Career Pivots, AI Tools, and Finding Fulfillment in Veterinary Medicine | Dr. Teresa Woolard

What does it look like to evolve your veterinary career with purpose and creativity? Dr. Teresa Woolard joins Vet Life Reimagined to share her journey from general practice to creating a marketing business to writing books to optimizing AI for veterinary practices to helping others find fulfilling paths.

In this episode, we explore:

• The turning point that made Teresa rethink her career in clinical medicine
• How she uses AI tools to enhance, not replace, human care and veterinary communication
• What it really means to find a values-aligned role in vet med today

🎧 Whether you’re just starting out or reimagining your next chapter, this conversation is filled with insight and encouragement.

Resources:

• Podcast Episode Guide
• Episode on YouTube video
• Teresa's book: Dig, Leap, Play
• AI for Vet Clinics - Clinic Amplifer website
• Dr. Teresa's App called the "Veterinary Growth Audit" created to help clinics discern where some of revenue leaks may lie
• More about Teresa and her work

Transcript

Dr Megan Sprinkle: [00:00:00] When you are aligned, and it's something I've seen over and over for me anyway, in my experience, opportunities start opening up that you never would've expected.

What if the key to building a fulfilling career wasn't a plan, but a practice of listening to yourself? Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. Our guest, Dr. Theresa Woolard, has done a lot in her career path. Pharmaceutical sales, veterinary medicine, book publishing, animal behavior, personal development, and now artificial intelligence.

But she'd be the first to tell you, none of it was mapped out in advance. It all came from one consistent habit, knowing her values, noticing when something wasn't aligned with them, and being brave enough to move In addition to being a wife, mom, and a creative, Theresa is a veterinarian, author, entrepreneur, and founder of the Clinic Amplifier, a platform built to help veterinary practices grow through [00:01:00] AI automation and smarter marketing.

Theresa and I both believe in a possibilities mindset and with the desire to empower others. She wrote the book. Dig leap play to turn everything she's learned into a simple framework for meaningful change using some of the same principles we use to train animals. In this conversation, we talk about her winding career path, the business and communication skills veterinary professionals often underestimate what veterinary clinics are missing right now, and why evolving personally and professionally is always worth it. Let's get to the conversation with Dr. Theresa Woolard.

you did not know veterinary medicine was the path right from the womb as some people feel like it is. So do you mind sharing a little bit, about your journey up to the point where you realize, oh, maybe veterinary medicine is for me?

Dr Teresa Woolard: Oh my. How much time do we [00:02:00] have?

well, I always loved animals and medicine and, you know, human body animals. my first pet was at. Age nine and, she was, her name was Shelly. She was a sheltie and she was my best friend. I couldn't wait to get home from school and pet her, brush her, brush her teeth, train her.

So we spent a lot of time together and, yeah, she was just a pal. And so, you know, I think from that stage on, I knew either it was either gonna be medicine or, veterinary medicine. And I got in into veterinary medicine, although I did have a degree before that in, biochemistry at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

I'm from Canada. but yeah, I went into veterinary medicine and, specializing in small animal and I had a special interest in both, animal behavior as well as dermatology. but because I'd already had a degree before that, I didn't wanna really specialize. Specialize because, you know, the time ticking, you also wanna have children.

It's such a [00:03:00] balancing act, right? With wanting to be a mom and a career woman. So, I practiced as an associate veterinarian and um, after about eight years or so in practice, and I worked at a couple different clinics, very busy clinics around the greater Toronto area. I just felt that there was this need to create.

I've always been one to create. As a young girl, I was always doing crafts. I was always writing. I was always d oing pastel and charcoal drawings and I was kind of missing that. And as you know, you can only get so fancy with a suture line. Right. So I really did some exploring and self-reflection and because I had done a previous career actually, um, after biochemistry. I did a couple years as a pharmaceutical sales rep in the human field, and I was seeing what they were doing for their promotional pieces and when a sales rep came into me, from an animal health company when I was in practice in the exam room.

And he had a [00:04:00] homemade, just a piece of paper with like kind of drawings on it, and I thought, Hmm, this is not acceptable compared to what I saw and have experienced in the human side. So I saw that as my opportunity to where I could maybe bring in my creative skills, my writing skills, and as well as my vet knowledge.

So I actually started my own veterinary marketing company that was probably about over 20 years ago. and I love that because I could kind of merged both sides of my brain, the science medical side, but the creative artsy side. And at the time I assumed that vet clinic owners. you know, they weren't quite into social media marketing and that there maybe wasn't that need or that drive.

