Latest / My Veterinary Life / Dream Jobs, Detours, and Disney with Dr. Mark Penning, 2026 AVMA Convention Keynote Speaker

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Dream Jobs, Detours, and Disney with Dr. Mark Penning, 2026 AVMA Convention Keynote Speaker · My Veterinary Life

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's episode of My Veterinary Life Podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, doctor Annie Chavant, and my pronouns are
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: she her And this episode is special for not one,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: but two reasons today. The first is that I'm happy
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to reintroduce my co host, doctor Marcy Kirk.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Hello, everyone, my pronouns are also she her.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: We just had to pull doctor Kirk out of retirement
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: for this one as our resident Disney enthusiast because our
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: guest today is doctor Mark Penning, the Vice president of Animals,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Science and Environment at Disney Experiences. You can see him
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: in person at this year's AVMA Convention where he will
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: deliver the keynote address, hosted by Hill's Pet Nutrition and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: AVMA Plit and AVMA Life. So Marcy and I are
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: so excited to jump into this episode with you, but
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: before we do, we want to remind everyone that My
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Veterinary Life Podcast is brought to you by care Credit.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: For more than thirty two years, care Credit has partnered
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: with the veterinary profession helping pets get the care they
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: need and every moment that matters flexible financing with the
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: care Credit, Health and pet Care Credit card lets pet
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: owners spread out the cost and budget friendly monthly payments
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: the first time and for a lifetime. Being financially prepared
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: whatever life brings gives everyone peace of mind.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: And with that, welcome to the show, Doctor Penny.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Hi there, it's great to be a part of the show.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Thanks Sanny, and thanks Marcy. I really appreciate it.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: We are so excited to chat with you about your
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: story and about your plans for the keynote this summer.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And I suspect that we have some listeners that are
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: tuning in, especially because they saw your title in the description.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: So can you help us get to know you a
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: little bit better by telling us about what your role
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: at Disney looks like today.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: Yes, of course, I'm extremely lucky to lead a team
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: of really passionate animal care professional, storytellers, conservationists, and we
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: essentially do a couple of things here. We take care
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: of the animals that Disney has at our incredible Disney's
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida with our
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Animal Kingdom Lodge, this beautiful safari lodge where the guests
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: look out of their windows and see giraffes and zebras
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: walking around His gorgeous, the incredible marine animals at the
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: seas at Epcot, the Land Pavilion which is amazing agriculture story,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: and of course our Tricircle d Rch with Walt Disney
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: loved his horses. We've got these amazing cart horses at
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: the Magic Kingdom, and of course all our trail horses.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: So yes, we take care of animals. The second piece
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: is we help all of our film studios and television
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: networks with productions that involve animals or nature, and I'm
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: sure we'll talk a little more about that. We try
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: to help by adding value to those programs. And then
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: we drive the environmental projects, sustainability projects that help the
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: company achieve its twenty thirty environmental goals, which are very
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: ambitious for as far as companies go. And then the
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: last piece is protecting animals in the wild. And it
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: is so important to us that we as a collective
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: within the amazing Walt Disney Company, we do a lot
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: to protect wildlife and their habitats around the globe. And
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: it's something that I'm tremendously proud of.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: I love that so much, and for a lot of reasons. Selfishly,
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: I think people wonder why I keep going back to
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: Disney because I think many times they think it's a
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: theme park. It's for the rides and things, And when
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: you just pull back one layer, you see everything and
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: all the work that you all are doing to give
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: back to the environment and preserve nature.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: I mean just so much.
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: And if people are like I can't make it to Florida,
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I got to put a plug in for the Disney
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: Plus show.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: That highlights the care teams and the animal teams. It's amazing.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I also love when people go to Animal Kingdom Lodge.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: I took Annie.
