Jon Ayers’ LinkedIn profile shows just a few of his career stops: former chairman, president and CEO of Idexx Laboratories, CATalyst Council board member, and chair of Panthera. It goes on to say that, in human health, he supports a regional health center “through philanthropy and board membership, and the spinal cord injury community through ‘venture philanthropy.’” A spinal cord injury suffered in 2019 is what ended his leadership of one of the veterinary industry’s largest and most successful companies, Idexx.
1. You have accomplished many things in the animal health space and served as a key leader in the veterinary profession. What are you doing these days?
It’s still my purpose to help animals, so I’m supporting wild cat conservation through Panthera. More recently, I’ve added domestic cats by working with the CATalyst Council to support the health and well-being of domestic cats, particularly in the U.S. Now, I have 41 species of the feline family that I’m supporting. It’s all through volunteer work, philanthropy and my opportunity to give back. Cats are super important to the balance of the ecosystem, and by working on wild cat conservation, we’re working on natural ecosystem conservation.
2. You chose the veterinary business route over veterinary medicine. Did you ever consider becoming a veterinarian?
I earned an undergraduate degree that would have been good for medical school — molecular biophysics and biochemistry — but I didn’t have any concept of going to veterinary school. Along the way, I got more interested in business, and so after college, I went into business. I didn’t use that degree until I joined Idexx in 2002, and then, all of a sudden, it made sense why I majored in it.
3. What jobs did you have before you went to work at Idexx?
I did a whole bunch of very different things. My first job was working for IBM in computer sales. Then I got an MBA and went into business strategy, consulting with a firm called Bain & Company. I then went to Wall Street to work for Morgan Stanley in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. After that, I went to work for a very large industrial company, United Technologies, and eventually ended up running Carrier Corp. That was the thing I did right before Idexx.
4. Those were very different experiences. Did you have a career end goal in mind?
I liked doing different things, but I was working toward a career in general management. That’s what I love the most: running companies, growing companies, making companies and the people in them successful, and making customers happy with innovation.
5. What was your secret sauce in growing Idexx into the veterinary giant it is today?
That’s a big question. When I got there, I thought Idexx had a great opportunity to grow the businesses it was in, which are the businesses they’re still in today: diagnostics and software to support the veterinary practice. The company had a long history of innovation, so I took it upon myself to learn from and, in some cases, lead the innovation to bring capabilities to veterinary practices that they didn’t have before. I also have a background in marketing and sales from IBM, and I used those skills to figure out how to bring that innovation to the market. The combination of innovation and how to bring it to the market in a way that veterinarians say, “Yeah, this makes sense and I want to adopt it,” has to go together. You must have both to make it. I also focused on the employees and the employee experience. Employee engagement is directly correlated to business success. I spent a lot of time ensuring that it was a great employee experience because I knew it would lead to a good customer experience and growth.
6. Did you have mentors along the way?
I don’t think I had many, as I was just internally motivated first to learn and then to achieve. The things that became interesting to me intellectually were my passion. I read a lot of books about leadership and probably learned a lot, but much of it was just through experience. A lot of people ask me, “How did you get into wild cats? Did you have a mentor getting into wild cats?” The answer is no. I’ve always liked cats while growing up. I’ve liked cats before Idexx, during Idexx and after Idexx. One day in 2016 or 2017, I asked myself, “So, I love cats, I love nature. I wonder what kind of cats are in nature.” I started doing independent research, which led me to learn about all the cats in nature. I had no idea there were all these different kinds of cats. While they’re all cats, they are completely adapted to their environment and similar in some ways and quite different in other ways. And that led me to Panthera, as all they do is focus on wild cats.
7. Do you currently have any special animals? Any cats?
No, I don’t have cats. They don’t really work with my condition because I can’t feel, I can’t pat, and I can’t hold a cat. Part of bonding with a cat is very much the physical bonding, and I can’t do any of that. So, I just enjoy them vicariously at this point.
8. What does a day in your life look like?
With my spinal cord injury, I can’t move 75% of my body voluntarily. I also can’t feel that 75%. I spend about 20 hours a week in different kinds of physical therapy with physical therapists and caregivers. A lot of it is moving and maintaining what muscles I do have, either by using them or by having them stimulated electronically, which keeps them strong even though I can’t move them. Because I’m in all this physical therapy, I have time to think, and so I’m thinking about my projects.
9. What’s your thinking process regarding projects?
By the time I get to doing something, I’ve already thought it through. I also have a to-do list, but I keep most of it in my head. I can write an entire paper in my head while I’m thinking because I’m flat on my back, getting physical therapy, and when I get time to write it, I’ve got most of it down. That’s one of the things that gives me purpose. It gives me something to do while I’m going through all the challenging physical therapy and other aspects of everyday living with this condition.
10. How do you preserve those middle-of-the-night ideas?
Sometimes it seems like a great idea in the middle of the night, and the next morning it’s like, “OK, it wasn’t that great.” A lot of times in the morning, I’ll write down all the things I was thinking about, just to make sure I save them. When I say, “Write down,” I mean write it on an iPad with word-processing software. I can’t use my fingers; that’s a problem, but I can use my pinky to touch the iPad, and I’ve got excellent mobility in my arm to do that. I also use Siri dictation. Between the two, it takes me a little longer to do things, but I’ve sort of gotten used to it.
11. What keeps you moving forward?
My mental therapy is focusing on things. With my condition, I can’t do physical things, and I can’t travel. But I can use my mind, and with the benefit of technology and video calls, I can talk to a lot of people. I can also write and research, and I do it for a purpose. That’s really what keeps me going through the challenges of the condition of spinal cord injury. By having things that interest me and always wanting to take the next step, do a little more research, connect with another person, write another paper or an analysis, or share something with someone, I enjoy discovery, insight and learning.
