Meet Jenny Parrish of Local Mobile Veterinary Service

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Parrish. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a mixed animal veterinarian for my first 3 years out of vet school, but when I got pregnant with my first child, I decided that I didn’t want to do large animals anymore or be on call on evenings and weekends. Before vet school, I had worked with a small animal house call veterinarian, and I kept thinking how that would be great as I could be flexible with my hours, and it was such a great way to provide veterinary care to cats and dogs who are afraid of the clinic or who get carsick. So, I started my house call practice in 2012. I wanted to be part-time but grew quickly enough that I was working more than I wanted with my young children. I hired my first associate, and we have continued to grow since then. I don’t like the idea of turning away patients who really do so much better in the home, so we just keep adding to our team. We now have 3 vehicles on the road most days and continue to expand our territory, including newly added Cary and Wake Forest. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The road is never always smooth, but I have been fortunate, I think. The more people that you add to a business, the more things you have to figure out. I had zero business knowledge when I started my practice, so I began reading a bunch of books and going to continuing education that primarily dealt with practice management. We have had to let staff go, which is always difficult, and we have had to deal with upset clients, which is also not fun. Finding the perfect staff is tough, but I love our team right now! The best thing is that they also love our team, and they help me find our next staff by talking to their friends and telling them how great working at Local Mobile Vet is. Another struggle is money- I try to pay my staff as much as I can, and we always walk a fine line of just being profitable but never fully comfortable. I have started a new community project where we pick a small, independently owned business in our area and feature them for a month with a raffle drawing at the end for all of our appointments we have seen that month. Clients can also get more entries to the raffle by leaving us and/or the featured business an online review. I am trying to help people focus on the “local” part of our name and keep people thinking about that when purchasing items and care. You can check out the first several months’ videos on our social media. We have had a lot of fun with it! 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Local Mobile Vet is a small animal house call practice where we go to the house and see patients in their homes or yards- trying to make the vet visit as comfortable as possible for them. I started this practice in January 2012 with one part-time assistant and now have 3 full-time equivalent veterinarians and 6 other full-time staff including a practice manager. All of my staff are the most hard-working and caring people you will ever meet, and I could not be happier with this team! There are many other house call vets in the area, but due to our size we are much more able to fit in sick patients quickly, and we also have added abdominal ultrasounds, which the others are not doing. We have two people manning the phone and emails, and we are very quick to respond/answer questions either way. We also are the only ones to have our own online store/pharmacy with free shipping to clients. You can go to our website to check it out at www.localmobilevet.com

I absolutely love our brand and motto- it is all about Joy! 

The Definition of Joy: 

Your dogs greeting you at the front door wagging their entire bodies in anticipation of your return. Your cat jumping into your lap to snuggle as soon as you sit down. The effortless, unconditional love they show you – it sparks pure joy, and we all want to make that joy last as long as possible. We at Local Mobile Vet are honored to help you provide for their care. 

Local Mobile Vet: 

Providing care for your daily dose of Joy! 

What matters most to you?
I have several things that “matter most” to me. 1. Great patient care- I have the smartest and most caring veterinarians ever- they are truly amazing vets! The technicians and assistants are also amazing and wonderful at holding animals and anticipating the needs of the vets. And the front desk staff do their best to get our team to the patients in the most efficient manner possible so we can fit in as many patients as we can in a day. And then I have a brilliant practice manager that keeps it all running as smoothly as possible- I couldn’t do it without her! 2. Staff- I want to take care of my staff the best that I can- we are one of the only, if not the only, house call practices that offers benefits to staff including health insurance, paid time off, and simple IRAs. Sometimes it can be overwhelming when I think of so many people’s lives that are relying on my business to provide for them. 3. Work-life balance- we all have family that we want to spend time with, and it is very important to me that my staff and I get to be with family/friends as much as possible. Life is too short to always be working. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: local_mobile_vet_service
• Facebook: Local Mobile Veterinary Service
• Other: 919-219-4919