158. Trusting Intuition and Embracing Strengths with Danielle Fette

In this episode, we are joined by Danielle Fette, the innovative founder behind Fettech, a forward-thinking healthcare business specializing in regenerative medicine. 

In our conversation, Danielle delves into her unique approach to leadership, which emphasizes values, intuition, and the importance of trusting one's gut feelings over simply chasing the bottom line.

Danielle shares her journey of growing Fettech without external funding, facing various challenges while staying true to her vision and values. She discusses the significance of focusing on the strengths of her team members, fostering an environment of open communication, trust, and respect. Additionally, Danielle gives us a glimpse into Fettech's revolutionary products, such as their all-natural wound powders and gels aimed at improving patient care.

Drawing from personal experiences of overcoming dyslexia and navigating the healthcare landscape, Danielle reflects on the invaluable lessons learned from mentors, family, and her own entrepreneurial spirit. She passionately speaks about creating a psychologically safe workplace where diversity, creativity, and genuine care for others thrive.

Resources:

• Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn
• Learn about Reyagel
• Learn about Fettech

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/

Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongertoserve.com/coaching

Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to strong later serve. Today we have a great episode as I was joined by Danielle Fetty. the innovative founder behind FET tech, a forward thinking healthcare business, specializing and regenerative medicine. In our conversation, Danielle delves into her unique approach to leadership. Which emphasizes values intuition. And the importance of trusting one's gut feelings over simply chasing the bottom line. Danielle shares her journey of growing fat tech, without external funding facing various challenges while staying true to her vision and values. She discusses the significance of focusing on the strengths of her team members, Fostering an environment of open communication, trust and respect. Additionally, Danielle gives us a glimpse into FET texts, revolutionary products. Such as their all natural wound powders and gels aimed at improving patient care. Drawing from personal experiences of overcoming dyslexia and navigating the healthcare landscape. Danielle reflects on the invaluable lessons, learned from mentors, family, and her own entrepreneurial spirit. She passionately speaks about creating a psychologically safe workplace where diversity, creativity and genuine care for others thrive. So let's get into Danielle's inspiring story, full of practical lessons on the power of intuition and nurturing your team's unique strengths. I'm Terry Schmidt. Founder and podcast host at strong leader serve. Where we use individual and team coaching to help women leaders capitalize on their strengths to achieve personal and team success. And this is the strong leader serve podcast.

Teri Schmidt: 1:56

Welcome Danielle to the Strong Leaders Serve podcast. Really excited for our conversation today.

Danielle Fette: 2:02

Thank you for having me on your show.

Teri Schmidt: 2:04

Yeah, well, I'd love to start, if you could tell us a little bit about your story and how you lead in your life and those pivotal moments that have brought you to the team that you're working with today.

Danielle Fette: 2:15

Yeah. Well, I am a wound care nurse by trait from the time I can remember, I was obsessed with all things medicine. I mean, we're talking like really young. I can remember in pre K if someone fell and got hurt, wanting to run to them and help them. And I knew I was different because I had friends that would cry when they saw blood or vomit and it didn't ever faze me. I knew I wanted to help people in healthcare, but I didn't know how I would get there. Yeah. Because reading and writing is super hard for me and I cannot take standardized tests. I'm dyslexic. So I had to go a really atraditional route to get to where I am today. So I got my nursing degree and I quickly realized a traditional conventional healthcare setting was not for me. I really think outside the box. I beat to my own drum. Don't love to follow rules, like I like to push the envelope when I know and believe in doing what's right by people. So I actually went over to the medical device and pharmaceutical side where I would train surgeons on the cutting edge technology and how to use this technology in surgery. And it was very rewarding because I was young in this role and I kind of got thrown to the wolves with not as much training. Like I didn't have as much experience as I should have had for these roles, but I sold myself on the interview and, um, I had great corporate training, but I, Job hopped and every company I was with, I was kind of surprised at the underlining theme of I could tell we were all dispensable. At the end of the day, it was about the bottom line. It was about the revenue answering to the board. And it was always surprising to me because I'm like, here we are in healthcare and it's all about money. And are you hitting your quotas, et cetera. So you know, I, Um, after going from big fortune 500 companies, I started with smaller startup companies thinking maybe that would be a different vibe. And it wasn't, um, I ended up in the regenerative medicine place because I had dabbled early on in like neurosurgery and some other fields. But when I hit the regenerative medicine space, I fell madly in love. and really realized that because regenerative medicine was so new and so subjective that I can really make a difference in this space. And I met my husband who was one of the developers of products that my team sold. And together we would just, we just clicked as coworkers. It was never romantic in the beginning, but I really respected him because he was one of the very few people I had met. That had no ego cared as much as I did about doing the right thing and helping people. And we just had envisions on how to advance and help more people where companies don't always necessarily care about. helping people. They care about what's going to make us the most money and that's where we're going to sell. Like that's the therapeutic area we're going to focus on. So together we would stay, you know, very engaged in dialogue, but what are our visions? Where could we take this? And taking my very long story short, we ended up falling in love and starting Fettech, our own regenerative medicine company to basically do it better than the other companies we had previously worked for.

