A Novel Financial Solution to Care - Co-Founder of My Balto Foundation (Robert Parkins)

As an emergency veterinarian for the last seven years, Vet Life Reimagined guest, Dr. Robert Parkins, has seen the need for more options for financial support for pet families. From that need, myBalto and myBalto Foundation were created with his brother, Nathan. When not working to improve the lives of our pets, Dr. Robert spends time with his one-eyed husky, Loki, in the beautiful city of San Diego.

Resources: 

• MyBalto Foundation website 
• Episode on YouTube

Ready, Vet, Go is a 7-month cohort veterinarian mentorship program with live mentorship, community, and real-world skills to help you grow your confidence. It's perfect for early-career vets and anyone transitioning into small animal practice, but anyone is welcome to join. New cohorts start in July and October. Enroll at https://readyvetgo.co/
Use code SPRINKLE for a 10% discount on enrollment!

Transcript

Robert Parkins: [00:00:00] If you see a problem, don't sit on the sidelines. You have just as much power to go fix something. We have a voice. Some of the best ideas came from people on the floor. They see the problem. They find out ways, innovative ways to fix it.

Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. One of the hardest things in veterinary medicine is not being able to help an animal because of lack of finances. Our guest today with the help of the entrepreneurial mindset of his younger brother decided to do something about these types of situations.

Dr. Robert Parkins and his brother Nathan have created a unique way to build angel funds for veterinary hospitals. Through a company and nonprofit, my Balto Foundation, the company was named after the famous story of Balto, the Husky who brought medicine to the village that could only be reached by sled dog.

Robert shares his own Husky story at the end of the episode, so make sure you stay for the full conversation, a conversation of empowerment, innovative thinking, and a lot of hope and gratitude. Let's get to the conversation with Dr. Robert Parkins. 

Megan Sprinkle: when did you know that you were interested in getting into veterinary medicine?

Robert Parkins: Uh, my story is kind of similar probably to a lot of people's. When I was younger, I was like, oh, I love animals. And the book all things great and small. It's the James Harriet book. I was a big nerd, read like crazy. My grandma gave me that book for like, I think when I was like seven or eight, and I just crushed through it.

And at that point I was like, oh, this sounds so cool. I love the stories, the comedy. And then I got to, ironically enough, I actually got to college and I was like, I'm too afraid of the schooling. So I actually went into business first

and then slept through too many classes and then bounced back into VetMed because I was like, I, I love what I'm doing.

I should do this. And that's kind of how it started. But yes, my grandma was actually probably the inspiration for how I got to where I'm today.

Megan Sprinkle: Well, excellent. There's a lot to be said of being motivated to actually [00:02:00] learn something to help you, you know, do the hard stuff that comes along with the learning. So.

Robert Parkins: I think it's, uh, it's just a fear factor of like, do I really wanna be in school for eight more years? But , I'm sure you feel like this too. It doesn't really feel like work when you love what you do. I mean, I work almost every day of the week now, but I'm not as stressed as I feel like I should be. So I just put that way.

Megan Sprinkle: That's usually a good sign. It usually means you're, you're in a zone where . You're thriving and, and doing what you enjoy. So, yeah. That's a good sign. Yeah. Well, and you said you was, you kind of got into business there for a little while and I, I happen to know, and I think this is important because your brother Nathan comes back into your story later on, , and he had, is coming from a business

And entrepreneurial perspective. So I did warn you I was gonna ask you this question. Uh, I am curious if you have any stories from when you guys were growing up that kind of foreshadow, maybe his entrepreneurial nature as well as, you know, you getting into veterinary medicine.

Robert Parkins: Yeah, no, he is got quite a [00:03:00] few, uh, ironically enough, probably my favorite ones is we, so my brother and I were going through our, you know, pre-adolescent puberty stages. We were eating literally everything in the house. Like there was no food that was safe. My parents were like, go get jobs in the food industry 'cause we can't afford to feed you.

Like it was bad. And so one day my dad says, Hey, we need more, , 2% milk. Go grab a couple gallons down at the store real quick and come back. It was within walking distance, so he gave my brother 20 bucks to walk down there, come back, and as my brother comes back, he gives him two gallons of milk and walks upstairs and my dad's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

And imagine now this is 1990s or maybe early 2000, so milk wasn't that expensive back then. My dad turns and was like, Hey. Where's my change? And he is like, oh, there's a service fee. And he literally just kept walking right up the stairs. And my dad's like, I am never again going to offer your brother to go get milk at the store because I'm not getting any money back.

