Episode Guests

Transcript

Part I

Mia Cunningham: Well, welcome back to the Fully Vetted podcast for our 100th and final episode. It has truly been a pleasure over the last few years to spend time with you. Krysten and I are excited to have both our past executive director, Jack Advent, and our current executive director, Chris Henney, join us for this final podcast as we sunset this thing.

So, Jack, you’ve been on the show before, and I think our listeners are largely familiar with you and your history with the organization. But Chris, you are brand new to the organization. Would you mind just quickly introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about your background with our listeners? 

Chris Henney: Yeah, I’d be glad to. Well, I’ve been a listener of the podcast for a little while now and have really enjoyed it and am thankful that I’m gonna be a guest here before it’s retired. I think it’s had a great run. 

So, a little bit about me: I’ve been on the job now for just over six months, uh, with the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association. I’m very thankful for the opportunity that presented itself with Jack’s retirement. Jack and I have known each other for a long time and I’ve had a great deal of respect for not only him personally and professionally, but for the organization and what it’s accomplished for its members.

 My background is in association management generally, but more specifically it’s been in agriculture and animal agriculture. I’ve got 25 years of experience, about half of that with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation in the first part of my career and in the last, uh, 13 years or so with the Ohio Agribusiness Association, which is a trade association for agricultural businesses that serve farmers.

I’m married and we have two wonderful boys, uh, one 16 and, and one 12. So, uh, that, that keeps me busy on the personal side on the home front. 

MC: Can you give us one fun fact that you don’t typically share with people, or that people might be surprised to know about you?

CH: Yeah, so a lot of people are surprised by this: having grown up on a farm and working in agriculture and kind of being an ohio guy all my life, I was a foreign exchange student for a year. Between high school and college, I did a gap year with the rotary youth exchange program. And so I lived in france for a year. I went to school there and got to travel europe. So that was a great experience and one that I don’t think a whole lot of people are aware of.

MC: Well, thank you for sharing that.

Krysten Bennett: And Jack, welcome back to you. Thanks for taking the time to come back on the show.

Jack Advent: Sure. Well, I got a little extra time these days, so yeah. 

KB: So first of all, important things first, how’s retirement? 

JA: Uh, retirement is good. I’ve been able to do a lot of things that I’ve postponed for way too many years that I’ve wanted to do. And so I feel like I’m kind of expanding who I am as a person in different directions a little bit. Obviously, you know, I was very passionate about the job, the organization and wanted to give my all there, but you know, there’s a time to move on and, and do other things in life and that’s where I’m at. So that’s what I’m doing.

MC: Well, happy to hear that you’re enjoying retirement. Uh, we’re going to ask you to go back in the memory logs a little bit, but just talk about, you know, your experience in organized veterinary medicine. When you began working for the organization, what did it look like? And in what ways did it change over your time with OVMA?

JA: Well, it looked pretty interesting when I came, let me just put it that way. How do I politely put it? Uh, I mean, the good thing, and really a testament to the members, the volunteers, there’s always been a really strong group of members of individuals who were volunteers for the organization and really committed to it. And that’s always been a core strength of, of OVMA. So, you know, when I came, there were some great people on the boards that were really there to try and help me, but the organization was, um, I guess to be honest with you, I felt like I’d stepped into a bit of a time warp and we were kind of back in time. A lot of the infrastructure wasn’t in place for things that I felt were really needed. And I sensed the volunteer leadership knew that too. They didn’t know exactly what needed to change, but they knew some things needed to come into place for OVMA to kind of move forward and progress as an organization and advance to be able to do more things for its members.

So, the early days were, honestly a bit of a struggle at times, just because anytime you come in and you start changing a lot of things, uh, there’s a little bit of resistance at times. But we just tried to keep doing what was right and what was needed for the membership, uh, for the organization to be sound and to move forward.

And so, yeah, there were various trials and tribulations, but there are also some great memories and great people that I got to work with over the years that I absolutely value.

KB: And that is a perfect segue into our next question. Do you have a favorite memory from your time as executive director?

