Tag: becoming an entrepreneur

Becoming an Entrepreneur: The Fit Pharmacist

On this episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast, Tim Church interviews Dr. Adam Martin about becoming an entrepreneur for another edition of the side hustle series. Adam has been practicing as a pharmacist in the community practice setting for over 7 years, in addition to being a certified personal trainer, licensed nutrition consultant, author, speaker, and competitive natural bodybuilder.

About Today’s Guest

Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, Dr. Adam Martin has worked as a full-time pharmacist in the community practice setting for over 7 years, in addition to being a certified personal trainer, licensed nutrition consultant, author, speaker, and competitive natural bodybuilder.

His passion and focus is empowering pharmacy students and pharmacists
to overcome the barriers we face in pharmacy to make self-care a reality. He outlines how to do this with practical and realistic tips in this book Rx: YOU! In his book, Dr. Martin dispenses his Rx for success in how to simplify nutrition, fit in fitness, and manage stress so that you can become The FitPharmacist and put the health back into healthcare.

Summary

It’s easy to hear Dr. Adam Martin’s passion for self-care, pharmacy, fitness, and life. While Adam’s mother was sick with cancer, he spent a lot of time with her going to pharmacies and noticed how compassionate pharmacists were in caring for his mother. He wanted to continue that care and empathy for patients as a pharmacist and was driven to become one, despite not being accepted to pharmacy school at first.

Adam’s been a practicing community pharmacist for 7 years and loves his work. He enjoys being able to build a rapport and relationship with patients and feels that every interaction is important and directly impacts someone’s life.

His passion for his pharmacy career floods into every other aspect of his life and is apparent in his entrepreneurial journey. In college, Adam started helping his colleagues with their fitness and health journeys. This ultimately formed a community and inspired him to create an Instagram account (@thefitpharmacist) which currently has almost 30,000 followers.

Now, The Fit Pharmacist business has 3 tiers which include nutrition, health coaching, and physical fitness. In his business, Adam continues to help pharmacists and pharmacy students put the health back in health care and truly take care of themselves so they can better serve their patients.

Adam’s also been in business since 2013 with Dr. Joe Klemczewski and Dr. Kori Propst of The Diet Doc. Adam is also a speaker, author, and coaches other pharmacists and pharmacy students to become health coaches.

Mentioned on the Show

• 7 Figure Pharmacist by Tim Church, PharmD and Tim Ulbrich, PharmD
• Rx: You!: The Pharmacist’s Survival Guide to Managing Stress & Fitting in Fitness by Adam Martin, PharmD
• Dr. Joe Klemczewski
• Dr. Kori Propst
• Grant Cardone
• Lewis Howes
• Tony Robbins
• Zig Ziglar
• Tony Guerra Pharmacy Leaders Podcast
• The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast
• Gary Vaynerchuck
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport
• Follow the The Fit Pharmacist on Instagram
• Thefitpharmacist.com

Episode Transcript

Tim Church: Adam, thank you so much for taking time to come on the show and for being a part of this side hustle edition.

Adam Martin: Tim, thanks so much for having me. Been a big fan of you and other Tim, especially since reading the book you guys created, which is phenomenal. “Seven Figure Pharmacist,” so much value in there. It’s just really a masterpiece for the profession. So thank you so much and congratulations on that production.

Tim Church: Oh, thanks, man. We really appreciate that and, you know, that was really the goal in mind is to get that information out there so that people don’t make the same mistakes that we did. So definitely appreciate you for the shoutout on that. Now, being into fitness and weight lifting, I want to know, did you get your workout in today?

Adam Martin: I actually did. You guys can’t see on the video, but I’ve got my “Deadlifts and Chill” shirt on. It’s the same thing as “Netflix and Chill” but “Deadlifts and Chill.” So yes, sir, I worked at Club Pharmacy this morning and then went right to the gym. But yeah, that’s my life is pharmacy and fitness.

Tim Church: Awesome, man, me too. I got mine in, so I felt good going into this podcast, you know, making sure that I was ready. Got my workout in. So before you kind of do your workout, is there anything that you listen to? Any kind of music that gets you pumped up for a workout?

Adam Martin: Oh, absolutely, man. Throughout the whole time, not like a specific song, but a high BPM. If you guys have satellite radio, BPM is an awesome station. You guys can use like Pandora for free, but yeah, any high beat. I actually studied Spanish in addition to pharmacy, so I love like upbeat Da Miel (?), Yummy (?), all the awesome people out there that are doing like mixed reggae type stuff. So any like high beat, high energy. But then I also like some rock. If you guys listen to Disturb, they’re legit for really getting your mind in the game. For sure.

Tim Church: After I read your book, I thought maybe Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz maybe as well.

Adam Martin: Yeah, you got that reference. Well it’s funny, I actually play that song to keep my techs engaged at work. Whenever they say like, we need a mix for reconstituted amoxicillin, every then and now I’ll put “Shake it Like a Salt Shaker.” So yeah, man, you’ve got to bring in the fun. And that’s why I call it Club Pharmacy is because, yes, it’s very serious, we’re taking care of people’s health. We’re literally impacting their lives. But you have to have fun and enjoy that because if you don’t, that stress is going to eat you alive. So finding some sort of way to create that environment or joy, happiness is going to allow you to give to your full potential, and that’s why I do what I do.