I'm not getting any change. And that's the thing where my brother just started from day one being like, Hey, there's things like you can turn [00:04:00] something into profit and like, I'm gonna do this for you, but we're gonna make some money while I'm doing it. And he's just, and he is actually a very giving person, so I don't wanna make him sound like a bad guy in this first part of the podcast. He always had that mindset of like, how can we do good things, how we can help out, but also make a profitable business at the same time?

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, no, those are good traits to have together. You, you want the, the money wise person on, on your side. 

Robert Parkins: Oh, he'd be broke in a heartbeat if I didn't have, I gave him impossible tasks, you know, obviously we'll get into it, but, uh, and he is done some really incredible things, so I'm very grateful.

Megan Sprinkle: We definitely will get into it. . Um, I'd love to go back to school a little bit because, oh, well, and, and you mentioned your, your parents sent you into the food industry first.

And I, I do love that even on your LinkedIn, you have your first job as being a sandwich artist at Subway. So. Yes.

Robert Parkins: job I ever had, uh, because literally they're like, as long as you work, you get a free, there's like two free subs a day. So at that point in time, I was just crushing food and [00:05:00] there's a life saving thing for my parents. And actually it was actually pretty awesome for me as well. So it worked out really well.

Megan Sprinkle: And it sounds like you're, you are still willing to go eat there, which is a good sign.

Robert Parkins: Yeah, I actually, it's funny, it, it's hard for me to pay for it now because I used to get it for free. I, that's only hesitation I have from time. I'd rather jump behind the counter real quick and do this, but you know.

Megan Sprinkle: I love that. , So getting into college, like you said, , you knew you were interested in animals and so majored in biology, , but you also did a lot of other things in college. And , I always think it's interesting when somebody is a college athlete and majoring in something as an intense, as like biology and pre-vet, things like that.

So , I think you played soccer in college.

Robert Parkins: Yeah. Yeah, I, uh, I'm still try and play it now despite my age. Humbled frequently by younger people. But yeah, I, I love soccer. It's one of the reasons I went to Kalamazoo College, my undergrad, just given the opportunity to play there. And fortunately it's a very good academic school as well. So I got kinda the best of both worlds and just was able [00:06:00] to really enjoy that and take a leadership position on the team as I got older too.

So it was, uh, is just, I, I couldn't recommend sports enough for people growing up. It's good for the team. It's good for hard work and if you can get through that, you can get through most things.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, I've said this in a previous episode before, but I really appreciate the team mentality and a lot of the learnings that you can take from sports into other avenues of professional life too, because I think a lot of what veterinary medicine is, is a team sport,

Robert Parkins: Oh, a hundred percent. And uh, did you do any sports yourself growing up?

Megan Sprinkle: No, I am not athletically inclined. I, I was the, um, I was the athletic trainer in high school, so I did,

Robert Parkins: just as important

Megan Sprinkle: I do,

Robert Parkins: actually.

Megan Sprinkle: yeah. So I, I did some stuff there and, and handed out water and wrapped ankles and things like that, but that's about as, as close to athletics as I got.

Robert Parkins: But I think it's very much like speaks to your point. Uh, there's a team component to it, like there's different pieces and like whether it's you're helping on the [00:07:00] sidelines, whether you're helping on the field or you're coaching. It's all a team mentality and you kind of rise and fall together, 

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, exactly. And especially in emergency medicine, which we'll also get to here in a little bit. Um, but also while you were at college, I noticed you, you did a summer research program in equine, so I'm, I'm curious, did you have. An interest in specific animals. Did that change at all? What? What kind of got you into that equine internship?

Robert Parkins: Yeah, so, uh, you know, a lot of times they wanna see you have a diverse experience going into vet school. And one thing I was lacking was research. So I was fortunately near Michigan State, there's a vet school there. So I was fortunate enough to be able be connected with a few colleagues and they were doing this really cool project, actually it was trying to look at how. They can create a 3D model of a horse and show what type of loads they can actually tolerate. What's the max based on their muscle skeletal system, based on their muscle strength, and see how we can determine ahead of time how to avoid things like lameness and [00:08:00] so forth so they can have longer, healthier lives. And my job was not as pretty, but it was a cool opportunity to be part of and just really get to break down the multiple skeletal system and see their data they can get from walking down force plates. And then I got a chance to work with live horses too. They're very impressive. They're, I think we're one of the greatest athletic creatures in the world.

It's just funny that God put them on stick legs because like you gave all this power and energy and speed and endurance this beautiful animal, and you give 'em the tiny little legs to compensate. Like no wonder why they get hurt when they do. But, uh, it's pretty cool. They're very amazing creatures.

