Vanessa worked as a meat cutter's assistant at a local grocery store for over 8 years before starting her career in the veterinary field. Vanessa came to VCA Rancho San Diego first as a client with her pet rabbits and then as an intern through San Diego Mesa College. After graduating in June of 2007 with an Associate's Degree in Animal Health Technology, she officially joined the VCA Rancho San Diego family and that fall became a Registered Veterinary Technician.

Vanessa's passion for and knowledge of rabbits and their unique needs led Dr. Brown to dub her “The Bunny Tech”. Aside from rabbit medicine, Vanessa has a special interest in anesthesia, pain management and end of life care. You've probably only seen her if your pet has had surgery as she is in charge of surgeries on the days that she works. In January of 2017, she was promoted to Hospital Manager, taking over the website and managing social media on top of her duties as a surgery technician. She lives in the mountains of Alpine with her partner, Zack, where they have a small hop farm. They share their home with a chihuahua mix, Citra; two cats, Harry, an orange tabby, and Carl, a one-eyed Maine Coon mix; and a three-legged Russian tortoise named Bacon. Outside of work, Vanessa dedicates a lot of her time to fostering geriatric and special needs dogs, which she's been doing since September of 2015 through Animal Synergy. Some of her other hobbies include gardening, camping, hiking, watching baseball, cooking, reading, and coloring.