Energy Vets, Taranaki | Growing a Career That Grows With You

In this REAL+STORY episode, Julie South speaks with Dr Michelle Gosling about what it looks like to build a long-term veterinary career in one place — and why she never felt the need to leave Energy Vets after joining as a new graduate in 2013.

Michelle reflects on her journey from new grad to senior large animal vet, working parent, farm services manager and, most recently, shareholder in the business. Rather than focusing on titles, this conversation traces how responsibility, trust and flexibility have expanded alongside different stages of her life.

What emerges quietly throughout is a picture of a clinic that adapts as people change — supporting maternity leave, part-time work, leadership development and ownership without forcing people into a single version of “progression”.

This episode will resonate with vets who are thinking beyond their next job and trying to picture whether a clinic can still fit years down the track — as careers deepen, families grow and priorities shift.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction to the Real Story series with Energy Vets
01:05 – Michelle’s journey from new graduate to shareholder
02:27 – Moving to Taranaki and settling into the region
03:56 – Family life, schooling and working four days a week
05:12 – Support, flexibility and parenting at Energy Vets
06:38 – The role of farm services manager and developing people
08:14 – Being invited into ownership
09:24 – Who fits best at Energy Vets
14:12 – What long-term progression really looks like in practice

Hiring link

If you’re an experienced small animal vet exploring your next step, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets Taranaki at: vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture recognisable and familiar, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

When a job ad doesn’t deliver suitable applicants, most clinics assume the problem is the wording.

So they rewrite it.
Add more detail.
Highlight mentoring.
Emphasise work-life balance.
Polish the benefits.

And wait.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores what’s really happening in month two of the recruitment cycle—when “posting everywhere” hasn’t worked, and rewriting feels like the logical next step.

But vets and nurses aren’t analysing your headline. They’re pattern-matching. And when your clinic is unfamiliar, even the best-written ad becomes just another unknown name making familiar claims.

This episode unpacks why better copy doesn’t fix a recognition problem—and why some clinics fill roles without obsessing over wording at all.

Stay to the end for a question that may change how you think about every job ad you’ve rewritten.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction: Month two of the recruitment cycle
01:14 – The rewrite instinct and why it feels productive
03:03 – Pattern matching: how vets and nurses actually scroll
04:41 – Why even professional copywriters can’t solve this
07:45 – What job ads are really designed to do
08:52 – Two clinics, two very different outcomes
09:44 – The question about how many times you’ve rewritten the same ad
10:55 – What happens in month three

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to stop relying on reactive job advertising and instead build recognition over time—so when they do need to hire, they’re not starting from cold.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Energy Vets | What Makes the Job Work Long-Term (Part 2)

Settling into a role is one thing.
Staying in it — sustainably — is another.

In this episode, Julie South continues her conversation with Dr Sam Armstrong, a mixed animal vet at Energy Vets in Taranaki, looking at what work feels like once the initial settling-in period has passed.

Sam talks candidly about after-hours, workload, seasonal pressure points, and how the structure around him makes the job feel manageable over time. He also reflects on commuting, working across clinics, and what overseas vets benefit from knowing before making the move to New Zealand.

This is Part Two of a two-part conversation with Energy Vets, offering a grounded look at how support, systems, and everyday decisions shape whether people stay — not just how they start.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and context for Part Two
01:01 – Life after the settling-in period
02:04 – After-hours work and how it’s managed
03:59 – Recovery time, sleep, and safety
04:51 – Using a regional after-hours clinic
05:43 – Commuting, call-outs, and New Zealand roads
07:49 – What overseas vets benefit from knowing
09:22 – Visas, residency, and practical logistics
11:27 – Team culture and why people stay
12:08 – Closing reflections on sustainability and support
14:04 – Final sign-off

If you’re an experienced small animal vet exploring your next step, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets at:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture recognisable and familiar, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

This episode begins a new series looking at why the familiar recruitment playbook keeps failing veterinary clinics. Julie South starts with the first and most common response to a vacancy: posting job ads everywhere and hoping one platform will finally deliver a different outcome.

