Daniella Dos Santos on acknowledging failure and going for jobs you’re not qualified for. How refreshing!

Having grown up in south London, Daniella was the first of her family to go to university and her school was quite unprepared for assisting her in her ambition to get into vet school. After four unsuccessful attempts to get into vet school (and a whole separate degree in Molecular Genetics from Kings College), she finally graduated from the RVC in 2012. That tells you something about the tenacity and passion of this remarkable young woman.

She has been a trustee of the Animal Welfare Foundation since 2016, and sat on the BVA Ethics and welfare panel 2015-2018 (chair between 2017-2018).

In 2018, she became BVA Junior Vice President, and in September 2019 became the BVA’s youngest ever president and only the 5th woman. Her presidential theme was #vetdiveristy, championing the people in the profession and the roles we play. She showed her true colours when her empathy and desire to be front and centre supporting all veterinary professionals and teams led her to spearhead the weekly BVA Covid updates, which were so well attended they broke the internet.

Despite her incredible career to date, when you hear Daniella speak you feel like you’re having coffee with a good friend.