Oops, I Became a Manager: Learning Leadership with Amy Newfield

Vet Life Reimagined podcast guest, Amy Newfield, MS, CVT, VTS (ECC) shares her journey from a passionate animal-loving child to a leading veterinary technician. Amy's relentless curiosity and determination propelled her through various roles, from general practice to emergency medicine and even teaching. She’ll share struggles and triumphs, including her candid insights on career obstacles for veterinary technicians, the importance of effective leadership, and the significance of continuous education. We discuss valuable lessons on navigating the veterinary profession and find motivation to pursue your own career aspirations, whether you're new to vet med or an experienced professional. 

Resources:

• Episode on YouTube
• Amy's Website & Online CE, Vet Team Training
• Oops, I Became a Manager book
• Oops, My Team is Toxic book
• Oops, I Colored Outside the Lines coloring book

Transcript

Amy Newfield: [00:00:00] But it's interesting that at some point in my career, I wanted to help the people that I worked with, and that was when I really started to flip the switch on, I really need to be a better manager because I need to help this team be the best it can be. And I'm, I don't know what I don't know. 

Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. If you spot a unicorn at a veterinary conference, chances are Amy Newfield isn't far behind. As a renowned veterinary technician, speaker, and author of Oops! I Became a Manager and Oops! My Team is Toxic, Amy has made the unicorn her symbol for a reason. To her, unicorns represent something rare, remarkable, and highly desirable. 

quality she sees as essential for exceptional veterinary teams. Through her work, she's dedicated herself to helping practices achieve their own unicorn status, transforming ordinary teams into extraordinary ones. But today we'll explore the journey that shaped Amy's unique perspective from a passionate animal loving child to a leading veterinary [00:01:00] technician specialist. 

Her path winds through general practice. emergency medicine and teaching driven by an unwavering curiosity and determination to push boundaries. Amy shares candid insights about career obstacles for veterinary technicians, the critical importance of effective leadership and why continuous education is the cornerstone of professional growth. 

Whether you're just starting in vet med. Or you're a seasoned professional. Amy's story offers valuable lessons on navigating the veterinary profession and inspiration for pursuing your own career aspirations. Get ready to discover what it truly means to find your unicorn in veterinary medicine. Let's get to the conversation with Amy Newfield. 

when did you know that you were interested in working with animals one day?  

Amy Newfield: Oh, that is a great question. And I have nothing of interest other than the fact that I'm just the cliche vet tech. My parents will tell you that when I was a little kid, I wanted to work with animals. And I [00:02:00] think 1 of the funny stories is probably around, I think, the 9th grade, they made us take a career aptitude test. 

And it's just to put you kind of figure out where you want to be in life. Um, I failed it. Uh, I actually got pulled into the counselor's office with my parents, uh, because the test said that I was not going to be interested in doing anything in life. And I told the career counselor that there were no questions related to animals or nature on the entire test. 

, and once I pointed that out to them, they were like, Oh, she has a clear direction. She wants to work with animals. So, , I can tell you, , when I was a little kid, I knew I wanted to work with animals. And then I told a career counselor that, um, their test was a complete failure for anyone in the veterinary profession. 

So there you go. 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, I hope you inspired to improve upon that test 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, me too. 

Megan Sprinkle: And then I happen to also know you really have a lot of heart around writing. And I think that also started fairly [00:03:00] young too. When did you start dabbling in writing and really kind of start to flesh that out?  

Amy Newfield: Yeah, I have been a writer since I was a little kid. My grandmother worked in a library and one of my very first books and I put that in bunny ears because you're not publishing truly publishing when you're a child. my grandmother was so sweet and bound the book for me, um, which was just so wonderful. 

and I still have it. So, um, I think she was my biggest, , supporter, but also probably not because she said, you make no money being an author, Amy, please don't grow up to be a writer. So all my friends and family knew that I loved writing. And then. At some point in high school, I became the editor in chief of my high school newspaper, and then the editor in chief of my college newspaper. 

And then when I left college, it almost made me feel naked not to be writing. So I reached out to a publication, which is no longer in print, called Veterinary Technician Magazine [00:04:00] and said, Hi, my name is Amy Newfield. I'm interested in writing. And they said, okay, what are your topics that you're interested in? 

And I had had my very first hemo abdomen. from a massive splenic tumor. I thought it was the most exciting thing in general practice. I'd never seen anything like it for this dog to go from walking and then collapsing and trying to die in this huge tumor on a spleen. That I published an article called The Spleen. 

It was very boring, and it was the pathophysiology of splenic diseases and injuries. I don't need, I think I have a copy somewhere, but it was probably not a very good article, but it was published and I was, I was so excited and then I was hooked. And, so I, I much like loving animals. I've always loved writing. 

It's just a way that I connect to a thing. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and I'm always curious because I've recently followed a couple of different writers and they each have their own unique style and [00:05:00] kind of, you know, thing around writing. How would you describe your, your style of writing? 

Amy Newfield: It's interesting. I would never have described it, and I wouldn't have even had a description for it until I published my first book, Oops, I Became a Manager, when someone said, it's like, I can hear you talk. And so it's a very, like, honest and conversational writing style. because I said, what do you mean by that? 

And they said, oh, it's like, you're just talking to me. And I was like, okay, so I guess that's how I would describe my writing style, because that's how others have described reading it. Um, but prior to that, I probably would not have had a description for it. So I would say conversational. It's. meant to always have a little bit of humor. 

