educational talks and CO marketing with local pet businesses and pet sitters, you know, gives us, gives us an opportunity to kind of put our faces out there and say, Hey, I'm really here for you. I'm willing to work with these other professionals so that we can bring the best experience for your pet possible. I understand that I can't do everything, but this person over here can help fill that gap. So why don't we just work together and then that way we end up with some better outcomes?
Collin 28:58
I think often we we we under appreciate how much our clients and people want to see us working with others. I think we can often, right? We can often feel like, oh, they need to see me as the be all, end all, with the Grand Poobah hat, you know, sitting on my throne. It's like, no, no, no, people. People want to see that working together, because they know there's a lot of
Dr. Christie Cornelius 29:18
strength there. Yeah, what they want is they want to be invited into your mission, and they want to participate in that, and then showing them how care is actually a collective act actually builds those lasting bonds.
Collin 29:34
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Dr. Christie Cornelius 30:15
what that looks like is a lot of it has to do with your communication, both verbal and nonverbal, and that is telling your story. And everybody loves a story, and so everybody wants to know why you're giving up your time and resources to care for people's animals, to give them peace of mind. So that's the biggest value you give, is peace of mind, okay? And so if you can give a pet owner peace of mind, that's what they're paying for, ultimately. And so if you're able to communicate that as clearly as you can, you will find people finding you when you're not trying to find people.
Collin 31:01
And it strengthens that when we can say, hey, I'm partnering with such and such a clinic or such and such a professional, because, right? It's that, it's that, because it's a descriptive of why we're choosing to work with them. So what we're saying is this person is important. This person is doing things that I see, and this is how they're helping us accomplish that mission?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 31:23
Yeah. And so if you explain your why and why you're here and why you're offering these services, and it's because you care deeply for pets in general, and you care deeply for other people's pets, and you know how that bond is. You know served and continued. And so if you establish a communication style that really explains kind of who you are, why you're there, and what value you bring. I think that's the most important when talking to other professionals.
Collin 31:53
Yeah, I was just gonna say it's important to do that when we're talking to not just our clients, because that's often what we think. We think, Oh, I've got to be marketing and advertising and putting my face out there so I can get clients. But it's even more important when we're talking with our professionals, our colleagues and people who in the same field,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 32:09
yeah, you're gonna get more bang for your buck if you're talking to the veterinarians who have all of these clients already, and they're able to refer you to all of their clients they have already, rather than spending your time trying to connect with each individual person in the public you'll be much better off if you can put on a brave face and go in and just smile and talk so
Collin 32:33
well. So how about some advice on that? Dr Cornelius, how do we make that first connection? Because many people are it's it can be really overwhelming. We get a lot of imposter syndrome. Who am I to do this? And, oh, look at them. What's a What's some practical ways, or some good ways, we can make that first introduction in a good, positive light?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 32:54
Yeah, sure. Well, first of all, I would probably make sure that you have some business cards, or, you know, for sure, or something like that that you can leave show up more often than you feel comfortable with, because it doesn't matter. And make sure that you're talking to different people on the team every time you come in and just say, Hey, I am so and so I offer these services to our community. I think it would make a lot of sense for us to be able to work together and create Win, win situations for everybody involved, because it helps to, you know, bring clarity to a process, and it helps us to bring the best outcomes to, you know, pet care and quality of life that we can by working together. Because I'm able to observe this pet, you know, out of hours, and I'm able to catch some of these things early. And so you know that, and should signal to the veterinarian, hey, that helps me in my business, because, yeah, these pets are actually coming in and seeing us for problems, right? And so, yeah, just just thinking about Win, win combinations that that would benefit both parties. That's, that's what you want out of that conversation. Okay, what can you do for them? Yeah,
Collin 34:12
and I love, I hope our listeners were paying attention to some of the language that you were using, as far as, oh, this is out of hours. This is, this is quality of care, this continuity of care. Is all these, all these terms are, this is, this is really speaking directly to how that Veterinary Clinic is thinking about their pets and is thinking about their clients and how they're going to be cared for. And it really is understanding, like you said, when we put them first and go, here's how I can serve you and your clients that really helps make that connection better, because sometimes we have a tendency, if we are nervous, scared, we just want to come in, I don't throw a box of donuts across the across the door, and say, here's some business cards. And we run away, and they're left going, well, I don't know what you do, how you do it, why you do it. This doesn't make any sense. Okay. Well, you're not going to get any you know anything? From that, and you've just wasted money on donuts, right?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 35:03
Yep, yeah. So treats are fine, you know, that's, that's, you know, welcome, obviously. But even between those donut times, you're just popping in and saying hello, just because, because it's convenient for you on your way home, pop into these clinics and say hey, I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd just say, Hello. Seeing how you doing, seeing if maybe you have any clients that might need some pet sitting coming up. You know, those sorts of things, is what helps you to, kind of to get going
Collin 35:32
there, yeah, and explaining what you do. Because I found that, you know Megan and I have been in business for coming up on 13 years. And so it can be, it's quote, unquote obvious to us about what we do and how we do it, but there's so many other misconceptions and other things going on where it's like, oh yeah, I do pet sitting, and it's like, okay, but what does that mean? And telling people and explaining that is really helpful to taking that time, and it does take time, and we're all very busy. We're not asking for an hour and a half sit down and consultation. It's, it's a couple minutes,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 36:04
right? But those are people that also need your services. Veterinarians go out of town. Veterinary technicians go out of town. Office managers go out of town. You know, they want somebody that they can depend on and not have to ask their you know, co workers, if they can do it, you know, for free, right? Because there's always pressure there, but yeah, to have some outside help and and beyond that, if you establish a good, trusting relationship with a veterinary clinic, is that those, those pets that your pet sitting, and those owners will go back to that Veterinary and say, I'm so glad that you refer this pet sitter to me, because, let me tell you what, and that builds so much more confidence in what you do. You know when you do it that way?
