From Startup to Success: The Pharmacy of Shannon Hills Story

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Allie and Callie, owners of The Pharmacy of Shannon Hills in Arkansas, as they share their incredible journey from pharmacy school to successful independent pharmacy startup.

Discover their do’s and don’ts, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the importance of community engagement. Plus, learn how they’ve turned their pharmacyinto a local healthcare hub.

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If you prefer to read this content, the video transcript is below.

Bonnie: Well, welcome to another episode of the Sykes Bottom Line Pharmacy Podcast. We are super excited to have our guests today, clients of ours from The Pharmacy of Shannon Hills in Arkansas. Ar-kansas, as I like to call it. You guys have never heard of that before, but we have Allie and Callie with us. How are you guys?

Callie: We’re good. Happy to be here. How are you guys?

Bonnie: We’re making it. Scotty is not with us today. He has been on a much-needed vacation. He actually sent us a message last night that he was going to try to hop on in his hotel room and we discouraged that because we are very supportive of our employees’ time off. So, we will miss him today.

Callie: We originally scheduled this and I was supposed to be on vacation this week and poor planning-

Bonnie: She’s like I’m going to be at the beach. And I was like, ehh

Callie: Which would have been fine for me. We had a nice lit house, actually, so we wouldn’t have been in a bat cave.

Bonnie: It would have been fine.

Callie: I would be using the computer.

Bonnie: But you guys need to enjoy your vacation as well.

Callie: It was much needed. I didn’t realize how much I think I did need it.

Bonnie: Well, it’s probably because you guys have been working very hard on your new pharmacy, which is not so new anymore. Allie and Callie, Kendell, started I’ve been working with them since about April of last year, a little before that, on their startup. And we wanted you guys to be on number one because you guys are so fun. We see you guys at some trade shows and you guys are always entertaining and exciting to be with, but also because you have had a very successful startup. And I know that is something especially when we do the NCPA Ownership Workshops and things like that. We get a lot more than you would think. Some people are scared away from startups, but there’s a lot of people who really want to do those instead of buying a store. So I told Kendell a few weeks ago, I was like, we need to get these girls on and just hear from them about their experience. I would love to hear do’s and don’ts things you would do differently because we’re always learning and things that have gone really well for you guys.

Allie: We might have a twin fight on this. We might really get into this.

Kendell: So, starting a pharmacy with your sister, is that a do or a don’t?

Allie: It’s a don’t.

Callie: It depends.

Bonnie: She said that really seriously. I was like-uh-oh.

Allie: I’ve been more of a silent partner because I actually have a full-time job outside of the pharmacy.

Bonnie: Right.

Kendell: Oh, wow.

Allie: Yes, so, I help when I can. I help on some Saturdays. And I kind of have a role of sending the daily reports, which are automated.

Kendell: I like that volunteer for the automated role.

Allie: This has really been a growing experience for both of us. I graduated pharmacy school and did a residency after for independent pharmacy and Callie was a year behind me in that. And we both knew we loved independent retail pharmacy and knew that this was what we wanted to do. You know, my role, I work with the Pharmacist Association in Arkansas and my role is with immunizations and COVID. So this was really bad timing for me. But we knew that from the beginning. And Callie has learned so much so fast, has grown as a leader, as a person, as a pharmacy owner, as all the things so incredibly proud of her. I know I’m frustrating to her, but we have learned and gotten better and kind of figured out our roles in this.

Bonnie: What a powerhouse to have, there’s two things I want to mention about that. I’ve always thought it was super awesome that you have the role that you have as well, because then there’s just an intermingling of knowledge there and I think that’s great. But the other thing that I talk to startups about a lot, especially when you see kind of a partnership come in two or three different people, not just one single, it is great to see, if possible, somebody kind of still stick with another position somewhere else, their job. Or if it’s a husband and wife, somebody still keep because with a startup it can take some time and you want to keep your cash there. And so, it’s great when you don’t have to pay full salaries for two and three people.

Kendell: Benefits also.

