Customer Profile: Brian Sheahan, Mobile Veterinary Services

What do Elvis and Brian Sheahan have in common? What dish will you never encounter in this food-lover’s home? What’s his superpower, and which branch of the armed services did he develop it in? This busy mobile practice owner slowed down to share his story, as well as his favorite parts of Neo.

If you weren’t working today, where would you be?

Working in my yard. I like growing things. My love recently is a plant called Plumeria. It's what they make Hawaiian leis out of [one of Elvis’s favorite accessories-Ed.]. I've probably got a hundred different varieties planted around my house. I’m fascinated by the colors and the delicateness of the flowers. It's beautiful, it's extremely easy to grow, and because I'm in Florida I can pretty much do this year ‘round.

Besides growing Plumeria, what's something about you that surprises people?

That I've had such a diverse background. I started my career in restaurants. I’m a Navy veteran. I’ve been in senior management as a planner for county government. I’m published in agricultural extension newsletters. My experiences catch people off guard.

With all those skills, which is your superpower?

I asked my wife Joell and she said, “you have the ability to go up to any electronic device and get it to work when nobody else can." I worked on missile systems in the Navy, and I got quite good at electronics, pneumatics, and hydraulics.

You must know your way around a kitchen too.

Yes, I can cook just about anything. I have a true love of ethnic foods. I'll order a dish that I've never heard of just so I can figure out what's in it and make it at home.

What do you love to cook and loath to cook?

I’ve never liked the smell of mussels. I love to cook things like coconut curries and fish. My brother-in-law is a semi-professional fisherman, so I've got a constant flow of seafood coming into the house.

Who do you do all that cooking for?

Joell and I have been together for a little over 34 years. We’re that fairytale couple that compliments each other. We met when I was a chef and she was a waitress and went to school together all the way through community college to the university. I routed towards graduate school and she routed to veterinary college. We're the proud parents of three children, two in college and one in high school. We also have two Great Pyrenees, a Border Collie, a 33-year-old Amazon parrot named Rico, and an eight-year-old office cat named Loca.

If I asked your clients what makes Mobile Vet to Pet unique, what would they say?

It's our personalized service. Most of our clients feel their pets are their children; because we are house call our clients feel like their pets are part of our family too. They tend to have higher communication expectations, which we cater to because our average time with a client is about 45 minutes.

Speaking of communication, you moderate the IDEXX Neo User Group. How did you learn about Neo, and what inspires you to share that?

I love figuring things out, taking pieces that other people have figured out, and putting them together to do something else. When I was at university, I’d see graduate students and doctoral students working on one narrow project. Someone outside the group would hear what they were working on, contribute a new idea and together they’d come up with something totally amazing. I really enjoy that, so I share any opportunity I can.

What Neo feature do you enjoy most?

I love the Practice Dashboard. I look at that daily and get all the KPIs I need at a glance. One thing we appreciate most about Neo is having the information you need right at your fingertips.

Tell me about a time that you really needed to get your hands on a piece of information, and Neo made that easy.

We had a client that was leaving the country on very short notice. He saw me in the parking lot of the grocery store, and said, "Brian, I can't board Susie because she doesn't have a Bordetella shot. I need those records sent right away so I can get this done!" Right there I used Neo on my phone to forward the records and set up an appointment with a tech from the office to come out and give the pet the shot. His stress went down immediately.

Final question: If you were face to face with Neo product owner Christa Weghorn what would you ask her?

“Do you ever sleep?” It seems like the Neo team is everywhere all the time. They’re awesome.

Interested to learn how Neo can help your practice? Book a demo today!