Vera Pickering Interview
“At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” ~ Aristotle
DIEDERIK: I’m here today with Vera Pickering. Hi Vera.
VERA: Hi.
DIEDERIK: Thank you very much for joining us. So, let me ask you first up, what ignited your passion to become a vet, and what age did you make that decision?
VERA: It wasn’t a passion. I didn’t think of it until three quarters of the way through first year Uni Adelaide where I was doing marine biology, and thinking “Well, I couldn’t get the job that I wanted”—which was up on an underwater research station— “unless I was one of the top 2 in Australia, so what else can I do?” Well, I could do engineering because I like Maths, but I won’t do that because my uncle and my grandfather are engineers. I could do medicine because I like Biology, well, no I won’t do that because my grandmother always wanted me to be a doctor.. I was contrary, and I thought “Gee, Vet Science would be good.” I used to spend all my weekends on a farm that belong to friends of my family, I thought, “Vet Science would be fun, wouldn’t it? And it will get me out of Adelaide. I could go to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.” South Australia was giving scholarships for two students from Adelaide every year, and I don’t think I like Melbourne or Brisbane, I’d love to go to Sydney. So, I applied and bugger me, I got it, then I told my family.
DIEDERIK: That is so awesome, and so different to what anyone else has told me. So, that’s an eye opener. Thank you.
VERA: Well, then I started to be embarrassed when I walked into that first lecture, and all these people who wanted to be vets forever were there, and I’d thought of it three months before.
DIEDERIK: So, looking back, what didn’t they teach at Uni that you know now is absolutely crucial to being a successful practicing veterinarian?
VERA: The huge importance of listening. I think they don’t teach you enough to listen and observe, to listen to the humans that are bringing their animals or describing the condition. And the importance of listening to people and observing the animals that you’re dealing with. Just watching them and—I’m using the word “listening” in a broader sense.
DIEDERIK: Thank you. That’s very insightful. And, the other side of that coin is what did they teach you at Uni that once into the cold hard light of daily practice, was proven to be incorrect?
VERA: Well, at Uni, you sort of get taught that there’s this one path to get the result that you have to get for a particular condition, and that sure as hell isn’t true.
DIEDERIK: If you’ve got a new graduate sitting down in front of you when you were still back in practice, what are three things, or even just two things that you’d tell them they need to do immediately to turbo charge their career?
VERA: Be bold and try new procedures or treatments. Keep educated and read widely, even outside of veterinary science. Be prepared to approach and put forward a new business idea or offer of a partnership even if it’s not on the table.
DIEDERIK: Interesting. Thank you. And then the other side of that coin, what are three things they’ve got to avoid doing?
VERA: Staying in an environment where you’re not happy with your work progression, or you’re not happy with your work mates. And, believing that the education you receive at Uni was the pinnacle and that there’s nothing better. And staying in a rut with medications or procedures, that’s also nonsense.
DIEDERIK: Thank you. Your answers are really interesting.
If you were starting again, and you were in first year biology, would you in fact be a vet retrospective?
VERA: Likely yes or no. I don’t know. I think I could have done many things and been perfectly happy.
DIEDERIK: What were three challenges you faced in the practice, in business?
VERA: Initially, being a female in a male dominated profession, remembering I finished in ’74 and it was mostly blokes, and mostly blokes that owned practices too. Another challenge that I had, was that my first vet partner decided to leave the practise with three months’ notice two days after the birth of my second child. And then some two or three years later, I was given a month’s notice of termination of lease of the premises.
DIEDERIK: They’re fairly interesting challenges. And, just for people listening or reading, am I right in saying that your practice was the first, if not, one of the first all-female practices in Sydney?
VERA: I never really thought about that, but perhaps it was. I did have a male partner for several years , but for a long time, it’s been all girls.We have got a bloke again, he’s a nurse. So, yes, we have been I guess, because I owned a veterinary practice that was a substantial size. I was one of a few female owners of a veterinary practice, I think that would probably be more accurate. I have no sex discrimination when it comes to employing veterinarians though.
DIEDERIK: You mentioned your second child a minute ago, how did you manage to balance a really successful practice, a big practice, with family career and motherhood in general?
VERA: I didn’t find that particularly easy, I guess. You’ve just got to get organized. I employed a housekeeper a few days a week. They were generally women with children with disabilities so they could bring their children to my house, and their kids could interact with mine. It got a bit overwhelming at times with the afterhours stuff because I had three kids at home.
That’s how the afterhours sprung to life in Sydney. I approached Don Turner who happened to live up the road. I approached him because I had this great idea about how to set up an afterhours and make everybody want to join it in the local area. I put forward a proposal and we had a meeting with 25 vets because they couldn’t pass up a glass of wine and a chat, and six weeks later, we started because I had answered all their questions, and not give them any problems or cost them any money, really, so how could you say no. Basically, if you put a proposal to somebody they can’t say no to, they go with it, because you can try for a year, and if it’s not going to work, then back out.
DIEDERIK: And that after-hours practice is still going to this day, isn’t it?