Then, so I actually started working with some of the animal health and pet food companies being kind of their marketing agency. A colleague of mine heard about what I was doing after I'd been in doing that for a year and a half, and she had this idea to write a book because her, unfortunately, her dog of 16 years had passed away.

And when she was [00:05:00] in practice, she was the wife of one of my best buds in vet school, and she had this idea, and we both talked about this as veterinarians, parents of kids would come in and say, you know, fluffy died, what do I tell the kids? So it was always, as vets, we were coaching parents how to properly.

Bring up death 'cause it's often the first experience to children, And so we wrote a book about to help those parents and families with, children, you know, when a pet has died. And we wrote this book while, you know, after we put the kids to bed. And so evenings and weekends we put this book together and it became a huge hit.

We self-published it. That book is still being sold over 20 years later, and it, it is sold probably over 200,000 copies and been distributed across Canada through major distributors. We ended up writing four more books, all about pet care. W e were consulting for major animal health companies.

We created products. It was like so fun because we [00:06:00] truly felt we could have greater impact as veterinarians doing what we love to do. Writing, I loved the creative process and we knew we were helping families with children and pets across Canada in so many different ways. We also had a children's series, so it was really fun.

But you know, I quickly realized that. The Canadian vet industry was pretty small, and so I, reached some roadblocks. Um, and so now fast forward. My creative journey is continuing, and I kind of got fascinated over a year and a half ago with ai, and I've never been one to be techie, but I've kind of jumped in with both feet and now my creative expression is with creating apps and tools and helping develop systems that I now can see could be really helpful for vet clinics today and now more than ever, is when they need to be building relationships with their [00:07:00] clients, maybe even more so, you know, certainly maybe we weren't doing it so much in COVID. And maybe not so much 20 years ago, but we definitely need to be doing it more now, right?

Building that those relationships, building that loyalty, that trust, gaining that trust back, re-engaging with clients that maybe haven't been in, in over a year, 12, 18 months. So, there's so many tools now available to our industry to help clinics grow, and be more available and meeting clients where they're at now.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: That was a great overview. I wanna like go back to the beginning and like piece some of these together because I also wanna highlight some of the unique skillsets that are part of you and, and part of your journey. So even going back to the pharmaceutical sales, that gave you such a unique perspective. On an aspect of medicine that you are able to bring forward, not only about the marketing perspective, which that is. Part of it, you see all the [00:08:00] marketing that goes behind these things. You have to have conversations with doctors about them. So you have to have some type of ability to 

Dr Teresa Woolard: Right.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: the medical aspect of things. , but also back to that communication aspect, Again, I think that's a, that is what sales is, is communication. so all of those things are, are really beneficial to learn.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Mm-hmm.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I, I think when you were talking with me earlier, you mentioned that, and, and may, I don't know if you were the reason that your husband got into the pharmaceutical

Dr Teresa Woolard: I

Dr Megan Sprinkle: but but for you, there was a moment where you decided to pivot and that's where you got into vet med. I mean, great skills, but what was missing or what was it that you wanted? Next when you decided, no, I'm gonna actually go to vet school, which is no little decision. 

Dr Teresa Woolard: fulfillment. Um, you know, I thought I was like the weirdo because everyone wanted to get into pharmaceutical sales 'cause they treated you so well [00:09:00] and they did. T hey paid for everything like, perks and benefits, more than you can imagine. But it, I wanted more, I wanted to be more, I wanted to create more of an impact and I realized, and this part of the self-reflection.

If you are not doing something that is aligned to your values, you're gonna be struggling emotionally. and in terms of fulfillment. So I would never even take an aspirin for a headache. So why would I be pushing drugs? And I know there's some, there's good reasons, but my health is my number one value, I would rather, you know, one, I I was promoting meds for high blood pressure, and it's like, well, why don't they just lose weight instead of taking drugs? Right? So it, it's like, it was like the easy button and I struggled with promoting something that I maybe didn't a hundred percent believe in.

And so that's hard to do day in, [00:10:00] day out and, and it was also, even though it was sales and I'll touch in why that sales is also very an important skill in vet veterinary medicine. But here, I thought, because I love being around people too. As much as I loved animals, I love being around people.

And I'm just at one of those I love connecting and it was a very lonely. Business because I was on the road driving by myself, and I guess I just wasn't good company for myself because I got very lonely. So it wasn't what I expected. So my expectation was very different of being kind of a person on, on the road doing sales, what it really looked like.

And I, I guess I just didn't, it wasn't what I was expecting. So I pivoted because I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy even though like the money was my gravy. Like every, they paid for everything. that said something about the need for me to find something that really, you know, gets at my heart and that I'm [00:11:00] passionate about and that I enjoy doing and I feel it has an, it can create an impact and is practical and all those good things, right?

