in yourself and add some blood, sweat and tears to your dreams, you can make them a reality.” She also looks up to her husband, Ben, stating, “It is a cliché that you hope to marry your best friend, but he is truly my rock. When one is down, the other one lifts (that one) up. When we have different opinions, we respect each other enough to debate and not just agree to avoid conflict. We are just really passionate about what we do and not only love, but actually really like each other!” Now married for more than fifteen years, Ben and Erin have added two sons to their family, Charlie, age thirteen and Chase, age eleven. A tight family, they do most of their activities together as a group. The boys are devoted basketball players and both Ben and Erin find time to coach junior high boys basketball at Cedar Catholic High School in Hartington, Nebraska. They also coach 5th, 7th and 8th grade boys’ basketball travel teams. Schroeder explains how she and husband Ben joined Ben’s father, Dr. John Schroeder and his wife Sally’s practice at Cedar County Veterinary Services (CCVS) in 2004. They bought the practice from them in 2007. At that time, they had four support staff members and had an office in Hartington and a small satellite in Coleridge, NE. They have since grown to open a satellite clinic in Vermillion, a location in Yankton, including seven total veterinarians, eight licensed technicians, eight other full time support staff and two-part time staff. When she began working at CCVS in 2004, her duties ranged from cleaning kennels, grooming dogs and veterinary work. She explains that she “even drove a combine to help generate the income needed to keep things going. Dr. John took a huge leap of faith to have us come back and work with him. He really put his neck out there to get his son and I back home to be part of the family practice. I felt that I had to do whatever it took to make it all work!” They grew their small animal and horse portions of the clinic over time and expanded their large animal services. Balancing the clinic and family life was challenging, as Schroeder explains that they would often take the boys with them to care for cattle all day. It’s great to see a couple with a good sense of humor as she explains their romantic date nights. They wouldn’t spend the evening going out to eat or going to movies, but would spend time together as they would help with the birth of a calf or performing a foreign body removal on a dog. I laugh as I picture it because it’s not really the ideal date night! Schroeder headed up the small animal departments in the growing clinic and worked in the new clinic. She mentored new staff, training them on the CCVS philosophy. She now takes on a management position and oversees much of the clinic operation. As she explains of her recent managerial role, “l still fill in as needed, but I also get to spend more time in my favorite role, mom.” She loves to see how their vision for the growing practice has become a reality. “We have doctors who are absolutely brilliant and our technicians, receptionists and other staff provide second-to-none support, care and TLC to our patients and clients. That was our dream from the start, to provide outstanding patient and customer care for the people and animals of Northeast Nebraska and Southeast South Dakota,” she explains. Running the business of veterinary medicine, she feels is the most difficult part of her job. Those that choose to work in the veterinary field are not in the field for the money but are in it purely for the love of animals. “When someone has an accident, they can walk into a hospital to have emergency care and no one worries about how the bill gets paid until later. As a small business and veterinary hospital (compared to human medicine), we unfortunately don’t have that luxury. That is the toughest part of my job- trying to provide the best care we can for our patients and clients while making sure that I take care of the people who are providing that care.” People are becoming more attached to their companion animals, such as pets and horses, and are viewing them as family members, feeling that they deserve the same care as a child or spouse, she explains. Pet owners are seeking information from diet and healthcare to entertainment and travel. “Livestock farming has also changed and owners have accountability for the food that they raise, while also increasing the transparency of their farm practices to their consumers. For the veterinary business, both livestock and companion animal owners/”parents” are demanding a higher level of expertise and very individualized patient care plans,” she continues. Though I had never heard of the term “designer” breeds, she said more and more people are seeking them. These are new breeds of dogs which are created by crossing two purebred dogs of different breeds. Examples Schroeder gives are Pomskis (Pomeranian crossed with Husky) and Labradoodles (Labrador Retriever crossed with Poodle). These dogs, though often very expensive, can be vSCHROEDER continued on page 16 HERVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2017v13