Our Staff

Practice Owner

Dr. Ken Schoolmeester

Veterinarians

Dr. Jenna Blake , DVM

Dr. Blake was born and raised in Virginia where she attended the University of Richmond for her undergraduate degree. She then moved to the great white north to attend Michigan State University for veterinary school (Go Spartans!). Her husband and she are both avid MSU fans. She practiced in Michigan until 2007 when she convinced her husband to move where it was warm. She started practicing at the Stonecrest location in July of 2007 and also frequents our Ballantyne location on Monday's.

She also has two young children that keep her very busy when not at the clinics.

Dr. Blake loves interacting with the clients and working in a fun, casual atmosphere.
Dr. Jenn Merlo , DVM

Dr. Merlo is a born and raised “Jersey Girl” hailing fromManalapan, New Jersey. She attended the University of Delaware where shereceived her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. After undergrad, Dr Merlo attended The Ohio State University (Go Buckeyes!) where she received her D.V.M. After vet school she completed a one year rotating equine internship at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center. She then moved on to Raleigh, NC, where she trained at NC State University in Equine Internal Medicine. After three years of long and grueling hours she transitioned into small animal medicine and moved to Charlotte NC, where she met her husband, Jeff. She joined our locations in April of 2009.
She also has two four-legged children…a boxer named Duncan and a golden retriever named Katie. Dr. Merlo continues to interact with horses in her spare time and through volunteer work with rescue organizations.
Dr. Merlo loves the casual and fun feeling that the clinics harbor. She loves interacting with clients and has a special interest in internal medicine and pediatrics.
Dr. Will Pressly , DVM

Dr. Pressly was born in Atlanta and has been a Southerner his entire life. He has lived in Charlotte for 30 plus years and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in History/Religion. Soon after graduation, he went out to Colorado to live on a dude ranch. After several months of being there, he wasplaced in charge of caring for a herd of horses. This immediately sparked his interest, and from then on, he knew he wanted to spend his life working with animals. Dr. Pressly then headed to the Caribbean to attend Ross University’s Vet school and graduated in 1998. He then immediately went to work as a Large Animal Veterinarian and loved it! However, in 2001 Dr. Pressly made the transition to Small Animal Medicine and was an emergency vet (yes just like on TV) until 2004. From there, he practiced at Banfield,The Pet Hospital in Matthews as Chief of Staff and Partner Doctor.

Dr. Pressly’s passion is being everything to his patients from pediatrics to geriatrics and their families. His special interests are in orthopedics, lameness, and ultrasound.

In his free time, Dr. Pressly loves to spend time with his wonderful wife, Rhonda, and their three lovely daughters. Three cats and two dogs, Priscilla, a black lab, and Amber, a Jack Russell, complete their family.

Dr. Pressly is truly excited to be a part of and bring his experiences to Mixed Pet Veterinary Hospitals at Stonecrest, Ballantyne, and South End. He looks forward to getting to know you all!

Technician Staff

Michelle Braswell , Veterinary Assistant

Michelle has beenworking in the veterinary field for 3 years. She and her fiance, Jonathon bothgrew up in the Carolinas. They both enjoy spending time outdoors; Michelleloves the summer and spends most of her free time at the pool.

Michelle's pets consist of a very happyyellow Lab, Nala, who is 8 months old. Nala was found as a stray in a backyardand she spends most of her time chasing geese in their pond and sun bathing(like her mom!). A horse named Stryder, who is 1 year old and was also arescue.

Michelle's favorite thing about working atthe clinic is getting to know the pets and their owners. She also enjoysworking with the staff and doctors.

When asked about her most humorousexperience, she said “there is never a dull moment in the clinic. Everyone isalways cutting up and playing jokes on each other."

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Crystal Cook , Registered Veterinary Technician