So, that was my reality check that I need to make sure that I'm doing something that brings good for others.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. I know you said that animals were a big part of your life since childhood and, what was it specifically about vet Med that you saw Impact and fulfillment.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Oh, I, think I just love, I loved being in the exam room with the pet owner. 'cause again, I, I connected and this is where the sales piece, so I'll, I'll finish that loop too. I think the sales, just being able to listen and communicate and connect with people. You know, every clinic I worked at as an associate veterinarian, they all said, you know, I had the highest average transaction fee and it wasn't because I'm trying to sell the pet owner.

It's because I connected so quickly with them. They trusted me. So when we would go and work on together, like [00:12:00] a plan, for their pet, we did it together and I listened and I empathized. I would explain and I would take time with them. So I think all these things are so important now, today, probably more so is, you know, listening and connecting, having a bit of small talk at the beginning.

So like we said at the beginning, that building that trust, that relationship, that even though people go into vet, med because of the animals. As you and I both know, it's very much a people business and so communication skills very important. and it is a business. So, over the course of my career, I also realized not only am I opportunistic, I am entrepreneurial.

you know, I understand business. I, I've owned businesses in a number. of realms and even industries. So I get the business part. So even as an associate veterinarian, you have to realize that you are part of the business and, bringing in revenue for your own good, but also for the [00:13:00] health of the clinic.

I worked with a clinic owner always said, you know, a, a profitable business is a healthy business. So the clinic needs to be profitable in order for you to still be able to work there. So yeah, communication skills. I think, you know, in fact, I worked as a proj, a national project manager for a vet management company recently, and going into help clinics with their p rotocols and workflows and helping with efficiency. And I was quite surprised at how there was quite a lack of communication skills from what I saw in the clinics that I went into, as well as leadership skills. So again, those soft skills we can't ignore. they're important in our, in this industry as much as any other business.

So anything we can do to be better listeners, better communicators, better leaders w ithin the clinic and even for our community, I think it's just gonna help. It's gonna help your business for sure.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Thank you. I'm glad that you were able to highlight those things 'cause that's what I [00:14:00] see of you too. That is gonna be helpful for you going forward, For you in your career, but also to help others in theirs. So, you know, you said you're very entrepreneurial and I see entrepreneurs as creatives too. it's another way to have a little bit of a creative outlet, I think, being entrepreneurial. and you know, another aspect that you were willing to share was you had two kids. I think they were kind of close together. Uh, so yes, you roll your eyes, uh, they just changed your life.

They, they really do. It's no other way to, to explain it. And I think that was also maybe another moment of You're very good at sitting down and, and self-reflecting on things. And I think that's such an important skill as well. And so it was an opportunity for you to sit down and really think about what you want in life too.

So here you are, practicing in a, a thriving practice with two young kids. Your husband's working, everything seems good, but you know, everything didn't feel quite right where you [00:15:00] wanted to be.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yeah,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: like you

Dr Teresa Woolard: it I was surprised because I've always felt I was someone who could, I could take it all. I'm Superwoman, right? I can be the supermom and the super career woman, but I tell you when you're going through it, yeah. I had my children. They're only 18 months apart. and we were living in a city town, It is a very popular town and lot of families, so it's really hard to get into daycare. So we were on a wait list and my son was, 21 months and my daughter was three months old and I got the call that they had an opening. I wanted to have both kids in the same daycare, and it was a difficult decision.

It's like, oh man, this is too early. to start back when she's only three months old. My daughter was only three months old, but I also knew I, there weren't gonna be maybe many opportunities, so I decided to go back to work early and it was really emotionally tough and I think that was part of the reason why, when I realized, [00:16:00] you know, after I would drop my three month and

21 month old off at daycare just in tears every morning before going to work. And I'd be the first vet in at 8:30 and my husband would, this is the time he was doing international marketing in, in the pharmaceutical company. So he'd be gone for like three weeks at a time. So I didn't have that extra help.

maybe it was just bad timing, I don't know. But it just, it finally caved on me. And it just, I felt like I can't, I can't do it all. And the realization that what am I doing? I'm driving myself and it was affecting my health. I had lost 12 pounds that year without even trying, I couldn't eat because I think I was just so stressed trying to do it all, be there for my children as much as I could, yet still, you know, try to.

Get them prepared and off to daycare and then be the first vet at the clinic. And I just accepted that that was the way it was. I was an associate vet and I didn't question or ask for [00:17:00] a change of hours, but I just did what I thought was what I had to do, and I was working full-time and day in, day out.

