Living and Working at Energy Vets Taranaki with Kylie Lindsay - Clinic Services Manager - pt 2/2 - 1034

Julie South [00:00:04]: Welcome to Veterinary Voices, culture storytelling conversations about what makes vet clinics places vets and nurses are excited about going to on Monday mornings — because they've found their kind of people. I'm Julie South, and this is episode 1034.

This is a Real Story episode — real Veterinary Voices telling real veterinary stories. Today we're continuing our conversation with Kylie Lindsay, Clinic Services Manager at Energy Vets in Taranaki on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island.

As we recorded this, Energy Vets was looking for their next experienced small animal veterinarian — someone ready to co-lead the companion animal team and mentor the next generation of vets. If you're considering your next career move, listen out for when Kylie describes the leadership role in the small animal team, the mindset that fits this clinic, and how Energy Vets develops its people over time.

Julie South [00:01:19]: Let's get into it.

Kylie Lindsay [00:01:25]: Someone who enjoys teaching. Someone who is a natural leader, with the experience of a senior vet role behind them. Someone who wants to build strong relationships across the business — including with the large animal vets, some of whom rotate through the companion animal team for a week or a month at a time. So someone who can encourage that cross-team involvement.

The other important aspect for this role is some business experience. We're looking for someone who can look at the companion animal area from both a vet and a business perspective — someone who can help grow the team, make it productive and profitable, and provide strong direction. We've got very talented people in that team. Currently, both Greg and I provide leadership there — Greg from the vet side, me from the business side. We want someone who can bring those two things together and be in there, breathing it every day.

Julie South [00:03:27]: Kylie, when you're not working — and not with your menagerie — what are you doing?

Kylie Lindsay [00:03:34]: My children are a big focus right now, and last November I became a grandmother, which has been wonderful. I spend a lot of time with family, but I still have my horses — so where possible I'm out enjoying that, whether it's supporting my daughter at pony club or attending local shows. I also love getting out walking the beach with the family and the dogs, and spending time with friends.

Julie South [00:04:18]: You mentioned becoming a grandmother — so your family has stayed in Taranaki?

Kylie Lindsay [00:04:25]: Yes, all my family are here now. My oldest did go away for a time — he was in the army and then lived in the Manawatu for a while — but the pull to come home brought him back. I think the mountain has a lot to do with that. When you leave Taranaki and drive back, the moment you see it, it just feels like home. There aren't many places where you've got mountain, sea, rural, and city all in one region like that. It's pretty special.

And actually, that's something worth sharing more broadly — we've had staff leave and come back, more than once in some cases. Sometimes it's OE travel, sometimes it's an opportunity interstate. We've had vets and nurses go to Australia and work at zoos. Amazing opportunities. But the pull to come home has been strong, and when they're ready to come back into the industry, we're often their first call.

They've got options — there are other clinics around the mountain — but they choose to come back here. I think that says a lot.

Jess is a good example. She started as a student placement with us, joined our Waitara clinic as a nurse, and then had the opportunity to go to Australia Zoo. She loved it — but after around a year she was missing home, and she rang to ask if there was a role available. It happened that we had some growth at that point, so we made space for her. She came back, went on to become our head nurse, and then later travelled to the UK with her partner for an opportunity outside the industry. And then she came back again.

Kylie Lindsay [00:07:48]: We've been really lucky to have those people return, because they come back with experience — and that experience benefits the whole team.

Julie South [00:07:57]: It's interesting that you frame it that way — as an opportunity rather than a loss. A lot of employers might see a good person leaving as defection.

Kylie Lindsay [00:08:24]: We have two others in our nursing team — Kate and Alana — who both started their nursing careers with us and then went to Australia. Alana is a really good example. She started here as a new graduate nurse, worked her way up to team leader in a small animal clinic over there, then practice manager, and has since come back to Taranaki with her family and approached us. She's rejoined the nursing team, and she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from everything she's seen and done along the way.

I genuinely don't see people leaving and gaining experience elsewhere as anything other than a benefit. They bring back things other clinics do that are new to us. That can only make us better.

Something else that might be of interest — I've had the opportunity to become a shareholder. Energy Vets approached me. Greg and the other shareholders came to me and said they'd like to invite me to join as a shareholder. It wasn't even an existing opportunity — they changed their constitution to make it possible, because I wasn't a vet. And just recently, as of the day we recorded this, I finished signing the paperwork to become a director.

Julie South [00:10:34]: Congratulations.

