Fight, Flight, Or Freeze

Introduction

In this inspiring episode of the Script Your Future Podcast, NCPA Foundation Executive Director, Sonja Pagniano, interviews Dr. Jay Phipps, a Pharmacy Gladiator, entrepreneur, and the dynamic force behind the "Pharmacy Gladiator" brand. Dr. Jay Phipps is a Pharmacy Doctor, Founder, Entrepreneur, President, and CEO who leads Phipps Pharmacy, Inc., an independent pharmacy with 4 locations, along with a team of dedicated pharmacy professionals providing personalized, high-quality patient care. He also serves as President and CEO of PhippsCare, which focuses on pharmacy doctor-provided healthcare, and Health Insurance Solutions, specializing in medical and pharmacy plans for seniors.

Dr. Phipps' remarkable journey from the tobacco farms of East Tennessee to becoming a successful pharmacy entrepreneur offers valuable insights into overcoming fear, building relationships, and finding success in community pharmacy. His extensive leadership experience includes serving as American Pharmacist Association-Academy Students of Pharmacy National President, on the APhA Board of Trustees, President of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA), and on multiple boards and committees at national, state, and local levels. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he completed a residency in Drug Information and Pharmacotherapy, and recently earned an MBA with a major in Leadership and Strategy from Indiana University's #1 ranked online MBA program at the Kelley School of Business.

As an NCPA member, Tennessee Pharmacists Association member, and NCPA Foundation donor, Jay shares his unique perspective on leadership, innovation, and what it takes to thrive in today's challenging pharmacy landscape.

Interview

Sonja Pagniano: Welcome to the Script Your Future Podcast. I'm Sonja Pagniano, and I'm thrilled to be here today speaking with Jay Phipps, a pharmacy owner, entrepreneur, and the force behind the Pharmacy Gladiator brand. Jay's journey from the hills of Appalachia to becoming a successful multi-pharmacy owner is truly inspiring. Jay, welcome to our show.

Jay Phipps: Sonja, I'm super excited to be here. It's great to share my passion and the passion for the profession. As you've mentioned, I'm a pharmacy owner in West Tennessee and super excited about the opportunities that pharmacies have now and exciting to share my journey with you.

Sonja: Excellent. So let's start at the very beginning with two things I think make your story really unique and compelling. You're a first-generation college graduate from Appalachia. Take us back to those early days. What was it like pursuing a career in pharmacy coming from that background? And what initially inspired you to choose pharmacy in the first place?

Jay: I was just back in the hills of East Tennessee this past weekend for a Tennessee Pharmacist Association meeting, and it brought up a bunch of memories. And we really did grow up very humble. I would say humble would be the right word. My dad was hardworking, but my grandparents had been tenant farmers and worked on other farms. So we grew up very humble.

We were tobacco farmers, so I actually worked in the fields and got my first job at twelve years old, working on a farm. And then took a second job at fourteen, working construction in addition to working on the farm… So very much of a working blue collar family, first generation college graduate.

I now have a cousin that is in pharmacy school, which will be the second one to pursue postgraduate education. So that's exciting to have that. So, really just grew up with the work ethic. And I think that has helped make me successful because while I'm not always the smartest, not always the most innovative, the most creative, I do find one of my core values is that I'm relentless. And so I'm going to outwork anybody there is out there. And I think that blue collar background really, really brought that up and gave the foundation for me to be successful in what I do.

Sonja: Well, I think you should give yourself some credit because I've seen the stuff you've been accomplishing back-to-back to-back. And so I think you're very smart, definitely smarter than me. So… thinking back to that time, though, when you were first going to go for a college degree, like what did your family think about that?

Jay: My parents were amazingly supportive. They didn't have that opportunity. And so they really were supportive of me going and pursuing a graduate degree. We really didn't know what I was going to do. I talked about maybe doing medicine, really wasn't sure.

And one of the interesting things I think about my story is because we were—I don't… poor is probably the right word, humble. I used the word humble a lot. And so I actually took a job at a factory working graveyard shift to help save money to go to college. I helped build power steering gears for automobiles at night. And I did chemistry and biology during the daytime.

[00:04:03] And so saved up enough money as I went to a community college that I could go to the school that I really wanted to, which is Carson Newman University and…small liberal arts school in East Tennessee, gave me a great opportunity and really, I guess, gave me that foundation because they were a very caring organization that the university poured into us.

