I'm incredibly honoured to receive the RCVS Inspiration Award today.
Of course, I'm sad that my complex back injury meant that I couldn't make it down to One St George Street live, but I appreciate all of the love, support, and understanding around this.
It looks like it was an outstanding day, I have been watching on the live stream.
We only have one body, so it's important to look after it; I dearly wish I could go back and tell myself this 10 years ago.
Huge congratulations to all of the fellow recipients - especially fellow Inspiration Laura Higham, and to my friends Mark Little, Legend Thurman and David Charles. So many inspiring talks from Melissa Donald, Matthew Rendle, Belinda Andrews-Jones, Bruce Fogle, and still so many more to come.
Thank you Claire Grigson for kindly (and sneakily) making this happen by nominating me, I hear that there were many others that gave supporting statements too - one day I'll find out who you all are. 😭 I love what we do at Vet Empowered.
The reason I was brave and started telling my story back in 2017 was that I never wanted anyone else to feel as alone and misunderstood as I did.
Yet at the time, nobody was talking.
I knew there was another way.
There is real power in vulnerability when used responsibly and with compassion. I never set out to build a business, or be called inspiring, become knowledgeable in this area, or be asked to speak across the globe... I just wanted to be real and remind people they were always valuable, regardless of what society may inadvertently teach us and regardless of things not going to plan.
For now, a huge thank you, not only to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) for choosing me to be their recipient - but to everyone else who has supported me along the way, especially Simon who has tirelessly looked after me in a very challenging few weeks of injury and running his own business too.
What happened next was even more humbling, with over 65 creators posting online with a #raiseaglassforkatie caption to celebrate with me at home.
