Ron Sosa joins Maria Pirita on the Uncharted Veterinary Podcast to tackle how lack of confidence derails leadership in veterinary practice management, using a case study of Jessica, a practice manager whose hesitation and inconsistency after team pushback causes flexible enforcement, stalled progress, confused staff, and worsening results. They discuss why confidence struggles are common after promotions without leadership training, how avoidance and delays signal second-guessing, and how inconsistency erodes trust and fuels boundary testing. Ron frames the “inner critic” as a protective voice and encourages leaders to pause, identify what it is trying to protect them from, and respond diplomatically rather than trying to silence it, while also considering communication styles like DISC when interpreting pushback. They also preview Ron’s “confidence, not perfection” coaching cohort for Uncharted members focused on naming and reshaping the inner critic and building confidence over time.

Ron is a Certified Veterinary Practice Manager and a former practice owner and business director for multisite animal hospitals. He also hold certificates in Neurodiversity, compassion fatigue, veterinary business leadership, and the human animal bond. He currently serves as the Executive Director for the Uncharted Veterinary Conference.

Mentioned in this episode:

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Office Hours

Inside the Uncharted Veterinary Community, Dr. Andy Roark hosts Office Hours where veterinary leaders can bring real-world challenges and get practical guidance from someone who understands the realities of practice life. These sessions give veterinarians, practice managers, and team leaders a chance to ask questions, workshop difficult situations, and gain perspective on issues like team dynamics, communication, burnout, and clinic operations. Instead of navigating leadership challenges alone, members get direct access to Andy’s insight along with the support of a community of veterinary professionals working through many of the same challenges.

Join Dr. Andy Roark for Office Hours at the Uncharted Veterinary Community!

How do you get your team excited for the mundane, downtime tasks? In this episode of the Uncharted Podcast, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss tackle a question from a veterinary practice experiencing a slowdown in appointments. Together they discuss the challenges of managing a veterinary team when business is slow, including maintaining team morale and motivation. They emphasize the importance of accepting the reality of the situation, adapting to change, and focusing on the practice's mission and purpose. If your veterinary practice is experiencing a slowdown, this episode offers valuable insights and actionable steps to help you navigate this challenge. Let's get into this episode!

Mentioned in this episode:

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Dr. Andy Roark and Maria Pirita tackle a challenge every veterinary leader knows too well: what do you do when your most technically skilled technician is quietly damaging your team with poor communication? In this episode, they break down the tension between clinical excellence and team culture, exploring how confidence can tip into condescension, why “I’m just being direct” is not a free pass, and how these behaviors impact morale, efficiency, and retention. They share practical strategies for addressing high-skill, low soft-skill team members, including reframing the conversation around impact, using communication frameworks like DISC, and creating clear expectations with accountability. If you have ever felt stuck between protecting your top performer and protecting your team, this episode will give you a path forward.

Mentioned in this episode:

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

An associate veterinarian who always has an explanation, a reason, or someone else to point to when things go wrong can quietly erode team trust, frustrate leaders, and stall growth, especially when accountability never quite lands. In this episode, Uncharted Veterinary Podcast hosts Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss unpack what’s really driving excuse-based behavior and how leaders can shift the conversation toward ownership and improvement without creating shame or defensiveness. They explore how fear, confidence, and clinic culture shape accountability, and share practical strategies to stop the excuse spiral, set clear expectations, use curiosity to redirect conversations, and coach simple “repair language” that helps team members take ownership and move forward. If you’ve ever felt stuck in repetitive, frustrating conversations that go nowhere, this episode will help you lead with clarity, compassion, and a stronger path toward accountability. Let’s get into this episode!

Mentioned in this episode:

Office Hours

Inside the Uncharted Veterinary Community, Dr. Andy Roark hosts Office Hours where veterinary leaders can bring real-world challenges and get practical guidance from someone who understands the realities of practice life. These sessions give veterinarians, practice managers, and team leaders a chance to ask questions, workshop difficult situations, and gain perspective on issues like team dynamics, communication, burnout, and clinic operations. Instead of navigating leadership challenges alone, members get direct access to Andy’s insight along with the support of a community of veterinary professionals working through many of the same challenges.

Join Dr. Andy Roark for Office Hours at the Uncharted Veterinary Community!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Ron Sosa, CVPM and Executive Director of Uncharted Veterinary Conference, joins Maria Pirita to tackle the question every practice manager secretly wonders: Is getting your CVPM actually worth it? If you've heard mixed reviews about whether CVPM certification leads to better pay, opens career doors, or just adds letters after your name, this episode is your honest reality check. Maria and Ron dive into the compensation truth (spoiler: it depends on way more than you think), the actual learning value, the surprisingly emotional pinning ceremony, and why your why matters more than anything else. You'll walk away understanding the real commitment involved, how to have the money conversation with your boss, and whether this credential aligns with your career goals or if you're just climbing a ladder you never wanted to be on. Plus, Ron drops some wisdom about neurodivergent veterinary professionals that'll make you think differently about burnout. Gang, let's get into this episode.