It just, it started wearing me down and I just realized the wake up call was my health. I was ignoring it, and that was when I did that big. I need to take a pause here and really think about what I wanna do, because I was quite literally miserable because of the situation that we'd put ourselves in, part of our fault.

You know, we were in a very expensive area that we were living in, and then daycare wasn't cheap either. It was like a second mortgage. So, I think just everything all at once. In, in hindsight, Megan, I think in a way maybe it was all meant to be because I took that time and realized, you know, I had this, this is when I had the idea for the marketing business, but I was so emotionally and physically spent by the time I'd be coming home.

You know, it'd be like 8:30 at night after got the kids to bed. It's like I don't have [00:18:00] any mental bandwidth to do anything on this business idea of mine that I had, you know, with this marketing, home-based marketing business in the vet industry. And so that's when I had a chat with my husband and said, you know, we have to make a change here.

or I think my health was gonna get worse. And this is what I mean about being aligned with your values, because health is my number one value. and so I decided to go down to part-time practice and started my veterinary marketing business part-time. And we moved like an hour and a half away.

No family was around, we chose to do that because it was, cheaper place to live and I could afford to go part-time. So we made those decisions as hard as they were at the time. But once We did. It was like, oh, this was like the best decision we could have ever done.

I was so much happier. I was able to be there for my children. I could do my creative part, and it [00:19:00] just exploded, and I was healthier, happier. So they're hard decisions sometimes at the time, but in hindsight, it was the right decision for me, for my family. And so I think when you do it for the right reasons, health, family, whatever your values are, it's the right decision.

And then when you are aligned, and it's something I've seen over and over for me anyway, my experience, opportunities start opening up that you never would've expected. You know, after work doing my marketing company. And I'm working with printers, editors, graphic designers, doing work with big animal health.

I created a national survey, a qualitative veterinary survey, that then helped animal health and pet food companies better market to veterinarians. So. That's when my colleague reached out after her dog had died and we decided to partner in, creating that first book and then five more books and consulting and building products.

It [00:20:00] just mushroomed, we ended up selling 400,000 copies of our books across Canada. People knew, like our children's series, the main character of our book was even considered for a, syndicated show. Like it was crazy. Yes. and my partner, she ended up, she is a pet grief counselor, still doing that business 20 years later

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Oh

Dr Teresa Woolard: and just, and just wrote a chapter in a vet tech, end of life textbook for the vet industry that was just launched not too long ago.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Wow. She's serving so many different audiences. Everything from the pet parents to now technicians and

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: that's that's so neat. And you already mentioned there's that impact, like you've. You are touching more

Dr Teresa Woolard: yes,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: in a different way than one-on-one in a clinic, and that is what's giving you

Dr Teresa Woolard: yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I forgot to ask, but I, I'm sure this comes in probably daily now, but you had mentioned that you've also been an [00:21:00] avid learner, especially around personal growth and development. And you said you were even reading this in high school, early college times. Would read the personal development books and you also talked about like, you would read them, you would absorb them, but then you would go back on the shelf and they're, you know, nothing super tangible.

Yes.

Dr Teresa Woolard: My library.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: you know, I still think that that is, you do, you read them and, and so it is going into your brain, right? Like sometimes it's, it's about your behavior, that you keep surrounding yourself with these things, it starts to come out in your beliefs and your actions. And I think that's also a big part of the book that you wrote.

You, I don't think you've mentioned it yet. the book you wrote, which I know there's a whole story

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: but you, you mentioned you had an interest in behavior when you, when you got into veterinary

Dr Teresa Woolard: yes. I, I took a lot of extra courses after I graduated because I was seeing like really [00:22:00] poor behavior is like the number one killer of pets

We had some really good animal behaviorists at the Ontario Veterinary College, but also I followed, the late Dr. Sophia Yin. I loved her work.

 and, you know, anything I could do to help, pet owners better understand animal behavior. You know, I was always advocating for, doing early training and I also saw, started seeing analogies between, you know, I was a student of personal development for years. Oh my God. It was a sponge for personal development.

Just feeding your mind with the right things. Right, and I would reread books because it, it could change our own behaviors. And then when I studied more animal behavior, I'll never forget this day, I don't even remember if it was a specific case that. I was working on, but all of a sudden something hit me felt almost like upside the head that it was like I was in the exam room.

I was like, geez, how can we can use simple animal behavior techniques, [00:23:00] you know, classical conditioning, positive reinforcement, successive approximation type of techniques with animals to change them from bad behavior to good. Yet humans struggle so much with change. And even though we have so much personal development, I would find myself sometimes, as you mentioned, I'd read these books, they'd almost be like, oh, so overwhelming.

