How the AVMA is Reimagining the Veterinary Profession Through DEI (Latonia Craig)

About the guest on Vet Life Reimagined podcast:
Dr. Latonia Craig, CDP, EdD, MEd, MA is an educator and scholar who is AVMA’s first chief diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) officer. Before taking the role in 2022, she served as assistant dean for inclusive excellence at the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Craig brings over 17 years of experience designing, implementing, and assessing successful DEI programming for various groups including but not limited to: non-profit associations, industry partners, academic institutions, veterinary organizations, government agencies, etc.). So, she is an expert in understanding how to lead impactful change effectively as she lays out tips and strategy.

Resources:
Journey for Teams (AVMA)
Books by Cherice Roth
Veterinary Anatomy Coloring Book (Vet Set Go!)
Learn about the AVMA DEIW Summit (Nov 7-9, 2024)
Episode on YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:00] This podcast is called Vet Life Reimagined. We are reimagining what the veterinary profession can be and our lives within it. Part of understanding what is possible is listening to diverse perspectives. I saw Dr. Latonya Craig on LinkedIn and wanted to get to know her better. By the way, go look at her LinkedIn.

She has some amazing awards and achievements, like the title Kentucky Colonel, the highest civilian honor from the governor of Kentucky. She's just cool. Dr. Craig is the first Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer For AVMA, she brings a background of a doctor of education and about two decades of working in DEI across industries.

Before she joined the AVMA in 2022, she worked at the Purdue Veterinary University on DEI initiatives. I love that her vision for DE& I and Vet Med aligns with a lot of goals that I hope Vet Life Reimagined can bring as well. So I hope this is a very different conversation around DE& I, may it broaden what the term means to you and provide you [00:01:00] some really neat resources as well.

So without further ado, let's get to the conversation with Dr. Latonya Craig. 

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: Welcome LaTonya. you are a little bit newer to vet med compared to some of my guests normally on the podcast, but I would, do you want to get to that part of your story, but I like to actually start with people's beginnings on when they knew they wanted to get into vet med.

And. Interesting enough, a lot of my guests knew really young that they were interested in working with animals, and you mentioned that you had an experience in the third grade that was really pivotal for your life and has a big impact on what you continue to do today. Do you mind sharing that story?

Dr. Latonia Craig: Sure. so when I was, , in the third grade, , I had an experience where, , I was in another class and I was one of those students that was sort of connected, , to everything around me, paid attention to everything around [00:02:00] me. , and someone from the outside would look at that and say, now, in today's terms, would say, I have ADHD, or something along that lines, because my attention span was sort of everywhere.

Well, my parents received a letter, , that basically said, , that this is, you know, we've been looking at, you know, your daughter and assessing her. , and we think that she should transition into another class where she can get more academic support. And so my parents. , interpreted that as me being placed in a gifted and talented, , program, but unbeknownst to them, ,

I actually was transitioned to a classroom, , where it was more so first, , academic needs, , special needs. And, , at that time, and especially when I was growing up, the testing wasn't done, , to that extent. , it was more so based on, , Assumption and generalizations made from observations. And when I transitioned to that class, a majority of the folks in that class looked like me and, , I noticed that there was [00:03:00] some sort of a pattern and trend.

And so when it came time to do reading, we used to do group reading where they would go and you would read a section and each student would take apart when I read, because I was very well read love books, leave them behind me. the teacher said out loud, , you shouldn't be in this classroom.

And it was, I guess validation to me because. You know, at first I'm questioning my worth and what I'm doing, you know, in the class and not to say that anyone in that class, , was not worthy, but I did question my abilities in that class. And so she called out that I shouldn't have been in that class, but instead of putting me back into the general population, I stayed in the course and she designed a curriculum tailored to me and a lot of the curriculum that she did.

