History
Childhood – 1985
Growing up in the family restaurant business trained me in client service and hospitality at a very early age. I learned business management and bookkeeping skills, financial management and human resources along with the firm belief that quality service, superior products and immaculate facilities along with a “farm kid” work ethic contributes to great business success. I worked every weekend , summers and breaks waiting tables while attending NC State full time to attain my BS in Animal Science.1985 – 1987
A relocation to Greensboro offered the opportunity to explore other careers. I worked for 6 months as a part-time receptionist at a veterinary hospital, then was offered a management position for a retail fabric store where I also became the buyer and learned to create marketing campaigns. A year later came another advancement to jewelry department manager of a large retailer where I uncovered embezzlement by an employee who stole several extremely valuable diamonds.1987 – 2005
I was recruited by my former boss to become the Hospital Administrator for his multidoctor veterinary practice and three satellite locations. My success in creating exceptional employee retention, a positive culture along with high client satisfaction and compliance for preventive care created a demand for my advice from other practices along with pharma and distribution company reps.2005 – 2008
As my current practice owner neared retirement, I was offered a career advancement to become the Chief Operating Officer of an eleven-doctor mixed animal/GP/ER hospital with a staff of over 45. My responsibilities also included managing the county animal shelter. One employee said, “In the three and a half years I served under Debbie our hospital went from a busy, chaotic, managerial nightmare to a well-organized, customer service-oriented professional veterinary hospital.” During this time I also assisted in the management of 3 other locations and was in charge of building one of the locations from the ground up.2005
Before founding my own business, I had long been considered a Key Opinion Leader by multiple industry partners. Particularly Novartis Animal Health, where I had been a guide in multiple roundtable discussions, influential in evaluating marketing plans and solicited to create a change implementation program for the company to offer its customers. I was invited to speak for their Mega Meeting in 2005 in Puerto Rico for over 900 veterinarian attendees…including my new boss.2008
This reputation set me up perfectly to found 2 Manage Vets Consulting, LLC. It was during the Great Recession I decided to make my part-time consulting into a full-time business. I contacted all of my connections in the industry and because of their awareness of my skills and history of success, they immediately hired me to work with their customers. I became a trainer, speaker, and “value-added service” for Novartis, Pfizer (Zoetis), Elanco, Merck, and Patterson Veterinary Supply.2010
Patterson had newly developed its Patterson University training classes when their team reached out to me to be the instructor for their Reception Skills class which later morphed into the Communication and Service Class. I was the primary instructor for this class until 2019 when Covid took all the instructors off the road. I contributed to its content and contracted with Patterson to do “custom” presentations for such customers as Angel Memorial, Tiger Paws and VetCor. I trained this class in every state of the US excluding Montana and Alaska. Soon referrals from students and sales representatives lead to many one-on-one practice consultations.2019 & On
The Covid-19 Pandemic halted in-person classes but I continue to contribute to Patterson’s online offerings and write occasional blogs for their magazine. My reputation as an outstanding instructor for Patterson led to many other offers to present at workshops and conferences. In 2014 I co-authored a book on monthly paid wellness plans with Dr. Wendy Hauser. During the pandemic, I presented webinars in England, Canada, and Australia along with a multitude in the US. In 2020 I started my vodcast and podcast “The Bend” in response to the distress I saw in the profession. The Bend guests share stories of hope, resilience, and overcoming obstacles with the goal of inspiring veterinary teams to not be afraid of the bends in the road but to embrace them as learning experiences and keep moving forward with faith for better times to come.Today, I work with multiple companies in many capacities. My current scope of work includes:
