I wake up very early – the struggle is to actually get out of bed – I'm usually up by 5.30 am to 6 am, so I can get ready and get out in good time to avoid heavy traffic. I live far enough away from work to feel like when I leave at the end of the day, I've left!

For breakfast I usually eat high carb foods and a hot drink. Sometimes, if I can, I have eggs because they're so nutritious but I don't usually have time to cook in the morning – I'm usually ironing my uniform or preparing my lunch instead!

Most of the time I travel to work alone, by car. I like the peace of solitary travel. I have time to think, pray, reflect and make plans. I also get time to listen to the news and catch up on what's happening in the world around me. I like listening to BBC Radio 4 in the morning and on the way home it's that again, with intermittent switches to Capital FM.

I work more than 40 hours per week on average, most of it spent on clinical work, then the rest managing the practice. The dental team consists of me, a dental hygienist and therapist and two dental nurses.

I have wanted to be a dentist since I was at school. It combined everything I enjoyed and wanted in a career: science, technology, art, the choice to practise independently and earn a good stable income. I also wanted something challenging and dentistry certainly is that. There are no other dentists in my immediate family, but one of my cousins is a dentist – though I didn't know that until after I qualified.

At dental school I enjoyed learning all the different aspects of dentistry but my primary focus was to make sure I qualified! I did VT, then a maxfac SHO post to gain the MFDS diploma, and then after that went into general practice and enjoyed it so I carried on. Apart from the MFDS I have also completed training in certain aspects of aesthetic and cosmetic dentistry, implantology and short-term orthodontics.

It is nice to see my patients go from “I don't like dentists” to “Thank you, you're nice/a good dentist”

I learned lots about practice management and dentistry from the different practices and colleagues that I worked with before buying my own practice in Hathersage in summer 2013, after about three years of looking. I've met some lovely, inspirational people along the way who I still keep in touch with. I remember clearly feeling ready to practise independently in my own practice. It was always on my mind to have my own practice and fortunately the right practice came up in Hathersage. It was small, just the right size and mix for me and in a beautiful part of the world. I wasn't familiar with Hathersage itself, but it's not too far from where I trained in Sheffield and I had visited the Peak District a couple of times before and loved it.

My patients are a nice mix of young and old, lots of families and professionals but also elderly people and tourists all year round.

At lunchtime I'm usually at work trying to finish something or doing some admin work; I pretty much always have a working lunch. I usually have high carb foods again with proteins and fruits and vegetables. I try to eat healthily and always try to have something to refuel for the afternoon session!

My plans for the rest of the year and for the future are to first meet my UDA target! Then a long holiday to see friends and family that I haven't seen for a few years. In between that I will be working on my start-up. Earlier this year I attended a 12-week accelerator programme for start-ups with Elevator UK, a programme that helps start-ups move their businesses or ideas forward fast. I learnt lots about how to scale and grow my start-up into a proper business. Being a practice owner some of the knowledge wasn't new but it helped to have it applied in a different way, from a non-clinical perspective. There are lots of exciting start-ups and products out there and I look forward to sharing more about mine in the future.

My other ambition is to learn how to build a house. I like making things and would love to build myself a house!

Being a dentist and making a difference to patients is great, but sometimes I am shy so when they compliment me I find it uncomfortable. I have learnt to deal with it better. It is nice to see my patients go from 'I don't like dentists' to 'Thank you, you're nice/a good dentist'.

In my spare time I read, watch some documentaries and sometimes some trash TV so I am not thinking too much! I catch up on sleep, friends and family. I don't have as much time now to play my piano, draw or go to the gym. These are things I wish I could do but owning a practice really does take over your life so I usually choose the least mentally and physically taxing things. I am learning Mandarin though as I love languages (and a challenge!).

I love drawing but have not practised for a long time. If I hadn't become a dentist, I would have become an architect or engineer. The three things I could not live without are faith, family and friends: my triple Fs. They get me through anything and keep me in check!