And that's true. Even in my lecture style. I like to make people laugh. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yes, I think the guys on the vet tech cafe said you had a direct line to his funny bone or something like that. [00:06:00] So I love the humor aspect of it as well as the, the candid nature of it. in fact, just even the title of your book kind of highlights that candid approach to, for the book, you know, professional challenges, I guess, and so, I mean, has that. You know, radical honesty, just been part of who you are to on, on how you deal with things or how is, have you seen that kind of play out in both the, the challenges as well as your successes? 

Amy Newfield: yeah, it is definitely brought me some downfall, but also some successes. I am a insert foot into mouth kind of person. I speak a truth. and sometimes very honestly. So I will say that I pride myself in trying very hard not to. injure someone's feelings. am I perfect at it? No, and it's not meant to be mean. 

but it's, I am honest sometimes to a fault and [00:07:00] sometimes I should learn not to be so honest because it does get me into trouble for sure. I think my true honest self is with my friends and my family that I have 100 percent trust in. everybody else I probably am honest, but I hold back just a little bit. 

Um, so, try to remain a little bit professional at all times. But, uh, yeah, it has, it has served me really well. And it also has gotten me in trouble as one can imagine. 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, I mean, and again, eventually in your career, you're going to handle probably a lot of different conflicts and things within a veterinary practice. And so yes, I'm sure that when people think about a science or a medical field, they think a very professional type of approach to things, but I'll hold back because I like to hear, you know, has being able to bring in both honesty as well as humor, because I [00:08:00] also sometimes I throw in humor or maybe I shouldn't know how that can actually maybe. Be a good, you know, like timing it appropriately, maybe a good way to handle things, but I'm getting way ahead of myself. So let's, let's get back to, you know, you know, you're interested in animals, you know, you're interested in writing and when you start deciding, okay, vet tech is for me and I also want to become, you know, a certified vet tech. 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, so I first majored in wildlife management at the University of Maine and Orono. Great college, but very quickly realized that was the wrong major. I had delusions of blow darting animals out of trees and like, tagging lions in Africa and doing that work is amazing, but it's super hard path to get there. 

So I came to the realization in my first year, I was going to end up counting deer in a snowy field in New England and being cold and [00:09:00] miserable doing deer counts. And I was like, this is not the wildlife management major that I thought. they had just started, uh, the second year by offering veterinary technology and, it seemed right in my wheelhouse. 

I always knew I didn't want to become a veterinarian. I think that the rest of the world would have said you would, you would be a great veterinarian, but For me personally, I wanted to have more of the care and the hands on with the animals and in my research of being a veterinarian, even in the 90s, I was like, oh my gosh, writing up diagnostic plans and, you know, doing a lot of paperwork didn't seem like my right path for me. 

Um, so veterinary technology seems like the right thing and I enrolled in that my second year and then they canceled the major on me only two weeks into my semester. So I had to transfer colleges. but it was absolutely the right major for me. So I ended up at a school in Massachusetts and, graduated and [00:10:00] passed my national exam and haven't ever looked back. 

So, uh, I just fell in love with it. The internships were amazing. I knew it was the right major for me. So. I'll die happily as a vet tech. 

Megan Sprinkle: And I think your first job was with the general practice there in Massachusetts. So how did you find your first job and what was that kind of like getting your feet wet? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah. So one of the great things was I had gone to school and I knew what was a good quality hospital and the hospitals I should stay away from. So I interviewed at a bunch of hospitals. I knew that I Wanted to work in the state of Massachusetts because I love the area and I had friends in the area from college and I didn't want to, move anywhere else. 

So, in looking, I looked for what would not only gave me a good salary, but was a good quality hospital. I interviewed at one hospital where a gentleman who was the husband of the [00:11:00] wife, who was the veterinarian doing surgery, she was spaying a cat. I'll never forget it. came in eating a hamburger. Um, and, uh, then the veterinary technician, and I put that in bunny ears, because I don't know if this person was credentialed at all.  

was told to just turn up the isofluorine to 5, because the cat seemed a little light. And then there was a dog in the corner of the room that had a tube in it. It was a mastiff. At one point, this mastiff stood up, to which I said to the veterinarian, would you like me to take the tube out? Would you like me to extubate this dog? 

And she said, oh, yeah, that'd be great. And also there's a leash over there. Can you just take the dog and put it in a cage? very quickly I realized that was the quality of medicine in the 1990s and that was not going to sit well with me because I had gone to school, this was not normal, and I knew better. 

So, my search for a job entailed not only can you pay me so I can afford to live, but also are you a good quality hospital so I don't cringe on a daily basis. [00:12:00] So, there you go. 

Megan Sprinkle: So it sounds like you found a hospital and was this the hospital that allowed you to go try out a lot of different things, including some, maybe your first taste of some management, or was that later? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, this was it. They utilized people to the fullest, which was amazing. I didn't feel underutilized at all. There weren't doctors placing catheters. Technicians monitored anesthesia. We had great conversations with clients around nutrition and t the foods they should pick. In fact, they would send us in to talk to them about heartworm prevention and the current recommendations of what products they should be thinking about using. 

Uh, we got to do all the blood draws, all the catheter placements, the dental cleanings, talking to clients about teeth care and all of that stuff. So I felt really utilized, but it really is the reason why my first book is titled the way it is because I oops, became a manager. Uh, simply [00:13:00] because I said yes to everything. 

I was one of the only credentialed veterinary technicians, and they just kept adding more to my plate. And at the time, I felt very honored for them to think of me that way, that, hey, you trusted this very young, college graduate with all these responsibilities. But I said yes to doing inventory management, and sure, I'll interview that person. 

