Why did you decide to become a pharmacist?

I was looking for a career path that would make good use of my strong math skills and one where I could interact with people face-to-face every day. I worked as a pharmacy technician in high school and found that I really enjoyed helping people with their health and incorporating my own knowledge and personality into these interactions. 

A lot of people go into pharmacy because they want to work at a hospital, but I always wanted to be with patients, talking to patients, having interactions with patients all day. 

The other part of my job is being a pharmacy manager. I wanted to be the leader of a team, have a successful team, and be proud of my team—to be proud of the reputation my store and my team has.

My team and I all truly live by what we believe—the patients who come to my pharmacy are treated like friends and family.

What does a day at work look like for you?

My morning starts by aligning the team and what our goals are for the day. Mostly it’s centered around how we’re going to accomplish all of our tasks while giving superior patient care. I want to inspire my team to provide good customer service so we all can end the day in a good place. It’s not only so our customers can come here and have a good experience—I want my employees to leave here having a good experience. Good patient care is a win-win for everyone. I want my staff to treat patients well so that they in turn give us good feedback, and my staff and I can have a good day, too.

My team and I all truly live by what we believe—the patients who come to my pharmacy are treated like friends and family. We will go above and beyond to give them great service, strive for better health outcomes, and help them to afford their medications. A lot of times the price a patient is quoted from their insurance is not their best quote. It’s our job to recognize this and help them to stay on their preferred medications without overpaying.  

That takes genuine care for your patients, empathy, a strong knowledge base, and the ability to inspire your team to follow your professional goals for the business. I think my greatest attribute as a pharmacist is that I truly do care about my patients and they realize that. I am not just there to give medical advice, answer questions on drug interactions, and vaccinate them. I am there as a friend and they know they can trust me and talk to me about anything.  

What should customers know to save money?

I think it can be difficult for patients because prescriptions aren’t something that they deal with every day. They are something that they need unexpectedly, and often urgently. For them to go out and learn all the different avenues to save would be difficult. They should know they can definitely lean on the pharmacy as a resource. Talk to your pharmacy staff and ask if they have any recommendations of websites you can visit, like SingleCare, or any other savings we could recommend. 

A few years ago an elderly woman came in who needed an expensive blood thinner. We were able to save her $150 a month using a manufacturer coupon. She was so appreciative that she would bring in pizza or doughnuts for the staff every month when she came to pick up her prescription.

How did you get involved with mentoring pharmacy students?

My store is about seven miles from Wilkes University, which has a wonderful pharmacy program. That is where my staff pharmacist and I graduated from, so we still have ties to the school. We get so many great interns from their program that spend several years before graduation working with and shadowing us. 

What do you teach pharmacy students during your mentorship?

I’ve worked with almost 10 pharmacy interns in my career. When you have a pharmacy student, you train them from start to finish—mostly on the things you don’t learn in academia. Over the course of several years, they learn how to be a community pharmacist in a retail environment and we give them on the job training as an extension to their classroom education. 

We let them use their pharmacy knowledge to help with recommendations, patient interactions, train them on basic compounding, show them how we vaccinate, inventory practices, staffing, and team development. Some go on to become CVS pharmacists, complete residencies, or work in hospitals and academia. 

My favorite moments are when I hear how great they turned out, and I know that I had some impact on that. It’s great to know that their experience being with my staff, myself, and my store made them who they are—and made them a great pharmacist.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

There are two things. First is the fact that I have such a great staff. They constantly tell me that they love working there, that they love their job because of their team. I have staff who are hesitant to retire because they love it so much here. That makes me happy.

Second is the consistent feedback from our customers letting me know that we’re doing a great job. That’s what I’m most proud of.

What do you do to serve your community as a pharmacist?

We visit local high schools to educate kids about drug awareness and drug abuse. We teach them about opiates and amphetamines, basically anything that could be a gateway drug that comes from the pharmacy. We make them aware of the risks and to help them to avoid getting into an addiction.

What does this award mean to you?

I’m really proud, not only that someone nominated me for this award, but also for my entire store and my staff. Everybody there, we all work together. I know that it wasn’t just me—it was definitely everybody in my team that gave this person a great experience.