The People Behind VMC

Our team of hardworking professionals is an important element of our service and why we have become the Premier Veterinary Management Consulting Firm.

VMC, Inc. is known both nationally and internationally for its ability to not only meet, but exceed client expectations with its world-class consulting services. Take a moment to get to know the amazing support team behind the experts whose efforts help make it all possible.

Diane Elsbury

Consultant Assistant

Diane Elsbury has worked with Mark at VMC for 24 years, starting in the Indianapolis office. Diane assists Mark with his day to day schedule and projects while also creating the monthly financial analysis for our clients. Mark encourages her to try new things and has a great amount of confidence in her. Diane is a very detailed orientated worker and has created some of the best Excel tools known to the business.  Her spreadsheets simplify tasks and always give our clients new and needed information to move their practices forward. She loves looking at the numbers to discover problems and manipulating financial details to evaluate “what’s really happening” with the practice.

Full Bio

Diane is originally from Louisville but moved to Indianapolis to be closer to family. Diane is very busy when not working, she enjoys gardening, cooking, building furniture, and puzzles. She is also a member of the Well-Armed Women local club and enjoys target practice. Diane and her husband love to take spontaneous road trips to new places, camping and nature.  Diane’s greatest love are her six, yes six Chihuahuas, while also taking care of one rabbit and three neighborhood feral cats.

Judi Dunston

Consultant Assistant

Judi Dunston joined the VMC family in 2013, after serving as a veterinary practice manager for 35 years. She is currently working as an assistant to Sheila Grosdidier. She loves working from home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and assisting VMC’s clients with improving their veterinary practices. One of the biggest influences in her practice manager career was Mark Opperman, by attending his seminars and reading his books. Her current position is wonderful because of the fabulous people she gets to work with. Judi gets great satisfaction from assisting clients, creating new procedures and working on projects to enhance their experience with VMC. She is also a great asset to clients using the IDEXX Cornerstone veterinary practice management software.

Full Bio

After attending the University of Madison on a gymnastic scholarship and not knowing where to go next, she opted to coach gymnastics at the local YMCA. She met with one of her students’ parents who happened to own a veterinary clinic. They offered Judi an office manager role and has been in the veterinary business ever since. Leaving that position after 13 years she went to work with IDEXX, training other clinics how to use the new Cornerstone software. Judi was promoted to a new role as a Cornerstone Performance Improvement Specialist. While working with IDEXX, she was asked to help a veterinary corporation in Alberta, Canada and spent the next 12 years serving as Vice President of Operations. The day Judi and her husband decided to move back to Wisconsin, she found her current role at VMC online, applied and the rest is history!

She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two dogs Buddy and Rufus. She enjoys fishing, gardening and reading in her spare time.

Kate Corum, CVPM

Consultant Assistant

Kate Corum, VMC Consultant Assistant, has been working in the veterinary industry since 1999. She started in the veterinary world with a wonderful boss who was one of the biggest influences in her veterinary career. Kate began working at VMC in 2009 as Monica Dixon Perry’s assistant. She is fortunate enough to have been on both sides of the consulting business, as a client and as an assistant.

Full Bio

One of Kate’s greatest professional accomplishments is working for VMC. She loves when practices realize all that we do for them and how much we truly care about their success. She gets excited when talking with others in the veterinary industry, especially when she tells them she works for VMC!

Kate currently lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband, twin babies and four wonderful dogs. Her greatest accomplishments are her beautiful twins and their fantastic fly ball competitive dogs.  Kate is actively involved with two fly ball clubs — one of which is in Michigan.  She enjoys spending her free time training the dogs and attending tournaments.  If she could have one super power it would be to function with no sleep, which is quite understandable attending out-of-town tournaments with twins and four excited dogs.

Kathy Tripp

Accountant/Analyst

Kathy Tripp is VMC’s accountant/analyst. Her sister worked for Mark Opperman and that is how she learned about VMC. When Kathy decided to leave the corporate world in 2004 it coincided with the time Mark was seeking someone with her skills to join the VMC family! She loves working with computers and numbers and appreciates the great relationships with her co-workers. Kathy feels that she is a problem solver for clients and thinks more of herself as a tool provider for the consultants and assistants to help them solve problems. She is always looking for ways to improve her work and suggests implementing changes or new processes that will benefit the company.

