| THE TEAM
Welcome to Hope Vets, the result of our hopes and dreams both for ourselves and for what we feel veterinary practice should be to you and for your pets.
We are Stephanie and Alex (our vets), Holly (our qualified vet nurse), Katie (our trainee nurse), Steven (our practice manager), and Beverly (mother, occasional receptionist and book keeper) and we are trading as Hope Vets LLP. | |
Slug and Worm
Maccabi
Macy
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Stephanie: Firstly Stephanie…
I am the vet in Hope Vets. I grew up in Brighton with my mom and a happy cavalier king charles spaniel and a special but neurotic collie cross breed. Being a tiny bit stubborn and inflexible, I settled on my chosen career at the tender age of 4 when all my friends wanted to be ballerinas. So, in accordance with this early plan, I went to vet school in Cambridge where I met Steven who seems to have been following me around ever since! After a stint in Aberdeen, Steve and I settled in Hertfordshire just after our wedding in 2003. In seeking our dream we came across the property (yes, it is definitely THE one) in Bovingdon – the perfect mix of rural bliss, dog walkers’ heaven and close to family and friends – so of course we had to have it. So this is where Hope Vets now lives!
I love being a vet and can’t imagine any other life. I find the academic side fascinating and have completed a further professional qualification (the GP certificate in small animal medicine). The biggest pleasure for me though, comes through the relationships we develop with our patients and their families. At Hope Vets we can’t wait to meet you all and get to know you over the years to come. Being a small team we can ensure that you always have the continuity of seeing the same faces and never having to explain what’s gone before.
My other all consuming passion is our pets. We have 3 border collies and a comedy dog, they all have their querks (and I’m ashamed to say their bad behaviours) but we couldn’t be without them. My princess is Macy, a black and white bitch. She is my first agility dog and together we got hooked, spending hours training in all weathers in muddy fields. To see her face light up when we do agility is the greatest pleasure. We were devastated when she developed a serious hip problem, but now she is the "bionic collie" with a brand new hip, she is back to a life full of carefree exercise. I’ll let Steven tell you about our little red devil Leeloo, so that leaves Maccabi and Fizz, my youngest. Mac is my biggest challenge yet, largely due to him being from working lines and having an insatiable herding instinct. At home he is a funny sweet little man and when he concentrates he is a dream but when he sees something moving away from him his naughty alter ego possesses him. Fizz is my first hand bag dog and I must confess to being totally hooked on her. She is a pocket sized cutey but has the heart and mind of a big dog. I am a little embarassed to say, that even with 3 border collies, she is gearing up to be my best agility dog. Then there are Elton and Kylie who we reared as orphan lambs. Now they are big beasts and still follow us around. They may never understand why sheep aren’t indoor pets! Lastly there is the newest addition to our zoo, my stunning 5 year old thoroughbred mare. She is called Belly and is probably the greediest horse in the world. Although she is young and can be naughty, she has a heart of gold and I can't wait to spend the next decade learning to ride her properly (and yes, it may even take longer!)
So that’s our family, all crazy, but we love ‘em!
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Steven and Stephanie
Leeloo |
Steven: Next Steven…
Hi. I’m Steven and I am practice manager here at Hope Vets. Broadly speaking my job is to make sure that the team have everything they need to provide the best possible care and attention to you and your pets. Let me step out of the shadows for a second to tell you a bit about myself…
Perhaps inspired by my parents, I have always wanted to run my own business. I have also always had dogs, but until I met Stephanie, it did not occur to me that my business would be animal based. Then Stephanie and I got together, and I quite quickly realised that the best way to see my wife and to pursue my career ambitions would be for us to open a business together. The idea that became Hope Vets was born!
If you’ve already read Stephanie’s intro then you probably have a good idea of what our home is like. Three gorgeous crazy border collies, a wiry tiny mongrel, one know-it-all cat and two sheep make for a busy life and a very entertaining one. It’s probably fair to say that my leisure time is mostly split between dog sport and human sport. With the dogs it is principally agility, with a bit of flyball and cani-x (cross country running with dogs on leads) thrown in.
At agility I run our red collie, Leeloo. Lee is the smallest of the three collies which means she has to really give everything to succeed in jumping over obstacles that the bigger collies take in their stride. She is also from show rather than working lines, so possibly less naturally inclined than the others towards the types of activity we do. Fortunately though, my little girl has a massive heart so she will take anything on, no matter what the odds. In fact in our agility partnership it is me that’s the limiting factor not her!
Stephanie and I seem to spend countless hours urging dogs over jumps or trudging through muddy fields but somewhere in my week I do manage to find the time to participate in and watch sports which don’t involve the dogs. Hockey, running, squash and football are the ones I play regularly, but I will gladly watch and talk about just about any sport which doesn’t involve motors.
Hockey is definitely my main sport. I have been playing the game since, well, birth, and despite much talk of retirement, I am just about still going. In my youth I managed to play to a reasonable standard, and even though my best days are definitely past, I still take my training pretty seriously. Indeed some people would say that my fascination with heart rates, recovery rates and nutrition fall on the wrong side of obsessive…
Shortly after we started the practice I realised that I was never going to understand all the important conversations that take place around here unless I developed a bit of veterinary knowledge of my own. So I merrily enrolled on a nurse training course and am currently struggling through what I probably should have learnt at GCSE biology!
