Sarah Armstrong
CEO
Trend Health Partners
Sarah is, above all else, a passionate leader of people. With a career spanning over two decades, her journey began as a financial analyst at a small community hospital in Kentucky, where she developed a profound appreciation for the pivotal role of people in healthcare, both in the clinic and in the back office. This early experience ignited her passion for enhancing Revenue Cycle performance and fostering leadership talents that resonate with the values of collaboration and efficiency.
Her leadership at TREND is deeply influenced by her comprehensive background, championing a culture of inclusivity and collaboration. By valuing each team member's contribution, Sarah drives innovations that not only challenge the conventional adversarial healthcare models but also promote a cooperative and efficient environment that benefits all stakeholders.
She leads with a commitment to transparency, cooperation over competition, and a deep-seated belief in empowering her team. Under her leadership, TREND is pioneering a new era of healthcare solutions that prioritize accuracy, fairness, and collaborative problem-solving, all aimed at improving outcomes for patients and providers alike.
Sarah's leadership is characterized by her ability to bridge traditional divides within the industry, advocating for a paradigm shift from adversarial dynamics to cooperative partnerships. Her strategic vision is supported by her unwavering dedication to TREND's ideals, both internally and externally, driving TREND Health Partners to challenge the status quo and lead American healthcare into a more efficient and equitable future.
4.30-4.55 – Meeting Slot 6
5.00-5.15 – Meeting Slot 7
5.20-5.35 – Meeting Slot 8
Networking Opportunities
Veterinary leaders are facing a triple bind: talent recruitment, declining footfall, and tech growing pains. In this interactive session, hear how top-performing practices are solving for scale—redesigning workflows, rethinking roles, and leveraging technology to boost revenue per DVM, reduce churn, and build more resilient, high-performing operations from the inside out.
Unleashing Profit Potential
Moderator
Tori Williams
Founder
Lemonade Coaching & Consulting
Brendan Lynch
SVP, Innovation
VCA Animal Hospitals
Connor Lawrie
President & COO
Heartland Veterinary Partners
The best campaigns don’t guess—they adapt.
Discover how leading pet brands use real-time consumer insight to guide creator strategy, stretch budgets, and break through the noise. across Instagram, YouTube, and beyond.
Listen better, spend smarter, and turn scrolls into serious traction.
Engaging Pet Parents
Shawn Pate
Head of US Pet
TikTok Shop
In today’s pet industry, brand isn’t enough. This session explores how proprietary innovation—whether product science, tech platforms, or service protocols—can drive valuation and strategic interest.
Learn what acquirers are really looking for, how to protect your edge, and how to position IP as a core asset, not an afterthought.
Scaling Smarter
Steve Garlock
Partner
Thompson Coburn
Matthew C. James
Founder/CTO
TravelReadyPets + Immuniscan
Matthew C. James is a visionary tech entrepreneur and inventor, best known as the founder of TravelReadyPets® and Immuniscan™, pioneering the world’s first AI-powered platform for pet travel compliance and microchip-based verification. With a background in enterprise cloud automation and AI strategy, he is leading the future of regulatory technology and global mobility through intelligent infrastructure that enhances safety, trust, and cross-border movement.
Successful exits start long before the deal. In this breakout, M&A insiders reveal how to position for acquisition—from shaping financials and forecasting performance to managing risk, brand narrative, and buyer alignment.
Learn what truly drives valuation and how run a process that protects your upside and delivers results.
Unleashing Profit Potential
Investment Opportunities
Carol Frank
Managing Director
BirdsEye Advisory Group
Richard Kestenbaum
Partner
Triangle Capital, LLC
Richard is a co-founder and Partner of Triangle Capital and has been an investment banker for over 35 years. Richard has a great deal of experience advising clients in merchandising businesses, particularly in the Retail & Consumer sector. Richard is an often-quoted expert on the retail and merchandising industries. He is a Contributor to Forbes.com where he writes a regular blog about trends in retail and consumer product businesses. He also appears regularly in print and other media as well as industry panels and speaking programs.
Before co-founding Triangle, Richard was a Managing Director at a boutique investment banking firm called Financo, Inc. While at Financo, Richard was responsible for a majority of the firm’s apparel industry transactions. Prior to joining Financo, Richard was a Partner and First Vice President at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. At Drexel, Richard was responsible for a group of 14 professionals doing middle-market mergers and acquisitions around the world.
Richard is the co-author of three books on finance and computer programming. He is formerly an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Business at the graduate program of the Stern School of Business at York University.
Richard received a BS in Accounting from New York University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Harvard University. Richard is married and lives in New York.
Click here to read Richard’s blog and follow him on Forbes.com.