Tim Church: Even if it’s with Lil Jon.

Adam Martin: Exactly. And actually, he’s really intelligent. So I know he’s making millions of dollars for saying three words, that being “yeah,” “OK,” and “what,” but this guy, he’s actually pretty intelligent — I don’t know if you’ve ever read up on him or not, but he makes some good mixes.

Tim Church: Yeah, that’s cool. I’ve been into like ‘80s montage music lately. So like all the Jean-Claude Van Damme and the Rocky movies. Those have been kind of my jams lately.

Adam Martin: Nice, man. Yeah, that’s what’s cool is it really depends on each individual, which is the whole approach that I have with health coaching that I do is there’s not a cookie-cutter plan where everyone fits into one category. It’s what are your goals? What do you like? What can you stick with? Because a lot of people fall into that trap of I want extreme results, so I have to make extreme sacrifices. Just like what we’re talking about with working out, like, oh no, I have to suffer. This is not going to be fun. Like this is punishment for the food I wasn’t supposed to eat. No. This is a celebration for what your body can do. Life is meant to be lived. And why walk when you can dance, man? So make it a party. So find that music that you love. I have some friends that really like classical music when they lift. That really juices them up.
Tim Church: That’s interesting.

Adam Martin: I don’t know how the heck they get through their workout, but that’s them, and you know, to each their own.

Tim Church: That’s how they hear it, yeah. Well, I’m really excited to kind of get your entrepreneurial journey and how you’re delivering value to other pharmacists out there. But before we kind of do that, can you talk a little bit about your career path as a pharmacist?

Adam Martin: Absolutely. So my career path as a pharmacist was my — I guess I’ll start with my why. My mom — actually, I love animals. We’ll start there. I love animals, so of course, the clear choice was I’m going to be a vet. Right? I want to take care of the puppies. I want to do all those things. So I very fortunately went and chatted at a vet clinic to kind of see what really went on. And it was not at all what I expected. I hated it, so luckily, that was in high school, so I was able to make a pivot to something else. Unfortunately, around that time, my mom got diagnosed with very aggressive cancer. I didn’t know it at the time, but she was given less than six months to live. And she was very determined, had a very strong mindset and ended up fighting for over five years in that battle. But during that time, we were in the pharmacy most days of the week. I don’t know any pharmacists personally at this time in my life. We don’t have any neighbors or family friends or anything like that, and all I knew was these people were really smart, and they’re crazy busy, like running around, short-staffed, all those things. But amidst that, a total stranger, my mom and our family, they would go above and beyond and really show that care and dedication and just say, like, “You know, can we drop this off for her? How is she doing?” Just genuine questions that just like caught my attention, like this is amazing that a total stranger can care so deeply for a stranger. So that really is what got me looking towards pharmacy in the first place. And then the more I looked into it, the more it was very clear I was meant to do this, like with absolute certainty. So I applied, I went to Pitt undergrad. And I applied to pharmacy school, super excited, and then I got rejected. “Your grades suck, this and that, you don’t” — whatever the reasons were, I didn’t get in. So I could have used that and said, “You know, this is crazy. I wasn’t meant to do this. This is too competitive. Blah blah blah.” But I really had my why. Like I was meant to do this. And instead of being discouraged, I got resourceful, I got involved in organizations, I was in the pharmacy school so much volunteering and learning, people thought I was a student. So I used that as my strength.

Tim Church: Wow.