Callie: Yeah, for sure. That was the plan. We knew that we could only well, the places we had worked or I had worked that were kind of startup stores that I had been just either a technician at or even an intern during school. I had had that experience at more of like the startup stores. So I really saw how one pharmacist, maybe even one tech, really just ran the show and how that was doable and how that was really necessary in the beginning. You don’t want to have to pay a whole lot of people right at the beginning. So, we really expected me to be doing mainly all that stuff and really running the show. But it’s the behind-the-scenes work that’ll get you. Wears you down.

Bonnie: Before we get in too deep with that, tell me. I think it’s interesting as well. This is more of a personal question, but that both of you guys were in pharmacy school at the same time. So, what drove you guys? You guys have pharmacists in the family or did you guys just both decide, this is what we want to do?

Allie: Yeah, we have cousins in Kentucky that are pharmacists, and that was it. Some of our cousins became pharmacists, and that was kind of something for them. And we just were always kind of good at math and science and thought, well, pharmacy is for us. I did two years of undergrad and then got into pharmacy school. Truly God’s plan. By the grace of God, on that one.

Callie: Actually, we started I don’t know if you guys knew this or not, but we actually went to pharmacy school straight out of high school.

Kendell: What?

Callie: Well, we started this way. We knew we wanted to be pharmacists, and I don’t know, just kind of what it was. We’re people, people. And we were like, hey, we’ll do this. So, we got accepted into the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which we’re from Bryant, Arkansas, smaller town, and we went to St. Louis College of Pharmacy, started there. I did two years. She did one year. And after her first year, she was like, yeah, this is not for me. I’m going to actually try to get into somewhere else, try to get into, UAMS, and move back home. So, she did that, and I stayed up a year to kind know, kind of do my own thing, get my own identity going, you know, whatever. I stayed up there, and then after a year, I was like, Allie did it. I think I can do it too. I’ll move back home. But that was a risk that we took, because once you exit that program well, going into that program, you don’t have to do the PCAT to get accepted into the pharmacy part. Like, after third year starts, like the pharmacy school part. But it’s a risk. So, if you jump out of that, you are risking what you kind of have already planned for you. You’re automatically able to get into that. You automatically do the PharmD up there. So, it was a big risk that Allie took initially to jump out and say, hey, I think I could get into pharmacy school. Let me really try. So, she did it, and I was like, she did it. I can do it. Let’s go.

Allie: That’s how we work as twins. So, I’m 1 minute older, and I do everything first.

Bonnie: You test everything out.

Allie: I do everything first. I figure it out, and then I pass it to her. So, she was a year behind me at UAMS, and all of our professors were like, whenever she came in, like, first day, they’re like, “What, Allie?” “Why is she back here?”

Kendell: “I thought she did okay.”

Allie: And her whole class totally loved Callie because Callie got all my notes.

Bonnie: I was about to say, did you get to pass down the notes? That’s nice.

Callie: We always say I was the smart twin because I let her do it first.

Allie: I’m the work harder, and she’s the work smarter.

Bonnie: There you go. Oh, man.

Kendell: I love it. So, I have a question for you guys. I think you attended the ownership workshop, correct? During the ownership workshop, you could share any tidbits you’d like, but one thing I want to specifically ask is, did they do the question where they say, raise your hand if you would like to do a startup? And raise your hand if you would like to buy an existing pharmacy. Did they do that in your class?

Bonnie: Probably, yeah.

Kendell: Did you know that already, that you wanted to do a startup before the Ownership Workshop and why startup versus an existing pharmacy for you guys.

Callie: So, when we did the ownership workshop, we were already in the works of opening our store. So, I was kind of like, okay, we’re already in the works here, I know where I need help. As far as what I was lacking in figuring out how to open a pharmacy and kind of what I needed direction on. And I saw that the ownership workshop was launching for that time frame, and it was all at home, it was all online. And so, for us it was a, hey Allie, I’m coming to your house and we’re going to sit there for two days and we’re going to boot camp this and we’re going to do this together and figure out what we might be lacking. So, we really didn’t know what the ownership workshop would entail for us, but we were hoping to get some answers as far as what we needed direction on. So, we already were in the process of opening our store.