Collin 36:53
Yeah, having it come back, right? Because we often forget when we get a referral or recommendation from a veterinary clinic and veteran professionals. They're, they're kind of putting their reputation on the line for us to give us to give our name to somebody. And that's not something we should take for granted or take lightly. Anytime somebody passes our name to somebody else, it's that's a big deal for them.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 37:17
It is, and we have to view it as that way. And we have to, you know, be cognizant of, you know, some of the liabilities involved, you know, if, if we, you know, lack the communication and things you know, start to fragment, right? So we always, like I said, we always want to maintain professionalism, one
Collin 37:38
of the topics that I know that you, you've been talking about more recently, and you've even brought it up so far, is things about chatgpt, Ai, technology? How are you seeing this, improving client experiences and running a business? Yeah. So as
Dr. Christie Cornelius 37:57
far as vet clinics are concerned, we're seeing a lot of a lot of impact in automating some of our routine tasks, streamlining inventory, client workflows, assisting in clinical diagnoses. And so, you know, I think AI right now is kind of a, what I would call a force multiplier. And what I mean by that is that it's a human and AI working together which creates more efficiency, and those people that learn to work with AI, you're going to be better than those people that aren't working with AI, and that's going to give you a huge advantage. You know, when you start utilizing those tools and you, you, also demonstrate that you have the skills to utilize those tools, because these veterinary clinics are going to start having these tools that, if you've got, you know, something that integrates with their AI system, that would be perfect, right? So there's all those opportunities there, and the more that you can educate yourself and get yourself used to some of these things that are coming out, the more opportunities you're going to have as a pet sitter or dog walker moving forward,
Collin 39:08
I think many people immediately jump to, oh, this is, you know, there. It's going to take away work. It's going to make things, you know. And I just have to remind everybody like, yeah, as an independently owned small business owner, there's enough work for probably 1000 people, and anything that we we can do to take just a little bit off of our plate actually opens up more time to do the more meaningful work that we want to be doing anyway,
Dr. Christie Cornelius 39:35
to make connections and innovate as a team. It gives you time to do those things so you can move yourselves along, and so take advantage of that is what we should be doing, and seeing it as a great tool that's going to be very beneficial for us
Collin 39:50
moving forward. You mentioned managing inventory in these, some these client workflows. It's, right, it's it's, did I really enjoy counting all the little bottles and counting. All the little thing. No, I didn't enjoy that at all. Now I don't have to spend as much time doing it, and I can go instead, you know, team building or more education for me, myself in some way. Yeah, exactly. So as far as I know, the industry has been changing a lot. What are some trends that you're seeing that you think more people need to be paying attention to
Dr. Christie Cornelius 40:23
Yeah, so, you know, especially in pet sitters and dog walkers, it's this rise of decentralized care. And what I mean by that is we're seeing more mobile practices. We're seeing telehealth opportunities, and we're also seeing home based services. And so I have worked extensively with pet sitters on my patients, because my patients need an elevated amount of care. And you know, geriatric pets with terminal diseases that you know, diabetic cat needs insulin every day. You know these. You know, dogs and cats with, you know, kidney disease, cancer, heart disease, they need their medications, or they could be very unwell within a day, you know. And so I would encourage pet sitters to reach out to geriatric care specialists and of life specialists, you know, euthanasia providers, those sorts of people that come in contact quite frequently with a geriatric age population, and so that we'll see some benefits. There also something that would also coincide with pet sitting and moving forward, is our ability to monitor pets health through wearables and smart diagnostics, and it's called the Internet of Things. And so these wearables, you know, you could also, if you're a pet sitter, come in and jot down the data for the owner that's coming through the system, and that would be something that you could take off their plate, and would give us a good, concrete understanding of what may or may not be going on in their pets. And so that would be another opportunity, possibly, for caretakers in the future, I think, integration of mental health awareness in us as you know human beings and caretakers. You know both pet sitters, and you know dog walkers and groomers, and you know everybody across the spectrum. We all deal. We're not just veterinarians, we're not just pet sitters, we're not just dog trainers, right? We are mostly human beings that have things going on beyond us, and a lot of it's beyond our control, and for us to be able to integrate mental wellness tools, I think, is going to help us sustain some of This, I would say, unpredictable times, you know, and uncertainties and so but you know. And then establishing cross industry collaboration, you know, through technology and lifestyle and wellness brands, I think that will be something to look forward in the future, and the movement towards founder led, mission driven veterinary businesses. I know a lot of us are working on that, and we're seeing a lot more entrepreneurship come out. And then, you know, we're mostly focused on, you know, ethics and quality and sustainability, and so that's all good for all of us moving forward.