Anyway, that’s quite enough about me. It’s Stephanie, Alex, Holly and Katie you have come to see!
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Holly and Fizz |
Holly:
Then Holly…
Hello everyone, I’m Holly. I am a Qualified Veterinary Nurse, and I joined the team in December. I have always wanted to be a Veterinary Nurse and animals have always been a passion of mine. I suspect not being able to have pets when I was younger, due to my mum’s allergies, only increased my love for animals. I qualified with credit in June 2007 and have just recently trained to be a clinical coach for trainee nurses. I currently live in St Albans and I am eager to get to know the Bovingdon area (not only so I can actually give directions over the phone)! I have a special interest in behaviour and I achieved a distinction in a 6 month modular course in Animal Behaviour (Level One) in 2008. I offer behaviour consultations at the surgery as well as general behavioural advice. I really enjoy running puppy parties, it can be hectic but it’s always fun! I look forward to getting to know all the new puppies at the surgery in the New Year.
Outside of work I generally enjoy meeting up with friends, watching mind-numbing television programs and relaxing with my boyfriend. We will often go walking my boyfriend’s families Old English Sheepdog Topaz. She is a lovely, crazy girl and loves nothing more than rolling in something she shouldn’t! I own a 5 month old Syrian Hamster called Nala. She is hilarious and regularly has me in hysterics with her escapades and strange ways. I take part in a street dance class once a week which is great fun. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with much dancing talent, but as my dance teacher once pointed out- it’s about the effort, not about if you’re getting the moves right! Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway. And please don’t ask me to show you some street moves because honestly, no one would ever want to see that!
I really enjoy knowing clients and animals on a personal level and can’t wait to meet everyone at Hope Vets.
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Katie and Lottie |
Katie:
Hi there, I am Katie, the trainee veterinary nurse here at Hope Vets. I actually first met the team when we brought our very ill Jack Russell, Martha, to the practice in November. Martha ended up spending a lot of time visiting Steph, so I also seemed to be here a lot and after a while they thought they may as well offer me a job! Well maybe it wasn't quite like that...
I've always loved being around animals and couldn't see myself in any other career. Veterinary nursing is definitely a vocation rather than an ordinary job. Each patient has their own individual and unique character and getting to know and understand them is really where the nurse's job begins. For operations, you observe the surgery and assist in theatre and then the feeling of satisfaction as you help the animal recover really is something special. Outside of work I'm a keen horse rider (the surgery's a bit small to ride around inside!) and have a lovely Irish Sport Horse called Lottie. She takes up most of my spare time. In addition to Martha I also have another Jack Russell called Mutley who has been with us as long as I can remember. So really I'm involved with animals 24/7! I am hoping to become a qualified veterinary nurse and remain working at Hope Vets as everyone, owners and staff, have made me feel very welcome (Ed - you're part of the team now!). | 
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Beverly:
I am Beverly, and joined the Hope Vets Team in April (2010) to help out once a week with some of the basic admin and accounting work. I am now semi-retired, having spent most of my professional life working for and with vulnerable children.
In my spare time, I do volunteer work at a home for adults with learning disabilities and as a school governor; I go to Pilates (where I have the dubious distinction of being the oldest in the class – by a decade or two!); I love to read; and I spend as much time as I can manage meeting friends for morning coffee, afternoon tea, evening drinks, lunch, dinner – whatever.
Until last May, I spent 16 wonderful years walking in the countryside with my dog Mutz, a small black collie-cross. I know everyone thinks their dogs are the best, but Mutz was the best – loyal, generous and delightfully eccentric.
I must say, I love spending time at Hope Vets surgery. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. It’s great fun to meet the animals who come to the practice – such a range of personalities!
I’m also very impressed with the efficiency, skill and care with which the practice is run - a perfect blend of personal and professional. This is of course a totally objective appraisal. I have not been influenced in the slightest by the fact that I am mother to one member of the Hope Vets team (see if you can guess which one) – and very fond of all of them!
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Alex and her mate, a black and white rough Lemur | Alex: Hi everyone, I’m Alex, I joined the team at Hope Vets at the start of September 2010 as their new assistant vet. I graduated from the Royal Veterinary College (University of London) in July 2010 and immediately started to look for a career in small animal practice, as soon as I saw the Hope Vets advert looking for a new vet I knew it was the job I wanted, and thankfully it seems they wanted me too!
I am a Northern monkey at heart and my home town is Wigan near Manchester – however a relocation to Hertfordshire has been a great move, having been at university down here for the past few years I am familiar with the area and I have to admit the weather is a lot better here than up in the depths of Lancashire.
I love working with all the species of animals that we see at the practice and I have a particular interest in birds, reptiles and small furries (from rabbits to ferrets to rats and degus!). Outside of work I am a keen hockey player and if I’m not playing in a match or tournament at the weekend I am umpiring at them. In the past few years I have been all over Europe with my club playing teams all the way from Spain to the Czech Republic. Back at the practice I am looking forward to getting stuck in and meeting all our patients old and new – and before long I will have my own regulars just like Big Chief Steph! |
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