Kendell: Nice.

Callie: We only had a few things to get set up. I was already renovating our building. And oh my gosh, man. When Gabe starts in on his part about like, oh, the size building you want and oh, you just need this little space, and starts going on the retail stuff and I’m like, we just bought a 5,000 sq ft building with a lot of space, everything that he said not to do. And I’m like, well, it’s going to work for us, we’re going to make it work, we’re going to do it. We don’t have an option at this point. It’s going to happen.

Allie: But I think one thing that we really learned from the ownership workshop and that we knew that we were really lacking was financial help. And that was the most terrifying part for us. We did not have an in-house bookkeeper. We did not have anybody financially to help us with anything. We had no idea how that side worked. We actually thought we were going to have a little help with that and then that didn’t pan out. So, we were totally on our own from the managing our books side and accountant. But we had a lot of help and I think the ownership workshop really laid down the things. Okay, at this point in the game, how long is it going to take us to get credentialed? We learned, oh crap, these are some things that we had no idea that we even needed and really highlighted for us some of those things that we were behind the game on, but we needed to get caught up that next week for us to open on time.

Bonnie: Big plug for NCPA Ownership Workshop. We say it all the time. There’s another one in October right before NCPA show that we’ll be at, as well. But when we speak with new potential startups and people looking to purchase stores, that is the first thing we ask, have you been to the ownership workshop? But if the answer is no, we’re like, just do it here, go do that first and then let’s talk. I don’t think you guys would mind me sharing this with our audience with Kendell as well. One thing that impressed me about you guys, and this is just something that I remember is that your father is involved, to a degree, very supportive. But I remember you guys telling me that Kendell, he’s not like, giving them out handouts or doing whatever. I mean, he made them go through everything just like anybody else would, the financing, everything. Like, you girls are going to do this great, but he could help you, but he wanted you to do it just like everyone else. And I thought that that was A+ parenting.

Callie: Yeah, we’re thankful for that, too. We wanted to do it ourselves. We just didn’t know how that was going to work out. Yeah, we went to the bank and had a full business plan and kind of figured all that out on what do we need for a business plan, because not every bank too. And this is a little tip or trick for whoever maybe looking to open a store, but go to the bank and ask them, like, okay, what do you need from me for a business plan? Because every bank is going to be different. They may not need the census for the I don’t know, there might be things that they don’t need specifically that you might want to know that for your record. But the format of a whole business plan, you may not necessarily need all that, just for the financial part, just to secure your loan. Of course, it’s probably smart to do that, but

Kendell: Yes.

Callie: I think every situation is probably different on what you may need in your situation. So that was helpful for us. We actually were stuck on the business plan part and trying to figure out, like, okay, well, we just got really frustrated, like, trying to figure it all out. And I think Allie went to the bank and was like, okay, what do you need from this business plan specifically to make sure that we can get financials secured? What do you need from us? And that was super helpful. We were able to get that to them very quick once they told us exactly what they needed.

Allie: But what I’ll say is that it really was helpful, actually going to people instead of assuming what you think they want or need, going to people and asking them specifically what they want or need from you. And that’s not just for the loan, but for your contracts, for everything. Ask them.

Bonnie: Oh, man, that’s huge. I just want to stop you there. So that’s a great point. I think we see a lot that people have in their minds, especially with a startup. They just have this idea of this beautiful startup that they’re going to start fresh somewhere just like they want it the way they want it to look. And then these are all the things that they’re going to offer to that particular community, but they haven’t once asked or done the research to see what’s actually needed and then they don’t succeed. But I think it’s because they didn’t do that. I mean, sometimes things work for one community that don’t work in another. I mean, we’ve got some clients that do Botox now on certain days in their pharmacy, which and it works out perfect for them because of the environment in the community and the type of people that they’re with that can afford that sort of thing or that particular scenario. But that wouldn’t work for someone else necessarily. So, you really have to align it to make sure that you are doing what your community needs.

