How & Why This Pharmacist Started a Business in the Middle of the Pandemic
Dr. DeLon Canterbury recounts how early setbacks motivated him to start a business in the middle of a pandemic and how his personal ‘why’ shaped the work he is doing to help solve the problem of mismanaged medications in the senior population.
About Today’s Guest
Dr. DeLon Canterbury is the CEO/Founder of GeriatRx which specializes in Pharmacogenomics, Medication Deprescribing, and Health Cost Savings for providers, caregivers, and patients. DeLon was fired in the height of COVID, and took this opportunity to pursue his passion for patient advocacy and empowerment while battling for health equity by addressing social barriers to care. GeriatRx has saved our patients well over $150,000 within its first year while keeping loved ones from being involuntarily committed into a nursing home!
Episode Summary
The senior population is a group that is often left to the wayside when it comes to healthcare, fraught with duplicate therapies, errors, and cost barrier issues that may be avoided with adequate knowledge and care. Dr. DeLon Canterbury, founder and CEO of GeriatRx, is a pharmacy entrepreneur who has made it his mission to help solve the multibillion-dollar problem of mismanaged medications that lead to preventable deaths in the older population. This week, Tim Ulbrich sits down with DeLon as he recounts his professional setbacks as a new practitioner, how those setbacks motivated him to start and lead a business, and why he decided that the middle of a pandemic was a good time to begin a new business venture. DeLon shares how his personal and professional ‘Why’ has shaped the work that he is doing at GeriatRx plus a few stories that exemplify the need for this type of senior care. You’ll hear how DeLon came to the position of strength financially, able to start his own business, and some apt and inspiring advice for fellow pharmacists who have a seed of an idea but no idea how to move forward with it.
Key Points From This Episode
- How DeLon’s love of medicine was inspired by his mother’s expertise in herbology.
- What moved him to get his Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacy degree.
- The recognizable dark road that almost led him out of the profession.
- How the experience of not getting into residency turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
- How DeLon’s involvement with community helped him learn to lead by service.
- The pivot point that reinvigorated his passion for pharmacy.
- The power of patient advocacy and teaching patients to advocate for themselves.
- About his work with a local nonprofit for older patients and what services they provide.
- Hear about the care GeriatRx provides, from advocacy to deprescribing methods.
- DeLon’s moving story of his ‘Why’ and becoming the voice for caregivers and patients.
- Some of the groups he works with and their incredible service to underserved people.
- A story of being an expert medical witness and the ugly part of families and elderly care.
- Getting into the finances; how he got the capital to create this business.
- Learning to articulate his value when he was starting out.
- DeLon shares some great entrepreneurship advice for his fellow pharmacists out there.
Highlights
“Being in a pharmacy is not just pushing scripts, you’re literally learning how to motivate, energize, drive goals, and bring the best out of others.” — Dr. DeLon Canterbury [0:10:40]
“Truly teaching a culture of how patients can advocate for themselves can honestly improve health outcomes and build their confidence and trust in you, [not just] as a pharmacist but in the system.” — Dr. DeLon Canterbury [0:13:23]
“Our seniors are grossly overmedicated and we waste nearly $528 billion a year on mismanaged medications. That equates to nearly 275,000 people that die each year due to drug-related adverse events. Unfortunately, our seniors are the most susceptible to these numbers.” — Dr. DeLon Canterbury [0:17:44]
“It’s been such a blessing to know that I can be relied on and give a talk or give a presentation and empower people with the knowledge of a pharmacist but also show how versatile our roles can be in this profession.” — Dr. DeLon Canterbury [0:26:40]
“I learned that in business, capital is supposed to be fluid. Yes, you want to put some, pay yourself, put some in the business but your money is meant to help you make more money.” — Dr. DeLon Canterbury [0:38:06]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode
- YFP Planning: Financial Planning for Pharmacists
- Schedule a free Discovery Call with YFP Planning
- GeriatRx: Senior Care Consulting
- Senior PharmAssist
- Alzheimer’s Association
- Parkinson’s Association of the Carolinas
- Dementia Alliance of North Carolina: Support Groups
- Connect with GeriatRx on Facebook
- Connect with DeLon Canterbury on LinkedIn
- Follow DeLon Canterbury on Twitter: @GeriatRx
- Follow DeLon Canterbury on Instagram: @geriatrx
- Email DeLon Canterbury: [email protected]
- Your Financial Pharmacist Disclaimer and Disclosures
Episode Transcript
[INTRODUCTION]
[0:00:00.4] TU: Hey everybody, Tim Ulbrick here and thank you for listening to The YFP Podcast, where each week, we strive to inspire and encourage you on your path towards achieving financial freedom.