12. Is there anything you wish you had done differently in life?
Perhaps get more out of college. I wasn’t mature enough to take advantage of a lot of resources early on, but ultimately, I took advantage of all what were available. And then, maybe I wish I hadn’t gone out riding my bicycle that morning in 2019, but what are you going to do? It was a beautiful June morning in Maine. The sun had risen at 4:59 a.m. It just doesn’t get any better than that, and it’s what I’d done for years. My crash did not involve a car; it involved another cyclist, and we rode in a very safe area. I have friends who have been riding their entire life, and maybe they’d fall and break an arm or something, but it heals. So, why did it happen to me? You just have to get over it and can’t have regrets. If you have regrets that affect you, they get in the way of adapting. So, I don’t focus on regrets.
13. In addition to the physical changes, were the psychological challenges just as difficult?
Oh, yes. It was such an abrupt change because my condition happened as a result of a cycling crash. One minute I was fine, and the next minute I was paralyzed. People don’t even really know what that means, as every spinal cord injury is different because of the level, the person and the nature of the injury. Everyone is a snowflake, as they call it. I had always thought, “What if I couldn’t see, or what if I couldn’t hear?” I never in my wildest imagination considered, “What if I can’t feel?” Everyone’s different, and they go through different phases, but they say it takes somewhere between four and seven years to fully make that transition. This week is the sixth anniversary of my injury, so I’m kind of there now. Fortunately, other than my injury, I’m actually in excellent health. I hope to live a long life, even though I’m challenged in a certain way.
14. How soon after your injury did you begin your work with wild cats?
I was injured in June 2019 and really took an interest in wild cats around 2016. I created a foundation called Ayers Wild Cat Conservation Trust two years before my injury because I knew I wanted to start a philanthropic focus, and I wanted something that was nature-oriented. Then I had my injury, and during the first 10 months, I had to focus on my health and the transition.
15. What were some of the changes in the early days of your transition?
You have to make a lot of them — a lot of technology, getting the right support and getting your house adapted. In less than a year, I said, “Well, my purpose had been to run my company. I can’t do that now.” I passed the baton and needed a new purpose, something to keep me going. That’s when I looked at the wild cats and said, “Why don’t I accelerate that? Why don’t I focus on that?” It led me to make meaningful contributions to Panthera, and they noticed and asked, “Would you like to join the board?” So, I joined the board, and within a week, they made me chair of the finance committee because nobody else on the board knew finance. Managing finance for a nonprofit is just as important as managing finance for a for-profit.
16. What happened next?
The founder asked me to be his successor, chair of the board. He knew I had a business background and an absolute genuine love of cats. Those were the two criteria for the position. And then, I didn’t have anything to do. It was like I was growing in my capability to do things. He was still on the board but ready to pass the leadership to the next person, and then I came along. He’s grateful for me, and I’m grateful for him having the idea and the confidence in me. I did remind him, “I have a spinal cord injury and can’t travel.” He goes, “I don’t care. I think you can do it.” And he was right.
17. After your injury, did you have difficulty asking for help and then accepting it?
Asking for help on the most basic things and being able to accept it was something I had to learn. I’ve been collaborative by nature forever, but collaboration is different than asking for help. I did my acute rehab at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where they teach you to advocate for yourself. People do not know your issues, so you have to speak up, particularly with people who don’t deal with you every single day.
18. What else did you learn from your early rehab experience?
Asking for the basics is something I had to learn, not be embarrassed about, not be selfish about, not withhold, because people simply don’t know. They don’t know I can’t open a door or drink by myself. Part of it is having a caregiver, but part of it is also just telling people, “This is what I need.” What’s interesting is that people are totally understanding.
19. Besides wild cats and domestic cats, what are some of your other interests?
I’m a Grateful Dead fan. They did 2,500 concerts, and every single one of them was recorded, and every single one of them is different. I think Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead compare to Johann Sebastian Bach and Mozart, who I’m also a huge fan of. I probably listen to a Grateful Dead concert excerpt every day. There’s enough material for the rest of my life. I love classical, jazz, and rock and roll, too.
20. What is your hope for the veterinary profession?
There’s the companion animal side and the wild cat side, and I’ll start with wild cats. My hope is that we stabilize the decline in populations of wild cats, whether they be tigers, lions, jaguars or the small cats. We can preserve an ecosystem, but if you don’t preserve the apex predator, then it’s an incomplete conservation. So, you really need to focus on conservation, and that would be my wish on that side. On the companion animal side, I hope that cats get the respect and understanding they deserve and that the veterinary profession advances. This is going to happen, and I just want it to happen faster. As the profession gets larger and more sophisticated, people are going to realize they need cat strategies that are different than dog strategies. It would make a difference if we could have more cat-friendly practices, cat medical training and innovation focused on cats. I’m big about bringing innovation to the veterinary profession in general, as I’ve been doing that for a couple of decades. Bringing innovation to the feline species is where the next big opportunity is.
HOW TO HELP
Panthera is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring a future for wild cats and the vast landscapes on which they depend. Donations are accepted at panthera.org/donate.
IN HIS WORDS
Jon Ayers wrote about Panthera and his interest in wild cats in a 2021 Viewpoints article. Read “After Meeting Adversity, I Answered Call of the Wild” at go.navc.com/Jon-Ayers.
STORY ARCHIVE
Check out these previously published 20 Questions profiles:
- Former University of Florida Dean James W. Lloyd: go.navc.com/Lloyd
- Former AVMA president Lori Teller: go.navc.com/Teller
- Tuskegee University Dean Ruby L. Perry: go.navc.com/Perry
- Former AAHA CEO Dr. Michael Cavanaugh: go.navc.com/Cavanaugh