Callie: Absolutely. And that’s a big part of just figuring out, especially once we got open, it’s like, okay, we know kind of the population here just from living here, honestly, and kind of knowing what was here before. So, I guess I should mention too, we are technically considered a backfill pharmacy because there was a thriving pharmacy here for several years. He retired, sold his business to Fred’s Pharmacy, which was a chain, and they rented the building from him. Fred’s went bankrupt, so they kind of just left. And this building has just been sitting empty. All the files went to Walgreens, so all the patients went to Walgreens. That’s just where they were transferred to. Some of the patients knew me in the community because for one, just being my husband’s family is a very well-known family in this community. So that helps a lot, especially from getting up. But a lot of them also knew me as their pharmacist because I worked at a pharmacy not too far from here. So that was kind of a big help. So, I did kind of know the community and I knew there was a need here. The over-the-counter part was really hard. Is still difficult. That’s been a growing thing. I have an idea of what’s needed here. I don’t just want to have a bunch of stuff which that’s kind of what it was. It was kind of like a little gift shop. I don’t know. It was like very full in here. When you walked in, it was like, oh my gosh, it felt cluttered before. And that’s what people remember from this store. I get comments all the time walking in saying, oh, I love the little gifts that they used to have in here. And I’m like, I’d like to be able to see the front door when I’m way back here. It’s just been a growing process. I’m seeing like, okay, well, what does the community want here? So, I have added stuff like that.

Allie: But from day one, we decided, this building is so big. I wish I could show you our front end. It’s massive. But from day one, we decided we are not going to spend a bunch of money on front-end stuff just to make it look like it’s full. We are going to buy some furniture. We’re going to put a few things here and there. We actually have church pews that sit on a wall. I hated them at first, but okay. People love them. Good job, Callie. She did that.

Bonnie: Again, it’s not about you, I guess. It’s about what the people like.

Allie: That’s right. We’ve done a lot to just fill in the space, but we did not spend a bunch of money at the beginning just to fill up space. What we told people the first week we opened and ever since then, hey, when they make comments about it being empty, we want this to be your pharmacy. Tell us what you would like to buy here. And we suggested doing like a comment box where people can suggest things for us to carry, stuff like that. So, that way people feel like it’s personal to them and we know they actually want it. It’s not what we think they want, but we know it’s what they want.

Kendell: That’s nice.

Callie: A big part, I feel like too, about probably some of the reason, like we are doing pretty well here is I market our products, like our over-the-counter stuff. You cannot just put stuff out there and expect it to sell. You have to market it. You have to tell the people what they want and what they need. A big product we have here is Biolyte. I don’t know if you guys?

Bonnie: Oh, yeah.

Kendell: Definitely.

Bonnie: Biolyte saved my life-

Kendell: Several times, several times.

Bonnie: In Vegas, I was a little dehydrated and I hit up the booth at the last trade show.

Callie: Little dehydrated.

Bonnie: Quite a few times.

Callie: Biolyte is a huge product we have here.

Kendell: Oh, really?

Callie: And I tell people all the time, I’m like, hey, people will come through with a prescription for Tamiflu or COVID or whatever and I’m like, hey, I’ll give it to them. I was just giving them away, but I need some more samples, probably. But now we’re starting to just train my technicians and train everybody in the pharmacy like, hey, if you see a prescription, like at checkout and you see that patient is sick, tell them, hey, would you like to add on a Biolyte for $3.29? This is like taking an IV.

Kendell: IV in a bottle.

Callie: It will help you feel better faster. Yes, it is so much better. It’s like drinking six to seven Gatorades. It is so good. It’ll help you get feeling better faster.

Bonnie: And that’s independent pharmacy. That’s the difference from a big box. So, taking one more step, you see what you’re feeling, you see what’s going on with them. Here’s something else that you can offer a supplement or another over-the-counter item like you just mentioned to help them, and then also then they kind of have the awareness of that as well. And the next time, you won’t even have to do that.

Callie: Yeah, absolutely. People come back for that too. It helps so much.