Teri Schmidt: 5:28

What an amazing story. I love how you started off with, you know, even on the playground, you knew that this was something that you wanted to do. You wanted to help other people in this way. And I would be one of those friends that you had that was running away from blood. So I admire, admire anyone who is in, The field where, you know, you, you have to deal with scary things and wounds and, and blood every day. So kudos to you for that, but even more so, I hear in your story, you had challenges to overcome, but you also had a passion and you also, it sounds like you had very strong value system in that you knew what was right in your mind. And you knew what you didn't want to be a part of. So how, how did those three factors get you to where you are today?

Danielle Fette: 6:28

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, I think I had a really, I don't think I know I had a really strong moral upbringing. Like my mom is one of the most amazing human beings and she will fight for what's right and give you the shirt off her back and cares about people, regardless of title. You know, she just loves people for who they are. So I had that growing up, but I also, because of my dyslexia was forced to think outside the box and get creative. So I was born with an entrepreneurial spirit in the, in a sense that I knew how smart I was, but when you're growing up in school, it's all about your grades. So it was almost like being trapped behind, you know, the C pluses I would get on a good day and feeling embarrassed and ashamed of that situation. So I really had to rely on My gift of speech and my ability to be creative to get to where I wanted to be. So I never sat down like in high school or even college. I was like one day I'm going to have my own company, but now looking back on the signs, I have a really strong entrepreneurial spirit. I am pretty courageous in the sense, like if someone tells me how to do something and I think I have a better way. I will totally do it that way. Even if I were to get in trouble for it or someone disagrees with me, I'm like, I'll prove them wrong. Like this is the smarter way to do it. And so before I even started my company in medical device and I was just a sales rep a long time ago, you know, I, I dabbled in entrepreneurship. Like I had an online business with my sister and tried to express myself through that route. It was just. I was in fashion and that wasn't fulfilling to me because I care about people. So looking back, I should have known that I wanted to become an entrepreneur and have my own company because that's what's fulfilling is to solve problems based on needs that I see. And I love healthcare. But, you know, if you would have asked me this 20 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to visualize where I was today. I just kind of followed what felt right along the way and would try a lot of different careers, a lot of different, whether it was real estate, uh, investing or my own business with my sister in fashion and online shopping, you know, at the boom and the height of the internet. I tried a lot of things and if something didn't feel right, I'm really quick to pivot. I'm not afraid of making a mistake. I'm not afraid of pivoting. I've had to do it my whole life. So to me, that's just the way I live because I've been forced to.

Teri Schmidt: 8:48

And I

Danielle Fette: 8:49

do attribute that to the way I grew up having dyslexia.