JA: I had two favorite parts of my job. The one was honestly at the conference, even though that was a tremendous amount of work, but there’s an energy when you’re around that many people. Um, and yes, it was tiring and all those good things, but you just feed off that energy. What I always liked and really valued and appreciated is I would get members come up to me and just pull me aside and say, “Hey, I really, really appreciate and thank you for everything you and the staff are doing for us.” And these were people that I may be, wouldn’t even know on sight, but they were just what I would call the average member. And that reinforced the value of what we were doing, the importance, and you felt good about that. The other favorite part of my job, and some of my better memories were going over to the college and interacting with the students. Again, there’s an energy there with incredibly bright young people with energy and just amazing in many fronts, uh, so many of them. And so that part I always really enjoyed because anytime I went to the college, you could just leave me there for a week. I would have been happy just to hang around them and see what was going on. There’s a couple of stories, they’re interesting, but I’m not telling; those are not for the public domain! 

MC: I want to hear those. So Jack, what would you consider your biggest or greatest accomplishment, or maybe even your proudest moment serving as executive director at the OVMA? 

JA: You know, again, I mean this sincerely, these weren’t my accomplishments. These were the accomplishments of the organization and everybody there. You all on staff. 

MC: You’re going to be that guy. Really, Jack? 

JA: Well, but no, it’s true. I mean, it really is. An organization doesn’t function by a person. I always thought I was there to kind of help periodically steer the ship, and, just kind of sometimes point out some things and hopefully shepherd us in the right direction but you can’t do it alone. 

What I always liked and I always felt we were pretty good—and again, because the board was receptive to this—anytime you had a situation occur in the profession or in the external environment altogether, that OVMA needed to kind of step up to the plate and help our members with because it was something truly where an association is meant to step in and help. They couldn’t do a lot of this stuff on their own. OVMA sat down and spent the time and the energy and, you know, the elbow grease and all those good things to put them in place. Things like, uh, you know, these are somewhat mundane to some people, but you know, when we had a lot of problems with sales tax and veterinary medicine, OVMA stepped up to the plate. We did educational programs. We hired an accounting firm who specialized in sales tax and created a resource guide for members. We did this, you know, when we had other things that we had a lot of concerns is the board of pharmacy began to regulate veterinary medicine a little bit more in some of the new rule packages. We were strong advocates for helping them understand that veterinarians are unique and have unique needs. And they, yes, they do have a responsibility, but you can’t treat them the same as you do a physician, a chiropractor, or a pharmacist or whoever else that has prescribing authority. So, you know, those kinds of things, the loan repayment situation where we had excess funds going in and we were able to redirect that to help some recent graduates in terms of their ability to repay a pretty significant debt.

It’s a thousand and one things that would just come up over time and you just stepped up to the plate and tried to do what was what you needed to do. Again, that was a very much always was a collective effort. I was just happy to be part of whatever I could do to, to make that happen.

KB: Now, Chris, we’re going to transition to you. You kind of talked about this a little bit earlier when you introduced yourself, but can you tell us how your path led you to OVMA?

CH: Yeah. So, I’ll share a quick story. Um, when I was in high school, I had aspirations to be a veterinarian myself. I grew up on a small farm. I think I mentioned that already. We had some livestock and also I showed horses, and we had some really close family friends that we showed horses with and the husband and wife were both veterinarians up in Northeast Ohio. And so, for several summers in my teenage years, we would do little exchanges. So at one point, one of their boys would come down to our place and bring their horse and spend a week with us. And then I would go up the next summer and take my horse and spend a week with them. I had the opportunity when I was staying with them one summer to to go and shadow them in the mornings at their vet clinic. Everything was going along swimmingly. I was enjoying it; it was a great experience. And then, uh, they had surgery one day and I was invited to sit in on surgery. If I recall correctly, it was a cat spay. And so, As they were starting surgery and starting that incision, I just got all hot and lightheaded and had to leave. And at that point, I thought, well, maybe this isn’t the path for me. 

And so I ended up going on getting a degree in agriculture with a minor in animal science and worked in agriculture specifically with food animals and in large animal agriculture. And when I heard about Jack retiring, I thought, this is a great opportunity. I was at the point in my career where I was ready to expand and grow and have some new challenges. And yet I wanted to keep one foot in agriculture, Because that that’s a strong part of me and my background. And, and we’ve been pet owners for pretty much my whole life. So companion animals were a connection as well. And so I thought, OVMA is the perfect mix. I can stay connected to food animal and equine, but grow in so many ways, uh, like, uh, shelter, medicine, public health, and different ways like that. So anyway, uh, not to be too long winded, this just in my mind was a great opportunity. And like I said, it’s been six months now and I’ve really enjoyed every moment of it.