Bonnie: Well, I don’t want to get negative, but let’s talk about really quick the things that you would not maybe some errors you made along the way with your startup. Maybe there are none.

Callie: One thing I would say for sure that I would say was a negative starting up is, I have zero leadership experience. I have worked in pharmacies. I’ve worked at all independent pharmacies. I’ve worked very closely with owners and with the pharmacists and other people, and I thought I knew how I would run my store if I ever had one. But I would say that that has been the absolute hardest part, is the leadership in HR, having the protocols in place, having a set of expectations, and setting that bar and making sure that everybody understands what those are, and that in order to work here, this is what you do. This is our standard kind of baseline, and this is what we expect from our employees. I’m just such a laid back person that I kind of am like, oh, if I’m good to you, you’ll be good to me. I just kind of assume that. You cannot assume that.

Bonnie: No, people continue to surprise.

Kendell: Surprise, surprise.

Callie: Things that you have in your mind that you kind of think is standard or just an expectation that you have, you have to say that out loud, and your employees have to know that.

Kendell: Like if you’re supposed to be at work, you have to come to work. And if you’re not going to be at work, you have to let us know. These are the type things that you got to actually write down.

Callie: Yeah, you do. One thing that helped me with that is I struggled so hard with HR, and, oh, my gosh, I still do. We’re trying to hire right now and have kind of started that process and I’m kind of scared of it.

Bonnie: It’s not easy.

Callie: It’s not easy, but hiring a business coach oh, my gosh, has been so life changing for me. Honestly, it was the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s the best money I’ve ever spent in this pharmacy.

Bonnie: Kind of like therapy, right?

Callie: Oh, it is.

Bonnie: But for a business.

Callie: I look forward to it, and I’m like, oh, she helps me so much, talks me up. I mean, you’re right, it’s like therapy, but we have a goal and it’s a business goal or a life goal, just whatever it is for that session. We’re going to say session just because you said therapy. But that meeting. But it helped me so much. Just really kind of understand how to work with people, things that I can do to better myself, to be better internally, how I see things and how I view different scenarios. Really getting my brain to refocus in a better state, to be able to relay that to employees. We have company values now that everybody knows what our expectation is. We really strive to meet that. I have weekly meetings with all my team members. There was somebody that said to do like five minutes, give somebody five minutes of your time at least once a week and that will really change how your employees see themselves. They feel like they’re valued as well as you can kind of touch base with them and see anything that you can do to help. And that has been so game-changing here. And it wasn’t bad before, but I felt mentally drained from having to constantly feel like I was getting on to somebody because they weren’t doing something that I thought they should know. But it wasn’t maybe vocalized or wasn’t written down. So really kind of understanding like, hey, you have to say things out loud, set that expectation. Don’t assume that everybody knows what you’re thinking. You have to do it and you have to really appreciate your employees. I always thought that I was going to be the boss that appreciated my employees. They know that and they do. They know I really appreciate what they do. But there are some days where it’s just like everything goes wrong. Everybody has those days where it’s just frustrating; every little thing is just frustrating and you just want to get through it. And it’s those things where if you can pick out something to tell one of your employees, like what they have done specifically that is good or excellent. That changes their whole day. I mean, it changes the whole mood in the pharmacy. Like if just doing something small like that just helps people feel appreciated and they want to work harder and they want to do better. Everybody wants to do good. Nobody wants to fail. So, that’s been a game-changing thing.

Allie: So, she’s learned a lot through that leadership, coaching, and stuff. Yeah, it’s been cool to watch her grow and thrive as a leader and a boss and kind of me take a step back and just say you do you and tell me what to do, but you’re going to have to show me how to do it if you want it done a certain way.

Bonnie: You guys are known, I have to say, I don’t know what it is, but at a lot of our trade shows. We have been meeting so many people from Arkansas. I mean you will say where are you from? And they’re like, Arkansas. And for whatever reason I’m always like, do you know Allie and Callie? And they’re like, yes, seems like everybody knows you guys. I’m like, well there you go.