It allowed me to focus more, you know, I was interested in what she was providing me because she paid attention to what I liked, what I didn't like it also created a pathway for me to help [00:04:00] my peers in the class with reading and so I would do a lot of the lead reading with them when we would do group projects and did quite a few other things.

And the next year, , I was back into the general population and, , excelled straight A's. , from then on out, and, , I made it a mission that I wanted to make sure that wherever I was, I wanted to make sure that folks, , got what they needed, , and could get some parts of that from me if I had it to give, , but I also just wanted to build a bridge for folks that are written off and misunderstood, and that's kind of been my lens for this work.

Now, just to jump forward, you know, people always ask me about, , DEI, , I think DEI has been a part of my life's work since I was in the third grade, looking at it from that sort of lens, but I have held many different positions and has served in many capacities. , that have really been advocacy roles, , at finding [00:05:00] those folks, , that are either misunderstood or they need access to other opportunities, whether it be via mentorship or sponsorship.

Um, because there have been folks that have poured into me in that way. And so I'm always trying to, you know, pass the torch, , and do the same thing. Now, how I got introduced to Vet Med prior to this role, I served as the assistant dean, for, inclusive excellence at Purdue University and their college of veterinary medicine.

And so a lot of that work was dealing with, I guess, shaping developing strategic initiatives around DE&I and when when I say, yeah, we're not just talking about representation and I know that folks like to put DEI in that bubble that we're only saying that if you look like me, or if you are an underrepresented person, , that that is all DEI is, and that is absolutely not the direction of DEI.

Yes, DEI does value and promote [00:06:00] representation, and it is critical to DEI, but that's a very small part. Of it. , D. E. I. If you look at it from the lens of what exactly does it do? What is it for? , if we think about our experiences, , the ability to communicate across barriers is a part of the human condition.

It's a part of the human experience, and being able to communicate with individuals from various backgrounds in an effective and meaningful way. Is key, especially if you want to build trust. You know, how do you build trust with individuals that you work with? If you want to build trust with clients, it's the ability to connect regardless of differences that might be a part of a conversation or that might show up in the room.

And so if we think about DEI in that aspect as a tool to communicate across cultural barriers. , that really shifts the way that we look at, , DEI but it also allows us to get better outcomes from it, right? , so some additional pieces to [00:07:00] that outside of working for Purdue, the role prior to that I served as the director of graduate recruitment and diversity retention at the University of Louisville.

And in that role, I was able to serve over 90 different Graduate programs now, veterinary medicine was not a professional program. That was a part of that 90 and because of that recruitment piece, trying to create pathways for more groups of all backgrounds to see pursuing a graduate degree as a potential option.

I had to sell that point. But then also try to figure out what are the challenges and barriers it's preventing students from coming to graduate school. Well, we all know resources is 1 of them. , Some of it is also just knowing, , that that kind of pathway existed. I don't think we do a good job.

Of teaching students. And when I say students, I'm not just talking about young adults, but even those individuals that are doing some career changes, , just exposing people to [00:08:00] the many options that they have, is just a part that I don't think we have managed to do well.

And so I had to do that part of these are options that you can consider. Now, how do we get you here? Let's look at the many resources that might be available to you, whether it's a fellowship, it's a scholarship. Or you maybe you work while you're going to school. , but there's other ways that you can do it.

, and then once they get there, how do we make sure that they not only we retain them? How do we make sure that they thrive and a part of thriving is back again, building that connection? What is it that you feel you need in order to thrive? Is it mentorship that you need? Is it resources? Is it the ability to connect with your faculty members?

, is it your ability to get peer mentored by other folks that have either gone through or are going through the process. And so building those connections across the board so that students not only stay, but they thrive and they get their degree. And then they're happy once they transition into the career.

, and so I [00:09:00] transitioned into vet med, because I was looking for a discipline that I could hone in on when you're servicing over 90 different programs, it's very difficult to really go deep. And so I was looking for that, discipline where I could still do what I was doing, but do more.