Using current data from across Australia and New Zealand, Julie explains how rotating job boards and increasing spend doesn’t change what vets and nurses experience when they scroll. The problem isn’t effort or intent — it’s that clinics are trying to solve a recognition problem with reach.

This episode addresses a moment many clinic owners and managers recognise: doing what’s expected, paying for multiple platforms, and still waiting. Julie unpacks how pattern-matching and familiarity shape attention, and why exposure without recognition simply adds to the noise.

In This Episode

00:00 – Framing the series and why “posting everywhere” is the first strategy clinics try
01:02 – The scale of job advertising across Australia and New Zealand
02:40 – Why rotating platforms isn’t trying something new — it just creates noise
05:22 – How vets and nurses pattern-match job ads and filter out unknown clinics
07:56 – The wrong question clinics ask — and the reframing that actually matters
09:32 – The closing question about job boards, cost, and results

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture recognisable and familiar, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Energy Vets | Finding Your Feet as a New Grad (Part 1)

Starting your veterinary career isn’t just about clinical skills.

It’s about how support shows up when you’re new, how questions are handled, and how safe it feels to keep learning — especially when you’re doing it in a new country.

In this episode, Julie South speaks with Dr Sam Armstrong, a mixed animal vet at Energy Vets in Taranaki, about arriving in New Zealand straight out of university and starting his first job without knowing anyone locally.

Sam reflects on settling into a new farming system, learning how the team works day to day, and the small, ordinary moments that helped him build confidence. Together, they offer a grounded look at what vets quietly pay attention to when deciding whether a clinic feels like their kind of clinic.

This is Part One of a two-part conversation with Energy Vets, focused on early career experiences, everyday support, and what makes learning sustainable over time.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and episode context
01:48 – Sam’s background and arriving in New Zealand
06:07 – Starting work as a new graduate and learning in practice
07:57 – A significant farm case and building confidence over time
10:33 – Team support, meetings, and shared decision-making
11:38 – Integrating into Taranaki and working in New Zealand
12:30 – How New Zealand farming systems differ from the UK and Ireland
16:06 – Favourite piece of kit and day-to-day realities
17:24 – Describing Energy Vets in three words
19:47 – Closing reflections on learning, support, and culture

If you’re an experienced small animal vet exploring your next step, you can find out more about current opportunities at Energy Vets at:
vetclinicjobs.com/energyvets

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with forward-thinking veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through VetClinicJobs, Julie helps clinics make their culture visible and recognisable, so vets and nurses can tell whether a clinic is Their Kind of Clinic long before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Closing the Attraction Gap: Why Knowing Isn't the Same as Doing

Most veterinary clinic managers know they should attract people before they need them—but knowing doesn't close the gap between understanding what needs to happen and actually making it happen.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores the attraction gap: the space between knowing you should build recognition and actually being able to do it while running a busy clinic.

Through the predictable five-month recruitment cycle most clinics experience, Julie shows why the gap never closes when you're trying to solve recruitment during a crisis—and why it only closes between crises, when you actually have time to build.

This episode bridges the recent conversations on network expansion and recruitment momentum, and sets up next week's new series examining each month of the trapped recruitment cycle in detail.

Stay to the end for a question about timing that reframes when clinics should actually be solving their recruitment problem.

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction: The attraction gap and why knowing isn't doing
01:10 – The impossible timing trap: never thinking about recruitment when staffed, desperate when understaffed
04:03 – The predictable five-month cycle from job ads to expensive surrender
07:31 – Two clinics, two different approaches to closing the gap
10:17 – The timing question that explains why the gap never closes

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with veterinary clinics that want to move beyond reactive job advertising by building recruitment momentum through continuous culture storytelling—so when they do need to hire, they're never starting from cold again.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

Energy Vets - Taranaki - New Zealand | REAL+STORY
A recent graduate’s view of support, mentoring, and staying in the profession

When new graduates talk about support, they’re not talking about slogans. They’re talking about what happens in the moments that matter.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South continues the Energy Vets REAL+STORY series with Jade, a recent graduate mixed animal veterinarian who has been working at Energy Vets in Taranaki for just over two years.

