Andy Roark, DVM
Founder of Uncharted Veterinary Conference
Dr. Andy Roark is a practicing veterinarian, international speaker, author, and media personality. He is the founder of the Uncharted Veterinary Conference and DrAndyRoark.com. He has been an award-winning columnist for DVM360 and his popular Facebook page, website, and YouTube show reach millions of people every month.
Tierra Price, DVM, MPH
Dr. Tierra Price is a recent graduate of Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, where she served as Vice President of her class and President of the Women’s Veterinary Development Leadership Initiative. She is currently a Community Medicine veterinarian in Los Angeles, California, but has a wide variety of veterinary interests including emergency/critical care, surgery, public health and lab animal medicine. As a veterinary student, in 2018, Dr. Price founded BlackDVM Network, a community that connects Black veterinary professionals for mentorship and advancing veterinary medicine. This safe space provides educational and networking opportunities for its members as well as a sense of belonging. Dr. Price’s commitment to highlighting Black veterinary professionals is directly related to her desire for a mentor she could identify with.
In her free time, she loves dancing, yoga, reading and soaking up the sun. Most importantly, Dr. Price believes we should be able to show up as our entire selves in our careers. She hopes to inspire others with her drive, authenticity and confidence to boldly take on challenges in veterinary medicine.
Tierra Price, DVM, MPH
GSD Speaker
Peter Weinstein, DVM, MBA
Dr. Peter Weinstein attended Cornell University undergraduate and the University of Illinois to receive his DVM. After graduation, he worked as an associate for three years before opening his practice.
While he was managing and practicing full time, he attended University of Redlands to receive his MBA.
As a result of the MBA, he was able to relocate, expand and sell his practice to a corporate consolidator.
Politically, he served as President of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association and President for VetPartners, the national consultants association.
In the veterinary industry, he acted as Medical Director overseeing the Claims Department for Veterinary Pet Insurance.
Dr. Weinstein provides small business and corporate consulting via his company, PAW Consulting
He was the 2018 Speaker of the Year for the Western Veterinary Conference Practice Management Section. And is the Chair of the Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee of the AVMA.
He co-authored with Michael E Gerber, “The EMyth Veterinarian- Why Most Veterinary Practices Don’t Work and What to Do About It”.
On top of all that, Dr. Weinstein is the Executive Director for the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association.
Peter Weinstein, DVM MBA
GSD Speaker
Stephanie Goss, Practice Management Goddess
Stephanie Goss started in the veterinary field quite by accident but fell in love with the experience of being able to serve people and their pets. With over 15 years of experience both on the floor and in the office, Stephanie is passionate about staff education, team culture, management and training. Stephanie loves helping managers and owners control their inventory and leverage their profits by maximizing their home delivery using online pharmacies. She is a vetmed nerd who loves to geek out about technology, especially Practice Management Software. She has experience as a practice manager in both private and corporate practices, ranging in size from one to seven doctors. She has experience as a consultant and trainer with AVImark software, paperlite/paperless transitions, practice management and staff. Stephanie currently runs a four doctor practice in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to her work in the practice, Stephanie is the Director of Community Development for Uncharted Veterinary Conference. More notably she’s the co-host of the Uncharted Veterinary Podcast where her laughter highlights the start of every episode and her knowledge bombs reign down like massive chunks of enlightenment from on high.
Alrinthea Carter
Alrinthea Carter’s work as an Academic Affairs Professional at Clemson University is cover for her not-so-secret life as a photographer, Social Media maven, voracious consumer of podcasts, Improv Comedian, and Executive Producer of Alchemy Comedy Theater in Greenville, South Carolina. As Executive Producer, one of her responsibilities is the creation of a safe and equitable atmosphere for performers, students, and staff, while advocating for company members who are experiencing harassment and other issues that endanger that atmosphere. Her other passions include improving the accessibility of art and artistic expression and leads by example through public service, social engagement, keen logistics, and bold creativity! Prince Rogers Nelson is her patron saint.
Alrinthea Carter
GSD Speaker
Lance Roasa, DVM
Dr. Roasa is a 2008 graduate of Texas A&M who has bought, operated and sold veterinary practices. He has completed a law degree from the University of Nebraska, is the president of the American Veterinary Medical Law Association (AVMLA), and on the board of directors of the Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association.
