I’ve worked at every level of a veterinary hospital except doctor.
That is what makes this different.
Hi! I'm Suzanne Thomas - founder of Leading Veterinary Teams.
I’ve spent nearly 20 years inside veterinary hospitals — as an oncology technician, hospital manager, and multi-site operations leader.
I’ve led teams, carried operational pressure, and seen what happens when capable people get handed leadership responsibility without the structure to hold it well.
I burned out (more than once). I rebuilt. And I’ve had to get clear on something this profession still gets wrong:
Veterinary medicine does not just have a training problem.
It has a leadership infrastructure problem.
The people who are promoted in this profession — credentialed technicians, hospital managers, multi-site leaders — are handed responsibility without a framework. They figure it out alone, carry more than they should, and get blamed when systems fail.
That is not a people problem.
It is a design problem.
That’s why I’ve created Leading Veterinary Teams.
CREDENTIALS & RECOGNITION
My work is grounded in both lived veterinary leadership experience and formal training.
Licensed Veterinary Technologist, New York
Certified Veterinary Technologist, New Jersey
MBA Candidate (May 2026), University of Scranton
Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional
NAVC, Certified Veterinary Business Leader
BlendVet Achiever
AAHA Anesthesia Safety and Monitoring Champion
Author of From Competent to Capable
NAVTA Journal contributor
NAVTA VNI Committee member
AVMA B&E Circles Outreach & Engagement Co-Chair
Speaker for events including NY Vet Show, Uncharted, NJVTA, GVScon, NAVC HiVE, and more
You can read the résumé version elsewhere. What matters most here is that this work was built from inside the reality of veterinary medicine — not from a distance.
Why This Work Exists
Some leadership problems are not caused by lack of effort.
They are caused by unclear systems, misaligned expectations, unsupported managers, and too much weight sitting on too few people.
That is the pattern I care about changing.
What I Care About
I care about the people in veterinary medicine who were handed leadership responsibility without a real system to support them.
The managers in the middle.
The leaders carrying too much.
The teams feeling the cost of unclear expectations, weak accountability, and constant reactivity.
A lot of what gets called burnout, communication issues, or culture problems is actually leadership strain inside a system that was never built clearly enough in the first place.
That is the work underneath Leading Veterinary Teams.
What Leading Veterinary Teams Is Built To Do
Leading Veterinary Teams exists to make leadership feel more clear, more usable, and less dependent on guesswork.
That happens through:
speaking
leadership tools and resources
practical frameworks
support for managers and teams
conversations that help people name what is really happening inside veterinary hospitals
This is not generic leadership content.
It is work built for veterinary medicine, for the people trying to lead well inside it, and for organizations that know better support has to go deeper than motivation alone.
Where To Go Next
If you’re a veterinary manager trying to understand where leadership feels heavy, start there.
If you’re looking for speaking, training, or leadership support for your team or organization, that path is here too.
© 2026 Leading Veterinary Teams, LLC. All rights reserved. Created with 💚 by suzanne@lvt.vet