I, I never knew how to interview someone like, they didn't train me at all. They were like, we're really busy. Can you interview this person? I thought I've been to an interview. Sure. Why not? Um, so all of these crazy things led me to eventually becoming the technician manager of the hospital. And it was more just by default, like, Hey, you're doing all these things. 

Here's the title. I got put on salary, which turned out to be a lower hourly wage than, than I was. So I learned a lot. Um, but oops, I became a manager really is the trajectory of my career. And when I started lecturing about the subject, um, many years later, I put in, I think it was the second or third slide that said, oops, I became a manager [00:14:00] and the audience would laugh. 

And I said, if I ever write a book, this will be the title of my book. And then I just started thinking I should really write this book. Um, so. that was definitely the first practice and why I wrote my first book. So since then, I've gotten a master's in management and leadership and know a little bit more than I did back then. 

Megan Sprinkle: There's nothing about personal experience, just like other people are going to go through. And it's one thing to be given opportunities. That's great. But opportunities without support, it can also be pretty challenging. do you still seem to find that this is kind of how a lot of People end up in management positions was kind of like, oops, you know, I was doing okay here. 

So 

they gave me this 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like the majority of people, including practice managers, oops, became a manager and they didn't really mean to, they either survived at their hospital long enough that the owner or the. Um, medical [00:15:00] director was like, now you get a title or they just kept saying yes to everything. 

And the next thing they know, they ended up with the title. And so the majority of people in veterinary hospitals that are in leadership roles really did oops their way into it, not meaning to be a manager or a supervisor, probably not officially applying someone just coming up and saying, Hey, you've 10 years. 

You want to be a manager? Sure. Why not? And there isn't that support. And so. when I wrote my book, it was for the love of the profession, because it honestly, as I tell people, my two books are just Amy and everything that I did wrong. And so if you want to read, how about I screwed up and how I've learned from those mistakes and how I fix things, uh, definitely check them out because it's just basically everything I did wrong. 

And you should not repeat my mistakes.  

Megan Sprinkle: Sometimes it's the best way to learn 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, exactly. 

Megan Sprinkle: Was there a particular event or maybe it was accumulation of certain events [00:16:00] where you were like, okay I'm ready for a change and you started to look into Uh, specializing in emergency. 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, so for me, I am kind of a border collie, uh, in the sense that if the flock doesn't move, then I am going to need to find another job. And in my general practice, it was really wonderful. I mean, I was definitely burned out and feeling crispy because I, Was doing way too much, but hi, I never asked for help and I need to recognize that was totally my fault.  

Um, at the time I blamed other people, but when you don't advocate for yourself, then how's anybody going to be able to help you if you don't actually say, I need help. So looking back, that was a huge life lesson, but I also realized I was bored with the medicine, you know, for While they utilize me to the fullest, I didn't get excited about general practice care anymore, but, and this is going to sound really warped, but I think first responders have the same [00:17:00] mentality. 

And so we need people in those positions. Anytime a dog or a cat had a trauma, got hit by a car, or the hemo abdomen that came in where it's collapsed and it's got pale mucous membranes, the heart rate is 40 and it clearly looks like it's dying, My adrenaline would start kicking and I would get so excited about how can I fix this animal before it ends its life? 

Can I beat death basically? And sometimes you win and you're like, I basically am the reason why this animal lived because I got to beat death and death didn't beat this animal and I win. Um, and I thought, wow, this is so amazing that you can take this animal who is suffering from respiratory and metabolic issues and bring them back and save them and not only save them, but then save their pet owner, right? 

Because being able to reunite that pet with the owner, you twofold not only save that animal, but you make a world of difference in that human beings life as well. And I just [00:18:00] thought, I love this way too much. I need to go into emergency medicine full time. Um, and it was definitely very scary because you get comfortable with what, you know, and I was comfortable with the overwork and underpaid and the responsibilities that I had and going into something that I had no idea how I was going to do is definitely very scary. 

But I, I recommend a leap for anybody. If you leave any hospital on good terms. they'll more than likely take you back because hospitals are always short staffed. So, and if they don't want you back, well then they didn't deserve you in the first place. So I left on good terms. They were really sad, but it was a really good move for me in the sense that I needed to go, I needed to go in emergency medicine. 

Anybody who knows me is like, yeah, she's definitely like an adrenaline emergency junkie. So , I'm okay with that. 

Megan Sprinkle: That's so funny. Cause I think you told me that you're very risk averse. 

And so where is [00:19:00] where your risk aversion lies and then where the adrenaline junkie kind of lies. Cause to me, that's like, Ooh, 

that, that almost sounds like contradictory. 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, so I, as far as the adrenaline goes, I hate heights. But I love speed. Um, in terms of my own personal life, I have everything already mapped out. Um, the whole year is planned. There's checkboxes and I check them off and I feel good and accomplished. I like consistency and I like organization. 

But interestingly enough, the more chaos in an emergency room and a veterinary hospital. I love it. I love complex cases. I love cases that are out of my control and having to bring it back into my control. And I guess, like, the thing about being that adrenaline junkie in an emergency hospital is. It seems so out of control, but the more you do it, you realize you have a lot in your control. 

I know in my younger years, I would get like, nervous [00:20:00] about, you know, if something was crashing or if CPR was happening and I'd feel uncomfortable because, oh my gosh, this seems so out of control. And as terrible as it sounds, but also as good as it sounds, because it means you've been doing it while. 

