We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shadi Ireifej a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shadi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I am a veterinarian and board-certified surgeon of almost 17 years. I have been working on a telehealth concept since my surgery internship in 2008. My career took a turn in such a way that I switched gears completely to become the first ever full-time televeterinarian. I launched VetTriage at the end of 2019, risking my secure job as a surgeon to tackle three main challenges we have been facing in the veterinary field for a long time, which then became exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic. These three challenges, and therefore the main goals of VetTriage, in no particular order, are (1) to improve veterinary access and spectrum of care for pet owners across the globe, (2) spearhead the movement in veterinary telehealth, and (3) assist our colleagues in hospitals, clinics, academia and rescue/shelter organizations all across the world with their work-life balance.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My love for the field of veterinary medicine first began thanks to my parents, who instilled a diligent work ethic in me, and my biology teachers in high school, who made learning about the environment, genetics, animals, and, of course, biology, fun and interesting. From there, I was inspired by veterinarians in the field during my late teens to pursue this career more seriously. From there, I was inspired by classmates and professors in veterinary school, formulating an interest in small animal surgery. I began the rigorous process to become board-certified in small animal surgery. Since then I lecture on a national scale, have published multiple medical journal articles, have worked numerous facets in the field, all the while training numerous interns and residents, managing emergency and specialty departments in hospitals, and then chasing entrepreneurship with VetTriage.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

First of all, you need to be present. Your constant engagement as the owner with your teammates, regardless of their title and position, is vital to maintaining the workflow, to maintain the inspiration to continuously work hard and improve on an individual basis, as well as on a group level, and being proud of our day-to-day processes, as well as our goals overall. Essentially, you are a vital piece of maintaining a positive culture within your team. Secondly, your team must see you, the owner, working harder than they are, sacrificing more than they ever would, and maintaining both transparency, as well as consistency, with your actions and protocols. These are integral parts to a leader, that others will naturally respect and look up to, without you as a leader needing to flaunt, brag, or be the martyr, in the company that you yourself created.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to realize that the management team that works alongside me to make this entire company come to fruition and grow, also does not have my nervous system. I had to unlearn that the team I work with, who share my goals in creating and maintaining a successful and novel company, are truly working as hard as they possibly can. Just because they have their own methods of responding to challenges, working within their own timelines, and elect to commit to other activities that are not directly related to the company’s growth, does not mean that they are less dedicated than I with our overarching goal to grow this company to its fullest extent possible. I also learned that nobody will care for the company as much as I, as the owner, will. This is not to say that they care less than I do in a malicious way, but I will always naturally have a higher level of dedication, passion, and sacrifice than they will, naturally, as I am the owner and everything the company does ultimately is my responsibility, both with successes and its failures.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.VetTriage.com
• Instagram: @vettriage // @dr.shadi.ireifej
• Facebook: VetTriage // Dr. Shadi Ireifej
• Linkedin: VetTriage // Dr. Shadi Ireifej
• Twitter: VetTriage
• Youtube: VetTriage // Dr. Shadi Ireifej
• Yelp: VetTriage
• Tiktok: @dr.shadi_vettriage