Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Bascuñán.
Hi Ana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town in Colorado, between Fort Collins and Denver. I consider myself fortunate to have grown up in such a beautiful place, and treasure my memories from the mountains. When I left for college, my mom moved to Austin and I have been ‘coming home’ to Austin for breaks ever since. The pursuit of my schooling- undergraduate, veterinary school, internship, and surgical residency – lasted 14 years and required me to move across the country four separate times in those years. When I finally could decide for myself where I wanted to live, I chose Austin! I had fallen in love with the charm of this city, the people, the music, and the food. I also wanted to be close to my family for the first time in over a decade. My husband and I set down roots here in Round Rock and have absolutely loved living here and the community it offers. After working in a specialty center for a couple years, I decided to branch out on my own and start my own veterinary surgical company.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Building Monarch Pet Surgery from the ground up has been a labor of love for all involved. There is no dedicated business curriculum in veterinary school or during residency training, so I hit the ground running with zero formal business/financial/tax law experience to depend on. I was able to stumble my way through some of it, but finding a supportive financial advisor and CPA to help inform my business decisions was critical. We also ran into some funding difficulties at the beginning, as the ‘traveling pet specialty surgery’ model isn’t one that is widely recognized by financial institutions. I had several offers for financing if I agreed to build a brick and mortar location, but that wasn’t in line with my vision for this business. Lastly, it took longer than expected to truly establish ourselves in the Austin market. I naively expected that we would open Monarch and quickly be booking cases. But instead it took years of developing our relationships with referring veterinarians before we could confidently remain solvent.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Monarch Pet surgery PLLC?
Monarch Pet Surgery was founded out of a desire to provide top notch specialty surgical care to pets throughout Austin and the Central Texas region, while maintaining the trust and comfort they have established with their primary care veterinary clinic. As a board certified veterinary surgeon, I previously worked in a specialty center environment. While my colleagues and staff were amazing there, I felt that I could better serve my community by bringing my services to the local clinics directly. By not maintaining a brick and mortar location, we are able to keep our overhead costs low and we pass those savings onto the pet owners. We are able to travel long distances to treat multiple patients in a day that would have otherwise meant time away from work and home for their families. We have also been able to develop collaborative working relationships with some truly incredible veterinarians throughout Central Texas, ensuring that even after Monarch leaves for the day, our patients receive excellent continued care in the comfort of their primary care clinic.
How do you think about luck?
I am a very superstitious person and definitely believe in luck (both good and bad) as a contributor to success or failure of any endeavor. That is somewhat unscientific of me, but it’s just who I am. I would say that I have been incredibly lucky in my business, primarily as it relates to my team. My team is small, but we are powerful! These women are brilliant, hilarious, and incredibly dedicated to helping improve the quality of life of pets daily. Each person on my team has contributed invaluable efforts to our ultimate success, and I am confident that we would not be where we are without every one of them. I consider myself beyond lucky for having these people on my side.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.monarchpets.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monarch.pets
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MonarchPetSurgery
Image Credits
Santos B. (for the professional pics of Dr. B and team only)