Megan Sprinkle: Yes. Now, did that spark your interest in equine or, or did you always kind of think you'd go more the cat dog route?

Robert Parkins: I actually really like working with horses and during the winter in Michigans, if you've ever been in that field, you know that sometimes from the exams we do rec exams. It's a little warmer in there than otherwise. So actually I didn't mind equine exams. , It's just a tough industry part of, and I think you see a lot [00:09:00] of our colleagues, unfortunately, they burn out pretty quickly 'cause it's a very physically. Draining industry, a lot of great people, but, uh, I think cats and dogs are always my bread and butter.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Yeah. Well, going through vet school did you think. Emergency medicine was gonna be your thing or, or how did you start to kind of decide what you might do after vet school?

Robert Parkins: Uh, I've always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Uh, I likes. Speed and like a little bit of chaos. I work, I thrive well in chaos and I think I did my first like ER shift in vet school and I worked on the ICU and I saw the cases that came in and I think you just really appreciate the real conversations you have with people because there's no, and preventative message is huge.

I cannot emphasize enough. It keeps you out of the er, but when you're in a more reactive type setting, it does make the conversation simpler in a way of like, you have two choices. Either do this or your pet isn't gonna do well. think I like that part of it. 'cause I think we have more like honest conversations with people [00:10:00] sometimes.

And I didn't feel I had to sell them on something 'cause it was, it made my job easier. I feel bad they probably have a worse salesman for it. But when your pet's not doing well, they can see that. I think they're more inclined to take action. Whereas I think general practitioners such such a harder job because they see their pet's healthy. Why do I need to be on this preventative? Is it really worth it? It's just, do I need to do the blood work when they're a 6-year-old dog and they look great? I, I think it's just a harder job to do, so I think it always made my job a little easier.

Megan Sprinkle: That's a very good point. Yes, absolutely. There also are, are some cons that come with it as well. And , before we hit record, we talked about, we're recording this right after the 4th of July, and most veterinarians I think know that the 4th of July is one of the.

Busiest weekends for emergency medicine, and often when you are an intern, this is the weekend you start, which is terrible whoever thought of this. But, , I myself ha went through that as well. Uh, so I, I know you did an internship, , after vet school. Was it, [00:11:00] uh, an emergency or rotating? What, what was it like and, and did you start on the.

Robert Parkins: I did 4th of July with specialty rotating internship out in Aurora, Illinois at VCA Aurora. And, uh. Yeah, it very much like your experience. It was kinda just like, oh, did I make a huge mistake getting into this? Uh, but it was like, it also was fun. I had great like intern mates and I think that's one of the cool part about intern programs. You're kind of all banded together. You're all in the same uncomfortable spot. And I had some of my best friends still, we talk and just say, Hey, remember that time we did this together? And just working through cases together made you, it humbles you quickly, which I think is the most important thing and taught me a lot at the same time.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, definitely. You do learn a lot and I think with the right. Mentors and, and people to guide you along the way. Not only your peers, but also the more seasoned veterinarians that are kinda carrying you through. I think it, it can be a really good experience, especially right at a vet school, to, um, [00:12:00] humble you.

Yes. But then at the same time, you, you start to get confidence because you're able to have repetition , and again, the support.

Robert Parkins: Absolutely. I think because you specialty is nutrition. Did you know from day day one you're jumping into that or were you like, I know I wanna specialize, I just don't wanna do er, like what was your path?

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, so, I was thinking nutrition before I got to internship. So yeah, if you can imagine a poor little person dreaming to be a nutritionist going through ER medicine, um, I, I did it. Every nutrition case that came through, which we did have some interesting ones.

I will say I, I still have a lot of good memories from that year. So yeah, again, nutrition is vital for, for all. So I did get a dose of that, but that lifestyle and that pace was not exactly what I was going for. Yes.

Robert Parkins: I don't blame you. My mom likes to frequently remind me via email and studies that not getting good sleeps cycle end my life early. So I'm like, thanks mom. You are just a peach sometimes she means, well, fortunately, but [00:13:00] uh, a long term career choice.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. so for you, when, in your internship , you, you talked about peer support and, and I do think that's important. Did you have good mentorship? Did you have people that kind of helped you know how to jump into emergency medicine in a way that you can enjoy it and kind of balance pros and cons?

Robert Parkins: Yeah, I think, ER in general used have short lived professionals. I think there's either like, there's kind of an opposite end of the spectrum. You have like the lifers who are just. adapted to the nightlife. They sleep all day. They live at night. And that's kind of like, I know they like play video games in the middle of the night.

