Meet the Founder - Dr. Carlee Tucker

I grew up thinking everyone was good.  I believed people were inherently kind, that hard work mattered, that doing the right thing meant something. I carried that optimism into vet school, where I wanted to specialize and become really excellent at what I did.

But then I witnessed the residency programs. I watched how residents were treated. It was harsh and inefficient. Nobody questioned whether there was a better way to teach someone. They just perpetuated the same broken system they'd suffered through because that's how it had always been done. Standing there watching it happen, I made a decision: if I ever ran anything, it would not be like this. If something didn’t make sense, we wouldn't do it just because tradition said so. I was going to do things differently.

I was determined to prove that it was possible.

Then I graduated and got my first real job.

My boss was deliberately cruel in ways that still make me angry to think about. She would stand in front of my veterinary technicians and open Amazon packages. New things for herself. Every single day. She'd open them right there in front of them, knowing full well they couldn't afford new shoes.  One technician had duct-taped their work shoes together because that's all they could manage on what she paid them.

I watched this happen and something inside me broke. 

Not in a sad way. In an angry way.

I had been so positive, so optimistic about people being fundamentally good. And here was living proof that some people don't care at all.  They will deliberately choose their own comfort over the dignity of their employees. They will flaunt what they have while watching their team struggle.

That moment completely transformed how I understood ethics in business. I realized two things at once: First, regulation exists because without it, greedy people will exploit workers without hesitation. Second, I had to prove there was another way. Not someday. Not in theory. I had to actually build it and prove it worked.

I left that job determined to never work for someone like that again.

My second job seemed better at first. It promised to be different. But it wasn't, it was just broken in a different way.

I was overbooked and overworked. I was taking emergency on-call more nights than not. There was no support system, no trained credentialed technicians, no standard operating procedures. Nothing that would make the work sustainable. Then my co-worker, my friend who was also a veterinarian, left the practice. My workload doubled overnight.

I was doing the work of two people. The mental load was crushing. I was taking cases that required everything I had, with no breaks, no relief. I was drowning in compassion fatigue while trying to keep my head above water. I was angry all the time. Not the productive kind of angry. The exhausted, trapped kind of angry that comes from knowing you're being used.

I asked my boss for an update on finding my co-worker's replacement. We had discussed this when he left. He said he was actively looking and would find help.

Five months later, I asked again.

He hadn't even started the process of finding another associate DVM. 

When I pressed him on why, he told me the truth. He was making more money with me doing double work than he would if he hired another veterinarian. So he had made the decision not to replace him. He was choosing his profit over my wellbeing. Deliberately. While I was breaking myself to keep his clinic running.

That was the moment everything shifted.

I was no longer broken. I was furious.

I called the bank that day and got pre-approval for a loan. Then I walked into my boss's office and asked him the bold question: Will you sell me your practice?

His answer?  Yes.

Three days later, I found out I was pregnant with my first baby.

I was thrilled about my family and absolutely terrified about taking on a business. But I also knew something I hadn't known before. I knew that I had more power than I thought. I knew I could take control of my own situation instead of waiting for someone to treat me decently. I knew I could build something completely different. Better for myself, but my staff members too. 

I spent the next seven months preparing for ownership. I read every hospital management and veterinary business book I could find. I created policies, procedures, and protocols for every single part of my business. I knew that with motherhood approaching, I needed systems that were efficient but also sustainable. I wanted to create a workplace that actually supported my team.

And I was going to prove that you could make serious money while treating people right.

Because everyone acts like it's impossible. Everyone says paying people fairly and giving them benefits is too hard. Too expensive. Not worth it.

I decided to figure out how to do it anyway.

Today, my staff gets a 401k with a 3 percent match. They get paid maternity leave. They get PTO. They get overtime pay. They get holiday pay. They get bonuses. They get gifts. They get whatever I can possibly give them because I refuse to be the boss who stands around opening Amazon packages while her team can't afford shoes.

I hired two new graduate associate veterinarians the same year I took over. They genuinely love their jobs. They're staying. My staff turnover is basically zero in three years, except for the people I've had to let go for not being a good fit. We have fun. We save lives. We work hard. But the money gets spent on what actually matters. On people and their pets.

I make more money than I did as an associate. I work fewer hours. I have the time-freedom I always craved. I can balance motherhood and business, not always with ease, but with genuine enjoyment. I feel energized by my work again instead of drained by it.

I finally feel like being a veterinarian was worth the investment.

I spent those first two years in real anxiety and stress trying to keep a new business afloat. I had to learn so many things by making mistakes or figuring them out after the fact. But I also learned something crucial: the system that's burning you out isn't broken by accident. It's broken because someone is profiting from your suffering. And you have more power to change that than you think.

That's why I created Veterinary Practice Rising.

I'm not here to sell you a course so I can make more money off your labor. I'm here because I remember what it felt like to be you. I remember the rage. I remember feeling trapped. I remember thinking there had to be another way but not knowing if I was brave enough or smart enough or capable enough to actually do it.

I was brave enough. And so are you.

The Ownership Escape Plan teaches you how to obtain a business loan. How to negotiate through a practice acquisition. How to understand benchmarks and financial goals. It teaches you practical tools and strategies for confidently managing employees and actually taking care of them.

But more than that, it teaches you that there IS another way. That you don't have to keep letting people dictate your life. That you have more power than you think.

You don't have to stay trapped in a system that's breaking you.

You can build something different.

And when you do, you'll finally understand why I love my job now. It's not because I own a business. It's because I get to take care of people the right way. It's because I built a team that actually functions because we look out for each other.

That's what's possible for you too.