JA: So I’m, I’m going to, I’m going to interject back in here because he’s telling an ag story and I thought of it. I actually do have it. It’s not my favorite story, but it’s a good story. So, when those of you who will remember David Frash, who we hired as government relations director for OVMA (and former host of the podcast). And of course, we wanted to make him aware of veterinary medicine, help introduce him to the profession and different aspects of it. Dr. Ellen Yoakam was the president at the time. And so I was like, “Hey, Ellen, would, would it be okay if David and I rode with you one day?” Because he didn’t have any experience in food animal medicine. So we go up there and you know, those of you who know David, he’s, you know, he’s pretty big guy, it was hard to fit him in the overalls and all that other good stuff. We get in the truck and we’re on our way to just normal herd checks. And she gets a call and they’re like, “Well, we have a cow that’s in distress. It’s trying to give birth. We need to go over there now.” So right, whatever, we’re here along for the ride. We get there and, and Ellen gets in there and she’s, you know, checking things out and she goes, “We’re going to have to pull them out.” So she attaches the chains. And we’re standing in a, basically a small river of stuff—brown stuff that’s really slippery. And David and I each get one of the chains and she’s like, “Can you pull?” First of all, it’s a lot harder than it might’ve first appeared. I mean, we’re really pulling and I just am looking over the whole time and I’m seeing David and his feet just keep sliding. And the whole time, I’m just thinking, Oh, if I had a camera and he goes down, this would be such a good moment to capture.

But anyways, he stayed upright. We both really enjoyed the experience, even though the outcome with the cows was unfortunate. Um, but just to, to see him in that environment and that, that was a great introduction and, and just, uh, I think an eyeopening experience for him and certainly reminded me of the important work that our members do and some less than glamorous situation. So I just thought I’d throw that in there, because it popped in my head when Chris was talking. 

KB: That’s great. Chris has been visiting some of our members across the state, and I keep hoping something like that is going to happen and we’re going to be entertained with it on a staff meeting, but not yet.

CH: And I’ve really enjoyed those visits, but, uh, thankfully nothing that will hit the blooper reel has happened yet. There’s some great interaction with people and, and, uh, learning about different areas of veterinary medicine that I’m not as familiar with. 

MC: Just give it time, Chris. Well, Chris, as you mentioned, um, you’ve been with us for, you know, short, short six months, but, um, in that time, can you share what your experience has been like? Has there been anything that has surprised you or, you know, unexpected challenges that you’ve come across in your time with us so far? 

CH: Well, I don’t know if it’s a surprise as much as it just is a positive reinforcement of what I thought I already knew, and that’s the passion of the members and the dedication and love of this industry. It’s been really great to especially get to know the board, but also i’m starting to get to know some of the members through my time this year at MVC and some of these visits that we’ve just talked about And it’s just, um, reassuring to know that I’m able to work with an organization that is so excited about what they do, why they do it, and the future of organized veterinary medicine. So that hasn’t been a surprise, but I, I’ve really enjoyed having that gut feeling reinforced. And the board has been great to work with as well. They’re so dedicated and they’ve been so open. You know, as a new person, you’re, you’re a little worried, like I’m, I have really big shoes to fill. Jack did a wonderful job over 26 years. Anybody that comes into a new position is going to have a few missteps or whatnot but The board has been wonderfully supportive of me, and they’ve been very open to some of the new ideas that I’ve put forward. And they’ve also been patient with me as I’ve shared some things, some ideas and stuff that they’re like, Okay, Chris, it’s great you have that idea, but keep in mind we have some experience here. And so that give and take relationship that we have has just been wonderful over the last six months, and it just reinforces that I’m in the right place. 

KB: I remember in one of our meetings early on, you expressed surprise over the conference and how big it is and how such a small staff puts it together. And I remember being new— gosh, 14, 15 years ago—and thinking the same exact thing. That is, it’s really quite a feat that, that such a small team can put that huge event together. 