Crystal was born in Waxhaw, NC. She spent most of her childhood in Matthews, NC. Crystal has been in the veterinary field since 2003. After working in the field for three years Crystal decided to pursue her degree as a registered animal nurse and began her studies at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, GA. The Veterinary Technology program at Gwinnett Tech was by far one of the most challenging experiences Crystal has ever been through, and after three years of dedicated studying, Crystal graduated at the top of her class with a degree and became a Registered Veterinary Technician. After graduating college, Crystal moved back home to North Carolina to be closer to her family and began working with the Mixed Pet family in June 2009.
Crystal has three very adorable pets.
Beru (named after Aunt Beru from Star Wars!) is a seven-year-old German Shephard that Crystal rescued. Beru has an amazing personality, and is the sweetest dog in the world! Her favorite hobbies include pulling loaves of bread of the counter and eating them, chasing the cats, and watching her favorite Star Wars movies.
Kit Fisto (named after a jedi) is a one-year-old orange tabby cat. Kit Fisto is a spunky little cat and loves to be held on his back like a baby. Kit Fisto's favorite hobbies include teasing Beru, running around the house like a tornado and pulling things out of the trashcan.
Casper (named after the ghost) is a very friendly cat! Casper is a three-year-old flame point cat. Casper has mellowed out in his older age. His favorite hobbies include sleeping for 22 hours every day, begging for attention and meowing. (If only he liked lasagna!)
Crystal loves going to work everyday. Every day brings a new challenge, and she feels guaranteed to go home feeling accomplished each night. Crystal especially loves answering clients questions and educating clients about their pets that they love so dearly. By doing this she is allowing them to provide the optimal care that they want to give to their furry family members!
Every single day is so much fun in the Mixed Pet world. Crystal enjoys the witty humor amongst the staff members and enjoys the fact that everyone is on board with her quirky sense of humor! Laughter is the best medicine and "Stressed" is "Desserts" spelled backwards!
Rochelle Haack , Patient Care Coordinator

Rochelle is from Indiana and a proud Purdue Boilermaker with B.S. degree. She loves Charlotte, NC and has called it home since 1990. The beaches are her favorite thing about the Carolinas. She has two adopted children from Khabarovsk, Russia, at the ages of 3 1/2 years old and 8 1/2 months. The wonderful children, Noah and Sarah are now teenagers, loved by a very proud mom.
Rochelle has two miniature dachshunds in her family. Minnie is the oldest next to the "pup" Cooper who is the most sweet-hearted dog ever. They are lovable and silly (much like Rochelle). They bring much joy to her and the kids. Watching them all play together is a hoot.
Her favorite aspect in regards to working at the clinic is holding puppies. She enjoys cuddling pets and sweet talking them. During their visits, she takes pleasure in helping them relax as though they were her own pets. She takes tremendous pride in gently caring for the sick (which is why she is the patient care coordinator).
She has cultivated lifelong friendships and learned a lot at the clinics.
Don't let the crowd fool you, Rochelle and staff can be very silly at times. There is one person that plays many jokes on others....but Rochelle isn't naming any names.
Alison Harrell , Surgical Assistant / Veterinary Technician Manager

Born in Charlotte and moved to Monroe at sixteen, Alison now resides in Indian Trail with her husband of five years, Dave and their beautiful daughter, Tyler Nicole who is 2 ½. Her extended family is very important to her and she is lucky that all of them live nearby in Mecklenburg and Union Counties.

Alison has been working in the veterinary field for about eight years and lives, eats and breathes veterinary medicine. She is one of those happy people that jumps out of bed in the morning in anticipation of getting into work. She finds her job rewarding, in a fun environment with humorous coworkers. Mostly, Alison enjoys working with innocent and helpless pets and brings them comfort through surgery, treatment, or just a scratch behind the ears. We can’t see Alison doing anything else as a profession and we are delighted that she has been at our Stonecrest location for almost four years (and recently promoted) and we look forward to many more years with her.

She has six pets (YIKES!) That sounds like a lot until you read Angela's profile). Sampson is her eleven-year-old Yellow Lab, and voted the best dog EVER (by Alison, of course). Hank is their newest addition - a yellow lab puppy, and quite a handful and keeps the entire family busy! She also has four cats – Rescue (a.k.a. Punkin) is her nine-year-old orange tabby domestic short hair (DSH), Stone is the five year old brown tabby/white DSH, and Dusty is her pretty girl - a two year old long haired diluted calico. And then last, but not least – Annie is a one and a half year old black and white (tuxedo) DSH. It's a house full, and she loves them with all her heart and wouldn't have it any other way.

Alison’smost humorous experiences seem to circulate around Ashley Gragg!! Alison and Ashley banter back in forth in jest throughout the day, which makes for an entertaining environment for the rest of us. Not one day goes by that all of us are not laughing about something.
Chris Molina , Veterinary Assistant
Cori Montgomery , Veterinary Assistant

Cori has always been a lover of animals and even as a child she always saw herself in the veterinary field. In 2005, at the age of 17, she began her career in the veterinary field at a veterinary hospital in Pineville, NC where she learned the basics of the career. In late 2007/early 2008, she began Penn Foster's Veterinary Technician program, of which she plans to sport a shiny new degree from come January.

Cori also enjoys graphic/web design and art as a passtime, and along with playing heeping amounts of video games and delving into arts and crafts, she often finds herself enjoying a good book or goofing off with her friends.

Cori's family is limited to herself and her four-legged daughter, Kerrigan. Kerrigan is a 3 year old black and white border collie mix that Cori adopted from Animal Control. She enjoys playing fetch, a nice run through the yard and tons of love and affection. Animal planet and TruTV seem to catch her interest when she's lounging on the couch while other dogs and cats catch an earful when she's wandering the apartment's "courtyard".