, and then I can also see the impact on the other end, you know, seeing students come into the vet field, , providing the resources that they need to thrive, , and then keeping those contacts once they transition into their career, , all of that empowers and inspires me because I have several different touch points, , where I can see, success.

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, so much in that is, is very exciting to me because a lot of that is wrapped up in why I even started this podcast. You talked about the lack of showing all the diverse things that we can do in this profession. And that is why I started this podcast. And also you talked about the [00:10:00] importance of just being able, sorry, take out the word, just in being able to communicate across so many different perspectives, right?

That, that is so expansive. , I've seen that in my career and it could be people of different, , professions. So I've been in industry for a long time and I very frequently watch the scientific people , in a business, try to talk to the business people and it's like two different languages, right?

And so that skill is so translatable, I think. , and so that's great that you are broadening what this means. And I think also opening it up to have. All the more impact and again, not just our profession, but even beyond that into our relationships with people across the board. And I also really appreciate your experience that you bring because you have been in education for a very long time.

And I believe just as [00:11:00] your third grade story shows that teachers can have a really huge impact on our lives sometimes negative, but also in a very positive direction as well like the teacher you ended up finding and and really got you on an amazing track and you've worked with all different grades I think I saw high school as well as undergraduate and graduate and I think that's also important for veterinary medicine as well We had an episode just a few episodes ago, talking about, you know, the importance of really explaining the profession and showing the profession that it is a real path for anybody, any background, , and the younger, the better, I mentioned a lot of us knew we wanted to get into vet med at a very young age.

And so being able to take all of these resources and really, expand it across age groups, I think is really exciting too. So what has been, , before you got into vet med, what were [00:12:00] some of your experiences that you were noticing when it comes to encouraging the DEI strategy across different industries?

Dr. Latonia Craig: , I think the biggest challenge is there's a lot of misnomers about, you know, what D. E. I. is and trying to break through, , what people want to believe it is, , you know, it's 1 thing if you have individuals that are misinformed, but they are open to hearing, , another perspective, , to help in, , further inform and influence, , their position on DEI.

But it's another thing when you have individuals who want to believe what they want to believe about DEI and they are closed off to hearing anything else, , because they're comfortable in what they want to believe. And so I'm trying to peel back the layers of why are there individuals that are so set in disbelief, even when it's wrong?, , Why are they comfortable with wanting to [00:13:00] stay there, , without hearing other perspectives of what DEi is, and when I'm talking about DEI this is not, you know, this is not opinion. This is grounded in, , research. it's grounded in the literature , about the, even the outcomes that come out of DEI. And so trying to just break through, you know, that mindset is key.

Why wouldn't we want to create a space where everyone can feel like they belong? Why wouldn't we want to create a space where people feel valued? Why wouldn't we want to open up a pathway to hear about the needs to ensure that everyone thrives. And when I'm talking about the needs, I'm not talking about needs of a specific group.

I'm talking about all of us because we all have needs that need to be met. They all look different. , and we all are striving to work in an environment that offers us different things. So why wouldn't we want to learn what those things are? , retention is a factor [00:14:00] across every industry. It's not a specific thing to veterinary medicine.

You know, there are people who are changing careers for whatever reason. There are people that are looking for growth in their organization for whatever reason. And so in order for us to capture those things, we've got to be able to be willing to have conversations. And some of those conversations from a leader standpoint, , may not always be comfortable, especially if you are a leader and you feel that you're doing all the things to meet the needs of your staff and you open up a conversation where your staff is telling you something different.

Sometimes we may not be ready for that. One, it causes discomfort. Two, we get defensive because we think that what they're sharing with us is, it's against us. , or we think it's some sort of criticism that we're not doing well. , and perhaps it's cause we don't know what, we don't know how to respond and we don't know what to do.