Dr. Roasa is a founder of Drip Learning Technologies, a veterinary continuing education provider and guest lectures in 13 veterinary colleges on the legal aspects of medical recordkeeping, veterinary malpractice and veterinary business as part of the curriculum. He serves as a national co-advisor to the Veterinary Business Management Association and regularly lectures to regional VBMA chapters and the national association on the topics of growth, business metrics, technology implementation.
Dr. Roasa is also the primary attorney for the Roasa Law Group, P.C., a law practice dedicated to serving veterinarians in practice transactions, employment contracts, and as legal counsel to startup businesses.
Lance Roasa, DVM
GSD Speaker
Jenn Galvin
Jenn started in the veterinary field as a kennel assistant in 1999 and has since worked as a receptionist, technician, office manager, and now owner and practice manager. While working in several different veterinary hospitals, she attended Mohave Community College and Northern Arizona University to obtain her business degree. She has a passion for staff development, client education, and marketing.
“Owning my own hospital has allowed me to achieve my goal of being a practice owner. I am proud to offer the kind of care to our patients that I demand for my own pets.”
Elizabeth “Betsy” Charles, DVM, MA
Elizabeth “Betsy” Charles, DVM, MA combines a wide variety of professional experiences with her love of veterinary medicine in order to help others be the best they can be. She believes we all have the capacity to be exceptional people of influence by learning the skill sets necessary to become effective communicators, relationship builders and boundary setters. After completing an internship in equine referral practice, Dr. Charles spent a year in ambulatory practice followed by 6 years in performance horse practice where she was the director of her practice’s imaging center. She completed an alternative track residency program in diagnostic imaging while also serving as a member of the faculty at Western University of Health Sciences where she taught until 2017. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Washington State University for several years.
Dr. Charles holds a master’s degree in Organization Leadership and pairs that expertise with veterinary medicine to help veterinary professionals understand how emotionally intelligent servant leaders can facilitate the development of high functioning organizations. Her master’s thesis dealt with implementing change initiatives within veterinary practice. She is passionate about helping others understand that change, whether personal or professional, can be difficult but is necessary and exciting. She also believes that veterinary medicine in the 21st century requires new leadership models and strategies in order to thrive. She has presented on leadership topics at the state and national levels in numerous venues including over half of the veterinary colleges in the U.S., numerous state VMA’s, the AAEP national convention, NAVC, and the AVMA-VLC. She has served on the AVMA’s Council on Communication, the AAEP’s Leadership Development Committee and was a long time member of AAEP’s Student Programs Task Force.
Currently, Dr. Charles is the Executive Director of the Veterinary Leadership Institute. She is also developing an online radiology training opportunity for veterinary students, new graduates and veterinary technicians called RadiologyRules. When she takes a break from trying to make a positive difference for the profession, she enjoys having meaningful and authentic conversations with all who cross her path, developing young entrepreneurs as they pursue their passions, riding her horse Lenny, reading, and hiking with her red heeler, Sadie.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Charles, DVM, MA
UVVC Speaker
Bret Canfield
Bret Canfield is a Global Process Efficiency Advisor and Regional Business Consultant for Elanco Animal Health. In this capacity, he is responsible for providing Elanco customers with unbiased customer-specific recommendations and solutions. He has been fortunate enough to work with hundreds of clinics, including many of the most successful groups and organizations within the Animal Health Community.
Specializing in Process Efficiency, Bret brings value to his clients by seeing the world through different eyes, identifying latent needs, making open-minded observations, and providing customized solutions. He works with his partners and clients to help them improve their business, engage their staff, challenge their status quo, and solve the struggles that keep them up at night.
Bret Canfield calls the beautiful American Pacific Northwest his home base. When he is not saving the world with Process Efficiency you can find him hiking, kayaking, or doing yoga with his wonderful wife, Moriah, or relaxing with his mischievous torby cat, Eve, and his lazy pitbull, Rookie.
Bret Canfield
GSD Speaker
Tracy Sands, DVM
Tracy Sands is on a mission to empower veterinary support staff and to improve mental wellness in the veterinary profession. A practice owner and mom, Tracy strongly feels that the way to do this is to normalize conversations about mental health and well-being, incorporate core values into a positive culture, and share our veterinary journeys. As part of her journey, she co-hosts the Vet Med After Hours Podcast, co-founded the #VetYouMatter campaign, and speaks on topics of staff wellness and improving client experience.