Cori enjoys helping animals from all different shapes and sizes to breeds and species. One of her favorite tasks is helping nervous and fearful animals to feel more comfortable with her, the rest of the veterinary staff, as well as to become accustomed to the veterinary visit in general. Cori finds that every animal is different and communicating with all of their different personalities can be a very interesting and rewarding experience.
Kari Smith , Veterinary Assistant

Kari has been a resident of Waxhaw for 8 years and lives ona farm with her daughter, Aubrae and a menagerie of animals. She is a graduateof Weddington High School and has been involved in veterinary medicine foryears while taking care of her own animals. Kari has been a veterinaryassistant since 2005 and loves working with clients and their pets. Kari feels that working with animals is herlifelong calling.
Kari’s menagerie of animals consists of: 2 dogs (Jaxs &Midnight), 4 cats (Streak, Starburst, Spice, Tumbles), 4 horses (Beau, Bucky,General, Tie).
Kari had only been with Mixed Pet for a short time when herpet, Jaxs (Parvo survivor) gave life saving plasma to a parvo puppy named Henry(the cutest dachshund ever). Kari finds everyday that working with herco-workers, Angela and Sarah to be unpredictable and a laugh riot!
Sarah Von Broda , Veterinary Assistant

Sarah joined Mixed Pet veterinary Hospitals in November of 2007 after moving here from Orlando, FL with her husband. She has been working in the veterinary field for about two years. Sarah comes from a rather large family, she is the youngest of five children. There was never a dull moment in in her house growing up! She is a very down to earth person, who can be bubbly at times! She loves learning new things and is always interested in medical procedures and diseases.

Sarah and her husband currently have three animals at home. They have one dog, named Lucky, who is three years old. He is a Papillion mix. He is the love Sarah's life! She has had him since he was 12 weeks old and he’s kept her on her toes ever since. She also have two cats, Honeybun, a domestic short haired cat, who is almost two years old, and most recently adopted a stray cat named Peanut, a domestic long haired cat. You can most commonly see all three animals trying to cuddle together on a chair, or wrestling with each other, although Lucky is a “momma’s” boy and can usually be found by her side.

Since Sarah was a little girl, she has always been interested in science and medicine. She also loved being around animals. Sarah was always trying to “doctor” up her own animals at home! Her favorite part about her job is that it is so rewarding. "To have an animal come in sick, and work so hard on it, and it leave better, brightens my whole day! Our clinic also has a nice, fun atmosphere which makes the day even better."

Sarah always has a good time while at work, here is what she had to share with us, "All day long, things happen that just simply makes us laugh. Whether it is something an animal has done, or if it is us girls, in the clinic you can always hear laughing. One of the most humorous things that has happened in the clinic was the day that we had a dog that we were trying to do a nail trim on and the dog was so nervous that he accidentally defecated. Coincidently the stool fell into the other technician’s pocket. One particular reason this moment stood out for me was because that has actually happened to me before and the girls couldn’t believe it! It’s moments like these that keep us laughing!"

Reception and Administrative Staff

Angela Crump , Front Desk Coordinator - Ballantyne

Angela, a Charlotte native lives with her husband, Matt and son, Logan (2yrs). Angela loves animals and working in the medical field. Her first job was as a kennel/tech and that's where she realized her love of the medical field, she has been in the veterinary field for 12 years. She is currently pursuing an associates degree in applied sciences. Even though she loves the medical side, she also really enjoys the client enteraction that she gets from being a receptionist. Angela is known for her big bright smile and you can find her at our Ballantyne location!
Angela's love of animals and passion for rescuing has led her to having 10 dogs (yes, we said 10!!). Her furry family consists of 5 standard poodles, Addie, Beau, Chloe, Maddie and Sassy; 3 toy poodles, Nicky, Suki, and Emily. Molly, a lab/aussie mix and Cajun a whippet mix from Hurricane Katrina.
Angela's favorite thing about working at the clinic is being able to help animals and building lifelong friendships with co-workers. She also loves learning and never lets an opportunity pass her by!
When asked what her most humorous experience working at the clinic, Angela said "it is impossible to narrow it down to just one experience, we all have inside jokes that keep us laughing everyday!"
Ashley Gragg , Client Relations Coordinator

She is a Charlotte native (one of the few!). Ashley has a wonderful husband, Rick and a 15 year old stepson, Corey. With her family living in Charlotte they spend a lot of time together going to Panther games and tailgating. She loves summer and the pool (thus her infamous tan). She has been playing the piano since the young age of ten, although we don't think that she needs to practice as she is quite accomplished! She LOVES Duke basketball and Florida football. Go gators!