, and so sometimes we'd like to just shut it off and just say, no, everybody here belongs. have done all the programming [00:15:00] to make sure people feel belong, but then we don't open it up to see if people actually feel that way. And so we've got to be able to create those standpoints. So I think the most critical thing is being able to break through that and offer.

up a way to create a conversation around the needs from both sides. 

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. just made me think about feedback in general. People get very nervous feedback and taking it personally and as a criticism instead of an opportunity , to listen and learn. , you know, going back to just learning how to have conversations

is a huge part of that, , both from the listening aspect of it and, the mindset entering into those conversations, I think is, is really important. And I had this question down because I, think this is important in any aspect of change that you're trying , to drive. What are some of the things that you have learned when it comes to approaching how to drive [00:16:00] change?

Dr. Latonia Craig: Patience. Patience is key. , I think you have to meet people where they are and, , people may not move as quickly as you'd like them to, and the kind of change that you want to make may not come as quickly as you envisioned. And so I think you have to give yourself grace. celebrate the small milestones, , especially if you step back and look at what you are doing and what you've done, you know, other folks may not see it as big changes, but, , to me, a very small change, can be somewhat of a big change to me that someone else might see as small is if you've spoken with someone and they've seemed so shut off

, with DEI or they disagree with it and you, you can tell, you know, part of this work is paying attention to mannerisms and behavioral, feedback that you might get or those non communication cues. And if you can tell, if you're talking with someone, you can tell if someone [00:17:00] really doesn't really want to engage with you, but they're doing it just because it's the right thing to do.

, you can tell that, , but then when you notice that the more conversations that you have with an individual that the body language changes. They're not doing this and they're more open. They're turning to you and not turning away. They are asking questions and you're not the one that's initiating the conversation and so it becomes a two way street , and then you start seeing their interest And now they're participating.

And now they're volunteering. Now they're showing up to your stuff. That's a big change because for you to be patient to meet a person where they are and to gradually see the difference in how they now respond to you is worth celebrating. And so I think with all of that, I give myself grace in those aspects.

I have seen people shift, when having conversations with me. And I think it's going to take one person at a time. and especially going to take that in this [00:18:00] profession. There are groups of people, a lot of people who really, truly support this work, especially the ones that really get what it is, they understand, , the benefits that it brings to everyone.

That's the folks that I really put my energy towards, and then I also put my energy towards those folks that are in the middle, that are open to the idea of thinking differently about something. The ones that are absolutely not supportive, , that's a very small group. It really is. It's a very small group.

Although that small group can be very loud. I just don't put my energy there. I put my energy towards the ones that, , are really open to the idea, , and are going to be receptive to it in some, some way or another. 

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: I think that's a really good answer.

and then there's also the, how do you balance the, um, I really just need to have patience in this moment versus the, you know, we've been trying this and it's not working, if that makes [00:19:00] sense. So, I feel that our profession has a long way to go when it comes to, looking at DE&I, you know, I was thinking about it.

It felt like the change from a very male dominated profession to a female dominated profession. It feels like that happened quickly, but I, I think it's more hindsight than anything. So when you think about coming in and I love that you wanted to come into a profession where you could really dig in deeper and have a really big impact.

And I think this is one, and I'm excited that you chose it. What are some of the things that you're like, okay, well, this is where we are. Here's some things that haven't been working. How do you start to decide? What do we need to change so that we can start moving the needle, even if it's a 1 percent kind of change, that's still change that compounds.

So how do you start to navigate that? 

Dr. Latonia Craig: Oh, very good. Very good question. , and I should say this about change [00:20:00] management, because one of the things you mentioned is that we have a tendency to, move away from things that we think aren't working and DEI is not a check box thing. And sometimes we, we do that, let's just check this box and move on, or we implement programming and we don't see the results right away that we want to see, and we move on from it.

, the reason why there are DEI programs that are implemented and people will say that they don't work is because we don't do the follow up. And so there has to be follow up with what we're doing, and it's got to be data driven. So, if you want to implement a DEI program, , how are you going back and assessing, , what, Kinds of, , tangible things people are taking away from it.