Too much, too complicated. And so I'd put it on the shelf and it's like, okay, I'll get back to that another day. And so, you know, kind of trying to take all this. Information, knowledge that I knew over the years and vet and human personal development, self-help. And I thought, well, why aren't we adopting some of the things that we do with animals for people?

Keeping it simple, doable, Maybe they'll actually make change and it won't be so daunting and over complicated and overwhelming. So that was the idea, 12 over 12 years [00:24:00] ago to write. My book, kind of personal development with an animal twist. and so it's really resonating with pet lovers because it is bringing in, you know, some of the animal behavior techniques also to kind of help teach them a little bit of animal behavior, if they need it.

But also just looking at it in a different way, as, distilling it down to simple. Basic bite-sized steps, that I talk about for if people wanna make a change or take action, that we should be also rewarding ourselves along the way with little treats, mini rewards, and then have a major reward at the end.

And then doing the dig was part of my, my own experience was making sure you are doing something that is aligned with you and your values, your special gift. You know, I think believe everyone has a special gift that we should be sharing with the world, whether volunteering, part-time, hobby, career, whatever, business, so I wrote that book and it's called Dig, leap, play.

It's the [00:25:00] three step framework to help humans be better humans or be able to chase those dreams, achieve your dreams, using some of the similar techniques and metaphors that we use with our animal friends.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: to me it, it's kind of bringing a lot of, your skills and like you said, your values together. All the things that you're doing to help the veterinary world, whether it's business, whether it's, practice, . Identifying, what you want, again, you're very good at self-reflecting and you can help people go through that, but , it doesn't need to be

Dr Teresa Woolard: That's true.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Like, yes, some of these things you're gonna have to think about, but when we can make it. Simple and straightforward, and we have that guide,

Dr Teresa Woolard: Mm-hmm.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: then we're more likely to be able to do it because we haven't made it complicated. Where then it's easy to say, well, that's too complicated. I just, I, I'll just put it

Dr Teresa Woolard: Mm-hmm.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Um, but you're making a lot more possible through

Dr Teresa Woolard: That's right.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I 

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes, and I [00:26:00] just actually had a little interview coffee date with a woman that was at one of my talks that I did a few months ago, and the title of the talk was You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. And it was to a group of retired persons, about 60 of them. And she was in the audience and she's, she's in her sixties and she was humming and hawing, overthinking it about maybe going back and reinstating her real estate license.

And she was invited to this talk. I guess this. The board member had mentioned about me coming in as a speaker. He talked me up and so that was the reason she came, was because he talked so much about me as a speaker coming in and she was in the audience and she got so motivated and I shared this same framework. I brought in about even the whole.

just learning in later life can, we could build new neurons in our brain with neuroplasticity. And, and I talked about good nutrition and rest and, continuing to learn. And she got motivated and she sent me an email a few, [00:27:00] about a month ago saying that my talk inspired her to go back and get her real estate license.

She got registered, she's now a full fledged agent. And, yeah, she's so excited. And I actually. I recorded our sessions yesterday, so I'm looking to share that and help other, especially women in midlife mid-career, that are thinking throughout a pivot stage and kind of using a similar framework, this same framework, dig, leap, play, keeping it simple and she said the same thing like she was.

Imposter syndrome talking to her so many times, putting negative messages in her head, and she had to consciously not overthink it and just do it. even, she said, taking that one step at a time, those bite-sized steps, you build your confidence from the action. So by taking that action leaping, in bite-sized steps, you can get there.

it was again. Feeling that impact, that your words, your message, which, bringing in that animal piece, but it stuck with her. It was memorable, it was [00:28:00] simple, and she believed she could do it, and that's what I say. If your pet can do it, you can do it.

So it's all about helping inspire and empower people to take those leaps, even if later in life, you know, I'm an example of that. So it's never too late to begin again. , And it's never too late to start. So if something's pulling at your heart that you know, you have this desire to do, you have this whim, like I was a year ago wanting to learn more about ai, a fascination, a curiosity, go with it. You know, be that curious cat. Right? and go for it. You never know what it's going to lead to. Don't put that lid on yourself. There's so much to explore or like just listening to your body and your inner voice, your gut instinct, your animal instinct. I call it listen to your animal instinct and, go with it, you know? And, um, you can do it part-time. You could do it just on the side.

Just start, uh, [00:29:00] exploring. You might be surprised at what doors can open, your outlook on life, your perspective. She was smiling throughout the whole interview yesterday and she's had like health struggles as well, but she is in such a happy place and she's so glad that she took that leap and went back and she's in her sixties.

So good example there. Right?

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. and like you said, when you start leaning into what feels right, and start doing and acting upon it, that's when opportunities start to

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: and there's so many things can change and we grow and we want to do new things and the world changes and so there's, you know, opportunities that come up.

You mentioned ai, which is a, a great example of the world is changing and so you can understand needs. Particular environment like a veterinary clinic and be able to lean in, learn more about [00:30:00] AI and feed the curiosity. We share that value as well. And you never know what happens. And, and like, here you are.

So, yeah, so share more about that because AI is definitely a hot topic, a lot of changes going on in the world. I'd love to hear what you have learned and what you are putting together that's gonna be launching very soon.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yeah, so like I said, I just got like, just kept getting pulled. It was like this magnetic pull into like, I wanna learn more about this. And I had never been a techie person, Megan, like honest to God over my life. Never a techie person, but I kept being drawn to this, that curiosity. So I started learning and taking classes.

I'm in a certification program and I became more and more fascinated by the capabilities, the tools, again, just being able to explore my creativity with it, and you actually really need to, it's like Play-Doh. You need to play with it. You know, you can't just read about it. You can't just like, yes, I've spent hours, hundreds of hours watching YouTube videos.[00:31:00] 

But it doesn't really cement it until you do it. I've gotten to a point now, I've kind of jumped in with both feet. and having been a project manager and also being an associate vet for, you know, almost 20 years in practice.

What I saw more recently as a project manager and just some of the inefficiencies, this is where I see where, AI and automation can really help clinics, who are wanting to grow. And I know that's on the radar for this year for a lot of veterinarians is to grow their clinic, but we gotta be careful because our teams are already, in many cases, are being stretched as it is.

We can't put necessarily more workload on our team members, but this is where AI and automation can come in and help pick up that slack, especially if it's things like repetitive admin type of tasks. answering calls, you know, after hours on weekends, on holidays so we don't miss those calls. Being able to do some of the, repetitive work that is taking [00:32:00] current team members' time, where that could be better spent working with the client, doing the client facing, spending more time Having a conversation, building that relationship, that loyalty, yet let the AI and automation handle some of the other stuff that is, burdensome and keeping us there till eight o'clock at night. so I would just implore people, veterinarian, clinic owners, practice managers, hospital directors, to be more open and, accepting.

and play with AI and, someone like myself. And I know that like I've invested a lot of hours and time in, in learning this, that I know business owners won't have time to do this on their own. I get it. so I am launching a system, it's a five-part system to Deal with some of those repetitive tasks that can be done for them.

it's like a sales and marketing [00:33:00] platform separate from their practice management system that kind of just integrates and works alongside your practice management system, but helps with the parts that they're not addressing, like reaching out to your dormant clients, you know, helping with your online reviews.

That's all automated because there's so much statistics around if you can increase, even by one star review on your Google reviews, that could be anywhere from five to 9% increase in revenue. missing one call could be 250 to $400. Worth of revenue, which amounts to about a hundred thousand a year.

So it's important not to miss these calls, but we can't, we're only human, right? So this is where we can leverage AI and automation to help with these things. Save money, bring in revenue at. No extra workload for the team. So it, it just makes sense. we're at, at this stage for many clinics, both in, not only North America, but globally that I'm hearing that there's chaos, some are in crisis that [00:34:00] I really think this could be a, a sensible solution for vet clinics worldwide.

And, I would love to be a part of that and, and help clinics because of my business acumen, background understanding of, communication and now AI and automation , you know, I'm not miss Tech worldwide yet, but, I know enough to be dangerous and I've partnered with a team that are influencers in this world, AI world, and, that's who I've partnered with to help, implement some of these things for clinics.

So I'm kind of the go-between. I understand what the behind the scenes are, I know what, happens with running a business and where we need to improve on for vet clinics and where I can help bring some results and solutions very seamlessly, with an integrated system that, I'm about to launch very quickly, but they can read about it on, on my website, clinic amplifier.com.

and I have some really fun tools for the industry as well that I would love to share. And so I'd be happy to help clinic owners, [00:35:00] you know, better understand, and see if it's something that they would like to adopt for their clinic as well.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I know you've research this so much that you, you probably have looked at some of the other offerings on the market right now that are talking about ai, and so just to maybe help people better understand more about how to know. How to assess different options out there to really connect to their genuine needs.