That's just kind of like their vibe. That's their what they enjoy doing. So it works out really well for 'em. And then there's people who do it for first couple years, get a lot of good experience like, all right, I wanna be normal now. And I'm not sure where I'm in that spectrum yet. I'm probably too long to be like a brief thing because it's been about 12 years now. But at the same time, I think the passion from those mentors that you referenced, like. I think you find anyone that's passionate about what they're doing, [00:14:00] you can't help but be attracted to it. And I think that's what's really cool about it. 'cause I had Dr. Sheila Mack, or Dr. Sheila McCullough, sorry, call her Mack.

But, um, she's actually works with me in My Balto, uh, with the foundation, but an awesome person. Very levelheaded, but you just see how she approaches things. And she's double boarded as an internist and a criticalist, so she's already brilliant. Just her passion for doing things and how she wants to support teaching.

I think that kind of ingrained in me a little more, and I think we've all had people like that in our life. Even I had a fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Wainwright. She was such a cool person because we'd go to class and she was a science teacher. She had Albert Einstein, uh, as one of those cardboard cutouts in her wall.

We took like yearbook photos of him. That's how much she loved this guy. But we walk in during holidays and she put these big paper pumpkins on the door for Halloween, and you'd crawl through the mouth as like a fifth grader. And as you get through the rooms all dark. And part of the experiment that day was to count M&Ms and use [00:15:00] statistics to say if they're blue, green, red, and you got to eat them at the end of the day.

And just, you see her passion from day one. I think that's where I like fell in love with science even more, because I was like, how could you not love this lifestyle when you see that type of energy behind it? So I think that's kind of the mentor role. I had different parts of my own life.

Megan Sprinkle: I, I think I have heard multiple stories where people considered certain specialties or considered certain careers because of a really good teacher. And so it does speak volumes , for teachers and. You know, maybe not a a formal teacher role, but just as a role model that, you know, you're, when you're passionate about something, it shows so you don't have to have a formal mentorship program.

, People will see that and will be attracted to it. I, I agree. , And there's of course a balance that it also has to match your personality too, but it kind of sparks it. Keeps the flame going I think. Uh, so yeah, that's really good that you had that as well, especially in internship [00:16:00] programs.

' So you, a lot of this was kind of in the, the Midwest, I think you consider, you consider Michigan and Illinois. Yeah. That's all Midwest. Um, it's big. Uh, but what in the world took you to San Diego and to continue your emergency medicine career?

Robert Parkins: You know, it's funny, it was actually just a simple vacation because I used to work out in Chicago and I worked at an ethos hospital out there, and I still work for ETHOS now on the weekends. , So I've been very grateful for the opportunities they've given me, but just have to go out there with a significant other at the time, and spent some time in San Diego, I was like, God, this place has got great food. Like the weather's so much better than Illinois. I was like this, like I was learn how to surf that one weekend. I was like, this is so cool. I'd love to do this more often. And all of a sudden, like I get back home and like the week afterwards I get an update from our like ethos group saying, Hey, there's a job opening in San Diego.

Like not 10 minutes from where we were. I was like. Well, we could and, you know, just went for it. And [00:17:00] that was actually really cool 'cause it was an easy transfer and, I'm glad it worked out the way it did because I think it was just a cool opportunity. And San Diego is beautiful. If you haven't been, uh, IVECC in 2020 this year, actually come on out for.

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, nice. , I've never been to an IVECC, but, uh, in San Diego it's, it's a good motivation. So it's beautiful. That is funny. It does kind of sound like it was almost meant to be like, you kind of got the, the little tease of it and then it happened, but uh, yeah, and I think I've heard that you like scuba diving too, so probably easier to scuba dive in San Diego than Chicago,

Robert Parkins: Yeah,

Megan Sprinkle: at least better water.

Robert Parkins: better water usually. And, uh, yeah, just I love the lakes in Michigan. They're very cool and I, I'm a homegrown like. I love Michigan to death, but, If I could live on a sailboat the rest of my life, I definitely would. Just, my dog probably wouldn't be as thrilled with it yet. Uh, so we'll see.

Megan Sprinkle: And you have a husky, right? So

Robert Parkins: uh, he

Megan Sprinkle: yeah.

Robert Parkins: my best friend. He is about 14 years old, but he likes to water too, ironically, for a husky. So I'm grateful for that. But, uh, I don't know if a boat lifestyle's quite in it for him.[00:18:00] 

Megan Sprinkle: Well, , when we were talking about, , emergency medicine, right? That there, there's pros and there's cons. So as you're, you know, doing years of, of emergency medicine, what were you kind of watching that, uh, kind of sparked you to go, Hmm, I wonder if there's a better way of doing this.

