My Encore: Michelle Winter Ignites Education
If you know me, you know that I love all things related to the professional development of veterinary professionals. If you know me, you’d also know that in my life before Encore, I built a series of popular professional development programs collectively known as Patterson Veterinary University (PVU), that educated more than 20,000 veterinary professionals. At first glance, one could have assumed I was in the perfect role doing what I’m good at and what I love. Part of that was true; I was well-matched for WHAT I did in my role. The problem was, my WHY and HOW became misaligned with my leader’s through many company changes over time.
In many people’s career pathways, mine included, WHY and HOW are either missing pieces or misaligned pieces. That alignment gap significantly challenges one’s ability to carry their torch passionately and remain fulfilled long-term. I made the difficult decision to leave my life’s work behind and start again when I realized my misalignment gap was widening, not narrowing.
I was drawn to Encore, like a magnet, because I am culturally aligned with our vision, mission, values and purpose. The focus of Encore is on the people who deliver veterinary care. We collectively agree that the best pathway to success is by investing in the people within our practices.
Encore’s investment in team development and learning is significant because of our LIFT IT value. In fact, I was the 7th person hired onto the Encore home office team, this was before we had anyone in HR, Marketing, or IT roles. Our founders knew that a big piece of taking care of the people who care for animals involved a commitment to their development and growth opportunities. I joined Encore in its early days to get started as quickly as possible.
WHAT I do is design professional development opportunities for veterinary professionals. WHY I do it is because veterinary professionals are the heart and soul of the profession and they deserve to grow in their roles. HOW I do it is by igniting spirits and sharing knowledge and tools that help ignite their spirits and be effective. When you light up, I light up.
I have channeled my passion into designing education and development opportunities for our teams – this is what we call Encore Performance Academy (EPA) which is the umbrella under which all Encore learning programs reside. Knowing that WHAT, HOW and WHY alignment is a secret sauce to professional enrichment, I carry a strong commitment to sharing this, so others can be as ignited in their roles as I am in mine. I can’t wait to see you in class and watch you ignite!
Michelle Winter, CVT, CVPM, CVJ
Director of Education
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