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Known affectionately as the keeper of all knowledge, Vicky Lin is one of Blue Dog’s longest-serving and most valued staff members. While her attention to detail and work ethic have earnt Vicky enormous respect, it’s her warm sense of humour and personality that make her such an important part of the Blue Dog family.

Vicky’s story starts in Taiwan, a tiny island in Southeast Asia that is around half the size of Tasmania, with a population that is slightly larger than Australia’s. She lived there with her parents and two sisters until the age of 14, when her family made the huge decision to move away and start a new life. Vicky said her parents tested many locations before deciding to call Brisbane home.

“They actually went around the world before they came here. Mum and dad went to Europe briefly, and then the US, and then to New Zealand to have a look. Then they went to Sydney, and decided on Brisbane,” she said.

“It was quite scary, obviously we’d learnt English, but it was just A to Z and, “hey, how are you?” So our English was not that good, and that was a bit daunting.”

After finishing high school in Brisbane and completing a Bachelor of International Business at QUT, Vicky decided to move back to Taiwan for work. However, her stay was brief, as she missed the lifestyle that Brisbane offered.

“I love going back for holidays, but I can’t stand living there because it’s so crowded. The weather is not as nice as here, it’s more humid so the winter is colder and the summer is hotter. And we have cyclone season during summer, but we call them typhoons. And it has earthquakes as well.”

Upon her return to the ‘River City’, Vicky decided to take a break from work and study to think about where she wanted to end up. In 2008, she found herself walking through the Blue Dog doors, where she has remained ever since.

Blue Dog CEO Kristine Skippington has known Vicky since her early days at the company, and said she was thrilled to see her development as an employee and person.

“The great thing that happened is as Vicky grew in confidence, out came this wonderful personality. Vicky’s quite the comedian,” she said.

Kristine said Vicky had been able to develop great relationships with the trainers over time, which allowed her to keep them in line.

“Vicky knows their pressure points and their weaknesses and she’s onto them all the time. There are a huge number of people to keep in line to keep the systems functioning, and if Vicky finds an error she only needs to find it once. Both directors trust Vicky with their lives, as well as their business. It’s been a wonderful partnership.”

When she’s not at Blue Dog, Vicky said her life revolved around her family.

“I live in a house with my sister, her three kids, and two big dogs. It’s very hectic, the oldest is 12, the second is 9 and the youngest was only born on the New Year Day this year. It’s a very noisy household.”

Vicky said her two dogs, a Golden Retriever called Mocha and a German Shephard called Kevin, were a huge part of her life. She said Kevin’s long hair made him a bit of a princess.

“He’s a very needy dog, nothing like my Golden Retriever. He’s 12-and-a-half, so he’s an old dog, and he’s very laid back.”

Kristine said Vicky’s impact at work was summed up well by a problem that was raised at recent team meeting.

“We all rabbited around saying this and that and she piped up and had the whole thing sorted in two seconds. We looked at her and said, ‘You’re right Vicky, let’s get out of here. End of meeting, let’s go.’”