Robert Parkins: Uh, a lot of it was. Obviously we go through a lot of pet owners who, and pet veterinary care is expensive. I think we all know that by now. Um, you see a lot of owners that just love their pets. And at some point I was just tired of having these conversations where like, you knew the outcome already or you'd already be on the ground in the euthanasia room, pushing the drugs, knowing that this pet really didn't have to be euthanized.

But the owner didn't have a lot of choice because it was either that or their mortgage And I actually had owners tell me, Hey, we'll, skip our mortgage this month. We'll pay the bill. I'm like, you've got three kids. Like no, you can't. I'm not gonna let you do this. , But it was still tough, like being the one that [00:19:00] knowing we could fix it.

There is an outcome here that's not this, that got really tough after a while. And you know, fortunately there's a lot of amazing resources out there to help support pets in need a lot of charities and angel funds. But the one problem I was running into a lot was, I didn't know if I'd get approved.

Like there's a lot of great organizations out there, but like how do I know I can help this client when I need it? I'm at 2:00 AM and there's not many organizations that are gonna take my phone call right now. It might take me a week to get approved. Well, this GDV's got six hours, so I don't have that type of time. Those things play a lot of role into like, why isn't there something better than this? Why, why can't we fix this? And I was actually ironically complaining to my brother one day about this and that's kind of how it segued into starting something. 'cause his mind is like, well, if it's broken, fix it. And here I am three years later now almost, and, uh, buried into this.

So it's, it's worth it. But his mindset's actually helped me change how I think myself.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, well, do you mind going more into that? 'cause I think,, we definitely have some great veterinarians out there who do have [00:20:00] wonderful business minds and, you know, that's amazing. , I think notoriously we're known for medicine first and, and, and business maybe later. So, uh. What were those conversations like as you kind of were going back and forth between problem and potential solution to, you know, finally getting to a very unique business model?

Robert Parkins: Uh, you know, I, that's, I think I have to thank a lot of my brother for that because he is the younger brother. So first of all, like, you know, as the older brother, you tend to think, you know, a little bit more just, you know, all that kind of stuff. But working with him, you got a chance to see how his mind worked, where I literally tell him veterinarians don't like change, they don't like to pay for things. and , you have to build that trust factor first. It's a really big part of working in the veterinary community. So I was like, help me build something that we're not gonna charge for, that they can adopt quickly and we can still be sustainable. He is like, are you serious?

Like, come on man. , But , he helped do it. I think that's what's cool about it and we've created different incentives to like, help make it so it doesn't really cost the [00:21:00] clinic anything, but they still have a resource that can really benefit their patients and benefit their staff 'cause. Be able to give your team members something like, hey, if you have an owner that needs some help and you have an angel fund, like ahead and use it for this case.

You need it to. I think that's really the beauty of it. 'cause it gives you some, another tool. 'cause we're not the only solution out there. We can't be you've gotta have a structure approach and whether it's guaranteed payment plans or insurance or any number of resources, you need all of them.

You can't be a good practice these days and not have them. And I think that's really what I learned though, because I give my brother a problem and we'd have just like any entrepreneur lifestyle, you have really crappy days then you've got really great days, but you literally spend your entire life going this valley and know, mountaintop, you know high from doing something really cool.

And then the next day you lose funding for something you thought you had and you're like, like emotionally ages you very quickly. Half the hair I have is no longer here because of that very issue, but it's just cool to see, like when I gave my brother a problem, [00:22:00] I gave him 24 hours and he'd come up with a solution and I think. If we can all kind of frame like, yes, it's gonna suck for a little bit, but there's a way of working around it. I just realized there's always an answer for something and I've been very grateful 'cause I'm finally starting to think like that on my own now, which has been helpful.

Megan Sprinkle: , I think that is very true of the entrepreneur mindset. It's a you figure it out kind of mindset and I think a lot of the entrepreneurs that I'm around, and probably why I was so attracted to entrepreneurs is there's a lot of energy behind it too. It's like, Ooh, okay, creative time.

Let's brainstorm. Let's figure this out. And I, I think that's so helpful to get you through those. Peaks and troughs, because you're right, I, again, I know lots of entrepreneurs, including a lot in the veterinary industry, and watching , the rollercoasters that they're on can be really hard just watching them go through it.