And that gave me the opportunity, I think, to really give me the confidence to go outside of there. I got a bachelor's degree, really wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself, really still then. And my family had been supportive, but they're like, all right, now it's time to go figure this out. And actually got a job in a hospital pharmacy and as a technician and really enjoyed that.

And after a long trip to watch a University of Tennessee football bowl game with a bunch of pharmacy people, I came back and I decided I was going to apply to pharmacy school. And that was, it was very interesting, last minute decision, really, a few weeks before the deadline of pharmacy school.

[00:04:55] And I think something very interesting that is, that I reflect back on often is I went to meet with one of the deans at one of the colleges. And, um, like, how do I get in? Um, and, and he looked at my GPA. He looked at, you know, my, my background, my leadership. And he told me, he said, you'll, you'll never get in pharmacy school.

Sonja: Nah.

Jay: Yeah, it was, it was, it was very interesting. I remember like it was yesterday and I said, you mean this year? And he says, no, I don't think you'll ever get in. Your grades are average. You hadn't taken the PCAT, which was required at the time. You've got some experience, but you don't have any leadership experience, which is, I think, the key thing.

I think there's always something to take away from every challenging experience. And so, and he was right. I had very little leadership experience. So I immediately left his office to go to get my transcript sent to the University of Tennessee, because I decided then I was going to go to pharmacy school. If nothing before then, once I was told I couldn't do it.

Sonja: Yeah, once you're told no, you're like, okay, this is happening.

Jay: It was a done deal. So got that moving forward. But I took that advice. And as soon as I got in pharmacy school, I really got involved in organizations. Ultimately become an APHASP national president. Went from no leadership experience to being in charge.

Sonja: Being in charge…leading people.

Jay: [00:06:22] And that really was, that really changed me. I think sometimes you can be resentful when people give you direct feedback. And that was one of those, honestly, life-altering… things, because I wouldn't be here today if it hadn't been for that interaction.

That could have went either way. I could have went back in a hole and hidden, or I could go and…

Sonja: How brave of you though, to even ask the question. There are a lot of people today, they don't even ask. They don't say like, do you think like this will work for me? They just think it's not going to work. And so when people take the time to ask the question, and then even when they're told no, they make it happen.

That's the kind of people we need in this industry. We need the go-getters. We need the gladiators, as you call it, to kind of move things forward and keep things driving for the profession. So I think it's remarkable what all you've overcome, how much you've accomplished.

And I think your story probably resonates with other people. I know even for myself, obviously not having done pharmacy school or anything, I had a similar experience where I was like, well, I worked two jobs, like through high school, like I did all this work and it didn't matter because it was like…You didn't participate in these organizations. You didn't have any kind of leadership things you were part of. Like, what do you have to show for that? And it's like, it's a legitimate question.

But it's also like, how am I supposed to do that and work this much? And it's kind of like in our one conversation we had on our podcast - if you want it, you'll make the time for it. Like, you'll figure it out. And so I do think there is some of that. It's how can you overcome your obstacles and still drive things forward?

Jay: Absolutely.

Sonja: So over time, I know you've developed a really strong online presence. And I have to ask you about this Pharmacy Gladiator concept. I think that's such a distinctive brand name. What gave you the courage to put yourself out there like that online? And how did you come up with the concept itself?

Jay: [00:08:25] Great question! So I spent a lot of time trying to think about like, what's a differentiator in pharmacies? What are we really doing? And I actually go back to Carson-Newman, and when I decided I was going to apply to pharmacy school, I met with Dr. Patsy Boyce, was one of my professors. And I said, I think I'm going to go to pharmacy school. She said, you will be good for the profession…pharmacy needs people like you.

And I've always been just a little different than most pharmacists. I don't think like most pharmacists. I think much like most NCPA members, which we're not just pharmacists, we're entrepreneurs at NCPA. And that's really the differentiator, I believe, is that entrepreneurial mindset.

So I've been trying to think, how do you like portray, how do you explain what we really do? And at two in the morning, I woke up and went, pharmacy gladiator, that's it!

Sonja: At two in the morning?

Jay: [00:09:26] At two in the morning. And I'll probably share another story later about two in the morning. Two in the morning is literally, that's my most creative time when you're sleeping in your, you know, you're not letting your busy thoughts cloud your mind and let your brain go to work.

