From Equine Vet to Meadery and Bees: Dr. Ayla Guild’s Pivot and Boundaries Hosts Dr. Chelsea and vet tech Trish welcome equine veterinarian Dr. Ayla Guild, a longtime friend, who describes pivoting from a psychology major into vet school after a riding-related head injury and completing her training at the University of Pennsylvania/New Bolton. Isla discusses challenges in equine clinical training and practice, including sleep deprivation, perfectionism, anxiety, postpartum depression, and the inefficiency of extensive driving in ambulatory work. She explains how gluten sensitivity led her family to discover mead, begin fermenting raw honey-based mead without heating above hive temperature, and ultimately open The Hive Taproom with distribution, supported by their own honey production and expanding beekeeping efforts. The conversation also covers bee health pressures (nutrition and mites), practical beekeeping realities, work-life balance, boundaries in veterinary medicine, and Ayla’s plan to return via equine emergency relief work.

00:00 Show Intro

00:30 Meet Dr Dr. Ayla Guild

02:03 From Psych To Vet

04:55 Vet School Reality Check

07:52 Practice Life And Caseloads

10:56 Burnout And Big Pivot

12:59 Discovering Mead Making

16:07 Beekeeping From Scratch

18:41 Hive Growth And Challenges

20:40 Bee Health And Forage

25:35 How Mead Is Made

26:27 Eco Friendly Mead

27:20 Raw Honey Fermentation

28:10 Flavoring And Style

29:12 Scaling Up Production

30:27 Shipping And Regulations

31:20 Allergies And Ingredients

33:07 Vet Career Boundaries

36:20 Horses And Riding Time

38:29 Work Life Balance Shift

41:22 Mental Health And Guilt

45:32 Social Media And Wrap Up

46:41 Podcast Outro And Call for Guests