So yeah, it, it's good to have somebody that has that creative mindset and can maybe rub [00:23:00] off on, , in other ways. But, you know, I think. Er medicine. You, you do that too. I mean, 'cause sometimes you, get the, the weird case or , again, the pet parent's like, well, I've got this much money, or, uh, we can do this.

Or, you know, I don't know. You've got crazy parameters and a lot of times you have to pull out that creativity. So I don't know if you, if maybe that's just me that I, I, I could see it that way. But do you have to pull out a lot of interesting creative tools?

Robert Parkins: Absolutely. I, I think you'd make a really good point. I think it's sometimes you have to reframe a skill that you already have. You don't realize it because Yeah, you MacGyver stuff all the time in veterinary medicine. Across the board though, like, I've got 200 bucks. Like, all right, we're gonna do this instead and we're gonna see if this works.

'cause. This is all we have to work with. so yeah, you've kind of feel like the, um, a medical MacGyver in that case. But I think learning that and saying, oh, this can be applied to different situations as well. I think that's really where I've grown a lot as a person, even just the last couple [00:24:00] years.

'cause you're like, it doesn't have to just be medicine. You can, there's always a way. There's always, that's probably the one thing. It sounds silly and very, uh, like positive, but there's always a way to make something work. You may not see it right away, but just take some time.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and all the better to have multiple people around you with different perspectives. , So it's a little bit easier to, to find the thing you're not thinking about in the moment. So, yeah. Um, I think that's really interesting. Now, again, this the platform you've got, it's, it's kind of complex. I was trying, luckily I was listening to some other podcasts that was helping.

Break it down a little bit, but do you mind sharing, , how it works and just kind of like the, the different features? 'cause there's like a, the pet parent side and there's the, that clinic side. So I'm kind of curious how it all works.

Robert Parkins: Yeah. So essentially what we do is our, have our technology company be called My Balto. Uh, that's a for-profit company. And then we have My BTA Foundation, the non-profit company. and what happens is the for-profit company, their only goal is [00:25:00] to create technology that helps put money into angel funds. That's literally the only goal. Now we try to find as many passive processes as possible so that way the veterinary team doesn't have to do any work. Things like rounding up, , some of our like partner programs that we work with, that house can benefit just by using a service and grow their angel fund at the same time.

So. Pretty much our entire ideology is how we make this easier to put money in that account without the hospital doing any work. The foundation, we're fortunate enough, we have a contract with m and a pretty enable us to take in donations for those hospitals. , But really the initiative is give every hospital an angel fund so they can legally take in those donations and then use our platform to raise funds easily. , And mostly innovative ways too, which is, we're really, that's I think where we really change the game. And then also when you have money, make it very easy to reimburse yourselves. You like, Hey, this is our funds. We know how much we can give. We're reimbursed right away. We have automatic approval so I don't have to wait for some third party to tell me yes, I can just help them 'cause I want to help them. And that's really the main initiative I wanted to get across to like our [00:26:00] colleagues. 'cause it shouldn't be that hard. I actually trust veterinarians that treat the right case more than anyone else. 'cause they do it every day. They know which case is a good outcome. They may work with this family for years. Sometimes that's enough. Like, yeah, it's a 2-year-old dog that may be septic, but I've seen 2-year-old dogs that are septic do really, really well when the funding's available. So I think that's what the beauty of it is. Just give veterinarians more power to say yes.

Megan Sprinkle: And there's, unless this has changed since I, I last listened to this episode, , there's a way that the pet parent side of things, they do normal shopping just like they would. Like go on Chewy or something. But they do it through the My Alto app, which starts giving them funds back as well.

Do you mind explaining that a little bit?

Robert Parkins: Yeah, so that was when my brother and I first started. Uh,

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, okay. Okay.

Robert Parkins: Great. Wipe some of that stuff. It is an issue we would like to bring up in one day, but starting your app, own app, we found out it's very expensive. Uh, you need to have a lot of marketing [00:27:00] resources behind you. And, you know, we tried it for some time.

We're like, this is a good idea, but , we're not ready for it yet. , So we end up pivoting to the point where like, we just now focus only on angel funds getting households to, so we pretty much support the veterinary hospital . And they, in turn, uh, it's kind of more of you're religious at all, you might know the story of like. Give a man a fish, they eat for a day. Teach a man a fish they eat for a lifetime. That's kind of the philosophy we help with is like, we're gonna give you five tools to bring in donations every single day. then you can use those tools at your leisure to help those patients who need it most. I think that's really the cool part about it.

