The #1 Problem Vet Practice Owners Face | Interview with Dr. Christine Staten

Here's the couch conversation every veterinary practice owner needs. Dr. Christine Staten of Veterinary MBA shares her story of when the career you love tells you to stop. This moment in her life, became the start of something much bigger. In this episode of the Kreative Mindset Podcast, I sit down with Christine to talk about how she grew a solo ambulatory mixed-animal practice into two clinics, with small animal and large animal (equine and livestock), 10 veterinarians and 53 team members. When chronic neck and back pain ended her time as a full-time large animal vet, she went back to school for her MBA. That led her to create Veterinary MBA, a library of courses, a membership community and sold-out business retreats that give practice owners the mentorship she never had. We get practical too. Christine shares: Why she moved her receptionists into a back-room call center, and how that freed up space for another exam room The phone-shopper system her team uses to turn a spay price call into a captured email and a value conversation How she runs monthly team meetings with zero announcements, and why she cancels them when there’s nothing to teach Her team “culture contract,” including her one-line definition of gossip that makes hard conversations easy The number one pain point she hears from practice owners, and where fixing it has to start If you own or manage a veterinary practice, this one is for you. 🔗 Resources mentioned Veterinary MBA: https://veterinary-mba.com Dr. Staten on Instagram: @veterinary_mba (DM her for her culture contract template) Walker Kreative: https://www.walkerkreative.com/ Veterinary Marketing: Handbook for Practice Growth in an AI Era (see Chapter 8 on the front office): https://a.co/d/01WFEgTv Book a FREE marketing evaluation with Cebron: https://vetgrowthmarketing.com/evalua... Chapter timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:55 From associate to solo owner 5:20 The injury, the midlife pivot, and the MBA 13:05 Building the course library 15:00 The dude ranch retreat that sold out in 2.5 weeks 16:15 How the membership works 18:40 Moving reception to a back-room call center 22:00 Turning phone shoppers into leads 24:55 Team meetings with no announcements 31:15 The biggest pain point for practice owners 33:15 The culture contract and defining gossip 37:00 Where to find Veterinary MBA Website: https://www.walkerkreative.com/ Facebook:   / walkerkreative   Instagram:   / walkerkreative   #veterinaryadvice #podcast #veterinarymba