Behind the Mic

Welcome to Worldwide Tails, the podcast where real stories, real animals, and real impact come together.

In this kickoff episode, we will be introducing you to your hosts (Kristin and Jess), and taking you behind the mic to explore the “why” behind this series. You'll be getting a glimpse of what’s ahead – from rhino dehorning missions to marine rescues – and how you can be part of the global movement to protect animals and empower frontline care.

You can also watch the full video on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@worldwide_vets

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Transcript

Introduction

What Inspired Our Passion For Animal Care

The Mission of Worldwide Tails

Managing Expectations

Joining the Worldwide Vets Team

Challenges with Remote Work

"Pump-up" Songs

Past Volunteering with Animal Charities

Favourite Holiday Destination

Rabies, the Stray Population and Poverty in India

The Mission of Worldwide Vets

Get Involved

SOS Wildlife in South Africa

Tips for Long Haul Flights

Expectations for Africa

Coming up In This Season

Exclusive Episode & Fundraiser: Ukraine

Leave us a Review

What is one wild animal that has always inspired you, and why?

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Jump in with both feet. Yeah, exactly. Dive head first. Hi everyone and welcome to the very first episode of World Wide Tales. I'm Kristen and I'm Jess. We're so excited to finally share this project with you, a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of real world conservation and veterinary work across the globe. We're both current interns at World Wide Vets and we've created this podcast to spotlight a lot of the amazing work that is being done by the vets, the volunteers and the wildlife professionals and also to share the untold stories behind the headlines that Maybe you might not see. You'll hear from people who've worked with rhinos, elephants, marine animals, stray dog populations and more. It's real, raw and full of heart. But before we dive into those conversations, we want to tell you a little bit more about ourselves and why we are doing this. So my passion for animal care started when I was younger. I just always wanted to be around animals. So I started volunteering with animals and I just naturally got into the veterinary nursing industry But what really drew me to World Wide Vet was the chance to see conservation from a global level. And it's been so eye-opening to connect with people around the world who are risking a lot to protect animals and ecosystems. We've not been doing this for very long. I don't know about you, Jess, but I've learned so much already from this process. And this podcast is one way that I want to share that learning with others. That's perfect. I really love that. I'm also a veterinary nurse and have always been fascinated by animal care, veterinary work and conservation, especially the layers of conservation. I think it's incredible how our actions, big and small, can impact not just individual animals, but the people and the communities around them and even influence the future of an entire species and ecosystem. So I think that's what we're really trying to capture here is the emotional side of conservation, the bit that people don't really see, not just the numbers or the strategy, but everything behind that and the impact that we can have on each other and also the responsibility that we share for our wildlife. okay oh you're ready should we go yeah yeah i'm ready when you applied for the internship at worldwide vets what were you hoping to experience quite honestly the expectation was to just learn yeah definitely and i don't know about you but i have never been an intern it's something that's new for both of us starting a podcast is new being in an internship is new and being with you know a a charity that is so dedicated to to meaningful change is also new so doing a lot of learning along the way definitely jump in with both feet yeah exactly dive head first I don't even use my feet I'm like I just dive head first and then like a cat I flip at the bottom perfect I scramble at the bottom somehow okay I have a question for you okay so far what's one moment that has surprised you what's one thing that surprised you about the internship probably the extent of which we're allowed to just go for it I definitely thought that we would be some somewhat micromanaged and and again not in a bad way but you know we're new to this yeah you didn't make it clear before and I think they've really trusted us and have really included us as part of the core team and just let us run with it which really surprised me but has been a really welcomed surprise it has been a very nice surprise I think to be just welcomed so much like with open arms yeah definitely I already feel part of a team and it's only been three months it's actually been three months so already oh very close to I think oh my god we are halfway you know I didn't even realize you know when Sarah said earlier that it's like I think Sarah said or was it John I think it was John actually he said that it's the halfway point yeah he did and I was like I mean no way we've only been doing this for a month honestly it just yeah it feels like we started yesterday yeah the time literally just flies doesn't it yeah it really does um yes what do you think has been the most challenging part? I think what has been the