Pharmacist Diaries – Details, episodes & analysis

Dive into the world of pharmacy entrepreneurship with this inspiring episode of the Pharmacist Diaries podcast! Ashley Kay Pendrick takes us on a thrilling ride through her professional evolution. From the halls of pharmacy school to the exciting realm of entrepreneurship, Ashley's story is one of resilience, creativity, and passion.

Ashley's story resonates with many young pharmacists: the struggle to find fulfillment, the endless job applications, and the creeping dread of burnout. She paints a vivid picture of a profession grappling with challenges, but also brimming with untapped potential. Through her own experiences and those of her clients, Ashley illustrates how pharmacists can pivot from burnout to bliss. 

It is packed with practical advice for pharmacists considering a pivot to consulting or entrepreneurship. We dive deep into the importance of community in professional growth, sharing our experiences in building supportive networks. We explore the nuances of finding your niche, leveraging unique skills, and overcoming the fear of stepping out of traditional roles.

This episode dives into Ashley's brainchild, the Bright Side Consulting Community. You’ll find out what she’s building, why she’s building it and also how she’s doing it! The conversation wraps up with exciting details about Ashley's upcoming webinar and an exclusive offer for podcast listeners to join the Bright Side Consulting Community.

Whether you're a seasoned pharmacist looking for a change, a recent graduate exploring options, or simply curious about the intersection of pharmacy and entrepreneurship, this episode promises to inform, inspire, and ignite your professional passion. Tune in for a dose of motivation and practical wisdom.

Sign up to our FREE community called Behind The Mic!  We are excited to engage with you and provide you with the support & guidance you need to get started. 

Register here: https://behindthemic.circle.so/ 

SIGN UP to my NEWSLETTER below so you’ll be the first to know when new episodes are being released. You’ll also receive regular inspiration, tips, tools, and free content.

⁠⁠https://pharmacistdiaries.ck.page/newsletter⁠⁠

PARTNERSHIPS and DISCOUNTS:

The Naked Pharmacy is offering my podcast listeners a 20% discount on all their products. Use discount code PD20 at checkout to receive the offer.

⁠⁠https://www.thenakedpharmacy.com/⁠⁠

🎙️ Audiio: We used to spend (waste) ages looking for free royalty free music on the internet. If you’ve ever tried to find images, music or video that is unconditionally 100% free, you’ll know how difficult it is. We now use Audiio for all our music. 

Use this⁠⁠ link⁠⁠ to get 70% off your first year of Audiio pro

🚀 Check out our Amazon storefront dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there’s a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

🛒 Explore Our Storefront⁠⁠ Here⁠⁠

CONNECT WITH ASHLEY: LinkedIn: ⁠Ashley Kay Pendrick⁠ Sign up to the Shine Bright ⁠Newsletter⁠

Follow me on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ My Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and/or⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

Prepare to be inspired as we sit down with Surayyah Aziz, an exceptional pharmacy student whose journey is nothing short of extraordinary. Surayyah’s passion for science, combined with her family's guidance, steered her into the world of pharmacy, despite facing significant medical challenges during her school years. 

Her academic achievements are impressive, with 5 A-Levels at A* A* A* A B, complemented by hands-on experience at leading organisations like GSK, Pfizer, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Surayyah shares her fascination with pharmaceutical engineering, biophysics, and nanotechnologies, exploring how these fields can revolutionise drug development, particularly for neurological cancers.

Key achievements:

• Becoming a scientific researcher published in a Harvard GSAS journal in the field of astrophysics, and receiving the national IRIS Best Researcher Award for this work.

• Being selected as a recipient of the Women In STEM (WIS) scholarship funded by CEO at Procter and Gamble - Gary Coombe.

• Elected as president of Aston WEST (Women in Engineering, Science and Technology) Society for 2024-25.

Balancing mental well-being with academic and professional pursuits takes center stage as Surayyah discusses the impact of university counselling services and the support of meaningful relationships, such as that with her dedicated physics teacher. These connections have been instrumental in overcoming personal challenges and seizing unexpected opportunities. 

Tune in to hear about Surayyah’s inspiring journey, her insights on the future of pharmacy, and how she plans to contribute to a more equitable world through healthcare innovation.

Sign up to our FREE community called Behind The Mic!  We are excited to engage with you and provide you with the support & guidance you need to get started. 

Register here: https://behindthemic.circle.so/ 

SIGN UP to my NEWSLETTER below so you’ll be the first to know when new episodes are being released. You’ll also receive regular inspiration, tips, tools, and free content.

⁠https://pharmacistdiaries.ck.page/newsletter⁠

PARTNERSHIPS and DISCOUNTS:

The Naked Pharmacy is offering my podcast listeners a 20% discount on all their products. Use discount code PD20 at checkout to receive the offer.

