An interview with Maria Martinez, Associate Veterinarian, Mount Dora Veterinary Hospital
Fall 2022 Women Rising® Open Enrollment Scholarship Graduate

As a veterinarian in a field transitioning from male-led to women-led, Maria discovered that the Women Rising® program’s lessons on leadership, habits, and strengths apply in every field — and changed how she leads her clinic and her family.

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Tell us about your experience with the Women Rising® program.

I had heard about the Women Rising Program a couple of years ago. I had been interested but I didn’t sign up for it. Then I had an opportunity to apply for a scholarship, and I thought “Well, this is a great opportunity.” The program was really very interesting. It helped me to gain a better understanding of who I am as a leader, and how I can utilize my abilities within my career.

The Women Rising Program has been geared toward people who are in corporate practices, not necessarily in the veterinary field. So, it was helpful for me to see, “Okay, how do these large companies manage their leadership? And how do women play such a major role within those companies?” And then from that perspective, understand how I can use what they have learned in my own field.

What impact has it had on you?

It impacted me in such a way that I was able to adjust the way that I lead, not only in my clinic, but the way that I lead in my own family as well. Most of the veterinary field nowadays is composed of women. For many, many years it has been a male-led field. Now that’s changing, and therefore our perspective on how we lead people needs to change as well. That was important for me to understand — how do I change my own presets from what was male-led? How do I better understand myself, and therefore be able to help others in their own leadership roles?

What are you most proud of from this experience?

An understanding of myself — who I am as a leader, and how I can grow from what I’ve learned. Gaining the perspective of others and how they utilize their strengths. For example, we may have the same skill set, but maybe they use it in a different way that I haven’t thought of.

I think the CliftonStrengths assessment was excellent because it really opened my eyes — “Oh, so that’s why I do these things! That’s why other people say that I act this way.” I keep my top 5 talents in my mind while I’m working, and I’m also able to pick it up on who else might have those talents and help them use their skills to grow as well.

What was your light bulb moment in the program?

The light bulb moment started when we went through the habits, because looking at all those habits and understanding “This is what I’m doing, and this is how it’s negatively affecting me” — how do I change that?

I need to stop doing these habits in order to grow and realize how women lead and how we want to be led. We need to understand both perspectives from a male and a female side of things to be able to lead our group as a cohesive unit. I realized that I needed to adjust the way I spoke in different settings within my leadership role. Flexing to my audience in terms of how they need to receive information was important.

Did you test anything out that made a visible difference?

Utilizing my analytical skill to discuss things with my boss was huge. Being able to analyze production data — how many appointments we see, how much we’re producing per month, particularly per doctor — and helping him realize how I add value. Sometimes our bosses don’t see what we do because we don’t talk about it enough. Let’s present it in a way that they’ll understand.

Also, I have the Achiever talent — and as an achiever I work really hard, very long hours, but by the time I would get home I’d be spent. I realized if I’m an achiever at work, I need to be an achiever at home too. I created a timeline: I work from 7:45 to 6:00 every day and after that, whatever I’ve gotten done, that’s it. That way I have energy for both my family and my work.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to rise in their career?

Attending the Women Rising program is a huge eye opener and it’ll help you gain an understanding of how to become a better leader. Even if it’s a small team, even if it is just for your own growth, that growth really tends to spread to others. And if you’re wanting to develop more in your career, you really need to understand yourself — and that’s where you’ll be able to get that foothold to become whatever you want to become, or whatever the next step is for you in your career.