This is The Happy PharmD Quarter 3 2022 update for our investors, stakeholders, partners, and affiliates.

The Happy PharmD (HPD) continues to shift pharmacists into inspiring careers and lives. Another 60 pharmacists decided to work with us in Quarter 3, which is INSANE. When I started HPD in 2017, I worked with 20 or 30 (?) pharmacists. This is the power of a FIRM dedicated to supporting pharmacists. 

Highlights

• Published The FIRST and ANNUAL Pharmacist Client Success Report

Crazy results. We tracked our clients in 2020 and 2021 and found STELLAR results from our coach service. 

Average time to a new job for our clients: 1.6 months

Plus, 90% of our clients get a new job within 4 months after our program. I like those odds.

We launched pharmacists into over 20 new career paths, but here’s a breakdown of the most common paths:

Top new career path for our clients: INDUSTRY.

• Started the first executive coaching clients

Last quarter we prepared executive coaching and began delivering it to our first clients. I’m giddy about its potential. We’re expanding our firm’s ability to launch pharmacists into new and exciting executive roles.

Big Announcements

• Speaking at APhA 2023 in Phoenix

I’m excited to announce I’ll be in Phoenix in March for APhA’s annual convention. I’ll be speaking on how to negotiate for your VALUE. 

• Submission of Research Manuscript to AACP

For nearly 4 years, I’ve worked on a Career Path Assessment tool, and I’m so close to the finish line. I aim to present my research at the annual convention next year and hopefully publish it in their journal. 

I had a wonderful time at their convention back in July 2022 and made lots of connections to support this endeavor. Plus, I got to hang out with two of my favorite pharmacists (@Jackie Boyle & @Laura Licari)!

Achievements 

• Record-Breaking Quarter helping more pharmacists than ever!

We launched a series of specific job webinars that saw a TON of interest. 

It’s funny how waves in business work. As soon as you break “records,” You start to think that it’s your new normal. I confess that was my belief in the first part of September and October. While we are serving more clients than ever, we are seeing a downtick in interest. I think some systems broke for us in terms of website traffic, but I’m also suspicious of the economy playing a role.

• Recorded Career Jumpstart 2.0 + 5 Other Career-Focused Classes

This project has been in the works for TWO YEARS. (*sigh of relief*). I can’t wait for post-production to complete so we can help more pharmacists launch into new career paths. 

• Decreased our “Time-to-Service” for Clients

In my last update, I mentioned a problem, “Balancing client demand and coach fulfillment.” I’m happy to report we created a few solutions!

As a part of our team’s monthly “How to Wow Clients” meetings, we learned there sometimes is a gap between when clients partner with us to when the coach starts working with their client. Our operations did a wonderful job identifying barriers and created an execution plan to have clients receive communications within 24 hours after partnering. 

• Two New Coaches Trained and Partnering with Clients!

So proud of @Morgan Greutman and @Eric Moody. They started their coach training earlier this year under the esteemed tutelage of @Jackie Boyle and now started to serve clients in Quarter 3.

Lowlights

• HPD Alumni Networking

We continue to host only networking events. These meetings even brought together two amazing pharmacists who connected well and visited each other during a vacation. 

Jennifer Vinson (right) and Ginny Baker (left) and Baby Baker (middle)

• Speaking consultant & COACH

As I mentioned in my last update, I hired a speaking consultant to help me improve my speaking ability faster than I could on my own. However, the results are WAY more than I anticipated. While I see my ability improving, my coach and I have focused a LOT on my leadership, company culture, and my new vision for The Happy PharmD. 

I intend to deliver a TEDx Talk, speak at more association conventions, and eventually be a keynote speaker at conferences outside of pharmacy. For now, I’m focusing on the core concepts of my platform, what I stand for, and what HPD will become. 

Problems/Concerns

• The Job Market & New Graduate Expectations

The last few months have filled up with student & pharmacy school professor conversations. I’m honored by them and always learn a lot. I learned there is still a disconnect between students’ education and the pharmacy job market demand (not just the availability of jobs but the type of careers available).
While I love seeing pharmacists transition into work they love, I see more students directed into haphazard career planning. Residency remains the “script” solution to having a fulfilling pharmacy career. This blanket approach will have consequences for the profession, namely more dissatisfaction, as evident by the AACP’s workforce survey results. 

As the market shifts, I will inspire and guide more students into fulfilling pharmacy careers. I can’t say what I’m working on just yet, but more news is on the way. 

Lessons Learned

1. From Burnout to POTENTIAL

2023 will mark the beginning of the 7th year of business for HPD. Where we are today is totally different than when I started in 2017 by me. 

In 2017, I built The Happy PharmD out of an inner desire to escape my burnout and help others with the coaching skills I learned over 5 years of practicing. I brought that “escape burnout” energy with me… even into Quarter 2 of 2022. 

But I believe HPD is about to undergo a powerful (and maybe subtle to you) transformation of who we are and who we serve. 

We used to serve any pharmacist who needed our help, and many were burned out. 

Quarter 4 is the time for HPD to become dedicated to helping the pharmacists who are ready, able, and committed to their success. 

2. Empower our coaches

September was… odd. We had an array of client challenges, issues like miscommunications, and unspoken assumptions. Our coaches made these issues in calls known immediately, either by addressing them in the call or bringing up the issue with our Lead Coach @Jackie Boyle. Unfortunately, our processes made the issues last longer than needed. Some coaches feel like they have to make the client happy no matter what, and that leads to providing more service than what is agreed upon in our contracts with our clients. 

Now, it is a new policy for our coaches: Bring up issues after the first client session immediately to resolve them. This triggers our lead coach to follow up with clients in need of reassignment, contract negotiation, or refusal of service. 

3. Be Superman

I have this tendency to ignore glaring problems, personally and professionally. Sometimes I think about challenges, “Oh, it’ll sort itself out,” or “Someone else will fix this.” Eventually, I bring up the issue to our team or specifically our COO, Sarah MacGregor, and then through the discussion, I contribute creative solutions to the problem. I joke sometimes with Sarah that, no matter the challenge, all I need to do is show up, talk through the problem, and my creativity will invent a solution… even if I have a bad attitude about the problem.

My coach shifted my mindset on my procrastination attitude about problems. He put it this way, “What if your level of commitment to your clients was the same as your level to solve everyday problems? What if you were Superman all the time? Superman, who sometimes gets his hands dirty and suit dry-cleaned.”

Team updates

We’re in the interview process right now for a new content strategist. In addition, we are preparing a new role to hire: Client Success Manager. This would be like a coaching role but dedicated to the success of clients after our coaching program ends. 

Subscribe here to receive my quarterly updates in the future.