Kelly began her career in sports marketing and business consultation services, which included marketing management, strategic planning and public relations planning. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the University of Central Oklahoma and her Master of Organizational Leadership from Saint Ambrose University.
Spending the last 20 years in the veterinary industry, Kelly has become an invested learner in marketing, management, leadership, and personal wellness associated with this industry. With her experiences, Kelly's love of education and learning have driven her research interest in emotional labor roles, resilience, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Comparable to other professions where care and empathy go hand-in-hand, stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue are prevalent in the veterinary industry and affect all members of the veterinary healthcare team. Kelly’s area of interest for her dissertation will review the benefits of teaching professional skill sets earlier in academia and throughout a graduate’s career to minimize burnout and compassion fatigue in the veterinary professions.
She has obtained professional designation as a Certified Veterinary Business Leader (CVBL) through NAVC, and earned her Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional (CCFP) designation in 2020. She is also the founder of "Sitch Consulting", her newest endeavor as a veterinary industry consultant.
In her personal life, Kelly believes "a good list is my best friend" and she lives by a moving set of goals. Goal one is to be the best mom to her kids Jack and Jayne, best dog mom to the four-legged kids, Kiki and Butch, and best supporter to her husband, Dan.