⁠https://www.thenakedpharmacy.com/⁠

🎙️ Audiio: We used to spend (waste) ages looking for free royalty free music on the internet. If you’ve ever tried to find images, music or video that is unconditionally 100% free, you’ll know how difficult it is. We now use Audiio for all our music. 

Use this⁠ link⁠ to get 70% off your first year of Audiio pro

🚀 Check out our Amazon storefront dedicated to podcasting gear! We will keep adding/reviewing the list but there’s a selection of microphones, audio interfaces, and more to help you elevate your podcasting game.

🛒 Explore Our Storefront⁠ Here⁠

CONNECT WITH SURAYYAH:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/surayyah-amatul-aziz/ X: https://x.com/SUR4YY4H YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@medical-physics-girl?sub_confirmation=1

Follow me on⁠⁠⁠⁠ My Website⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠, and/or⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

In this episode of Pharmacist Diaries, I had the pleasure of interviewing Georgina Fihosy, a pharmacist and entrepreneur with a fascinating journey. Georgina shares her experiences transitioning from a hospital, to primary care and then working for Novartis while also running her own greeting card publishing company, AfroTouch Design, and being a mother of 3!

Georgina's journey into pharmacy began with a desire to help people, leading her to explore various specialties within the field. She found her passion in paediatrics and women's health, but eventually felt the need for more variety and challenge in her career. This led her to a role in a Primary Care Trust (PCT), where she worked on service improvement projects and prescribing practices.

During her maternity leave with her second child, Georgina discovered her entrepreneurial spirit and started creating handmade greeting cards. This creative outlet eventually evolved into her own business, AfroTouch Design. Despite the challenges of balancing her career at Novartis and running her business, Georgina's passion and dedication have driven her to success.

Throughout the episode, Georgina shared insights into the importance of: 

• following your gut instincts

• finding balance between work and personal life, and 

• the joys of pursuing creative endeavours. 

Her story serves as an inspiration for pharmacists looking to explore entrepreneurship and find fulfillment in their careers.

Join us as we delve into Georgina's journey, from hospital pharmacist to entrepreneur, and discover the power of passion and perseverance in building a successful career in pharmacy.

BEHIND THE MIC!

Have you been thinking about starting your own podcast?

We know that starting a podcast can feel daunting and overwhelming. But guess what? You’re not alone. We are on a mission to create a fantastic community of individuals just like you! Together, we'll break down the entire podcasting process—from ideation to recording, editing, technology, publishing, social media, marketing, branding, sponsorship and more.

Sign up to our FREE community called Behind The Mic! We are excited to engage with you and provide you with the support & guidance you need to get started.

Register here: https://behindthemic.circle.so/

SIGN UP to my NEWSLETTER below so you’ll be the first to know when new episodes are being released. You’ll also receive regular inspiration, tips, tools, and free content.

https://pharmacistdiaries.ck.page/newsletter

PARTNERSHIPS:

The Naked Pharmacy is offering my podcast listeners a 20% discount on all their products. Use discount code PD20 at checkout to receive the offer.

⁠⁠⁠https://www.thenakedpharmacy.com/⁠⁠⁠

Healf is offering my podcast listeners a 10% discount on all their products. Use the following link to purchase products and the discount code will be applied at checkout.

⁠⁠⁠https://healf.com/?snowball=ANISHA11032⁠⁠⁠  

CONNECT WITH GEORGINA:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgina-fihosy

Instagram: https://instagram.com/afrotouchdesign

Websites: https://www.afrotouch.design and https://georginafihosy.com/

Email: hello@afrotouch.design

Follow me on⁠⁠⁠ My Website⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ YouTube⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ Facebook⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠, and/or⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

It’s the start of a new year and I am super excited to launch my first episode of 2023 with Tim Ulbrich on the podcast. Tim is the Co-Founder and CEO of Your Financial Pharmacist (YFP), an online platform for education, products, and services designed to help pharmacists achieve financial freedom. Tim’s journey into life as an entrepreneur has been incredibly inspiring for me personally. It was an absolute honour to record this podcast episode with him and I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to get to know each other through the podcast.

Tim received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University in 2008 and completed postgraduate residency training at The Ohio State University in 2009. Prior to making the move to work full-time on Your Financial Pharmacist, Tim spent 12 years in various academic positions at Northeast Ohio Medical University and The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.

After completing pharmacy school and residency training, Tim and his wife, Jess, had more than $200,000 of non-mortgage debt. Through self-taught financial education and hard work, Tim and Jess finished paying off $200,000 of debt in 2015. Shortly thereafter, Tim published a blog post outlining his debt repayment journey which was the start of Your Financial Pharmacist.

