In this episode of the Inventory Nation Podcast, I’m so excited to be joined by Jamie Gonzalez, a hospital manager with over 18 years of experience. She’s currently Currently in a practice manager role pursuing a regional manager position, as well as her CVPM certification and MBA.

Jamie was born and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland. With her love of learning and of animals, she began her career in 2002 as a kennel assistant. Because of her enthusiasm, drive, and ability to grasp new concepts, Jamie was swiftly moved into a veterinary technician role that also included team management, inventory management, and various leadership responsibilities. Jamie is passionate about learning, organization, and leadership. Over her career, she has gained experience working in a variety of general practices, emergency and specialty centers, and with various exotic animals. She has always been fascinated by the constantly changing industry and faces challenges with a positive outlook. One of her favorite roles in veterinary medicine has been inventory management.

In 2017, Jamie decided she wanted to pursue a career path that would leverage her 18 years of Animal Health industry experience. She began her journey to pursue an MBA through Strayer University, which she hopes to obtain by 2023. In addition, after a three-year commitment, Jamie’s application for the Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM) certification was approved in June 2020, and she expects to obtain it in January 2021.

Over the years Jamie has a variety of pets ranging from bearded dragons, iguanas, fish, to her four beloved feline companions, who will be remembered always. Her biggest love is her 15-year-old Siberian Husky, “Akane”. “Akane” has been with Jamie for almost her whole career and serves as a loving reminder of why Jamie chose this field. Personally, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, traveling, a variety of crafts, and spending time with her family.

During our conversation, Jamie shares her advice with other inventory managers: “My initial advice was really to learn your practice management software and what the inventory module can do for you. But, I think the first thing for inventory managers is to hang out upstairs and see what products you are really going through and running those reports to find out what do you sell the most of, how quickly do you go through things because those are going to be those key things that you want to focus on. It’s really getting to know your hospital, getting to know your doctors, and figuring out what they want in the hospital.”

• Reorder Tags – Your distributors have free reorder tags that you can place on your inventory items. Note from Nicole: I recommend using reorder tags on products that aren’t tracked well in your practice management system (ie. syringes, gauze, needles, etc) or for things you want an added, double-check reorder point for.
• Vetcove (veterinary-specific purchasing platform) – https://www.vetcove.com