Now, if I have a patient that arrests me, I am so methodical in how to go about my adrenaline. It kicks a little bit, but you know, I can see a bigger scope and range of view of what's going on than that narrow scope of vision. When I first had my very first patient like arrest on me, I didn't know what to do. 

And I was so panicked. Um, so I do love the adrenaline of emergency. I like a little bit of adrenaline in my own life, I like sports and stuff like that, but I always like to be in control of my own life. I don't mind if the thing that I have to treat is, is not in my control, but my own life, I have to be in control. 

I hope that makes sense. It's a little weird, but 

Megan Sprinkle: No, I think, I think it's good to kind of understand where your [00:21:00] boundaries are and to 

Amy Newfield: I do have boundaries. I do have boundaries in my life. If it's out of control, I don't like it. I like always in control. 

Megan Sprinkle: it sounds like you are kind of in an element at this point. When did you start to realize that you, you also like teaching and you might want to add on a few things into your, your career bucket? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, so I had been publishing a few articles here and there. And at the time, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when you went to as a veterinary technician, when you went to conferences, 95 percent of the speakers were veterinarians and not that veterinarians didn't do a good job, but they don't work in your position. 

And that would be like, you know, and again, plenty of wonderfully skilled veterinary technicians have the ability to lecture to veterinarians. But if veterinarians could imagine showing up and having someone who doesn't even work your position, just lecture to you, you know, you're fine with [00:22:00] a couple of those, but after a while you start going, this is bizarre, right?  

And so we started having a couple of really well known veterinary technician speakers that started showing up at conferences. And I just thought, my goodness, these people are my hero. Like, they understand what I'm doing because they have been in there and they're doing it right now. And I remember going up to this one veterinary technician, Nancy Schaffron. 

She is IVECCS retired. She helped to actually create the Academy of Veterinary Emergency Critical Care Technicians and Nurses. So, which is the very first VTS Academy, which I'm part of. And I went up to her shy and I said, Hi, Nancy, my name is Amy Newfield. Um, I was just wondering how, how did you get to where you are? 

Like, how were you on this stage? And let me be very clear. I am an introvert. At no point did I have delusions of grandeur thinking I was going to be a speaker or lecture to people or educate people. I just was curious [00:23:00] and she said to me, well, I think that you what you really need to do is actually come to IVECCS and you need to present a case report. 

And so there are case report challenges for technicians, as well as doctors at a variety of different conferences. They challenge usually newer speakers who don't really haven't lectured a lot and you present a case. It's usually about 12 or 15 minutes and then there's about 2 or 3 minutes of questions and it's a timed event. 

I was like, well, this woman just told me to do this thing and she's like a hero to me. So I better do it because I don't want to disappoint her. , and she didn't really know me for anything. So I just thought she told me I have to do this and I like a good challenge. So, okay, fine. I submitted a case report. 

It got accepted. And then I ended up winning the case report. It was on a schemia reperfusion injury. And at the end when I won, and she was on the judging panel, she came up and she said, Hey, next year. Would you like to come back and present an [00:24:00] hour topic, which we would like it to be ischemia reperfusion injury, which is such an easy topic. 

Everyone should choose that very first lecture because the pathophysiology is not at all complex. And so I said, yes, because she's this woman, this icon standing in front of me, asking me to come back. And I thought, what am I doing? I was terrified. I remember gripping hold of the podium, But I'd like to think 2 things. 

1, 1 of my electives in college was professional speaking and I hated the class. I didn't like it at all, but it was easier than some of the other electives. So I think that's why I chose it. Um, the other thing that I would like to thank is my parents made me do theater in high school, and I can't say I loved it, nor was I great at it. 

I never got any major roles, but what I did learn is that you can memorize you can memorize an entire hour of dialogue if you want. So my very [00:25:00] 1st lecture at IVECCS, I, I had memorized to the point where I had infliction in my voice. And my hand movements down as if it was a theater performance because I knew there was no way I was going to survive if I didn't have the damn thing memorized. 

So I memorized the entire thing. I think I probably practice 50 hours at home. And that is not a lie for this 1 hour lecture. And at the end of it, there were some well known, veterinary technicians in the audience who were part of the program committee and they came up and said, we'd like to have you back next year. 

And ever since that 1 lecture, I've actually lectured every single year for IVECCS, which is absolutely amazing. I think I'm on 16, 17 years of it, 

but I've had these amazing opportunities outside of that as well. So, again, you don't know where your career path is going to take you and you just talk to 1 person and all of a sudden you're often running in a totally different direction. 

So, yeah, it's crazy. 

Megan Sprinkle: You still memorize your speeches 

Amy Newfield: No, 

Megan Sprinkle: you a little [00:26:00] more? Okay. 

Amy Newfield: now I'm a lot more comfortable and I can throw together a PowerPoint presentation and probably under an hour and still manage to time it perfectly for a conference. And maybe I only practice it once nowadays. I'll just run through and go. Yeah, that'll be fine. Um, so yeah, it's, uh, it definitely I'm a way more comfortable speaker, hundreds, if not thousands of hours into the lecturing. 

So, yeah, 

Megan Sprinkle: And I, I love that you were kind of noticing that there was a gap in people who understood your perspective and being able to learn more about the skills and things that you needed in the job that you were doing. And so is that when you started to say, maybe we need a little bit more of this and you looked into developing CE that really focused on that? 

Amy Newfield: yeah. So, for me, once I started getting into speaking and really, like, enjoying training at my hospital and just loving what I was doing. I ended up in a national [00:27:00] training role for a company, and I loved that. The ability to now scale out training initiatives and skill lists and developing big projects on a huge scale was fascinating and I learned so much from that company. 