And I woke up into Pharmacy Gladiator. So literally at two in the morning, I bought pharmacygladiator.com website, pharmacygladiatorpodcast.com. Like, I mean, I was all in.

Sonja: We went all in, yeah.

Jay: [00:10:05] And it's really been interesting because I think we, pharmacists are out there conquering the coliseums in their communities… we're battling for patients, we're battling for access, we're battling for our profession. And I think sometimes we're seen as somewhat timid. A gladiator is the opposite of what many people think of as pharmacists. I don't believe that. I think most pharmacists are out there really fighting for their patients and their profession.

[00:10:44] And so to me, it seems a little alter ego, I guess, but to me, that's really what's on the inside of most of us as pharmacists, whether you're actually in community practice or health systems or wherever you practice, I think most of us have that inner gladiator, especially in community practice. I think it really stands out on what we do.

And so I've taken that, and I'll be honest, It was scary to first have a social media presence. I think I created a LinkedIn account about three years ago. So still new.

Sonja: It's still pretty new. Yeah.

Jay: It's still new. I had made my first video, which took me about 115 takes before; before I got it done, two years ago or so, a little over two years ago. Now I'm consistently making videos and trying to elevate and inspire other pharmacists to do great things. And they are, and I think you want to shed light on that. You really want to talk about the great things that pharmacists are doing.

Sonja: Yeah.

Jay: [00:11:54] And so when I started that, it came down to, when I started that social media presence… It was about, you know, there was so much negativity in the profession. We, we felt like we were, we were overwhelmed, you know, DIRs were bad, reimbursement was terrible, you know, and, and you could go to a meeting and it was all these bad things that we think about. And, and really the Gladiator brand has, has evolved somewhat over the last couple of years because; Because my biggest passion is speaking about fear and how we overcome fear.

Sonja: Right. And you do talk about that a lot. Yeah.

Jay: [00:12:13] Yeah. That's really, when I'm at home at night, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock at night, I'm researching fear. And how do we overcome fear?

[00:12:28] And really gladiators, and interestingly enough, were slaves, right, to the Roman Empire. Well, I think most people are slaves to their fear. You know, what are we; What are we overwhelmed with? Do we have difficult conversations? Do we avoid, you know…how many people want to be an entrepreneur and don't take that step or write a book or change jobs, have a difficult conversation?

And, so I started really trying to get that out. And during the time that I started having a social media presence, and we were in such a fearful state, in the profession that many people don't realize, but your amygdala, the part that controls your fear, keeps you from innovating. It pulls the resources from your prefrontal cortex, the front of your brain that does the innovation and long-term planning. And you can't do that while you're in a fearful state.

[00:13:17] And so it really has evolved. And it's been a challenge for me to put myself out there because Some are going to like it, some are not. And you just have to be willing to lay it out there and overcome figure. Every time I get ready to shoot a video or give a talk, you have to be positive and think there's somebody out there that you're going to relate to. And you tell your story. And I've been extremely, extremely positive feedback. Been really excited about it. Still a little nervous sometimes. You start wondering about when you lay yourself out there for the world to see.

[00:13:59] It's a little challenging, but this past weekend, I went to a Tennessee Pharmacist Association meeting. Three people that I really didn't know came up to me and started talking about how fear was important to them and how it was constraining them. They wanted career changes, but were afraid to. They were afraid to do it. They didn't want to leave worth at the comfort of their own current situation. And I think that's really what where that pharmacy gladiator has evolved to.

And it's really worked out to be perfect for me and trying to get that out there to get people to be, to reach their potential and ultimately reach their destiny.

Sonja: I think it's a really good message, especially like you said, in a time where there's so much impacting pharmacy. It's all in our news feeds. It's in the work you guys are doing every day. You see it, you see the numbers, you see what's happening to your patients. I mean, you cannot run away from it.

Jay: [00:14:59] No, and interestingly enough, you know, in fear, there's, most people think fight or flight. There's actually 3 responses. There's a study out of Stanford to show that you either fight it… You run from it, but the least stressful state is to freeze and do nothing. Your heart rate's down less. You don't have as much stress. And so many people have frozen. You know, they just freeze and just sit there and let it happen to you.