Can you speak more to maybe like what inspired you specifically, and that can kind of illustrate the type of person, the type of challenges that you picture when you're like, building this and, and wanting to reach out.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Well, like I said, when I was working in clinics, you know, I'd spend like five days, two weeks at a clinic. As a third party o r you see the outside perspective because I think when you're in the weeds, you know, running your business or working in the clinic, you're just [00:36:00] focused on what you need to do right then and there, but someone kind of watching, kind of in the background, you see the misses, you see the missed calls like, daylight, two receptionists, but they're not at the desk . No one's answering the calls. You know, people still doing , post-it notes, and so lots of opportunities for miscommunication, right? Client's not getting called back. We're not doing social media marketing to bring in new clients or to connect with our current clients on social media or email marketing to, so I, you know, I'm a marketing girl, and a communication girl and I love being able to keep the clients in the loop.

And we also need to, be that face of pet education in our community. So again, why we need to be marketing and being out there, we need to be more visible because otherwise a more tech savvy, competitor who's maybe barking more. Might get those clients. we need to step up and kind of do that work that maybe we haven't been [00:37:00] doing some of those, you know, by reaching out to our clients.

And leveraging ai, so having something on our website that can answer some of their questions, And capture that lead and book the appointment. So, instead of having your website just be a digital brochure, it can actually work for you, you know, if we incorporate some of the, some of the technology even on your website.

So, yeah, I saw a lot as a project manager, just, with that business hat on and seeing the loopholes, the gaps, the leaks in clinics that they're not seeing, you know, they're doing the best that they can, but, there's things that we can do to patch those leaks, and help our clients have a better experience, keep the communication going and improving on it where we can.

So, I think that was the eye-opener for me, again, being opportunistic. I, had seen the gaps and then when I was [00:38:00] learning AI and automation. And this technology is like, oh, this could help here, this could help here without having to burden the team. 'cause we don't need to do that either.

'cause we're already, for the most part, topped out. And I can't imagine clinic owners trying to learn this on their own unless this, they're really bent that way. But it's overwhelming and it's changing every day. this is more of a system that I'm bringing in to fill the gaps in a lot of areas to help them. So, yeah, that's where I get excited. Again, it's that impact. It's helping, it's something that's very needed and it's practical and it's got incredible return on investment.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I'm glad I asked 'cause I, it started to all come together for me. One big differences that I I see in you is that marketing background. Not only are you veterinarian, 'cause that's a very important part to have, but the ability for marketing, which again, is listening, knowing the [00:39:00] audience, and communicating well.

That's what marketing really

Dr Teresa Woolard: exactly.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: understanding your audience and their

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: it

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: , But also if we think about our audience has changed, like pet ownership especially, and, even the feelings around animals, right?

I, think there is an evolution to that, but our pet parents are, they expect different things. , They're evolving their connection with their pets, evolving their expectations with how the world is changing, is evolving. And so, and, and you've. Been part of that. You, you've had to, because you're, you are supporting businesses, you're sort of supporting practices.

You have to understand that pet parent, in addition to understanding the veterinary side of things and like all the moving parts and supporting the people within that too. That's really a very unique perspective. So any thoughts around that too is how times are changing the pet

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: that's 

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes. [00:40:00] So I was a keynote speaker, to a group of 600 vets collectively a few months ago, and in doing some research, more in depth on the statistics and expectations of pet parents today, and interestingly, you know, millennials make up about 35% of the pet owners.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Mm-hmm.

Dr Teresa Woolard: you're probably one of them.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Yes.

Dr Teresa Woolard: and they expect technology.

They expect to be able to book online and not have to call. They don't wanna call. They won't leave a message. Only 15% of people will leave a voicemail message. So. For vets who were still practicing, like from 30 years ago, that thinking, oh, they'll just leave a message. We have an answering machine that's not gonna cut it for, for a third of those pet owners right now.

So we need to meet them where they're at. And, and that's with technology, that's with communication. as much as, yes, AI is great. [00:41:00] It's also gonna show that we still need that human piece. We need the human piece in our communications in person. We also need that communication in written form. So we need to meet and be kind of everywhere, especially also online.

We need to be more visible with AEO optimization coming in, you know, soon. It's not gonna just be Google searching "a vet near me". They're gonna be asking ai, I need a vet who will work with senior pets and, so you wanna be the one that AI will recommend, right? So again, you need to be also not only in your community and therefore your team and your clients.

You need to be online. You need to be having a presence and being visible online. And that's through marketing, social media, marketing, newsletters, maybe being in your community more so it's just, you kind of have to be everywhere,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: and I really resonated with the information piece [00:42:00] too, because you know, pet parents, they're curious and they have easy access to information,

Dr Teresa Woolard: right?

Dr Megan Sprinkle: but it may not be the best information. And it surely isn't personalized or tailored, hopefully as the veterinarian should know, the pet and the pet parent as well.