Kylie Lindsay [00:10:34]: Thank you.

Julie South [00:10:36]: Kylie, you're a shareholder — you were invited to be one — and you're not a vet, you're not a nurse. What's that like? Because someone in a support role becoming a shareholder or director in a vet clinic is not the norm.

Kylie Lindsay [00:10:59]: It's quite an honour, really. It wasn't something I was expecting. I was approached by the directors and asked whether it was something I'd consider — they put it to me as a proposal. Very humbling is probably the best way to describe it, because you don't expect that opportunity when you're not a qualified vet nurse or vet.

What stays with me is that the directors were all vets, and they rewrote the constitution so that it could be available to me. I'm very thankful for that. I've had no regrets. It's been an amazing opportunity.

Julie South [00:12:24]: Does it feel any different — being a shareholder?

Kylie Lindsay [00:12:26]: It's nice to have skin in the game. But honestly, I've always felt part of the business — even back through reception supervisor and the roles before that. The door has always been open. If you had ideas that could benefit the business or the teams, management has always been open to hearing them. We've all been part of the growth. It hasn't just been driven from the top.

I think everybody plays an important part — from the kennel hand right through to team leaders — and that's always been acknowledged. People have been the ones who've grown this business to what it is today. As managers and shareholders, we're always looking to improve on that. We recently ran an anonymous survey so the team could give us feedback on how management and the owners are performing. We're open to that.

Kylie Lindsay [00:13:33]: We've also been developing the shareholding structure in a way that opens up opportunities to other staff members over time — building a pathway for succession within the business. The people coming through now will be the ones who lead Energy Vets in the future.

Julie South [00:14:56]: For any business — and particularly a vet clinic — growth happens best when leadership listens. Can you give me an example of an idea that came from the front lines that the leadership team actually ran with?

Kylie Lindsay [00:15:27]: This goes back a while, but it's been pivotal. In our Inglewood clinic, reception was the hub for everything — client arrivals, phones, vets checking in, admin queries. It was constant. We held a weekend of collaboration where all staff were invited to contribute ideas and learn together. Two significant things came out of that weekend.

The first was the name Energy Vets. We'd been trading as Inglewood Veterinary Services — but our Waitara clinic, just 20 minutes away, was also called Inglewood Veterinary Services, which didn't reflect that we were one business serving both communities. The team landed on Energy Vets, and it's stuck.

The second was the hub. The reception team — nurses, receptionists — identified that the constant phone traffic at the front counter was pulling focus away from the clients standing in front of them. They came up with the idea of creating a dedicated back-of-house hub, directly behind reception with a window through, where all incoming calls would be handled. That took the noise and the interruptions away from the front counter, so the team could be present with clients and give them proper attention.

Kylie Lindsay [00:18:45]: It works really well now. Receptionists rotate between the front counter and the hub — so clients can put faces to names whether they're calling in or walking through the door. And on the call side, small animal calls go directly to the Waitara clinic, where the team has their finger on the pulse of what's happening there, while large animal calls come into the hub at Inglewood. We have what we jokingly call the "flight controller" — the person who keeps the calls moving and makes sure the day runs smoothly for both clients and the vets out on the road.

It was a fantastic idea. And it came entirely from the people breathing it every day.

Julie South [00:20:33]: That was Kylie Lindsay, Clinic Services Manager, shareholder, and director at Energy Vets in Taranaki on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island.

In this second half of our conversation, Kylie talked about what the clinic looks for in a senior veterinarian, how leadership develops inside the team, and her own journey — not the usual pathway — from answering after-hours phones to becoming part of the clinic's leadership and ownership. If you're not sure what that journey looked like, go back and listen to episode 1033.

Growth, progression, succession planning — all happening at Energy Vets. As we recorded this, they were looking for their next experienced small animal vet, someone ready to co-lead the companion animal team. If that sounds like your kind of clinic, you can find out more at careers.vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets. Link is in the show notes.

Julie South [00:21:51]: If you're responsible for recruitment at your clinic and you're listening to these real stories thinking, "we have stories like this, we just don't tell them" — I'd love to chat. Email me directly at julie@vetclinicjobs.com.

Next week we're catching up with Stacy, head receptionist at Energy Vets, where you'll hear what work-life balance actually looks like for her. If you haven't already, hit the follow button wherever you're listening so you don't miss it.

Thank you for staying to the end. This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self. And remember — when vets and nurses can see that you're their kind of people, you stop hiring strangers and start welcoming people who already feel like they belong at your place. Until next time.