Tim is the host of the Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast and co-author of Seven Figure Pharmacist: How to Maximize Your Income, Eliminate Debt and Create Wealth. The podcast is AMAZING and there are currently 290 incredible episodes for you to check out. I am a huge fan of the Debt Free Episode stories that you can filter through the podcast page on the YFP website! I have been tuning into those episodes since 2017 when I was pregnant with Lilyanna and living in Abu Dhabi.

I am sure you will feel inspired listening to this episode! Go check it out now :)

Linkedin: @Tim Ulbrich

Instagram: @Yourfinancialpharmacist

Facebook: @The Your Financial Pharmacist Facebook Group

Website: Your Financial Pharmacist

Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

On this week’s episode, I am delighted to showcase the journey of a newly qualified pharmacist, Anthea Pryde. Anthea graduated from Kings College London (KCL) in 2019 and then successfully completed her trainee pharmacist year split between Lloyds Pharmacy and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). She is currently employed as a Supply Chain Study Lead at GSK and enjoying the start of her pharmacy career. What attracted me to inviting Anthea onto the podcast was her enthusiasm and curiosity to learning and exploring what pharmacy has to offer whilst she was a student. During her life student life, she definitely made the most of the opportunities around her and she tells us all about the benefits of doing this during our conversation. Below are some of the experiences and placements she enjoyed as a student: A 3-month research internship role at Pfizer UK as part of Anthea’s final year dissertation project. Project title: ‘Influence of punch tip surfaces on API adhesion’ (2018) A 6-week Editorial intern at PharmPress supporting updates to the British National Formulary (BNF) and Martindale Drug Reference texts (2018) Summer Placement at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (2018) Summer International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF) Research Internship Programme (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Healthcare Sciences, Boston, USA) (2017) Summer placement at Lloyds pharmacy (2016) We talk in depth about how the transferrable skills from these experiences helped her with applications and interviews, with specific reference to getting offered an industry trainee pharmacist position with very limited experience in that sector of pharmacy. Linkedin: @Anthea Pryde Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

On today’s episode I am delighted to introduce Pooja Pala to the podcast. Pooja has identified a way to combine her two passions of Pharmacy and Wellbeing into ONE very unique and exciting role! She is currently working as a Senior Clinical Pharmacist at The Pharmacist Network but part of this job involves supporting staff health & wellbeing which she tells us all about on the podcast.

***Please check out Episode 51 of the podcast to also hear from the Clinical Director at The Pharmacist Network, Ryan Smith***

Her experience as a pharmacist has been varied over the last 5 years. She started her journey in community pharmacy, transitioned over to a GP practice role, and then spent some time helping to set up COVID-19 vaccination clinics during the pandemic. She successfully completed her post-graduate diploma in clinical pharmacy and non-medical independent prescribing course during this time as well.

During her time in GP Practice, she spent a considerable amount of time supporting patients with mental health disorders, particularly depression. A lot of her consultations involved guiding patients to wean off their antidepressant therapy and part of this involved non-pharmacological advice. She felt very passionate about taking a holistic approach to wellbeing and trained to become a certified Meditation & Yin Yoga teacher and a Life Coach.

She is a big believer of dealing with the root cause rather than treating the symptoms. This belief led her to create the Essence of Energy Instagram Page. A platform that focuses on mindset, empowerment, positivity, doing what you love, and more…

Linkedin: @Pooja Pala

Instagram: @Essence.of.energy

Other links

Website: The Pharmacist Network

Please feel free to contact her directly via email at poojapala@hotmail.com for enquires of working together 1:2:1 or workshops and/or lunchtime sessions within your workplace.

Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

**Please accept my sincere apologies when you watch the video version of this podcast. Part way through the recording, we faced an issue with one of the cameras and Meeta's video cuts out so you are only able to see my video and hear the all the audio. The content of the podcast is absolutely inspiring so please take the time to listen to the content as it is truly worth it*** 

On today’s episode I am excited to welcome Meeta Patel to the podcast. Meeta is a Senior Manager and Specialist Pharmacist in Theatres, Critical Care and Pain Management at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH). A role she is thoroughly passionate about and one that resonates with her personally due to a trauma she experienced at the start of her career as a pharmacist. She shares a very personal story of an injury that led to debilitating pain, lack of movement, and a huge setback in career progression. 

What is so wonderful and powerful about this story is Meeta's determination to improve her quality of life and return to her previous way of living. What she doesn't realise at the time is how this journey enables her to shift her career pathway as a pharmacist and open her mindset to alternative therapies AND developing a role as an entrepreneur! Meeta walks us through her healing journey and how she had to look outside of traditional medicine and try alternative therapies. She utlises several forms of therapy but she felt a strong connection to Reiki and decided to become a Reiki master. This then leads to the development of Infinity Aromatiqs and creating natural and homemade products such as candles, roll on oils and wax melts. 

