Our guest today is a successful businessman who, in his free time, likes to put on a skin-tight black neoprene suit and use his special skills and unique equipment to save lives. No – it’s not Batman, but it may as well be. Dr Craig Challen has become an Australian icon for his role as a rescue diver in the Thailand cave rescue that captivated the world in late 2018. For his efforts in the rescue, Craig was awarded the Star Of Courage award in Australia, nominated as a Companion of the Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn in Thailand, and, together with his dive partner, as the joint Australian of the year for 2018/19.

For this episode we are fortunate to have with us a young vet who is contributing more to the veterinary profession in her relatively short career than many of us will do in a lifetime. Dr Paula Parker was the president of the Australian Veterinary Association for 2018/19, and is the youngest person ever to be elected to this position. When she is not leading the team that makes major policy decisions and guides the future of our our profession both in Australia and internationally she works as an emergency vet in a practice in the Gold Coast, Australia.

Dr Nadine Hamilton is a psychologist, but she’s not just your everyday psychologist – she’s OUR psychologist. After nearly 35 years of experience in a variety of industries she is now a leading voice and helping hand for the veterinary profession. Through her practice, Positive Psych Solutions, she works exclusively with vets, helping them to be the best they can be for their patients and themselves.

In this episode we speak to a vet who, in his 26 years in the veterinary profession, has experienced some fantastic highs , but also some of the very darkest lows. His journey has taught him crucial lessons on how to not only survive, but thrive in this sometimes challenging profession of ours, and we are very fortunate that he is happy to share those lessons with us with such honesty and openness.

When Gerardo first suggested today’s guest to me I must admit that I was slightly sceptical. If our aim with this podcast is to pick the brains of successful people in the veterinary profession to see if they can share some of their acquired wisdom with us, then surely our guests will need years of experience? Or so I thought. Let me assure you that you do NOT need years of experience to have serious focus and have the right mindset.

In today’s episode we chat to a vet who in her relatively short career has managed to encourage and inspire tens of thousands of vets through her popular veterinary instagram account, @louisa_the_vet. You can’t help but love her infectious enthusiasm.