We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Judy Morgan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

JUDY, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents did many things “right”. My father dropped out of college to become a door-to-door salesman for Fuller Brushes. When my sister and I were little my mother would take us to deliver the products my father sold. My mother stayed home with us until I reached second grade, then became an elementary school teacher to help with home finances. She only had sixty college credits but obtained an emergency teaching certificate while she finished her degree. She worked days and went to school at night, finally earning her degree when I was in high school. My father never returned to college but said he had three degrees since he sent my mother, my sister, and me to college. He worked his way up through several companies to National Sales Manager, finally starting his own business at age sixty. My parents’ work ethic was impeccable. They taught me the client comes first; orders were to be sent out within 24 hours of being received. Customer service is paramount. My dad was also a saver, putting everything my mother earned into retirement accounts. While I resented money being tight at times, it taught me an invaluable lesson about the importance of saving for the future.

JUDY, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a veterinarian with over forty years of experience. I retired from clinical practice in 2020 and now own Dr. Judy Morgan’s Naturally Healthy Pets, an e-commerce and educational platform. My goal is to empower pet parents to advocate for good health for their pets by feeding them appropriate diets and limiting exposure to harmful chemicals and medications. My company helps solve complicated chronic medical issues that cause suffering in animals.
Since beginning my tenure with Naturally Healthy Pets I have been awarded Woman of the Year in the Pet Industry, IAOTP Veterinarian of the Year, a People’s Choice Award, and IAOTP Holistic Veterinarian of the Decade. My company was one of the Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies in America in 2023.
Naturally Healthy Pets was started in my garage with just my husband and me. My daughter came on as COO in January of 2020; she has hired an incredible team to spread awareness of our mission. My Naturally Healthy Pets podcast and eight best-selling books provide great resources for pet owners.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

When I was in clinical practice I owned two small animal hospitals. I knew I would want to retire, so I started looking at exit strategies five years before my planned date. I approached a corporate buyer to get an idea of the value of my practices. I was shocked at the low price they offered, wondering why I was working so hard when I would barely make enough on the sale to pay off the debt on the business. I vowed to work smarter to elevate the net income of the practices, making them more attractive to future buyers.
Four years later a different corporate group wanted to purchase the practices. At the time, Naturally Healthy Pets was still in its infancy. Although reticent to sell to a corporation, the corporate group offered a much higher price, making an attractive deal. The only caveat was that they would not allow me to keep Naturally Healthy Pets. They offered a very low price to buy it or told me I had to shut it down. That killed the deal. I knew NHP had the potential to make a difference in the world.
Luckily, my veterinary associate who had worked with me for four years asked if I would sell the practices to her. I was ecstatic that my legacy in holistic medicine would be carried on by someone with similar beliefs and ethics. Corporate takeover of veterinary medicine is not good for the industry, in my opinion. To make the sale, I included the real estate for both practices for less than half the appraised value. I wanted her to be successful and I wanted to make sure the financing institutions saw the value in the offer.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My parents taught me to always tell the truth. Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. I have always been honest when dealing with clients and consumers. I’m not afraid to say I don’t know the answer, but I’m willing to search for answers. Success is not earned by denigrating your competition. There is plenty of abundance in the world; someone else doesn’t need to fail for me to succeed. I believe in supporting other small companies and helping them build their businesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drjudymorgan.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjudymorgan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JudyMorganDVM
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjudymorgan/
• Twitter: https://x.com/DrJudyMorgan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJudyMorgan