Dr. Kelley Lay
Founder & Veterinarian
Roots in Tennessee Soil
Dr. Kelley Lay's story begins on the rolling farmland of southern Tennessee, where life unfolded in rhythm with the seasons, the land, and the quiet wisdom of animals. Raised among cattle, horses, stray dogs, and the occasional orphaned baby animal, she developed an early understanding that health is not isolated—it is interconnected, responsive, and deeply influenced by environment, care, and relationship.
Those early experiences didn't just shape what she loved; they shaped how she sees the world: as a living system where healing happens best when we look at the whole, not just the parts.
Finding the Path
Interestingly, her first pursuit wasn't veterinary medicine, but human movement and performance. As a collegiate basketball player, Kelley became captivated not only by the physicality of sport, but by something deeper—the power of teamwork, shared purpose, resilience, and selfless leadership. That foundation continues to influence her work today. She believes true healing, much like great teams, depends on alignment, trust, and commitment to something larger than oneself.
Her path shifted during her biology studies, when a pivotal moment—and a few influential mentors—redirected her toward veterinary medicine. She earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Tennessee, where she quickly recognized that medicine alone wasn't enough. Drawn to the intersection of care, leadership, and systems, she immersed herself in business development and professional mentorship, driven by a desire to support not only patients, but the people and structures responsible for their care.
In the years that followed, Dr. Lay worked in general practice, emergency medicine, and relief settings across the Nashville area, gaining a panoramic view of the profession—what works, what's missing, and what becomes possible when medicine is practiced with both rigor and heart.
That perspective led her into veterinary consulting, coaching, and teaching, where she spent years mentoring veterinary students, speaking nationally, and helping practices cultivate healthier cultures and more sustainable models of care. Over time, her passion grew beyond supporting systems to helping people reconnect with why they chose this profession in the first place, so she founded a private coaching business just for veterinarians.
“When we care for the well-being of the caregiver, the ripple effect is profound.” — Dr. Lay
A Deeper Call
But even as she guided others, another layer of purpose was unfolding.
She felt a deeper pull—one that brought her back to the roots of why she entered medicine in the first place. She saw growing gaps in how we approach chronic illness, prevention, and true vitality. She saw patients—animal and human alike—whose stories couldn't be fully understood through conventional approaches alone. And she recognized a familiar truth from childhood: health is rarely the result of one thing, but of many things, interacting over time.
That realization gave rise to Nature and Nurture. Not as a departure from her past, but as the fullest expression of it.
The Practice She Built
Today, Dr. Lay's work is guided by deeply held values: curiosity over certainty, partnership over hierarchy, and root-cause healing over symptom management. Her approach brings together clinical medicine, systems thinking, and a belief that healing should feel collaborative, personalized, and hopeful.
She blends science with intuition, structure with empathy, and education with empowerment—honoring the connection between nature and nurture, inner and outer worlds, while building meaningful partnerships with the people who love and care for their animals.
What fuels her most is helping others see what's possible—whether that's a pet finally finding relief after chronic illness, or a client feeling empowered rather than overwhelmed. She is especially passionate about bridging gaps: between conventional and integrative medicine, between knowledge and application, and between treatment and true transformation.
Those who work with Dr. Lay often notice something beyond her credentials—it's the way she listens, the way she connects dots others may miss, and the way she holds space for both where you and your pet are and what may be possible.
Her journey—from farm to court, from clinic to classroom, from nonprofit work to integrative care—is not a series of disconnected chapters, but an integration of them all.
She founded Nature and Nurture as an expression of that integration: a place where medicine is practiced with intention, healing is approached through relationship, and whole-being care is both a philosophy and a lived experience.
Outside of her work, she is a devoted wife and mother, grounded by family and still deeply connected to the rhythms of home, animals, and nature that first shaped her. That balance—between ambition and presence, science and soul—is the same balance she strives to help others find.
Because for Dr. Lay, this work is more than a career evolution—it is a return to what she has always known to be true:
When we care for the whole, we create the conditions for real healing to begin.