Exceptional People Providing Excellent Care
Leadership Team
Janice Clarke-Godfrey - Chief Operations Officer
Jan has over fifteen years of management experience in the Veterinary Industry, both with General Practice Hospitals, as well as multi-location Specialty Referral Hospitals. Her key areas of interest focus on building exceptional client service through development of the hospital team. In her spare time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog Peyton and traveling to visit family in California and Boston.
Lisa Matthews - Executive Financial Administrator
Lisa Matthews has a BS in Business Administration from USC and 12 years of experience prior to us in general practice. When she isn’t with us, she’s hanging out with the family – usually traveling, camping, reading, playing board games or baking. She resides in Forest Acres with her husband, five year old daughter, Lula the pug and Bunny the mixed breed.
Annika Ramcke, LVT - Nursing Director
Annika Ramcke has a BS in Agriculture from Murray University and is a licensed veterinary technician. She has seven years of experience in Emergency, Internal Medicine and Surgery. German-born, she grew up in Kentucky and found a love for cooking, hiking and the Kentucky Wildcats. She spends her time with her nine year old dog named Dom.
Hillary Smith, LVT - Assistant Nursing Director
Hillary Smith graduated in 2009 from Trident Technical College getting her license in veterinary technology, and also has an associates degree in pre-nursing. She has over eight years experience in the veterinary field specializing in emergency medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys the outdoors, hiking, fishing and hunting down fossils and artifacts. Her happy geriatric dog keeps her busy as well.
Kionia Robinson - Human Resource Manager
Kionia has over 10 years of experience in Human Resource work and over 23 years of experience in leadership in a variety of fields including pharmacy, finance, insurance and non-profit sectors. She has a master’s degree in Business Administration with focus on Human Resource Management and she is currently in pursuit of a second master’s degree in counseling and therapy, after completing 1.5 of doctoral studies in psychology. She is a focused, driven and intuitive professional who is passionate about people and adding value to their lives through caring, attentiveness, and responsibility identification.
Autumn Berg - CSR Manager
Autumn was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and has almost 12 years of Veterinary Emergency & Specialty experience, as well as an Associate’s Degree in Nursing. She is passionate about the medical field, education, self-worth, and being advocates for clients, patients, and staff. She moved to South Carolina with her husband, two children, and fur-baby pack in October. She enjoys spending time with family, watching medical and crime shows/documentaries, and doing crafts.
Client Services
Laura Jurado - Client Service Representative
Laura has been in the Veterinary field as a Client Service Representative for almost 2 years now. She got her bachelors degree in Liberal arts in 2019 at Florida International University. She then moved to SC after graduation and found herself rekindling the love she has for working with animals and working at pdvm. In turn, she was given the opportunity to join the CVETS team back in March 2020. She is currently pursuing a vet tech certification so that she can gain more knowledge in the field and become a nurse. Her hobbies outside of work include: enjoying the outdoors, hiking, and weight lifting at the gym.
Caroline Six - Client Service Representative
Caroline Six has six years experience in various positions in veterinary medicine. A workaholic at heart, she quickly became our Lead CSR, then moved on to Marketing. The rare times she isn’t working, she is reading, spending time with her family or her husband, going to concerts and exploring new music. She has a son on the way due in August. She also has three dogs and three cats, all rescues.
Raan Dowdy - Client Service Representative
Raan Dowdy has over 15 years in veterinary client services, even working coast to coast. In her spare time, she’s collecting ink pens and Magic the Gathering cards or she’s chasing after her daughter Rose. She also shares her love with her spouse Zach and her two cats Mars and Jeebus.
Jasmine Mendez - Client Service Representative
Jasmine Mendez has an Associates degree in Science. She is currently a full time college student getting her Bachelors in Biological Chemistry. Her ultimate goal is to become a Veterinarian. She not only has a passion for animals, but for science and math as well. She has worked with animals her entire life and has always been raised with cats and dogs. She moved to South Carolina in 2017 to pursue her career in the Veterinary field. She has two fur babies, Bella and Axle. If she’s not at work or at school, she enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Jamel, and her dogs at the beach, and driving with the top down in her Jeep!
Damien Platt - Client Service Representative
Damien is originally from a small town called Arcade, New York. He has always had a love for animals and started learning about the veterinary field at the young age of 10 when he worked on a horse farm training and assisting in horse care. He spent multiple years afterwards doing internships and volunteering at local veterinary clinics. He then went on to study veterinary technology at Medaille college. Recently, he relocated to Columbia, SC in September 2020 and wanted to continue working in the field that he loves. He has one dog at home named Zara. During his free time he’s usually hanging out with family or taking Zara to adventure somewhere outdoors.