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: There myself, like trying to show her around in far
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: the ropes. It's amazing, and I do feel like we
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: would be remiss. We're going to get deep into your story,
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: into your journey and all of that. But especially after
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: having been on the Wild Africa Trek recently, which is
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: one of the tours you can do at Animal Kingdom,
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: I have to know what is one of your favorite
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: species or animals to work on and can you share
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: us any kind of stories with that.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: It's the world such closely. Thank you for all the
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: kind words, and I'm so glad you can feel that
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: the soul of Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is we're protecting
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: animals in the wild, wildlife and their habitats. So I'm
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: so pleased you could feel that. I think my favorite
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: It's hard to pick a favorite animal or species, right.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: I tend to be more of a reptile and bird guy.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: I had a king cobra named Elvis because he was
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: the king many years ago. I've done lots of work
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: on elephants, and you know it's I just love nature.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: I love wildlife. But I think what I'm most proud
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: of with the Disney team, in addition to protecting animals
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: in the wild, is the care that the animals get,
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: where the animals participate in their wellness exams. You know so,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: And I think here, here's a way for your listeners
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: to think about it. You've got to imagine that you
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: are overseeing a tiger which is not a tame tiger,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: so safety is super important and the animals just a
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: little off today. So what do you do do You
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: have to load up a dart and chase it around
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: with a dart gun and darted, which is a frightening
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: and painful experience. It then goes to sleep, But is
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: it really asleep, because many of us know what happens
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: when you go into something that's asleep and touch it
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: and it jumps up, you know, and so safety big
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: issue you get in. You'd run your tests, you take
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: blood samples, you do what you need to do, but
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: then you have to have those tests carried out and
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: wake the animal up in the meantime and then you've
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: got your results. What do you do then do you
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: go through the whole process again to give it injections
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: and whatever else need? No, it's just that doesn't work right.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: So our animals are trained to all come backstage where
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: they have a safe space. They're all trained by an
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: incredible team of animal care professionals who have built a
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: relationship of trust. So the tiger comes in and stands
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: on the scale very happily because it knows it's got
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: to come into the space and it gets a treat.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: So what's the favorite treat? So for a tiger and
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: a lion is a little squeeze bottle of goat's milk.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: They just love it. So there's their treat. For a gorilla,
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: he doesn't care about that. He wants grapes. He'll stand
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: there all day and let you feed him grapes, you know,
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: so it's finding what their special treat is. And then
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: you've got the weight, and then you give him a
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: squeegee and then you do an ultrasound scam or you
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: shoot some X rays or whatever it is that you
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: need to do safely, right because you're still in a
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: safe space. And then, believe it or not, we do
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: a blood draw. The team is able to open up
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: a flap, hook the tail out, hold it and of
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  Speaker 3: course the tiger has to really trust you to be
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: able to do this, and then you get a blood
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  Speaker 3: sample underneath the tail. We don't stick a needle in
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: each time, we just use a finger. But you know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: we teach a point. Oh that was weird. Oh look
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: s milk, right, and then by the time you need
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: a blood, soam point and you pop a negle him.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: He says, what was it, Oh, goat's milk, and he's happy,
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: you know. So what it means is this relationship of
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: trust allows the animal to participate in the health exam,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: which means we can take better care of the animal.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: And that way everybody's happy. That's what I'm most proud of.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: That is fascinating.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: We always are talking about the human animal bond, and
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: this is another iteration of that that might look.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit different than in your small animal clinic.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But is just as important and just as powerful to
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: be able to provide these animals the care that they need.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: So I think that's definitely example of one innovation that
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: is happening at Disney and in some of the other
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: animal per facilities around the world. But I'm curious because
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: that sort of leads into the next question that we
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: wanted to ask you about, because Disney is known for
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: their unique culture and kind of the mission behind everything
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: that they do, and so we're curious building on that,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: are there any skills or training that you've learned at
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Disney that you feel venerary medicine as a whole could
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: benefit from, or vice versa skills as a veterinarian that
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you feel like Disney could learn from.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Fantastic question, And there's two different parts to that question.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: So firstly, what I've learned from Disney more than anything
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: else is incredible guest service, to provide the best guest
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: experience possible, and you can't do that without a really
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: strong culture. So I've learned how important culture is and
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: that culture doesn't simply happen. You have to drive culture.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: You make it so. And this is the difference between
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: leading a team and doing something within a team. So
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: it's been able to empower the people that are influential,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: you know, so I would apply that principle to a
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: vetmany practice. The level of people that are super influential
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: are the ones that drive the culture, and that drives
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: the experience for the people working for the animals and
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: for the owners the clients. So that has been fantastic
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: for me. What I've also realized through my career, and
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: this is what I'm going to touch on in the
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: keynote address that's coming up at AVMA, is that your
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: skills that you learn as a vet marian in private
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: practice enable you to do the kind of work that
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: I'm doing, because there are so many things you have
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: to be good at as a vet mirim that enable
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: you to make a big impact in the corporate world,
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: the entertainment world, the zoo and aquarium world.
