Speakers

Dr Molly McAllister

Candise Goodwin

Robert Diamond

Robert is a successful entrepreneur with a track record of creating value from customer data.

Robert is the co-owner and CEO of identicare, the UK’s largest pet microchip registration and pet protection services provider.  Identi offers recurring-revenue subscription services to over 4 Million pet owners.  In Feb 2024 Robert bought out his joint venture partner (Animalcare PLC) with backing from Bridgepoint Group, one of the UK’s leading private asset investors, in a transaction valued at £30 Million. 

At the same time Robert continues to oversee Fernbrook Partners, a private portfolio covering early-stage technology and lifestyle investments and commercial property acquisition, development and leasing.

From 2011 - 2017 Robert helped the acquisition, turnaround and successful sale of RAC, the world’s oldest motoring organisation.  In his executive role as Managing Director Motoring Services, he oversaw the data assets of RAC’s 8.2 Million members and also ran six data / digital businesses.  He was actively involved in the post-acquisition integration of RAC by Carlyle Private Equity and subsequent exit to GIC Singapore in 2014 and CVC Partners in 2015.

Prior to this, in 2001 Robert founded what became emnos - the leading provider of ‘customer centric’ services and decision-support tools.  Clients included top retailers (Target, Walgreens, Morrisons, Waitrose, Boots, Co-operative Group) and their FMCG suppliers.  The business was sold to Palamon Private Equity in 2007 and sold on to American Express in 2011.

Robert spent the previous 13 years in marketing and sales roles in the consumer and retail industries.

Robert is an elected member and former board director of the Young Presidents Organisation and regular media contributor (and TED talker) on the use of customer data.  He lives in the UK with his wife and four children.

Susan Groeneveld

Joe Watson

Steven Garlock

Cal Lai

Emmet Gustafson

Juan Reynal

Mildred Munjanganja

Natalie Marks

Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.

Rich Kelleman

Rich is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods, a Boulder, Colorado-based start-up that’s working with biotechnology to make pet food from pure microbial and recombinant animal proteins like chicken, turkey and fish, without the animal. Before diving into the world of pets and food tech, Rich was a strategic planner at a number of advertising agencies for more than 20 years including CP+B, Upshot, FCB and Fallon, where he lead brand strategy for brands like Burger King, P&G, Kellogg’s, and Coca-Cola

Steve Garlock

Katy Briggs

In her role as Managing Director, Katy is focused on guiding brand strategy and uncovering consumer insights that lead to big ideas.  Katy's career has been driven by developing a keen understanding of the human behavior that drives purchasing decisions. She has worked with world-class brands like Hallmark, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Helzberg Diamonds and Kohl’s. At her core, Katy is a problem solver and a storyteller. As a strong collaborator and thoughtful writer, Katy leads teams through the strategic process to simplify the complex and deliver succinct brand systems.

Ryan Reed

Ryan has been an entrepreneur since 2008, right out of college. He started a successful Digital Marketing agency where he worked with many large ecommerce companies and helped some to exit. Ryan also started a lifestyle brand with his wife in 2017, Lifebyher LLC, which provides lifestyle content for women. He and his wife Ashley have built the following to 700,000 followers and growing.  In 2020, Ryan partnered with his friend and former client, Gary Nealon, to start Pawzitivity Pets where they have acquired 8 brands in the pet space, ranging from supplements to content websites.

Chuck Johnson

Erin Simpson

Rustin Moore

Dr. Rustin M. Moore was born and raised in West Virginia, the heart of Appalachia. He earned his BS from West Virginia University in 1986 and his DVM and PhD from the Ohio State University in 1989 and 1994, respectively. He became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1994.
He spent 12 years on faculty at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine where his clinical interests included equine lameness, surgery, and colic and the associated complications. His research led to him being a principal or co-investigator on approximately 120 funded grants. In addition, he has authored or co-authored more than 15 academic book chapters, and his work has been published as 125 peer- or editor-reviewed manuscripts and 175 scientific abstracts.
Dr. Moore was recruited back to Ohio State in November 2006 as the Chair of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, a position he served until 2014. He also simultaneously served as the Executive Director of the Veterinary Medical Center and Associate Dean for Clinical and Outreach Programs from 2009 to 2014, and then served as the Associate Executive Dean from 2014-2015 before being named the 11th Dean beginning September 2015.
A passionate advocate for animal health, Dr. Moore has led community outreach and disaster response initiatives, including the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of nearly 500 horses after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He serves on multiple boards, including the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and The Wilds, and the Ohio Wildlife Center, among others, and is currently the immediate past president of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges.
He is a sought-after speaker on topics such as the importance of creating and fostering a community in the college, university, community, and the veterinary profession where all people feel welcome, comfortable and can thrive. He also is invited to speak about the importance of biodiversity to conservation and sustainability, competency-based veterinary education and spectrum of care, health and wellbeing of people in the veterinary profession, and the One Health approach to animal, human, and environmental health.
He has been frequently invited to share his passion, perspective, and expertise about the human-animal bond since his 2016 TEDx talk titled “The Power of a Pet.” To that end, Dr. Moore authored the recently released book, Unleashing the Bond: Harnessing the Power of Human-Animal Interactions, a broad and deep exploration of the often-mystifying connection between humans and animals, which is available on Amazon. He donates a portion of proceeds of book sales organizations that promote, protect, and preserve the human-animal bond. Be sure to leave a book review.

Anna Skya

Buff Greebe

Tori Williams

Vijay Menon

Amish Desai

Amish Desai is a seasoned executive known for leadership in consumer retail across financial, retail, and strategic development areas. As CEO and Board Member of Embark Veterinary, Inc., a global leader in dog health and genetics, he drives customer-centric innovation and multi-channel growth strategies.

Appointed CEO in December 2023 after serving as CFO since July 2022, Amish brings over 20 years of consumer-focused leadership across multi-scale global brands. His extensive retail experience includes transformational roles at Victoria's Secret, Henri Bendel, and J. Jill, where he played a key role in the company's transition from private equity to a successful public offering. Previously, as Senior Vice President at Rue Gilt Groupe, he led comprehensive finance functions including M&A and strategic planning.

Amish's expertise spans strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, retail operations, customer insights, and business acquisition integration across multinational public and private companies. His focus at Embark centers on accelerating innovation, expanding category awareness, and growing multi-channel distribution while supporting pet parents through core DNA offerings and new product development.

He began his career at Deloitte and holds an MBA from Lehigh University. Amish is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant, serves as an advisory board member to Stylecard, Vice Chairman and board member of the South Shore YMCA, and is a founding member of The F Suite, connecting executives across leading venture capital and high-growth technology companies.