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Blue Devil Alumnae Spotlight: Erin Koballa
6/5/2023 9:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
DURHAM – Since a child, Erin Koballa was wanted to work in medicine and is now living her dream owning her own veterinarian clinic in her home state named the Charlotte Companion Animal Hospital. The 2013 Duke graduate and starter on the Blue Devil women's soccer team took some time to talk with GoDuke.com recently about her new business and the DWS family.
GoDuke.com: You recently started your own veterinarian company in Charlotte. How has that been?
Erin Koballa: It's been exciting and scary! Bettering myself as a veterinarian and helping better the profession as a whole is my growing passion. I feel so lucky to have found my next calling (after soccer) and to have the opportunity to do what I love with my (new/next) team. It has been a process making the decision to leave the comforts of a large, corporate hospital to go out on my own and start a business from scratch. But I wake up every day excited to have a little more influence on the caring for our fur-babies and the bonds we form with their parents.
GD: Give us a little info on your company!
EK: We are Charlotte Companion Animal Hospital and we just celebrated our 6-month anniversary! Located in the southwest area of Charlotte, N.C., our roots are established in providing thorough, personal and compassionate veterinary care and pet-parent service. I feel that with the growing pet population, shortage of veterinarians and the pains of COVID, our industry has had to change a lot! While some of these changes were necessary (like curb-side visits and virtual appointments), they drew us further away from the interpersonal and comforting vet visits that are embedded in the roots of our profession. We are passionate about changing the standoffish, scary and impersonal approach to caring for our pets. At our hospital, we want our patients and their parents to feel at home, all while providing the most thorough veterinary care possible. Check us out! Charlottecompanion.com @charlottecompanionah
GD: When did you know you wanted to work with animals?
EK: I grew up playing "vet" with my sister, Kasey, and our childhood dogs. But with growing up playing sports, I thought I wanted to be a sports medicine, human doctor. When my childhood dog tore her ACL and my parent's vet let me watch the surgery, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't even know dogs could tear their ACL! But I thought it was so cool that I could go to four years of vet school, graduate, then practice a vast array of medicine on sweet dogs and cats. It seemed like an easier task than the four years of medical school, plus internship, plus or minus residency. Little did I know vet school was harder to get into. But I worked hard, got into school, accepted a fantastic job that gave me an enormous amount of mentorship and experience, and now I've just started my own veterinary hospital. It really has been a dream (and a process).
GD: While you were at Duke, you were involved in working at the Duke Lemur Center. How was that experience and how much did that help you get to where you are today?
EK: So much of veterinary medicine is developing a breadth of knowledge. Most of us do end up focusing on certain animals, specialties or skills. But at the beginning of your education, you learn about everything! The Lemur Center taught me so much about a different approach to veterinary medicine – your client looks different at a place like that! Conservationism has a role in our field and these individuals and programs are so valuable to our planet.
GD: When you look back on your experience/time at Duke. What comes to mind?
EK: Absolutely all the memories with DWS. We had a great run at it and I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. It feels like a past life but those moments are so embedded in who I am as a person and as a leader.
GD: What does head coach Robbie Church meant to you and the Blue Devil soccer program?
EK: Robbie is such a role model when it comes to being a leader. He not only recruits some of the best soccer players in the country/world, but he recruits good families, good people, good girls, and good roots. He surrounds himself with individuals that make him and his team better. He has taught me how to build a team! He built a family at Duke that I will never forget. I think many of my former teammates and classmates would agree.
GD: Are you able to still keep in touch with many of your Duke teammates?
EK: Yes! Not as much as I would like to, but I try when I can. With the new business opening, I missed my 10-year reunion this past April. But I'm sure I will see many teammates at Kim DeCesare and Erwin's wedding this summer, YAY! Also, DWS has a very involved alumni network – this makes it easy to see teammates at alumni weekends and events as well as to be involved with the current team. Most of us would agree: DWS alumni are maybe the biggest DWS fans.
#GoDuke
GoDuke.com: You recently started your own veterinarian company in Charlotte. How has that been?
Erin Koballa: It's been exciting and scary! Bettering myself as a veterinarian and helping better the profession as a whole is my growing passion. I feel so lucky to have found my next calling (after soccer) and to have the opportunity to do what I love with my (new/next) team. It has been a process making the decision to leave the comforts of a large, corporate hospital to go out on my own and start a business from scratch. But I wake up every day excited to have a little more influence on the caring for our fur-babies and the bonds we form with their parents.
GD: Give us a little info on your company!
EK: We are Charlotte Companion Animal Hospital and we just celebrated our 6-month anniversary! Located in the southwest area of Charlotte, N.C., our roots are established in providing thorough, personal and compassionate veterinary care and pet-parent service. I feel that with the growing pet population, shortage of veterinarians and the pains of COVID, our industry has had to change a lot! While some of these changes were necessary (like curb-side visits and virtual appointments), they drew us further away from the interpersonal and comforting vet visits that are embedded in the roots of our profession. We are passionate about changing the standoffish, scary and impersonal approach to caring for our pets. At our hospital, we want our patients and their parents to feel at home, all while providing the most thorough veterinary care possible. Check us out! Charlottecompanion.com @charlottecompanionah
GD: When did you know you wanted to work with animals?
EK: I grew up playing "vet" with my sister, Kasey, and our childhood dogs. But with growing up playing sports, I thought I wanted to be a sports medicine, human doctor. When my childhood dog tore her ACL and my parent's vet let me watch the surgery, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I didn't even know dogs could tear their ACL! But I thought it was so cool that I could go to four years of vet school, graduate, then practice a vast array of medicine on sweet dogs and cats. It seemed like an easier task than the four years of medical school, plus internship, plus or minus residency. Little did I know vet school was harder to get into. But I worked hard, got into school, accepted a fantastic job that gave me an enormous amount of mentorship and experience, and now I've just started my own veterinary hospital. It really has been a dream (and a process).
GD: While you were at Duke, you were involved in working at the Duke Lemur Center. How was that experience and how much did that help you get to where you are today?
EK: So much of veterinary medicine is developing a breadth of knowledge. Most of us do end up focusing on certain animals, specialties or skills. But at the beginning of your education, you learn about everything! The Lemur Center taught me so much about a different approach to veterinary medicine – your client looks different at a place like that! Conservationism has a role in our field and these individuals and programs are so valuable to our planet.
GD: When you look back on your experience/time at Duke. What comes to mind?
EK: Absolutely all the memories with DWS. We had a great run at it and I wouldn't trade those experiences for the world. It feels like a past life but those moments are so embedded in who I am as a person and as a leader.
GD: What does head coach Robbie Church meant to you and the Blue Devil soccer program?
EK: Robbie is such a role model when it comes to being a leader. He not only recruits some of the best soccer players in the country/world, but he recruits good families, good people, good girls, and good roots. He surrounds himself with individuals that make him and his team better. He has taught me how to build a team! He built a family at Duke that I will never forget. I think many of my former teammates and classmates would agree.
GD: Are you able to still keep in touch with many of your Duke teammates?
EK: Yes! Not as much as I would like to, but I try when I can. With the new business opening, I missed my 10-year reunion this past April. But I'm sure I will see many teammates at Kim DeCesare and Erwin's wedding this summer, YAY! Also, DWS has a very involved alumni network – this makes it easy to see teammates at alumni weekends and events as well as to be involved with the current team. Most of us would agree: DWS alumni are maybe the biggest DWS fans.
#GoDuke
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