Teri Schmidt: 8:51

Yeah. So that, that challenged. Almost necessitated that you had that ability to pivot and to try out a lot of different things. And like you said, to think outside the box, not just when it came to products, for example, like you're doing now, but also when it came to Um, your journey and your career

Danielle Fette: 9:14

sounds like. And now I preach this because I'm so aware. You know, when you're growing up and you feel different, it doesn't feel good. But now I'm like, we're all different. And that difference is our superpower. You just have to figure out how to capitalize it. And whatever that is. What? Whatever. Everything in life you have that you feel like is holding you back, you need to really ask yourself, how does that make me different? And how is that a superpower? Because you are different in that area, that's a unique, different perspective of getting things done and operating. We're not supposed to all be the same,

Teri Schmidt: 9:46

right?

Danielle Fette: 9:46

Yeah. Life would be

Teri Schmidt: 9:48

very

Danielle Fette: 9:48

boring

Teri Schmidt: 9:49

if we were all the

Danielle Fette: 9:50

same for sure.

Teri Schmidt: 9:52

Um, but you know, that's interesting because I think that plays right into some of what we talked about talking about today, and that is the value of having a team. And I want to dig into a couple of things you said because I could see how some leaders might think they're contradictory. So you mentioned how you always wanted to find your own way and you, you know, Despite the challenges still kind of believed in your way being the right way. Um, if someone told you to do something one way and you thought there was a better way, you would do it the way that you thought was the better way. But then we also talk about, you know, having a team around you and everyone having their unique, diverse strengths. How do you marry those two? So how do you, as the leader. Now, yes, have the vision and, you know, be persistent and confident in your own way, but still incorporate the team around you.

Danielle Fette: 10:50

That's a great question. I sound to finding the right person based on morals and values and capabilities. So for me, I want to surround myself. By people that all have different strengths and weaknesses. I want my team to be able to do things that I'm not good at doing, where I have noticed in the past, other leaders are intimidated by that. They want to be the best at everything. And. Again, it boils down to growing up. I had to rely on other people. I needed the best lab partner to get me through college. I needed someone who was a way better than I at taking tests and explaining things to me and helping me out. Or even like when I play lacrosse in college, I wanted a friend that would tell me like, this is what the drill is. This is you, you need to go because the coach would explain things to me and I'm like, huh, what? Like I would need to see it and physically do it. Like I can't listen and always apply. So for me, it just is like, Again, common sense, like find someone that can help you in a non threatening way. And I don't have ego like that. I welcome people that are creative and inspiring that I can learn from that to me feels really good. So with my team right now, we all come from. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, but the same values are aligned. We care about people. We always put people first. We're not afraid to try new things. We're not afraid to speak up collectively and say, Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? You know, I don't think my way is always the right way, but I don't like when people sit around complaining with no like ideas. So for me, like sitting around and just talking about ideas is everything because through Comfortable conversations. And I say comfortable because if you're not comfortable to express yourself and you feel intimidated or someone's going to poopoo your idea, you're going to be timid to speak up. But some of the best ideas and strategies we've had is just getting on a zoom meeting and having fun and not feeling threatened or forced or like. Not a serious PowerPoint and just saying, Hey guys, I don't know how we're going to get here, but this is my vision. What do you think about it? Let me talk through it. And I want your feedback. And then through that dialogue, someone else may share an idea. I'm like, Oh, bingo. That's it. That feels right. That feels great. And it's a fun way to move ahead, but I don't think I'm as calculated as most like I'm not as systematic and organized. I prefer to just feed off people's energy and ideas in a very, um, relaxed environment. Yeah.

Teri Schmidt: 13:11

Yeah. It's, it's always. So nice when you have a team environment that you have. That experience of being comfortable, um, where people have, again, that, that psychological safety where they feel like they are not going to get made fun of, or, you know, even get a side eye or a hidden eye roll about an idea that they bring forward that they are going to be, you know, respected or they and their ideas are going to be respected.

