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He has more than 20 years of consumer products goods (CPG) marketing experience, including brand, channel and product strategy that encompasses retail, ecommerce, D2C, specialty retail and professional channels.

At Dean Foods, Derek helped to turn its acquisitions from a fragmented local dairy industry into a CPG-style brand-led company. He then led the retail product marketing efforts at Keurig Green Mountain as it grew tenfold in just six years to $5 billion in revenue. Derek was the first brand manager on the flagship Green Mountain Coffee brand as it went from regional to national and led marketing and sales strategy for the non-coffee K-Cup lines. He later led marketing at FoodScience, LLC, a mid-market company that sells pet and human supplements, where he built the marketing function nearly from scratch, eventually setting the company up to be acquired by a private equity firm.  

Derek also previously worked in a midsized B2B ad agency and was a solo marketer for both a small engineering firm and an entrepreneurial consumer goods company. His background gives him a combination of “big brand” best practices and entrepreneurial resourcefulness. 

Dr. Barnett earned his B.S. in Zoology from Auburn University and continued his education there earning his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. While working as a full-time veterinary associate, he went on to obtain his MBA from the Wake Forest University School of Business. Dr. Barnett can also speak fluent German and has experience in most aspects of the veterinary profession.

He is a leader and advisor with a proven track record of solving business challenges for start-ups as well as small to large businesses across the world. Doug’s industry experience spans across hospitality, telecom, CPG, financial services, insurance, textile and apparel, turf and ornamental, animal health and retail.

After obtaining her BS in Animal Science from NC State, Debbie began working as a Hospital Administrator for a large general practice. She enjoys using her expertise to improve workplace culture and client service as well as the well-being of veterinary professionals and the animals they serve. She is the author of the newly released book, Hospitality in HealthCare: How Top Performing Practices Boost Team Happiness and Give the Best in Care to Their Patients. Debbie hosts The Bend, a vodcast which invites guests to share stories of resilience over adversity. She owns 2 Managed Vets Consulting and was the 2022 President of VetPartners, the Association of Consultants and Advisors.

He has held various operational and commercial leadership roles with IDEXX as well as served as the Head of Global Strategic Partnerships for Covetrus and President & CEO of Lifelearn.

While with Lifelearn, Carroll facilitated a partnership with IBM Watson and built a team to incorporate Watson’s cognitive computing technology into new applications to harness massive amounts of unstructured data, helping veterinarians make informed medical decisions with immediacy. During this time, Carroll also served on the inaugural board of advisors for IBM Watson, a 10-person global team focused on utilizing cognitive computing technologies across a range of industries.

James is currently the founder and principal of Rockwood Advisement Group, a management consulting firm focusing on advisory services related to overall business strategy development, executive mentorship, commercialization, business development evaluation, capital raises and integration management (pre- and post-merger / acquisition). 

During a residency in equine surgery at Ohio State University, Dr. Donecker received an MS in which he studied pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. While in private mixed practice for 15 years, Dr. Donecker was the point person for several contract clinical research studies conducted in dogs, cats, horses and cattle. He has worked as an independent contractor and an employee of Pfizer Animal Health/Zoetis and has consulted with several agencies helping to develop veterinary products and consulted with the USDA and NCDA on foreign animal diseases responses. Dr. Donecker has also published peer reviewed articles as author or co-author on subjects from the blood chemical abnormalities in cattle with ruptured bladders to treatment of dogs with elbow OA treated with Synovetin OA.

She works with organizations that lean into employees’ professional development and have an experimental mindset to support business innovation and growth. Previously, she led the dvm360 marketing and content development team, and it’s that work developing effective, meaningful CE for veterinarians that led her to focus on adult learning and behavior change.

He has served as a Senior Consultant at Brakke Consulting, focusing on market research of industry trends, start-ups, M&A due diligence, private equity groups, speaking at veterinary conferences on behalf of clients, and general consulting to senior management at many animal health companies. Dr. Goodnight worked for several years in Business Development at Veterinary Pet Insurance (Nationwide) and founded and served as President of PurinaCare Pet Health Insurance, a division of Nestle Purina PetCare Company. He is currently the EVP of Business Development for LifeLearn, Inc. and still practices veterinary medicine on the weekends to stay current with trends at the hospital level.

She has worked in the animal health industry as a pet health insurance executive and as a technical services veterinarian. She is highly engaged in AAHA, having served as a member of the Board of Directors, the Board Vice President and the AAHA Delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates from 2016¬–2023. She is a member of the AVMA Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee.

Passionate about education and innovation, Dr. Hauser partners with established and start-up/early-stage companies as well as individual veterinary hospitals. She is a regular presenter at veterinary conferences, facilitating workshops on hospital culture, communication and leadership. Dr. Hauser is frequently published and the co-author of “The Veterinarian’s Guide to Healthy Pet Plans.” An experienced moderator and facilitator, her strengths include strategic insight and guidance on business development, key stakeholder relationships and business development.

Her career has been almost entirely focused on animal health having led global and national marketing efforts, provided strategic guidance and participated on innovation teams for companies like Mars Petcare, Zoetis and Boehringer Ingelheim as well as several startups. She is known as an industry thought leader and has been a featured speaker at Global Pet Expo, AAHA, CBI, AVMA, NY Vet and Fetch, a dvm360 conference. Kimberly has also been published in Today’s Veterinary Business and DVM360. Most recently she is recognized as a peer reviewed author in JAVMA about the collaborative veterinary care experience among pet owners managing canine cancer.

In addition to his most recent cannabinoid research, Dr. Vaughn has worked in the areas of oncology, immune-regulatory, neurological, wound healing, parasitic infections, regenerative, and nutritional therapeutics. He has gained broad experience in the global attempts to create therapies for prescription and non-prescription medications designed to restore self-tolerance and enable regeneration of healthy tissues, whether associated with a neurological disorder, cancer, infection, transplantation of an organ, an autoimmune disease or spontaneously occurring degenerative disease. The types of drug products evaluated include oral tablets and liquids, drug patches on the skin, rapid-release, extended-release, and injectables, including monoclonal antibodies.