I'm eternally grateful. and then sort of having all these little ideas in the back of my own head and thinking to myself, like, Where are the gaps in the industry and realizing that one of them is things like online continuing education, where there's just a huge gap, where the vast majority of online education is still done by veterinarians again, veterinarians are amazing, but it is a very different job the way that I describe veterinary medicine is very similar to how human medicine is structured. 

There's three buckets, you have operational practice managers, client service reps. That's your operations medical. That's all your veterinarians technicians are not in that technicians are in the nursing care bucket and you need [00:28:00] the nursing care bucket there and in line with the medical and the operations. 

Because if you have great medicine, like, okay, we're nailing our diagnosis is we're doing great surgeries. That's awesome. But if you're nursing care bucket is below that. And we're failing at the care of the patients, which also results in the care of the clients, then we fail. But I've also worked in hospitals where nursing care is amazing, and I've got a bunch of very green baby doctors who are not doing great, and I'm like, no, seriously, that's definitely a bloat. 

You need to take it to surgery. Are you sure? I am so sure. I know I can't diagnose, but I really, really, really need you to go to surgery with this patient right now. Trust me. His stomach is very twisted. You can see it on the x ray. Um, so. Those are the three buckets of vet med, and it's really important that we recognize that the medicine and the nursing are two very different buckets. 

And so, yeah, I eventually was like, I think that there should be a website where everybody on that as far as educators are veterinary [00:29:00] technicians and nurses that are credentialed from around the world. And I'm super proud. now I'm in year two of having that online CE platform, and it's the largest one where all the educators are only vet techs and nurses from around the world. It's awesome. And the cool thing is it is RACE approved for doctors. So doctors, if you're listening to this, come listen to technicians. They're amazing. 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, and I think even though There's two different buckets. I think it is important to have an understanding of both buckets because you're working together. And so you're not working in a vacuum either. Just like you were helping that baby green doctor. It's like, um, yeah, let's do that. Um, and so I think it is important to be able to, again, have that appreciation and have the appropriate flow between 

Amy Newfield: 100 percent I and you're so right. It's when we assume and we all know what they say about assumptions when we assume I am, [00:30:00] you know, a veterinary technician. So I know everything about doctors or doctors think they know everything about veterinary technicians. That doesn't work out very well in my, you know, opinion. 

So what I found is. When we seek to understand and we open our ideas and we say, Oh, tell me more about that patient because you're the one who spent the longest time with it. We're going to get a better conversation and better care for that animal. And when technicians say to their doctors, like, Ooh, I have a question. 

I was thinking X, Y, and Z about this patient. And the doctor said, Oh, that's really interesting. Instead of, no, I'm, I'm the doctor. Why would you even bring that up? That's where we need to work and collaborate together. Cause to your point, while they are different buckets. It is imperative that we collaborate together. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and so at this point of your career, I think there might have is I think this was kind of a moment of change for you as well. You know, you're working on the C. E. And then there was kind of a moment where you. Had to, I think [00:31:00] I'm struggling here. I'm trying to remember something about where you, you kind of felt like you were kicked into changing your 

career. Uh, what was going on here and, and what was kind of that, uh, transition into kind of a different, You know, Avenue, 

Amy Newfield: I'm heading into my 28th year of veterinary medicine and, I have been so honored to have worn so many different hats in this profession. I started in a small one doctor general practice in a rural, you know, practice in Massachusetts. I've worked for the largest corporations in the world. I've worked for the federal government. 

I've worked for nonprofit at spay and neuter clinic. so I've had this opportunity to work for private and corporations and, It's absolutely been amazing. And I look back and think, my goodness, I wonder where my career is going to go because. When I was younger, I thought, Oh, no, I'm going to stay here forever. 

But then when you start down all of these different paths that you have the ability to do, I think that's one of the greatest things [00:32:00] about being in the veterinary profession is you don't know where you're going to go and, keep everything open. Um, because when you say I'll never, like, if you say I'll never lecture on the stage, You might that was me. 

I was like, I'll never do this. And then now I'm doing it all the time, which is amazing. I think for me, I ended up in business for myself again. As I said, I'm risk adverse with my own life. Like, I like. A job and I like consistent paycheck and I like, these are the things that are going to happen. And I found myself in a situation in 2022, where it just was not a good match with the company that I was with and I had all intention of taking another role. 

so I started in a conversation with many different companies. I was looking for a larger, large scale. Um, Training or director level role, because while I still do pull floor shifts at an emergency hospital here in the state, [00:33:00] only a couple of months, I wanted to impact on a larger level. And so, to me, I was, I'm thinking national regional, something like that. 

At the end of 2022, it was a time where it was the largest amount of. News media and financial experts saying we're going to hit a massive recession. and everybody was preparing for this massive recession. and so 1 by 1, all these companies pulled back and was like, we can't bring you on and we can't develop out a position until we really see what the economy is doing in the 1st quarter of 2023. 

And sometimes things happen for a reason, and this is definitely one of those moments, because I thought, well, I've had this idea for an online CE platform rolling around in my head for a while now, and I have not had the time to execute it. Well, now I had the time, so I was like, okay, we're going down. 

As I said, I'm a border collie. Cannot let the border collie just sit down and do [00:34:00] nothing. Border Collie gets bored really easily and is like, I'm gonna go find the project to do. So, next thing I'm off and running with this online CE platform and I had, two of the companies reach out to me in February of 2023 and said, are you ready to start talking again? 