Adam Martin: And then I actually the next year, applied again. I didn’t get accepted; I got waitlisted. I was the last person to get in my class, in my class of pharmacy. And I was like so excited and blessed. I’m like, oh, this is amazing. At the time, I was like, “Woohoo! This is great.” And we had orientation. And they talked about, don’t do this, don’t get in trouble. If you have a problem, talk to someone. And then the very last thing they said is, “By the way, you need to elect a president for your class.” And dude, it was a moment I’ll never forget. Like I was meant to do this. My parents really pushed leadership skill development. I was an Eagle Scout, all these things. And it was like, everything that I’ve done has now come to this point right now. So I ran for office, and I got elected president of my class. And I was like, you know what, I worked so hard to get in this, it literally took years plus one to get in here. I’m not going to waste this opportunity. So because it took so much, I overcame so much pain and rejection to get in there, I looked at this as such a gift. So I became like, how am I going to maximize this? Around that time, I also got into fitness. I’d been lifting for a few years, but I really got focused in the nutrition aspect. And what I found was if I went out and partied, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate in the classroom, and my workouts would suffer. But if I ate well and rested and did all the good things, I would be really focused in class, I’d make really good conversation, I’d take good notes, and my workouts would be amazing. So it was this dichotomy of fitness and pharmacy that really catapulted my success — not necessarily grade-wise, because I wasn’t a Rho Chi, I was more of a back-Rho Chi or a no-Rho Chi, so the grades weren’t all there. But the relationships, the learning, being involved in the community, volunteering. I went to seven conferences while I was in pharmacy school. So really just putting my energy in learning and connecting and networking and really making the most of all these amazing, brilliant people in pharmacy that I was blessed to have access to as my professors and colleagues. And whenever I graduated, it was right when the market started to shift. So when I was a first-year student, I was in Phi Delta Chi, and the people that were graduating in my fraternity were all talking about, oh, about a sign-on bonus or relo bonus, all those things that, you know, were the glory days of pharmacy. Well, that was literally the last year of that. That was I think 2008. And then it started to shift. Sign-ons were gone, relos were gone. And whenever I graduated, those didn’t exist. And it was really competitive. The job market really got tight. But because I networked and showed value, went to conferences, I ended up getting like six job offers when I graduated. Whereas people that just went through the motions didn’t even have any. Like there were some people that they didn’t know what they wanted to do, which is fine, you’re still looking to figure that out. But they didn’t have any job offers, so even after graduation, they were really struggling because that market shifted. So that really gave me an idea to not only help pharmacy students maximize pharmacy school but to help pharmacists and people in healthcare to live and give to the best potential possible because as you guys know listening, you’re probably in pharmacy, either a student or a pharmacist, there’s a lot of stress. Like a ton of stress. You’re trying to do 30 things at once, you’ve got flu shot quotas, you’re trying to give drugs that are off-market, and people are yelling at you, all these things. But you still want to give. You still have your why for why you got into this. But if you don’t have clear focus on that, it can really wreak havoc. And then you can fall into this trap of I’m here to give and serve, so me taking a lunch is selfish. Me giving up my time to work out instead of working out and taking care of myself, I’m going to give it to my patients. That’s really what it’s about. But short-term, that might work. But over the long term, that’s where it gets us into trouble. We start gaining weight, we start getting really overwhelmed with stress. And then it comes to a point where we’re not able to perform at our highest level. So by “giving our own self-care away,” we’re literally creating a detriment to the service of healthcare we’re providing. So self-care is not selfish at all. It’s the most selfless thing you can do because by investing in yourself, you can give more. And that’s my whole purpose is how to help people give their full potential.

Tim Church: I think you’re story of getting into pharmacy school and that path that you took is such a cool story just of resilience but inspiration on how you got into the field. And then I think you also made just a huge point about healing the healer, and that was always a point that was brought up when I was in school that you really have to take care of yourself. And I want to get into that a little bit more, but talk about what you’re doing as a pharmacist right now in your full-time job at a community pharmacy.

Adam Martin: Sure. So I love community pharmacy because it’s based on relationships and really having that rapport with your patients when they come in, you know them by their name, they know you by their name, you can follow up and say, “Hey, how was your graduation?,” sending them cards, just having genuine conversation and caring about people. That’s why I love going to work, and I can stand for 13 hours without a break and dance out of there like I just got there. So just having that level of impact and the relationships with the people to really just give and help them in their darkest moments because guys, when people come in the pharmacy, they’re most likely not having a good day. So if you can come to that interaction with energy and support and just being there for them, you’re going to impact their lives in so much — like it’s indescribable, the level of impact that you have the potential to make. But if we ourselves are facing issues that are controllable by diet and exercise, we’re doing a disservice. So by investing in ourselves, we can really make each and every interaction high-level. And I know that might sound like ridiculous or unrealistic, but I mean, I’m not at a slow store. We do over 500 a day without overlap. And you know, I go through the same stuff, tech call-offs, all the things. I’ve been doing it since 2012, so living in the trenches to give practical advice that’s realistic to help you with nutrition, fitness, dealing with stress, that’s kind of where that passion came from, unfortunately, through seeing so many other pharmacists succumb to that stress and the pressures that can take ahold of you if you allow it. So that’s where my one book came from, “Rx You: The Pharmacist’s Survival Guide to Managing Stress and Fitting In Fitness,” to take all those best practice tips and help you to overcome that and really invest in yourself.

Tim Church: Wow. I think you hit on so many points there that are just so key because you nailed it that pharmacists are so accessible and have the opportunity to really help people in multiple ways. But just even taking an interest in them when they’re at their worst can make all the difference. And I think sometimes, realistically, like you talked about, it can be difficult when you have all of these other things competing for your time and attention and just your own general energy and exhaustion. And so I think that other people probably listening are thinking, yeah, I get everything Adam is saying, but sometimes, I bet it’s difficult to maintain that same level of service and attention that you can give throughout your entire shift there. So I think that although it’s something that we should all strive for, it’s probably not always easy, right? To do that all the time during your entire shift.

Adam Martin: Oh guys, I’m not perfect. Like I make mistakes. But being able to do that the majority of the time and set yourself up so it’s easier — it’s not that it gets easier, it’s just that you get better. So it’s not that over time, stress goes away. Quite the opposite. You guys know, like they cut hours, more quotas, now there’s Shingrix on top of flu shots, and that’s on back order, so we just can’t wait ‘til that drops back again. But yeah, I mean, it’s not that it gets easier, it’s just that you get better. And you’re going to have days where life happens. If you’ve got kids, they kept you up all night or you’ve got relationship problems or you have a flat tire on your way to work, yeah, life happens. But being able to roll with the punches and bounce back from that, that’s what that practice. So what you practice in private is what you see in real life. So being able to do those rituals and prepare yourself so that when those things come up, you can face that adversity head-on and use it to strengthen you as a kind of overcoming a challenge.

