Dr. Janis Shinkawa is the medical director and founding partner at Ohana Pet Hospital, a Southern California practice comprising two clinics and an urgent care facility. Before pursuing a career in veterinary medicine, she was a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young. Dr. Shinkawa helped develop Ventura College’s associate degree program in veterinary technology. She chairs the National Association of Women Business Owners’ board of directors.
1. How would you describe yourself?
As a passionate learner. When I reflect on where I’ve been and how I got here, I didn’t go through the motions of life. Instead, I paid attention and tried to understand people, systems and everyday things and learn to make them better.
2. When did you know you wanted to be a veterinarian?
When I was 10 years old. However, I also wanted to be a CPA. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and my father was a CPA. He worked for one of the savings and loans. Every Saturday, I’d go with him, and he’d teach me to collate reports and use the copier. I was basically helping him as an assistant, but he made it fun. The office environment attracted me. I used to play with my father’s calculator. In fact, I still love calculators.
3. What was the crossroads moment for you between the CPA and veterinary worlds?
I used to come across baby birds that had fallen out of their nests, and I tried to nurse them back to health and release them or comfort them if they weren’t going to make it. All through high school, I struggled with deciding, “What do I want to do? What career path do I want to take?” A mentor I used to volunteer with, Dr. Eric Ako in Hawaii, wisely asked, “Jan, why don’t you take the path of your father if you’re still unsure and become a businesswoman?” And I did that because I didn’t have the confidence to go into veterinary medicine. I thought, “If I make a mistake as a veterinarian, I’m going to hurt or kill something. If I take the business pathway and make a mistake, no one will die.” I love that I took the CPA path because I got a strong sense of business by working as an audit manager at Ernst & Young in Honolulu. At the time, it was one of the big six CPA firms.
4. What made you pursue a veterinary education?
When I got my first ulcer. The ulcer caused me to call out for a couple of days, and it threw me. When I look back at the lifestyle of an auditor, you wake up early, drink coffee all day, skip meals, go to bed late and don’t get much exercise. It was almost a rite of passage in a way. I looked at the firm’s partners and thought, “Wow, they look older than they are.” I didn’t want to head down that path.
5. What were the first steps in changing your direction?
I volunteered at the Hawaiian Humane Society. My boss, a partner at the firm, was on the Hawaiian Humane Society’s board of directors, and he knew I had this other passion. He challenged me and said, “Just make sure it’s really what you want to do before you call it quits on the CPA side.” I did that and gave them a year’s notice. I also trained my replacements because I was responsible for so many jobs. I then worked toward getting all my pre-vet courses done and applied to veterinary school. I was anxious, thinking, “Will I get accepted into a program, or will it take three rounds?” Luckily, I got in on the first try at Colorado State University.
6. What did your dad think?
He thought I was crazy, but he understood and supported me. I still consider myself more like a CPA first and a veterinarian second. I have a strong business background because of my experience with Ernst & Young, and I’m super grateful for that.
7. How was your transition as a veterinary student?
Seamless. During orientation, the faculty told us how many second-career people were in my class — from a teacher to a firefighter to other fields. I think the eldest classmate was 50, and our average age was about 26. I was 28 when I entered and 32 when I graduated in 2002. It was a fun four years with my classmates, learning about animals and absorbing that whole veterinary college experience. So, I had a good time.
8. Any words of wisdom from other mentors?
I am so grateful to have learned from Dr. Lissa Kam in Honolulu. She was very respectful to her clients, and they loved her. What attracts people to your business is how you behave as a veterinarian and as a person in general. My first boss in veterinary medicine, Dr. Larry Kosmin, was a wonderful mentor as well. He was the first general practice mentor I had and was very good with his people.
9. Would you speak differently with CPA clients and veterinary clients?
It’s very similar, and I sometimes attribute it to growing up in Hawaii. The aloha spirit means you treat everyone as family. The name of our hospital, Ohana, means “family” in Hawaiian. I know how to treat people with respect, even if they’re having a hard time, throwing negativity or raising their voices. If you understand it’s not personal and their frustration lies in the situation or whatever their pet’s going through, you can stay centered on the problem at hand and try to talk them through it calmly. My training in the CPA world helped me tremendously on the veterinary side.
10. Given all you do, what does your typical workday look like?
It varies. Before the pandemic, I was running all over the place, doing things. The pandemic helped me to allow for more meetings on Zoom; it’s more efficient. My morning routine consists of a cold plunge in my pool, Qigong exercises to get my energy moving, and then going about my day, which is primarily Zoom meetings for the National Association of Women Business Owners, Western Veterinary Partners or Ohana [part of the WVP network]. I visit the hospitals when I can.
11. Do you get a chance to practice veterinary medicine?
I check in or get involved if there’s an issue. I’m not on the clinical floor anymore, so I miss interacting with the pet parents and patients. But I know that by removing myself and doing the work that I’m doing, I can impact the industry and more animals favorably.
12. Did you maintain any other changes post-pandemic?
I used to do back-to-back-to-back appointments. But now I put gaps in between because I’m getting older. I have to focus on self-care to ensure I don’t go crazy and stress myself out. I changed the way I work to make sure I cut off at a certain time. Before, I would work through the night or late at night and not get enough sleep.
13. Any other self-care?
I go to regular massage and do acupuncture and energy healing. It takes a lot to do self-care when you think about it. The main thing I’m doing now is focusing on my sleep because it affects my weight a lot.
14. Do you have any special animals in your life?
I’m traveling a lot now, so I chose not to take on another pet. Having said that, I have my nephew, Wilbur, who’s a plump white Chihuahua. He’s Dr. Jill’s dog, and I get to watch him often. Dr. Jill Muraoka Lim is a founding partner of Ohana Pet Hospital.
15. What other interests do you have outside your work?
I like Pilates and walk daily. I have a feeder for wild birds. I sit and watch them. I don’t know why I get a kick out of it. I’m also getting back into creating digital videos for fun.
16. Digital videos?
Slideshows for presentations. I just did one for Western Veterinary Partners and usually do one for my staff’s annual strategic planning session — just a feel-good video slideshow.
17. Are music or books part of your life?
I like all kinds of music. It helps to organize and calm my brain. And I’m usually attracted to business books. Having said that, I haven’t had much time to sit and read, which I know I should do because it helps calm me. But I do read Harvard Business Review magazine.
18. Do you binge-watch anything?
People are surprised to hear I watch reality TV — things like Love Is Blind and Love Island. The human behavioral shows just crack me up. Vanderpump Rules is a lot of drama.
19. Relationships are …?
Challenging is the first word that comes out of my mouth, but relationships are everywhere. Lessons and rewards in life are experienced through relationships.
20. Any final messages for readers?
I hope we can heal this profession. I know we can, but it’s going to take all of us being mindful of how we behave on a regular basis and learning from each other. It will help the next generation of veterinarians to be more successful and get past the trauma we’ve had with suicide, burnout and toxic workplaces. If we’re going to be healers of animals, how can we heal them if we’re not healed ourselves, right?
AUDIT THIS
According to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, the United States had 672,587 actively licensed CPAs as of September 2023. NASBA’s figure excludes Hawaii and Vermont, two of the 55 CPA licensing jurisdictions.
STORY ARCHIVE
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- Former AAVMC CEO Dr. Andrew Maccabe: go.navc.com/Maccabe
- Former AVMA president Dr. Mary Beth Leininger: go.navc.com/Leininger