And I said, no, I'm down a weird, another rabbit hole. You let this Border Collie hang out. And unfortunately you can't just let me sit for three months. I mean, that's insane. So now here I was in February. And I said, I need to now see how this pans out because I've put my own time and money into this investment. 

And so in order for it to be successful, I'm just going to have to take a leap of faith on myself. they were so nice and they were like, well, you know what? If it doesn't work out, please call us. Cause now we're a little disappointed. And I was like, I'm sorry. , so, yeah, I launched in, March of 2023, which was crazy, but I'm as people say, how's it going? 

I say, I'm still doing it. I panic on a daily basis. It's great fun as being a business owner. I'm where I'm supposed to be right now, [00:35:00] which is promoting the amazing veterinary technicians and nurses and, increasing the awareness of what we can do in this field. 

Uh, yeah, right where I'm supposed to be, and it would not have happened if I was turned not turned down multiple times. so sometimes being turned down and having rejection in your life is absolutely perfect. 

Megan Sprinkle: and I think also, I know the book you wrote 2 books before 2022, I think more around 2020. And did that help a lot of getting maybe recognition? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, it's funny because I look at my career where I am now and having been turned down was the reason why I ended up in business for myself. I self published both of my books because I was turned down by every single major publishing company, which those major publishing companies have come to me and now asked me if they would be if they could please publish a book of mine. 

And, I feel like. You know, kind of [00:36:00] like Julia Roberts on a pretty woman where she goes back into the store at the end and says, remember me, remember me? No. Um, so I'm so happy they turned me down. It worked out for the better. I retained my own copyright. I think that the book, has definitely given me a little bit of street cred, uh, which is amazing. 

And it definitely has helped with the business that I currently have. Absolutely amazing. But I also think that I published the book at the right time. There wasn't a single book in the veterinary community for how to manage people. There was a couple really old, how to deal with the operation side of the hospital, like profit and loss statements and how to financially grow your hospital, things like that.  

but there wasn't anything on just leading people and, I think that the majority of the published companies, well, all of them turned me down simply because they said there's no market for this. And since then, now, there's been so many wonderful authors. Some really great [00:37:00] people have entered this space about leading people and how to coach people with kindness and it is so needed. 

And so I'm happy to see other resources out there. I literally just filled a gap in the market and, uh, am very eternally grateful for all of the support and kindness that people have shown my books because it's absolutely amazing. So, yeah. 

Megan Sprinkle: And I think it's very relevant right now. I think veterinary technicians, that particular role has come to light a lot more in the past handful of years. At least that's my perspective. What's your perspective over the last handful of years? How are you seeing the conversations around veterinary technicians role? supporting them appropriately, both in, I think, the patient care bucket that you talked about, but, you know, going back to all three buckets, you've got the patient care people that are going into the operations buckets is kind of [00:38:00] what we're talking about, which, again, understanding all the buckets across the way is so important. 

How have you kind of seen, or have you seen a shift as we've kind of gone through time? It around that role. 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, so for me, I'm huge into organizational development of hospitals and I think that veterinary medicine needs to still come a long way, but we're getting there. We're getting there. I look often at the trajectory of just what human health care has gone through and where registered nurses as well as clinicians find themselves in the human health care. 

Industry and how they organize their own hospitals. So for me, organizational structure is just it's ridiculous fun. But I think like, when we take a look at the recognition that veterinary technicians have had, I can tell you, it has jumped light years in the 2. 5 decades. I've been in this industry. I initially, when I [00:39:00] graduated from college, I was called sweetie an awful lot by a lot of clients. 

And "oh, that's so cute. But can you get the doctor?" No one asks for the doctor anymore, which is really nice. On occasion, they do, but for the most part, I love when I'm up front. and I listened to a client service rep and they answer the phone and they say, oh, okay, you want to talk to a technician or a doctor? 

And I go, my heart melts. I'm like, oh, you know who we are. So, we definitely are getting the recognition. I also think the other thing that helps greatly is in veterinary schools a long time ago in a land far, far away. Veterinarians were trained by other veterinarians. But now most veterinary colleges, who are they paired with veterinary technicians, . The veterinary technician shows them how to place a catheter or how to restrain an animal or helps them when they're learning and are in school. 

And so when they, when veterinarians graduate now, They've already worked with vet techs and they are like, Oh, this person saved me [00:40:00] in school. So I know they'll save me again. and we will. So, I love the fact that there's been more recognition, but we still have a huge, huge path to success, you know, in most major corporations. 

There's always a chief medical officer, and yet we forget about any sort of chief veterinary technician officer. We forgot about the patient care again, which is not the same as actual medical part of it. And so when we have, you know, the majority of people in the hospital being veterinary technicians and assistants and nurses, Then you need to have a leader that represents that group and we fall short time and time again. 

so we still have a ways to go for people to recognize that this is important. it's important to have veterinary technicians and assistance as leaders in our hospitals. It's important to recognize that you have to give representation to them. and then we can go down the weird path of the poor front [00:41:00] desk, which is just an atrocity in most hospitals. 

I'm sorry, front desk, if you're listening to this, you deserve better. Uh, we do not treat you very kindly, and that is a whole nother topic for another podcast. 

Megan Sprinkle: So What have you found in your Your company, because your company is all around teaching skills, including management skills, leadership skills, what are some of the things and maybe even if you've found a story that comes to mind that kind of demonstrates what are some of the things that we can do to improve that, to allow vet techs, maybe confidence or, or the, again, the skills to be in those positions of representation as well as, as, you know, You know, good leadership, but sometimes doing your job well, wherever you are, can be recognized and, where you get those opportunities. 