Collin 43:38
That's a lot to unpack there. I love I'm very thankful that you mentioned the mental health side of things. One thing that I love watching new people entering, entering the dog walking and pet singing industry, is they really have that nailed down. They have that aspect of the boundaries of the taking care of themselves, where a lot of us, who started 1015, 20 years ago, took us a little bit to learn that, and having seen people coming in, entering the industry where that's just standard practice of No, of course, I'm going to take a day off. What are you talking about? Or, of course, I'm not going to answer my phone. I need. I need. It's like, wow, look at that. This is wonderful. It makes me really happy, because we do want to show up again the next day and the next day, and we've got to figure out, what do we need to do on our end to make sure that we can do that, we started talking off about profitability, and it's okay to make money from this. It's also okay to take care of yourself so that you you can show up that you know when you need to, and actually do give the care that you want to be giving.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 44:35
Yeah, and anyone that is having difficulty trying to figure out their pricing strategy. Can find help for those things, including chat GPT and also, if you communicate with vet clinics that have technicians that do a lot of pet sitting, or have done a lot of pet sitting, might be willing to sit down and say, hey, you know, I think you. Client perception will be this, and I think what you're charging is sounds reasonable for what you're offering. And so you might be able to get some help just with some of the people that are within that infrastructure
Collin 45:12
surrounding yourself with good people, we often feel like we've got to go this alone, like there's nobody who understands what I'm doing or how I'm doing it, and connecting ourselves to people within the industry, also, just with business owners as a whole, I've gotten so much value over the years talking with insurance agents and car salesmen and, you know, repair crews and whatever, whatever like that I get. There's a lot of insights there and a lot of value to go huh? Wow. I never thought about it that way. Let me, let me see what I can do in my business, and then talking to people within the industry, industry, because they get it. And sometimes the best thing that we can do is have an ear to talk to and come and to complain to about things. Let's be honest, right?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 45:53
Yeah. And you would be surprised, you know, I would be thrilled to have, you know, a pet caretaker, pet sitter, dog walker, come into my clinic and say, Hey, doctor, if I can get five minutes your time, tell me what your favorite coffee is, I'll bring it to you and just give me a few minutes your time. Let me tell you how I can help you and your patient care and things like that. And so yeah, just creating those opportunities and being brave to do that, the worse you're going to get as a no. And you know how many? Knows I've gotten a lot. Okay, so, but then the the more nos, it'll get too closer to a yes. Okay, so even though it might seem a little overwhelming and defeating at times, keep going.
Collin 46:41
I love that. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Dr Cornelius, I've really appreciated our time together, your encouragement for us, and your advocacy for these partnerships and for small businesses too. For those who want to learn more about the independent veterinary practitioners association or get in touch, follow along, find resources. How best can they do that?
Dr. Christie Cornelius 47:02
Yeah, so the ivpa, their website is I veterinarians.org and it provides a good resource, a good idea of what's available in the community and within and outside of independent practice. And would give professionals outside of veterinary practice, an idea of how we are trying to change moving forward, and then that way you can see and and postulate if there's any opportunities for yourselves, you know, just by learning more about an organization like that and what we're trying to do, and a lot of it is community building. And you know, pet sitters are part of that, and so it's real important for you know, those professionals to keep up with what we're doing in vet med. Perfect.
Collin 47:48
Well, that sounds that's awesome. I'll have those links, the link in the show notes and on our website, so people can click right to that and get connected. That's perfect. Again. Thank you so much for your time.
Dr. Christie Cornelius 47:59
It was such a pleasure. So glad to provide some encouragement to you guys. You guys are wonderful. Keep doing what you're doing. We love you,
Collin 48:06
while it may feel like you're doing this all on your own, the truth is the most powerful care happens when we collaborate with others. That takes intentionality on our part to build that into how we operate. Pet parents are craving this kind of connection and clarity. They want to know that their pet professional, their vet, and everyone involved in their pet's life are all on the same page and working together. When we open the door to cooperation, we don't just lighten our load, but we build bonds that benefit the pet most. So invite others into your mission. That's truly where the magic happens. We want to thank our sponsors today, time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters for making this show possible. And we really want to thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week, and we'll be back again soon. You.
