“Curiosity can be more important for learning than hard work – something I’ve tried to take forward into my writing and teaching.
When you’re interested in the little things, you always see something exciting.”
Guen Bradbury is an Innovation Consultant – a role she didn’t know existed when she graduated as a vet in 2011. Through losing her father as a final year vet student, Guen has learnt to value the little things, and approach life with a natural curiosity.
Download and read her full profile here.
Rabbit Welfare
Guen is passionate about promoting better rabbit welfare, and has developed an expertise in this area after inheriting her father’s rabbit, Pewter. She has published a textbook ‘Behavioural problems in rabbits’, written articles, set up a teleconsultancy service for rabbit owners, lectured, and delivered webinars. Guen is also the veterinary advisor for the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund’s magazine.
Innovation
Guen’s love of problem solving extends from the veterinary world to human development. Through her work as an innovation consultant, she has explored projects relating to carbohydrate metabolism, craniofacial development, biomechanics, gut microbiome, and more. This has led to some impressive innovation in her own home too! ‘A climbing wall in the stairwell, ropes instead of stairs, crash mats instead of carpets, monkey bars in our living room, a bed that folds into a standing desk, and a set of four-bed pods in the other bedroom.’
Flexibility and work-life balance
‘If you have a long-term plan, ensure it’s flexible enough to accommodate opportunities that arise.’
‘We’ve shared both parental leaves and if we have needed to reduce our hours, we’ve both reduced them by the same amount. This has helped me to always feel that I have time to do things in and out of work that I want to do. We now both work at the same company. I love it – it’s brilliant to be able to see each other’s successes, to talk about fascinating things we’ve learned, and to cycle in and out of work together. The compromises we’ve made have been outweighed by the career synergies that those compromises have created.’
Read our next role model profile by Sheila Voas here