CH: Yeah, I’m glad you mentioned that, Krysten, because people say, Oh, how’s the new job? What do you like about it? What surprised you? Things like that. The Midwest Veterinary Conference is an amazing conference. It brings in way more people than I realized. You know, we had 5, 000 in-person guests there and this year, it was all done with five staff—and it really four, because I don’t feel like I contributed a whole lot this year, being the new guy. But that that truly is amazing and that’s a testament to the staff team, and all the volunteers from across the membership. And so I’m looking forward to the 2025 MVC because I feel like I have a little better feel for what’s going on. 

KB: So, you kind of, you know, touched on this a little bit, but do you have any goals or anything that you’re hoping to accomplish as executive director, any projects that you want to enact? 

CH: Well, i’ve spent a lot of time over the last six months just learning, and I think that’s really important to understand the culture, the history, the policy issues, the conference and, and all that. And so it’s probably still a little premature to talk about any grandiose goals, but there are a couple of things: one, we talked a little bit about this off air before, but we’re going to be bringing some new staff team members on board later this summer. We’re in the very beginning of that process. But, anytime you bring new people onto a team, there’s some cultural considerations and personalities and, and how everybody starts to mesh and work in tandem together towards the organization’s goals. So for me as the executive director, that’s going to be really important that we get the right people hired, get them onboarded and trained, and that we start to work as a real team and we build a strong team culture here at OVMA. 

Beyond that, I’ve talked with President Cron, and she’s really excited about some visioning or strategic planning. And so, I’m really excited about helping the board along that path, starting with our board retreat this fall and then kind of seeing where that process goes over the next year or couple of years. 

And then there’s always a myriad of public policy issues. So right now veterinary telemedicine is front and center in Ohio. And so helping the membership determine what the best path is forward for Ohio veterinarians on the topic of veterinary telemedicine.

MC: Well, thank you for that, Chris. Um, we’ve got one more question for you both before we let you go. Either one of you can can take it first. But we wanted to better understand what trends you see impacting the profession in the immediate future and how you think the organization should go about kind of tackling some of those challenges.

CH: Jack, you want to go first on that? 

MC: Jack, are you even tuned in at this point? Are you full retirement mode? 

JA: I’m going to use one of Krysten’s favorite things. You know, I’ve been experiencing taco brain. So, there’s a lot of stuff falling out. Because I don’t need to use it anymore. And so to be honest with you, I mean, yes, I kind of keep tabs on it, but I haven’t, you know, I mean, that’s part of been disengaging and, and, and going different directions in life. It’s not that I don’t care. I absolutely do. As, as I think a lot of people know my daughter’s a veterinarian and I’ve obviously a strong interest in the profession, continuing to succeed and, and, and do all the great things that it has done. 

I think one thing I learned over 26 years: you face things and you think, Oh my gosh, this is the most trying time; this is the hardest thing the profession’s ever faced. Every generation, every period of time has these constant challenges. I mean, that’s part of life. That’s part of an organization and you just figure out how to adapt and do it hopefully the right way and just keep trying. I think the interest and passion for animals in our society has only gotten stronger over time. And that speaks really, really well for veterinary medicine. There’s always a place for them. It’s only growing. It’s a great profession for any person to be in right now and will be for, for as long as I can think in the future. 

And they do such important work for beings that are so important to so many people. Regardless of what avenue that is, whether that’s in a companionship or in a food animal sense, or even at a zoo, research, all those different elements are really a huge part of how our society functions, succeeds and enjoys life. So, I think it’s only a positive outlook for the profession. Will there be a couple of challenges along the way? Absolutely. But that’s what you have organizations like OVMA for.

CH: Well said, Jack. You know, there’s a number of issues that are before us now and will continue to come before us. I think in my mind, the most important thing is how, as an organization, do we stay nimble and responsive to our members? So that’s really important that we’re truly representing our members.

And, you know, you’re never gonna make everybody happy. There’s always gonna be a minority, sometimes a vocal minority, that doesn’t agree with the rest of the membership or the rest of the industry. But as a organization like OVMA, we need to kind of wade through and determine what is the voice, what is most important to the industry, and be responsive to that and then stay nimble enough and flexible enough as an organization to address those issues head on as they come.

