The Myth of Doing It All: Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jen Remnes Get Real About Burnout, Balance, and Asking for Help

Veterinary medicine has a way of attracting people who are very good at taking care of everyone else.

Patients need you. Clients need you. Your team needs you. Your business needs you. Your family needs you. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, you are also supposed to exercise, eat well, maintain relationships, get enough sleep, answer your emails, and somehow have a life.

On this episode of Real Talk with Vet Candy, Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jen Remnes tackle a reality that many veterinary professionals know all too well: trying to do everything is not the same thing as doing well.

Their conversation explores what happens when ambitious professionals take on too much, why asking for help can be so difficult, and how learning to prioritize, delegate, and protect your own well-being can make you better—not less committed—at the things that matter most.

When “Doing It All” Becomes Too Much

Veterinary professionals are used to juggling competing priorities. A typical day can include clinical responsibilities, difficult client conversations, team management, administrative work, and unexpected emergencies. Add entrepreneurship, relationships, family responsibilities, and personal goals, and the pressure can become relentless.

Dr. Trice and Dr. Remnes acknowledge that reality rather than pretending there is a perfect formula for balancing everything.

One of the biggest lessons from their conversation is that not everything deserves the same amount of your time and energy. Prioritization means deciding what actually requires your attention—and accepting that some things can wait, some things can be delegated, and some things may not need to be done at all.

That can be especially difficult for high-achieving professionals who have become accustomed to being the person everyone relies on.

Delegating Is a Skill, Not a Failure

There is a difference between being capable of doing something and needing to do it yourself.

Delegation can be one of the hardest skills to develop, particularly for entrepreneurs, practice leaders, and veterinary professionals who feel personally responsible for outcomes. But constantly holding onto every responsibility can eventually create a bottleneck—not only for yourself, but for the people around you.

Building a strong team also means allowing other people to contribute, make decisions, and take ownership.

For Dr. Trice and Dr. Remnes, creating a sustainable professional life means recognizing where your expertise and attention are genuinely necessary and where someone else can step in.

Self-Care Has to Exist Before the Breaking Point

Self-care is easy to talk about when everything is going well. It becomes much harder when the schedule is packed and there never seems to be enough time.

But that is exactly when it matters.

The episode explores the importance of establishing routines that protect mental and emotional health before exhaustion becomes burnout. That may mean intentionally scheduling breaks, creating boundaries around work, maintaining activities outside veterinary medicine, or simply giving yourself permission to mentally disconnect.

Mental breaks are not wasted time. Constantly operating at full capacity without opportunities to recover eventually affects concentration, patience, decision-making, relationships, and the ability to enjoy the career you worked so hard to build.

Your Support System Matters

One of the strongest themes of the conversation is that you were never supposed to do all of this alone.

A strong support system can include partners, friends, family, colleagues, mentors, employees, and other professionals who understand the demands of your life. The right people provide more than practical help. They can also offer perspective when you are too close to a problem to see it clearly.

That same principle applies to leadership.

Creating a healthy workplace is not simply about encouraging employees to “practice self-care.” It means building an environment where people can ask for help, communicate when they are overwhelmed, take meaningful breaks, and trust the people working beside them.

Balance Doesn't Have to Mean Everything Gets Equal Time

The idea of work-life balance can create its own kind of pressure. It suggests that every part of life should somehow receive the perfect amount of attention every day.

Real life rarely works that way.

There will be periods when work demands more. There will be times when relationships or family need to take priority. There will also be moments when you need to become the priority.

The goal isn't necessarily perfect balance. It is recognizing when something has become unsustainable and being willing to make an adjustment.

That might mean saying no. It might mean delegating. It might mean protecting a day off instead of filling it with more obligations. And sometimes it means accepting that doing less is exactly what allows you to do your most important work better.

A Conversation Every Busy Professional Needs

This episode of Real Talk with Vet Candy is not about lowering your ambitions. It is about finding a way to pursue them without sacrificing yourself along the way.

Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jen Remnes offer a reminder that veterinary professionals—and anyone managing a demanding career—may need to rethink the idea that success means being able to handle everything personally.

You can be ambitious and have boundaries. You can care deeply about your work and still protect your personal life. You can be a strong leader and ask for help.

And perhaps most importantly, you don't have to prove how capable you are by constantly running yourself into the ground.

Tune in to Real Talk with Vet Candy for the full conversation with Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jen Remnes and their practical perspective on prioritizing what matters, protecting your mental health, and building a career—and a life—that you can actually sustain.