What kind of feedback are they given? , if you implement, strategies to connect with your employees, how are you assessing whether it's working or not? And it can't be that you did it. You have to go back and look at [00:21:00] how some of the things were implemented, right? That's how you get to a place where.

You can really truly understand how you might shift. Sometimes you might need to pivot. You're still sticking with the goal of implementing this particular program, but you might shift how it's being implemented, but you've got to constantly assess it. Part of assessing your environment is Are doing, and I know sometimes that we have survey fatigue, but you've got to be able to survey in some form or fashion, whether it is a cultural climate survey, whether you're assessing, Belonging, you know, you can't get any of that unless you have a conversation and that has to be captured in some way or another. Um, I think. For this work, , being the inaugural chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer I've had to the first year. you always have to take time to sit back and observe.

And no matter what kind of position you come into, you need some observation time in there, but especially if you're coming into a role where you're starting [00:22:00] in a leadership capacity. It's interesting, because I'm actually going to a conference next week, and I'm delivering a session with 2 other panelists called.

needed, wanted, fix it, the realities of an executive diversity professional. And the way that we're breaking that up is the needed part. When you come into a new role, one, there is a reason why they created the position because there is a need, but so you've got to address that need that the organization wants, but you also have to address that need, of all of the other individuals that have been waiting for you to arrive in the job, right?

And so there is all of those needs at once. In order for you to address the needs, knowing that all of them are equally important, you've got to create a framework. And that framework has to align with the vision and mission of the organization. And so when you are prioritizing the ask, regardless of who it's coming from, Those asks should fall under whatever framework you've set up for the [00:23:00] organization.

So for me, when I walked into the job, there were a couple of things that I needed to adhere to. One, what was the reason for the position? The organization felt that, there was a lot more that they could be doing in DEI. They also wanted to create a position where that individual would connect to constituent groups, and perhaps it's the constituent groups that they have not been really engaging as much as they would have liked.

Right? And so then there was also some other committees that were formed prior to my arrival. There was the AVMA AAVMC commission. And that diversity commission had its own asks and priorities that came out of it. And so I'm looking at all of that in totality. And so what I realized that there were 4 things that came out of it.

And I call them the 4 E's 1 was education. All right. How we need to do a better job of how we educate our members and even just [00:24:00] folks that interact with us, our partners around DEI. What is DEI? How do we define diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how do we define the concepts that come under it?

And I'll tell you how we did all of that, but I'll, I'm going to go through the four E's. So it's the education piece, bringing awareness to the profession about all of those different concepts. And these are not linear as I'm saying this. The other one is: “Engagement”. 

How do we engage our members? What are the things that they want? How can we connect with them? How can we do all of those things to ensure that we are, uh, meeting the needs of what is on the table? Then you also have exposure. And so the exposure piece is coming from as a field, how are we branding ourselves and how are we, putting ourselves out there as an option to everyone, and that includes the K through 12, pipeline or pathway.

How are we engaging that field? How are we engaging students that are in undergrad that might want to do vet med, but they don't know what it looks [00:25:00] like or what it means? How are we, exposing other opportunities and "other opportunities" I mean, if you're already a veterinarian and you want to elevate or do something else with your degree, how do we get those kinds of opportunities out there? And then the fourth one is experience and the experience has to do with, as we are providing these opportunities, how are we ensuring that the opportunities that we are exposing to people that people feel good about that option if they take it on once they get there?

Are they happy in the workplace? How are we assessing their well being? How are we ensuring that we're giving them what they need? And so those are the four E's. And so that's the framework that I set up for, AVMA. So how we met all of those, I tried to find things that we could do that could touch on more than one at once.

I don't have a big team. I have two individuals that report to me, but I have a whole organization [00:26:00] who are in other units that I can tap into to help maximize, this work. Right. And so. The way that I've done that, and I say I, but I really have a way that we've done that because I've not done this by myself.

