Finding good in the bad

Life is never as it seems, and that means the good times and bad times can both create a new and exciting path for someone's career or life, including veterinary professionals. In her upcoming keynote, "'Man, I Feel Like a Woman!' How Country Songs Made Me a Better Veterinarian," to be delivered at the Fetch dvm360 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee—March 17-18, 2024—Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V, hopes attendees see that there is beauty in the good, but also in the bad times that come your way.

The following is a partial transcript of the video:

Natalie L. Marks, DVM, CVJ, Elite FFCP-V: I think it's opening up and getting people to see that it's not always beautiful. But I think it's how your mindset is of what you do with those moments. Like, there has been some really hard moments I've had personally and professionally. You either let them define you, or you take what you can learn from them and make things better in the future for yourself or for others. And that's really part of it, too, is [that] sometimes we go through these moments that we don't think we'll ever get through. Being able to be vulnerable and share those moments often help others that don't realize that other people are going through it or even just to realize in that moment [that] they aren't alone.

So, I hope that maybe something that comes out of this keynote is a lot of people will say to me, 'you seem like you have it all together. You have 3 kids, you have businesses, you have your practice, you speak.' Everybody's a mess under the covers, right? I'm going to be very vulnerable and honest, and just show people that you're going to have ups and downs and twists and turns, and it's totally okay to talk about them. Because nobody's life is perfect. And no journey is perfect.