Veterinary Voices

Hosted by Julie South | Veterinary Recruitment Marketing Strategist

Business Management Marketing

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Episodes

322

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-NZ

About the show

Most vet clinics are proud of their culture. They know it's special — it's what makes them tick. What they don't know is how to share those stories in ways that mean something to other vets and nurses. That's culture storytelling. And Julie South — founder of VetClinicJobs — shows vet clinics how to do it. You'll hear real vets and nurses talking about what it's actually like to work at their clinics. Not the polished corporate version — the real moments that show how teams handle pressure, support each other, and why someone would actually want to work there. That's the kind of proof that builds trust before anyone's even looking. You'll also learn which stories to share and when, how to stay visible to great people even when you're fully staffed, and why the quiet months between hires are actually your biggest opportunity. Each episode gives you something specific to do that week — a story to share, a shift to make, a pattern to break. If you're tired of starting from scratch every time someone resigns, this podcast shows you how to become the clinic people are already watching.

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September 8, 2026Episode 28813 min

The Harder Your Clinic Is to Understand, the Easier It Is to Keep Scrolling — 288

A vet or nurse may begin researching your clinic months before you advertise a vacancy. They’re not necessarily ready to apply—but they may already be deciding whether yours is a clinic worth remembering. If the answers they need are scattered across job ads, client-facing webpages and old social posts, they may simply move on before finding a reason to keep your clinic on their watchlist. In episode five of the REAL•CULTURE•STORY series, Julie South unpacks the first letter in CULTURE: C — Clarity . Previously in this series: Real Stories → veterinaryvoices.com/284 Everyday Evidence → veterinaryvoices.com/285 Actual People → veterinaryvoices.com/286 Lived Values → veterinaryvoices.com/287 This episode covers: Why vets’ and nurses’ due diligence may begin long before a clinic starts recruiting How AI tools are changing what prospective jobseekers can discover about working at a clinic Why an AI-generated answer does not necessarily give someone clarity The two jobs of clarity: making answers easy to find and making them unmistakably yours Why familiar claims such as “supportive”, “close-knit” and “collaborative” need real culture evidence behind them How scattered information makes prospective jobseekers work too hard to understand your clinic The one-question Clarity Test you can run on your own clinic Three steps for making an important answer clearer: Spot it, Source it, Share it The episode closes by setting up next week’s letter— U, for Understanding . Finding an answer is one thing; understanding what it could mean for someone’s working life is something else. If you’d like Your Kind of vets and nurses to understand and remember your clinic—even before you’re advertising a vacancy—email julie@vetclinicjobs.com . About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling. Julie helps forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. She has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings—for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

September 1, 2026Episode 28710 min

Your Clinic Says “Respect.” What Happens When a Client Starts Shouting? - ep 287

A client begins shouting at someone on reception. A colleague steps between them, and the clinic leader backs the team by respectfully ending the client–clinic relationship. The value on the wall may say “respect”—but what happens in that moment reveals whether the clinic truly lives it. In episode four of the REAL•CULTURE•STORY series, Julie South unpacks the L — Lived Values . Previously in this series: Real Stories → veterinaryvoices.com/284 Everyday Evidence → veterinaryvoices.com/285 Actual People → veterinaryvoices.com/286 This episode covers: Why values displayed on a wall are promises—not proof of what working at a clinic is really like How values become believable through the decisions people make when those values are tested What a clinic’s response to an abusive client tells vets and nurses about whether their wellbeing will genuinely be protected Why living a value is most revealing when doing so costs the clinic something The difference between describing a value and telling a real story that allows jobseekers to see it in action Three steps any clinic can run this week: Spot it, Source it, Share it The episode closes by setting up next week’s letter— C, for Clarity , the first diagnostic in CULTURE. If you’d like to give Your Kind of vets and nurses credible evidence of what your clinic stands for when it matters, email julie@vetclinicjobs.com . About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling. Julie helps forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. She has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings—for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