'cause and we we're always got some new tools coming in. We got some new ones come out that we're really excited for once we take a breath. , But there's some really cool things we got coming down the pipeline that's only gonna help further that initiative.

Megan Sprinkle: Very cool. Now, I know you recently worked with. , Healthy Pet Connect on a, a project and that was working with rescues as well. And, and is there kind of a direction that you're interested in going when [00:28:00] it comes to rescues or, or anything else?

Robert Parkins: Absolutely. I think honestly it's community. think that's really what we're shooting for. 'cause honestly, we're all intertwined every. Hospital I've worked at has always worked with rescues in some capacities or pet boarding facilities. , It's a, already a community of pet care. And what we're trying to do is saying, Hey, how can we all raise funds together? Maybe it's through rounding up altogether, so that way when the owner does need help, they can take their funds from one hospital or boarding facility and just go directly to the next hospital who can maybe afford the care they need to do. And it's now creating a community effort to support their pets. Because honestly, the more general practitioners that do this, the better. 'cause they can get it before the animals get sick or before they get sicker When I see them. Yeah, they're creatinine. Kidney values are through the roof. But they would, they went to their vet earlier in the week. They just declined blood work. What if they done blood work on day three? When their creatinine is five, instead of seeing me when it's 13, that's two less days of hospitalization. That's three to $4,000 they're saving. That's really the impact we're trying to look for.

[00:29:00] So we wanna work with rescues. We wanna work with the pet store across the street and say, Hey, every time you use, you round up a checkout. These funds, go to the local hospital to have more pets in need. I think that's really the dream that we're trying to build, and we're starting to see that now, which is cool.

Megan Sprinkle: , It's a really good point. We just gotta make sure we educate the pet parents on that note, on the, yeah. Pay for the blood work now. So that doesn't happen in the future. , But a, a wonderful mission, . For sure. Now, this seems like a lot, how do you balance er work and running two organizations, basically? How, how do you make it all work?

Robert Parkins: Uh, lots of caffeine

Megan Sprinkle: Okay.

Robert Parkins: uh, and I'm, I'm very fortunate. I think it's 'cause I love what I do. I don't think I could do this honestly if it wasn't the case. But I do a lot of practicing clinical medicine that allows me to, you know, see patients be still invested in it and see why we need this. 'cause then I get to go home Monday through Friday and I work on My Balto.

I'm talking to hospitals. I hear those stories. And you see their stories [00:30:00] afterwards too. I think that's really the cool part because, you know, we, we had a hospital last week. Um, they helped a cat out in Colorado and it was really cool 'cause this, this guy couldn't afford to care for his pet. They saved his cat, and not only did he reach out to us afterwards and say, Hey one, just thank you for giving me more time with my cat. , This hospital's fantastic. I just want to show my appreciation for them. But also next year my company wants to sponsor an event for them, so all the donations will go towards them. that's the piece that I love seeing. It's the, I appreciate it. Now I'm gonna find a way to get back in my own way. That's what I love to see and it kinda reminds me of that movie, pay It Forward. Have you ever seen it?

Megan Sprinkle: I feel like I should, but No, I, I recognize the title. Tell me the,

Robert Parkins: It's Kevin Spacey. , But essentially he is a teacher and he teaches these kids to say, Hey, create a project that can change the world, essentially. And one of the students, I think it's Haley, Joe Osmond at the time, , creates this pay forward approach where he helps three people and then they help three people, and then they help three people. And it creates this really beautiful community of like, you [00:31:00] do one good deed for someone and they can pay it forward, how much better we can make things. And I love that philosophy and that's why I wanna try and breed into what we're doing.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Make the world a better place. Well, and I also, I, I can't help but think about this every time I have a conversation too. I just, I think there's something special about. That make the world a better place when it has animals attached to it. Because I, I think there's something about animals and, and especially pets too, that just kind of naturally allow the good nature of humans to come out where, you know, it's, uh.

The story of the, the gentleman who , his cat was saved and, and his whole company was willing to sponsor, , the organization. I, I think that is just really special. That just kind of speaks to maybe a little bit of that human animal bond. , Have you seen that as well?

Robert Parkins: Yeah, absolutely. I mean that's, I mean I think you and I know like you have cats, correct?

Megan Sprinkle: No. I have a dog and I do have an outdoor cat and [00:32:00] I'll claim him. He's okay.

Robert Parkins: He's okay, it's like, it's funny how many people to talk to and they're like, I would do anything for my pet. Uh, I think there's even a comedian that makes a joke with the John Wick movies. He is like, I first talked about this movie about some guy that goes on a rampage and kills a whole bunch of people when they, you know, hurt his dog. he's like, then I got a dog. I would do the exact same thing. If anyone ever touched a hair on his beautiful head, I would take out the world. It's like, I think we all have that feeling 'cause they just, can't help but out love them. 'cause they just. They love you so much, they are there for you.

