The Freelance Vet: Ibra Hernando’s High-Stakes Bet on the Future of Vets

In this episode, Clayton is joined by Ibra Hernando, a veterinary surgeon turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Ronda. vet. Ibra shares the why behind his transition from the operating table to the tech world, highlighting the massive inefficiencies and high costs associated with traditional veterinary recruitment agencies. We dive deep into how Ronda. vet is acting as the Uber for locums, providing a transparent, review-based marketplace that connects practices and freelancers in seconds rather than days. KEY TAKEAWAYS Traditional agencies often charge surcharges between 30% and 50%, making temporary staffing prohibitively expensive for practices while offering little transparency to the locums themselves. By removing the middleman, Ronda. vet has streamlined the recruitment process to the point where a practice can post a shift and have it filled in as little as 42 seconds. Unlike traditional models, a two-way review system introduces accountability, ensuring that both the practice and the locum are treated fairly and perform to high standards. The veterinary industry is seeing a massive shift toward "locuming" as a way to combat burnout, allowing vets to control their schedules and take extended breaks. Ibra and his partner chose to sell their house to self-fund Ronda. vet, choosing to bet on their vision for the industry rather than immediate personal stability. BEST MOMENTS "Nowadays, in 2026, we get everything through apps... and suddenly the locum work was left behind." "Every time there’s a middleman, everything gets a little bit slower... and everything becomes more expensive." "The probability of success of a marketplace... is 0.01%. Luckily we didn’t know this before starting the business." "We sold the house... so basically the house has gone into Ronda. Now our house is Ronda." "I used to give to myself three months of holidays every year when I was a locum. And like this, I was very happy." HOST BIO Clayton Payne is an industry veteran of three decades of working in the pet industry. Brought up working in his parents' pet store, Clayton has seen the industry evolve over five different decades and has been on the cutting edge of the industry since the nineties. Building pet businesses from scratch, establishing multi-national distribution chains and having worked in every aspect of the industry, Clayton has a rare insight into the Pet Industry that is rivalled by few. Clayton has been the spearhead of many of the industry's changes and has introduced numerous new concepts to market with a trail of success behind him. He has worked in numerous countries within the pet industry, speaks four different languages and has established both import and export relationships on all continents (excluding Antarctica). As well as being COO of one of the UKs fastest growing insect technology companies, Clayton is a Pet industry consultant who has consulted for many household brands and delivers sales training to pet trade professionals. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clayton-payne-a6772244/ https://www.tiktok.com/@petbusinessdisruptors https://www.youtube.com/@PetBusinessDisruptors This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/