{"id":393,"date":"2017-08-01T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tvb.com.72-10-49-188.phoscreative.com\/?p=393"},"modified":"2022-03-18T18:28:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T18:28:18","slug":"meet-editorial-consultants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/meet-editorial-consultants\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Our Editorial Consultants"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOP ROW:<\/strong> Amanda Donnelly, DVM, MBA | Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, JD |\u00a0Eleanor\u00a0Green, DVM | Ernie Ward, DVM | Fritz Wood, CPA, CFP<\/em>
\n BOTTOM ROW:<\/strong> Jeff Thoren, DVM, PCC, BCC | Kelly Baltzell, MA |Mark Cushing, JD | Mary Beth Leininger, DVM | Zack Mills, DVM<\/em><\/p>\n

Amanda Donnelly, DVM, MBA, fell in love with veterinary medicine when she was a 9-year-old girl pitching in at her father\u2019s small animal hospital. Mary Beth Leininger, DVM, a lifetime animal geek, caught the veterinary bug even earlier in elementary school. Ernie Ward, DVM, saw his future when he was \u201cknee-high to a grasshopper,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

Drs. Donnelly, Leininger and Ward made good on their goal of becoming a veterinarian and have succeeded professionally in many other ways. The three of them are giving back to their cherished profession by serving on the Today\u2019s Veterinary Business<\/em> editorial advisory board.<\/p>\n

They join three other veterinarians, a veterinarian\/lawyer, a second lawyer, a certified public accountant and a person with 22 years of digital marketing experience who will help Today\u2019s Veterinary Business<\/em> become the magazine world\u2019s leading source of practice management, business and personal wellness education for veterinary professionals.<\/p>\n

A Greater Purpose<\/h3>\n

All 10 board members agree that improved business acumen is crucial if the magazine\u2019s core audience \u2014 veterinarians, practice owners and practice managers \u2014 is to thrive professionally and financially.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe veterinary profession is at a crossroads,\u201d said board member Jeff Thoren, DVM, PCC, BCC, who co-authors the Go With the Flow personal wellness column. \u201cFaced with a variety of stresses including rapid technological change, ongoing economic challenges, and increasing levels of personal debt and professional burnout, it\u2019s clear that we need to consider new ways to preserve the health of our practices and the people who work in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s Veterinary Business<\/em> will play an important role in creating a new roadmap for veterinary business and stimulating needed change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advisers come from practice, business and academia. They range from Eleanor M. Green, DVM, DACVIM, DABVP, the Carl B. King dean at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, to industry veteran and current practice owner Zack Mills, DVM.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mills went from buying a practice in 1985 \u2014 a year after earning his DVM at the University of Georgia \u2014 to taking jobs with Merial Ltd. and Hill\u2019s Pet Nutrition to returning to practice in 2012, when he opened Tiger Tails Animal Hospital in Duluth, Georgia. He believes that privately owned hospitals like his will remain in the majority for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe owners of these practices must become more astute business people,\u201d Dr. Mills said. \u201cWe also have to look to provide ways to bring associates into the practice as partners and owners. Today\u2019s Veterinary Business<\/em> can be a resource for ideas, information and education to that end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Real-Life Advisers<\/h3>\n

Six board members spend their work hours as professional advisers. Drs. Donnelly, Ward and Thoren own consulting firms, as do H.R. Huddle columnist Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, JD; Politics & Policy columnist Mark Cushing, JD; and Fritz Wood, CPA, CFP.<\/p>\n

Wood, who also is closely associated with a financial planning firm, said financial security isn\u2019t an impossible goal for veterinary professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterinarians and the people who work in their practices need and deserve to do better financially,\u201d Wood said. \u201cSince a practice\u2019s financial health ultimately impacts pet health, everyone benefits from healthy practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board member Kelly Baltzell, MA, the president and CEO of Beyond Indigo, said she loves \u201cassisting veterinarians and their teams in understanding the fluid, rapid-changing environment of online marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is rewarding to see light bulbs go off in people\u2019s heads as they finally get how marketing can send tails through the door of the hospital,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Leininger spent three decades as a Michigan practice owner, served as president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and this year retired from an executive role at The Hartville Pet Insurance Group. Networking and savviness can help veterinarians succeed, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my decades of involvement with veterinary organizations of all sizes and focuses, it is my network that has been responsible for any personal or professional success I\u2019ve been blessed with,\u201d Dr. Leininger said. \u201cAnd the ability to be savvy about business strategy and management decisions is crucial in today\u2019s challenging and competitive practice environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Did you know?<\/h3>\n

Start a conversation with a Today\u2019s Veterinary Business<\/em> editorial adviser and you may hear this:<\/p>\n