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: I want vetinarians to feel a proud of what they
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: do and what they are, but be to recognize that
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: their skill set, their experience actually enables them to do
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: some pretty awesome things out there. Certainly I didn't ever
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: imagine I would get to do.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: You just encapsulated everything we hope to deliver to our
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: audiences about veterinary medicine, Like we wanted to inspire people
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: that really veterinarians are trained to do so much, We
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: are so adaptable, So many our skills are transferable. We
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: may have learned them in one setting, but they can
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: move to another setting and be just as applicable. And
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: I love the way you put it. It just it
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: makes my heart so happy because I obviously love this
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: profession and I think there is so much that we
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: can do that we can contribute not just to veterinary medicine,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: but to society as a whole. So I really appreciate
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: you bringing that to the forefront. I'm going to walk
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: us back just a little bit because I think sometimes
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: when we interview or talk to people, even in just
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: in our day to day life, we look at where
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: they are and we think, wow, it was probably just
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: a straightforward path to making this happen and they got.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: To where they are.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: But could you elaborate for us how your career path
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: sort of led you to your current role at Disney, of.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Course, thank you. I want to start by saying that
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: the journey, as you described it was never straightforward, it
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: was never linear, and it never went where I thought
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: it was going to go. And it's been absolutely incredible.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: And I have you know, each job that I did
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: was my dream job, and I think that's an important
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: principle to call out because I mean, to some extent,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: perhaps it reflects the jobs that I had that were wonderful,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: there were really cool things to do. But I think
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: more importantly it's one's attitude towards your job. It's finding
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: the joy in the job you do and really going
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: full speed on that and filling your soul and making
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: a contribution, making a difference. And you know, I was
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: very lucky in that. For me, I never doubted the
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: profession that I wanted to get into in second grade.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: I'm reliably informed by my teacher from that time that
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: I said, I'm going to be a vet nearer to
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: work with wildlife. So for me, it was a vocation.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: It was a done deal, you know. So it's good
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: to have that direction. But I was very lucky, fortunate
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: in not narrowing it down to I want to do
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: that one thing. It was almost like there's the field. Now,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: I play anywhere you like in that field. So I
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: am proud to tell you that when I applied to
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: VET School, I got turned down three times, and I
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: just feel it's important to say that because it's coming
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: down to earth with a bump experience that is really
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: good for you and builds character and resilience. It sent
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: me off on another pathway where I went and studied
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: farming and was absolutely fantastic. I just loved it. I
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: learned so much and then transisioned over to Vetory Science
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: once they agreed that finally my persistence paid off and
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: they'd let me in, and it was incredible. I still
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: I'm so proud to be a veterinarian. So I started
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: off in private practice. This was in South Africa. By
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: the way, I should mention that, you know I probably
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: have a funny accent to you. I am born and
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: raised in South Africa. My parents were born and raised
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: in South Africa. The most exquisitely beautiful country, the most
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: incredibly friendly, div amazing people you could ever meet, eleven
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: official languages, just this incredible hodge podge mixture of people,
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: and it was amazing I wouldn't trade it for anything
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: in the world. So I went into private practice and
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: I worked for a couple of years in private practice.