Tracy Sands, DVM
GSD Speaker
David Liss
David Liss is a Registered Veterinary Technician/Technician Specialist and Certified Veterinary Practice Manager who currently serves as the Regional Director of Operations for Amerivet. He has almost 20 years in the veterinary industry from technician, to technician specialist to leader/manager. David has been a trainer and educator for more than 15 years and strives to make veterinary teams as engaged and productive as possible.
David Liss
GSD Speaker
Carol Hurst
Carol has been in the veterinary industry since 2005 when she graduated tech school and became a Licensed Veterinary Technician. Even more than helping furred and feathered friends, she found that she enjoyed being able to affect the positive change within her clinic that having a leadership role afforded her. She managed for twelve years. After many years of study, she gained the designation as a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager in November of 2017. Her proudest accomplishment is the work that she’s performed for her local management group. She has been a member since 2010 and served as the President up until December 2019. In 2018 she started as an instructor for Patterson University’s courses and in 2019 she joined forces with the team at VetSupport, taking on a role as a full-time consultant. Her family includes 2 boxers, her “furry” children, a husband and the newest addition, Rowyn, her “non-furry” child.
Carol Hurst
GSD Speaker
Adam Little, DVM
Dr. Adam Little works at the intersection of accelerating technologies and veterinary medicine. His career has spanned areas of focus ranging from artificial intelligence to telemedicine to connected devices.
He is the co-founder of FuturePet, a startup focused on improving access to care for pets and those that love them. With its acquisition of GoFetch, FuturePet now operates Canada’s largest pet services marketplace which helps thousands of pet owners from coast to coast access boarding, daycare and dog sitting. They recently launched GoFetch Health, a subscription healthcare service, which provides owners with the most affordable and convenient way to access vet care by partnering with local veterinary practices.
He served as the first-ever Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine where he spearheaded such initiatives as the Veterinary Innovation Summit and the Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy and currently holds an adjunct faculty appointment.
Dr. Little holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Ontario Veterinary College and was the first veterinarian to complete the Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University. He is a past Board member of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association and Veterinarians without Borders and currently serves on the Board of Directors with the Catalyst Council and the Vet Futures Commission.
Senani Ratnayake, BSc, RVT
Senani Ratnayake is an RVT who discovered her niche after realizing that many of her colleagues had chosen veterinary medicine because they loved animals, and didn’t really like humans that much! She has been educating veterinary professionals on customer service, communication and team building for over 14 years and is the founder of Motivatum Consulting.
Her experiences in practice, combined with time spent working in Industry, have given her a unique perspective. Having received multiple awards for her contributions to the profession, Senani is noted as a relatable and thought-provoking story-teller, capturing hearts and attention to inspire change!
As the Director of Learning and Engagement at P3 Veterinary Partners, her focus is on supporting and coaching team members, managers and Medical Directors on how to provide the ultimate Client/Patient Experience all while maximizing business potential and genuinely getting along. In her “spare” time Senani works as a facilitator for Learn2 Solutions; work that stimulates her knowledge from a non-vet perspective.
While veterinary medicine is an integral part of her identity – acting, Netflix, nail art and hosting e-gaming events are things she makes time for! Senani’s passion for animals is unbridled (her rabbits literally have their own bedrooms) and with her husband and pets by her side, she is ready to empower the veterinary profession –one team member at a time!
Phil Zeltzman, DVM
Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling board-certified veterinary surgeon, serving eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. Specializing in orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries for dogs, cats, and small exotics, Dr. Zeltzman offers the best surgical care, safest anesthesia, and utmost pain management to all his patients. Dr. Zeltzman has been involved in mobile surgery since 1997, traveling full time to clinics since 2010. This includes various pet rescue organizations. Dr. Zeltzman is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a Certified Veterinary Journalist, and an award-winning writer.
UVC 2019
Bill Schroeder is an entrepreneur, international speaker, veterinary thought leader, and digital marketing enthusiast who has, for the past 24 years, leveraged his love of people and pets to help veterinary practices grow and thrive. He sits on the Board of Directors for VetPartners, teaches within the MBA program at Purdue University, and can be found teaching from many of the veterinary conference stages around the world.
