Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Hicks.
Hi Sara, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
Before joining AmeriVet, I had built and developed my career in human healthcare. For 13 years, I had worked with an orthopedic practice in San Antonio, but things changed when my mom passed away from early-onset Alzheimer’s in June 2020. I had to take a break from work to handle everything that goes along with losing a parent, from grief and other emotional turmoil to estate management. I was my mother’s sole executor, and the entire process became significantly more time-consuming and emotionally and mentally draining than anticipated. Once I was ready to return to the working world, I saw the open position at AmeriVet and applied immediately. While I had never heard of AmeriVet before then, after researching the company, it was a nice transition for me to switch from human healthcare into the veterinary space. In my previous position, I gained healthcare and client service knowledge and learned much about doctors and their concerns from a marketing perspective. In my new position, all of that knowledge would still be relevant. Still, I would also be allowed to step away from some of the limitations of marketing in human healthcare – including HIPAA compliance, working through health insurers and third-party payers, and red tape around the language you can use to describe your services and experience level.
Ironically, before joining the orthopedic group, I had applied for positions as a veterinary pharmaceutical rep because I have always been an animal lover. My family had the standard dogs, cats, gerbils, and so on, but I also grew up in a house that backed up to a bayou in Houston, so my brother would bring home hatchling baby turtles, snakes, fish, and (once) even a litter of muskrats. Growing up with so many pets had me well-versed in the veterinary field from a client perspective.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My mother passing away was the biggest personal hurdle I have faced, but leaving a company, I was with for so long proved to be a challenge as well. After 13 years, thinking about going and doing anything else was difficult, but it was an unexpected blessing. I didn’t realize until I left my position that there were areas where I was feeling very burned out. Change and a new challenge were what I needed, but it took a severe personal blow to get me to take that step into the unknown.
I started with AmeriVet in November of 2020, which saw the world facing a new challenge together (and separately from our homes). My interview process was entirely virtual, and I met with five leadership team members, all on separate video calls. While everyone I met had a distinct personality, I was struck by how they all shared a common passion for what they were doing and AmeriVet’s offerings. That shared passion made me excited to take the role and help to develop AmeriVet and its impact on the veterinary industry further. Of course, starting a new role in 2020 took a lot of work because we were still largely remote. Getting to know my team and building strong bonds with them was harder over webcam than in person, but we did well. Now, we have a small but mighty marketing team three years later, and I love working with them at AmeriVet (in person or remotely).
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
When I first joined the company, one of my biggest projects was reframing AmeriVet’s brand narrative. Because AmeriVet was a young company, many of its public-facing materials were put together more to appeal to potential investors than potential partners. It was all about our success doing what we do, which is important, but to reach people who wanted to partner with us (or work for us), we needed to clarify why we do what we do. We interviewed stakeholders and worked with our executive team and brand consultants to re-envision our brand messaging. Once that framework was done, we overhauled AmeriVet’s ads, print collateral, social media, and website to reflect our updated brand better. Everybody involved worked so hard and did a fantastic job helping create what is AmeriVet now. This is a project that I am very proud to have led.
There are a lot of veterinary consolidators out there, many of whom purchase practices at 100% and slap their logo on the practice and enforce their way of doing things. AmeriVet is different because we purchase a portion of a practice, which keeps our partner DVM invested. We then work with the partner to strengthen and grow their business. We don’t rebrand our practices because we recognize that who they are is what made them successful in the first place. We want our partners to keep what makes them unique and embrace the things that can improve them. We like to work in the background – optimizing processes and connecting them with vendors that can help them accelerate and grow their business without losing their personality and what makes them them.
While this unique approach makes AmeriVet special, it can also be a challenge from a marketing perspective because we need to have standardized vendors that we insist our practices utilize. For example, if I have a practice asking me to help send a message to their current clients, that could involve scheduling a message through one of our preferred vendors, drafting a message for the practice to send through their (different) client messaging system, or (if they don’t have a client messaging system) brainstorming other ways to reach their current clients, from social media posts to physical mailers. Each practice is different, but we like that because shouldn’t they be?
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
My tenacity is probably my tenacity. Multiple people have told me that I can be like a dog with a bone when dealing with something I am passionate about. I will not let it go and will keep pushing until it’s done.
Another huge component of my success is my team (and their success). I’ve always felt that it is critically important to have the right people in place on your team – those who have the suitable skill set but whose personalities complement each other – and to build a strong team that stays together. It has been a true pleasure to watch my team expand their knowledge and skills as we work to support AmeriVet through its growth and development. Our team has a rule that no one is allowed to drown, which means that if someone feels overwhelmed and needs support, they can voice it, and our team will drop everything (without judgment or repercussions) to help. Our team currently has three marketing professionals supporting over 200 veterinary practices nationwide, and you don’t make that happen if you’re not trusting each other and working in sync!
Finally, not allowing myself to get too anxious about the little things. Admittedly, this has not been something I have been able to do my entire life, but it has developed with time. So many things are not worth stressing and obsessing about if they are outside the big picture. I am much better at sorting that out now, which allows me to succeed with the day-to-day challenges I face, personally and professionally.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amerivet.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amerivetpm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmerivetPM
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amerivet/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmeriVetVeterinaryPartners
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@amerivetpm
Image Credits
Amerivet Veterinary Partners