Tim Church: Well, I mean, it’s cool, like I love the energy and the passion that you have just around the profession but your job and how you’re impacting patients every day. And I think that’s awesome, and you know, unfortunately, I don’t think that’s always the case in our profession. And it depends on your own ability to control your emotions and the things that are going on, but also there are some factors within the profession that do make it challenging to kind of come with that same level of passion and intensity. But I want to shift gears a little bit, and I want to know how did you become interested in entrepreneurship and creating this business, The Fit Pharmacist? How did that all come into play?

Adam Martin: That’s an awesome question, man. And I don’t really consider myself an entrepreneur because I have a full-time job, but I guess I’ve got like two jobs, like the entrepreneur gig. But it started out by literally just people coming to me and saying like, “Hey, how can I do this? What tips do you have? What suggestions?” and just helping them. And it literally created a community. What started off as an Instagram handle became a community and then a business, and now like this movement in pharmacy where there’s pharmacy students and pharmacists that share their story every Friday. I’ve been doing it for 2.5 years now for Fit Pharmacist Friday, where that’s a source of inspiration and motivation for others who are exactly what you said, going through these challenges. And we all have our seasons where we feel down or it’s not going to happen or tough times. But having that community, much like what you and Tim have with Your Financial Pharmacist of support and mentorship, is just so phenomenal that it just kept growing and I kept getting more and more people and then the followers started growing, and I just kept creating content because I love it and I’m like, hey, here’s an issue that I see all the time in pharmacy that people complain about. This is something that I’ve used and others find helpful, let me share this. And that’s how it spread is just creating value that works and is practical because you can want to be healthy and talk to a nutritionist, but they don’t really get pharmacy world and how we don’t have a break and we have to do 30 things with the manpower to only do five. So when they tell you to eat a salad for lunch and chew 30 times before you swallow, it’s not practical. So if it’s not practical, and you’re not going to do it, and then you’re going to be right back where you started. So having simple solutions that are actually, you know, going to be effective in your work environment is really where I thrive to cut through the crap. But it’s still using stuff that’s research-based, effective, scientific, but translating that to pharmacy world, whether that’s nutrition, fitting in workouts, mindset mastery through meditation or self-development through reading, seminars, things like that. That’s where my niche came from. Then it just became so many requests for people to do one-on-one coaching. As a competitive bodybuilder, a *drug-free* — pharmacist, but drug-free bodybuilder, yes, that just fueled my passion. And I just created this community, and it turned into a business, and I just started to think, you know, this is something. Like I get messaged every day by people all over the world — literally. In India, Spain, Africa, I write for a magazine in South Africa, like it’s literally a global community. So in order to do that effectively, I need to figure out how business works. Because I wasn’t trained in that, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just creating value with stuff that I love. And to answer your question, that’s kind of how the entrepreneurship worked is I just did what I love, did it from good reason, with good intentions to help people to overcome the struggles that I myself went through and see others doing and just kind of extending a helping hand. And that created the book and the community and the business. So that’s what I do now is I help pharmacists and pharmacy students do the same thing in creating their health coaching business. I’ve been in business since 2013 with the godfather of flexible dieting, Dr. Joe Klemczewski, and his partner, Dr. Cory Probst (?), who is literally the best health psychologist in the world. I actually joined them as a client when I first graduated pharmacy school, and I asked them like, “Hey, I have this passion for nutrition. There’s all these certifications. What do I do?” And he said, “We can train you to do what we do.” And that’s what I looked at for awhile just to kind of see time play out, check out was what they’re doing legit, get referrals, just doing all those things to make sure it’s all good because he was an idol in natural bodybuilding world. So I knew he had a huge following, really great integrity, everyone has awesome things to say. But you know, money talks, as they say. So I really wanted to play that out, and it was one of, if not the best investments I’ve ever made in my life. So I’ve been with them since 2013. I’m actually flying to Nashville this Friday to give a talk alongside them. So they started as my mentors, now they’re my colleagues and business partners.

Tim Church: And so what it sounds like, Adam, is that it took some time to sort of grow that community, put out a lot of great content, and then people were catching on, really seeing that value that you were bringing to the table. And it almost seems like they sort of naturally became something that you could monetize, that you were solving people’s problems that they were having.

