As a trainee, I had three surgical mentors who encouraged my fledgling academic interests (Jetmund Engeset (Aberdeen); Vaughan Ruckley (Edinburgh); Prof Sir Peter Bell (Leicester)). Unlike most other vascular trainees, however, I also benefitted from being ‘adopted’ by two stroke neurologists who had moved to Edinburgh in 1987 with the European Carotid Surgery Trial (ECST) Office (Peter Sandercock, Charles Warlow). The latter two characters introduced me to the concept of evidence-based medicine (which I had never heard of) and they taught me how to interpret data in different ways. The latter was to prove very helpful in later years. My having a research desk in the ECST trial office allowed me to attend ECST trial collaborator meetings around Europe, which provided unparalleled exposure for a young trainee to the occasional ‘conflicts’ between surgeons and neurologists, a better understanding of the controversies about managing carotid disease, and a great opportunity to listen (and talk) to the ‘doyens’ of European vascular surgery. In short, I learned to appreciate the concerns/aspirations of surgeons and neurologists in a manner denied to many of my peers at the time. Of them all, Peter Bell was the most influential. He was a great motivator who inspired respect and affection amongst his senior trainees, and he ran a ‘can do’ department, unlike the perhaps more ‘establishment’ centres of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. A key moment in my career was when I was appointed an NHS consultant vascular surgeon in 1993. Peter Bell was singularly responsible for encouraging me to continue and then expand my academic career as an NHS consultant within the protection and support of his department. That support cleared a lot of ‘potential hurdles’ as management do not always rank academic aspirations particularly highly in their NHS staff. My interest in research was supplemented by a growing interest in observing and commenting on the management of carotid disease. It was here that Peter Bell’s influence in pushing me to challenge accepted dogma (not always popular with colleagues elsewhere) was supplemented by my becoming more adept at interpreting trial data in ways that others didn’t. Both attributes allowed me to develop a narrative and speaking style that appeared to be appreciated and enjoyed by others in the vascular community. In truth, I was in the right place at the right time and had inspirational mentors. I benefitted from working in a ‘can do’ university department within an NHS hospital that was (actually) happy to support my academic career in carotid disease, provided (of course) I undertook my clinical commitments as well. Why the carotid artery? It was both serendipitous and down to chance. If my mentors had been interested in anorectal physiology, I suspect I would have developed a parallel academic career in a totally different world!! How would I best sum up my “life-long passion for the carotid artery”? Contrary to the stereotype that some have assumed, I have never attempted to tell people what they should do. My job is to make people think! This was a guiding principle instilled by my mentors, but I am not averse to giving an opinion if asked! And it has been great fun as well! My over-riding concern for the future, however, is that the current trajectory of health care provision worldwide would now make it much more difficult for others to emulate what I was lucky enough to achieve in my career. Never under-estimate the role of mentors and ‘can do’ departments!