If Dr Sarah McGrath could share one philosophy that has helped her the most – both professionally and personally – it would be to “bend”.
It’s an approach that has shaped the 2025 Veterinary Business Group (VBG) Thought Leader’s leadership, veterinary care, and life.
“I said it in my acceptance speech for this award,” Sarah recalls, “… and it’s exactly what a paediatrician told me when I was struggling because my daughter wouldn’t eat breakfast and I just wanted a solution. He just said ‘bend, she’ll eat when she’s hungry’. I think if we applied the bend rule to our clients, our colleagues, our bosses, it would do a world of good.”
Drs Sean and Sarah McGrath at the 2025 ACV/VBG Awards Night
This mindset is just part of why Sarah was recognised with the 2025 VBG Thought Leader Award, which celebrates individuals who significantly advance veterinary business through innovation and positive change.
Sarah’s leadership journey didn’t start with confidence. “I started out with pretty poor levels of self-confidence and self-belief,” she admits. “Being recognised with this award made me reflect on how far I’ve come, the self-improvement I’ve gone through to become better for my employees and my colleagues, and to set an example for others coming through.”
In 2014, Sarah and her husband Dr Sean McGrath bought his parents’ mixed practice clinic in Millicent, South Australia.
“At the time, it was a 2–3 vet practice. A couple of years later, we moved into a bigger building, and now we’re 2 locations with 35 staff and 11 vets.”
But she admits, it wasn’t an instant success and at the beginning, they failed almost as much as they succeeded. “I never had staff. I didn’t even know what a BAS statement was. I had a newborn, 2 other young children, and suddenly I was responsible for people’s livelihoods. I made a heap of mistakes and it’s possible I was one of the worst leaders. I just wanted to please everyone rather than set expectations.”
Sarah at an event, promoting responsible pet ownership
Through time, training, and reflection, Sarah transformed the clinics into ones of veterinary excellence and community care. A cornerstone of that success has been prioritising staff welfare. She’s implemented policies like triple pay for nurses who work after 10pm, mandatory rest following after-hours shifts, comprehensive Employee Assistance Programs, and piloting health and wellbeing initiatives. The results have been improved morale, retention, and patient care.
An example of Forever Wraps material
Sarah has also led community initiatives, including negotiating council funding for stray animal services, decreasing stray cat intake by 80%, and creating the Forever Wrap Community Project which makes handmade wraps for pets who have passed away. In 2024, she also organised the “Pathways to Positive Practice” event, uniting veterinary professionals to share positive communication tools and growth strategies.
All of this achieved, with the rule of ‘bend’ at the forefront.
“Most of the time, the average human being doesn’t set out to be mean or difficult, they’re just trying to get home safe. We teach our teams to bend and give people the benefit of the doubt.”
Under Sarah’s and Sean’s leadership, Millicent & Kingston Veterinary Clinic has become a benchmark for staff care, nurturing mental health, professional growth and client compassion.
“We worked off the theory that if we look after our team, they can deliver exceptional customer experiences. That’s stood the test of time.”
Sarah’s message for other veterinary professionals hoping to innovate and lead meaningfully is anchored in that one word. “My advice would be to bend. Be accommodating. Have compassion. Listen. It’s not about compromising your values, it’s about creating space for understanding. If you do, positive change follows.
“I hope our colleagues know that being a vet is not your identity, and does not define your value in society. It is just a really cool thing we get to do and get paid to do it, while we travel this magical, messy imperfect journey called life”.