From Work-Life Balance to Ever After
The start to my veterinary career was one I could never have planned.
I graduated in January of 2020, just as the world was about to change. The COVID-19 pandemic hit almost immediately, throwing everyday life and veterinary medicine into uncharted territory. Overnight, the way we worked, interacted with clients, and treated patients was reshaped.
At the time, I wasn’t sure what my own future would look like, let alone the future of the profession. So I did the only thing that made sense: I kept my head down, focused on learning, and got my feet wet with the basics. Day by day, case by case, I started to find my footing and build confidence. Those early months were a crash course not just in medicine, but in adaptability, resilience, and learning how to stay steady in the face of uncertainty.
My Early Career Path
Nearing three years into the profession, I began to see more clearly how I wanted to practice and how I didn’t.
Working as an associate vet in corporate medicine also taught me that vets don’t just navigate client finances; we also navigate hospital finances. Our worth is often measured by how much business we bring in. For someone like me, who treated exotic pets alongside cats and dogs, meeting monthly production goals was nearly impossible. After all, you can’t exactly sell flea and tick preventives to a leopard gecko or annual vaccines to a scarlet macaw.
The irony was that the very cases I loved most, treating unusual species and diving into complex diagnostics, were the same ones that made it harder to meet those production expectations. Over time, I realized I I wanted my value as a veterinarian to be based on my medical judgment and patient outcomes, not the contents of an invoice.
The constant pressure had me wondering if there was something more out there. Without knowing exactly what I’d find, I took a gamble. I left Buffalo, NY and headed 695 miles to North Carolina in search of a better way of living.
A Leap for Love (and Lifestyle)
Why so far? Well, I met Eileen (my now fiancée) in Room 3 at the veterinary clinic where I was working in Buffalo. She was a client that day, bringing in her sick rabbit. What started as a routine appointment quickly turned into something extraordinary. We discovered we had an eerily similar lifestyle, humor, and personality. It was exactly the kind of connection worth leaving the state for. Eileen had just returned from visiting Asheville, NC, searching for an “artist town in the mountains.” I, too, had recently reached a personal level of inner peace through creating artwork and taking 30–40 minute drives to find hiking getaways.
We began dating and bonded quickly over our shared love of slow mornings with coffee, wandering through local art festivals, and exploring the kind of winding back roads that make you roll the windows down.
When the fast-paced life proved not to be the right fit for either of us, the choice became clear. Together, we left New York and headed south to see what life in North Carolina could offer.
Discovering IndeVets
I knew I wouldn’t truly know what I wanted unless I could see several hospitals up close. But a long, tiring interview process at numerous clinics wasn’t appealing to me.
A friend of mine, a relief veterinarian from Buffalo, first told me about IndeVets. She had heard of it and explained that it was a completely new way to practice veterinary medicine. As an IndeVet, I could work a schedule designed around my life and preferences, while still enjoying full benefits, PTO, CE PTO, allowances, and more. No single hospital’s schedule or financial pressures, just the freedom and support to focus on practicing great medicine and helping pets, all on my own terms.
At first, I thought it had to be some kind of too-good-to-be-true situation. Flexible scheduling and full benefits? In veterinary medicine? But the more I learned, the more it made sense. And the more I realized it was exactly what I needed. My first shift as an IndeVet sealed it. I walked into a clinic that welcomed me like one of their own, handed me a well-organized schedule, and let me focus entirely on patient care. No production quotas. No politics. Just medicine.
I was equally excited about the opportunity to experience different practice styles, hospital cultures, and communities – broadening my skills and perspective with every shift.
My Career On My Terms
IndeVets has given me the ability to “front load” or “back load” my weeks too. I’ve worked Monday through Thursday only sometimes, then Tuesday through Friday at other times. And four-day weekends? A regular thing with IndeVets. I can also choose to work more than the required full-time minimum (only 34 hours!), if I want to add to my earnings!
That flexibility has completely reshaped how I approach my life outside the clinic. I’ve finally found that elusive work-life balance so many seek. How I practice medicine when I am in clinic is so important to me, but having time for my life outside of clinic is too. Now I have more time back for my hobbies and my personal joys. I no longer have to wedge slivers of “free time” between shifts; my free time is a priority I can plan my career around.
It’s a level of flexibility and work-life balance I never thought I’d have in a veterinary career.
The Proposal Plan
On our first dinner together, Eileen told me she didn’t want a relationship for at least three years. I joked, “So… how about we go see a movie tomorrow?” We’ve been together ever since.
On June 16, 2025, exactly three years later, I planned the surprise of a lifetime. Every year, I’ve made us a “year in review” photo book and we’ve taken a summer road trip.
This tradition became our anchor, a way to slow down and reflect on all we’d experienced together. It wasn’t just a scrapbook; it was our story in snapshots.
This year, the flexibility I had in my schedule gave me the free time I needed to plan nearly a dozen trips on half-days or days off to design her ring. Once it was complete, I worked extra-long weeks to save up for the trip and secretly arranged for one of her close friends and her cousin to join us.
As she finished reading this year’s photo book, the second-to-last page said I could finally ask her on a date (since it had been three years). On the next page, I asked something else. She said yes.
Time for What Matters Most
IndeVets gave me the flexibility to plan one of the most meaningful moments of my life. My schedule is no longer forced into fixed 8–5 or 12–8 shifts. It’s exactly what I want it to be, whether that’s working more to save more or deciding when I work to protect my personal time. That kind of freedom isn’t just about proposals and vacations. It’s about sustainability in a field where burnout is common. Looking back, I can see how my early corporate years would have been different with this kind of flexibility. More rest, more joy, and more room to say “yes” to opportunities outside of work. I believe more vets deserve that choice.
For me, this balance between the time I spend on my professional life and my personal life makes all the difference.
My career path led me to a way of practicing veterinary medicine that feels sustainable and fulfilling. I’ve learned that when you have the ability to align your work with your life, you create space for the moments that matter most, both inside and outside the clinic.
