Why I'm Not In Clinical Practice Right Now — And Why I Still Love Veterinary Medicine

I used to feel like something was missing.

Even early on as a veterinarian when I had everything planned out.

I loved my work, I was living my dream, and I had a clear timeline for when I wanted to own a practice.
On paper, it all made sense. And I really was excited about it.

But there was also a quiet feeling in my heart saying, “There’s something missing.”

It didn’t make sense to me at the time, so I ignored it.

I ignored other subtle things, too.

The constant anxiety.
The brain fog I didn’t realize wasn’t normal.
The strange physical symptoms.
The way I felt completely depleted at the end of the day.

I wonder if you’re experiencing something like that, too.

Maybe you’re settling for:

• Healthy habits that feel like draining obligations or constant “shoulds” when being healthy is supposed to feel good 
• A career that leaves you irritable, anxious, or completely depleted at the end of the day instead of fulfilled after years of working hard for it
• Relationships where you feel drained, resentful, or unseen, instead of safe, supported, and genuinely connected

Those feelings aren’t something to dismiss.
They’re signals.

Hustle culture — and the path to becoming a veterinarian — taught me that pushing through was normal.
Being tired, wired, and stretched thin felt like the price of caring.

Years later, I realized I was burned out...after being in denial for a long time.

I could no longer ignore the things that weren’t aligned with the plan I had so carefully built. My body had been trying to tell me over and over that my approach wasn’t working — but it needed to get really loud for me to finally listen.

In hindsight, burnout showed me what I couldn’t see before.

What was missing wasn’t commitment, passion, or resilience.
It was a framework that actually honored how humans function.

We’re deeply committed and capable — but often so much so that we forget to put our oxygen masks on first.

And the “resilience” we’re taught is usually the hustle-culture version: push harder, tolerate more, override your body — instead of compassionate resilience that allows you to recover, adapt, and grow.

Recovering from burnout helped me fall back in love with my profession —not the version driven by survival mode or by how things are “supposed” to be, but the version where you: 
put your oxygen mask on first,
practice in alignment with your values,
and reconnect with the whole point of why you chose this profession in the first place. 

A lot of people ask if I’m still in clinical practice.

The short answer is:
I love clinical work — and I’m not currently practicing because I chose to focus on building the support systems I wish had existed when I was burning out.

Not just to prevent burnout — but to make it easier to thrive, to recognize early warning signs, and to course-correct before everything has to fall apart.

During and after my recovery from burnout, I continued practicing and eventually transitioned to relief, working in over 30 different hospitals.

What I saw normalized again and again was survival mode:

Constant urgency.
Self-sacrifice.
Judgment.
Teams stretched too thin.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

You don’t have to settle for the things that have been normalized that don’t make sense.
You can listen to that part of you that knows there’s a better way — even if you can’t fully name it yet.

The norm should be:

• Patient care and client experiences that prioritize everyone’s well-being — including the veterinary team
• Workplaces that make it safe to be human and that see boundaries as an asset — not as being “difficult”
• True team work, efficiency, and fully utilizing and empowering every member of the team
• Compassionate, respectful communication where different perspectives are an opportunity to deepen understanding, build trust, and problem-solve with clients and colleagues, not a source of frustration and division
• Prioritized time to sit down, eat, take a breath, and recharge — because our brains need that to do meaningful work
• Professionals feeling seen, supported, and able to practice in ways that align with their values

Burnout taught me what happens when we do vet med — and life — the way we think it has to be done instead of the way that actually makes sense for the well-being of people, pets, and clients.

As a veterinarian, integrative health and life coach, consultant, and speaker, my focus is One Health — because that was the piece that was missing: solutions that support the well-being of everyone.

I’m not in clinical practice right now because I gave myself permission not to do everything at the same time.

Where in your life can you give yourself permission to make a choice that helps you to feel more aligned and less depleted?

I’ll be honest — this path hasn’t been easy.
It took years of training, unlearning, experimentation, and connecting dots across health, neuroscience, behavior, leadership, and more.

But it led me to a place where I wake up excited to start my day — and go to bed grateful, even on the hardest ones.

The most fulfilling paths aren’t easy. They’re aligned.

They include boundaries, self-trust, and the capacity to do uncomfortable things without burning yourself out — because they're fueled by self-compassion and wanting what's best for you rather than obligations or trying to prove yourself.

And it all starts with shifting out of survival mode.

Because you can’t connect with your purpose, values, or boundaries when you’re just trying to get through the day.

That’s why I created Aligned Success Reboot.

It’s for people who sense there is a better way — and don’t want to spend years hopping from nutritionists, self-help books, wellness trends, certifications, or just pushing through… hoping they’ll finally find the “key.”

Inside ASR, I guide you step by step out of survival mode and into a way of living and working that supports your energy, health, and values — using an integrative, nervous-system–informed approach that brings everything together.

I often help people see patterns and gain clarity quickly when years of other things haven’t — not because other approaches are wrong, but because this work addresses the unconscious programming underneath stress, habits, health, and work, and connects it all in one place.

If you’re feeling that nudge — that quiet knowing that something’s missing or your body is trying to tell you something — Aligned Success Reboot was created for this exact moment.

You can explore the Aligned Success Reboot here. 

In your corner,

P.S. I haven’t written off owning a practice. I actually have a lot of ideas about how I’d do things differently — and I’m still open to that path in the future. Right now, my focus is coaching and creating paths that make it easier for other people and practices to thrive.

Learning to let my body and values guide me has helped me release the pressure to have everything figured out, and instead trust that the right opportunities show up when you’re aligned — not when you’re forcing “shoulds.”