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: Dogs and cats helped me, hone, my skills, helped me
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: get good at certain things, help me realize what I
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: was good at, and help me. I wanted to make
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: a bigger impact as we went along. So I was
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: lucky to build up and expertise in in birds, parrots,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: especially rare rare parates was you know, breeders and snakes
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: because there I was too scared to touch them, you know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: So I kind of gravitated to the things that other
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: people were too scared to do and loved it and
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: just got into the zoo and aquarium profession that way.
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: But I ran across Lcoble Hatchery in the Akavango Swamps,
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: you know. I've owned and ran a game capture business,
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: so wild black relocation business on top of private practice,
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: and I joined the zooon aquarium profession, ran a bird park,
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: built an ocean areum in Burbon which is absolutely magnificent
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: brand and ocean graphic research institute as part of that.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: Absolutely loved it, and suddenly Disney came along and it
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: just kept on going upward from there. So it's quite
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: a journey, but certainly not linear.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Wow, quite the journey indeed. And I actually I really
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: like the way that you've framed it.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: From the beginning of I've identified the field that I
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: want to play on, I can play in many different
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: areas on that field or within that field and be
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: quite happy and satisfied. And that framing really takes the
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: pressure off finding the one dream job for you, Like,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: that's what I felt.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: When you're describing that. Yes, an he come out to that.
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: I love what you just said. And when I do presentations,
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: I will often say to the audience, if they're a
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: young audience, you know, like a you know, they're graduating
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: or whatever the case may be. I love saying to
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: them your dream job might just be out there. It
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: is distinctly possible that your dream job is out there.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: If you walked into your dream job tomorrow, you would
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: suck at it. You would be a complete disaster because
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: you do not yet have the skills and the experience
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: and the know how and the patience and the resilience
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: to be able to do your dream job. So don't
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: be in a hurry. It's a journey before you get there.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: Go and explore everything, take every opportunity you can. Just
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: get out there, because one thing leads to something completely
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: different that you didn't expect. And very often it was
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: taking that first step that gives you the or gave
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: me the next opportunity. But I haven't taken that step,
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't have seen it, you know. So I'm a
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: firm believer in that. Don't be impatient. You know you've
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: got a big field playing Go play in it, and
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: go and explore. And your dream job is out there somewhere,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: but be ready for it once you get there. Don't
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: wish it upon you too quickly.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, that makes perfect sense.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: And I suspect that a similar vein of career advice
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: for veterinarians more broadly is going to be part of
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: your keynote for aby May Convention twenty twenty six. You've
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: had such an exciting and very career within the wildlife
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: area and lots of wisdom to share, so we do
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: just have to take the opportunity to see if you
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: could give us maybe a little sneak preview of some
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: of your keynote topics.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: Sure, yeah, I'll do that. I think you know a
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: little bit of what we've been talking about today. Will
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: we'll come in there. I think mostly I would just
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: love people in the audience to firstly feel very proud
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: of being in the vetory profession. It's about teamwork that
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: I've really learned here at Disney. If you cross the
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: finish line on your own in first place, you didn't win.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: You know, it's just not sustainable, right, It's a team effort.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: And so I'm talking about the Vetex and the support
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: teams and you know, everybody that you engage with on
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: a daily basis. So I want everyone to feel proud
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: of the role that they play, and I want them
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: to recognize the skill sets that they have that can
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: be applied elsewhere if you just think about it, like,
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: for example, helping with animals in film and television. And
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: I'll give you a you know, at the keynote, I'm
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: going to share with you how we have helped Hollywood
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: transision from the day's of taking a tame trained lion
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: or tiger into a studio, subjecting it to these massive
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: banks of lights and noise and alrest. It's an unsafe situation.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: I don't like that situation for an animal like a
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: lion or a tiger. I don't think that is the
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: best for its well being, and how we've been able
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: to transition to doing it very differently, and of course
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: technology helps there, but I'll be able to share with
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: you some of those stories in the keynote, and then
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: just helping people recognize that there is meaning in what
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: you do every day. There is meaning and there is purpose,
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: and it's finding the joy and the purpose in what
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: you're doing and then looking at how you can grow that,
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: either outside of your business or in your business, or
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: transitioning too something different, but either way to go and
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: find that joy and be the best version of you
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: that you can possibly be. Well.
