As a large animal veterinarian and private practice owner, Dr. Christine Staten combines her passion for veterinary medicine with business acumen to help fellow practice owners thrive in this rewarding profession. She is dedicated to nurturing the next generation through mentorship programs for veterinary students and new graduates, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the veterinary field. Dr. Staten earned her DVM degree from Colorado State University and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
8:00 AM–9:15 AM
You’re Ready to Host Externs: The Simple System That Builds Your Culture and Your Talent Pipeline
Think your practice isn’t ready to host veterinary students? Think again. This session shows you exactly how to create an externship program that benefits everyone: your team, your clients, your future hiring pipeline, and the students who desperately need real-world experience. You’ll learn the simple steps to welcome externs into your practice, including ready-to-use templates for orientation and welcome packets that make the process seamless. Discover why having students elevates your entire team by creating a culture where everyone teaches and everyone learns. Your clients will love it, your staff will thrive, and you’ll be doing the profession a huge service by giving students the practical, imperfect, real-world training they need to become day one ready veterinarians. Students don’t just need specialists and they don’t need perfection; they need to see what actual practice looks like so they can hit the ground running after graduation. Plus, externships are the ultimate working interview. You get weeks to evaluate cultural fit and clinical skills before ever posting a job ad, and students get to see if your practice feels like home! Stop second guessing yourself. Your clinic is already good enough, and this session will prove it while giving you everything you need to get started immediately.
9:25 AM–10:25 AM
What Stage Are You in? The Five Phases of Practice Ownership and Your Roadmap Forward
Your practice didn’t come with a roadmap until now. In this session, you’ll discover the five predictable stages every practice owner navigates: Startup (getting stuff done), Chaos (putting out fires), Scale (building leadership), Rhythm (reaping rewards), and Legacy (planning your exit). You’ll learn the characteristics of each stage, the crucial mindset shifts required, and the specific action items that actually move the needle where you are right now. Through a practical self-assessment, you’ll identify your current stage and stop wasting energy on strategies meant for a different phase of growth. You’ll leave this session with a clear action plan: 2-3 concrete steps you can implement immediately in your practice. Most importantly, you’ll realize you’re not alone in this journey. Every challenge you’re facing has been solved before, and every stage ahead has been successfully navigated by others. It’s time to stop guessing and start growing with confidence.
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Performance Pay for Everyone: Build a Tier System That Attracts Go-Getters and Eliminates the Raise Game
Tired of the constant stress of raise negotiations and wage complaints? In this session, Dr. Staten will walk you through how she implemented performance-based tier systems for her ENTIRE team—from receptionists to technicians to kennel staff—and the game-changing results that followed. You’ll learn how this system creates a self-motivated team culture where people actually want to learn and grow, eliminates wage animosity, and takes the guesswork out of hiring and raises. Dr. Staten will share how team members advance through tiers by mastering hard skills, soft skills, and knowledge—all self-paced with resources provided by the practice. The best part? Wages are transparent, advancement is objective, and team members help each other succeed. Dr. Staten will give you her exact strategy for creating and rolling out your own tier system, then spend the rest of the session on the incredible culture shift that happens when you stop managing wages and start rewarding performance. This is practical, field-tested strategy, not theory.
View All Speakers | Discover More Below
