The Podcast For Veterinarians, Equine, and Beyond:

Welcome to a new and unique episode with podcast hosts John Ryan and Ryan Murphy, co-founders of a new podcast called Valeo Mentis. John Ryan, is a Senior Equine Specialist impacting large animal veterinarian needs with 19+ years of experience. Ryan Murphy brings us a background in finance and veterinary sales as well. They discuss their podcast's focus on the equine veterinary industry. They aim to address challenges such as mental health, work-life balance, and the attrition rate among our valued veterinarian doctors.

Scott shares his experience in podcasting, emphasizing the importance of high-quality content and audience engagement. They also discuss potential monetization strategies and the value of building a loyal email list. The discussion centers on monetizing a podcast ethically, with suggestions including implementing a paywall, using affiliate links, and maintaining a supportive community. Scott shared experiences of accidentally gaining clients organically through this show and emphasized the importance of clear disclosure for affiliate links. They all highlighted the need for community building and shared insights on using AI for editing. They also hit on the importance of aligning monetization strategies with a podcast show's mission.

Today’s Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Understanding the big challenges and tenure impacts, attrition rates, in the veterinary industry.
2. Setting boundaries, prioritizing personal time, feeling less alone, for the big picture of "work/personal life balance".
3. Setting goals and future plans in podcasting for Valeo Mentis and beyond.

Who & What is Valeo Mentis?

Valeo Mentis is a podcast dedicated to connecting people within the veterinary community through meaningful stories, insights, and resources. The title itself, Valeo Mentis, is derived from Latin, where "Valeo" means "to be strong" or "to thrive," and "Mentis" refers to the "mind" or "spirit." Put together, it translates roughly to "thriving minds" or "strengthening the mind."

The podcast’s goal is to nurture the mental and emotional well-being of veterinarians, veterinary professionals, and anyone involved in the animal care world. By sharing real stories, practical advice, and personal journeys, Valeo Mentis aims to create a supportive, connected community that helps people grow both personally and professionally. It’s about encouraging collaboration, sharing wisdom, and fostering a space where listeners can find inspiration, comfort, and valuable knowledge—ultimately thriving in the challenging but rewarding world of veterinary medicine.

Today’s Guest Co-Host Links:

• https://www.valeomentis.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/valeo-mentis
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ryan-28b99129/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-murphy-7837a5162/

Your Co-Hosts Deeper Dive:

Ryan Murphy: Murph works in veterinary sales in the Northeast US. He grew up in Pennsylvania on a horse breeding farm and his father is a thoroughbred racetrack vet. He has the perspective of the child of someone who’s dedicated their life to taking care of horses and understands the lifestyle. He currently resides in Connecticut with his wife, two children, three horses, golden retriever and cat. 

John Ryan: John has worked in veterinary sales since 2003. He grew up riding horses and acquired his animal health science degree from Penn State University. He’s been serving the industry for a long time and has a broad perspective. He currently resides in Montana with his wife, daughter and dog.

Mentioned Influencers:

• Dr. Kristen Fenstermacher VMD of All Points Equine
• https://allpointsequine.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-fenstermacher-1810bb1b/

Watch us on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/e_lMnZgwjTo

Timestamped Show Notes:

22:00 – I always remind people, guess where most people start their podcasts, is it in the garage, in their bedroom? No it's the closet, it's about finding that smaller room, less chance of an echo, less noise reverberation off of the walls. If you have clothing hang in there, you push it to the sides, again, extra sound matting, and especially if you don't have an upgraded microphone yet.

28:15 –We talk to equine veterinarians all day long and we wear a lot of different hats in the roles that we have, and half the time, I feel like we're almost a little bit like therapists. People just want to talk, and they want to talk through their issues. So we spend a lot of time just listening to people kind of talk about what's going on and what the challenges are. There's a really unfortunate phenomenon in our large animal industry, people come into it straight out of school, and they wind up leaving in a few years and going to a small animal or doing something completely different. So there's this attrition rate on an already anemic level, the supply of veterinarians is hurting. There has always been mental health issues going on as well. Citizens do not realize how challenging the long hours are, late nights in the dark, etc.

33:00 – So there's so many ways to access this wealth of knowledge or entertainment. If you're somebody who's spending all day in a car, no matter what you're doing, whether you're a veterinarian or a salesperson, and you're not using that time to better yourself, either personally or professionally, you are missing a great opportunity to grow.

45:20 – There are "consultants" out there being recommended in some of the veterinary world, supposedly helping all of these veterinarians. Claiming they know how to grow their business and grow their sales. You have to do your due diligence, especially as doctors trying to understand entrepreneurship to grow and maintain a business while loving the clients' animals.

50:00 – I actually had one veterinarian in Idaho who who did that after we had that profitability conversation. He took me out to breakfast, he bought breakfast for me, and he said, I just wanted to thank you. He said, I did what you said. I didn't do it as extreme as you suggested, but I started making that move. I'm doing incrementally over time. He's like, I am making more money. I'm working less hours, and the customers that I do have, that I've kept, are so much happier with me.

01:17:40 – Final Words

Our Final Words of the Show:

Ryan Murphy's Final Words: I think listening to people's stories is quite impactful, especially when you can relate to those stories, even people outside of the industry. Like John said before, it's about community. So not feeling alone. That's a big thing in the industry, and so I think that's where I want them to end up, and I want them to hopefully build a community through our podcast. Valeo means to thrive, so it means mental health, but it means smeone who's thriving in mental health.  In one other word, significance, significance to the people that you love, or just significance in affecting change in the world. So I think if you boil life down, the purpose for us all, is significance.

John Ryan's Final Words: It's the fact that you're not alone, and you don't have to be alone in all of this. You might be struggling, but we ant you to know that you're not alone.  So it's the root word for us, it's about Valor, so trength, and Mentis is about the Mind.

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