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: I was already super excited about convention and your keynote,
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: and now I am even more excited. I think there's
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: going to be, as you said, something for everyone to
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: learn and to take from that and to feel inspired,
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: which is exactly what a keynote should be and what
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: I think bringing together a profession should be. We should
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: leave it feeling inspired, We should leave it feeling excited
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: about everything that we can do, whether it's making a
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: difference in the role that you're in, making a shift
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: to a new role, or just seeing what you can
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: do for those around you, because we all have a
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: lot of influence and I love it. Is there something
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: that you really want people to tune in as they're
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: sitting in the keynote? Is there something you hope they
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: take away so that we can make sure we've got
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: our very good listening ears on during that time.
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah? Heither Again. I feel my presentation is really a
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: sick libration of what a whole lot of people do
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: when they have a great culture, when there is vision,
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: a clear vision that is clearly articulated, and everybody is
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: moving in the same direction. And I'd like the audience
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: to think about their contribution to animal well being, the
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: well being of themselves and their clients, and the wellbeing
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: of the world around us, and what contribution can we
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: make to that and just think of that very broadly
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: as you go. And I'm hoping that some of these
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: little nuggets that I throw out there, that just one
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: of those nuggets will be enough to make somebody make
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: a big decision and you know, go and do something
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: even more amazing that they're doing today. Just because it
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: planted a seed, it was an idea that would grow.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: I have found the best ideas. The best things that
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: I've ever been able to do originated from somebody throwing
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: out something that just stuck and made me think, way,
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: it is sick. And if I apply that to this
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: over here, I could do this thing. And so that's
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: what I'm hoping to achieve, is you know, if you
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: think about it like seeds, I want to throw a
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: whole lot of seeds out and see which ones land
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: on some fertile soil and start to grow. I'd be
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: very excited if that is the case.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: What a fantastic visual. I'm so so excited.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: To hear you live and in person and share that
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: wisdom and hopefully so many many seeds.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I think that is a testament to.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: The reason why we make the effort to get together
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: right convention is it's a commitment, right. You've got to
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: take time away from family, you've got to take time
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: away from work to focus on that professional development.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: And the reason why that matters is because you can
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: get exposed to ideas that you might not otherwise and
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: mix and cross poliny with folks who you might not otherwise.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: And so it's a really amazing opportunity.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: We understand that it does not come without sacrifices, but
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: I love that your goal is to intentionally plant those
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: seeds that have been so impactful for you.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: So I cannot think.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: Of a better way to wrap up our conversation today
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: here Mark, It's been fantastic going from learning about a
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: day in your life to some of the reasons why
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: you do what you do and you're so passionate about it, and.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Some advice for us, all of us moving forward. So
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: we covered a lot of ground, as we expected from
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: the very beginning, and we are so looking forward to Anaheim,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: so am I.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: It's going to be wonderful, and it was so nice
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: seeing both of you and wishing you all the very
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: best moving forward, and I look forward to seeing you
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: in person and catching up again. It'll be great. But
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: thanks for the opportunity.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: It's been my pleasure, wonderful, and thank you so much
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: to each of you for joining us on this episode
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: of My Veterinary Life podcast.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: We love sharing this journey with you.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: And remember we want to hear from you, so please
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: be sure to leave a rating and review on Apple
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: podcast or whatever platform you listen to.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: You can also email us at MBL podcast at ABMA
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: dot org, take care and we'll see you next time.