Sarah Benzie’s diverse veterinary nursing career hasn’t been a straight line. Now a Veterinary Development Manager and RVN at Vets4Pets, Sarah reflects on how the different roles and experiences of her career journey have shaped the work she does today. From learning from those around her to the rewards of pottering, she also shares how a busy and varied life helps her to remain curious.
Please summarise your journey
I’ve worked in the veterinary industry for more than 20 years, my career has taken me through many different areas of the profession, including working in emergency and critical care, which I found incredibly rewarding. While in general practice, I worked alongside several referral specialists which gave me exposure to a wide variety of cases, different approaches to clinical decision making and the opportunity to learn from people with specialist knowledge and experience. I’ve also worked in first opinion practice and charity.
Over the years I’ve moved into a variety of leadership and support roles alongside my clinical career. I completed my Certificate in Emergency and Critical Care and developed a particular interest in supporting other nurses to grow in confidence, capability and clinical autonomy.
A significant change in my career came when I moved into a Business Development Partner role with Vets for Pets. It was a different challenge and pushed me to develop skills in areas such as business performance, recruitment and retention, KPIs, auditing, benchmarking and supporting practice owners.
My current role is Veterinary Development Manager. I support practices across a large geographical region, working with practice owners and clinical teams to support clinical standards, patient safety, quality improvement, education and professional development.
I’m also a Mental Health First Aider and Quality Improvement Champion, and both of those areas have reinforced for me how closely staff wellbeing, culture and patient safety are connected.
More recently, I’ve also had the opportunity to share some of my experiences through writing, including having an article published in Vet Times.
How have the different roles and experiences throughout your career shaped where you are today?
One of the things I value most about my career is that it hasn’t followed a straight line. Each role and each environment has given me something different, and I’ve been able to take the skills and experiences from one part of my career and use them in the next.
I think that breadth of exposure has been incredibly important in shaping my career. It has given me an appreciation of the different pressures teams face and helped me understand that there isn’t always one way of doing something.
It has also made me a firm believer in learning from everyone around you. Some of the most valuable lessons in my career have come from working alongside people with different experiences, backgrounds and areas of expertise.
I’m incredibly proud to be the only RVN in a Veterinary Development Manager role at Vets for Pets. For me, that represents much more than a job title. It demonstrates the breadth of skills veterinary nurses develop and the opportunities available to us when we are willing to step outside traditional career paths.
I’m particularly passionate about the potential of veterinary nurses and about creating environments where people can use their skills, have a voice and continue to develop.
“Some of the most valuable lessons in my career have come from working alongside people with different experiences, backgrounds and areas of expertise”
Describe your typical day from waking to sleeping
There really isn’t a completely typical day in my current role!
My mornings usually start with the organised chaos of family life. Getting myself the children and pets organised, making sure everyone has what they need and getting out of the door.
My working day can look very different depending on what is happening across the region. I might be visiting a practice, supporting a practice owner with a clinical or operational challenge, working with teams on quality improvement, discussing recruitment or development, reviewing data, delivering education or mentoring someone through a particular challenge.
I spend a lot of time travelling, talking and listening. One of the things I’ve learned in leadership is that sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is simply listen properly to what someone is telling you.
My evenings are usually about family. With two children, there is always something happening, whether that’s school, activities, football, horses, dogs or just the general logistics of family life! My children are my world, so family time is incredibly important to me.
How would you describe yourself in a sentence?
Caring, energetic, resilient and curious, with a strong sense of responsibility for the people and animals around me — and a tendency to take on a challenge before I’ve necessarily worked out how I’m going to fit it all in!
How would others describe you in a sentence?
I think others would describe me as caring, approachable, positive and someone who genuinely wants to help people. I’m also quite determined — once I’ve decided something is worth doing, I’m usually pretty persistent!
What has been your top success and what have you learned from this?
Personally, my children are my greatest achievement. Becoming a mum has shaped so much of who I am. Balancing family life with a career I care deeply about hasn’t always been easy, but it has taught me a huge amount about resilience, perspective, patience and what really matters.
Professionally, I think my greatest success is reaching a position where I’m able to support other people. I’m now in a position where I can use everything I’ve learned throughout my clinical and leadership career to support practice owners, veterinary teams and individuals to develop and succeed.
