Debbie Reynolds studied to become a veterinarian, but after a few years of real-world practice, she found a need that was unfulfilled—at least, in the Martin area where she lives. That’s when she decided to go into business for herself and become a veterinarian who made house calls and provided alternative medicines along with traditional ones.
Reynolds’ main business is called Veterinary Home Healthcare and Canine Chiropractic, and she specializes in the care of small animals. She also runs a retail shop called The Blessed Pet Shop, which features natural alternatives to pet pharmaceuticals.
“Right now, I just treat dogs, cats and reptiles,” she says. “I treat the reptiles and amphibians at Discovery Park of America (in nearby Union City). I love reptiles. I think they are cool, so if somebody calls for a lizard or a snake, I’m down for that.”
A Winding Path
A native of Sharon, Tennessee, in Weakley County, Reynolds (Martin ’98, CVM ’01) graduated from Sharon High School at age 17 and then West Tennessee Business College a year later. She worked as a legal secretary for 10 years, and her boss, Jim Bradberry, encouraged her to go to college to reach her full potential.
“So, in 1994, I started going to UT Martin as a nontraditional student,” she says. “I felt really old, even though I was only in my late 20s.”
At first, Reynolds thought she might want to study law, but after she looked into majoring in pre-veterinary medicine, she saw that there was an option to graduate in two and a half years. She continued working as a paralegal while taking classes at UT Martin at night and then started taking day classes “when it got down to the nitty gritty.”
Reynolds earned her degree from UT Martin in 1998 and applied to the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She graduated in 2001 and returned to Weakley County, where she worked as a full-time associate in a veterinary clinic for seven years.
It seemed like she had found a solid career. “I thought that I would be an associate or work for another vet, and that would have been fine with me,” she says. But life took another turn when her daughter, Chesney, was born in 2005 with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, in which part of chromosome 22 is missing. The syndrome has more than 120 anomalies associated with it. Each child who has it has a different combination of symptoms and is affected differently.
“She had surgery on her aorta at 2 days old, and she had open-heart surgery at 2 months old—just intense medical needs,” Reynolds recalls. Her daughter’s therapy sessions and medical appointments piled up. “When she was about 3 years old, I quit my associate veterinary position, and it was scary,” she says. “I left that practice that I had worked at all those years, and I didn’t have a plan in place other than to take care of my daughter.”
While taking time to help her daughter, Reynolds worked as a relief veterinarian at several area clinics until she met veterinarian Robert Gardner in Paris, Tennessee, who was nearing retirement. “He hired me for three days a week, and I worked there for three years,” she says. “I was able to make ends meet and take Chesney to all of her appointments.” During that time as a relief veterinarian, Reynolds saw several different veterinary businesses and how they operated.
The Entrepreneurial Moment
While working in Paris, one of her clients, Richard Robinson, a professor of mass media and strategic communication at UT Martin, called and asked her to come to his house to look at his dog, Lucy, who was very sick.
Reynolds went to see Lucy, and through the dog’s illness, Reynolds began to establish laboratory accounts to begin practicing medicine. She then bought needed supplies from Gardner.
The idea for her own home-based practice was born. She started Veterinary Home Healthcare in 2010 to diagnose and treat pets in their own homes. “It didn’t take long for me to realize that, in one house call, I can know clients better than I had known them and seen them over seven years in a clinic,” she says.
Reynolds started considering holistic treatments five years into her new business, which came about through her daughter’s special needs. Chesney was allergic to most traditional medications, and the family had to find a way to help her from an early age. “It wasn’t long after that I started thinking about my patients: How can this translate to the dogs and cats that I serve?” she says. “It turns out there are so many things you can do. You can do laser therapy, aromatherapy, herbal remedies, chiropractic and so much more.”
Reynolds became a veterinary chiropractor in 2020, graduating from the Healing Oasis in Wisconsin. She went to several conferences for veterinarians who use holistic treatments and learned more about how it works. Reynolds says people have driven more than 100 miles to receive holistic consultations and treatment. “That tells me that there is no one any closer to them,” she says. The Blessed Pet Shop started in 2015 out of a need for people to have more holistic options.
Finding Startup Assistance
Reynolds says she never thought that she would own her own business.
“The Northwest Tennessee Entrepreneur Center (in Martin)—oh, man, did they help me,” she says. “I had a six-month course, and they gave us a grant at the end of the education, and the REED Center (Regional Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center) at UT Martin really helped.”
Reynolds says her first venture into entrepreneurship was “really exciting” because she was in charge of her business and could set whatever policies and rules she wanted.
“I feel like I was set free,” she says. “I could go where I wanted, go learn what I want to learn. The only person to answer to was myself.”