But I'm curious, what, what have you experienced so far? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest thing is, [00:42:00] For those not in leadership roles, embody the leader that you want to manage yourself. be that person, because right now in veterinary medicine, you know, obviously the internet, social media is just riddled with people being bullied, the toxic workplace environments, the negativity. 

And the reality is, is it's super easy to fix it. If we're just nice to each other, we wouldn't have that. , easier said than done because when you're in a negative workplace environment, negativity breeds negativity. And so holding yourself accountable and just being kind to each other, especially it's 2025. 

This might be a tough year. So, you know, we just started into this year and. I think being kind all around, just making a commitment to kindness is important. I know that sounds so cliche, but I think that's the first step is that we just do that. And then if you are in a leadership role, learning how to lead people learning, you probably got put in this role [00:43:00] because you have some innate leadership skills, but. 

Really truly learn how to lead people because it is a totally different art form. It's not about having the best technician skills. It's not about being the best one on the floor. It has nothing to do with that. And it took me, oh gosh, probably a couple roles to realize that, yeah, I had amazing skills, but it didn't matter when it came to leading the team. 

it doesn't matter if I can slam dunk a, central line in from a mile away or hit an arterial line on a cat that, has a pack cell volume of 9 percent and a blood pressure systolically of 50. Like, that's great, but that has nothing to do with leading people. Leading people is a very different skill set. 

And for the people that are listening to this, when you put people in leadership skills like that, give them a continuing education budget so they can learn those skills. The problem is, is right now, they have to choose, and this is true for our chief [00:44:00] medical officers, too. Whenever we have a new medical director, they have to choose, Do I want to use my CE allowance for medicine related topics, or do I have to learn leadership skills? Because you don't have two buckets of CE allowance. And so if you want someone to grow their leadership skills, give them money so that they can learn leadership skills and they can learn it online or in conferences. Most major conferences have leadership tracks at this point. 

They've got leadership workshops. There's so many places that we can learn. And again, I mean, there's obviously books available as well. We didn't have a ton of resources. And again, when I started trying to figure out how to be a better leader, there was nothing. I mean, there was literally nothing. They didn't even conference tracks. 

At available conferences, there's so much information out there. there's free stuff. There's not free stuff. So I think learning to be a better leader is really important because our leaders fail simply because they just don't know what they don't know. [00:45:00] Right? And that's that's not cool. So I think, like, when we think about what we can do.  

We can do so much just being a good team member is the 1st step and that'll get you into becoming a leader down the road. And then the 2nd thing is, once you are in that leadership role, educate yourself, do it. Don't think I'm so great and this hospital with all my skills. I'm amazing with, you know, clients that are argumentative. 

I am awesome at my skills. No, none of that matters. I don't even care about any of that. So I need you to understand people, and peopling is very hard. Very hard. 

Megan Sprinkle: It is. And I think another pushback that I hear too is I don't have time. I don't have time to, to do the education around these skills that for some people think are soft skills. It's like, well, I can do this. So surely it translates and it might help you a little bit, but there's still a lot to learn. That even if, even people who have been in leadership for a long [00:46:00] time, they're constantly learning because I think when you deal with people, it's just, it's just a constant learning game. 

Amy Newfield: Yeah, absolutely. And I love that. You said that the soft skills, they're not soft skills. They're some of the hardest ones to learn, how to deal with conflict resolution, how to deal with conflict, how to communicate with individuals. There's a lot of people out there with a lot of different personalities. 

And just when you think I'm great, my communication skills. Someone is going to take you down and you'll be like, I know nothing. I know nothing. I know nothing about how to communicate with this human being. We're both humans, but I, I feel like we're on two different planets. So yeah, definitely educate yourself is huge. 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. And then also, I just want to open up to, because this podcast is a lot about career opportunities and career pathing. So when you're thinking about now and maybe into the future, do you have any tips for people? Maybe vet techs or I can open it up. What are your thoughts around career development right now? 

Amy Newfield: [00:47:00] Yeah, the sky's the limit. Being in veterinary medicine, you have so many paths you can go down, and I think it's just amazing. I look at all the things that people are doing from being their own boss to, you know, creating their own roles in their hospitals. you have to be a little bit adventurous, and this is where I think like being a slight adrenaline junkie comes into play, uh, that you are willing to push yourself. 

If you are stagnant in your career. If you are no longer feeling the passion, you have to figure out what do you really want? Because as I always tell people, the reasons why you came in vet med, they're still here. It's the animals and the medicine. They're still super amazing. They're never going to get boring. 

Those animals are awesome. You get to save both pet and human lives. It's pretty amazing. But if you're feeling stagnant, you're feeling crispy, you're like, I don't, I dislike my job. Okay, then figure out what aspect of your job you really [00:48:00] love. And can you make that a full time job? And what does that look like? 

And sometimes you have to do scary things like leave your current hospital. Or go down a path that you thought was going to be this magical thing. And if it's not, guess what? It's okay. You can go back to the same path. It's not like that other path gets completely erased. You can just literally backtrack and go, hi, I'd like to come back here or find something that's very similar. 

Doors don't close. In veterinary medicine, the nice thing is that as you open the door, the door behind you stays open. And so I know plenty of people, for example, who've gone into leadership roles and they've said to me. I made a mistake. This is not for me. And they feel bad because they feel like they're downgrading to going back to being a technician on the floor or being, in general practice. 