Bill owns InTouch Practice Communications (www.InTouchVet.com), a full-service digital marketing agency built specifically for the veterinary community. His firm and more than 7,000 client success stories are the basis for his totally non-commercial talks. This unique view into the techniques and principles that are actually making the most impact drive his classes to be extremely relevant and empowering as the content is drawn from actual experience. It’s the stuff that works. Bill will teach you how to implement these things in your practice.
As a former United States Marine, he is a forever patriot and eagerly supports many veteran’s causes. Bill lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Katie, daughters Madison and Lilly, and their very jealous schnauzer, Olive. You’ll find Bill’s sessions to be extremely interactive, high energy, humorous (said one guy at one conference), and above all… meaningful.
Kelsey Beth Carpenter, RVT
Kelsey Beth Carpenter is a Registered Veterinary Technician, social media manager, singer/songwriter, and content creator. With an art degree from UCLA and over a decade of experience in the field of Veterinary Medicine, Kelsey is passionate about finding places where the arts and sciences can meet and mingle and empowering others to find and embrace their own creative sides. Kelsey currently works in the ER and ICU at a large practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she enjoys being part of an open hospital structure and teaching others how to implement one for themselves. She is the Social Media Manager for DrAndyRoark.com and the Uncharted Veterinary Conferences, and also manages her own brand, “Vet Tech Kelsey”. Probably most known for composing and recording original songs about Veterinary Medicine (with such classic hits as “Your Dog Ate Weed” and “What’s On My Scrubs”), she also enjoys writing, speaking, and performing, which she’s pretty great at, according to her mom. In her free time, she can be found boxing, playing guitar, and dressing her Chihuahua even though she swore she would never be “that person.”
Alan Knott, DVM
Dr. Alan Knott is the Director of Operations and Co-Owner with his wife at Cornerstone Veterinary Hospital Of Clifton Park. He enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine and has experience working with a wide variety of animals including dogs, cats, cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas and even an elephant! Dr. Knott truly loves spending time with people, fostering the human-animal bond with exceptional customer service and high-quality animal care. Dr. Alan Knott was born and raised in Ohio and spent his entire collegiate career at The Ohio State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 2002 and his Doctorate Degree in Veterinary Medicine in 2006. Dr. Knott is a Buckeye through and through, and is passionate about Ohio State athletics, especially Buckeye Football! His wife, Dr. Lisa Knott (absolute rockstar wife, mother, and veterinarian) and two children, Lillian -10 (who has her Daddy wrapped around her finger) and Andrew -7 (who is a mini version of his father) are the center of his world along with his faith. Dr. Alan Knott enjoys being outdoors, golfing, landscaping and gardening.
Alan Knott
UVVC Speaker
Mark Nunez, DVM
Dr. Mark Nunez is an LSU grad, class of 2002. Aside from the second half of his Air Force career, he’s lived in Louisiana all of his life until 3 days after graduation, when he moved to New York. He’s still not used to the cold, or taxes, or traffic, but he really loves it there!
Mark co-own’s two practices on Long Island, NY, Levittown Animal Hospital and Farmingdale Dog and Cat Clinic. They are actually on the same street! LAH is AAHA accredited and Low-Stress Handling certified.
Their hospitals have experienced very rapid growth over the past 8 years. As you can imagine, this rate of growth has created some interesting challenges! His focus since 2017 has been leadership development. He’s learned a lot and looks forward to learning more. Their number one goal is creating an outstanding client experience (assuming we all want top-notch medicine), and managing staff is a close second.
Mark Nunez
UVVC Speaker
Ericka Mendez, DVM
Dr. Ericka Mendez is a veterinarian, veterinary mentor and an advocate for mental health in the veterinary profession. Her mission is to empower veterinary professionals to take control of their own emotional well being which then creates an environment where wellness is the norm and not the exception for the entire veterinary team. She enjoys teaching veterinarians and their teams tools to help them navigate their stressful work environments and she shares her insights and journey to becoming more purposeful on her blog The Purposeful Vet.
Ericka Mendez
UVVC Speaker