From Pharmacy Student to Association CEO: Dr. Anthony Pudlo's Journey in Leadership

Introduction

What does it take to transform from a pharmacy student who “didn’t know what kind of pharmacist I wanted to be” into the visionary leader of a state pharmacy association?

In this conversation, Dr. Anthony Pudlo, CEO of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, pulls back the curtain on his unconventional journey from the community pharmacy counter to the executive suite. His story isn’t about following a predetermined path—it’s about staying curious, building authentic relationships, and learning to lead with both conviction and humility.

Anthony shares hard-won wisdom on navigating the complexities of association leadership: from his whirlwind first 90 days as CEO to orchestrating a complete organizational rebrand, from building diverse teams that challenge each other to knowing when to maintain your “best poker face” with legislators. But perhaps most importantly, he reminds us why philanthropy, mentorship, and simply “being a person first” are the foundations of sustainable impact in pharmacy.

Whether you’re a student exploring non-clinical careers, a practitioner considering a leadership transition, or an association professional looking to revitalize your organization, Anthony’s insights on calculated risk-taking, personal branding, and the power of a dollar-a-day commitment will challenge how you think about creating meaningful change in pharmacy.

This is a conversation about finding your place in the profession—and then using that position to lift others up along the way.

Interview

Sonja: Welcome back to the Script Your Future Podcast. This podcast is dedicated to advancing independent community pharmacy practice and developing the leaders of tomorrow. I’m your host, Sonja Pagniano. Today we have an inspiring conversation lined up with someone whose career path perfectly embodies the transition from dedicated student to influential association executive. Our guest is Dr. Anthony Pudlo, the CEO of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, or TPA as it’s commonly referred to.

Anthony has been a recipient of the 2006 NCPA Foundation Partners in Pharmacy Scholarship and 2007 graduate of Drake University. Upon graduation, he completed the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Community Pharmacy Practice Residency with Kerr Drug in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Since then, he hasn’t just built a successful career. He’s poured back into the profession, giving as a generous donor to the NCPA Foundation in the past, serving as a current generous NCPA PAC donor, and never relenting in his championing the community pharmacy profession and encouraging pharmacy students to consider a career in independent community pharmacy.

In August of 2021, he started in his current role at TPA. Having personally visited the association not too long ago, I can say that Anthony has truly breathed new life into the organization, overseeing a major building renovation and a complete branding revamp as well. We’re going to dive into that incredible transformation in a little bit...

In today’s episode, we want to find out what takes a pharmacy student to the helm of a major state association?

And more importantly, what critical lessons can up and coming pharmacy leaders learn from Anthony’s unique journey? Anthony, welcome to the podcast!

Anthony: Thanks, Sonja. It’s a pleasure to be here…

Sonja: So I want to take us back to when you were a pharmacy student. What were some of those pivotal moments or experiences that took you from pharmacy school to maybe advocacy and then later association management?

Anthony: Oh gosh, good question. It almost has to go back a little bit further, because even before I went to pharmacy school, I usually tell students and new graduates, I didn’t know what kind of pharmacist I wanted to be when I grew up. Actually, I didn’t even come from a pharmacy family, not even any other healthcare providers in my direct immediate family.

So when I went to pharmacy school, I was a sponge. I was getting involved in just about every organization just to learn the acronyms, learn the terms, learn what pharmacy practice is really like.

I was connected with a lot of upperclassmen as well and learning about what they were doing, maybe on rotations and things like that. And so I do remember a few upperclassmen, I think, saw that excitement of sorts or that curiosity in what I was looking at in the profession. And they quickly were like, hey, Anthony, you should come to a pharmacy conference, whether it was at the state level—I was going to school at Drake University—whether it was one of the association meetings at the Iowa Pharmacy Association, or I was involved with APhA and NCPA and AMCP and ASHP. I was involved. I got involved a little bit with everything, but I just didn’t know what kind of pharmacist I wanted to be.

So when I think it was maybe my early foray into seeing what a mentor could do, because they’re the ones that encourage me to actually come. My first national pharmacy conference when I was in pharmacy school was the NCPA Annual Convention and started immediately learning about all the great things that pharmacists can do in their practice, especially in an independent practice where they have a little bit more flexibility and trial by error at times about how best to take care of their patients. So, you know, then I don’t want to say the rest is history because I was still trying to figure everything out.

And so yeah, for me, I think every year I was just getting more involved in different aspects of what the profession could offer and learning about it. Because I think most of our listeners probably know that pharmacy is practiced so differently across our country because of some of the nuances to the state laws. And so learning about everything I could that was going on in the state of Iowa, plus as I got connected with people outside of the state, it was kind of awe. I was like awestruck by what the profession can do and got me excited to get more involved.

Sonja: Well, it sounds like you’re a lifelong learner, and I have noticed that as a common theme among people who do really well in the profession, it’s this eagerness to want to learn new things and connect with more people, so that’s great.

I do want to talk a little bit more about connection. So in a traditional pharmacy role, your connection is typically with patients and the community. But when you’re the CEO of an association, your connection is with members and legislators and stakeholders.

So how do you adapt communication skills and relationship building skills to succeed in an environment like that if you’re used to more of like a traditional pharmacy type?

Anthony: Yeah, you know, and I come, I had more immediate work in the community pharmacy space throughout school and in my early days as a practitioner. And yes, well, I think you’re right. I mean, I think the communication styles differ, but I think in the end, you have to know your audience. There’s usually a phrase that talks about like, what’s in it for me? So you have to understand when you’re talking to somebody, whether it’s a patient, let’s talk about what matters most to them at any given time when they’re receiving counseling from a pharmacist.

Yes, maybe the Board of Pharmacy says you need to hit all these little check boxes, right? But you know what?

6:22 If you don’t address that immediate concern that patient has, they’re not going to listen to anything else you have to say. So you have to address that immediate concern. And I think that goes the same way when I’m sitting here talking to another pharmacist.

Now in Tennessee, our association runs the gamut in terms of the practice settings that we serve. So having to understand what is the issue of a large health system pharmacist or a pharmacy technician that works at an independent pharmacy or a pharmacist that works in a home infusion center, whatever it might be, you have to understand what is their primary concern. And then you try to interpret that and help them i…