1 of the flagship programs that we came out in the 1st year was JFT and that is the Journey for Teams program. Now, JFT was born out of a project that the VMAE, that's the Veterinary Medical Association of Executives, they created a journey guide a couple of years ago that was really for associations and introducing them to DEI concepts.

Well, we wanted to take that work and elevate it, and we elevated it to where we wanted to figure out a way to adapt that model to veterinary professionals, veterinary teams. And so, Journey for Teams is three components. It's a five to seven minute video on a particular DEI concept. There is a three to [00:27:00] one, discussion guide, so three highlights of that concept, two questions to consider, one behavioral change, that can be, adapted.

And then there is a topic essay, which is a more so long essay that really dives into the topic with some veterinary specific examples. And so what the encouragement is, is that folks would move beyond doing it individually while we have people who have done it individually. most folks are doing it as a veterinary team, and they're doing it at the top of the month, during their staff meetings, or incorporating it in some sort of way that works best for their veterinary team.

And so this touches on the education piece. It touches on the engagement piece, because now we're going back and asking people, how are you implementing it? What has journey for teams done for you? You know, what kind of policies or practices that have come out of this as a result? This is also addressing experience.

Because now you have a dedicated Monthly meeting where folks are [00:28:00] able to connect beyond the day to day things that they would normally talk about. But they're asking about, you know, well, being, they're asking about how can we implement this in a practice? Because this will change the client experience.

It will also change the way in which we work with each other. So that addresses the whole experience part. it also addresses exposure because there are some folks that have now implemented things in their, and I know we're moving away from waiting areas. But they are, in, the front lobby and some people are calling them welcome area.

They're changing the way that they provide resources to folks in the welcome area where now you might have coloring books, because kids are coming with their parents and bringing their pets. So now we're exposing students to or exposing kids to the profession, in a very different way.

And so it kind of hits on a lot of different ones. And so now you've got students and parents now engaged and want to know more. And how can we get them involved? And so perhaps [00:29:00] we look at other opportunities to extend that sort of interest. And so I think prioritizing the ask, I am looking for how we build programming that touches on the four E's that doesn't touch on the four E's.

Then that's just something that might just be set over here. Until we can align it with the four E's, that's sort of how we kind of build the ask. And then what's going to give us the biggest bang for our buck. that's kind of how we, situate where those kinds of things fit. 

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, I love that part because actually right now as we're recording this in the month of May I'm doing a giveaway and the giveaway is for children's books written by veterinarians about Veterinary medicine everything from Cherice Roth's books if you're familiar with hers to I have, one that is Vet Set Go!, which talks about getting experience.

If you're interested as a preteen, as well, as you said, the coloring book, there's [00:30:00] actually a coloring book anatomy book for kids. That is part of this giveaway. And, and what I was hoping people would do is that they would get them for their hospitals and they would put them in the welcome areas.

I like that term. To kind of encourage kids to understand that it is possible for them. But also, I just see this as a whole cultural aspect. Like if you see that your children is being taken care of in the welcome area, when you go to the vet, that has an impact on the parents too. And that helps establish this overall culture that I think is more welcoming and we can get so much more done.

I think that way, whether it's trying to take care of the pet and they're more open to listening to us because they have that respect or whatnot. So I think that's really exciting. And as we're getting close to the end, I would love it. If you, is there a story that you've think about that.

You've [00:31:00] encountered being in the veterinary industry, working on this initiative that shows your hope and what you see for the future of our profession, if that makes sense. 

Dr. Latonia Craig: When I worked at my previous position, when I took that job, and I know that, in veterinary medicine, the veterinary field, science in general, there tends to be, and I'm introverted. I'm extroverted by way of the job, but I'm introverted as preference. And, when I first went there, I noticed that there were folks that, because I'm observing, folks that did not necessarily feel comfortable with speaking to me right away.

