We were lucky to catch up with Bri Golob recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Prior to my work as the Director of Programs at Not One More Vet (NOMV) I was in a totally different field. I spent 6 years working in higher education at a large public university before making the leap to the non-profit sector.

Technically I worked for the government which has a lot of similarities in terms of structure to a non-profit, but I was used to being a small fish in a big pond. The university employed tens of thousands of people and I was occasionally able to see the impact I made on individual student’s lives, but most people assumed I was another student. While I enjoyed my time with students, the job didn’t offer me the flexibility I needed to pursue my career goals of becoming a therapist/social worker. I hit a crossroad when I began my graduate internship and could not complete the requirements and remain employed at the university so I needed to quit to grow.

The decision to leave this role was the best decision I ever made because I not only found a new role that better utilizes my skillset, I accomplished my goal of becoming a therapist! Along the way I fell in love with NOMV and learned so much by being part of a smaller team and I love being able to learn things outside of my area because anyone who’s worked on a small team knows “other duties as assigned” can quickly become your primary duty!

Deciding to break out of my comfort zone from the education sector to non-profit mental health advocacy was terrifying at the time, but the best decision I made for myself, personally and professionally. I’m grateful to work from home alongside my 2 dogs supporting the veterinary community by promoting mental wellbeing. Each and every day I am able to see the impact of NOMV on the veterinary community and utilize my strengths to help the organization be successful. I’m also afforded the flexibility to practice therapy with clients to ensure I have a nice blend of macro- and micro- social work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Not One More Vet (NOMV) was founded in 2014 as a Facebook group in response to the death by suicide of a beloved veterinarian, Dr. Sophia Yin. Veterinarians wanted to talk with each other about the mental health issues and difficulties they faced in the profession. The support network grew quickly, and in 2017 NOMV became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Shortly thereafter, the network was expanded to include support staff and veterinary students in recognition of their needs.

Upon achieving status as a public charity, NOMV created the first additional program, Support Grants, which is now a part of the Resources Program. This essential program provides micro grants to individuals to help them pay for mental health services or essential needs such as housing and food during a crisis. Around that time, educational resources were added to NOMV’s programming in the form of wellness presentations given at conferences and in other educational and outreach settings.

In 2019, the NOMV Board of Directors went through a strategic planning process. At that time the mission of the organization was determined to be “to transform the status of wellness in the profession so veterinary professionals can survive and thrive through education, resources, and support.” In 2020, based upon the strategic plan, the organization began an ambitious growth period that included hiring professional staff, expanding existing programs, and creating new programs to meet the needs of deeply stressed veterinary professionals.

According to the Merck Veterinary Wellbeing Study, the percentage of veterinary professionals suffering from serious psychological distress has increased since 2019. Other studies have shown that veterinarians are 1.6-2.4 times and veterinary technicians 2.3-5 times more likely than the general public to die by suicide.

As the NOMV Director of Programs, I support all our volunteers and programs towards our mission.

NOMV addresses wellbeing in veterinary medicine through multiple innovative pathways. Our programs are all available to everyone in the veterinary field (who can communicate in English) anywhere in the world.

Advocates
NOMV Advocates provide outreach services to veterinary clinics across the country. Advocate volunteers visit local clinics with gifts of appreciation – cookies, flowers, cards – and leave them with resources for those in need including NOMV brochures, posters, and hotline numbers. This program is both proactive (providing outreach activities with no inciting incident) and reactive (providing support following a specific incident).

Ambassadors Program/Chapters
This program unites and supports the veterinary community using a chapter model. Chapters provide local and regional peer support, educational opportunities, and resources to their designated area. Chapter leaders serve as Ambassadors of NOMV’s mission to their local community.

CLEAR Blueprint
CLEAR Blueprint is a workplace wellness certification program developed to provide resources and guidance to teams of veterinary professionals that empower them to develop and maintain mentally healthy workplaces. After three years of development and testing, the program launched in January 2023. This is the only NOMV program with an associated fee. The minimal fee supports the staffing needed to conduct the program.

Wellness Education
This program directly addresses the need for wellness education that is focused on, and targeted toward, veterinary professionals and their unique needs. This includes written materials, speaker programs, collaborative webinars, conference presence, and our Anti -Cyber Harassment Task Force.

Facebook Forums
NOMV serves every member of the veterinary community with peer-to-peer support through our international Facebook Forums. “NOMV Vet serves” licensed veterinarians in every field. “NOMV Support Staff” serves all support staff that work in the field.

Lifeboat
Lifeboat extends the peer-to-peer model of the Facebook Forums further by providing anonymity for users as they are paired with a team of veterinary professionals trained in evidence-based peer support. These volunteers accompany and mentor them through their challenges.

Race Around the World
NOMV’s Race Around the World is a global, annual event that has become an important outreach and awareness program for NOMV. Its goal is to involve, engage, and energize a movement to elevate wellness in veterinary medicine. The event takes place each September, a month observed as Suicide Prevention Month.

Resources
The NOMV Resources program provides those in need with resources and referrals to help them through a crisis. This program includes:
NOMV’s List is a publicly available database of peer-suggested resources that have been vetted by a team of volunteers with social work and other mental health backgrounds.
Support Grants provide both fiscal micro-grants of up to $1,000 and curated resources that include free or low cost services to individuals.
Emergency Grants provide relief funding to clinics following a natural disaster.

Student Support and Mentorship
This program supports both veterinary students and vet tech students during their schooling. In 2023, NOMV is launching student chapters at veterinary schools. These chapters will provide students with peer support, mentorship from NOMV volunteers, and educational opportunities encouraging mental wellness. We hope to expand this to vet tech schools in the future.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

As a grassroots organization, we were able to quickly build a reputation among the veterinary community. We were originally created by a group of veterinary professionals and continue to have a large presence of community members throughout our programs.

The saying “nothing about us without us” rings true throughout our organization and is a great guiding principle for anyone looking to engage their community.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

The most effective managing style I’ve learned thus far is to empower your team to do their jobs. Toxic workplaces are those where trust is lacking and micromanagement is omnipresent. If you hire people who’s values align with your mission with the skillset to perform their job duties, empower them to do that. Set up supportive systems while the person is learning new tasks to reach out for help when they need after completing their training, but otherwise let them grow and thrive.

It’s also much cheaper to retain quality talent then to have high turnover where you’re constantly taking time training new team members. Build a work environment that supports, encourages, and allows team members to grow.   

Contact Info:

• Website: nomv.org
• Instagram: @notonemorevet