The Veterinary Optimist

Season 2 | Episode 4 - Listen in as I dig into being a culture-first practice with Cassie Perez. Cassie has been Dr. Danny Earl's hospital manager for the last 7 years and has been side by side with him as they worked together to create what some would call, "A Unicorn Clinic."

We talk about how they trained leadership to have Key Production Driver meetings, how she puts communication first, and some of her best advice for running a thriving practice.

Dr. Heather Loenser grew up knowing she wanted to be a veterinarian. She immigrated from Canada to Iowa when she was 14 and attended high school in Bettendorf. After graduating from Iowa State University with her degrees in Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, she spent three years in general practice before finding her true clinical calling, emergency medicine. Since 2008, she has juggled clinical ER work with leadership positions in hospitals in the southeast and New York City metro area.Outside of the hospital, she supported the profession as the youngest woman on the American Animal Hospital Association Board of Directors and ultimately grew into the role of AAHA’s first Chief Medical Officer. In early 2022, she joined Suveto, a veterinary network of over 65 hospitals, as Chief Veterinary Officer, where she supports veterinarians interested in practice ownership and leadership. She has coached hundreds of veterinary team members at Colorado State University’s beloved FRANK communication workshops and has also taught pre-veterinary technician students. Her love of teaching led her to another facet of her career. As a sought-after guest on TV and radio, she has been a frequent contributor to the TODAY Show and Fox News, as well as Dr. Oz, Kelly & Ryan, Martha Stewart Radio and local television in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. This led her to win the Excellence in Journalism and Outstanding Contributions to the Pet Industry Award which she shares with celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, Dr. Marty Becker and Dr. Courtney Campbell.Her focus now is encouraging perfectionist veterinarians to set aside perfection and focus on connection to find joy, hope and peace in their work.

Join Denise and I in our first ever Social Sessions. Listen in as we take posts from various veterinary social media pages, read them anonymously and work through how we would reply.In this episode we breakdown a question about asking for a pay raise and how to address someone with a strong personality type.

Welcome back to The Veterinary Optimist! Join us as we kick off Season 2 with a dear friend of ours, Dr. Chris Adolph. Look out for the powerhouse as he will most likely be a returning guest here at our show. Dr. Adolph tells his story about being nervous to practice medicine when he first graduated, going from associate to owing his first practice, and going back to school at 39 for a masters degree.... it is a MUST LISTEN. Listen in as we take a deeper dive into the journey of one the leading Parasitologist vet medicine has to offer.

Let's look about at some of the stories our guest share about over coming adversities. In this episode I highlight some of the stories that stood out to me.

Tune in for the Season One Finale where my favorite human, Penelope Rose, interviews me about how The Veterinary Optimist started, how I feel like season one went, and what to look forward to on Season Two.

I might be biased but she does an incredible job of turning the tables on me.

*During the three week break there with be Optimistic Insights released weekly, featuring highlights from my amazing guest and their powerful stories*

Listen in as I chat with Ashley Kalinauskas, CEO of Torigen. We discuss her journey from college to leading innovation for animal cancer treatments. We talk about turning down jobs to follow her dreams, moving back in with her roommate (Dad) after college, and not giving up on what she knew was possible. Now she is thriving as the CEO of her own company and focused on saving pets.Ashley is the founder and CEO of Torigen Pharmaceuticals, a start‑up that resulted from her graduate thesis project at the University of Notre Dame. Ashley graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2012 with an undergraduate degree in Pathobiology, and went on to complete her Masters at the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 2013. Torigen and its product, an experimental autologous cancer vaccine, are based upon the research of Dr. Mark Suckow, her former University of Notre Dame professor.