Specifically some issues that I see both currently and in the future. I already mentioned veterinary telemedicine. That’s here , and we’re seeing that pop up in states throughout the country. And so we really need to determine what we want that to look like in Ohio. 

Number two, I think, mid-level practitioners and just the whole veterinary pipeline. How do we continue to bring people in and either route them to vet school or to be vet techs or vet assistants or practice managers? How do we, keep a robust pipeline of people coming into this industry and supporting veterinary medicine in whatever way they best fit. 

And a third one, in my mind is, virtual continuing education. What does that look like? We just saw in Ohio where you can now do more of your CE in a virtual space. I always think that there will need to be some aspects of continuing education to be in person, especially related to wet labs and things like that. But in this digital world, this virtual world that we’re living in, we’re going to see people continuing to press for more opportunities to do things online. And so with the Midwest Veterinary Conference being a really big part of OVMA in a way of supporting our membership with CE, what does that evolution look like? And this might be 10, 15, 20 years down the road, but as we move to a more virtual world.

So, uh, and this is what’s exciting for me as the new guy, is all these, issues in front of us. And how can we all work together to, to accomplish whatever comes before us?

JA: Is that it on your questions?

MC: That is it.

JA: So I, and I, can I add one last little thing at the end here? Because I just want to, obviously a hundredth episode and I just want to salute Krysten and Mia. You did an absolutely fantastic job on this podcast. And while I’m, I mean, obviously I’m a little sad to see it go because it was something that obviously we collectively worked on putting in place and it had its time. And I think it, but over the years that it was there, you did such a wonderful job of making it. Because I listen to a lot of podcasts and I’m telling you, we were, you were absolutely right up there with everything where the so called professional, um, where people have, you know, I’m sure really big staffs and access to things. Very much, um, something I was always very proud of when I was with OVMA that we could point to and say, and I know other people who listened to it and said, boy, you, you both did such a wonderful job with it. So kudos for that. And you deserve recognition as we, uh, as you drop the mic on this one. 

MC: Thank you very much. 

KB: We were talking the other day after the board meeting that it’s probably going to pick up now and go viral now that we’re ending it. That’s the way it goes.

JA: Yeah. Yeah. 

CH: The hundredth episode is the one that’s gonna go viral, right? Because of Jack and I. 

JA: That’s it. Yeah. We’re kind of like Harry and Meghan. I mean, we, we were much that we needed, they had to take it over the edge where it would become really popular.

MC: Well, thank you both. We really appreciate it. 

JA: Absolutely. 

CH: It was a pleasure to be your guest.

Part II

MC: Welcome back to the Fully Vetted podcast. My name is Mia Cunningham and I am joined for final time with my colleague, co host, producer extraordinaire, Krysten Bennett. Hi, Krysten. 

KB: Hey, Mia. How are you? 

MC: Living the dream, living the dream. It’s kind of, uh, bittersweet. So our board has made the decision to sunset the podcast. And so this will be our 100th and final episode of the Fully Vetted podcast. It has been quite a journey. I know we both have our own interpretations of how this thing started, but in your opinion, Krysten, what really inspired the implementation of the Fully Vetted podcast? 

KB: I think inspired is kind of a strong word, but as I recall, several years ago, we had formed an internal communications task force and it looked at ways that OVMA and the board of directors could communicate with its members on various issues and topics. Of course we have, you know, the traditional printed newsletter, and we have our website, and we have social media, but were there any other ways that we could connect with people? And thus the podcast was born and it, I think it came in conjunction with a board retreat, which you have a story about, Mia.

MC: One of our members thought it would be a grand idea if he could just have our newsletter read to him. And so I think that encouraged some others to think about ways that we could make material a little bit more palatable. So, um, I, I was voluntold to read some board material for recording that our members could read on their way to the retreat . And so from there, I believe, we got a little bit of fanfare and excitement and the idea of the podcast was kind of born, presented to the board, and they approved it and gave us autonomy to just kind of run with it.

And so, um, with that, I feel like, you know, we’ve, we’ve done the best we can within the scope of our understanding of what’s going on in the profession and things that we think people would like to hear and just even trying to poll people and get an idea of what they want to hear and engage with them. We’ve come up with a variety of topics over the course of the last four years. 