Soraya Schmitt - Client Service Representative
Suzy Fox - Client Service Representative
Suzy has an associate of Applied Science in Surgical Technology. She was a surgical assistant in human medicine in Indiana until she moved to Lake Norman and joined the Veterinary Medicine world as a nurse in 2008. She and her husband moved to South Carolina in the summer of 2019 and joined us here at CVETS! She was raised on a small dairy farm in Indiana, which brought all types of interesting animals into her life. She and her husband enjoy competing in AKC Conformation shows and hunting events with their own dogs. They also train obedience and gun dog training for other people’s pets. They enjoy being outdoors, traveling and of course – their pets!
Shakura Riley - Client Service Representative
Ellen Baileybrown - Client Service Representative
Ellen joined our team in 2019, with a wealth of veterinary experience. Recently, she moved to South Carolina all the way from Vermont. She worked 8+ years at a cats only clinic. She also joined the human medicine world but decided that veterinary medicine is where her heart lies! Ellen has a master’s degree in Creative Writing. She enjoys knitting, crocheting, and gardening. Her household consists of three humans, three dogs, and five cats.
Leah Perkins - Client Service Representative
Leah Perkins comes from a small town located in Michigan. As a young girl she developed a strong love for horses and started caring for her personal farm at the age of 7. As she got older she developed an interest in criminal justice and political science which she attended Drexel University in Philadelphia; she now has a Bachelors Science degree in this field. She has a strong passion for politics and enjoys writing in her blogs for conservative viewers. Leah is also a certified Veterinary Assistant and has been working in the Veterinary field for 4 years now. She currently has three fur babies at home, two cats whose names are Boo and Sonic and one dog whose name is Oakley.
Katherine Kanavas - Client Service Representative
Amanda Dillard - Referral Coordinator
Amanda has worked in the veterinary industry her whole life. Veterinary medicine has always been her passion and she doesn’t see herself in any other career field. Amanda has worked in adoptions, shelter medicine, and emergency medicine in Phoenix AZ. She also has many years experience in private practice here in Columbia SC as a receptionist, technician, and Practice Manager before joining the CVETS team in 2018. Her professional passions include client service and quality medicine. Amanda has 1 fur kid, Alfred, an exotic shorthair. She enjoys visiting her niece, getting outside to appreciate the world, and truly believes that music feeds the soul.
Nursing
Chloe Bair - Veterinary Technician
Chloe Bair has a Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Neuroscience from USC and is a future veterinarian. She enjoys hiking, reading and spending time with her two cats, Piper and Bridget and her dog, Kermit. Chloe has cared for a variety of pets throughout her life, including a baby bird before it even had feathers.
Rachel Sweet - Veterinary Technician
Rachel got her start in Veterinary Medicine at the Catawba County Humane Society, then working in the Spay & Neuter clinic. After this, she worked at an Emergency hospital in Charlotte, NC. She moved to South Carolina in July of 2019, and lucky for us – joined our team! She enjoys live music, reading books, and hiking. She has two dogs – a husky named Ronin and a husky/lab mix named Georgia. She has a three year old son named Easton. She also has many friends – all of them work with her here at CVETS!
Audrey Scott - Veterinary Technician
Audrey Scott has over four years experience in veterinary medicine, primarily in preventative care. In her time off, she enjoys a good mystery novel. She also is a proud auntie to a Pitbull and a German Shepherd.
Keysia Franklin - Licensed Veterinary Technician
Keysia “Keys” Franklin has a BS in Biology and became a licensed veterinary technician in 2015. Prior to CVETS, she had five years of experience in general practice. Native to New Jersey, she came to the south in 2005. She is a major foodie and loves traveling. She has two dogs, Mamacita and Holly.
Ashley Hamilton - Veterinary Technician
Ashley Hamilton is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science with a focus in Public Health. She enjoys driving fast cars, horseback riding, hand embroidery, and all things astronomy. She is married with one child (Aleasha), one dog (Poseidon), and one cat (Morgana).
Jessica Pollack - Veterinary Technician Specialist (ECC)
Jessica graduated from the Veterinary Technician Institute in her home town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She became a Certified Veterinarian Technician in 2008, and continued her career at an emergency and specialty hospital working in the ER/ICU for over 12 years. Jessica obtained her specialty certification (VTS.ECC) in September of 2019 after passing her boards exam, and moved to Columbia in 2020. Jessica is passionate about patient care and has a special interest in trauma, critical and septic patients. In her spare time Jessica enjoys hiking, running, traveling, going to the beach and anything out doors.
