Dr. Jessica Trice Is Rewriting the Rules And Making WVC Vegas Her Own

Dr. Jessica Trice is having a moment. And by "moment," we mean she's simultaneously running a veterinary practice, co-founding Vetique (a luxury veterinary hospital that's redefining the customer experience), raising a toddler, and preparing to serve as one of Vet Candy's four WVC Vegas 2026 ambassadors.

Oh, and she's doing all of this from Chicago, where winter temperatures routinely drop below freezing and daylight disappears by 4 PM.

"People ask me all the time how I balance everything," Dr. Trice says, laughing. "Honestly? I don't balance. I integrate. And I say no to a lot of things that don't align with what I'm building."

What she's building is something most veterinarians dream about but few actually create: a career that honors her clinical skills, her entrepreneurial ambitions, her commitment to education, and her role as a mom. It's messy, it's intentional, and it's working.

And this year, she's bringing all of that energy to WVC Vegas.

Motherhood Meets Medicine (And Neither One Waits)

Dr. Trice's daughter is at that age where everything is simultaneously hilarious and exhausting. Toddlers don't care about your surgery schedule or your business meetings or the fact that you have a 6 AM flight to Vegas.

"Being a working mom in veterinary medicine is not for the faint of heart," Dr. Trice admits. "There are days when I'm covered in pet hair and toddler snacks, running on four hours of sleep, trying to remember if I fed the cats or just thought really hard about feeding the cats."

But she's also fiercely committed to not pretending it's easy or that she has it all figured out.

"I see so many women in veterinary medicine trying to be perfect at everything," she says. "Perfect clinician, perfect mom, perfect partner, perfect entrepreneur. That's not realistic and it's not sustainable. Something's going to give, and usually it's your mental health."

Her approach: ruthless prioritization and unapologetic boundaries.

"If something doesn't serve my clinical skills, my business, or my family, I don't do it," Dr. Trice says. "I don't volunteer for every committee. I don't attend every networking event. I don't say yes just because someone asked. I protect my time and energy like the precious resources they are."

That philosophy extends to how she's approaching WVC Vegas this year.

"I'm not trying to attend every session or network until 2 AM every night," she explains. "I'm being strategic about what I want to learn, who I want to connect with, and how I'm going to bring value to the Vet Candy community. And then I'm giving myself permission to rest, because I have a toddler and a business waiting for me when I get home."

Making WVC Vegas Work for Her (Not the Other Way Around)

As a Vet Candy WVC Vegas 2026 ambassador, Dr. Trice is approaching the conference differently than most attendees.

"I used to show up to conferences and just react to whatever was happening," she says. "Go to whatever sessions fit my schedule, talk to whoever I bumped into, stay out late because everyone else was staying out late. I'd come home exhausted and couldn't remember half of what I supposedly learned."

Not this year.

Dr. Trice has already mapped out her conference strategy months in advance. She knows which clinical topics she's diving deep on (specifically feline medicine, if you're curious). She's identified specific veterinarians and industry leaders she wants to connect with. She's scheduled downtime for processing what she's learning and recharging between high-energy social events.

"WVC Vegas is an incredible opportunity, but only if you use it intentionally," she notes. "I'm not here to check boxes or collect CE credits. I'm here to genuinely improve my clinical skills, build meaningful professional relationships, and represent the Vet Candy community in a way that's authentic and valuable."

She's particularly excited about connecting with other veterinarians who are navigating similar paths: clinical practice plus entrepreneurship, career ambition plus motherhood, innovation plus sustainability.

"There's this narrative that you have to choose," Dr. Trice says. "You're either a great clinician or a business owner. You're either focused on your career or focused on your family. I'm tired of that narrative. I want to meet the veterinarians who are doing both, who are rewriting those rules, who are building careers that actually fit their lives."

Chicago Grit Meets Vegas Energy

Growing up and practicing in Chicago has shaped how Dr. Trice approaches everything.