Ashley has five pets (not including her husband). Mandy is her big-boned, beautiful golden retriever. Macie is her supermodel chinese hairless (which has hair, but don't ask). Murphy and Mittie are her favorite long haired felines and last but not least Marley is the baby and is her perfect goldendoodle (he is a "Parley", he is).

She loves working with clients! The pets get all of the attention as they should, so she enjoys spoiling the clients and making them (and Alison) smile.

She too feels like our entire staff has a fabulous sense of humor. There is not a day that goes by that we all don't have a really good laugh (never at Ashley's expense - of course).
Mary Scott , Receptionist

Mary was born in Cuba and arrived in the United States in 1969. As a young child, she originally lived in Miami for a few months before her family moved to New Jersey and then settled on Charlotte. She calls Charlotte home with her husband of 29 years and their two wonderful boys, Tim and Brandon ages 19 and 15.

Mary's family continues to grow as they have 3 dogs and 3 cats. Foxy, a 2 year old Golden Retriever/Chow she adopted from the pound at 4 months old. Lucky, an 11 year old Terrier/Corgi mix was a stray found when she was about 1 year old after being hit by a car and had extensive injuries -- Mary's family worked with Lucky for over a 1 1/2 years to acclimate her to humans and domestication as she had been freely running with a pack of dogs. Boomer, a 1 year old Pomeranian/Chihuahua joined the family when her boys wanted to get a lap dog. Mary always says "Boomer is the bomb!" Now for the cats in the family, there is Troubles, a 4year old big baby that sleeps with her youngest son, Brandon. Mimi, a very sweet 3 year old that was found as a stray kitten- Mimi happens to think that she is a dog and will follow you around, she loves Mary's husband and sleeps with her oldest son, Tim. Bambi was adopted from one of our Stonecrest clients. A litter of kittens came in for vaccines and Mary's youngest son, Brandon had been wanting a kitten so Mary took a picture on her cell phone and sent it to her son while he was at school ( even though he's not supposed to have a cell phone in school, Oops! ). Brandon picked the kitten with white face down to her chest, black body, and white paws!

Mary's favorite thing about working at the clinic is having a fun group to work with that is caring and also only having to work till noon on Fridays!

When asked what Mary's most humorous experience at the clinic, she was quick to tell us a story about one of the Doctors falling off of a chair! Be careful!!

Tonya Grandy Sienkiewicz , Front Desk Coordinator - South End

Tonya was born in Biloxi Mississippi and has lived in many places all over the world including Canada, Germany and Saudi Arabia. She started moving at 6 months of age while her father was in the Air Force. Since then she has had the “itch” to move around and travel as much as possible. (She has visited almost ¾ of the United States!) In 2004, she moved back to Charlotte where she met her husband Jerry whom she married on April Fools Day!!

Some of Tonya’s favorite activities include hanging out with friends and going to the sporting events. She is a HUGE sports fan! This keeps her busy year round (and usually disappointed also). Tonya is also a certified scuba diver and her dream would be to own a dive shop on an island!

Tonya has six furry children.

Juneau is a Siberian Husky Mix. She was rescued from an animal shelter in Sparta, North Carolina 4 days before she was to be euthanized. She had never met Juneau, only had seen pictures on the internet. She raced to the mountains and adopted her. This was the best decision for both of them. They changed each other’s lives.

Scarlett is a German Shepherd Mix. She also was a rescue. Tonya decided to foster her for a week and she never left. Scarlett is also one of the most expensive FREE dogs ever!

She also has 4 crazy cats. Max, a black domestic shorthair and Rocky, a black and white domestic shorthair, were Tonya’s husband’s before they met. Abby and Hemingway, both domestic shorthairs, were rescues.

Tonya enjoys coming to work everyday and loves the patients, clients and employees at each clinic. Every day is an adventure!! “Her girls” at the South End clinic have become some of her closest friends. They make her laugh on a daily basis!

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Jamie Wollen , Receptionist

Born and raised in Greenville, SC. She started working at a vet hospital in 2001, a few years later her son was born in 2004, they moved to Waxhaw, NC late in 2008 and then started to work at the Stonecrest location in early 2009. She enjoys time with her boyfriend Tim and her son Payton.

She has two pets - Muddy, a DLH - torti, who is a bit antisocial and is obsessed with hair. Tippy on the other hand is a tan,daschilhuahua that is always happy and likes to tap dance!! Tippy cannot live without CET chews.

Her favorite part about working at the clinic is the doctors and staff and the dynamics between us all. Working next to Chic-fil-a and Starbucks is a plus!

Everyday, Jamie enjoys the zany staff, clients and patients. Something happens daily that makes her almost fall out of her seat with laughter.