KB: I think one of our challenges collectively was the fact that we are not veterinarians. We don’t have medical training and, um, a lot of our competitors in the podcast space are medically focused and I think that has kind of stymied us a little bit that we couldn’t really tackle those kinds of topics. 

MC: It was a lot of soft topics, but I think, you know, even given those I thought we did some pretty cool things, you know, and it definitely stretched me in the fact that there were some topics that I never thought I would talk about, you know, the power of poo, for instance. 

KB: Which was one of our most popular episodes. And surprisingly, that was a fun one. 

MC: But you know, just being challenged in spaces to talk about things that I would not have otherwise. I learned a lot, like um, veterinary forensic science, you know, I thought that was really intriguing with Dr. Merck. 

And then once we were presented with a new set of challenges because we began the podcast prior to the pandemic. And I think we’d even kicked around the idea of just going out on like farm calls or going out and traveling and recording in different spaces. But then we had to pivot once We were under quarantine. And so we went from recording here in office, having like a cool little studio set up and bringing people in office to transitioning to doing everything remotely.

And then even when we came out of the pandemic, you know, we found a formula that worked and we just kind of maintained that and it also allowed us, I think, to have a broader spectrum of guests that came on and talk to us, which was really cool. 

KB: I agree. 

MC: But you also were very instrumental in everything that went on behind the scenes from production, our website, just making sure that we were on all the things to get as much exposure as possible. Can you kind of give our listeners, just a typical, you know, what it took to create like an episode for you. Like, what did that look like? I mean, if you want to leave out the part about my mulligans, you can. 

KB: Well, everybody has mulligans, and that’s part of the challenge in producing a podcast, you know, like finding that balance between polish and still coming off as approachable and not overproduced.

Yeah. Um, so yeah, getting rid of all the “um”s and the “uh”s and the “can we start over again”s, that’s certainly time consuming, but just like the technical details of making sure everybody’s voice is the same volume, so people aren’t, you know, listening in their headphones and like jacking up the volume and then all of a sudden somebody comes on that’s really loud and blows out their eardrums. So, there was definitely a learning curve there and It certainly took some time putting all that together. 

And then outside of just like the technical stuff, there’s creating the show notes and transcribing and posting on the website and creating social media posts. It’s, it’s a, it’s a full time job. It could be a full time job for sure. 

MC: So given that, what would you say you’re most proud of accomplishing on the podcast? 

KB: Well, given all our limitations, I think we did, and in my humble opinion, I think we did a spectacular job. I think the podcasts were by and large very professional, um, polished without being overly polished and practiced. There was, you know, there was still a lot of personality in it, but. It was also very informative and, and valuable, I think. 

MC: And we got quite a few compliments, and I do think they were genuine, you know what I mean? I think we’ve got some genuine, you know, good, strong feedback about how people enjoy the show. 

Overall it was, I think it was a lot of fun to do , and definitely something different and not anything that I ever anticipated being on a podcast, let alone trying to host it and just meet so many cool people.

Um, so, and, and kind of in that same vein, like who would you say were some of your favorite guests or topics? 

KB: Gosh, there were so many excellent guests. I loved Mia Cary. She has a great energy and something really important to say. I loved our EQ conversations with Amy VanDeWater. I loved some of our MVC conversations with some really cool speakers like Steve Dale and Christopher Pachel. Those were really fun for me. What about you? 

MC: So I echo the same. So Dr. Cary, um, and Amy VanDeWater were high up on the list for me. So I really enjoyed learning so much about emotional intelligence; that kind of sparked my own interest in it. So I’ve been reading up a lot more and trying to actually apply apply some of those things in my own life. Um, I really liked, as I mentioned earlier, Dr. Merck with the animal forensic science. That was really intriguing to me because it was something I think, on its face, it made me sad and I didn’t really want to learn about it, but just understanding the power of science and how it helps in prosecution. And you know, she’s out here, like she’s, she’s a superhero to me. Like she’s out here, like finding bad guys are doing horrible things to animals. So I really love that. 

Um, Larissa Respondek from the Texas VMA primarily, because we were both just nuts. Like we just had such a fun conversation trying to make headway out of their CVA program and then trying to make it make sense for Ohio. So that was just a funny conversation. 