[00:15:31] And I think the ones that are stand up and face it head on are the ones that are going to be successful, whether you're in pharmacy or any other profession. I think you really have to, when you have a challenge, you have to be like a buffalo and walk into the storm instead of away from the storm.

Sonja: Oh, but it's cold and wet.

Jay: It is, exactly.

Sonja: It’s uncomfortable.

Sonja: Yeah. It is uncomfortable.

Jay: [00:15:52] And I tell our team, at least on a weekly basis, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable if you want to grow. If you want to innovate, if you want to be a better person, And you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. And I think that's the one thing that I think a lot of times people have challenges with is they don't like to be uncomfortable. Me either. But the more you do it, the more you get used to it and the better you respond to it.

Sonja: Yeah, it's like it's; like a muscle. You’ve got to grow it and practice it. Otherwise it'll get weaker and weaker and it won't work anymore.

Jay: [00:16:22] I actually talk about the fear muscle all the time because I think it's really interesting you say that because it's really the exact same thing. The more that you do something that you're uncomfortable with, you do. You grow that muscle just like you go to the gym to grow a set of biceps or quads. It's the exact same process.

Sonja: So how has your online presence impacted your business? You talked about people approaching you at the Tennessee Pharmacist Association meeting. Have there been other areas where it's impacted you as well?

Jay: [00:16:54] Absolutely. It's really developed a lot of relationships. And I can't tell you how many times I go to a meeting and people don't remember my name, but they're like, you're the pharmacy gladiator. I was at Red Cell Connect not long ago and was talking to somebody and we couldn't carry on the conversation. Not to say it braggingly, but I bet there were 10 people in a row that were like, hey, you're the pharmacy gladiator, right? And so, it really has built that network and has gotten me out there. And then that's allowed me to honestly help other people, I think, but it's also helped me because then you make those connections, and it breaks down that barrier. Because even if you see somebody on social media, you feel like you know them.

Sonja: Sure, yeah.

Jay: [00:17:40] And you want to; I want to be authentic. I want, I think most people out there, the majority want to be authentic. And if you're that way, then it breaks down that barrier and people that you wouldn't speak to before you will. And so that's really given me some, I think, some great opportunities to make relationships. I'm a big relationship builder. I want to know who people are. I want to know about them. And

Sonja: It's like a pre-icebreaker.

Jay: It is, it is; because they're like, hey, I was, I don't remember where, about six, eight months ago at a conference and a pharmacy student came up to me and he said, that smile is real…That's how he started the conversation. And I went, yeah. And I'm like, because I guess he's seen me on social media and I usually, I've got a big smile on my face most of the time. And he said, I didn't know if you were just faking that for pictures or if you really did smile. And so it was, it's really good, but you do have that comfort. If he hadn't seen me on social media, I would have never had that opportunity to have that conversation…

Sonja: …Let’s talk about numbers and growth related to your pharmacies. So how many pharmacies do you own now? And how did you make the transition from owning one to multiple?

Jay: [00:18:53] Great question. Currently, I own four, all in middle and west Tennessee. I actually just recently bought a new building. So, we're going to have #5 in 2026.

And I'll go back to- I'll do it in chronological order. You know, I graduated pharmacy school. I did a residency in drug information and pharmacotherapy. I'm probably the only independent pharmacy owner in the world that did a drug information residency and pharmacotherapy.

Sonja: I've never heard of that.

Jay: And I am pretty abnormal from other drug information pharmacists. Most of them, they're very reserved and quiet – I’m neither of those. But during my residency, I got a phone call because I got involved as a student in APHA. And somebody called me and said, hey, we're opening a pharmacy. Would you like to work for us? And I said, no, but I would consider being a partner. And why I said that, I have no idea because; my parents never wanted to own anything or owned a business. And so anyway, my residency project ended to be opening up a community pharmacy. And so, 25 years ago, this past June, we opened up my first pharmacy with two partners, two great guys. And we saw within the first year or so that we had different visions. Like I said, great people. And so, we split ways as partnership and I've been on my own since.

And really it was me trying to figure out how to do that. And you know, when you open a pharmacy, I had two mortgages, student loans, you know, you go to the bank and you borrow money from the bank to pay yourself to pay your two mortgages.

It's not ideal.

Sonja: No, probably not.