August 25, 2026Episode 28612 min

Your Job Ad Says 'Supportive Team.' But Who Are They? - ep 286

Your Job Ad Says "Supportive Team." But Who Are They? A new grad dreading her first large bitch spay asks a senior vet to be on hand. The senior vet watches quietly, steps in only when it gets tricky, then trusts her to finish the surgery herself. Nobody wrote that moment into a job ad. But it's exactly the kind of proof that turns "supportive team" from a claim into something a vet or nurse can believe. In episode three of the REAL+CULTURE+STORY series, Julie South unpacks the A — Actual People . Previously in this series: Real Stories → veterinaryvoices.com/284 Everyday Evidence → veterinaryvoices.com/285 This episode covers: Why putting a name beside a generic claim — "everyone's so supportive," said Jane — doesn't make it evidence The difference between content written for clients and content written for prospective colleagues, and why clinics so often mix the two up The "actual people" test: how to tell whether a story is real proof, or just decoration Why vets and nurses don't apply to work for a clinic name or a logo — they apply to work with the people they believe are waiting on the other side Three steps any clinic can run this week: Spot it, Source it, Share it The episode closes by setting up next week's letter — L, for Lived Values. If you'd like to start using peer-to-peer culture stories to give your recruiting an edge, email julie@vetclinicjobs.com . About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling. Julie helps forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. She has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

August 18, 2026Episode 28511 min

The Cake Problem: Why Your Best Recruitment Evidence Is the Stuff You Never Think to Mention - ep 285

"The Cake Problem": Why Your Best Recruitment Evidence Is the Stuff You Never Think to Mention Every Thursday, one vet bakes a cake for the Large Animal team meeting. Nobody asked her to. It's not in her job description. And it's exactly the kind of thing that never makes it into a job ad — even though it's the realest proof of "great team culture" a clinic will ever have. In episode two of the REAL+CULTURE+STORY series, Julie South unpacks the E — Everyday Evidence. Episode notes This episode covers: What REAL+CULTURE+STORY actually stands for: REAL is the evidence, CULTURE is where it lives, STORY is how it gets told Why job-seeking vets and nurses are now asking AI tools directly what it's really like to work somewhere — and what happens to a clinic's chances when there's no real evidence for the AI to find The Decision Gap: the space between reading a job ad and hitting apply, and the questions vets and nurses want answered before they will Why a repeated habit is stronger proof of culture than a single great day — one good day can be staged, a pattern can't Three steps any clinic can run this week: Spot it, Source it, Share it The episode closes by setting up next week's letter — A, for Actual People. If you'd like to start using peer-to-peer culture stories to give your recruiting an edge, email julie@vetclinicjobs.com . Episode 284 - the first in this REAL CULTURE STORY series: https://veterinaryvoices.com/284 About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

August 11, 2026Episode 28411 min

The Message vs The Moment: Why 'Small, Hardworking, Friendly Team' Doesn't Work - 284

The R in REAL+CULTURE+STORY: Why "Great Team" Job Ads Don't Work One letter. One question every vet clinic job ad needs to answer: is what you're claiming real, or is it just window dressing? In episode one of a new series, Julie South starts unpacking the REAL+CULTURE+STORY Framework — the 16-letter framework behind every Culture Story Centre her team builds — one letter at a time. Episode notes This episode covers: Why vague job ad claims — "collaborative and values-led," "small, hardworking, friendly team," "no one gets left behind" — are interchangeable between clinics and give vets and nurses no reason to stop scrolling The Decision Gap in action: if a clinic doesn't answer the questions vets and nurses ask before applying, AI will make something up, pull information from an unrelated clinic, or send them down a rabbit hole R is for Real — the difference between the message (what a clinic says about itself) and the moment (something that actually happened and proves it's true) A worked example turning "small, hardworking, friendly team" into a specific, peer-to-peer moment Three homework steps for any clinic's job ad this week: Spot it, Source it, Share it The episode closes by setting up next week's letter — E, for Everyday Evidence — the second letter in REAL. If you want a second pair of eyes on how long your last job ad took to fill, or where your Decision Gap sits right now, email julie@vetclinicjobs.com . About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

August 4, 2026Episode 28311 min

What Every "Vet Clinic Job Ad" Elephant Has In Common - ep 283

What Every "Vet Clinic Job Ad" Elephant Has In Common Eight weeks. Seven elephants. One pattern. In the series finale of The Elephant In The Room, Julie South brings it all together — and names the single thing every elephant in this series had in common. Plus something you absolutely need to know before the next series begins. Episode notes This episode recaps all seven elephants from the series: The clinic with a reputation it hasn't found a way to publicly undo — and prove it's come a long way since The Decision Gap — the gap between the views a job ad gets and the suitable applications it receives; not an exposure problem but a trust problem, where vets and nurses read vanilla, blah, identical-to-everyone-else wording and decide it's not enough to make the leap of changing jobs The skills shortage — real, but it's the ceiling not the floor; two clinics in the same town, same shortage, wildly different outcomes After-hours — two words in many job ads that almost never say what a vet or nurse needs to know Competitive remuneration — the two words that signal a salary exists and nothing else; research from VetStaff and Unitec Te Pukenga (2023) shows salary is the number one thing vets and nurses want to know The new graduate experience — mentoring programmes that drift from weekly to monthly to nothing, and the smaller group who leave the profession entirely because the job failed them Corporate or independent — half the profession says it matters, almost no job ad says which one it is The episode argues that every elephant is the same thing wearing different clothes: information that vets and nurses need before they apply that isn't in the job ad. And that in most cases, it doesn't need to be in the ad — the ad's job is to signal the vacancy. But clinics need somewhere vets and nurses can go to verify the claims. Because they're hiring critical thinkers. And critical thinkers check. The episode closes by opening the door to the next series — the REAL+CULTURE+STORY framework — which is how that peer-to-peer culture evidence gets built. If you'd like a copy of the VetStaff/Unitec Te Pukenga research, email julie@vetclinicjobs.com. About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

July 28, 2026Episode 2827 min

Corporate or independent — does your job ad say? - ep. 282

Everyone in veterinary has an opinion about corporate versus independent ownership. Strong ones, in both directions. But almost nobody says which one they are in the job ad. In the seventh episode of The Elephant In The Room, Julie South looks at the question that sits in the back of every vet and nurse's mind when they're reading a job ad — and gives you one practical check that takes about thirty seconds. Episode notes Research VetStaff undertook with Unitec Te Pukenga in 2023 found that ownership type is roughly a fifty-fifty issue in the veterinary profession. Slightly more respondents said it mattered to them — but plenty had positive and negative experiences in both corporate and independent environments. This episode is not about which is better. The elephant is about disclosure. Some corporate groups advertise with their brand loud and clear — transparent, straightforward, and attracting the vets and nurses who want exactly what a larger group offers. Others make a deliberate business decision to preserve the local identity of their acquired clinics, for good reasons that serve both clients and teams. The result is that vets and nurses who care about ownership type may not know what they're looking at from the ad alone. They find out through their own due diligence — checking whether the contact email matches the clinic's URL, Googling the group name, asking at interview. When it matters to them and they didn't know earlier, it can feel like something was left unsaid. The episode argues that clinics — corporate or independent — have something to gain by being upfront. The vets and nurses who want what you offer can find you faster. The ones who don't can rule themselves out before anyone wastes time finding out three interviews in. This is the seventh episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud. About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

