Just Vetting with Peter Tanella, ESQ.
This program fills the gap in veterinary education by focusing on non-clinical skills like communication, leadership, confidence building, and real-world readiness — all essential to long-term success in practice.
Just Vetting with Peter Tanella, ESQ.
7 | Dr. Cindy Trice | From Production Sets to Vet Med: Reinventing Career Paths with Purpose
In this episode of “Just Vetting”, host Peter Tanella, Esq. sits down with Dr. Cindy Trice, relief veterinarian, entrepreneur, and founder of Relief Rover and Kick It Pajamas, to explore her inspiring and unconventional journey through veterinary medicine and beyond.
Dr. Trice shares how a mid-20s career pivot, a life-changing cancer diagnosis, and an entrepreneurial mindset led her to redefine what a veterinary career can look like.
She opens up about:
✨ Discovering veterinary medicine later in life — from a mass communications degree and freelance production work to vet school at UC Davis in her 30s
✨ How relief work became a deliberate career path, offering freedom, flexibility, and a unique “date before you marry” approach to finding the right fit
✨ Launching Relief Rover in 2018 to connect relief vets nationwide and give them business tools — and successfully selling it five years later
✨ Balancing clinical relief work with leadership as a board member at NAVC and the Veterinary Innovation Council
✨ Founding Kick It Pajamas, a clothing company inspired by her own cancer journey, to bring comfort and dignity to women undergoing treatment
✨ Why flexibility, curiosity, and community have been her guiding principles — and why now is a uniquely exciting time for veterinarians to innovate
🌿 From San Francisco production sets to Florida clinics, national boardrooms, and entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Trice’s story is one of resilience, creativity, and reimagining professional pathways.
Whether you're a veterinary student, practitioner exploring new career models, or an entrepreneur at heart, this is a conversation about embracing change, saying “yes” to unexpected opportunities, and building a fulfilling life in and beyond vet med.
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