Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Schindler.
Paul, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We’re a family-owned (husband-and-wife duo) veterinary hospital, and our story starts with our sweet Cali girl. We couldn’t have asked for a more amazing pup and companion. She and Dr. Jocelyn were attached at the hip since her undergrad years and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Cali was so calm and could melt all your stress away with her warm eyes. For years, we planned to name our future hospital after her, long before she recently passed from cancer on February 9th, 2026. Her spirit and legacy will now live on through her hospital.
Cali’s Cottage Veterinary Hospital is located in the beautiful Huntington Harbour Mall, close to the local Sunset Beach and Huntington Harbour. We took over the space where a previous veterinarian cared for pets for over 40 years. We felt so grateful and honored to continue the legacy of veterinary medicine in this location.
When we took over, there was no existing staff and the building hadn’t been upgraded in decades, so, we completely remodeled the entire space, brought in brand-new, state-of-the-art equipment, and built an entirely new team and culture. Dr. Jocelyn Schindler is our medical director and leads all medical care, and I (Paul Schindler, CPA) handle the business and operations so she can focus completely on her patients. We offer a full range of services: wellness care, vaccine, x-ray, ultrasound, diagnostics, surgery, spay/neuter, laser therapy, and phovia light therapy. Dr. Jocelyn puts a big emphasis on fear-free and compassionate care. Even though we’re just finishing our third month, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to be busy, and we’re excited to hopefully bring one of Dr. Jocelyn’s colleagues, Dr. Esquivel, on full-time soon.
We are also redefining the veterinary workplace. I was lucky enough to learn a great deal from smart and empathetic leaders from my corporate finance years and am now bringing what I learned to my own workplace. From collaborative and open-door policies to monetary benefits like wellness expense programs, I’m making it a priority to give my employees a working environment they are happy to come into.
Our mission is simple: help pets live longer, healthier lives and strengthen the human–animal bond. We’re grateful to be part of such a wonderful community and to support the pets and families who make it special.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not terrible but not struggle-less. Building up a business up from the ground up is no easy feat. Our biggest challenge was completing the renovations. There were delays with the city approving permits and delays with the construction itself. We were provided an estimate of 6-8 months and it took 10 and our landlord only gave us 3 months of free rent. So 7 months of rent money going down the drain ain’t a fun pill to swallow but the way I looked it was that it was the cost of doing business. And like I said, I wouldn’t label our experience as terrible compared to some other horror stories I’ve heard when it comes to construction delays.
There was also another short lived struggle where our planned-to-be receptionist resigned a few weeks before we opened. We had hired her about 6 months previous and were very excited to bring her onto the team and then poof we get a surprise email a few weeks before open. It was a stressful week but luckily Dr. Jocelyn knew a colleague who was looking for a job and wanted to come work for us. We kind of lucked out on this but I think it also speaks to the reverence Dr. Jocelyn holds in the community. All of our technician staff came to her to when she let them know she was opening up her own place. We only ever put up one job ad for the original receptionist position.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cali’s Cottage Veterinary Hospital?
Cali’s Cottage Veterinary Hospital is a family-owned, husband-and-wife–led practice built around the idea that veterinary care should feel calm, honest, and deeply personal. We’re known for our fear-free approach and for genuinely taking our time with pets, especially nervous ones. Our team never forces anything; if a pet is too stressed, we pause, regroup, and often send them home with calming medication so they can come back feeling safe. We even encourage “happy visits,” where pets stop by just for treats and positive experiences. That philosophy really reflects who we are: we care about what’s best for the animal, not what’s best financially, and clients trust Dr. Jocelyn because she’s transparent, she listens, and she never pressures anything unnecessary.
We also take a lot of pride in the environment we’ve created. When we remodeled the space, we wanted it to truly feel like a cottage, warm, airy, and comfortable. We raised the ceilings and have the “cottage-style” beams, built a beautiful stone-and-tile front desk, a likewise beautiful bathroom, and designed the entire space to feel boutique and peaceful.
Medically, we offer a full range of high-quality services: imaging with digital X-ray and ultrasound, dentistry and anesthetic cleanings, surgery including spay and neuter, urgent care, preventative medicine, laser therapy, and phovia light therapy. One thing we’re especially proud of is our commitment to preventative care; we offer annual bloodwork completed in a preventative nature at a significantly discounted price because we want pets to get these tests before there’s a problem. Early detection is a major part of helping pets live longer, healthier lives, and it ties directly into our mission. We are also feline-friendly, with dedicated cat spaces and handling protocols to make visits easier for cats and more sensitive patients.
Brand-wise, we’re proud that our hospital is truly family-owned. Dr. Jocelyn focuses entirely on the medicine while I (Paul) handle the business, and that balance allows her to practice without financial pressure in the exam room. The hospital is named after our dog Cali, who for us, was family. Her name carries a lot of love, and her legacy is woven into everything we do. We’re also building a team and culture that reflects the kind of veterinary workplace we believe in: supportive, collaborative, work-life balanced, and mentally healthy. The vet med industry is hard, and we want our staff to feel heard, appreciated, and cared for, which we promote via an open-door culture, wellness reimbursement programs and various other policies.
And finally, we’re honored to be continuing a 43-year veterinary legacy in the same Huntington Harbour location where generations of pets were cared for before us. We may be a brand-new team with a fully remodeled, state-of-the-art space, but we take seriously the privilege of carrying forward that history. At the heart of everything, we’re here to help pets live longer, healthier lives while strengthening the human–animal bond, which is what Cali’s Cottage is all about.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Definitely our families.
My brother is our lawyer and has saved us who knows how much in free legal advise.
My mom works in the banking industry (specifically an SBA loan underwriter) and has been a massive resource when it comes to financial and small business advise. I also call my mom our true first employee because she was a MASSIVE help with the paper records situation. The old vet had all the records in paper only and my mom basically acted as our record keeper. We moved all the files to her garage and when we needed to pull a file she would scan it and drop it in the Google Drive for us to review. I can’t stress enough how much of a help this was for us and how much time it gave us back to work on the business.
Also the two weekends before we opened both of our families (my parents and sibling and Dr. Jocelyn’s parents and siblings) came in full force to put the finishing touched on the hospital so we’d be ready to open as planned on December 1st, 2025. We worked 8 hours a day, 2-3 days in a row each weekend basically getting the place up and running. Without their help we would not have opened on time.
Lastly, Dr. Jocelyn wants to give a huge shout-out to two of her mentors, Dr. Beshai and Dr. Esquivel, who were both there when she was a “baby-vet” just starting out over 5 years ago. They were both pivotal in helping her build the medical foundation she has today.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://caliscottage.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caliscottagevethospital/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CalisCottageVetHospital/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cali-s-cottage-veterinary-hospital/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/calis-cottage-veterinary-hospital-huntington-beach
- Other: https://caliscottagerx.ourvet.com/pet/
