What would you say are the biggest stumbling blocks to a joyful career in veterinary science? The unfortunate reality is that there are many people in the veterinary profession who would not readily use 'joy' and 'work' in the same sentence. But Dr Russel Welsh wants to change that. Dr Russel Welsh is  a veterinarian with over 23 years of experience and a passion for the vet profession and the role it plays in the lives of people and animals. He’s worked in multiple sectors of the veterinary industry, including clinically, operationally and in senior executive leadership positions. Some of his previous roles include first an employee and later a co-owner of Village Vet, a 33-site primary and referral care veterinary group in the London and Cambridge area. Russel facilitated the sale of this group first to private equity in 2017 and subsequently to the MARS group, where he stayed on first as Managing Director, then as COO and eventually in the role as Business Development Director at Linnaeus Veterinary Group. This adventure has given him invaluable high-level insights into how our profession works (or sometimes DOESN'T work), so Russel recently resigned his position and took on a new challenge as Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Creature Comforts, a new VC funded veterinary start-up that aims to revolutionise the veterinary experience to make it seamless, joyful, fair and transparent by combining bespoke-built tech and world-class designer clinics. In this conversation we cover how to step outside of your comfort zone to gain the knowledge and confidence needed to take on BIG challenges, and Russel shares some fascinating insights into the world of Big Veterinary Business. We talk about what’s good about corporate, what’s bad, and how Russel and his team are planning to take the best of it to create a model of veterinary practice that breaks the mould that says you can’t use 'joy' and 'work' in the same sentence.  Topics covered: 07:12 The Journey from Student to CEO 08:38 The Role of Technology in Modern Veterinary Practice 12:18 The Impact of Corporate Structures on Veterinary Practice 15:53 The Launch of Creature Comforts: A New Approach to Veterinary Practice 18:31 The Vision for Creature Comforts: Reinventing the Veterinary Experience 20:53 The Challenges and Opportunities of Corporate Veterinary Practice 24:13 The Future of Creature Comforts: A Vision for Growth and Innovation 38:14 Changing Access to Veterinary Care 39:34 Focus On Client Relationships 40:33 The Role of Technology in Veterinary Practice 44:18 Is The Staffing Crisis Over? 53:40 Joy Killers in Veterinary Practice 01:10:09 Russel’s One Bit of Advice for New Veterinary Graduates Join our community of Vet Vault Nerds to lift your clinical game and get your groove back with our up-to-date, easy-to-consume clinical episodes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vvn.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get help with your cases in our Specialist Support Space. V⁠⁠isit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thevetvault.com⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for show notes and resources related to this episode. Connect with us through our online ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Vet Vault Networ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠k for episode highlights, clinical resources, discussions, questions and support. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here for Hubert's favourite clinical and non-clinical learnings from the week. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vet-vault/message