Vet Clinic Culture Storytelling Episodes

Dr Anna knew nothing about New Zealand before leaving Dublin, Ireland. Just that the weather would be terrible - like at home.
A year later, she's thinking about residency.

This is the final episode in the VetsOne Employer of Choice series. You'll hear what the first year as a new graduate actually looks like—from someone who arrived knowing nobody and nothing about where she'd be living.

What you'll hear:
Seven weeks of structured induction as a brand new grad.

Why extended euthanasia appoin...

"You're not hiring staff. You're trying to bring back awareness from the dead", that's the point Julie South makes today. Most vet clinics think they have two options: advertise when hiring, or do nothing when fully staffed. But that "doing nothing" phase is costing you more than you realise — and it's not just the job board fees you see on invoices. When you go dark between hires, four things are quietly draining your budget. Most clinics never add these up. When they do, the number is...

What Support Actually Looks Like: Two Vet Nurses on Corporate vs Private Practice
Brooke and Abi are both veterinary nurses at VetsOne. One's been there two years, the other nearly two. Both came from clinics where they felt unsupported. Both found something different.

In this episode:
What "support" actually looks like when teammates pick up the slack on rough days

How Brooke discovered a passion for palliative care she didn't know she had

Why Abi's weight management clinic idea sat in her h...

Most responsible for recruitment in a vet clinic, think they're building their employer brand when they post a job ad. They've written a detailed description, listed benefits, maybe mentioned their culture. They hit publish and wait for applications. Then nothing happens. So they rewrite the ad, add more platforms, spend more money. Still nothing. They're advertising without marketing. And advertising without marketing is just shouting into a void where nobody's listening. In this...

Dana relocated 1300 kilometres from Central Otago to Hawke's Bay specifically for this veterinary nursing position at VetsOne. In this episode: Why she moved 800+ miles for a nursing role—and what it took to build a new life knowing only 3-4 peopleCorporate vs. privately owned clinics: "You feel more like a family member rather than just a number"Weekly role rotations that pair nurses with different vets daily—creating variety for everyoneThe Lincoln programme: Learning to navigate diff...

Your clinic's website, social media and team page were built to attract pet owners. When you send job seekers to that same content, you're asking consumer marketing to do employer brand marketing's job. It simply can't. The person visiting your website to book an appointment is looking for completely different information from the veterinary nurse deciding whether to apply for your position. Your consumer marketing answers questions pet owners have - but when a veterinary professional c...

In Part 1 (ep 1009), you heard Dr Mia's journey as a mature student to veterinary medicine, her transition from mixed to small animal practice, and how VetsOne supported her herbal medicine side hustle. You also heard why she left—and what drew her back 18 months later. In Part 2, Dr Mia walks through the practical day-to-day realities of working at VetsOne. In this episode, you'll hear about: After-hours arrangements: How joining the Hawke's Bay after-hours clinic changed everything (latest ...

Dr Mia describes VetsOne as her "forever home" - and after hearing her story, you'll understand why. In this first part of our conversation with Dr Mia, you'll discover how a new graduate found a clinic that not only supported her transition from mixed to small animal practice, but actively championed her interest in herbal medicine when she could have been dismissed as "witchy" or "alternative." What you'll hear: How Dr Mia came to veterinary medicine as a mature student after trying (unsucc...

Someone resigns. You advertise. Months pass with no suitable applicants. You spend thousands across multiple platforms. Eventually you fill the position, turn everything off, and breathe a sigh of relief.
Then 18 months later, someone else resigns and you're back at square one, starting the entire exhausting cycle from scratch.
If this pattern sounds familiar, you're stuck in a cycle that most vet clinics don't realise they can actually break.

In this episode, Julie South walks through:

the th...

VetsOne: 34 Years of Evolution - Amanda What does 34 years of loyalty to one veterinary clinic tell you? When Amanda started at VetsOne in 1990 as the last on-the-job trained veterinary nurse, she couldn't have imagined she'd still be there today—now as operations manager, leading a team through floods, growth, and transformation. In this episode, Amanda shares what generosity of thought and generosity of time actually look like in daily practice. You'll hear the real story of what happened d...

What does it look like when a veterinarian who knew at age five what she wanted to be deliberately steps back from clinical work to build something bigger?
Dr Sharon Marshall, one of VetsOne's three directors, has spent 25 years in Hawke's Bay building not just a veterinary practice, but a culture designed to outlast her.

In this first of two conversations, she reveals how she reconciles the tension between being a vet and being a business owner (spoiler: they're the same goal approached differ...

This is the final episode in the VetsOne Employer of Choice series where Dr Sharon Marshall brings it all together—the philosophy, the practical support, and the vision for where this 80-year-old practice is heading.
In Part 2, Dr Sharon gets into the specifics of what stepping into leadership at VetsOne actually looks like day-to-day.

In this episode, you'll hear:
How VetsOne supports first-time leaders (3-month induction, monthly leadership meetings, direct support from someone who's been in ...

What's the difference between clinics that fill positions in weeks and those that post the same job ad month after month with zero applications? After 16 episodes of job ad strategies, you might discover the answer isn't about what you know - it's about what you've actually implemented. In Episode 241, Julie South delivers a reality check for the final episode of the comprehensive job advertisement series. If you've been following along since episode 225, you should be seeing resu...

Meet Dr Mike Newell, one of VetsOne's three working director-owners and a large animal veterinarian who's spent over 25 years building relationships with Hawke's Bay farming clients. In this conversation, you'll hear: What it's like being both a practice owner and a working veterinarianWhy the three directors can make decisions without corporate clunkinessHow attitude matters far more than skills when building the right teamWhy Dr Mike describes himself as "the one that breaks himself t...

Dr Jason Clark is one of VetsOne's three directors and a working farm vet who came to veterinary medicine as a mature student. In this episode, he walks through what collaborative protocol development actually looks like when a clinic genuinely involves staff in decision-making. In this episode, you'll hear: How VetsOne's team developed their euthanasia protocols—including why they light a candle by the front door—and what changed from previous practicesWhat happened during the 2023 Cyclone G...

What if the problem with filling after hours emergency shifts isn't that people don't want to do them, but that you haven't made them worth doing? You might discover that if your current team can't honestly endorse what you're offering, your job ads will struggle regardless of how well they're written. In Episode 240, Julie South reveals why many vet clinics approach emergency rosters with a "be on the roster or find another job" attitude, then wonder why they only attract desperate applicant...

What if your part-time job ads aren't failing because of the words you're writing, but because of something happening inside your clinic before you even post the job? You might discover that the real challenge isn't your recruitment strategy - it could be internal attitudes about part-time work that jobseekers sense. Julie South shares why some clinics nearly lose talented staff they desperately want to keep, simply because they struggle to think outside existing roster systems. S...