My guest today is Amanda Boag, who has so many letters after her name that I'm not sure I even know what they all mean, but suffice to say she's a very highly regarded specialist in emergency and critical care, and concurrently holds a American Diploma in veterinary internal medicine.

Amanda grew up in a small village in north Yorkshire - true James Herriot country as she puts it. Neither her mother, a teacher, nor her father, a businessman had been to university, but they instilled in her the value of education, education and more education, and after choosing veterinary as her career path, she qualified from the University of Cambridge in 1998, and since then has undertaken internships at the RVC and Penn State University, and a residency at the RVC. She became Clinical Director of Vets Now in 2008, and is now the Group Referral Director of IVC Evidensia.

She is, by her own admission, an adrenaline junkie in the workplace, enjoying the cut and thrust of rapid decision making and producing an immediate difference to an animal. Amanda also has a wealth of experience in leadership and taking the initiative - she has been president of the RCVS, the founding president of the European College of Veterinary ECC and a founding trustee of the British College of Veterinary Specialists, so she knows a thing or two about what it takes to run a successful organisation.

She's open in this chat about the difficult conversations that motherhood adds to the work/life equation, acknowledging failures as a leader and how you can grow as a result, and why women have got so much to add to the profession.

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