Adam Martin: Exactly. And straight up, like I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the awesome people in our community of the Fit Pharmacist movement. Like they’re phenomenal. Literally, you had mentioned earlier that not everyone’s always at the top of their game or so enthusiastic. Yes, that’s true. But I want to come back at that and say, there are so many that are, that they have hard days too. They’ve gone through those things, and that’s why I started that Fit Pharmacist Friday is to let people know that, you know, your colleagues, your students, might be Debbie Downers, I don’t know. But you need to know that there’s a community of people who have gone through some serious crap, whether it’s emotional or abuse or relationships or financial, and they’ve come out being so much stronger, creating strength from their struggle, making their mess their message, leading by example and being just a source of inspiration. So that’s why I do that. And it’s created this awesome community of pharmacists that are all about, you know, helping others. So that’s what it’s about, and I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without you awesome people. So thank you. Thank everyone who’s listening and been with me on this journey because like you said, it did manifest naturally because — and it’s picked up momentum, so I guess a value point for those listening is very simple: Clarity creates power. So when I started, I had all these passions, you know, nutrition, working out, pharmacy, and it was like all over the place. But then finding my message and tying that all together, being an advocate and really resource to put self-care back into healthcare, particularly in the pharmacy profession, that’s when things really exploded because I got so clear and focused such that every action, every article I wrote, everything was tied to this one mission. And when you get clear on what you’re trying to do and the value and purpose of giving that you’re really on a mission to create and give to others, that’s when you’re going to take off. And I’ve read many books on this, I’ve gone to seminars with Grant Cardone, with Lewis Howes, with Tony Robbins, all this year, and it’s just getting those mentors. And I hear the same message, clarity creates power. Really get connected with your why, and stay true to what you’re looking to accomplish, stay true to that mission, why you’re doing it and the outcome that you want, and that is going to drive so much more success. And if you stay with that and be consistent and put in the work, you’re going to get results beyond what you could ever imagine.

Tim Church: It kind of reminds me of that quote from Zig Ziglar where if you help enough people get what they want, eventually, you’re going to get what you want. And that’s just really what I kind of hear as you’re going through that and talking about that because it’s easy to see that your passion and the power that you’re putting into this movement and parts of your business is really encouraging others but just having such a huge impact, and it’s really cool to see that. And to get a little bit more practical about the business itself, can you break down the different layers on how you’re bringing in additional income?

Adam Martin: Absolutely. The business is the Fit Pharmacist. And I have three main tiers with that. It’s expanding to a fourth right now. That being nutrition and health coaching, really helping people to live their best lives through helping them, specifically through mindset coaching, so how to deal with stress and anxiety, really have that attitude and practice of constant, neverending improvement, to really have those mentors and learn those things. The second being physical fitness, finding something that you enjoy because I love to deadlift, but you might not. Or you might have some physical ailment. So all my clients that I have, not one of them is interested in bodybuilding, and I am 100% OK with that. So just because I am a bodybuilder, that doesn’t mean that I expect you to be. That’s my passion. But you might like Zumba or something else. So it’s finding what you love and enjoy and doing that because it’s different for every person. And then the whole nutrition aspect. I do not believe in supplements or scam shakes or being reliant on a product because what’s going to happen when you go on vacation and don’t have the product or you go to a birthday party, and there’s no product there. It’s not living. It’s relying on an external thing. But when you really focus on education and being able to make those decisions and knowing nutrition, the science behind it, in a simple way. Not like a crazy, you know, professor-type deal, but practical knowledge, that’s going to allow you to become your best nutritionist. And I don’t throw you under the bus; I guide you through the process because everyone is starting from a different point. So that’s why I do very extensive in-taking with each of my clients to figure out what their goals are, what they’ve tried before, where they are right now and then where they’re looking to go so that we can create a realistic action plan.

Tim Church: And so do they pay you, is that like a flat fee for a service that’s over a certain period of time? Or how does that work?

Adam Martin: Sure. So the payment structure is based on time. So it depends on the individual because some people, you know, they’re at their healthy weight, they’re just really looking for more mindset. So I have a three-month program for someone that has that experience and they’re just looking to take that to the next level. I have a six-month program, and then I have a year-long program. So that’s why that intake is so important to really get to know the individual and based on where they are and where they’re looking to go, based on what their goals are, I can really make a recommendation for what would best allow that to practically happen. So that’s how that pricing structure works.

Tim Church: And then, so that’s one aspect of the business is doing basically consulting, helping pharmacists and other people get on a great nutrition plan, a fitness plan, and then what’s the other aspects of the business?