Full Bio

Kathy’s love for computers was influenced by Grace Hopper who was an early computer scientist and programmer for the Harvard Mark I computer in 1944. Grace gave credence to women working in the computer science area and this encouraged her to pursue her passion. Kathy has many claims to fame, here are just a few:

  •  In 1987 she wrote the first computer program for submission of electronic insurance claims in the state of Pennsylvania.
  • In 1988 a very smart man wanted to integrate his accounting software, so he contacted Kathy who then learned accounting and converted his files — that company was Conair®.
  • She even created accounting software that was later purchased by Microsoft.

The accomplishment that she is most proud of is raising a daughter who has become a fine woman with whom she has a great relationship. Kathy grew up in NW Pennsylvania but moved quite frequently because she had a spouse in the military. She fell in love with Colorado when they were transferred there and didn’t think she would ever leave until her daughter, son-in-law and grandson moved from India to NW Pennsylvania. She decided she needed to be closer and now only lives 8 miles from them. Kathy lives with her Chihuahua, Anabelle, and cat, Chloe, and loves to read, knit, and sew quilts.

Kristine Smith

Consultant Assistant

Kristine Smith has just recently returned to VMC. She started working for Mark in 1998 and continued her administrative duties for 13 years before making the move to her dream home in Western PA. Kristine has been in administrative support for over 25 years but going to work with Mark was a game changer. Previous administrative jobs did not provide her with the necessary tools, a sense of direct contribution, challenges or the recognition of being a valued team member that she found within VMC.

Full Bio

Kristine enjoys her fellow team members and the clients with whom we work. She is an organizer at heart, but enjoys editing, numbers and all the details that go into what we do. But without the relationships that give them meaning, it would not be as fulfilling. Kristine is very conscientious and is excited about the helpful and positive impact she has each day with VMC clients and team members that she supports. Kristine feels that consistently turning your best efforts to every small task does, in the end, represent a big accomplishment.

Kristine’s spare time is very busy since moving to her 20-acre homestead. She enjoys caring for her family, quilting and sewing, gardening and caring for her livestock and pets. She can’t remember a time in her adult life that she didn’t have pets; currently she has a rescued cocker spaniel and two cats.

Sue Merritt

Marketing Coordinator/Event Planner

Sue Merritt is the Marketing Coordinator/Event Planner at VMC Inc. She has been an event planner in the healthcare field for most of her career. Working in this position serving the veterinary industry  seemed like a natural progression. Sue is a great listener and feels that is necessary in any role that she holds. As an event planner you have to be ready for anything that comes your way, so creative problem solving is a must. Sue enjoys working at VMC because of her wonderful co-workers, our clients and the variety of tasks she gets to perform. She is passionate about clear communication, building the VMC brand and increasing attendance at VMC’s seminars and the VMC School.

Full Bio

One of Sue’s great loves is music. She attended the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis and has recorded a handful of jazz tunes. Ask her to sing a tune the next time you chat with her on the phone!

Sue is originally from Minnesota and moved to Colorado to be closer to her son and to escape the mosquitoes, high humidity, and long winters that Minnesota is known for. She loves spending time with her family, hiking, camping, singing and listening to music. One of her most memorable travel experiences was visiting Yellowstone with her husband, son and mother-in-law.

Tracy Masters

Administrative Assitant

Tracy Masters joined VMC in 2018 as an Administrative Assistant. When you call VMC, you will likely speak with Tracy. In addition to answering our phones, she handles preparation and registrations for our world-class seminars, shipping out product orders and is always looking for ways to help out the VMC team. Tracy earned her Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management and Leadership and comes to VMC with an extensive HR background.

Full Bio

Tracy loves music, reading, being outdoors and spending time with her family. She lives in rural Kansas with her husband and 9 dogs; Dixie, Mosley, Stella, Mr. Pickles, Shorty, Peanut, Cookie, Meat, and Cash.