Jay: No, I would hate to hear what Mark Cuban and Mr. Wonderful would have to say about that.

[00:21:11] I'll be candid… and I don't want to discourage anybody, but going from one to two was more difficult than going from two to four.

Sonja: Sounds like having kids.

Jay: It sounds the same. It is. Um, because you, most of us are really good at being tactical. We're good on the counter. Being good on, on the counter, being good with patience is different than managing a business and being an entrepreneur.

[00:21:36] And I'll speak on that word entrepreneur. for just a second, which is that I never owned that word until I went back at 50 years old. I know I don't look like I'm 50 years old, but I am 50. I went back and got my MBA at 50 from University of Indiana. And that's the first time I owned the word entrepreneur. I never thought about it. I'm just a pharmacy owner. No, we're not just pharmacy owners. We are changing the business model. We're entrepreneurs and we're doing new things.

And it's just, I think that transition and mindset is challenging for me. And as I talk to other people, I think it can be. So once I figure out how you scale that, how you manage people, and I'm such a better leader, I believe, now than I was then, because I was a really good pharmacist. I could fill prescriptions really fast. I could do all those things, but I didn't know how to manage things that were outside my control. And that really, that was the most challenging part.

And then, you learn to scale those things. You get better and you put systems in place … you give people some flexibility to be themselves, but you also give them a structure in which they thrive… probably, you learn that you have to step back and let people You don't want to micromanage things. You don't want to.

Sonja: Right. You want to trust your employees. You hired them to do a job.

Jay: Exactly; if people aren't successful, most of the time it's my fault because I didn't give them the tools. Did I give them the training? You know, sometimes you have to do some training and up-level people.

[00:23:23] And so now, we operate 4 pharmacies and then I also have an organization called Phipps Care, where pharmacists are in a clinic. in our pharmacy, providing weight loss services. We're doing test and treat, flu Strep COVID, UTIs. We're also helping manage erectile dysfunction in men. So that's another business that we have. And now I'm also an insurance agent. So I have a company called Health Insurance Solutions in which we have pharmacy technicians and nurses and pharmacists that are doing helping people select their Medicare Part D plans.

[00:24:00] And so a lot of balls in the air, but to me, that's the exciting part of it. And if I hadn't learned how to scale early, I don't think we could do that now, but you have to be able to be comfortable stepping back and as you said, trusting people to reach the goals that you all set together and then step back and give them feedback though if they need it. you know, be direct about it and not just assume they know everything and help them really reach their potential.

Sonja: So how do you identify those people for your businesses to kind of help move things along? Like what are some of the qualities you see in people that have really been helpful?

Jay: [00:24:35] That's a podcast in itself. The number one thing I look for is problem solving. I mean, that's it, without a doubt, because if you can solve a problem, You don't have to be the smartest. You don't have to have all the ideas, but if you can problem solve, that's, that's the people I want on my team. I want people that are, are problem solvers.

[00:25:03] And so we have a, we have a very systematic approach to hiring people now, standardized questions. for technicians, we have a math test to see where they're at. It's not a yes or no, we hire them, but it's, hey, we want to know where your skill set really is. Are you able to be in the compounding lab or not able to be in the compounding lab without training? And so we've become very systematic.

I let technicians interview technicians.

Sonja: smart, yeah.

Jay: [00:25:32] So it doesn't really matter what I think. I could think you were the greatest member of, to come on our team, but if the team doesn't think that, it doesn't really matter what I think.

Sonja: Right, because they're going to be around that person all the time.

Jay: [00:25:43] Exactly. And I've learned, even recently, sometimes you make decisions. and you haven't, you don't follow that mindset, that structure you put in place, and it's like, it backfires. So I really have opened up trying to get the whole team involved in the hiring process.

And it's hard. You know, hiring the right people, it's all about culture. You know, not everybody sits in our culture. We innovate, we're problem solvers, we're solution focused. We want to sell fast. We don't want something to drag out for a year when we can find out in a week. And it's hard to find that.

[00:26:30] have to get them, you know, you have to get the right people on your bus and then put in the right seat on the bus. And then there's times you need them to put them on somebody else's bus. And that's always hard. It goes back to fear. Like, yeah, I used, I used to not let people go… Now you learn it's better for them to be on the right bus than your bus just because it's convenient or it's difficult to not let them be on your bus.