Adam Martin: So there’s a lot of pharmacists that feel like they’re not fulfilled. They feel like they’re just clocking in and just keep dispensing medications. It’s not their jam. They’re looking for another way. They’re really into the nutrition; they see the benefit for themselves, and they want to do that. They want to be the pharmacist that, you know, dispenses fitness to their patients and leading by example. But there’s so many internet programs and things like that, how do they do that? And how do they learn the business side? Because yes, there are pharmacy schools that offer PharmD-MBA programs, but you know, specific for fitness coaching, health coaching, things like that, that’s my other business is helping pharmacy students and pharmacists really do that practically from someone who actually does it. So it’s cool to get the inside business from like you guys do with your finance book, mistakes you made for investing and frivolous spending and so forth, just like me. Like I’ve made mistakes in building my business, spending money where it didn’t need to be, spending too much time doing this where it should have been that, so guiding them through that process with that whole plan and allowing them to do it at a faster rate with more success and I’m with them through that whole time so that, like I said, it’s different for every person, things are going to accelerate at a different pace. So being their coach through that process. I’ve been doing that for two years now, and it’s honestly one of the most rewarding things in my life because once you see someone really realize their potential and say things like, “Wow, I’ve always seen people do this, and I never thought I could do it. But I just did it, and it feels amazing.” I had one of my current clients for the 2018 course just closed his first health coaching client on a six-month program last week. And you should have seen him. Like he was so happy. Like it made everything, like all the work, all the late nights and everything that I had put in, it made it all worth it. That actually leads to the third layer of business, since you might pick up on I can’t shut up, and like I really done that for a long time, and that is speaking. I love to speak. It’s a passion of mine, it’s a natural gift. But really learning that and honing it so it can be effective in helping people to get those simple solutions to really empower themselves, whether that’s a mindset thing, staying in their element and overcoming stress at work, nutrition, social media, all of the things that I do and practice myself in a talk. So I speak at several businesses in the Pittsburgh area and all over. I’m actually flying to Nashville on Friday to talk about social media. But it’s a passion. I love it. And pharmacy schools are my jam. I’ve been working on a book for three years now to help pharmacy students master their whole experience in pharmacy school because I had an amazing education at Pitt, I love that school so, so much. But there’s some things that I wasn’t taught. Maybe I was not paying attention, so it could be my own fault. But there’s some things like building your personal brand, how to network effectively, like the ins and outs: what to do before a conference, after the conference, how to follow up, all of those types of things, I made a book. The first half is those practical skills that looking back as a pharmacist for eight years now, looking back in pharmacy school are my highlights, what were the things I wish I knew, that’s the first half of the book are those skills that will really set you apart and give you a competitive advantage in your career. And then the second part of the book is what took all the time. There are a collection of interviews from the best people in our profession, each chapter being a niche. So I have a chapter on specialty pharmacy with one of the best people in the industry. I have someone in research. I have someone that does PGY1 residencies, and all of those different things, those different avenues you can go, that are literally the top of their game. And I had pharmacy students do the interview so that they could get the experience asking them questions like, “Right now, you’re at the top of your game. If you knew you were going to end up here, and you were on Day 1 at pharmacy school, what things would you have done differently? What resources would you recommend diving into if this is your niche? What connections — where would you spend your time so that you would end up where you are, but at a faster rate so the value of that knowledge is really what took the time?” But then I took it a step further and what I told the dean who is a part of this project, Dr. Kroboth at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, a phenomenal individual, so inspiring, I told her, “What I want to do is create this book, sell it. I want it in every pharmacy school in the country. But I don’t want to keep $1 from the sales. I want all of the money from the hard copy book sales to go to an endowment fund for a scholarship for a pharmacy student who is overcoming adversity and looking to make an impact in our profession.” Because I want to give back, I want to pay it forward. So that was my innovative way to create that. And that’s kind of why I’m so juiced about it, why I love going to pharmacy schools and talking, because it was the biggest gift I’ve ever gotten is a chance — a chance to get in and to really put my passion into work to make the most of that time. And I want to help others do the same, so that’s the why behind all my energy and talking and all the stuff that I do.

Tim Church: Wow. That is awesome, Adam. I didn’t know about that book. Is that out already?

Adam Martin: No. That has been in the works.

Tim Church: OK. So that one’s coming.

Adam Martin: That one’s coming in 2019. So it’s funny. I started that book three years ago. But then in the time, I was like, people really want like self-care tips. Like I keep getting messages every day, Instagram, Facebook, so I need to create a resource for that. So that’s where that book came out, and the response was, “Oh dude, you always say like the business is determined” — I forgot how this quote goes, but the market determines your success. That book came out, and 60 copies in 24 hours, it was a bestseller on Amazon, like it was incredible. I had people from Abu Dhabi buy it, Mexico, Canada, China, like amazing. Like literally worldwide reach. And I was blown away. Like I made this, I’m like, this will be like a cool e-book. And one of my mentors was like, no, no, no. You need to make this a hard copy book. I’m like, OK. So I did that, and I was like, I’ll sell like 10 copies. It’ll be cool, you know, to publish a book. But dude, it was amazing. And that just fueled and reinforced like hey man, you have something here. You need to keep going because you’re providing value, and it’s actually effective. And people are messaging me, saying, “This helped me so much.” Tony — Tony Guerra had me on his podcast, like dude, I lost 5 pounds from your one tip. I’m like, cool man.

Tim Church: Which tip was it?

Adam Martin: That was the water test, which I actually —

Tim Church: Oh, I love it. I love it. I do that all the time.