Sarah Hickman - Veterinary Technician
Erin Moorhead - Licensed Veterinary Technician
Erin graduated from Clemson University and also holds an AAS in Veterinary Technology from Trident Technical College. She is the lead technician of our surgery/neurology department, and has been working in specialty surgery and anesthesia with Dr. Mike since 2014.
Ciara Fredericks - Veterinary Technician
Ciara Fredericks graduated Manor College with an Associates in Applied Sciences in the Veterinary Technology program in 2015. Ciara came to South Carolina from Pennsylvania in 2019. She has 5 years’ experience in the Veterinary field with a wide array of knowledge in anesthesia, surgery, and neurology. She enjoys horseback riding, crabbing, ocean fishing and shark tooth hunting. She has one horse named Scarlet, one dog named ben, and two cats named Mr. Krabs and Big Mouth.
Camille King - Veterinary Technician
Camille graduated from Towson University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. She just recently moved to Columbia in March of 2020 but she is originally from Annapolis, Maryland. She has been in the Veterinary Medicine field since 2017. She has worked primarily with Surgery and Neurology but her biggest interest in Veterinary Medicine is the Rehabilitation side. She lives with her two Labs, Maggie and Creek and they are loving their new city!
Kerri Watkins - Veterinary Technician
Kerri Watkins joined our team and the Oncology service in 2019. She has four years’ experience in veterinary medicine. Currently, she is studying Psychology and University of South Carolina. She enjoys reading, being outside in nature, hiking, hanging out with her parents and boyfriend of six years. She has two dogs, a pit bull and a border collie/aussie mix!
Mychaela Smith - Veterinary Technician
Sam Peters - Licensed Veterinary Technician
Sam Peters has an Associates in Animal Sciences and became a licensed veterinary technician in Ohio in 2014. She enjoys hiking and is an amature photographer. Her family consists of her three cats Peanut Butter, Shadow and Six, and her husband Kevin.
Hannah Gordon - Veterinary Technician
Hannah graduated from Gaston College with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Veterinary Medical Technology in 2013. She has six years of emergency and trauma experience, as well as one year of experience working with a Board Certified Surgeon. She is very passionate about patient care and working in the ER department. A Rock Hill native originally, Hannah and her boyfriend moved to Camden, SC in the spring of 2019 for his job and have enjoyed seeing and exploring what this part of the state has to offer, including Columbia! Her hobbies include traveling to different places across the country and exploring new hiking areas with her dog, Charlie, an 8 year old yellow lab.
Liakae Motloenya - Licensed Veterinary Technician
Liakae means “Direction in Life,” which is perfect for her considering she knew hers at 16 when she got her start in veterinary medicine. “Dee” graduated from Tri-County Technical College in 2014 with her AAS in Veterinary Technology, and received her license. She keeps things fun by dancing and singing for the patients between treatments. When she isn’t at work, she’s mountain biking or staying in with her dogs Caleb and Brownie.
Nikki Thilges - Veterinary Technician
Nikki started in veterinary medicine in 2010. Eight of those years were spent in general medicine but she wanted to broaden her skills, so she joined the surgery team at CVETS. Anesthesia has always been her passion in this field and she plans to continue her education as a veterinary nurse to become licensed. Born and raised in Hopkins, SC, at age 9, she was adopted with her two biological sisters by her wonderful family. She now resides in West Columbia with her boyfriend and their four dogs – Alice, Jack, Amber and Burton. Nikki loves snowboarding, being on the lake, and spending time with her family. Her free time is usually filled with pet sitting or enjoying time with her dogs & boyfriend!
Stephanie DiFranco - Veterinary Technician
Stephanie DiFranco started in veterinary medicine in 2010 and volunteers with Veteran K9 Solutions as a service dog trainer. She enjoys spending time with her two daughters Caylin and Jordan and her frenchie puppy Kevin Dade. She’s passionate about ocean conservatory and everything Disney.
Brandy Bracey - Veterinary Technician
Brandy Bracey has been immersed in veterinary medicine ever since she was a little girl but officially began working in the field when she was just 14 years old. Since then, she has filled many roles in the veterinary hospital. She enjoys reading, but is currently being kept busy renovating her childhood home. She has three dogs and two chickens.
Jonathan Lewis - Veterinary Technician
Jonathan started working with shelter and rescue medicine in 2007 and then transitioned into working in Emergency and Specialty care about 3 years later in 2010. He found that the patients and the challenges of Surgery made up his favorite specialty to explore. Originally from Colorado, he loves the outdoors, film studies, pitbulls, and regularly honing sarcasm.