And I go, no, that's not a mistake. You just opened a door and you realize, I don't like what's in here. That's fine. That door is still open. You just go back through the other [00:49:00] door. It's not locked. You just go back the other door. I know. People who have gotten their VTS, their veterinary technician specialty in emergency, or even anesthesia or surgery, and they've gone, you know what? 

I hate this specialty. Why did I spend five years getting this specialty? I don't like it. It's not for me. And I know plenty of VTSs in emergency who work in general practice, and they're so happy. They're so happy. So I think, like, whenever you find yourself in an unhappy place in life, Start writing down what makes you happy, and then figure out how to go get that happiness. 

And the greatest thing about veterinary medicine is, it's out there, you just have to go get it. And sometimes it's a little scary path, you open the door, it's dark in there, and you're like, I don't know if I should go in there. Go in there. Just go in there. Cause again, you can come right back out. It's totally fine. 

, so be adventurous and, check things out. Cause that's the greatest thing about vet med. 

Megan Sprinkle: I like that. It's find your happy. Do you personally have a, like a [00:50:00] value, a grounding value that you come to that's kind of your happy? 

Amy Newfield: Yeah. For me, it's changed throughout my career. And I think that part of that is just, I've done a lot of things like initially my happy was giving vaccines to dogs and cats and. You know, drawing heartworm, tests and being there and really getting to know the animal in general practice was amazing. 

And that was my happy. And then my happy was fixing all the train wrecks and like, I just, I still, I still think that is pretty cool. Um, so when I get to work shifts, I'm so manically happy that I am handling animals and I get to fix train wrecks. It's, it's ridiculous fun for me. But I think like my happiness has expanded and it's crazy because a lot of us go into this industry because we resonate with animals easier than people and that's okay to say that we just think animals are better than people and I'm totally fine with saying that because that's why I went into this industry. 

I just [00:51:00] really love animals. But it's interesting that at some point in my career, I wanted to help the people that I worked with. And that was when I really started to flip the switch on, I really need to be a better manager because I need to help this team be the best it can be. And I'm, I don't know what I don't know. 

and that obviously opened a bunch of doors. They're getting a masters, obviously, in management leadership has opened doors, but I think truly it's, you find you're happy along the way, because when you start off, you don't, you think, you know, what you want. And then I can assure you, especially if you're younger and you're listening to this podcast right now, you may think this is it. 

That's all I need in life. And I can assure you, it is not all you need in life. give it another five or 10 years and you're going to find something else that is better and bigger. And it's going to make you way happier. And you're going to go, I need to cling onto this happiness. And I have. Absolutely no regrets at all into all of the different paths that I have, done [00:52:00] and walked through in my career, but it was literally just chasing happiness. 

And I think, I think that's everyone's goal, right? Just chase the happiness. And am I happy all the time? No. But when I wasn't happy, I said, hold up. I don't like this. And this has been a feeling that I've had for a long time where I haven't liked it for a long time. So how do I figure out where the happiness is and then I go, this is what I want to do. 

I'm going to figure out how to do it. 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, along those lines, because I, My mind goes to this because one, I know you, you talked about being an adrenaline junkie. I know you like scuba diving and running and things like that. So you can apply it outside of profession too. But do you have something on your bucket list that you're kind of looking forward to? 

Amy Newfield: Oh, goodness. Um, I'm not sure like on my bucket list. I've got a lot of things in my bucket list, but I will say that the 1 thing that I've always want to do as far as travel goes. African safari. I need need to go see the animals in Africa. [00:53:00] Like, it's been a childhood dream. So, I would say that that's definitely a bucket list. 

I don't know that that's that much of an adrenaline because someone else will be driving the safari car, though, if I could drive the jeep and chase the animals, I would totally like game on. This would be fun for me. But. Um, I think, I think probably just viewing from a safari, you know, truck will be sufficient for me. 

but, um, yeah, I love, I do love scuba diving. I love trail running. I love doing all those things. Being active is important. So, yeah, 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, you'll just have to catch a CE event that's gonna take you to Africa, 

Amy Newfield: right. Exactly. If anyone's listening and needs a speaker, just let me know. I'm 

available. 

Megan Sprinkle: I used to love asking that question at the end because I kind of hoped that would happen. It's like, maybe somebody would pick it up. It's like, Oh, we'll, we'll, we'll 

send her. 

Amy Newfield: yeah, absolutely. They do have speaking engagements. I've not been invited. Um, yeah, they do. They do have speaking engagements. Sometimes they do have veterinary conferences in, in South Africa. [00:54:00] So yeah, if you're listening, um, hi, I'd like to come down. 

Megan Sprinkle: And finally, I always love to end on this question. Uh, what is something you're very grateful for right now? 

Amy Newfield: Oh my gosh. I feel very spoiled. I'm grateful for all the people that are part of my life. Um, and all the animals as well. Like they are absolutely amazing. Like I am so lucky to have amazing friends. I have an amazing boyfriend. I have amazing animals in my life. it's the simple things in life. 

As you get older, like it's the simple things. It's not the fancy cars or fancy houses or the things you don't have. Nope. It truly is just, I am eternally grateful that I get to spend moments with amazing people and amazing animals. 

Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your [00:55:00] podcast app, subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn, where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn, on the website at vetlifereimagined. 

com. And brand new is that you can text me to send me a text message. Find the link at the top of the show notes below that says, send us a text message. I want to thank our longtime sponsors, fire consulting, and we'll use who support the podcast over on our hosting platform. Buzzsprout. You can support the podcast to just check out the show notes for a link. 

And I hope to see you next time on that life. Re imagined.