Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Ficke.
Julie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
United Pet Care (UPC) is a family-owned company. Our company was built on the premise that pets are part of our family and deserve the same concern and care as our human family members. However, veterinary care can be extremely expensive. And, sadly, not everyone can afford the veterinary care that their pets need, which results in a lesser quality of life for their pets, or in many cases, a shortened lifespan.
Our family has always been passionate about pets. When I was growing up, my parents bred and showed Great Danes. At any given time, there were 2-4 of them sleeping on my bed – which left next to no room for me! But it was worth it. The love that these dogs bestowed on us, and the loyalty and devotion, along with their sheer abounding happiness they exuded each time they saw one of us was unmatched.
But imagine how expensive it was to take care of all those dogs! While pet insurance has been an option for many years, it is full of challenges for pet-owners. The first and most significant challenge is the high cost. Additionally, pets with pre-existing conditions (and those that really need to go to the vet) are excluded. Deductibles, typically of $250.00/pet have to be met. And, you have to pay the vet’s bill in full and then file a claim form to see what the pet insurance company will cover.
So, my mother met with her vet and came up with the concept to develop a pet healthcare program that everyone could afford! She took away all the challenges of pet insurance: the costly deductibles, the exclusions for pre-existing conditions, the claim forms, and the waiting period to provide pet-owners with INSTANT savings right in the vet’s office.
Having spent the vast majority of my career in medical sales and marketing at Johnson and Johnson and Nobel Biocare, I thought how nice it would be to have my own company and actually benefit personally from all the hours I put into my job. Seeing the success my mother had opening the company in Phoenix in 1996, I decided to take the leap in 2008, step out of the corporate world and open United Pet Care in Southern California.
While I had a lot to learn about starting and running a company, and the journey has been full of ups and downs, I can truly say that the satisfaction of building a business from the ground up has been nothing short of an amazing and educational. And, with 70% of households owning pets today, I truly feel as though I have helped pet-owners to be able to afford and provide longer, healthier lives for their pets, which is reward enough!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been full of obstacles. Starting from nothing, I had to sign up a network of private practice veterinarians to be providers for United Pet Care. Never having heard of my brand new company, it was not easy to gain the veterinarian’s trust. Diligence, follow up and delivering on my commitments to them proved key to my success.
In addition to building a veterinary provider network, I had to hire employees. I quickly learned about the ‘joys’ of working with EDD in an employee-oriented state and how challenging it is to be an employer in California.
Marketing the UPC program to individual pet-owners proved to be more expensive than I had anticipated, so creativity and a need to learn social media were essential. Additionally, United Pet Care is marketed to Employers as an Employee Benefit. Convincing Human Resources that their employees’ pets were considered part of their families was not an easy thing to do – especially in 2008 when HR was not even aware that there was such a thing as pet healthcare programs available as benefits. In fact, I can’t tell you how many times an HR person told me, “I would NEVER consider a pet healthcare benefit. That is just ridiculous!”
What else should our readers know?
I am most proud of the number of pet-owners that now have United Pet Care to save money on their pet’s healthcare! That tells me that our program truly brings value to pet-owners and, as a result, to the health of their pets!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory was when I was about 12 years old, my step-father let me skip school to become a Junior Handler and show one of our Great Danes in dog shows around Arizona. I was so proud of myself! Shawn, the Dane I showed, weighed more than I did, but he actually did what I told him to do and we won lots of Junior Handler ribbons – so I must have been good 🙂
Pricing:
- Pricing for United Pet Care is between $13.75 – $15.80/month for one pet.
- The United Pet Care Program covers Accidents, Sick Care and Preventative Care
- Veterinary savings are: 50% on office visits, exams and vaccines and 25% on procedures and medications
Contact Info:
- Address: United Pet Care California
24361 El Toro Rd., Suite 255
Laguna Woods, CA 92637 - Website: https://www.unitedpetcare.com/
- Phone: 949-916-7374
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram@unitedpetcare
- Facebook: facebook.com/unitedpetcare
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