"Chicago veterinarians don't mess around," she says with obvious pride. "We deal with brutal winters, intense competition, diverse client populations, and we still show up every day ready to do excellent medicine. That builds a certain kind of resilience."

It's also a city that values authenticity over flash, substance over style, hard work over hype.

"I'm bringing that Chicago energy to Vegas," Dr. Trice says. "I'm not here to perform or project some polished version of myself. I'm here as a real veterinarian dealing with real challenges, building a real business, and raising my sweet baby girl. That's the person showing up to WVC Vegas."

Why She Said Yes to Being a Vet Candy Ambassador

Dr. Trice didn't take the WVC Vegas ambassador role lightly.

"I don't say yes to things just because they're cool opportunities," she explains. "I say yes when the mission aligns with my values and when I genuinely believe I can contribute something meaningful."

The Vet Candy community represents everything Dr. Trice values about the future of veterinary medicine: authenticity, innovation, community, refusing to accept that burnout and financial stress are just part of the deal.

"Vet Candy has created this space where young veterinary professionals can be honest about the challenges we're facing without being told we're weak or we chose the wrong career," she says. "Where we can share creative solutions and non-traditional paths without being dismissed as unrealistic. Where we can build community instead of competing with each other."

As an ambassador, she wants to model what it looks like to attend a major conference as a whole person, not just a professional.

"I'm showing up as Dr. Jess the veterinarian, yes," she says. "But also Dr. Jess the entrepreneur, Dr. Jess the mom, Dr. Jess the lifelong learner who still gets excited about feline med lectures. All of those identities matter. None of them need to be hidden or apologized for."

The Message She's Bringing to Vegas

If Dr. Trice could tell every veterinarian heading to WVC Vegas one thing, it's this: stop trying to do it all.

"You don't have to attend every session, network with every person, explore every opportunity," she says. "You can be strategic. You can be intentional. You can prioritize what actually matters to you and let go of everything else."

She also wants veterinarians to know that career paths don't have to be linear or conventional.

"If you're a vet student or new graduate at WVC Vegas wondering if you have to follow the expected path, I want you to know: you don't," she continues. "You can create the career you actually want. It takes courage and creativity and probably some serious hustle. But it's possible."

See You in Vegas

Dr. Trice is counting down the days until WVC Vegas 2026. Not because she needs a break from Chicago winters (though that doesn't hurt), but because she genuinely loves the energy of thousands of veterinary professionals coming together to learn, connect, and push the profession forward.

"WVC Vegas reminds me why I love this career," she says. "Even with all the challenges and chaos, veterinary medicine is full of brilliant, passionate people doing incredible work. Being in a space with thousands of those people? That's energizing."

She'll be representing Vet Candy, ready to talk Vetique strategy with aspiring mobile practice owners, swap toddler stories with other vet parents, and geek out about cats with anyone who is also obsessed with felines.

"Come find me," Dr. Trice invites. "Let's talk about what you're building, what you're struggling with, what you're excited about. That's what WVC Vegas is really about. Not just the CE credits or the vendor swag. The connections. The community. The reminder that we're all in this together."

And if you see her sneaking out of a networking event early to FaceTime her daughter before bedtime? That's intentional too.

"I'm not trying to be everything to everyone," Dr. Trice says. "I'm trying to be the veterinarian, entrepreneur, mom, and human I want to be. And showing other people that they can do the same thing, in whatever form that takes for them."

That's the energy Dr. Jessica Trice is bringing to WVC Vegas 2026. And honestly? The conference is better for it.

Meet Dr. Jessica Trice and the rest of the Vet Candy WVC Vegas 2026 ambassadors. Follow @myvetcandy for the exact location and time, plus real-time conference coverage from all four hosts on the ground. And if you want to learn more about Vetique's practice model, find Dr. Trice in Vegas. She's always happy to talk shop.