Human first.

Back in 2016, I'd have introduced myself very differently. 'My name is Katie, and I'm a vet.' That was it. My whole sense of worth sat on a job title.

I loved the profession, but I'd quietly left everything else behind. I chased perfection, stayed later and later to prevent disasters that hadn't happened, and felt like a fraud for every achievement. Nobody put more pressure on me than I did. I had 27 letters after my name and Dr before it, and none of them gave me me. I ended up exhausted, frustrated, and burnt out.

So I did the thing I'd have told anyone else to do, and asked for help. Through therapy and coaching, I started to realise there was a different way to do all of this. Slowly, the voice in my head stopped being the one in charge. And here's the bit people don't expect: I genuinely fell back in love with being a vet. Twelve years in practice, a Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice in small animal medicine, and plenty of days I'd happily live again.

In 2018 I started sharing all of this, honestly, online. I didn't expect anyone to read it, let alone for it to take off the way it did. Tens of thousands of people said 'me too', and I realised just how many of us were quietly carrying the same thing.

That sent me down a path of studying everything I could get my hands on: coaching, somatic and trauma-informed work, and a Master's in emotional wellbeing. And it grew into stages across the UK and beyond, Vet Empowered (the coaching company I co-founded with Claire Grigson in 2020), two book series, an RCVS Inspiration Award, and in 2025, a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Not bad for someone who once felt she didn't belong.

These days I speak to high performers and entrepreneurs in every kind of profession, help brands and events connect with the vet world, and write about the things most of us were never taught: value, identity, the inner critic, and how to make an impact without losing yourself along the way.