Linda Rhodes’ career has taken her from large animal practice to academia, pharmaceutical research and entrepreneurship, a journey shaped more by curiosity than careful planning. If you haven’t already, start by reading our profile of Dr. Rhodes, which explores the experiences that defined her remarkable career.
Those experiences also left her with a few hard-earned lessons. Looking back after more than five decades in veterinary medicine, Rhodes says success isn’t about following someone else’s road map. It’s about building a career that reflects your own values. Here are four principles that guided hers.
“You can’t be interested in everything.”
Follow what genuinely excites you
When Linda Rhodes brought home report cards filled with A’s, her father didn’t congratulate her for excelling across the board. Instead, he’d ask a question that caught her off guard.
“How come you get all A’s in everything? You can’t be interested in everything.”
It wasn’t criticism. It was permission.
Her parents encouraged her to invest her time and energy in the subjects that truly fascinated her instead of trying to satisfy everyone else’s expectations. That mindset stayed with her throughout a career that never followed a conventional path. Rather than chasing a predetermined destination, she pursued opportunities that challenged her intellectually, whether that meant clinical practice, reproductive research, animal health or entrepreneurship.
For Rhodes, curiosity wasn’t a distraction from success. It became the foundation of it.
Veterinarians often feel pressure to map out every step of their careers, choosing specialties, internships or career paths early on. Rhodes’ experience suggests there’s another way. The most meaningful opportunities often emerge by following genuine interest, even when the destination isn’t yet clear.
“Checking somebody else’s boxes for what success looks like is not important.”
Define success on your own terms
Rhodes believes one of the greatest mistakes young professionals can make is allowing someone else to define what success should look like.
“Figuring out what gives you passion and what gives you joy. That’s what is important,” she says.
That philosophy gave her the confidence to make unconventional choices throughout her career. She moved between practice, graduate school, pharmaceutical research and eventually entrepreneurship, not because one path was considered more prestigious than another, but because each offered new challenges and opportunities to contribute.
Looking back, Rhodes says her definition of success changed over time. Promotions and titles became less important than building something meaningful, helping clients solve problems, creating rewarding careers for employees and developing products that improved animal health.
Success, she discovered, isn’t a fixed destination. It’s something every veterinarian has the opportunity to define for themselves.
“Enjoy going to work every day.”
Build a career you look forward to
When asked how her definition of success evolved, Rhodes’ answer wasn’t about salary, recognition or accomplishments.
It was much simpler:
“I enjoyed going to work every day.”
For her, fulfillment came from solving problems, continuing to learn and knowing her work made a difference. Whether she was supporting clients through clinical trials, mentoring employees or helping bring new therapies to market, the satisfaction came from the work itself.
“Success became less about how much money I was making and more about whether I was building something that was providing me satisfaction,” Rhodes says.
That’s a perspective she believes can sustain a career over decades. Titles change. Goals evolve. The profession itself continues to change. Finding daily purpose in the work, however, provides a far steadier measure of success.
“Your career is really important, but you have to take care of yourself too.”
Protect the person behind the profession
If there’s one lesson Rhodes wishes more young veterinarians would embrace, it’s this: don’t sacrifice your well-being in pursuit of your career.
Early in her career, Rhodes devoted herself completely to work. Looking back, she recognizes the personal cost. Long hours, professional ambition and geographic moves often came at the expense of friendships, family and her own well-being. Those experiences shaped the advice she gives today:
“You have to put some weight on your own mental health and your own spending time with people you love. It has to be more part of the equation than it was for me.”
She doesn’t promise that veterinarians can “have it all.” In fact, she believes every career requires compromise. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s building a life where professional success and personal well-being can coexist.
After more than five decades in veterinary medicine, Rhodes has learned that a meaningful career isn’t measured only by the milestones you reach. It’s measured by whether the work continues to inspire you, whether you’re contributing to something larger than yourself and whether you’ve protected the life you’re building along the way.