VERA: Yes, it certainly is, and it’s hugely successful. I was involved as a director of that for some 22 years, but I am no longer, although I’m still interested in it. It’s moved premises and is hugely successful.
DIEDERIK: That it was successful. So, from you, on a personal level, what is success? What does it look like to you?
VERA: That’s a really interesting… I don’t know. Feeling that I’ve done some good at the end of every day.
DIEDERIK: Nice and simple. Thank you.
What do you think is or are your biggest success in general overall?
VERA: Building up a practice to being a good size practice. Designing and building and rebuilding the premises. Starting partnerships and getting them to work. And, raising successful, happy children. They’ve been my successes.
DIEDERIK: And, the keys to those successes Vera?
VERA: Having a positive can-do outlook. Being willing to solve problems in new ways. Being persistent and nice to people, although firm. Knowing one’s mind, but being prepared to change if something is not working. And, listening to others and trying their ideas if appropriate. They were my thoughts.
DIEDERIK: Thank you. Whenever I hear about you or read about you, or talk to you—and we haven’t talked for ages—you’re always one of these people that I see as being motivated and focused. What has kept you like that for such a long period of time?
VERA: I have no idea. I know I have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility, that probably helps. It’s not something I’ve tried to develop, but it just is. As a teenager, I can remember my grandmother saying to me “you use fewer facial muscles, and therefore, you’ll get fewer wrinkles if you smile, rather than frown.” So I used to practice smiling in front of the mirror. You know what, if you do smile, you make yourself feel happier. And if you have a belief in yourself that, basically, life is good—which I do believe—and it will work out in the end, it’s really helpful.
I don’t know, it’s just the way my brain is, and I have had my fair share of shit in life, I must say. But I believe that basically, life is good. We’re in a very lucky country, and we’re in a very lucky situation, and “Hey, there’s always food on the table, a roof over my head, and if I work at it, I can do stuff.”
DIEDERIK: And I whole heartedly agree with you. Even a ‘bad life’ here is much, much better than a good life in many other countries.
VERA: Correct.
DIEDERIK: If you had the chance to do this journey again, would you do anything differently?
VERA: That’s a really hard one actually. I always think there’s not enough time to work on all the myriads of projects that would be great to do, and I don’t mean just veterinary science, you know, other things. But, the one thing we seem to run out of is time, in a sense, and I would spend more time with friends and develop more friendships with other humans.
DIEDERIK: Thank you.
You’ve achieved a lot of goals that you’ve set, what do you think holds most vets back from achieving their goals?
VERA: Most humans generally – not taking opportunities as they come up. Opportunities come to everybody, but most people don’t take them. It’s being complacent, not running with new or different ideas due to the fear of not succeeding, when one can always change again. It’s the fear of failure or losing face and getting bogged down with minutia instead of looking at a big picture.
I don’t have a big ego, I think that helps, because I don’t actually worry about what other people think of me. I just try to be honest and give things a go and have fun doing it. But, I think not taking opportunities is the biggest thing because there are opportunities everywhere and you’ve just got to grab them with both hands and run with it.
DIEDERIK: I agree with you whole heartedly. Thank you.
Do you think that luck or tragedy has played any part in you achieving your success?
VERA: That’s a really hard one. You know, opportunities come for everyone, and some of them you make for yourself.
I bought a house in a suburb and I walked into a practice in the suburb and said, “How about I buy half of this practice because it’s really convenient for me because I just live down the road, and I can give you some time off.” I mean, how ballsy is that? I was 25 years old! And I think about it now and I just laugh, but what was I going to lose? Nothing. How am I going to get 25 practices to be willing to work to get them cooperatively and be happy about it. You put forward a proposal and give it a go.
I must say, like a lot of people, I had an unhappy marriage, and personal things, I think, create much bigger problems in one’s life than work. That did make me focus really, really hard on making the practice work, to continue to innovate and succeed so that I could support my family financially.
I think I’ve been pretty lucky generally. I tend to think that shit happens to everybody and I try and just put it behind me. I can’t change the past, but I can do something about the future so I may as well get on with it. That’s the way I look at it.
DIEDERIK: I think there’s a lot of hard work involved in your success.
If you were helping someone else, not necessarily a new graduate, just a young veterinarian, what pitfalls would tell them to make sure that they avoid?
VERA: I think every human is different in the way their brain works and what makes them happy, and they need to go with what they think is right for them morally and physically, and not be pushed into someone else’s bunch of beliefs. And, I see that happen in veterinary practices; I think it probably happens in every walk of life, but in veterinary practices, which are very dictatorial or very personality driven or whatever, where the members of the practice can’t be themselves, the practice doesn’t really meld with who they are, they should leave the practice and find a place where they are happy.
DIEDERIK: Just in practice, what’s your passion? Do you have your passion, whether that’s medicine, surgery, management, team motivation? What is your passion in practice?
VERA: Life.
My passion in practice was surgery, and I loved it. I love surgery, and in particular, orthopaedic surgery. I haven’t done it for a number of years, obviously because I’m on the retired end. I still consult, but certainly surgery was my big thing. I really loved it.
I love just getting it done and then, “Hey, you’ve got a result.” It’s super.
DIEDERIK: You’ve obviously differentiated the business side of practice from the clinical side. When did you start to look at those two as separate entities?
VERA: Probably after my first year out. I have always been involved with various business ideas through my family. My mother, for instance, was very innovative with a whole new idea with the business that she started when I was in my teens. So that probably helped me to think that, “Hey, you can give things ago, and it’s amazing what can happen.” I had one piece of advice from my grandfather, which was there’s got to be more money coming in than going out, therefore it’s really easy to run a business.
I can’t say that I truly separated it. If a practice is clinically running well, the money sort of naturally follows as long as everyone is honest, fair and works hard. And as I would say to a client, “I want to eat too, and I think that my staff deserve a good wage for a good day’s work.”
I think the business side was just part of me from the very start because I’ve been involved in all sorts of other businesses, and still am.
DIEDERIK: Thank you.
Our industry has a bit of a ‘reputation’. What do you think kept you sane?
VERA: Work. The only times I felt down is when personal things where bad, and work was my saviour. And when clients where occasionally difficult, as they are sometimes, I just put that down to some people being a pain or just generally miserable people, and that’s not my problem.
DIEDERIK: I know what you mean.
What’s the biggest thing or things that you have given, or you or your practice, have given back to your community?
VERA: I think listening and supporting so many members of the community, especially the old, the infirm or the lonely, and the time we can spend with them and going the extra mile. Because if you’re a local vet, it gives you insights into people’s lives, and for while on my consult dropdown list, I had psychological counselling just as a joke. I had people come in to the surgery and put their dog on the floor,( because I always put them on the floor first and let them run around and give them something to search for that’s delicious), and sit down and chat. And, they tell me all their problems, whatever they may be, and we’d have a discussion, and then they’d say, “There’s actually nothing the matter with the dog Vera, but I needed to talk to somebody.” And I’d go, “So these is one of these. Can I still charge you $60?”
I know that sounds really roundabout, but I spend a lot of time, even now, going to visit people. I’m doing a lot of house calls and chatting to people who can’t visit us. I’ve known three generations of families. So, I often know their situation, and one can be empathetic or sympathetic, or whatever, to their situation, and they just want somebody who can listen, because everybody else is so time poor.
DIEDERIK: I whole heartedly agree. I think one of the biggest joys in practices is developing relationships over the long term and having good, almost friends—if you like—coming in to see you.
VERA: And that is totally what happens. Absolutely I agree with that, to the point when now—and I’m only working 1 day a week now—that I have a whole bunch of people that I see regularly and visit their homes. And a bunch of people that I take to the theatre every two months, another bunch of people that I take go to pizza with once a month.
DIEDERIK: You’ve almost got an invisible counselling degree—behind you, are you able to see it—an invisible diploma of clinical psychology or something sitting there.
What are, just in general, three drivers or attributes to success?
VERA: Be confident enough to take some risks. You won’t succeed if you don’t try. And, do your best.
DIEDERIK: The second to the last questions is what’s your vision for the future of the veterinary industry?
VERA: Humans are just another mammal, is the way I look at it. We as vets, are uniquely placed to have a balanced view of the animal environmental interaction, and I think we can contribute enormously to helping the understanding of the natural world, and our place in it as humans, and the importance of the interaction of living things in the environment that makes us all content. And I think the veterinary profession is really an important cog in conveying these messages on many levels.
I can remember a local GP ringing me up one day and saying, “Vera, I’ve got to talk to you about nesting. Do animals nest? Because I’m starting to think that perhaps humans do too”. I think we are that kind of missing link, where with humans who think of themselves as some sort of superior biological being, and the rest of the natural world is ‘lesser’…I think vets can play a really important part in that link. The whole one-health idea is a great one.
DIEDERIK: Thank you.
The last question, and I’ve left it to the last because it’s sort of an interesting question I’ve had some interesting answers. For you, was there ever a turning point, a snap point, a line in the sand or a defining moment in your life or in your career? And if so, when was it, and what was it?
VERA: That’s really easy because I don’t think I there ever was one. I see life as a continuum. A slow getting of wisdom.
DIEDERIK: Okay. That’s Awesome. So, Vera, thank you very much for your answers. They’ve been really insightful. I really appreciate the time you’ve spent with me today.
VERA: Pleasure. Good luck with it.
Key Take-Aways
- It’s important to listen and observe- both the pets you’re working with and their owners
- Be bold and try new procedures or treatment. Keep educated and read widely, even outside of veterinary science
- Success; feeling like I’ve done some good at the end of the day
- “It uses less facial muscles, and therefore, you’ll get less wrinkles if you smile, rather than frown”
- Not taking opportunities is the biggest mistake you can make, because there are opportunities everywhere and you’ve just got to grab them with both hands and run with them
“Most Veterinarians graduate with a double major. A major in Veterinary Science and a second major in Procrastination. For God’s sake – just take action.”
Diederik Gelderman