Dr. Michelle Harcha is another one for me. She’s been on several times and I feel like she’s just a gem in the profession, just in general. And she has no problem sharing her expertise and she has, I think, a gift for cultivating thought leaders within the profession and just talking to her. Like she’s just got like a really even keel voice too. So I just, you know, I like talking to her. 

KB: She was very easy to edit!

MC: Um, and my last one is probably Courtney Campbell, just because I had like a whole fangirl moment and couldn’t get myself together. 

KB: That was excellent. Yeah. 

MC: So those are the ones that like really stand out for me. I think we were really fortunate. And given that for the most part, like it’s not like we’re a top three, like people are just always so willing to just jump on and talk to us. I really think I would struggle to find a time where somebody wasn’t able to join us not because for lack of desire, but just cause like their schedule wouldn’t work out.

KB: Yeah. We never really had anybody say no, even though we’re just this rinky dinky, little-known podcast. Everybody was always really willing to participate. 

MC: So if you could impart some wisdom on anyone aspiring to step into the podcast space, like what would you tell them? 

KB: Use AI. For real. It is just, it’s so time consuming and there are some really amazing AI tools out there that can ease the burden that I wish I had had, you know, four or five years ago. You know, things that can transcribe for you. The text-based editing, auto levels for volumes. It’s pretty amazing what these things can do. And I know AI has this mixed reputation. 

MC: Well, I feel like I’m, my concern is it’s not using it at all and getting left behind. So I think it’s one of those things where it’s, it’s here, it’s coming, it’s advancing. It’s going to be all the things. So figuring out how to, you know, make, make best use of it and get comfortable with it would be advantageous. 

KB: And it’s not just in the podcast space, it’s everywhere—veterinary medicine included. That’s a topic I would’ve liked to dig into on the show.

What about you? What advice do you have?

MC: So I thought about this a little bit and I had a few things. I think the biggest one that stood out for me just again, just looking back on the journey in its entirety is know your why. And, you know, be prepared to clearly articulate your why to your audience. I think that having that kind of structure will eliminate some time that you may spend on creating the framework for whatever your podcast is going to be. Understanding your competitors and discerning how to set yourself apart from them, I think is really important in this space. Having a marketing and promo budget. 

KB: Yes! 

MC: If you really want your show to stand out amongst its competitors, you’re going to have to spend some money. And if you’re trying to figure out what that return is going to look like, I think familiarizing yourself with that upfront would be advantageous. 

Um, creating just dope content that people want to learn from and engage with is going to be critical. And then, you know, around that, establishing a sense of community with your listeners and then also for your listeners to just interact with one another so that people are, you know, they’re talking about your show, they’re sharing it with their friends. They, you know, want to put it out and do a lot of the promotion for you. Like word of mouth is still a thing. You know, I know we talk about AI and everything else, but You know, what people talk about stuff, like what they’re listening to, what they’re how they’re learning, where they’re learning. So if you can do some of those things, I think it would help, um, not only promote your podcast, but also, maybe give it some longevity. So, yeah, that would be my advice to any aspiring podcasters out there.

KB: Agree.

MC: Um, well, before we really say goodbye, I think we did want to take a moment to just acknowledge our board. Um, you know, the staff here at OVMA has been supportive of us. You know, getting this thing off the ground, the time it spent, recording, editing, you know, pushing it out. And, you know, last, but certainly not least, our listeners and subscribers, you know, thank you for rocking with us on this journey. Um, I think we, we learned a lot. 

So Krysten, if you could tell people where this thing will be archived, if we have anyone that wants to listen to the future.

KB: Yes, all a hundred episodes will be available, um, you know, until the robots take over probably. Uh, for now they’ll be on our website, fully vetted podcast. com and eventually, we won’t renew that domain and we’ll transfer them all over to the OVMA website at OhioVMA.org. So you’ll be able to find them there. They’ll, they’ll also live on Apple podcasts and Spotify and all those places for as long as we can have them there. 

MC: Well, sounds good. And if any point, any of this goes viral, you guys know where to find us. 

KB: Mm hmm. 

MC: Future sponsors if you’re listening, I’m not saying we won’t resurrect it, but we will for the right price 

KB: Everybody’s got a price.

MC: That’s right. All right. Everybody be well, and for joining us on the Fully Vetted podcast.

KB: It has been a pleasure.