They may be annoying at times, but it's only out of love and affection. They want to be with you. I think the best representation of that is, uh, this really beautiful photograph that someone painted where it's got a picture of a man on the bench next to his dog and they both have a thought bubble above their head and above the guys thought bubble with some skiing, with some girlfriend or gambling the casino.

Just like a lot of fun activities. And then the dog's thought bubble is literally the two of them [00:33:00] sitting on that bench together. Just hanging out. It's like, I don't think we understand how special and both cats and dogs, it just doesn't just relate to dogs, but just how much we are lucky to have them.

So I think it's easy to get on their side to support them. 'cause like they're helpless and they just love us. So we, we don't deserve them, but we're gonna do anything. We can save them.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, well you mentioned you have a very close bond with , your Husky dog name. Oh, Loki, right? Loki, yeah. , Do you have like a, a fun, gotcha story with him? Or, or any, any fun stories.

Robert Parkins: it was a terror. Um, you know, uh, I do kind of, because ironically I was in vet school and I thought it was a great idea to go get a dog before I started vet school during the summer leading up. I'd have time to train it. We'd be best friends for life, all that, and my friends from vet school, like, you're an idiot.

It's a husky. I ignored everything they said. So meanwhile I go to the shelter one day and of course the husky I'm looking for that's on one of the Petfinder sites isn't available. It's getting spayed at the point in time, so I [00:34:00] just didn't know, but her brother is next to him. I wrongly, that brother is Loki. I was like, oh, this dog's wonderful. Like he's such a nice guy. Like I love this dog. And of course I go back to school and the place is like 30 minutes away. So I've had my significant other at the time go for the adoption day and I'm panicking because I'm like. many people are gonna want this dog.

Like, there's no chance I'm gonna get him. And of course, they get there and nobody wants him. Everybody wants the sister. And I was like, I don't understand it. So I, I got him that day. I learned a lot about Huskies and new dogs very quickly. I think the reason I'm so patient is because of this dog. Uh, and again, he's a beautiful dog.

He is. He is actually been the best friend I've ever asked for. So I cannot say really that many bad things about him, but first three months were tough. He destroyed about $1,500 over my things, between three cages, carpet, my PlayStation set, my stethoscope. it was insane. And I was like, what have I done? It was horrible. Um, but since then, point in [00:35:00] time, we are best friends. We those things out. I've learned to be a better dog dad,

Megan Sprinkle: Aw. Well, anything that you looking back and, and would recommend to fellow veterinary people coming through, looking for, you know, their spot in veterinary medicine? Any words of wisdom you have for them?

Robert Parkins: Honestly, I think is if you see a problem, don't sit on the sidelines, you have just as much power to go fix something, ask for help. I think that's a big part of it, but there's people who are like, are willing to offer advice, either they're already in the industry, but if you have an idea and you want to like, don't just sit the sidelines, get out there and try and help out.

'cause we, we have a voice. Some of the best ideas come from people on the floor. They see the problem, they find innovative ways to fix it and ask for advice. I think honestly, one of the biggest part, we're grateful for a lot of our advisors 'cause they kind of guide us in the right direction. And I don't know all the things. Just like anything else we learned, vet Met on the go and I think Will was the same back in school. C [00:36:00] equals DVM or D equals DVM or whatever it was. You know, 

Megan Sprinkle: C 

Robert Parkins: C

Megan Sprinkle: you gonna pass?

Robert Parkins: Cs, dm. It's been a long time, I think that philosophy applies like you don't have to know all the things, but as long as you have the passion for it, you'll be all right.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. No, those are very, very good. And what is something that you are really, really grateful for right now?

Robert Parkins: A lot of things. I think honestly, at this point in time, I'm grateful for my brother. , I wouldn't be where I am right now without his support and just his innovation. And honestly, he keeps me balanced. I'm a pretty even keel person, but on the, on the dark days he is helped be like, Hey, it's cool, we're gonna get through this.

And I've done the same for him, but I think I've learned a lot from him in the process. So.

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 [00:37:00] me on LinkedIn on the website@vetlifereimagine.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 wanna thank our longtime sponsors, fire Consulting and Will Hughes who support the podcast over on our hosting platform, buzz brought. You can support the podcast too. Just check out the show notes for a link, and I hope to see you next time on VE Life Reimagined.