This week, I had a chance to sit down with Dr. DeLon Canterbury, founder and CEO of GeriatRx. A few of my favorite moments from this episode are hearing DeLon recount his professional setbacks as a new practitioner and how those motivated him in his journey to start and lead a business, why he decided that the middle of a pandemic was a good time to start this business and how his personal and professional “why” has shaped the work that he is doing at GeriatRx and his mission to help solve the multibillion dollar problem of mismanaged medications that lead to preventable deaths in the senior population.
Before we hear from today’s sponsor and then jump into the show, I recognize that many listeners may not be aware of what the team at YFP Planning does in working one-on-one with more than 240 household in 40 plus states. YFP planning offers fee only, high-touch financial planning that is customized for the pharmacy professional. If you’re interested in learning more about working one-on-one with a certified financial planner may help you achieve your financial goals, you can book a free discovery call at yfpplanning.com.
Whether or not YFP Planning’s financial planning services are a good fit for you, know that we appreciate your support of this podcast and our mission to help pharmacists achieve financial freedom.
[INTERVIEW]
[0:01:26.8] TU: DeLon, welcome to the show.
[0:01:28.5] DC: Hey Tim, appreciate you having me on. Thanks so much, how are you doing?
[0:01:32.8] TU: I am well, it’s a great day here in Ohio, I’m excited to have the opportunity to share your story with the YFP community as we continue on this journey of featuring more and more pharmacy entrepreneurs. To highlight the various ways of PharmD can be used, as I’ve said before on the show, the PharmD in my opinion is just the starting point and I hope this story with DeLon is a great example of that and I’m hopeful for those that are listening, it will provide some motivation and inspiration.
DeLon, before we get into the why and what of the work that you’re doing as the CEO and founder of GeriatRx, tell us more about your decision to enter pharmacy school, the profession and what you’ve been up to since graduating from UNC?
[0:02:14.3] DC: Yeah man, I would love to. You know, my family, they’re actually from the Caribbean so my parents are Guyanese and when we grew up in Brooklyn, they came as immigrants in the 80s. You know, a lot of my family members would use herbal products and remedies to treat common colds or constipation and we generally call them bitters and we would just boil a bunch of tea pods and we would feel better even though it tasted gross.
My mom became this master herbologist, I don’t know how she did it but she grew up with all of these plants in our backyard. She got very used to knowing what to use and which plant and what situation, what indication. For the most part, they seemed to work, you know? We lived off of Tiger Balm and Vicks and these bitters that we would drink to purify the blood. That got me super interested in the world of medicine and healing and knowing the science behind these plants that lead to the drugs that we have today.
Try to get that nerdy side of how can I use this ability to understand, you know, the science and chemicals to treat and heal was what grew me to pharmacy. That background I attribute a lot of it to her and then of course, it does help to actually be good at chemistry and some of the math, but what I like the most about pharmacy before I got into UNC was really just the ability to know what all the drugs are doing.
I mean, it’s simple and plain but that was the best part of it, and it affirmed that if I can use this power to heal then this has to be my journey.
[0:03:57.0] TU: You graduate from UNC in 2014, here we are in 2022 and we’re going to talk about the business and the work that you’re doing with GeriatRx but of course, we got that time in between, 2014 and current state. Tell us more about goals when you are leaving pharmacy school and some of the initial work that you were doing as a new practitioner.
[0:04:17.7] DC: For sure, I was heavily interested in becoming an MPH PGY2 to work in the public health sector as a pharmacist and so I was interested in admin residencies, I was interested in being an administrator in a hospital setting. But unfortunately, I did not match. I mean, I had some stellar interviews and it took some final rounds here and there but no, nothing really matched for me and this was while I was working as a grad intern with Walgreens because I worked there for a year prior.
Here I am, literally at Walgreens, filling some scripts on a busy day and I get the email saying, “You did not match on match day” and I’m like, “Oh damn, this is – I’m stuck here, I’ve been trying to escape.” I was mad for a couple of days, got some drinks and realized, “Well, if this is what God has in plan for me then hey, I’m just going to keep doing it.”
Lo and behold, after what, six months of floating all over North Carolina, I was promoted to a pharmacy manager. This was back in 2015, 2014 in a really quick amount of time in Henderson North Carolina. I was there for about two and a half years and was able to move the metrics, was able to drive a team and meet goals but after a while, it got a little bit taxing on my mental state and in particularly in this high volume, high traffic store, it was rural, I had pretty much 50% geriatric patients.
That was some majority population there but in addition to that, you can see some of the health disparities among my Latino black patients, as well as my elderly geriatric patients and they’re the ones that had the most duplicate therapies, errors, cost barrier issues that all could have been avoided with just a switch of a drug and that got me thinking, one, I don’t know a thing about geriatric pharmacy at all. I went back, I said, “All right, let me get this credential because I want to learn more to better serve my patients.” I did that on my own time but –
[0:06:34.7] TU: Was that the CGP or –
[0:06:36.6] DC: Yeah, it was the CGP, Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacy degree. I got that in 2017, took me about two, three years to get it but truth be told man, the retail setting, you kept seeing the same thing day in, day out. Here we are taking care of people for metrics. That really isn’t taking care of people. It’s just what your boss want you to do and it doesn’t align with you and your spirit really as a pharmacist, it’s now what you came to school for.
We’re not here to be glorified cashiers and I’m not condescending anyone in the field, but that’s how we were perceived and unfortunately, you kept seeing the same issues with not just med errors but just the broken healthcare system as a whole. I mean, majority of care is at the urgent care in this small town. It’s like, those are the majority of your scripts and you start wondering, there’s got to be a better way.
If the one family doctor dies in town, half of the people are in turmoil, they’ve seen this one doctor for years and years and they had to rely on other sources, and it becomes a bit of a nightmare. And this is where we had to survive in that store, but lo and behold man, this journey got me down a really dark road. A dark road of not just chronic anxiety but literally just depression as a whole.
I mean, went in, was just super robotic, I would put on a face for my team but deep down, I hated every moment of my life, every second, every day. The one or few times you get that patient that says, “Thank you so much for being here.” It warms your day, it will always warm your day, you’re here for your patients. But it does not compare to the metrics, the pips, the disciplinary actions, the “You missed your flu shot by goal by five, so no pizza for you.” #pizzanotworking.
It doesn’t have to be this way and I felt, as a whole, I lost my soul in the pharmacy profession.
[0:08:34.8] TU: We’re going to come back to that because when you shared that with me DeLon, “I lost my soul in the pharmacy profession,” that idea of falling out of love with the profession, right? We all went into the profession with some aspirations, you know, personally and professionally, but also that love for, how can we better serve our patients and community?
I think for many listening, an opportunity to reinvigorate, reflect upon that love for the profession, it’s a great time to be doing that as we hear your story. I want to go back though, as you reflect back on your journey of not getting into residency and you mentioned potentially of the MPH advance programs, PDUI1 PDUI2 admin master types of program.
These are very intense, well-defined career paths and if you would have gotten into those programs, you know, I think for many, that script is written to director of pharmacy, chief pharmacy officer. And DeLon might be doing something very different and obviously, that didn’t go that path and led to the business opportunity.
As you look back on that journey of not getting into residency, what many students listening might consider their top and most important short-term professional goal? How did that experience – perhaps in the moment, leading to an illusion of failure but how did that experience help shape you as a person and ultimately as a business owner?
[0:09:52.9] DC: Oh my gosh, look, I can easily say, I was pretty darn depressed about that too and I mean, I was so confident. They were like, “Oh my god, here’s my cell, I’ll call you and speak and just ask anything, we want to see you in the future.” It was like, almost intentional how much they were like, “Oh yeah, we’ll see you soon” you know? When people give you that assurance and it was just crickets and it’s like, “Nah, bro, you’re not it.”
That was heartbreaking man, it killed my ego, killed my confidence a little bit, but man, I cannot overstate how much I learned about being an actual manager, being an actual driving force for a team, learning different soft skills and communication, understanding that being in a pharmacy is not just pushing scripts, you’re literally learning how to motivate, energize, drive goals, bring the best out of others even though you feel like complete crap.
I mean, you have to deal with it every day and you really do grow and build relationships with the people next to you. That was an intangible skill that I grossly underestimated while learning during this time in retail. Not only did it provide me a little bit of sustenance, pay off some student debt, we all have that. Also, it just taught me how to be a better DeLon when it came to management.
It put those tools into play. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m in the trenches, you’re not thinking, “Oh man, I’m a great manager.” You don’t care, you just go about your day and live your life and looking back, I had to learn so much about just being a team leader and leading by service. That was part of what helped me grow GeriatRx because I was all about community involvement, I was all about going to middle schools and doing health fairs or career days or drug awareness, like drug abuse awareness programs for the boys and girls club, all the things that I really liked in pharmacy school, I ended up doing in that job and it gave me the power to build some deep connections and just grow.
I subconsciously didn’t realize, I do that now with GeriatRx.
[0:12:11.9] TU: Yeah, when you just shared, you know, it taught me to be a better DeLon, that was why I specifically said the illusion of failure, right? Because I think in those moments, the weight of that is real, you felt it, right? Even in some of those days you reflect back on, in the moment, were you at the bench chain, “Hey, I’m becoming a better DeLon today” Probably not always, right? The compound effect of those experiences and learning, so important and obviously, the application to what you’re doing now.
DeLon, you mentioned leading by service, that’s something that’s been an interest and a passion of yours. When we first met, I was asking more about your career journey, you shared with me your experience volunteering and getting involved in different opportunities. Tell us more about what those opportunities were and how this was a pivot point that reinvigorated your passion and love for pharmacy and the role that a pharmacist can and should play in our broken healthcare system?
[0:13:05.0] DC: Man, for sure. You know, one component of healthcare that I think is grossly underestimated is the power of patient advocacy and of course, we do it when it comes to “Yeah, you should ask about this.” Little things here and there in our clinical settings. But truly teaching a culture of how patients can advocate for themselves can honestly improve health outcomes and build their confidence and trust in you as a pharmacist but in the system.
What I found with this broken system was, we weren’t doing our jobs to fully applicate. I got a little bit, I told you, depressed about that, but I found, thank god, a local nonprofit called Senior Pharmacist. This was while I was still in Henderson, moving on to Durum. They were a team of pharmacists and social workers that strictly helped people 60 and up in Durum County to not only enroll in appropriate Medicare plans, but they were this ship site for the county, needing state health insurance and information program.
They literally understand all the ramifications of Medicare and Medicaid within that state and county which, guess what, we don’t learn that in school, right? I don’t know any of that stuff and even when I hear Medicare, all I know is like coverage and deductible, donut hole, yeah, that’s it. That’s all I got.
This not only forced me to become a certified trained SHIP counselor, that means that I’m legally allowed to basically guide patients on what Medicare plans and Medicaid plans and what options are available for patients who are low income. This just changed my whole perspective of complete patient advocacy because here I am doing brown bags and net reviews and deep prescribing initiatives with this amazing nonprofit that’s not only saving patients on average $400 to $700 a year per person who are on fixed incomes, right? They’re literally making like, 18k a year if not less.
These are 65-year-olds who have already dedicated their lives to their healthcare, to our working force. This team of people saves thousands of dollars. In addition, they have their own prescription copay card. When people hit the gap, they can use a senior pharmacist copay card in addition to their Medicare, build them together and get the price cheaper. Because you and I both know that gap can be detrimental to people.
Again, this was like, complete opposite of Walgreens, I mean, we’re getting people off of drugs, we’re saving them money and the best part is, we are tracking things in real time because they were partnered with Duke University Hospital system.
Any communication was communicated in epic and documented and there was a drug change, there was a PA, we would do it for them, I mean, it was like an all-encompassing service, a concierge service so to speak, for low-income people who otherwise would have been lost to our healthcare system.
My god, that blew my mind and to this day, I still volunteer with them because that’s how much they mean to me and that’s how much I have actually based my business model off of what they do, which is cost of what it’s deep prescribing and patient advocacy. You really don’t know how to advocate if you don’t understand all the intricacies of Medicare and you know, parody levels, like, how low are you, what benefits are out there for you and I tell you, we don’t learn this in school.
It changed the way that I’ve perceived paraenesis and social workers and how the two are both needed to really mesh those barriers and social determinants of care. I love it, it’s been a driving force for why I’m here today.
[0:17:09.8] TU: Great stuff DeLon. We’ll link to Senior PharmAssist in the show notes for folks that want to learn more, whether they’re in the area and perhaps an opportunity for volunteering or folks that just want to see another model and perhaps find something, start something similar in their own area as well.
Let’s take a peek behind the curtain at your business that you started, GeriatRx, we’ll link to the website in the show notes, it’s geriatrix.org. DeLon, what is the problem that you are trying to solve when it comes to the business at GeriatRx?
[0:17:44.3] DC: I firmly believe that our seniors are grossly over-medicated and we waste nearly 528 billion dollars a year on mismanaged medications. That equates to nearly 275,000 people that die each year due to drug related adverse events. Unfortunately, our seniors are the most susceptible to these numbers and that is really the driving force on why I specifically help older adults get off of harmful medications, high-risk medications and not only focus on cost savings but focus on reducing the needs of our healthcare system to respond to mismanaged medications.
We’re directly and indirectly saving money but the key to GeriatRx is providing a holistic concierge, telehealth-based service where we use genetic testing, we’re here with deprescribing methods and of course, we use the patient advocacy piece by not only addressing sole determinants of health by looking for cost savings, food barriers, ability to reach needed services but we communicate things in real time to their doctor. We’re literally closing the loop that’s much needed in our senior population who sadly, I feel have been left to the wayside when it comes to our healthcare system.
[0:19:16.3] TU: Tell us more, DeLon, about your personal “why” specifically as it relates to your experience with your grandmother who is suffering with personal pain from unnecessary prescribing and the influence that that had, on starting the business and the work that you’re doing.
[0:19:29.6] DC: Yeah, I’m glad you asked. Yeah, my grandmother, Mildred, she was actually in the nursing home in New York for most of my college years. This happened when I was a junior/senior in college, thinking about pharmacy school. She was in a nursing home for a minute and we started noticing some changes in her behavior. She just was kind of forgetting her grandkids, my mom was a little nervous about that and it got to the point where in this nursing home, she was given the medication that completely spiraled her dementia out of control.
We at the time had no reason why she was declining so rapidly. The irony is, that very same nursing home kicked her out because she was having behavior issues. My parents are pretty much given the choice to basically invite her back home with them in Georgia and essentially raise another child because they both have full time jobs and now they have to be full time caregivers and balance with their work life schedules how to take care of my mom’s mom. This was a tough time for them.
My mom was a teacher who has to commute and my dad luckily had his own business and he was able to be flexible but for four months, my parents kept seeing her worsen. She was wandering out of the house in the middle of the night, she would snap at my mom, she would literally ring the doorbell at three AM and asked where she is.
Things that our parent’s worst nightmare to see who was once the rock of your family decline mentally. Again, we didn’t know what was going on for months and it got bad that we had to start getting home health services, we had to basically get some round the clock attention for her and put her into another nursing home because my parents couldn’t do it.
Again, more money wasted. Four months into it, luckily, a retail pharmacist, I believe it was Rite Aid, found that she was on Ziprasidone and she was on it quite a while but it had no indication and for those who don’t know, there is an FDA Blackbox indication for any anti-psychotic for dementia behavioral symptoms, which was why it was given to her which is wrong, it’s inappropriate and in fact, harmful.
Not only is there a risk of increased debt but of course, there’s a risk of, guess what? Delirium, dementia, acting out, having behavior issues. It wasn’t until this pharmacist, four months down the road advocated and pretty much demanded the doctor, stop it, who was still the prescriber in New York.
Two weeks later, her symptoms resolved. She remembered who she was, she was calm, she was just fine. Imagine how many families deal with this and don’t even second guess the medications that their loved ones are on. How many people spend tons of money and don’t even think that, “Well, the doctor ordered it so it must be safe.” This conception that patients have is they don’t think twice about the meds.
If they do, they’re afraid to speak up so I said, “You know what? I’m going to be that voice. I am going to be that advocate. I am going to provide a concierge personalized service where I do that for you and you don’t have to worry or have any doubts that it’s the actual litigations.” And that’s why I focus on senior patients even though I can help any older adult who’s medicated, I still do that too but this is such a passion project for me because I don’t want anyone to go through what my parents went through or what Mildred went through, who honestly could have died.
Just to be frank, she died, she lived until 90, which was fantastic but I got a text during my last day of rotation fourth year that she died as I was getting my presentation from my final rotation. You know, I knew she was at peace but she could have easily died during my time in pharmacy school if not earlier because of that pharmacist who saved her life.
[0:23:38.1] TU: Shout out to that pharmacist if they happen to be listening, what a cool testament to pharmacists who are in the frontlines being diligent about identifying some of those and raising the red flag, right? Sometimes in the midst of you’ve talked about the business, the chaos that can be the expectations, it takes time not only to identify but also be willing to kind of address and enter into the messiness that that can be sometimes.
DeLon, you highlighted I think and articulated very well the problem with mismanagement occasions, the need for deeper prescribing, the impact that mismanagement of medications can have on preventable deaths, so then tell us more about from a business standpoint as you’ve built out the work that you’re doing at GeriatRx, who is the customer and what are the products and services that you’re either offering or that you’re working on building out?
[0:24:26.0] DC: Sure, so customers tend to be frankly the caregivers, who are I would say the most neglected person in this loop of health care shenanigans. The caregivers are the ones who have pretty much minimal resources, they’re usually condescended to when it comes to the doctor’s office, they’re not listened to, they don’t have advocates and I figured why not be the clinical advocate for them.
I partner with caregiver support groups, I work with nursing homes, basically anyone who is senior facing. It could be an adult day care center and I give them the ways that they can advocate for themselves and their loved ones. I talk about de-prescribing. I particularly do a good deal of social media marketing. You know, a lot of the caregivers are on Facebook groups so I provide some solace to some of their questions on, “Hey, we’re starting Risperdal. What do you think?” “No, don’t do it.”
I do that a lot just to be a resource and I’ve gotten clients literally from my feedback, so you know, I do consulting and with telehealth. It’s interesting how the reach can be spread but again, there is a fine line on what you can and can’t do but even so, genetic testing has given me some versatility so patients who are interested in getting the best out of their meds who want to understand side effects, their genes, how it works with their bodies, I get a lot of support from the caregiver community.
Being in this space has allowed me to work with the Alzheimer’s Association, the Parkinson’s Association of Carolina, the North Carolina Dementia Support Group, you know I am creating content with Emery and we’ve done some Dementia Black Caregiver Supports with churches with an initiative to inform local churches on signs of dementia because we fail to remember that Blacks and Latinos actually have doubled the risk of dementia.
It usually is more undiagnosed in that population, so again, the social barriers to care play a part and so I have strategic partners across the states. It’s been such a blessing to know that I can be relied on and give a talk or give a presentation and empower people with the knowledge of a pharmacist but also show how versatile our roles can be in this profession.
[0:26:55.6] TU: That’s great stuff DeLon. I love the work that you’re doing, the passion that’s coming through here in the microphone that I’m sensing and I suspect those listening are feeling as well. One other story I want to highlight, you shared with us prior to the interview and this story relates to helping a family not only get off of 36 medications, let me just say that again, 36 medications down to eight but also being able to testify on behalf of the patient and prove that she was suffering from overmedication, which had led to her dramatic decline and behavior cognition attitude and chronic symptoms.
Tell us more about this example and probably how it’s unfortunately too common and obviously, the motivation that that’s provided to you as you continue to focus and grow in the business?
[0:27:40.2] DC: Yeah, I’d love to. That case means so much to me, that was literally my first leap of faith into this business, into GeriatRx, that happened in the middle of COVID like July-August and so, this was me hitting the ground running. I’m putting ads and basically talking everywhere I can on Whatsapp, Group Me, Next Door, Facebook. I’m saying, “Hey, I’m doing this” and believe it or not, this case was actually a referral from a fellow pharmacist.
She wasn’t a geriatric pharmacist but she felt something was off and so when she sent me that med list, I had a heart attack. There are like four antipsychotics, there was a Benzo, there was Dilaudid, why is she on Dilaudid? There was Benadryl, there’s all types of madness going on. I was like, “Oh yeah, we got a case here” so I said, “Hey, let’s just do a med review. Let me see what I can do.”
This is a 70-year-old African-American woman, barely 90 pounds and unfortunately, her caregiver described her as being a walking zombie and this was for months, just depressed, cathartic, irritable and I very much felt that my symptoms my grandma experienced were just like hers. This was going on for a month, I do the med review and I say, “Hey look, we got to create an action plan with the provider to get her off this things safely.”
Not just cold turkey stop but taper as we can and they agreed. They hired me to do the review but in the middle of me doing the review, like literally the week before the court case, which guess what? I didn’t know what’s happening, they’re like, “Hey DeLon, can you appear as a medical expert and give that testimony you gave about your med review to a jury of our peers?” and I was like, “Whoa, uhh, I don’t know. Do I need a lawyer?”
“No, no, just do what you got to do” and so I prayed on it man. I was like, “Okay, fine. I’ll do it” and so they hired me to serve as a medical expert in court and in this moment, I’ll tell you Tim, this was the ugliest litigation I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a lawyer try to make this sweet woman look stupid. That was just evil, it was literally seeing someone make her look like, “You can’t even remember your own accounts so of course she need to be put into a nursing home.”
Unfortunately, the family was divided on the perspective of the medications being the problem. The majority of the family wanted to throw her into a nursing home, why? Here’s the ugly part, she had assets. Her husband was wealthy, she had a beautiful home, they wanted to seize her assets, her bank accounts and everything else and throw her into a home so that they can get the resources.
This is the ugly side of senior care because this happens a lot and unfortunately, the daughter who’s the only one who believed that it was the meds was the one who hired me. I did that favor, I played it my case, I gave my review, I talked about anticholinergic toxicities, I talked about sedative properties, I talked about overmedicating. I mean, the statistics of just being on more than five all in front of court, this is like the first time a pharmacists is in court to me.
I mean, I didn’t even know this is a thing. In fact, that could be a whole business model side, that’s for free guys, you can have that yourselves. It’s actually free, you can do that so I did that. The jury just was stunned, they even tried to cross examine me like, “What do you think about this report from the psychologist?” I mean, first of all, this was six months prior. Second of all, what you’re reading is proving my point that she is overmedicated.
Anyway, long story short, but the point is, they tried to be so evil. I was like, “I know it’s their job but I was like, damn dude, you’re making this woman, you are literally asking her to remember a date two years ago if she recalls that. I don’t remember what I ate yesterday, you’re trying to make her look like this woman who just has to be in a home.” Needless to say, I get my case, I talk about the meds.
I give my full report, the jury completely dropped the case. They completely dropped the case and they completely agreed that she was being overmedicated and they were able to keep all their assets and I shed a tear, man. She called me two hours when I got home, “DeLon, we won. We won! We won!” I was like, “Yes! Yo, yes” and that was God’s sign to me of “Yo, this is what you need to do for the rest of your life.”
For the rest of your life, I don’t care what and I was like, “You know what? You’re right because this was the happiest I have been in my career and just in my life, you know?” To have that level of impact, the keeper out of the nursing home and then the best part is a week later, we meet with the doctor, I gave all my recommendations, he’s like, “Okay, this is great, let’s do it” and a months’ time passes, a month and a half, she’s down to eight.
She’s down to eight and her symptoms did resolve, she did get better, less constipation, less irritability, she’s only on eight meds and she’s still going strong. I talked to them last week during the holidays and they’re doing great. Again, it was a blessing and that was my affirmation that taking this leap of faith is what I had to do, it’s my calling.
[0:33:06.4] TU: That’s awesome stuff and it’s inspiring as that example and the story is, it just makes me wonder DeLon, how many more are out there that don’t have DeLon in their corner, that don’t have a pharmacist that is advocating or family member that’s raising the concern that leads to the pharmacists who is recognizing and advocating on their behalf, right? You know, I think it’s just for me individually, it’s just such a great example and I’m inspired by the connection of the work that you’re doing at GeriatRx with your compelling vision and why, right?
I firmly believe that every great business, side hustle, project, whatever you want to call it, non-profit ultimately is solving a problem where there’s real pain, we’ve outlined that and as one that you personally care about and feel conflicted about and you’ve got both of those here, which I think is the recipe for success. Some folks might be wondering why on the YFP podcast are we talking about entrepreneurship. What’s the connection of personal finance?
I think as I think about the intersection of pharmacy and entrepreneurship and I am using entrepreneurship in the broadest sense, you know that could be folks that are internal within an organization that are kind of moving and shaking and identifying the opportunities for change, it could be somebody starting a non-profit, it could be starting your own for profit business but really, there’s a couple of reasons why I think this intersection and conversation that we’re having is so important.
Number one, there’s passion that I have through my own journey that the pharmacists I mentioned earlier really is the starting point I believe to a multitude of different pathways that someone might take. And I often hear from folks that listen to the show that say, “Hey, I feel stuck” or I hear from students that say, “I feel like I just have one or two options that I’m aware of” and so my hope is, is folks here, DeLon’s story, your other stories that some of the door start to open of the ideas of possibility that may be out there.
Then second is, how often have folks come to me and said, “Tim, I have a great idea for a side hustle, for a business, for a non-profit but…” insert lots of financial pain points, right? I have $200,000 of student loan debt, I’ve got this financial stress or I feel like I am behind on retirement saving and you know, this business endeavor is going to take some risk and perhaps, even take some capital contribution. It may certainly have an impact on the financial plan.
The reason I give that background DeLon is, as I reflect on my own experience and talk with other pharmacy entrepreneurs, I come to appreciate the connection between one having a strong personal financial foundation and that laying the ground work for them being able to approach a business idea, with the confidence and the attention that it deserves.
For you individually, tell us more about how you were able to get on solid financial footing such that you felt comfortable and ready to ultimately leave on the table what can be any six figured job that’s out there that would of course, pay the bills plus some but to be able to pursue this passion and interest that you have in the business?
[0:35:58.1] DC: Yeah, I think I’m still trying to find that. No, I’m joking but honestly, I didn’t expect to be fired in the middle of COVID. I stepped down from Walgreens in 20 – gosh, what was the year before COVID? Jeez, it’s been that long, 2019, I stepped down in 2019. I honestly took a pay cut because I wanted to work at the poison control and I would be paid, it was like a $50,000 pay cut.
I was burned out with Walgreens so they let me just step down and do something different, so I worked as a poison control pharmacist for like, I don’t know, $34 an hour and I loved it. I loved it but I ended up working a bit too much overtime because guess what? The poison control fields of the COVID calls and this was like in the beginning of the pandemic, so we didn’t even had any idea really much about COVID but we, a team of 12, ended up fielding the state of North Carolina’s nearly averaging 700, 800 calls a day.
Of course, not normal so that honestly burned me out. I honestly fell asleep at the desk after that period of time of still being exhausted and for that time period of five minutes falling asleep because it was policy, I was fired. And this was in the middle of COVID and because I was fired, I couldn’t file for unemployment so I was even more livid and I was like, “God, again, another step down into a dream job and I get fired. It’s just fantastic.”
I didn’t have as much of a financial plan in that regard for starting a business, however, I did have good financial standing and that was the best part I would say of working with Walgreens was having those buckets in reserve, whether it be savings, your 401(k), mutual funds, stocks, liquid assets, I had those and so, I did have to dip into the funds and guess what? I didn’t feel great about it.
I didn’t like having to rely on the things that I worked so hard to save but I learned that in business, capital is supposed to be fluid. Yes, you want to put some, pay yourself, put some in the business but your money is meant to help you make more money and it always takes money and some assets to make more money. It’s just the truth and I had to learn that the hard way so, I had some stocks that I can just sell and guess what?
I was riding a Tesla wave, it was just I have no footage of disclaimer so this closed but anyway, I rode Tesla and that made money during COVID and I was able to not only save but I was able to put that into the business and so the first thing I did was start getting – of course, I told my financial adviser. If you don’t have a financial adviser by now, talk to them, get your mind right because you got to have one in this game.
You really do because you don’t know it all and we’re not perfect at everything, so get one, but I have a financial adviser. I told him what I was doing. He was like, “Okay, let’s move from this front, let’s do some things here” and that helped me have a little bit of a guiding compass so I’m not sweating bullets to make the next paycheck. I also worked a little bit part-time, independent to help out with COVID shots, so that helped me with some income but guys, have some type of capital.
Have some type of plan for real, like I know it wasn’t as cookie cutter for me and I was forced into starting GeriatRx, which thankfully happened. But I found that having those buckets, the mutual funds, the savings, the stocks, allowed me to have that flexibility not to worry as much and so that gave me room to make mistakes because guess what? You’re going to make mistakes in business that will cost you money.
You’re going to undercharge for your services because you just want to do it and you realized, “Dang! I could have charged 10X that and it would have had the same effect. I would have felt better about it.” I remember one of my first packages, I sold for like what? I was like $1,800, which feels good, right? But it was for six months of service. I was getting paid $300 a month so that was like what? A dollar a day? 10 dollars a day? That’s crazy.
Anyway, I had to learn some things about how to better articulate my value and that takes some time to learn, we have a whole new business model. Again, it was critical that I had those buckets in place. I didn’t want to dip into them but I’ve gotten to a point now where I’m seeing it as what am I loosing if I don’t do this. What’s the cost of inaction? What’s the cost of not making that move, not getting that mentor, not investing in yourself, not growing yourself and your brand in a relatively quick amount of time?
I mean, here I am on your podcast, it’s only been a year and a half since I started GeriatRx, so I think it is part of the plan. It does help to have that financial capital but keep in mind that money is fully, you can make money doing all types of stuff. You could write, you could blog, you could review, I don’t know, charts. You don’t have to feel so confined to that job especially now with the great resignation, COVID has woken up people to doing better for themselves.
This has been a time where some of the most businesses have launched, really in the height of COVID, so don’t feel like you have to be stuck. Well, I had, guess what? I had debt too, are you kidding me? I went to every annuancy out of state so I know I got more debt than all of you all, but jokes, but still, you got to see things as gradual progression, fall forward, fail forward and keep pushing, keep moving and don’t – money is important.
Take care of your bills, take care of your family but know that if you’re investing in some things that you may do for free that the value and return down the road is going to be worth more and that’s something that I did not know. I did not know that at first and it really has grown my business with strategic partners and referrals and ongoing projects to this day.
[0:42:16.6] TU: Great wisdom DeLon, love the mindset that you have and you know, I’ve gotten a chance to know you a little bit here, a year and a half into the business but I would suspect if we would have talked a year and a half ago, you know, that same confidence, that same mindset, that same view and approach on, “Hey, what can I invest in that’s going to help me continue to grow” right? More of that abundance mindset I suspect has been an area of growth for you over the last year and a half.
Lots of takeaway there from the last few minutes and as we talk about so much at YFP, having that strong financial foundation, right? You mentioned savings and capitals, options, options, options, right? You never know what life is going to throw at you. It could be a business idea that you want to pursue, it could be a job, hours get reduced, you get let go, it could be a sick family member, an emergency. It could be an opportunity, right?
Having those options is so important. DeLon, this interview has been fantastic. I’m so excited to get it out to our community. I think it is going to be a great source of inspiration and motivation to many. Where is the best place for our listeners to go to learn more about you and the work that you’re doing with GeriatRx?
[0:43:17.9] DC: Yeah, I am all over social media, so Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, you can just follow me @geriatrx, of course my website is geriatrx.org. You can always get me there, my cellphone is literally on the website, you can email me at [email protected] but I’m most accessible on all of my social media, so I respond in any way, shape or form but LinkedIn has been probably the most easiest way to go and get in touch with me.
[0:43:52.9] TU: Great stuff, we’ll link to all the social, website, email in the show notes. DeLon, again, thank you for your time. I really appreciate it.
[0:43:59.7] DC: Absolute pleasure Tim, have a good one.
[END OF INTERVIEW]
[0:44:02.5] ANNOUNCER: As we conclude this week’s podcast, an important reminder that the content on this show is provided to you for informational purposes only and it is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for investment or any other advice. Information of the podcast and corresponding materials should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any investment or related financial products. We urge listeners to consult with a financial advisor with respect to any investment.
Furthermore, the information contained in our archived newsletters, blog post and podcast is not updated and may not be accurate at the time you listen to it on the podcast. Opinions and analysis expressed herein are solely those of your financial pharmacist unless otherwise noted and constitute judgments as of the dates published. Such information may contain forward looking statements, which are not intended to be guarantees of future events. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements. For more information, please visit yourfinancialpharmacist.com/disclaimer.
Thank you again for your support of the YFP Real Estate Investing Podcast. Have a great rest of your week.
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