Danielle Fette: 13:41

Yeah. And I can remember back to companies that I've worked for and, you know, upper management, we would sit. At a restaurant when the meetings were over and we'd all, I would listen to everyone complain about like, why are they doing things like that? That makes no sense. If we just did it like X, Y, and Z, we would have like so much success and, but they were afraid to speak up. So of course, you know, I would be the one that would go against the grain in the meetings and raise my hand respectfully and say, Hey, listen, this is what I think. I don't think I'm alone. Have we thought about this other idea? And I not, I didn't say in like a rude way, but just to like open some eyes and, you know, You know sometimes that was received well and then sometimes that put me in the doghouse. I, you know, I've gotten fired before. And I'm proud of the fact that I spoke up because I didn't agree with what upper management or the board members were dictating and I'm not one, I'll just like bend over if I don't believe in the reasons behind the why. Um, and you know, I think a lot of people are fearful to stand true to who they are, but I never was. And that's something that I really admire in myself because it's gotten to me to where I wanted to be. And I always said, I cannot wait to create an environment where people feel safe and free to express themselves. Because if you're coming from a place of love and you're coming from a place of being, Genuinely wanting to help. I want my people to speak up and tell me the way it is.

Teri Schmidt: 15:00

Yeah. Yeah. So how, how do you create that environment beyond coming from a place of love and trying to be intentional about creating that environment? What are, what are some techniques that you've used to help you create that environment?

Danielle Fette: 15:14

I would never ask of my team to do something that I wouldn't do myself,

Teri Schmidt: 15:18

number

Danielle Fette: 15:18

one. And Um, we spend a lot of time just camaraderie, like talking, like I said, through ideas, but I also push my team to really do things outside their comfort zone. So I don't pigeon anyone like we all have titles, but your role is not narrow winded. They're like not a narrow, like tunnel, if you will. A lot of times, like for example, my lead scientist, my PhD, they'll be responsible just for clinical stuff and just like getting FDA approval for something. Well, my lead PhD is so creative and she's beautiful at writing and she's beautiful at educating. And that voice needs to be heard. Like, I don't want her behind a desk all day long. The world needs to hear her ideas and learn from her. So now we're pushing her to like, not pushing, I think she's actually excited about it. Yeah. To do podcasts and do online education and now do blogging. And then I find out that her lifelong dream was to do editorial and blogging about science, because that is our gift of hers. Her gift is being able to translate the geeky stuff she's seeing in the lab and how to communicate. On the daily with visuals of like, I mean, she was talking the other day about exosomes and how there's these cute little bubbles of messengers and they go around the body and just the way you can feel her passion and desire to educate and the world needs more of that. So I, I'm really good at identifying people's strains and helping them develop that. I don't focus on people's negatives because we all have negatives and we all have strengths. So like, what do you, what are you going to do? Like if I'm a sprinter, Well, no, I wasn't a sprinter in lacrosse. I'm slow as molasses. So let me get a realistic. I really amazing. I hand stick coordination in lacrosse. Okay. I play lacrosse in college. My eye hand coordination is everything. My feet are really slow, but my timing and my knowledge of where to be on the field is everything. So what am I going to do? Pretend I'm like the fastest sprinter. Like, no, like let's capitalize and put me in positions. They're going to help the team faster by getting the ball. You know what I mean? Or helping people know what plays coming down the, the, the field. So if we focus as leaders on people's strengths and building those up instead of focusing on this person can't do X, Y, or Z, like that's, that negativity is going to bring down your team. And that's something as a leader I really think is important to focus on. How do we make the person sitting across the zoom call or table the best person that they can be? Because by making your employees the best they can be. And helping fulfill their passion and purpose, your whole team is going to thrive and you can feel that energy. I mean, energy is contagious.

Teri Schmidt: 17:50

Yeah, definitely. You know, you mentioned that you're really good at identifying people's strengths. So maybe this is going to be a tough question for you because you may not even recognize what you're doing when you're identifying those strengths. But I'm curious. You know, you're a, you're a leader in a fast paced startup. And I can think of other leaders out there who work is just, you know, going so fast and they can barely get done what they think they need to get done. And they don't feel like they have time to identify people's strengths. What are some techniques or tips Um, or even mindset shifts that you would give to that leader who is just heads down. You know, I so stressed because I got to get this all done. I don't really have time. My, my PhD researcher needs to just do that.