Adam Martin: Dude, I created that at work. So that’s in the trenches tip because I kept getting hungry because I was so busy, I would start feeling hungry. But I knew I wasn’t hungry, but I had this feeling. So I just chugged a bottle of water, and then 5-10 minutes later, the hunger feeling was gone. So I started looking into it, and I come to realize that the brain does not know the difference between hunger and thirst. So literally, if you feel hungry, it could be that you’re just thirsty. So in order to determine that, you’re probably dehydrated running around like a chicken with its head cut off at Club Pharmacy trying to answer all the 50 phones and the people trying to get their script filled ASAP. So chug a water, and it’ll likely go away. And 99%, dude, like I use this every single day. I used it this morning like three times. Almost every time, it goes away from drinking water. So that will save you unnecessary eating, extra calories, so it’s simple math. Like you guys are numbers with finance. It’s simple math. Calories in, calories out. If you can cut that stimulus so you don’t keep putting more calories in you don’t need, you’re going to get to your goal faster and not be walking backwards or not walking at all as we’re talking food.

Tim Church: Yeah, no, I love that tip. And there’s definitely some others that are really key in the book. I really like one of the lines that you put in there, and it was about that a lot of pharmacists, just based on the nature of the jobs, whether it’s community pharmacy or the other type of position, that a lot of times that excuse is, “Well, I don’t have to eat right. I don’t have time to exercise, you know, because of my job and because of my kids and because of all the other things I’ve got going on.” And then what you came back and said is, it’s not that you don’t have time. It’s that you haven’t figured out a system, a routine, the habits that work well with your lifestyle. And when I read that, I thought, wow. That really is the key is you’ve got to find something that works for you. So I think that was such a cool point that you put in there.

Adam Martin: Thank you, man. I appreciate that. It comes to the main concept of how I conduct my life, how I help my clients really find that “Aha!” moment for the system that you just described. It comes to something coined by my mentor, Dr. Joe Klemczewski, and business partner, that being structured flexibility. So you need a plan of what to do, things to cook, workout strategies and whatever, but you don’t want to fall into the psychological trap of black-and-white thinking. Like it’s this way or the highway. You need that flexibility component because as we know, life is not black and white. So if you try to do it in a black-and-white manner, you’re going to give yourself more frustration and anxiety when you’re trying to succumb those at the same time. So it’s going to be counter-productive. So if you have a plan, the structure, but you also have flexibility to kind of roll with the punches when things aren’t exactly as planned because such is life, you’re going to have a much easier and enjoyable time, whether that’s saving for finances with paying off debt, whether that’s mastering your mindset, nailing your nutrition at work and days off, and just like you said, finding the time to work out. I bring that up again in the book for pharmacy school, relating it to Beyonce. Like look what she does, like amazing things. But she has the same amount of time that we do, right? So she has a system to just be efficient, and she’s been doing it for so long, she’s putting in the reps, literally. It’s about reps — being good and building that skill by being consistent and practicing those things. So yeah, it’s not “I don’t have time” but it’s that “I’m not making it a priority to find that time. So and that’s different for every person. So you might have five kids, you might have a job where you have to drive three hours one-way. It’s different for each person, so really looking at your life to see where it can fit, kind of like how you guys do in “Seven Figure Pharmacist.” In the beginning, you talk about having that money checklist of really — the “vitals check,” that’s what it’s called, the “vitals check” of what am I working with? Where is my starting point? And then once you know that and have that awareness, you can know where you want to go and how to get there.

Tim Church: Well, Adam, there’s no question that what you’re doing is delivering a lot of value to people. I mean, I think everybody can hear that in your passion. But one of the questions that I wanted to know is certainly, you’re running a business and you’re monetizing a lot of what you’re doing, which is great because you’re providing good value. But what are you doing with the additional income that you’re earning from the Fit Pharmacist?

Adam Martin: Putting it back. Literally. I have a separate business account where all of my money goes in, and goes back into the business, creating value, creating better content. So now, that’s shifted into upping my podcast. I have a podcast, the Fit Pharmacist healthcare podcast, but I actually just interviewed your colleague, other Tim.

Tim Church: We need to talk, which Tim? Which one?

Adam Martin: Yeah, yeah. Other one. So increasing the quality of that, so the equipment to do that. I’m now getting really into videos, so creating that production. The other thing is I love, like you said, to give and use my passion and skills to make an impact. So I’m going to Panama in February on a medical mission trip with, actually, a girl that I met in the Fit Pharmacist community, who is just — that’s her niche. That’s her passion. She’s on an advisory board for a nationwide mission trip organization. And I had her on the podcast, I think it was like six months ago. And we were talking about how to go on a mission trip, like what to expect, how to get started. And in that interview, she said, “Oh yeah, we’re going to Panama.” And I’m like, “Oh, do you need another pharmacist?” She’s like, “Actually, yeah.” I’m like, hmm. That’s it. So that’s not cheap. You’ve got to fly, investing with travel and all the stuff and vaccines. Plus, it’s the opportunity cost, so as you guys know working at work in chain pharmacy, you don’t really get that much vacation time, but I’m investing my vacation time into that. So that’s literally how I spend. I reinvest it. I put it back into the business, into myself. So that’s going to seminars. Like I literally tried to think, how can I invest $15,000-20,000 in my personal skills this year? What am I passionate about? What am I looking to do?

Tim Church: I think that’s so good, Adam. I love that you’re reinvesting a lot of the money in yourself and in the business just because you believe in it so much. And I think that’s awesome. But I think a lot of people, they’re probably listening and just like on other episodes, that you’re doing a lot in addition to working as a full-time pharmacist. How do you practically manage the Fit Pharmacist with your personal life and your full-time job? And how many hours — what’s a typical week like in terms of how much time you’re spending on it?

