In mid-March of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the US, Brief Media CEO and founder Elizabeth Green advised her sales team to stop all sales efforts and focus on connecting with clients to ensure they had everything they needed. Under her leadership, the Brief Media team reviewed and published a step-by-step coronavirus safety protocol for veterinary teams that reached the domestic and global veterinary community in record time and helped front-line practitioners manage pet visits during a rapidly developing health crisis. And in the midst of it all, Green and her team launched a new product to ease communication with clients when solutions were needed without delay.
In 2020, big demands were made of veterinary teams—and all of us. Green and the Brief Media team responded in big ways. But that’s not new for Green. She’s been leading with this same potent combination of empathy, innovative forethought, and sound philosophy on growth since founding the company in 2002.
On a recent episode of the CEO Campfire Chat podcast, Green joined host Robert Ristagno and a live audience of leading executives to share her insights and discuss the state of veterinary medicine, including its transition into the digital age and the challenges veterinarians face in a field that is growing more and more sophisticated.
During the interview, Green recounted the idea for Brief Media coming together when she was working for a veterinary publisher where long, complicated articles were the norm. Recognizing the need for a shorter, more concise format, Green embarked on her entrepreneurial journey.
“I began to see that there was a change occurring in our reading habits and I wanted to look at how we could take the information we were providing and offer it in a much more succinct and meaningful format,” Green said.
Green also revealed the surprising ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has touched veterinary medicine, including some impressive growth (12% uptick compared to 2019) as well as the less visible toll the pandemic (and also pre-pandemic) conditions have taken on practitioners.
Green explained, “There is high stress and burn out in veterinary medicine. There is also a shortage of veterinarians in the market. And we have a very high suicide rate in veterinary medicine, higher than any other medical profession.”
With disturbing insights like this, it’s easy to see why helping veterinarians is at the heart of every business move Green makes. But despite all the challenges facing the industry and the added gloom of 2020, Green is an eternal optimist.
She and her team are working on solutions that will make a difference in the day-to-day lives of overworked practitioners (she hints at a new point-of-care tool coming soon). And she has an unwavering faith in the beneficial role pets play for humans and society, retelling a story of becoming “fast friends” with fellow dog owners despite the current restrictions.
“Animals have a way of connecting us, and in a time when we’re all socially distant, it’s an emotional benefit to have them,” Green notes.
With the new normal keeping us separated, it’s nice to know our pets are keeping us human.
Twice a month, the CEO Campfire Chat podcast highlights the successful growth stories of middle market companies. Listen to the November 10, 2020 episode to hear the full conversation with Elizabeth Green.