Jade shares why she chose to return to Taranaki after graduating from Massey University, what stood out about Energy Vets as a student on placement, and how support actually shows up day to day — from surgeries and after-hours, to asking questions, building confidence, and knowing someone has your back.

This is an honest conversation about mixed practice, mentoring, after-hours realities, team culture, and what helps early-career vets not just cope — but enjoy the job and want to stay in the profession.

Here’s how Jade describes that support in her own words:

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction and where this episode fits in the Energy Vets REAL+STORY series
01:02 – Jade’s background and returning to Taranaki after graduating
02:42 – What “supportive” really means for a new graduate
04:01 – How Energy Vets felt different from other student placements
05:01 – Mixed animal caseloads and how the year ebbs and flows
05:59 – Longer consult times and why they matter on busy days
06:17 – Dairy, lifestyle, and equine work in practice
07:09 – After-hours equine support and not being left alone
07:58 – Building strong relationships with clients
08:31 – Privately owned farms and what that changes
08:52 – Living in Taranaki: outdoors, community, and lifestyle
11:16 – Favourite equipment and learning to use ultrasound
11:54 – A concrete example of support during early surgeries
13:13 – Unexpected friendships and team closeness
14:14 – After-hours as a new grad and how readiness is handled
16:48 – A memorable early case and calling for help
18:00 – Who fits best at Energy Vets and what being a team player means
19:01 – Closing reflections on mentoring, support, and staying in the profession

If you’re an experienced small animal veterinarian thinking about your next step — particularly if you enjoy mentoring and supporting early-career vets — Energy Vets is currently looking for someone ready to step up into that role.

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with veterinary clinics that want to show what working there is really like — not just list job requirements. Through culture storytelling, Julie helps clinics attract vets and nurses who recognise their kind of people and their kind of clinic before a vacancy appears.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

When Big Numbers Don’t Matter

When a clinic needs to advertise, the decision often feels obvious.
Choose the platform with the biggest database. The most traffic. The largest audience.

But what if those numbers aren’t measuring what actually matters?

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South explores why big numbers can feel reassuring — yet still leave clinics stuck advertising for months. Database size, website hits, and subscriber counts might look impressive on paper, but they don’t guarantee recognition, fit, or applications from the right vet or nurse.

Julie unpacks why recruitment fails when clinics outsource discovery to platforms and algorithms — and what changes when clinics shift from being listed to being recognised.

This episode closes the recent run of conversations on culture storytelling, network expansion, and recruitment momentum by asking one uncomfortable but essential question: are you attracting the kind of vet or nurse you actually want on your team?

In This Episode

00:00 – Introduction: why the numbers everyone chases may not be the right ones

01:13 – A familiar scenario: needing to advertise and choosing platforms by database size

01:56 – Posting the ad, waiting, upgrading, and still not getting the right response

02:56 – Why big databases and high traffic don’t guarantee the right applicants

03:29 – What Google actually measures: behaviour, not hits

04:53 – The one number clinics really need: one right vet or nurse

05:44 – How recognition forms before a vacancy appears

06:54 – Why recognition can’t be measured in traditional metrics

07:45 – Culture Story Centres and arriving warm instead of cold

08:56 – Being recognised versus hoping to be discovered

09:46 – The question clinics should be asking instead of “which platform is bigger?”

10:56 – From being listed to being recognised — and why attraction changes everything

About Julie South

Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and host of Veterinary Voices.

She works with veterinary clinics that want to move beyond reactive job advertising by showing what working there is really like. Through culture storytelling, Julie helps clinics become recognised over time — so when they do advertise, the right vets and nurses already know they belong.

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs