A Letter from our Founder, Back from Maternity Leave

Nothing makes the woman part of a woman-owned business more palpable than maternity leave. I have been out of the pharmacy for the past few months welcoming my daughter Eleanor to this world. I feel so lucky to have welcomed a healthy and happy baby to our family, and have loved soaking up every minute I could with her and my energetic 2-and-a-half-year-old son. But the truth is, I was also very happy to return to work. It was hard to be away from Remedy, who very much feels like my firstborn child.  

For any parent out there, you know just how hard it is to balance your work, child/children, and time for your partner. Let alone trying to squeeze in some self-care, like a workout. For me, getting to be both a mom and a business owner is what I am most proud of. But it isn't easy. Sometimes I can get caught up in just how hard it can be. I want to be honest about what it’s like to try and ‘have it all’, both a demanding career and a family. In fact, fewer than 2% of female pharmacists are pharmacy owners, which is less than male pharmacists. Most pharmacies are no longer owned by pharmacists and most independent pharmacies are run by males. 

When I need to pull on a deep reserve of energy and determination to get through, I just have to ask myself -  why did I do this in the first place? Why did I leave my perfectly comfortable corporate pharmacy job to put it all on the line for a pharmacy concept that isn't even proven to be successful?

 

It turns out there are quite a few reasons! Some admittedly are more selfish than others.

I wanted to truly feel like I was helping people. And not just by giving them pharmaceutical medications– I knew that option wasn't the right answer 100% of the time. I wanted to give people other options, options that I sometimes believed in more than the tools that I had at the time. 

I wanted to enhance the pharmacy experience by humanizing it -empowering people with the knowledge and choices to live healthy lives (fun fact– this then went on to become Remedy’s mission statement!)

I also did it for more self-serving reasons– to find more fulfillment in my profession, to choose an adventure.

And now it’s even bigger. I want to set an example for my daughter, to continue to employ and develop my staff of wonderful women, and to continue to nourish the community we have all been building around 320 W Cedar Street.

Someone once said when you find your passion, what really makes you happy, you will be in your flow state. And when you are in your flow state, time passes by without notice because you are present, engaged, and content.

So come see me at the pharmacy soon, I may have bags under my eyes, but I will also have a smile on my face because when I am at Remedy I am in my flow state. It’s good to be back.

-April