Please go and check out her website and social media channels below! 

Linkedin: @Meeta Patel

Instagram: @Infinityaromatiqs

Website: Infinity Aromatiqs

Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

On today's episode I am thrilled to feature Aliyah Gordon to the podcast. Aliyah is a Lead Clinical Pharmacist for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She is very proud of her career progression to date despite a lot of negativity and disbelief from her mentors and educators. She shares an incredible and inspiring story behind this disbelief and how she overlooked this feedback and used self motivation and determination to become the best version of herself and achieve her goals.

Aliyah is also the Co-founder of the House of Medics. The House of Medics is a non-profit organisation that was created in 2019 by a group of professionals who either work in the healthcare industry or are passionate about healthcare. Members of this community include doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, radiographers, paramedics, mental health professionals, researchers, students… and more! Their mission is to equip every young person in the healthcare industry with the tools they need to flourish in their chosen field of endeavour. As one becomes successful, they can teach another to do the same!

The story behind House of Medics is inspiring and the community they have built is admirable. The group have achieved so much in a short space of time and I love the idea of utilising the opportunity for young people of different specialties and disciplines to genuinely interact. They are creating a medical society of the future – one where people can have real conversations and make meaningful connections, whilst learning and improving themselves through CPD and other opportunities.

Go check them out using the links below! 

Linkedin: @Aliyah Gordon

Linkedin: @House of Medics

House of Medics Website

Instagram: @wearehouseofmedics

Instagram: @Aliyahthepharmacist

YouTube: @House of Medics 

Twitter: @Houseofmedics

TikTok: @wearehouseofmedics

Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. 

I am incredibly excited to launch this week’s episode! I am thrilled to introduce Stephanie Tyler to the podcast. She is a highly specialist pharmacist in HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health, currently working at Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in a very exciting and innovative role related to HIV PrEP implementation and Sexual Health. She has experience working at a national level with the HIV Pharmacy Association (HIVPA) as the regional representative for London and the Patient Information Lead. She is extremely passionate about her role and her curiosity to improve patient care through research and publication is truly inspiring. Our conversation covered a variety of topics: - An in depth discussion about why she chose certain hospitals and locations and the advantages and disadvantages of a large teaching hospital vs smaller district general hospital. - How she found this specialist area and what she loves about it - How to make your job rewarding - The challenges around talking to patients in such a sensitive specialist area and tactics she uses to ensure patients have a positive experience. - Service improvement and why we both adore this aspect of pharmacy - How she manages her time to achieve as much as she has! One example being how she managed to complete 6 posters and 1 oral presentation in one year! - Transiting from a band 6 pharmacist up to a band 8 and how these roles have differed There is so much more to this conversation than what I’ve stated above. I cannot wait for you to watch/listen! Social media Linkedin: @Stephanie Tyler Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.

On today's episode I am thrilled to feature Shilpa Patel on the podcast. Shilpa has spent most of her career in as a Community Pharmacist. After well over a decade of endless hours of hard work and feeling under valued and frustrated within her role, she walked out of the pharmacy on her lunch break and never looked back!

She wanted to take a break from pharmacy and decided to travel to India for a few months to think about her next steps and enjoy a much needed break. Before she left for her travels, she applied for a GP Practice Role alongside 400 other candidates. There were only 4 positions available and she was doubtful that she'd be offered the position. In her mind, she thought that hospital pharmacists would be more likely to get offered the position as their clinical knowledge was far superior to a community pharmacist.

Boy was she wrong! She was offered the job and later realised that community pharmacists are extremely valuable assets to a GP Practice and their skillset, knowledge and experience are perfect for these roles. She now has over 6 years of experience as a GP Practice Pharmacist and has hired multiple pharmacists to join her team. She has utilised a variety of transferrable skills from her community pharmacy experience and has also learnt and utilised several new skills along the way.

She has achieved an incredible amount in a short space of time and her attitude and enthusiasm to developing pharmacists in this relatively new area of practice is inspriring. She is now the Lead GP Prescribing Pharmacist Partner at WellBN. She is also a DPP & Mentor, Covid vaccination service lead, Digital Marketing lead, Practice Merger Lead, and Benzodiazepine Detox Specialist.

It was an honour to have a conversation with her. I hope you all enjoy it!

Linkedin: @Shilpa Patel

Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast platform so you can be notified when a new episode is released or leave a review on apple podcasts. If you have any suggestions for guests you want me to talk to or if you’d like to come on yourself, please feel free to contact me via social media, or email at info@pharmacistdiaries.com.