Meet Love Huvet

Like so many who get into the field of veterinary medicine, I’ve always known that I wanted to work with animals. I grew up surrounded by dogs, cats, chickens, and horses — and I even rode horses competitively until 2019. After high school, I decided to follow my love for animals and started the journey to becoming a veterinarian because I thought that was the only option out there. Quickly I realized, however, that it wasn’t the path for me. I returned home to figure my next steps out and it was at this time that I got back into riding competitively. For a little while I considered the idea of working with my mom and her equestrian school business but I knew deep down it wasn’t for me. I was feeling really lost until one day when I spoke with an old friend at the barn who was pursuing becoming a veterinarian and they asked, “what about becoming a tech?”

With this idea in mind, I started my first job as a veterinary assistant at a small animal general practice, and I quickly fell in love and knew this was a path worth pursuing. Soon after, I signed up to complete my prereqs for Veterinary Technology at my local community college. I continued working at my first clinic for six months before moving on to another clinic where I spent the next 1.5 years. Ultimately, I had to make the difficult decision to leave that clinic due to the toxic work environment and poor management (IYKYK). This decision weighed on me and I started to feel like a failure for not staying at one clinic for long… but I’m so glad I made that decision because the 3rd clinic I worked out was a game changer.

At my 3rd and favorite clinic, they pushed me to do my best, gave me every opportunity to learn, and appreciated me greatly (plus they paid appropriately, which if you work in Vet Med you know is hard to come by). I share this because it really goes to show that things take time and it’s okay to not have everything figured out the first (or even second) time around. If you’re currently in a situation at your clinic that isn’t ideal, you’re not a failure for changing your situation and looking for a better fit. You deserve to be in an environment that supports you.

Eventually, I found my path to becoming a veterinary technician with the Penn Foster online program (click here to read more about my journey with Penn Foster). I passed my boards and became certified in 2019 and then in 2020, the pandemic hit. This field already has a high turnover + high suicide rate, and COVID greatly increased the stresses for many in veterinary medicine, including myself. Although I loved my work as a vet tech, I ended up leaving the field in 2021 — in part due to the burnout I experienced. But also because of the success of Love Huvet … and it all started with a viral video on TikTok.

It was July 2020 and morale was pretty low at the clinic I was working at, so I was looking for a way to put a smile on the faces of my co-workers. At this same time, we were often being sent home early from work due to a lack of patients, and I would spend the extra time crafting. One day I got the idea to create a funny veterinary sticker to give to my co-workers as a gift — so being pretty crafty, I went to work creating what would become the very first version of our classic Sorry I’m Dragging Ass design. I decided to film the process and created a video to post on TikTok. I really didn’t expect anything to happen — I just hoped it would make my co-workers smile.

But I woke up to over 50,000 views on the one TikTok video — and people were commenting + asking where they could buy one for themselves and their co-workers. I immediately knew that this was the opportunity to not only put a smile on the faces of my co-workers but to make a difference in the field of veterinary medicine. In my 4+ years of working in vet med I had experienced first hand some of the struggles that veterinary professionals face daily (staffing shortages, difficult clients, low wages, toxic management, etc) and I saw the effect it had on the people who dedicate their lives to being a voice for the voiceless. I knew I couldn't snap my fingers and make the big issues we face in vet med immediately disappear but I saw the opportunity to inspire change through humor, resources, and collectively using our voices together as a community. And Love Huvet, then known as Vet Stickers, was officially born in July 2020.

Love Huvet started out as Vet Stickers in 2020 and our online shop sold funny and sassy veterinary stickers. Some of our first designs included Boop, Trim Their Nails, and He Just Stopped Eating.

But I didn’t want to just stop there — as I looked around the internet for fun and unique merch for veterinary professionals, I realized there was a huge gap in the market for us. So I started creating some of the things my co-workers and I wanted like cute scrub caps + hair accessories, interchangeable badge reels, and a daily wellness journal to help with those tough days at the clinic. We slowly started rolling out more products and partnering with other businesses owned by veterinary professionals, and the name Vet Stickers didn’t cover all that we offered any longer. So in August 2021, we officially became Love Huvet.

Love Huvet stands for love for the humans of vet med, and that's exactly how I hope you will feel when you receive your goodies from us: loved, appreciated, seen, and heard. At Love Huvet we believe the best way to create change is to be the change you wish to see, and we strive daily to use our humor, voice, and community of like-minded veterinary professionals to inspire the changes necessary to make this field better for us all. And we couldn’t do any of this without YOU and all of your support — whether you’ve shopped with us or supported us on social media — we truly wouldn’t be where we are today without your support! Thank you for helping create change in the field of veterinary medicine with us.

We have so many exciting plans for Love Huvet in 2023 including new products launching, continuing our monthly wellness workshops, starting a YouTube channel, and so much more! You can stay up to date on everything by subscribing to our email list below. And if you have any questions, product suggestions, or want to connect with us — reach out at hello@lovehuvet.com or on Instagram @love.huvet. Thank you again for being a part of the Love Huvet community.