most challenging part has been this is I guess from more of a personal side than a you know animal hair industry side but has been trying to separate the work from the home obviously because it is a remote role and find it very difficult to separate the two so sometimes I'll be up until 12 o'clock at night typing away on my keyboard and it's just it's been I think quite difficult to find the stopping point or like the break point but i think again that is part of the learning and it is coming slowly very slowly no it's completely relatable though and completely understandable because when you're passionate about something you want to give it everything right but as well you are a person and you have a life and you have a house and you have to find that balance yeah it's very difficult it really is but the way that people work i think it is now changing to where more people do work remotely so it's one of those things like it's such a good skill to have by the way i just i was looking at the fun and engaging moments thing and it said pump up and i thought what the hell is pump up all about and then i didn't read the rest of it and it says go to pump up song before a big challenge brilliant yeah i saw that and it immediately was like i don't think i have one a pump up song you have a motivational pump up song i've listened to so many i don't think i could i don't think i have one does that mean that i'm always pumped up am i always am i just on caffeine all the time exactly or i'm just not aware of it i don't know I love Ariana Grande like she is my life and soul I love her but she doesn't pump me up so yeah do you know what I mean it's like I don't know maybe she needs to do like a remix a remix a remix Ariana Grande then yeah that would be good no I don't know and I've been looking I've got my Spotify but I feel like I'd be looking through my Spotify for about five hours because I've got so much on there that would make for a long podcast episode yeah it would yeah have you volunteered before in any setting I have volunteered before it was a very long time ago it was about nine years ago I volunteered whilst I was at university which wasn't probably the best thing because I was still literally at university so it wasn't like a break it was kind of like a short break like a summer break so I still had like exams to study for and stuff like that and but I went to Zanzibar and I worked with animals in Zanzibar I also went to India and worked with animals in India there um yeah so I've done a few a few bits like that I love traveling now where's the best place that you've been to traveling um my favorite place actually was Iceland although I didn't volunteer with any animals there so I don't know if it's uh it's allowed in the podcast but that is probably my favorite place it was beautiful absolutely Iceland yeah I've always wanted to go to Iceland it's a bit cold so I'd mind but yeah if you don't mind that does that mean that there'll be penguins if it's called. Maybe. What kind of animals did you work with in India? In India it was like domestic animals like cats and dogs because the stray population is really high so I worked with the rabies mission and we went around catching you know stray dogs, stray animals and you know vaccinating them and doing sterilizations as well so which was really like it was so hard to see. It definitely opens your eyes so much. I think we have it quite nice you know in the UK or in America in most places we have it quite nice where there's not a massive amount of stray animals generally and then when you go to places like India or you know Africa or like Thailand or you know areas like that it is difficult to see the conditions that not even just the animals are in but the people as well so yeah that's really true it sounds like really routine work but actually it's really critical to the populations there you know sterilization vaccination it's I think a lot of it we take for granted and it's really quite necessary necessary foundation. And that's a primary part of our role at World Wide Vets is to go out to these places and to provide that very routine foundational care. Yeah, absolutely. I think you feel like you need to be there to make a difference and make an impact. Whereas actually, it's 2025 now. And you don't have to be physically there to make an impact or to make a change or to even support or to raise awareness or You don't have to be there to do any of that. Just listening to podcasts like this, sometimes that's all that matters sometimes. You don't have to be there. No, definitely. I completely agree. And I think that's a really good message for everybody listening from home or from work or in the car, wherever you might be, that actually you can get involved and help to make a difference too. You don't have to be the one that's directing a company or out in the fields. You can actually make such a difference just from being at home or being at work or being in the car by every like, every share. every follow. Have you got any plans to volunteer in the future anywhere? Yeah I have actually so as part of the internship with World Wide Vets we've been given this great opportunity to go on a project for two weeks and I'm actually going on the SOS wildlife course in South Africa which is in a beautiful safari north of Durban and I'm really apprehensive because it's my first long haul flight on my own and it's actually in two and a half