I particularly enjoy helping people see their own potential. Sometimes that might mean helping someone work through a clinical or operational challenge, sometimes encouraging a veterinary nurse to recognise the skills they already have, and sometimes simply being the person who listens and helps someone find a way forward.
I’m passionate about veterinary nurse utilisation and believe there is so much untapped potential within our profession. Being able to influence that, even in small ways, is something I’m incredibly proud of.
What has been your biggest challenge, setback or failure and how have you overcome it? How did you grow or change as a result?
My biggest lesson has been that success isn’t necessarily about reaching a particular job title or ticking off a list of achievements. For me, it’s about being in a position where the experiences I’ve gained can be useful to someone else. I hit a difficult time in my career around three years ago and I learned to see it as an opportunity to reassess and reevaluate.
“If something I’ve learned over the years makes another person’s journey a little easier, gives them confidence to take an opportunity or helps them realise what they’re capable of, then that feels like success to me.”
What compromises have you had to make and what, if anything, could have helped?
Like many people trying to balance a career and family, I’ve had to accept that I can’t give 100% to everything, all of the time.
There have been periods in my career where work has taken a lot of headspace, particularly when I’ve been studying, developing professionally or taking on a new role. Equally, there have been times when family has quite rightly needed to come first.
I think one of the biggest compromises has been time for myself. I’m very good at looking after everyone else and much less good at remembering that I need looking after too! I’m learning that rest isn’t something you earn once everything else is finished. Sometimes it needs to be deliberately protected.
Having a supportive family and colleagues who understand the demands of the profession has made a huge difference to me over the years.
What advice would you have given to your younger self, that you would now give to others wanting to follow your path?
Don’t be afraid to change direction. You don’t have to know exactly where your career is going to end up, and your first qualification or first job doesn’t define the rest of your working life.
Say yes to opportunities that scare you a little. Learn from people around you. Ask questions. Find people who will challenge you as well as encourage you. Don’t underestimate the skills you already have – veterinary nurses develop an enormous range of transferable skills.
I’d also encourage people to invest in themselves. Continuing professional development isn’t just about collecting certificates. It’s about remaining curious.
I couldn’t have got where I am today without…
Don’t be afraid to change direction. You don’t have to know exactly where your career is going to end up, and your first qualification or first job doesn’t define the rest of your working life.
Say yes to opportunities that scare you a little. Learn from people around you. Ask questions. Find people who will challenge you as well as encourage you. Don’t underestimate the skills you already have – veterinary nurses develop an enormous range of transferable skills.
I’d also encourage people to invest in themselves. Continuing professional development isn’t just about collecting certificates. It’s about remaining curious.
What are your three top likes?
Dogs. I’ve always loved animals, and dogs have a very special place in my heart. Life is definitely better with a dog in it!
Travel. I love getting away, discovering new places. I think some of the best memories come from seeing somewhere or doing something completely different.
Pottering. I’ve reached the age where I can genuinely get an enormous amount of satisfaction from a small DIY job! There’s something surprisingly rewarding about looking at something around the house or garden and thinking, I can probably fix that, teaching myself how to do it and then standing back afterwards feeling disproportionately pleased with the result. I also love reading, although finding the time for it can sometimes be another matter!
What are your three top dislikes?
Mussels and olives. I have tried. I really have. I remain unconvinced that either of them needs to be on my plate!
Rude people. I can cope with people having different opinions, making mistakes or having a bad day. What I struggle with is unnecessary rudeness. Kindness and manners cost nothing.
Wasted potential. I find it frustrating when people have skills, ideas or potential but aren’t given the opportunity, encouragement or confidence to use them. I’m a big believer in helping people recognise what they are capable of.
What is the most helpful book you’ve read and why?
I’m a big reader and enjoy a real mixture of genres, so it’s difficult to choose just one. I’ve recently read historical fiction, thrillers and non-fiction. Some of my recent reads have included The Wedding People, The Housemaid, Heart the Lover, books by Brené Brown and several of Kristin Hannah’s novels.
I particularly enjoy Kristin Hannah’s books because of the way they explore people, relationships, resilience and the circumstances that shape us. I also really enjoy Brené Brown’s work and her focus on vulnerability, courage, empathy and leadership.
I think reading is valuable for more than simply learning. It gives me a chance to switch off, step away from work and family life for a while and see the world from somebody else’s perspective.
If I had to choose what I find most helpful about reading, it would probably be that it keeps me curious.
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