Callie: That’s funny. Well, and that’s another thing I was going to mention too is, oh my gosh, we could not have done this without the help of our peers, our colleagues. We have such a strong, just connection with different pharmacy owners here in Arkansas that I don’t know if it’s like this way in other states, but our independent pharmacy game is just strong down here.

Bonnie: Ollin has mentioned that many times, we can tell.

Callie: It’s so cool. I don’t know if it’s like that in other states but we don’t want to take we’re not in competition with each other. I mean it is strongly felt all around that we want other independents to succeed. We’re in competition with the chains and those PBMs. We are not in competition with each other. If there’s one thing that one pharmacy is doing that could help another. They’re more than willing, typically, to share kind of what they’re doing and get everybody else on the chain. I mean we’re doing just from discussing with other pharmacies. Well, I meet once monthly with a group of probably 10 to 15 other pharmacy owners once a month and we go over financials. We kind of log all of our financial stuff and it’s not like numbers, it’s percentage-based and it’s kind of like a check mark for your own store to kind of see how you’re comparing maybe to the other stores but you’re not all on the same level. But really it more or less makes me look at our numbers and kind of see every month, how are we doing in comparison to last month or at this point last year, kind of that growth rate, but just kind of meeting once a month and collaborating and seeing what other people are doing. It’s just a zoom call and we all get on in our cars on the way to work that Friday morning and we all hop on and talk about what we’re doing for profits, what we’re going to be doing, just different motivational things,

Bonnie: Collaboration. I love that. Teamwork.

Callie: Just from doing stuff like that. We now do the combo med pharmacy here. So, we’ve got the LTC set up here. We’re about to get into medical billing, I’m already credentialed and set up, just have to figure out how to do that. But there’s training. Our APA is putting on training on Friday. We have this thing that we can go to and sign up and they’re going to walk us through it. So probably doing that. We do the point-of-care testing here and just seeing how other pharmacies are doing that, which we’ve done that before, but maybe we didn’t have a protocol here and so we were able to get one from somebody else that, was super helpful. That way we didn’t have to do it ourselves, but just stuff like that. Really collaborating and making those connections with other pharmacy owners has been the best thing ever for us. They have walked us through every step of even just like how to do our contracts when we were trying to get set up with contracting all the insurance stuff. I mean, I always can reach out. I have a group of people; I could send a text message right now and within five minutes I have an answer on any question that I had. DIR fees. Just putting those in Pioneer, one of the other pharmacists not one that works here, but one of my other pharmacy owners literally was like, hey, let me log into your computer. I’m going to put in your DIR fees for you. And I’m like, thank you, thank you. That’s amazing. Logged in one day and done.

Kendell: Nice. So, what we do, and I think this will be an awesome one, at the end of every episode we have a segment. It’s called the bottom line. And it’s a financial term. The bottom line. And then what’s the bottom line? What’s the takeaway? So, we take turns and I’ll start this one.

Bonnie: Oh, man.

Kendell: I’ll start with my bottom line. I’m going to keep it sweet because I got a habit of like taking seven. I’m going to keep it short and sweet. I think if you are a startup, the bottom line I’m taking from this conversation is you have to feel comfortable with getting help and receiving help with your network as a startup. And that’s it. That’s it. I’m dropping it. That’s it.

Bonnie: That’s it. I love it!

Kendell: That’s it. I’m going to leave it right there. I’m not saying anymore.

Bonnie: I’ll go next and we’ll let the girls wrap it up. But I love again what you said about figuring out with a startup because we see issues with this so much, what is needed in your community and you’re feeling just like you said, hey, I didn’t like those church benches, but everybody else does. So, there we go. But down to the important stuff and then I have to throw in another. I mean, offering. You guys know, with the way independent pharmacy is right now, you have to stand out, you have to be different and you have to kind of go that extra mile and you’ve got to do some diversification of revenue, which you guys just talked about. But like you mentioned with the Biolyte, just as a small example, taking that extra step, when someone comes in to say, okay, they’re getting some medicine for their stomach, they’re having an issue, let’s offer something else that can help them. That’s such a huge thing to just take one small additional step to help, that you’re not going to get from a chain.