And so it's that opportunity be because like where do you send people if you want them to look at certain information, 

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: and we don't have time to, you know, manually sit down and write information on all of that.

So to have technology support is there, I think sounds like the right direction for us to be able to create that community for pet parents 

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes. 

Dr Megan Sprinkle: give them the best support with the best people that really care about them and their pet.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yeah. So even like, you know, clinics who, maybe have had a library, a client, pet education library on their website, that's awesome. But again, for those. tech savvy pet owners, maybe they don't wanna read through all that. They just wanna ask a chat bot.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Question.

Dr Teresa Woolard: That's been trained on your clinic's [00:43:00] information.

that's where we're at. That's where we're going. and that's the expectation. So this is what I'm saying. Uh, you know, really implore, clinic owners, and hospital directors to, to really be open-minded and, yes, change is prickly. We all hate it, but we're here and we if we don't start adopting.

whether veterinary clinic owners or other business owners, you're gonna look like a dinosaur very quickly.

and if you don't have the time, then maybe bringing in people who can do it for you and at least help your business get more tech forward so that you can, meet the clients where they're at and grow at the same time.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, e especially for people who want to hold on to the individual private practice setting too. All the more to leverage AI and outsourcing those types of things to keep up with all of that

Dr Teresa Woolard: Even just with anybody starting their own business, [00:44:00] whether a business brand, a personal brand, it all comes from kind of full circle what we talked about right at the very beginning, your values. So every clinic should, again, do a deep dig into what do we stand for?

What sets us apart? What's our unique differentiator? So again, all about the it's marketing, but it's the, brand. What's your brand every, you know, clinics. Shouldn't look like they're like everybody else. think about what you, what do you do differently? what do you offer? What kind of client do you wanna attract?

who's your ideal client avatar, right? So all of this will also help feed your marketing, so that you do attract the right, not only client, but the right team members if you're looking to recruit. So marketing is also smart for, um, recruiting the right type of team members.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Oh, no, that's good. And I love a good full circle moment, so, think I strive for them, but, uh, our time has gone by so

Dr Teresa Woolard: Oh my gosh, Megan,

Dr Megan Sprinkle: I wanna sure I leave time. Is there anything that we have [00:45:00] not covered that you would want to make sure that we at least mention for the veterinary audience?

Dr Teresa Woolard: I think, you know, I think we've touched on a lot, lot of the important parts, keeping an open mind to this new world of technology at our fingertips. I'm happy to have a conversation with anyone and no question is too dumb.

Like, you know, this is all new for a lot of people. but if I can help, if I can help alleviate some of the anxiety maybe, or, um, answer some questions if I don't have the answers, I can certainly find out from experts that I'm aligned with. But I think just a good project. I know it's getting into busy season now, which is good, but you know, really thinking hard about your brand and how you stand out, , and how you can leverage that through marketing.

And, I'm happy to help with that as well because I, I love that.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Are you working Canada, US like where are you? Everywhere.

Dr Teresa Woolard: Yes, even worldwide, you know, that's the beauty of, uh, online, digital marketing [00:46:00] business. So yeah, I love it.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: Awesome. Well, the question that I always love to end on, and this can be career or not career, but when I say what is something you're most grateful for, what comes to your mind?

Dr Teresa Woolard: My mom, I'm grateful for my mom. She was my cheerleader. You know, as much as my pets were my best friends, she was my true, best friend. We always need someone, I call it your pack in your pack that, Makes you be the best version of yourself. And she was that person. She's the reason I wrote this book.

I dedicated the book to her. She was probably the one of the best pet lovers I've ever known. And, um, she was the one who read the first version of my book 12 years ago. Loved it so much. you know, why I ended up having it published was because of her.

And so, I'm grateful for my mom. She's not with us, as you can probably tell because I'm breaking. But um, you know, I think if there were more people like her, it'd be a beautiful place.

Dr Megan Sprinkle: That was Dr. Theresa Woolard, and [00:47:00] if this conversation resonated with you, I hope you'll take her advice and start with one step. Dig into what you truly value. Take the leap even in bite-size pieces and give yourself permission to play. If you want to learn more about Theresa's work in her clinic amplifier platform, links are in the show notes, including her book, dig, lead, play for a full summary of the key takeaways from today's episode so you don't forget them and ways to apply them to your own career, head over to the Sprinkle of Wisdom Substack for the Podcast Club Guide, and if I haven't given you enough things to do, please subscribe and share this episode with someone in your life who needs a reminder that it's never too late to begin again. And until next time, keep reimagining what's possible in veterinary life.