Sonja: Exactly. Yeah. Again, finding comfort in uncomfortable conversations.

Jay: [00:27:01] Absolutely. Which I think is really as the research I've done, and I do surveys - That's it, that avoiding conflict, including difficult conversations, for pharmacists especially, it just scares them to death. Like, we won't want to have those hard conversations. The more you do it, the better it gets. It's never easy, but it does get better. And you're right. Just trying to find the right people for the right culture. To me, that's going to be paramount to your success.

Sonja: Well, of the right people. Speaking of relationship building, I noticed the NCPA sign behind you and the Tennessee Pharmacists Association. I know you're a member of both of those. So, for pharmacists listening to who might be on the fence about joining or rejoining an organization like an association, what value do you get from being part of an organization like an association?

Jay: [00:28:00] that, the associations, provide, I think, a great value when you step back, when you look at what they give you. But then my greatest personal benefit is the mastermind of other like-minded professionals. And that's where the real value, you know, NCPA and TPA both do great jobs of having resources and finding out what we need…the thing that stretches across all the organizations is you get those people together and you make them build those relationships that you're never going to do when you're in your pharmacy all day long…on a regular basis, which drives my family a little crazy sometimes. I'll be going driving down the road and go, oh, independent pharmacy, and I'll walk in.

Sonja: Oh, and you'll stop by and say hi.

Jay: [00:28:42] I just stop by, exactly. When we're on vacation, we did the same thing. We went to Oregon recently, and we stop and visit pharmacies when we're on the coast. Actually visited one of Jeff Harrell’s stores and…and a great opportunity to go and see what people are doing. But most people don't do that. Most people are in their box.

[00:29:12] And I think the associations give us an opportunity to develop those relationships and really solve problems together. really missing out on that. We don't have to be, even if you're a single store owner in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee, you don't have to be on an island. Right, you're choosing not to wave down the ship as it goes by to rescue you. can get help. And I think sometimes we don't take advantage of that. And the more that you'll look for it, the solutions are there. You just have to get out of your box to go find them.

Sonja: Yeah, I think as a foundation, that's something that we see as super important is reminding people of the value of community, like the community of community pharmacy, so to speak. I think we might have regained a lot of that during COVID, but I think we also lost some of that because we were also distanced from each other. And so… I think reminding people of the value of organizations, of the value of relationship building, of what it means to bring a group of diverse different mindsets and things into a room so that you can go and talk and learn about new things that you aren't necessarily going to find out on the internet. The organic conversation, you learn so much more.

Jay: I agree. I agree 100%. I think you're spot on with that stuff. I'd like to add, in my career, I've watched it evolve. When I first started 25 years ago, pharmacists across the country would share. The pharmacists that were close didn't necessarily share.

Sonja: Oh, interesting.

Jay: [00:30:50] What I have watched is really because of the challenges that the profession has faced, we've become unified. We have this big enemy, PBMs, to be very candid, right? It's a giant elephant in the room. And that has brought us together, I think, in a different way, which is great. Not that we had that enemy, but that way we have unified and… To me, we converse and we'll share even locally that we would probably never have done 20 years ago. But now we realize that we are stronger together, and that's really what NCPA does for us.

Sonja: What's the biggest mistake that you see new pharmacy owners make?

Jay: [00:31:35] pharmacists are perfectionists. One of the biggest fears we have is we want to be perfectionists. And, you know, I'm a recovering perfectionist myself. I get it.

Sonja: Well, it's important when it comes to medicine.

Jay: Yes, right. But it does. With other things. Yeah, it does draw in that personality of right drug, right patient, right dose, right doc. You know, I get that. But on the entrepreneurial side, you need to be able to be okay knowing it's not always going to be perfect. You're never going to have all the data. Make a decision. If it's wrong, pull the plug. At a pharmacy years ago that I left open for a long time, I kept going, it'll be better next year. It'll be better next year. And still, I should have said, all right, it's just not the right place. I made a bad decision. But you get sunk cost in it. You're like, oh, I've put all this time and money in it. I've got to keep going.

Sonja: Yeah, you feel bought in and committed to your mistake.