Callie: Yeah, going that extra mile. Being involved in our community, too, is huge. Just this morning, one of my technicians on her way to work this morning took donuts to one of the closest elementary school that’s here. Just to be part of our community, just show them that we’re here, we’re happy about their full year or whatever. Start out good, but that makes just such a difference, just showing your community that you care and you’re involved, I think that’s really helped us too. Our community loves us, too. We would not be here; we would not be thriving like we are without the support of our community. It’s truly amazing how our community has really shown how much they want a pharmacy here and how much they love us as a pharmacy. Good people to come see. It’s not a burden for them to come to the pharmacy. They don’t mind. They’ll come and talk. And really, we know everybody by name. I mean, it’s just different. And our community really wants us to be here. So that’s helped a lot. That’s great. And you guys too. Oh, my gosh. We were at the NCPA workshop. We were like, hey, let’s message these Sykes people and see. And we’re kind of timid at that point. We’re like, what do we do? How do we set up this little meeting? So, I think we set up a little small thing with you guys. And immediately I remember we got off that quick call with you, Bonnie and Ollin was on that too. And that quick little I think we have, what, ten minutes, I don’t know, a little breakout.

Bonnie: Because you guys were during the virtual.

Callie: So, I just remember doing the breakout and then immediately Allie and I got off and we were like, we love them. Let’s just do that because we don’t know. But I feel good talking to them. And it has shown over these pasts several, well, year and a half now. Oh, my gosh, I sleep at night because I know our financials are taken care of.

Bonnie: Thank you. You guys are great too.

Callie: If there’s something I need-

Bonnie: You guys are fantastic.

Callie: uploaded. Melinda will just call me or text me or whatever, and I’m like, oh, crap. Okay, give me a minute. I’ll do it in a minute, I promise. And then if I don’t do it in a minute, I promise she’ll text me the next day. And I’ll be like, okay, give me just one more minute. I’ll really do it this time. I’ll really do it.

Bonnie: That’s huge about what we do. That’s another bottom line. I’m just going to say it. Since they brought it up.

Kendell: Three bottom lines, Bonnie? Three?

Bonnie: Especially with the startup, and we teach this at the workshop, and it doesn’t have to be us, but as a startup, you have really got to get out there into your community and work on growing your pharmacy. Everything is about sales with a startup because when you start on day one, there could be not one person that walks through that door. You don’t need to be spending your time doing payroll and bookwork and all this kind of stuff. You guys need to focus. Startups, pharmacy business owners need to work on growing the business and working with patients, working with providers, and just growing that top line revenue as much as they can and let someone else help in that area. And you guys did that, and I think that’s been a small part of your success.

Allie: Yeah, I’ll throw out my bottom line real quick, and then I’ve got to go check a prescription. Always be willing to learn from others and learn from your mistakes and just be willing to have an open mind about that you’re not always right. And the way that you do things, we do things totally differently, and I have to learn from her. She’s running the pharmacy. She’s the PIC , the pharmacist-in-charge. It’s her call. Yeah. I mean, it’s true. So, you got to be willing to learn and let go and do the right thing. So, you guys are awesome. I’m going to go check out this prescription. See you guys later. Thank you for having me.

Kendell: Thank you so much. Well, we appreciate you, and I tell you. It was a nice, I was the only male on this podcast. A power hour. Some powerful women. I felt privileged. So, thank you so much.

Bonnie: Girl power.

Kendell: And we’ll see you next time.

Callie: Bonnie, I still have your shirt.

Bonnie: I was looking at your T-shirt right then, and I was like, I want a T-shirt.

Callie: I’ll still mail it.

Bonnie: Perfect.

Kendell: I want a T-shirt now.

Callie: You want a T-shirt too? Okay, Kendell.

Kendell: I want one too.

Bonnie: I wear an adult large, just kidding.

Kendell: Adult large, male. All right, well, thank you so much for joining. See y’all next time.

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