After initially missing out on a veterinary school place, I studied pharmacy while stubbornly continuing to apply for veterinary medicine every year. Persistence paid off, and I finally started at the University of Sydney in 1996, graduating as a vet in December 2000.

During university, I visited family in Sunderland and discovered that, despite the weather, I actually felt more at home in the North East than I did in Australia!

So, straight after graduating, I swapped Sydney sunshine for Sunderland skies. Within three months I’d met Marty, a friend of my cousin, and suddenly my move to the UK became rather permanent!

I started my veterinary career in Leeds and Bradford before moving to a practice in Sunderland. After four years, health reasons led me to take a break from veterinary work, and my pharmacy degree finally came in useful! I spent the next 13 years managing an independent community pharmacy in Fulwell.

But once a vet, always a vet! In late 2017, I returned to veterinary practice and haven’t looked back.

Now I’m taking on my biggest adventure yet – opening Kookaburra Veterinary Practice.

My dream is to create the sort of practice I’d want to take my own pets to: independent, friendly, compassionate and down-to-earth, where clients are listened to, animals are treated as individuals, and good-quality veterinary care doesn’t have to cost the earth.

And the name? Kookaburra is a little reminder of my Australian roots, even though the North East is very much home these days.

I can’t wait to meet you and your four-legged family members!