Wendi was raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa and has always had a deep love for animals. She graduated at the top of her class from Omaha College of Health Careers in March 1991. She then worked at a few small animal veterinary practices in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. She then transferred to Kansas State University in the summer of 1995 to be the day nurse for the Intensive Care Unit for the small animal side of the hospital. She was responsible for treatments and care of critically ill dogs and cats under the Board Certified doctors at K-State. She was also responsible for helping teach senior veterinary students technical skills they would carry into their careers. It was at K-State that she met her husband, Dr. Michael Ford, and she moved to Reno in 1997. She has worked at Baring Blvd. Veterinary Hospital and the Animal Emergency Center since coming to the Truckee Meadows. In 2000, she was contacted by Truckee Meadows Community College to help write curriculum for a new Veterinary Technician Program. As the program advanced, Wendi became more involved in the program and is the former program coordinator and a former professor for the first accredited veterinary technician program in Nevada. Under her direction, no graduating student failed the national veterinary technician boards and there are many competent technicians in Nevada to help the health of animals both small and large. She is the mother of two wonderful children, Thomas and Taylor. The family also consists of one rescue dog and two rescued cats [citation].