Staff - Valley of the Moon Veterinary Hospital

VotM Vet Staff

	Brigitte Brigitte has been working in the veterinary field for over 20 years now, with most of those spent alongside Dr. Schwab, Dr. Johnson and Practice Manager, Xochitl. Graduating from California State University, Chico in 2007 with a major in Animal Science and a minor in Agriculture, she moved back to Sonoma where she met her husband Chris and settled down in Santa Rosa. Together they have quite the Zoo, including daughters Vivian and Finley, dogs: Brody, Milah, Kunu, and cats: Tuscany, Siena, Rufus, and TukTuk. Brigitte enjoys country music festivals, re-watching Friends (again and again), wine tasting, renovating and designing her home, and traveling to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland, with her immediate and extended family! After many years of being a passionate veterinary technician, Brigitte worked her way up to Technician Manager where she can often be found training, helping with client relations, and is a vital asset to the daily grind in the hospital.
	Chelsea Rose Chelsea Rose has been with us for quite some time and we could not be any happier to share in her infectious laugh, zest for life, and knowledge of the profession. She brings an element of joy to our office everyday she is here. Born and raised in Sonoma, she is happily married to her “Lobster”, Sam, with whom she created two beautiful daughters, Juniper Moon and Daisy Sun. Together they have two dogs: Leelah Bird and Stella Blaze, and three cats: Gus Gus Alan, Dixie Fern, and Penny. On her days off, Chelsea can be found lost in a good book, wine tasting with good friends, day trips to the beach, and teaching people about vegetarianism and advocating for animals by using sustainable cruelty free products. One of her biggest goals in life is to open a Coffee Book shop where humans and animals alike are welcome to relax and dream the day away.
	Araceli Araceli is a true Sonoma gal! She loves giving back to the community, where she was born, through church involvement, babysitting, and supervising preschoolers. During her free time, Araceli enjoys hiking, beach going, traveling, and attending country music festivals with her pals. We have had the pleasure of working with Araceli since she was 14 yrs old. Starting out as a kennel assistant, she quickly advanced to splitting her time between reception work and being a veterinary assistant. Her talent for organizing, helpfulness and efficiency have made her an asset throughout the hospital. Araceli is the proud owner of her dogs Chip, Zeus, and Mia. She hopes to own a cat one day. Perhaps once up coming wedding plans are done and married life has become the norm.
	Danny Born and raised in Sonoma County, Danny has two dogs (Pumpkin and Ollie), a ball python (Athena), and a leopard gecko (Nova) as well as some fishie friends. Danny has always wanted to work with animals their whole life and loves forming relationships with pets and their people alike. Coming from a pet compounding pharmacy before working with us, they have brought great customer service skills as well as pharmaceutical experience. We are thrilled to have their capabilities of multi-tasking and pet compassion on our team. Danny's hobbies include anything involving music, crochet, and taking care of 40+ tropical house plants and succulents. They enjoy going on day trips to the beach or the Russian River to collect shells and rocks to tumble at home. Danny has a vast collection of crystals, minerals, and fossils. They have been a musician since the 5th grade, playing in orchestral groups and singing in choirs.
	Jamie Jamie considers herself a Sonoma native having been in Northern California and living in Sonoma since her freshman year of high school. She has over 10 years experience in working with animals. Many of our clients will recognize her from her days at our local Sonoma Dog Camp. Jamie temporarily left Sonoma to go work in a veterinary hospital in Oregon but promptly returned after a year to help her uncle with canine dual purpose training, which includes training police dogs. This makes her our very own dog whisperer with her calm and patient demeanor when handling our timid friends. When Jamie is not busy at work helping clients and soothing anxious pups, she enjoys adventures with her dogs, Xira and Kai. Such activities include, but are not limited to, hiking, snowball fights, beach runs and renovating her garden. When relaxing, Jamie has the additional company of her cats, Aspy (Aspen) and Ivy (Ivan), and also takes comfort in horseback riding. Like her favorite animal, the elephant, Jamie never forgets a friendly (or shy) dog face!
	Vanessa Vanessa traveled to Sonoma County from Los Angeles in 2016 to attend Sonoma State University where she majored in Biology. Her plan was to move back home, but prior to graduating she met and fell in love with her boyfriend Lalo and has become a permanent resident of Sonoma and VOM VET! In her free time Vanessa enjoys doing anything that includes taking her dogs Bombo and Obi along for the adventure (she would take her cat McMeow, but does not feel like he would have a good time). Whether it's visiting breweries, hiking, fishing (catch & release), or swimming in our beautiful lakes and rivers, they are doing it together. Vanessa is Peruvian and is fluent in both Spanish and English and enjoys cooking meals from her ancestors and family recipes dating back generations.
	Kimmy A funny story about Kim. She worked in veterinary medicine with our doctors 18 years ago, but took time off to marry the love of her life, Pat, and create a beautiful family before she missed working in the field and came back home to us. She is born and raised a Sonoma Native and lives in her own little Zoo which includes children: Emma, Fiona, Charlie, dogs: Remy, Otis, Alex, Murray Christmas, cats: Belle, Nemo, Jack, pig: Big Guy, goats: Doc, Derby, and a plethora of chickens. If Kim is not found at home maintaining her small zoo, you can find her on her favorite family vacation in Disneyland. She loves country music, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and anything that causes belly laughs.
	Jonathan Bio to come
	Madyson Mady was born and raised in Sonoma and currently attends Sonoma Valley High School. She lives with her parents and dogs Rex, Rosie, and Roxy. Mady has been wanting to work with animals for as long as she can remember and has been anxiously awaiting the day she could apply to a veterinary hospital. Lucky for us, she landed right here where she belongs. In her free time Mady loves snowboarding, camping, lake boating, spending time with her sister, and going on as many family trips to Disneyland as one year will allow. Next summer Mady is going to enroll for ‘Intro to Veterinary Medicine’ classes at the SRJC to get her career started early and we are excited to watch her achieve her goals.