Links:

1. VHMA (Veterinary Hospital Managers Association)
2. VHMA Compensation Study
3. Ron's LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Office Hours

Inside the Uncharted Veterinary Community, Dr. Andy Roark hosts Office Hours where veterinary leaders can bring real-world challenges and get practical guidance from someone who understands the realities of practice life. These sessions give veterinarians, practice managers, and team leaders a chance to ask questions, workshop difficult situations, and gain perspective on issues like team dynamics, communication, burnout, and clinic operations. Instead of navigating leadership challenges alone, members get direct access to Andy’s insight along with the support of a community of veterinary professionals working through many of the same challenges.

Join Dr. Andy Roark for Office Hours at the Uncharted Veterinary Community!

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Can you be an effective practice manager of a veterinary hospital if you never scrub in? In this episode, Dr. Andy Roark and Maria Pirita, CVPM respond to a mailbag question from a new-ish practice manager whose team says she’s, “not helpful because she can’t draw blood or place IVs” even though she’s been fixing administrative problems that keep the hospital functioning. Andy and Maria frame the issue as a common tension between “medicine people” and “operations people,” and emphasize that the solution is not learning blood draws but getting clear on role expectations, success metrics, and KPIs with the person who evaluates the manager. They discuss resetting team expectations by narrating leadership, building transparency into weekly rhythms, tying administrative work to team pain points like schedules, supplies, breaks, and leaving on time, and seeking endorsement from medical leadership.

Join us for an event at the Uncharted Veterinary Community!

All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

Do you have something that you would love Andy and Maria to discuss on the podcast? If so, send us a message through the mailbag! Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Mentioned in this episode:

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Veterinary leadership burnout can leave even the most dedicated practice managers wondering if life would be easier back at the front desk, free from the constant pressure of staffing decisions, client complaints, and carrying the emotional weight of the whole hospital. In this episode, Dr. Andy Roark and Stephanie Goss respond to a heartfelt mailbag question from a manager considering stepping down into a CSR role and unpack the realities of making that transition. They explore why these feelings are so common, the cultural and identity challenges of changing roles inside the same practice, and how to decide whether stepping down is truly the right move or simply a sign that boundaries and support need to change. Let's get into this episode!

Upcoming events: https://learn.unchartedvet.com/pages/events

All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

Do you have something that you would love Andy and Stephanie to discuss on the podcast? If so, send us a message through the mailbag! Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Mentioned in this episode:

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!

Office Hours

Inside the Uncharted Veterinary Community, Dr. Andy Roark hosts Office Hours where veterinary leaders can bring real-world challenges and get practical guidance from someone who understands the realities of practice life. These sessions give veterinarians, practice managers, and team leaders a chance to ask questions, workshop difficult situations, and gain perspective on issues like team dynamics, communication, burnout, and clinic operations. Instead of navigating leadership challenges alone, members get direct access to Andy’s insight along with the support of a community of veterinary professionals working through many of the same challenges.

Join Dr. Andy Roark for Office Hours at the Uncharted Veterinary Community!

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Dr. Andy Roark and Maria Pirita, CVPM, tackle one of the most emotionally charged realities in veterinary medicine, when corporate leadership changes clinic schedules without local input and leaders are left to deliver the news to frustrated teams. In this episode, they respond to a multi-site medical director caught between upper management directives and the trust they have worked hard to build with their doctors. They explore the leadership trap of managing up and down, how to communicate schedule changes without losing credibility, and practical strategies for protecting team morale, retention, and engagement during corporate veterinary practice transitions. If you have ever felt stuck translating decisions you did not make, this episode offers clarity, validation, and actionable veterinary leadership tools to help you navigate change effectively.

Upcoming events: https://learn.unchartedvet.com/pages/events

All Links: https://linktr.ee/UnchartedVet

Do you have something that you would love Andy and Stephanie to discuss on the podcast? If so, send us a message through the mailbag! Submit it here: unchartedvet.com/mailbag

Mentioned in this episode:

Uncharted Practice Owner Summit at NAVC SkillShop

Owning a veterinary practice comes with challenges no one teaches you in school. The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit, hosted at NAVC SkillShop in Orlando, is a hands-on leadership workshop designed to help owners strengthen their teams, improve operations, and make confident business decisions. This small-group, working session focuses on real-world tools and honest conversations, not passive lectures. Spots are limited. Register now!

Register for The Uncharted Practice Owner Summit Today!

Zoetis - Simparica Trio

Learn more about Simparica-Trio!