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Welcome to our Featured Founder series, where you’ll meet startup founders from Tampa-St. Petersburg who are building and scaling their ventures to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. We interviewed Azza Diasti-Kennedy of Pet Harmony, a telehealth veterinary services app for pets & pet owners.
What were you doing previously and what inspired you to launch your company?
For over 20 years, I worked as a practicing veterinarian in Tampa, Florida. I started my veterinary career at Lakeside Animal Hospital in 2001. I focused on small animal medical and surgical care during my veterinary career, particularly internal medicine, and surgery. I’m also certified in animal acupuncture from the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine. I completed a Dentistry Externship at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, applying both disciplines to my practice. Lakeside Animal Hospital then became American Animal Hospital Association (“AAHA”) certified, an achievement received by fewer than 15% of all animal hospitals in the United States and Canada. In addition, I have been a co-owner of Coast Dental. Coast Dental is one of the largest dental providers in Florida, with over 100 locations. I serve on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the board of Coast Dental. I sold my practice in 2018 to American Veterinary Group (“AVG”), a private equity-owned company with over 100 veterinary hospitals around the southeast. I’m an investor in AVG, and though I no longer practice daily, I actively follow the business of veterinary medicine.
Veterinary medicine used to be male-dominated; however, more than 80% of veterinary students and professionals are women today. Work and emotional demands were placed on the veterinary healthcare providers and created financial and psychological challenges for those working in the profession, leading to primarily a shortage of veterinarians and veterinary staff. At the same time, pet ownership has grown and exploded during the COVID pandemic. The work-from-home caused pet owners to see all the care and attention their dogs and cats need. They realized their pets need as much attention and quality health care as our human families.
While seeing all the changes and consequences of the shift, I thought about building an app that gives veterinarians more flexibility and a more balanced professional life. Flexible Hours they desire, and they can stay home a few days a week but earn money while having a life-work balance. I decided to go back to school and graduated from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts (MIT). And I was awarded an Executive Masters in business administration degree. I also received a certificate in Business Analytics from MIT in May 2021. Now with a particular emphasis on telehealth platforms for pet care, today, I’m building a veterinary care telehealth platform founded with the support of other MIT graduates.
Our app is close to launching, and it offers an integrated solution for the pet owner to manage their pet’s health from a single easy user experience and get all pet owner’s questions and concerns resolved when you need them most.
What pain point is your company solving? What gets you excited to go to work every day?
The current veterinarian experience is inefficient for both pets and pet owners:
Name the biggest challenge you faced in the process of launching the company. How did you overcome it?
Where do you see your company headed next?
Millennials are demanding a new way of communication, recent trends, and services and are the fastest growing segment of pet parents, so this app is both efficient and available. Boomers find it more challenging to get out and often have limited assists. Our app also addresses their needs. Since most pet parents consider pets to be part of the family, this app will help all of them take better care of their pets. Our vision to become the leading site for pet owners’ education and community engagement with other pet owners sharing information and experiences is what sets us apart from other apps.
Give us a tactical piece of advice that you’d share with another founder just starting out.
It sounds cliché, but having the passion and love for what you do, is a sure way to succeed and be able to do something meaningful that others need and appreciate.
Why Tampa Bay?
Tampa is my home – so it is an excellent place to start, but this app is not limited to Tampa Bay – it has the potential to reach pet parents everywhere. Also, Tampa is known for its diversity, history, culture, and beautiful beaches. It is rated one of the highest-ranking regions in the country in Entrepreneurship Magazine for population growth and job creation.
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