VBG Business Professional of the Year: Vet HQ

Dr Geoff Golovsky may have been named the 2025 Veterinary Business Group (VBG) Business Professional of the Year, but he was quick to redirect the honour away from himself and towards his team. 

“It is all about the team, I am nothing without my team."

“I've built a team around me that's bigger, better and smarter than I ever will be. So this award, it's the team that earns the prize.” 

^{VetHQ Staff Party, 2024}

Vet HQ’s story began 19 years ago when Dr Golovsky and his wife Tammy opened their first practice in Double Bay, Sydney, inspired by a tour of 30 veterinary hospitals across the United States. 

"I vividly remember the discussion my wife and I had, wondering if we can afford to employ 2 nurses, and we ended up making the decision that we would.” 

That leap of faith has since become a thriving business of over 60 staff, guided by values that deliver genuine meaning and long-term value to their team, clients, and community. 

Dr Golovsky is the first to admit that sustaining leadership in veterinary care requires reinvention. 

"We're about to make some very interesting changes over the next period. Our practice was once a thought leader in terms of doing things a little bit differently, whereas now everyone's caught up, so we're really looking at trying to pivot and do something a little bit more outside the box, that gives us back that reputation as being a market leader.” 

Dr Golovsky believes that the industry as a whole must keep striving to improve. 

“We need, as a profession, to get better. The top 10 or 15% are doing fine, but the rest of it needs to be picked up… we all need to consider what can we do better ourselves to go above and beyond?” 

Sustainability practices, advanced medical standards, and continuous innovation remain central to Vet HQ’s forward strategy, ensuring it continues to lead with integrity and vision. 

^{Dr Golovsky with VBG President Janet Murray}

For Dr Golovsky, the VBG Business Professional of the Year title is a personal honour, but ultimately, a recognition of a culture built by many hands. 

“It’s been such a successful journey,” he reflected. 

“It’s thanks to some amazing people, some key vets who have been with me for a long time. My head of HR, who was the veterinary nurse who taught me as a vet student in the mid-90s, she's been with me for almost 15 years. It's a really close-knit team, and I'm very, very lucky. We all have a role to play in taking this business to the next day, the next year and into the future”.