weeks so very soon just around the corner and the project focuses on game capture and wildlife translocation and is really hands-on so I'm hoping that I can extract a lot of content and lots of new things that we can share with you yeah and I will also be going but yeah unfortunately going separately but that's fine because when we make our podcast and talk about our trip it will just make we'll make it seem like we're just both together and you're just there with us for the ride so yeah that would be very cool and in terms of the fly-in a bit of advice maybe for the fly-in that i could give to you would be a little bit of advice from a pro i'm joking i'm not pro i'm not pro get loads of value well to be honest my other advice i've had was uh sleep deprivation so yes i never knew that until recently someone said just don't sleep and in theory it sounds really easy but i bet it's really difficult yeah i bet it is to you'll be fine i'm prepared to feel jet lagged but i am really really excited to meet new people and just get out there in the field and get some really hands-on practical work with wildlife so we'll see how it goes it's going to be my first experience working with large animals and wildlife i am a small animal veterinary nurse so it should be should be fun it's going to be for a laugh if nothing else so we'll let you know how it goes definitely an experience okay and another off-topic question what animal are you looking forward to seeing the the most when we go do you know what i would really love to see a zebra i know that we had been told we might see giraffe and ostrich just wandering by the camp which is is super cool and i love giraffes but i would just love to see some zebra i just think they're really cool they're like a little donkey horse hybrid with stripy pajamas and i just love that i love everything about that when i think of a zebra i always think of madagascar yes i just want him to sound like him from, what is he called? Marty. Yeah. I want the zebra to talk. Maybe after some translocation drugs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it'll be so much fun. I can't wait to share the experience with everyone too because it's not even just like we're sharing it between each other. No. We're sharing it with everyone who's going to listen to the podcast. Everyone's coming with us. Yeah, everyone is coming with us. So yeah, I mean, that's one thing to expect from this season in the podcast. You're also going to hear from different vets that are on the ground in South Africa and marine rescue teams that are fighting ocean pollution and all other volunteers, you know, that are helping to stop the rabies outbreaks in coastal communities and different corners of the world where different people are fighting for the same cause. Absolutely. Okay. So in this season of Worldwide Tales, we'll be taking you through absolutely everything from wildlife capture in Africa to the wildlife organizations that are running in India, all the way through to the front lines of Ukraine. And also with exclusive background information and inside information into Worldwide Vets and how it was founded. It's going to be super exciting to not only hear all of these stories, but to be a part of them too. Definitely. We are going to be doing an exclusive episode in this series for ukraine and we will be telling you about the fundraiser when we launch it however just so that you know what's coming up we will be doing a raffle which is going to be our fundraiser to bring veterinary care supplies and just help after the disaster that i've struck in ukraine so we will leave the link to that also in the description below and feel free to go and check it out share it and share the love we've got crocheted goodies we've got pampers we've got even a custom made portrait of one of your pets which i think is absolutely amazing i mean you could even get the portrait on a pet that you used to have oh definitely could even be a pet that you're buying in the future these portraits are pastel painted and completely handcrafted they are absolutely beautiful i've actually got one on my wall um of my two cats so i will definitely recommend that you enter the raffle just for that if nothing else amazing that is so oh i can't wait so if you are excited about what's coming up in the series then one of the best ways that you could help us is by leaving us a review. It will really help more people find the show and support the cause that we're highlighting. And as a little thank you, we've got a really fun giveaway. We've crocheted the cutest animal key rings and we'll be giving one away each episode. All you have to do is fill out our short listener survey. It only takes one minute and you will be automatically entered into the draw. Yeah. And the links are in the description below for you to use. There's no getting away from it. It's right there. It's right there. So before we wrap up, we will leave you with this one little question. What is one wild animal that has always inspired you and why? You can let us know in the comments. You can let us know on the survey. And maybe we will either feature your answer in one of our future episodes. Yes, that's really exciting. Everyone needs to put their answers in the comments. We really want to hear from you. We really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this episode. And we welcome you to Worldwide Tales.

UNKNOWN 15:14

so so