Karen Faunt – VP & Chief Medical Officer, Banfield-The Pet Hospital

Here’s how having a pet can make you better at work.

By Taylor Mallory

Plenty of studies have shown that having a pet can make you healthier and happier. But it can also make you a better person – and a better professional. That’s according to Dr. Karen Faunt, DVM, vice president and chief medical officer for Banfield, The Pet Hospital, which has more than 735 locations nationwide.

“Each pet I’ve had taught me something,” Faunt says. “Maggie, a yellow Lab, was a dwarf with arthritis and other medical issues. She made me more patient and taught me to stop and smell the roses – literally. She couldn’t go on long walks but liked to be outside, watching people go by. She taught me to be calm and quiet and take advantage of the things you can savor,” explains Faunt, who now owns two border collie mixes, Collin and Bismarck, and a cat named Puck. “Bismarck is a goofball and I’m a fairly serious person, so he’s always trying to teach me it’s OK to smile and have fun. He always takes detours on walks. Instead of getting upset about not making my three-mile loop like I wanted, I have to let him stop and have fun.”

Pets get you to go to places (emotionally and physically) where you wouldn’t otherwise go – and make you learn something about yourself, Faunt says. “And these are all great lessons in leadership.”

Here she talks to PINK about the job she loves – and shares her business success secrets.

PINK: To what do you attribute your professional success?
Karen Faunt: The belief that we all are capable of making the world a better place. I’ve chosen to focus on pets. That’s a view I developed in undergrad. I took several trips to developing countries and started seeing a pattern in small towns where people took proper care of animals. In places where the dogs and donkeys pulling carts looked healthy and taken care of, those kids also looked healthy and life seemed to be good for those people. No one is without the capability to make a difference; this is how I’ve chosen to make mine.

PINK: How does that philosophy make you a better leader?
K.F.: It lets me lead people to where they wouldn’t have gone, show them they can do things they didn’t know they could do. Leadership is about getting to know your team – who they are, what motivates them and what limitations they’ve placed on themselves. We had a group of new doctors here a couple of weeks ago doing communication training. We all did an exercise – “the five whys.” We were asked, “Why are you here as a vet?” And then they asked, “Why are you doing that?” We answered, and they asked the same question again and again. It got us all to the core of why we’re here, why we believe in this work. I’ve been trying to do that for years in my management style – trying to understand people.

PINK: When have you failed, and what did you learn from it?
K.F.: A few years ago, I was asked to present a talk on evidence-based medicine at the Northeast Veterinary Conference. Based on past presentations I’d given, I expected at least 100 people in attendance. To my surprise, only five people came to my presentation, most of which were Banfield representatives. I was disappointed in the low attendance, but the presentation went well and I was proud to share the information I’d gathered with my colleagues. I learned a valuable lesson that day – that you should never think you’re too important. You should always know the audience you’ll be speaking to (instead of making assumptions), and make sure to think before you leap. In this instance, it would have been advantageous for me to research what topics would have piqued interest in attendees before I decided what to talk about.

PINK: How do you define “success”?
K.F.: Making the world a better place – in my personal and professional life. One silly example: I’ve always lived in old houses. So when we do a project, I’m thinking, “This house is 100 years old. Will what I’m doing make it better, help it last another 100 years? Will I make it structurally better off?” I take that perspective to work. Is what I’m doing helping this pet, this family, this employee, this practice? Will this policy I’m putting in place result in pets living better lives and families interacting better with their pets?

PINK: How do you manage your Life/Work balance?
K.F.: There’s not enough time to balance things, so you have to integrate them. The other day I wanted to spend time with my friend Kathy, but I also needed to exercise. So we went together for a bike ride together. Yesterday I needed to catch up on work. Instead of going into the office, I worked on the deck with my pets and my partner, Robert. We had some quality time while I got work done.

PINK: What are you doing to shore up the business in this recession?
K.F.: We’re doing really well in this economy because we’ve always focused on preventive care, which saves our clients money in the long run and keeps our clients coming in regularly. A huge part of our success right now is the Wellness Plan program we developed years ago. Clients buy a package of services once a year. It’s cost-effective for them, keeps pets healthy and helps us stay busy throughout the year.

PINK: How are you motivating employees in these challenging times?
K.F.: I’m focusing a lot more on communication – especially the positive things. I’m letting folks know how we’re doing and how many pets we’re seeing. And I’m sharing the postcards we get from clients who’ve had wonderful experiences – refocusing our team on how we’re helping people.

PINK: How do you relax and rejuvenate your spirit?
K.F.: I try to get outside in nature as much as possible. I plan several vacations each year. One is usually a volunteer stint for a week. One is Cycle Oregon, which gets me outside on a bike for a week. I try to go somewhere I’ve never been outside of the country at least every other year. And I take at least one vacation with Robert. The rest of the time, it’s about making sure I spend time with him and our pets. They keep me focused on what life is all about – experiencing the wonders that are out there in the world. It’s a pretty amazing place if you bother to take a look.

PINK: What do you love about your job?
K.F.: Nearly eight years ago, I was in private practice outside of Baltimore, looking to get back into teaching but not within academia. Banfield was looking for a medical adviser to help vets with difficult cases and put on educational events. It was my dream job. After doing that for a number of years, I started managing the team, looking at where we could go next. Then this role came open. I love the strategic nature of this role, looking into the future and thinking, “Where do I want this practice to go? How can we help shape human-pet interaction? How can we help vets have lifelong careers that are always growing and changing?”

PINK: Who inspires you most?
K.F.: My father passed away when I was 6 years old. My mother was a huge inspiration. She had been a stay-at-home mom, so she went back to school, became a CPA, opened her own firm and became a successful businesswoman. That was huge for me. Then I had this professor, Neil Bushhoven, whose motto was “You can move the furniture.” He would make us all sit in different desks every day as a metaphor for changing your mindset and not just accepting things as they are. His philosophies on life changed who I am today.