Jay: Yes, exactly right. Which really, and that fear of letting go and stepping back can be overwhelming. So I think the one thing is, I guess the number one advice I would give new pharmacy owners is one, quit thinking about it and start and do it. Take action. We think about it forever. Quit thinking about it, do it. And then be okay that not every step's gonna be right. You don't have to have everything perfect the first time. Go sell fast, figure it out, make it better and improve with every day you go into work or every week and every month. And then that'll really make you successful, I believe…than thinking you've got to have it perfectly laid out on the beginning. And then if it doesn't work out that way, you're disappointed. Well, be okay that it's going to be a better at the end than what you think it'll be. You just can't see where it's going to be exactly yet.

Sonja: And it's also okay if you get to that place where you realize you failed to ask for help. Like to your point, There are thousands of pharmacy owners across the country who are willing to pick up a phone or send an e-mail or whatever and help out. So I think that's also good to remember.

Jay: I do too. Yeah. You're really not on your own. And most of us, 99% of pharmacists are gonna be, if you pick up a phone and say, hey, I don't know you, but I need help with this. They're gonna say, all right, what do you need help with? And they're gonna give you everything They'll lay it out and give you all the help that you could ever need. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable enough to ask for help. Early in my career, I was not. Now I'm like, there's more that I don't know than I know, and it's okay. So why not go to somebody else that knows more than I do about a subject?

Sonja: Well, Jay, this has been fantastic. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners? Maybe something we didn't cover that you think is important for people to know?

Jay: [00:34:31] I have never been more excited about the profession of pharmacy than I have now. 25 years in it and there's all this negativity that we talk about. But I'll be honest, I feel like the profession is a volcano that's got the steam, got the pressure building up in it and it's about to explode.

So I really think, you know, look for the positives. There's a lot of positives out there. We're able to do things from a practice setting and In most states that we've not been able to do in the past, we're wired to look for the negatives. And that's okay, but there's much more positive out there. We just have to remain relentless.

[00:35:15] I wear a wristband that says pharmacy gladiators are passionate and relentless. You got to remember what your passion is. Why are you here? What's your purpose? And then how do you pursue that purpose every day? And I think you do it by remaining relentless. And that does allow us to conquer the coliseums in our own communities.

Sonja: And then one more question before we go. So thank you for being a donor of the NCPA Foundation. What do you think the foundation can do to help drive innovation and sustainability in community pharmacy?

Jay: [00:35:45] I think the foundation, number one, are great listeners. Like you really are great listeners to what's going, because sometimes people in an office can have great ideas. But I think the best ideas are when you listen and then you apply your wisdom to that and you bring out the best of both worlds of what's boots on the ground and what's creative.

[00:36:16] And I think the foundation brings that creativity for implementation. And so I think we just need to continue to work together, to collaborate, to make sure that pharmacists, when they have ideas, go to the foundation and talk to them, talk to you about it. and lay those ideas out, and then the foundation to continue to support those ideas so we can move the profession forward.

Sonja: Well, I think you said that beautifully. And I know I'm inspired every time you talk about being passionate and being relentless. And I try to apply that to our work here at the foundation as well.

So, Jay Phipps, a pharmacy gladiator himself, Jay, where can people find you online and connect with you?

Jay: [00:36:53] I have a website, pharmacygladiator.com. And then you can find me on LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram at Dr. Jay Phipps on all those platforms. And I'd love to connect with people there. Love to help. I enjoy working with teams and helping build and really giving keynote speeches about fear and how you overcome fear to be successful. So love for people to connect and love to make that connection, build that relationship.

Sonja: Excellent. That is great feedback. Thank you so much. And thanks so much for your time today. We really appreciate it.

Jay: Thank you very much. I've enjoyed it very much.

Contact Information

* On LinkedIn

* On Instagram

* X

* Pharmacy Gladiator

Episode Summary

In this episode of Script Your Future, Jay Phipps shares his extraordinary path from a first-generation college graduate working tobacco farms in Appalachia to owning four pharmacies and multiple healthcare ventures in Tennessee. He discusses the pivotal moment when a pharmacy school dean told him he'd "never get into pharmacy school," and how that rejection fueled his determination to succeed. Jay explains the evolution of his "Pharmacy Gladiator" brand, which emerged from his passion for helping pharmacists overcome fear and reach their potential. The conversation covers practical advice on scaling from one to multiple pharmacies, building strong teams, and the importance of professional associations in fostering collaboration and innovation in community pharmacy.