Katy Long - Veterinary Technician
Katy Long joined the CVETS team with a background in general practice and surgery. She has one dog named Reno and a rescue cat named Cecilia.
Outside of work Katy likes to paint, make crafts, and practice archery.
Lakyn Platt - Veterinary Technician
Lakyn Platt has been working in veterinary medicine since 2014, beginning her career in general practice before transitioning to Surgery and Neurology. She enjoys baking, gardening, and any outdoor activity. She lives a busy life caring for her family which include her husband Tyler, daughter Kinslee, and son Samuel. They share their home with 3 dogs and 1 Cat.
Casey Smart - Veterinary Technician
Haleigh Mahon-Smart - Veterinary Technician
Julia Reitz - Licensed Veterinary Technician
Christian Carey - Veterinary Technician
Patricia Roberts - Veterinary Technician
Michele Neal - Veterinary Technician
Michele is originally from upstate NY and moved to SC to pursue a Bachelors degree in veterinary technology. She graduated with honors from Newberry College in 2007.
Michele has worked in the veterinary industry since 1999. Currently working for Hills Pet Nutrition she is pursuing her VTS in nutrition while working in the Emergency department at CVETS.
Michele likes to spend time with her husband, 2 children and 6 fur babies (2 dogs, 4 cats). Her hobbies include running, traveling and Clemson football.
Grace Moore - Veterinary Technician
Christina McGovern - Veterinary Technician
Crystal Morrin - ER Technician
Mary Catherine Scavuzzo - Neurology Technician
Candice Peer - Veterinary Technician
Candice has 6+ years of experience in Veterinary Medicine. She loves
animals so much, she decided to get a German Shepherd & Catahoula Mix named River, who is quite the handful! She enjoys traveling to Charleston to see her older brother & four year old nephew. On sunny days off, she enjoys going to the
river with her dog & boyfriend to relax on the rocks!
animals so much, she decided to get a German Shepherd & Catahoula Mix named River, who is quite the handful! She enjoys traveling to Charleston to see her older brother & four year old nephew. On sunny days off, she enjoys going to the
river with her dog & boyfriend to relax on the rocks!
Emily Durocher - Veterinary Technician
Emily Durocher graduated in May of 2018 with a BS in Biology and a minor in Music from Columbia College. She has two years experience in the field, including volunteering in Nicaragua. She loves the cello, outdoor activities with scout groups and playing Dungeons and Dragons with Jerilyn. She has Bill the corn snake, Oreo the rabbit and Iggy the russian tortoise. She will be attended UGA Vet School Fall 2019!
Lauren Carson - Veterinary Technician
Lauren has five years of experience in the Veterinary field. She graduated from the Veterinary Technician program at Piedmont Technical College in July of 2019. She enjoys riding horses and going camping. She is married with one horse (Mr. Jones), three dogs (Bentley, Chevy, and Footloose) and one cat (Bayla).
Lindsay Mills - Veterinary Technician
Lindsay has been with CVETS since day one! An integral part of our team, she has thirteen years experience in the veterinary field. She began as a CSR and worked her way to the fabulous Radiology Nurse she is today. She enjoys any outdoor activity, especially hunting and fishing. When she isn’t managing all things Radiology (or Dr. Rivas), she’s spending time with her boyfriend Tony, two dogs Tracker and Sugar, and cat Bobbi Jo.
Nola Grijalva - Veterinary Technician
Assistants
Julia Rivers - Veterinary Assistant
Julia “Juelz” Rivers is a native of a rural town in Berkeley County called Cross. She has a Bachelors Degree in Biology from SC State and a Masters Degree in Animal Science from Fort Valley State. She knew that she wanted to work with animals since she was 7 years old. She is a big southern soul fan Lacee and Tucka are her favorites. In her spare time she enjoys writing, listening to music and having fun. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority inc. and is also a member of Order Of Eastern Star. She has 3 fur babies Lil-Bit, Remy, and Nellie who are constantly getting spoiled. Her future expectation in life is to continue to treat and save animals and to master doing them.
Emily Geiger - Kennel Assistant
Schevelle Bailey - ER Assistant
Facilities
Wayne Kindle - Inventory Manager
In 1993, Wayne Kindle started working in a veterinary clinic here in Columbia. He then joined the Army as a medic and spent over 22 years in military medicine. Wayne has veterinary supply and critical care nursing experience.