July 21, 2026Episode 2819 min

The New Grad Experience — What's Promised vs What's Real - 281

Some vets and nurses leave the profession far too soon. You probably know of at least one yourself. In this sixth episode of The Elephant In The Room series , Julie South looks at what happens when a new grad arrives at a clinic and the support that was promised turns out to look very different in practice — and asks one question that every new grad and every clinic owner should be able to answer. Episode notes Many vet clinics advertise a mentoring programme for new graduates — and mean it. But meaning it and having something formal behind it are two different things. This episode looks at what happens when a mentoring programme exists in name but not in structure: the weekly catchups that become fortnightly, then monthly, then disappear entirely because there was nothing documented to hold them in place. And the harder version — where the new grad didn't clarify at interview what support would look like, the clinic didn't know what expectation had been set, and the new grad arrives to find they're largely on their own. The episode covers three outcomes for new grads who don't get the support they need: those who find their footing anyway, those who leave for a clinic that will support them, and a smaller group — real, if not large — who leave the profession entirely. They didn't fail at the job. The job failed them. The episode also looks at what the clinics that do it well have in common — week-by-week milestones, documented, a mentor who shows up and follows through — and why those clinics get talked about through new grad cohorts in a very different way. The closing question is for both audiences: new grads are encouraged to ask to see the mentoring programme on paper at their next interview. Clinic owners are asked what they would point a new grad to if that question came up tomorrow. This is the sixth episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud. About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

July 14, 2026Episode 2808 min

Competitive Remuneration - two job ad words that say nothing - 280

What's the single most important thing vets and nurses need to see in a job ad? Research says it's pay. By a country mile. And yet most vet clinic job ads say the same two words: competitive remuneration . In the fifth episode of The Elephant In The Room series, Julie South looks at why clinics won't put salary ranges in their ads — and why that decision is costing them more applications than they realise. Episode notes In 2023, VetStaff — New Zealand's only specialist veterinary recruitment agency and a sister company to VetClinicJobs — undertook research with Unitec Te Pukenga asking vets and nurses across New Zealand and beyond what it took to click on a job ad. The results were unambiguous. Almost 97% of respondents rated salary as important or most important when considering a new role. Salary band information was the second most compelling element of a job ad — at 41%, just behind the headline at 43%. Yet most vet clinic job ads say "competitive remuneration" and nothing more. This episode explores two reasons clinics won't name a figure — they don't want to lock themselves in, and they're worried about being undercut by the clinic down the road — and why both fears are leading to the same outcome: a completely flat field where every ad looks identical and vets and nurses have nothing to go on for the most important piece of information they're searching for. The episode also argues there's a way through that doesn't require locking anyone in — and that the clinic which names a range, even a broad one, immediately stands out from every other ad in the market. This is the fifth episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud. About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics

July 7, 2026Episode 2797 min

After Hours - What The Job Ad Never Says - 279

If you're responsible for hiring at your vet clinic, do you have dread words? Words you know you have to include in the job ad, but the moment you type them you can already feel the applications not coming? This episode is about two of those words: after-hours. In the fourth episode of The Elephant In The Room, Julie South looks at why " shared across the team " tells a vet or nurse almost nothing — and why the clinics that have genuinely solved after-hours are sitting on something worth saying, and saying nothing. Episode notes Most vet clinic job ads that mention after-hours say the same thing: shared across the team, rostered. Nothing else. Yet behind those words, the experience can be completely different from one clinic to the next. This episode looks at what that difference actually looks like — from a clinic where most of the team want to be on the after-hours roster, to one where one or two people quietly carry the load while the roster looks balanced on paper. The key example: a small animal clinic whose owner doesn't call it after-hours at all. She calls it the Emergency and Critical Care roster. Same obligation — completely different story around it. The financial reward is genuine, recovery time is real and honoured, and being on the roster is a choice most of the team actively make. The episode argues that clinics which have built something genuinely fair and well-supported around after-hours have specific, true things to say that very few clinics are saying — and that vets and nurses who'd thrive in that environment can self-identify from the way it's described. Generic language gives them nothing to go on. This is the fourth episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud. About your host Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs. Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons. Could Your Kind of People recognise Their Kind of Clinic ? A job ad may catch a vet’s or nurse’s eye. But it’s their own due diligence that determines whether they apply—or keep in touch. Culture Story Centres turn real experiences from inside your team into credible, discoverable recruitment evidence, giving vets and nurses meaningful reasons to choose your clinic. Explore Culture Story Centres for veterinary clinics