Danielle Fette: 18:37

Yeah. And again, it boils down to these, this to me is just the way I've always had to live because I've relied on other people

Teri Schmidt: 18:44

to get

Danielle Fette: 18:44

to my goals and to get through school growing up.

Teri Schmidt: 18:47

Yeah. Mm hmm. Um,

Danielle Fette: 18:48

you know, I had to know the teacher and know, Hmm, are they going to call me when you have to read out loud in third grade? Like I would literally count the room and figure out how quickly, okay, she's giving three sentences to each people. These are the paragraphs I could potentially have to read. And if I'm off, I'm going to the bathroom like a person ahead of me because I don't want to read out loud the thing that I didn't practice. So you're always, I think when you grow up dyslexic, you have to think ahead. It's not something that you develop later on in life. So that's. Something that's working in my favor, but my husband's really, really good at delegating. And I've had to work on that. You have to trust the people that you're hiring and delegate because if you try to control everything, you're never going to grow as fast as you need to. And so as a leader that is on a mission to help patients better and faster, I can't rely on just, you know, it was just my husband and I for a period of time, but I need you to trust in the people and I need you. like I would in parenting. Like if you need me, if you ever need me, I'm here for you. I'm going to throw as much as I think you can handle and think you're capable of, but never, ever second guess yourself to say, I need help or I need someone else on the team or I'm uncomfortable or whatever it is. Open communication is everything. So I trust my team that I delegate and I know that they come to me when they need help. And I know this because on the weekend, when I tell them to take off or a random day in the week, I'm like, you guys, we've been working so I don't want us to burn out. Everyone take off. I'll be able to get a cheerleading competition with my daughter and my phone's blowing up. My friends are like, what are they doing on a Sunday? I'm like, my team's that good, but I think they feel that mutual respect. You know, it's not, we don't have nine to five jobs. This is not a clock in clock out. I want people to care about the business the way I do. And the only way to get that is to find the right people and make them feel appreciated and loved and trusted.

Teri Schmidt: 20:38

Yeah. So they know that you care. You've set. Pretty clear guidelines around what is important and the fact that they should feel comfortable coming to you with any questions, with any challenges to the way things are going, it sounds. Yes.

Danielle Fette: 20:55

I mean, I've had a couple of amazing mentors, you know, my mom being one of them had some really good, um, Like, like my mom's sisters have taught me that through family relationships. And then I had a lot of crappy managers and leaders and you learn what you don't want to be like. But I had a couple like I had Michael Carol at Medline and I had David Graziano at a Dorado company and I only got to work for him for a very short period of time before the company got switched over. Acquired, but I followed these and those leaders that made me excited to work for them, even though I probably wouldn't have lasted in the positions as long as I did, if I wouldn't have been as interested, they're kind of boring jobs in my mind, but these leaders were everything that I was like, gosh, if I'm going to be a leader, that's how I'm going to trust and treat someone one day. So I was fortunate to have them as role models and I kind of just took away. What I'd be like and what I wanted to treat people and make people feel like is that's what inspired me and now as a leader, I have that opportunity, which is a beautiful gift to people. I mean, it's not just about helping patients in my role, but it's I love my teammates. So if I can make them expand, what a gift.

Teri Schmidt: 22:09

Right. And it sounds like it gets back to your, your passion back on the playground. You know, your view of each other person out there as a human being. Um, and I think sometimes when we get into the workplace, especially in leadership or management roles, sometimes those human beings instead can get viewed as resources or in a way interchangeable parts. Yes. And it sounds like that value that you hold of each human being, being valuable and having something to contribute plays deeply into your leadership.

Danielle Fette: 22:44

It does. And you know, when you're starting a business, it's really stressful. I mean, we didn't take outside funding to get to where we are today. Because we never wanted to answer to a board and we didn't want it to be about the bottom line. We were so confident in our product that we knew it spoke for itself. And if we did the right thing, the money would be there, you know, we, our company would be successful. So we had that leap of faith going into it. But I think if more business owners realized we're all here on roundtrip tickets, right? And we all go through life. Everyone has a story. If you make people, if you do the right thing and treat people the way you'd want to be treated, which I know sounds very basic, you're going to get ahead and you're going to have more success and happiness. I think because of the environment at which I grew up, I saw extreme poverty and I saw extreme wealth. And I learned as a young kid that money does not buy happiness. And a lot of the people I was surrounded with that had extreme wealth were miserable, absolutely miserable, depressed, drinking problems. I mean, you name it. And I was blessed that. Some of the people that had extreme poverty in my life were some of the happiest. I mean, they were, it's not, it's stressful to not have money, but they enjoyed the simple things and they enjoyed family and they didn't need fancy anything to have a good time and laugh. So those things are important to think about as you're older. Really is success to me. It's it's family. It's love. It's laughter, you know money. I'd be lying I'm the first one that loves money because I like to do things with my friends and family I like to have fun, you know I'm not one of those girls that's in the fancy handbags but I want to know if I want to buy one then I'm able to I want to know if I want to give to Charity that I can help others but money I know does not buy happiness. So that's not what drives me I just want to feel good

Teri Schmidt: 24:34

And how do you do that as a business owner in the healthcare industry, like you were talking about, like everywhere you left, you know, it was so focused on the bottom line and not people, how, how do you make that tech difference? Well, I cry a lot

Danielle Fette: 24:50

as I'm looking at my phone. It's one, one, one, you know, it hasn't been easy, you know, right now this conversation is very different than if we had a conversation three, five, 10 years ago because I didn't know how I would get here. I did not know how I would not outside funding and get here being able to help patients, but I believe that it was the right thing to do. And I took one baby step in front of the next. And there were times that my car got repoed because I refused to take outside funding and we needed to do another test to get FDA approval, for example, but I just trusted that like it was bigger than myself. It was just a knowing that if anyone could advance medicine and do it quickly, it'd be my husband and I, and I, I have

Teri Schmidt: 25:33

a lot of faith. Yeah. It sounds like, and I love what you said about just taking that one small step aligned with your values.

Danielle Fette: 25:42

Yeah. You don't need to know all the answers. So this is what I use my. Emotions to guide me. And if something feels exciting and lights me up, I run with that idea. Whether it's someone that I want to do contract work with, like if it's working with a hospital, with an employee, but if I don't, if anything's causing hesitation, I've learned to pause. I'm a very impulsive person and I don't like to wait. So this is something that I continuously work on is if something. Doesn't feel a hundred percent exciting. I know that I just need to pause and think about it and make no decision. I don't have to rush into a decision, but just pause, acknowledge it, acknowledge, like, I'm not sure what's going on in my head, but it doesn't feel a hundred percent. So let me not make this decision. I don't want to have to backpedal out of a bad situation because I've learned that's like the worst thing you can do in business, whether it's signing a contract or. Partnering with the wrong people. I've spent a lot of time in the past 10 years having to backpedal out of bad situations or bad decisions I've made. And it's taught me an awful lot about how important pausing is if you're not 100 percent sure

Teri Schmidt: 26:52

about something. Which is a great piece of advice, whether you're talking about people decisions and who to hire to build that team around you, or whether you're talking about, like you mentioned, contract decisions, um, that, that pausing and trust in your gut, trust in your intuition.

Danielle Fette: 27:10

Because we're not supposed to have all the answers. Life would be boring if we had a crystal ball and knew all the answers. And trust me, there was a period of time I, I needed that crystal ball. I needed to know the answers because I'm like, I don't want to screw this up. Like I know there's people waiting for my product that can help save a leg or save their life and I need to know what to do to forge forward. forward. So that's when I had to learn to listen to myself and listen to that gut, that voice inside of me. Even one that was hard to identify with because sometimes our head in business can play tricks on us. So on paper, a deal seems great or an idea seems great. Inside some things like Making you hold back and keeping you hesitant. And that's the voice I'm talking about. Don't make any decision and just pause.

Teri Schmidt: 27:53

You're

Danielle Fette: 27:54

better off just waiting.

Teri Schmidt: 27:56

I'd love to hear from you because the title of this podcast is strong leaders serve. What does that phrase mean to you? What does strong leaders serve mean to you?

Danielle Fette: 28:07

When I think of someone that's strong, I think of someone that is. Comfortable as comfortable talking about what they're good at as what they're not good at and who's open to expanding and improving. You know, I love knowing I love looking back and be like, I have gotten so much better at that, you know, whether it's this simple podcast recording. And this is me going out of my comfort zone. Like I knew that I would have to take interviews and I would have to. I needed to freshen up on that. That's why I hired Juliet to help me. You know, I know a lot of people would have questions about regenerative medicine and talking about that technology and I would need to get the word out, but it's not natural for me to talk about myself. So this is something, for example, like I know I needed to get better at. And I think as humans in general, whether you're a leader or not, it's beautiful to say, these are things that I. Want to try, but may be I'm hesitant or I'm afraid and not focus on like maybe why you're afraid, but just slowly practice, you know, at, at first it was just me and Juliet practicing behind the scenes that I'm using podcasting as an example, because it is something that, you know, anything you practice that you're going to get better at. And we all suck when we first start at anything, you know, you learn through trying it and you learn through practicing it. And if. It was easy. Everyone would be doing it. So I think sometimes people get in their own heads about not starting in the first place because they look at everyone else and think, well, I'm not like them, so maybe I shouldn't do this. But we all started at ground zero, right? We're all learning. And today in a world of social media, that's so darn misleading. I think it's really easy to get in your own head and say, all these other people are way better than me, but you have to remind yourself that that's not, that's BS. You're just seeing like one paragraph of a whole novel and it's the paragraph that looks the best that they're highlighting. Like you can't compare yourself to other people and you have to believe that you're going to have a different spin. You're going to have, you have a different life experience. So even if you're, Selling plants as I'm looking at your plants behind you, you know, you may like a different plant than someone else and be able to educate better on it. So I just think that it's really important to know your strengths and know your weaknesses and not be afraid to constantly work on expanding and getting better at what you're uncomfortable with.

Teri Schmidt: 30:27

Great advice. Definitely. Well, as the last question, I'd love to learn more a little bit about FedTech and if people are interested in connecting with you or learning more about your products, let us know where they can go as well.

Danielle Fette: 30:42

Yeah. So like I said, regenerative medicine company and we invented the MTP, the multi tissue platform. And basically where there's injury or imbalance in your body, you put the material and it signals to your body to bring your own body stem cells to the area and then communicates with your body how to restore and repair the, the injury. So right now we have two FDA cleared products. One is ExcelliStem wound powder. It's a powder that they use in the hospitals, um, after a patient. It was in a fire, like a burn, trauma, wound care patient. And then we just got approval for a gel that we're going to be launching into the aesthetic world, which I'm super excited about because You know, in today's day and age, everyone's kind of obsessed with looking good, but I look at it as like our skin is our biggest organ in our body and it's really important to take care of it. You know, as we age, our skin gets thinner. So I'll give you an example in the hospital. If you have IV tape. You know, you have an I. V. and you have tape over your arm. My older patients or my compromised patients that have lost elastin and collagen through the years, when I pull off that tape, I have to be careful that their skin doesn't rip off with it and that will cause a wound. So that made me think like, Hmm. We need to start using this proactively. as we age to restore the balance in our skin to make it as healthy and strong as possible. And then it just so happened that that thought then went into microneedling and laser. A lot of people are desiring to have a more youthful, healthy appearance. So they're causing injury to their skin through these devices, but there's nothing that's FDA cleared. Specifically to repair and remodel the skin after these injuries are caused. So the gel will minimize downtime, minimize the pain, and then restore the cellular level to make it more strong because to me, beauty is so much more than looking good. Like you'd have to be healthy. Like what's the point of looking good if you're not healthy, right?

Teri Schmidt: 32:38

Right. Right. Thank you for bringing that up. The, the skin's your biggest organ, you know, and we need to take care of it because I think there are people out there that might be like, you know, I don't care, I'll get, I'll get wrinkles. And I count myself as, as one of them, you know, it's just natural. It happens. And I don't want to be involved with anything that has to do with, you know, making myself look younger for that reason. But if you look at it from a health perspective of we need to take care of this organ, just like we would any other organ, I think that reaches a whole different group of people.

Danielle Fette: 33:10

Yeah, it does for sure. And it is important when we look at. Anything we put on or due to our bodies. I'm a big believer in like Eastern and Western medicine meet. I think there's a time and a place, but to my core, I'm naturally more on the naturopathic side. I like to put anything that's all natural in my body. And I'm really proud that our, Material is made of everything that's naturally occurring in our body. So when you use it, you don't have to worry about toxicity or negative effect. It's almost like think of a supplement. It's like your body can pick and choose what it wants to use. And if it doesn't need it, there's no harm done. So I've helped babies that were born like neonates born with open abdomens with their intestines hanging out. And because their skin was so thin when they were born, it basically didn't close. And I have watched when they. Doctors were telling me this baby is not going to make it. And I would go to, I, I get choked up thinking about it as a mother. And I'm like, that's not an answer. Like usually hospitals don't like to try newer products on babies because there's a risk and it's not indicated for a baby, but I can remember begging and saying, you have nothing else to use. And I promise you, this won't hurt this baby. We have to try it. And we saved that life of that baby. And I remember hugging those parents and you know, that's what, that's That's what keeps me up at night and that's what keeps me grounded and motivated. But the same thing is true for elderly or people with autoimmune deficiencies or patients that have been through radiation treatment. And it was through seeing patient after patient and helping them in the hospital that I was inspired to create a gel that we could use. Preventatively to keep our skin strong. If people get confidence through beauty and looking better, then good for them. You know, everyone has something in life. Maybe journaling is what makes you feel good. Maybe running. And if beauty is that thing, that's awesome. I personally, yes, I do. Like, you know, I have fake hair, you know, I like extensions. Like I do appreciate and like to feel my best, but truly I feel my best when I know I'm healthy and I'm balanced from the inside out. And that's why Rayagel really came to be. So if anyone wants to find us, it's R E Y A G E L. com, Rayagel. And there's really a huge demand for it. So if you want to get on the wait list, um, I think there's an area there to sign up. And then our company, PhetTech, if you just want to see overall what we're all about, um, it's F E T T C H E T C

Teri Schmidt: 35:38

Well, thank you. We'll definitely make sure those get linked in the show notes so that they are easy to find for everyone in case they are running or are driving or doing something else right now. But you had me speechless there as you were describing the work that you do and the impact that you're having. So thank you for doing that. Thank you for being the leader for your team so that you all can do that together and leading in a way that. Lifts people up and helps them to grow. I see a theme of, of growth and health and development and prosperity in your leadership and in your company. So I appreciate you sharing that with us today and I look forward to continuing to watch the success of Vet Tech and of you. Thank you.

Danielle Fette: 36:26

I

Teri Schmidt: 36:26

appreciate you so much.

36:32

What a story. I hope that inspired you as much as it inspired me. And I would love to hear from you about inspiring leaders that you currently have, or have had in the past. So, if you've been listening to previous episodes, you heard me mention the new feature that we're trying out, where you can text me a message directly from the show notes. So this week, I would love for you to text me a shout out to a leader that you really believe adheres to our definition of leadership at strong leaders serve. And if you need a reminder that is courageously using your talents to make a way for others to courageously use theirs. So think about it. Give your favorite leader, a shout out, text their name to me, and I will give them a shout out on our next episode. I look forward to hearing from you. And until next time lead with this quote by Albert Einstein in mind. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift. And the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant. And has forgotten the gift.