Chad Sibilia has spent nearly 30 years in the animal health industry, working with companies like Novartis, Ceva, Vetoquinol, and now Pegasus Laboratories/PRN Pharmacal. Along the way, he noticed something: there are already people quietly influencing how care, communication, and decisions happen in veterinary clinics, and almost nobody was identifying them, recognizing them, or giving them real support. So he built the Animal Health Influence Group.
We asked Chad five questions about the group, his approach to communication, and what he sees ahead for peer support in animal health.
Q: What inspired you to create the Animal Health Influence Group, and what gap does it fill in the veterinary industry?
I've spent nearly 30 years in this industry, and I didn't create AHIG from a theory. I created it because I kept watching the same gap play out in clinic after clinic: there are already people quietly influencing how care, communication, and decisions happen, and almost nobody was identifying them, recognizing them, or giving them real support. That observation became personal for me. My whole approach to this career has been "Why me, why now, why not?" and this was a moment where I couldn't unsee the need anymore, so I built the thing that didn't exist yet. What's grown from it is an amazing, versatile group of animal health professionals — reps, KOLs, techs, DVMs — all bringing different strengths to the same table, and that diversity is becoming a resource every member can draw on.
Q: How does the group help veterinary professionals improve how they communicate with pet owners and colleagues?
This is where I get to put my own fingerprints on AHIG directly, through my CE workshop Connecting with Care. The core of it is communication skills based on observational behavior — not personality. That distinction matters: personality labels people, but behavior is just what you can actually see and respond to in the moment. That shift keeps people out of the judgment trap and focused instead on building real rapport with clients and staff, which naturally reduces conflict before it starts. It's an easy-to-understand, easy-to-apply model, and what excites me is that it's not theoretical — it's meeting a need I see playing out in veterinary hospitals every single day.
Q: What practical tools or resources does the group offer that members find most useful day to day?
Day to day, it's Connecting with Care — a RACE-approved 1 hour CE built around observing behavior rather than diagnosing personality, so it's something a team member can apply in a conversation that same afternoon, not just absorb as theory. It gives people a simple way to read a situation, adjust their approach, and avoid the judgment trap that usually fuels staff conflict or a rough client interaction. But just as valuable is the group itself — an amazing, versatile mix of animal health professionals who bring different specialties, experiences, and perspectives to AHIG, and who members can lean on as a resource. Every time I see that connection click, it reinforces why I built this.
Q: How do you see the role of peer support networks evolving in animal health over the next few years?
I'm genuinely excited about this — not in a hypothetical way, but because I see the need for it every single day in the field. Burnout, retention, and people quietly carrying influence without recognition — these are happening right now, and they're only intensifying as AI takes over more of the transactional work, leaving the human and relational side as the real differentiator. I started AHIG because I saw this coming, and what excites me most is what's ahead: an increasingly amazing and versatile group of professionals growing as a resource for one another, more clinics applying behavior-based communication instead of falling into the judgment trap, and more of this group becoming a genuine community rather than just a resource. Watching it grow from an idea into something members are actually uniting around — that's the part I think about constantly.
Q: What advice would you give a veterinary professional who wants to become a stronger advocate for their patients?
Pay attention to what you already do without being asked — that's usually the clue. I built AHIG because I noticed people like that everywhere and realized nobody was telling them their instinct was worth formalizing. Start by watching behavior, not judging personality — it's the fastest way to build rapport and avoid the conflicts that come from assuming you already know someone's intent. If you have a specific area of interest in animal health, that's your direct connection to an amazing, versatile community of professionals and resources already looking for someone exactly like you. Step into it. I built this group because I believe in advocates like you, and I'm more excited than ever to keep growing this with the people who say yes.