About Us
How it began…
Did you know that more than 40% of pet professionals’ mental health is suffering due to their work? It’s difficult to understand, but pet professionals have some of the highest levels of stress, anxiety and depression of all careers, along with a lot of pressure to care for people’s most beloved animals. It’s a profession in crisis, and the people who work in it are crying out for help.
Unfortunately, over 67% of those professionals also think there isn’t enough support in the industry to help them navigate the difficult times.
Care for Pet Professionals is a company born from mental health struggles, with the aim of making sure no other pet professional has to go through the same thing again.
The idea was first formed when Bill and Jules met in 2020 on a business training course. Both had been ‘blue light’ workers on the front line for over a decade, and had experienced their fair share of trauma as a result of their work. They had also suffered trauma in their personal lives, and both struggled to access support through their employers when they were in crisis.
They were both lucky enough to be able to pay into organisations that could intervene and provide them with the support they needed when their industries failed – but they knew plenty of others who weren’t. Since leaving their front-line roles both had worked in the pet industry, and they saw a reflection of their own past struggles with mental health.
But there was no organisation to pay into and provide help for the pet industry, and they wanted to change that. So they built the solution – Care for Pet Professionals.
Meet the team
Jules
Director
Jules has worked in the NHS for over 10 years as a front-line healthcare worker. She’s worked in different areas of the health service, from Accident & Emergency departments to special care baby units – but the majority of her time was spent in the ambulance service, along with some time running private ambulance services as well. Most recently she has been running her own businesses, as well as working as a paramedic throughout the Covid-19 crisis.
As a front-line worker, Jules has been exposed to her fair share of trauma. But the NHS has a deep-rooted culture of not asking for help, and access to mental health support for NHS workers is often incredibly limited. So when she struggled with her own mental health challenges, the industry that had caused many of them wasn’t able to help. After a long wait she was able to be treated with medication and counselling on the NHS, but found it didn’t really help her.
Luckily, Jules was able to pay for private care and treatment. By exploring some alternative options, she was able to discover a mix of NLP, CBT, hypnotherapy and EMDR, all of which helped her manage her mental health and get back to a positive space. She trained as a mental health first aider and educator, and her mission in life is to let people know that it’s OK not to be OK, and that there is help out there.
Jules
Director
Jules has worked in the NHS for over 10 years as a front-line healthcare worker. She’s worked in different areas of the health service, from Accident & Emergency departments to special care baby units – but the majority of her time was spent in the ambulance service, along with some time running private ambulance services as well. Most recently she has been running her own businesses, as well as working as a paramedic throughout the Covid-19 crisis.
As a front-line worker, Jules has been exposed to her fair share of trauma. But the NHS has a deep-rooted culture of not asking for help, and access to mental health support for NHS workers is often incredibly limited. So when she struggled with her own mental health challenges, the industry that had caused many of them wasn’t able to help. After a long wait she was able to be treated with medication and counselling on the NHS, but found it didn’t really help her.
Luckily, Jules was able to pay for private care and treatment. By exploring some alternative options, she was able to discover a mix of NLP, CBT, hypnotherapy and EMDR, all of which helped her manage her mental health and get back to a positive space. She trained as a mental health first aider and educator, and her mission in life is to let people know that it’s OK not to be OK, and that there is help out there.
Bill
Director
Bill first joined the front line in 2003, when he became a police officer in Kent. This was the start of a long journey in the police force for him, moving to the firearms unit in 2008. This unit is also known as ‘armed response’, and their job is to handle crimes committed by armed criminals. During his time in this unit, he trained to become a tactical medic. This meant he was trained to above technician standard, but didn’t have full paramedic training – and he was often called out to incidents that were very traumatic.
In 2013, Bill’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Looking back, Bill can identify this as the start of his struggle with anxiety, although he didn’t realise or acknowledge it at the time. But because he worked in both the medical and law enforcement fields, he had a sense of hyperawareness that heavily feeds into anxiety, and over time this led to him falling into depression. His struggle culminated in a breakdown, and it took many months of hard work, counselling and support to help him recover. Thankfully, Bill was able to find the support he needed through the police service, and through a mental health charity attached to his role there.
In 2020 Bill decided to set up his own business and enrolled on some business training to get a good start. It was here that he met Jules, and realised just how much they had in common. He left the police in 2021 once his business was set up, and now is working alongside Jules to provide mental well-being support to the community he helped so much during his time with the police.
In 2013, Bill’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Looking back, Bill can identify this as the start of his struggle with anxiety, although he didn’t realise or acknowledge it at the time. But because he worked in both the medical and law enforcement fields, he had a sense of hyperawareness that heavily feeds into anxiety, and over time this led to him falling into depression. His struggle culminated in a breakdown, and it took many months of hard work, counselling and support to help him recover. Thankfully, Bill was able to find the support he needed through the police service, and through a mental health charity attached to his role there.
In 2020 Bill decided to set up his own business and enrolled on some business training to get a good start. It was here that he met Jules, and realised just how much they had in common. He left the police in 2021 once his business was set up, and now is working alongside Jules to provide mental well-being support to the community he helped so much during his time with the police.
Bill
Director
Bill first joined the front line in 2003, when he became a police officer in Kent. This was the start of a long journey in the police force for him, moving to the firearms unit in 2008. This unit is also known as ‘armed response’, and their job is to handle crimes committed by armed criminals. During his time in this unit, he trained to become a tactical medic. This meant he was trained to above technician standard, but didn’t have full paramedic training – and he was often called out to incidents that were very traumatic.
In 2013, Bill’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Looking back, Bill can identify this as the start of his struggle with anxiety, although he didn’t realise or acknowledge it at the time. But because he worked in both the medical and law enforcement fields, he had a sense of hyperawareness that heavily feeds into anxiety, and over time this led to him falling into depression. His struggle culminated in a breakdown, and it took many months of hard work, counselling and support to help him recover. Thankfully, Bill was able to find the support he needed through the police service, and through a mental health charity attached to his role there.
In 2020 Bill decided to set up his own business and enrolled on some business training to get a good start. It was here that he met Jules, and realised just how much they had in common. He left the police in 2021 once his business was set up, and now is working alongside Jules to provide mental well-being support to the community he helped so much during his time with the police.
In 2013, Bill’s son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Looking back, Bill can identify this as the start of his struggle with anxiety, although he didn’t realise or acknowledge it at the time. But because he worked in both the medical and law enforcement fields, he had a sense of hyperawareness that heavily feeds into anxiety, and over time this led to him falling into depression. His struggle culminated in a breakdown, and it took many months of hard work, counselling and support to help him recover. Thankfully, Bill was able to find the support he needed through the police service, and through a mental health charity attached to his role there.
In 2020 Bill decided to set up his own business and enrolled on some business training to get a good start. It was here that he met Jules, and realised just how much they had in common. He left the police in 2021 once his business was set up, and now is working alongside Jules to provide mental well-being support to the community he helped so much during his time with the police.