I would walk, in the hall and folks would look the other way. I had one student who whistled. when I walked past them and said, hello, they whistled and looked the other way and I was like, what in the world. And so then I thought to myself, if [00:32:00] how in the world, as assistant dean in this position, how am I going to move the needle and get individuals to buy in to this work, if we're not talking to each other.

because people will talk to each other when they're comfortable with talking with, other folks. But then I had to think about. If we're not comfortable with talking to individuals that we don't know, how does that translate to, when we're talking to clients that we've met for the 1st time?

And so if I'm dealing with a DVM student, who's. Trying to find themselves and try to , create a space where they feel comfortable with speaking to folks outside of their circle. , there is going to be a time when there's going to be a 1st that comes in the door or a colleague. That's new.

How can I bring that down, to where folks feel somewhat a comfort in engaging in those kinds of environments. So I created a talk called the power of speaking [00:33:00] and the power of speaking was built into the vet med curriculum because I was, already having conversations with, the students where I had to build this curriculum, and build in DEI concepts.

And so I was like, what better way to do that than to implement. conversations around the power of speaking and so being able to do that, it became a part of the onboarding process when students would come. So that I had 3 DEI sessions that was built into the onboarding process and the power of speaking was 1 of those things and, that broke down the barrier, the 1st day.

And so the 1st day of school, I remember. I'd already had, because onboarding process is normally the week before school starts. And I remember coming off the elevator, and the door opened, and I had my head down, and I had my little yellow pad, and I heard, Good morning, Dr.

Craig! And I looked and I looked like, what in the world? It was like in unison, like a choir. And, uh, I, I so appreciate [00:34:00] that because it created an opportunity for me to build relationships with the students, build rapport with the students, and it just changed the feel in the hallway. Right. Just because students were now comfortable and having those conversations.

Now I won't take credit for all of that because Purdue created an environment where folks felt comfortable in having those conversations and leading them on. But I'd like to say that I made a teeny weeny, a bit of difference in how at least they engaged with me. And so, in my staff. And so that also allowed them to come into our office and grab, we always had snacks for the students.

We would always take a survey of the kinds of snacks they would like so that when they had exams, folks knew that if you like this chocolate cupcake, you better believe we're gonna have that chocolate cupcake because we want you to do well on that exam. And we would stash stuff for folks that we knew liked those specific things and we knew they were coming in at certain times and if we were running low, uh, let's hang that back because Cheryl's gonna come in here.

Let's make sure she gets that. But [00:35:00] building connections and understanding who you're interacting with. can change an experience. It can change everything. And so I've been very intentional of creating those types of experiences as a model of this is what it looks like when you do it right. 

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: I love that.

You can really do that. Again, anywhere, listening and picking up on the things that mean something to someone and being able to bring that out. I mean, talk about a way to not only bring trust, but really feel like you belong is when somebody, you feel seen and appreciated. I think that's fantastic.

And I am so excited on what you're doing with the AVMA, I'll definitely put links to the journey for teams. I know you have a very cool conference coming up at the end of the year. And there will be more coming out about that. I think you'll be able to register in August if I remember correctly for the event in November.

So that's really exciting. so my final question for you is what is something you are most grateful for?

Dr. Latonia Craig: [00:36:00] Oh, wow. I'm grateful for a lot of things and I am a spiritually driven person. I'm grateful for life that encompasses everything. Everybody didn't make it this morning. Okay. So I am grateful to live every day. Like it is my last, I am grateful for doing this work.

Dr. Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your podcast app, subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn, where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn, on the website at vetlifereimagined.

com. And brand new is that you can text me to send me a text message. Find the link at the top of the show notes below that says, send us a text message. I want to thank our longtime sponsors, fire consulting, and we'll use who support the podcast over on our hosting platform. Buzzsprout. You can support the podcast to just check out the show notes for a link.[00:37:00] 

And I hope to see you next time on that life reimagined.