Adam Martin: So that’s an excellent question. And there’s a really big dip that you can fall into of not knowing when to say no, not knowing when the cutoff is. So it’s not having a “To Do” list, but it’s having a “Not To Do” list that’s really going to help you in the long term because I see so many times people get into this niche of health coaching, and they go all in for 2-3 months, and then you don’t hear from them again. And they’re like, “Oh, I went through some stuff, blah, blah, blah,” or “Oh, I got too busy,” or “Oh.” But if you pace yourself — so that’s not saying, let off on the gas. But really having time blocking and chunking in your day. So again, it really depends on your schedule, whether you’re married, you have kids, being realistic with that. For me, — so Gary Vee, if you guys listen to him on entrepreneurship, Gary Vee talks about that magic — what is it? 10-2 hour, which my colleague and friend Richard Waithe practices. 10-2, he’s all about that. For me, that doesn’t work for my lifestyle because some days, I work mornings, some days, I work nights, so I kind of sandwich it. So I call it my power hour in the morning, which is really two hours, which is reading, daily devotion, just going on a 20- or 30-minute walk while listening to personal development videos or things like that. And then prepping for the day, setting my goals, setting my intentions, going through my gratitude list. I start every day, two hours, with that routine, and it really fuels me and sets me up. Then it depends on how my days are structured with work because I’m on a rolling two-week schedule. Sometimes, it’s two hours after that. But getting that two- or four-hour window in every day, but knowing when to quit. So it’s so tempting — and I did this for years when I started way back in the day — of I’m going to go to bed at 9, but then you get this idea and you start writing an article, and then it goes into another thing, and it’s 12:30. And you don’t want to “quit” or be lazy, but you have to know when to say no. And you have to really put your priority in real-life relationships. Social media is a huge trap. It’s a great tool, but it can really suck the life out of you.

Tim Church: Definitely. Definitely.

Adam Martin: I’m serious.

Tim Church: No, I know. Yeah.

Adam Martin: So really seeing what it is. It’s a tool, it’s social media, and putting priority on real-life interactions, literally like in person. That’s where it’s at. So being fully present with that person is the best compliment you can give them. So I love my family, I’m very blessed to have an amazing dad. He’s such a role model. Like he’s a missionary, he is building a library in Africa. Just the most giving and loving man of God I’ve known, and I’ve modeled my life after him. So I want to spend time with him. So I do that on a consistent basis. But it’s doing him and me a disservice by being there and being on my phone. So when I’m with him, my phone’s charging in the corner. I don’t see it. Or just having that promise to yourself that this is special time. I am going to be fully present with this person because I don’t know if he or she is going to be here tomorrow. I don’t know what the future’s going to bring. But I know right now, I have the gift of being with them. And I don’t want to waste that on some Instagram post or whatever. So time blocking and chunking is the best advice I can give. Practicing deep work, which I have a whole chapter on that in the pharmacy school book. If you guys ever read “Deep Work” by Cal Newport. He also wrote a book, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You.” Phenomenal author. But really chunking your priorities into times that fit your schedule but knowing when that cutoff is. So again, coming back to what I started with, it’s not making a “To Do” list but a “Not To Do” list. So have those non-negotiables. When 9 p.m. hits, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, it’s time to stop. It’s time to be with your loved one and spend that hour that, yeah, you could write an article, you could do whatever, but you might not have that tomorrow. So really be present in that moment, and the best investment you can make is in the present with the people that are in your life. So that’s my advice as to how to keep it all together is know where your non-negotiables are, really invest in those that love and support you, and give back. That’s really the key. And it sounds so cliche. And I’ve heard that all my life, but in the past year, I’ve really practiced that, and it’s transformed not only my personal life, but my business life. And it’s been an amazing journey.

Tim Church: That’s so good, Adam. Thank you for those tips. I think that’s really great, and it just kind of highlights how important it is that, you know, you don’t have to be going 100 miles an hour in your business to be successful all the time. You know, there’s obviously going to be times, and it’s going to ebb and flow when you’re working hard, but also just making sure that you’re dedicating quality time to the people that matter most to you just because that is such an important thing to keep in mind as you’re going through that. So last question I have for you is, what advice would you give to other pharmacists or even students out there who have an interest in becoming an entrepreneur?

Adam Martin: So consistency is key. So what I mean by that is you’re going to read a book or see a movie or YouTube video or go to a conference or listen to a podcast where you get super inspired and want to go all-in. That’s great. That’s what we call motivation. The difference between people that stay in the game, that make an impact, that turn their passion into a business is shifting that into commitment. So motivation comes and goes. You know, it ebbs and flows with how you’re feeling, your interaction, your environment. It can be totally different from one day to the next. But commitment is you are tied to this goal. You have a why, and you’re tied to it. So you might not feel like going to the gym tomorrow. You might be exhausted or have a list of so many other things that you could do instead. But you’re committed to your fitness. You’ve turned your should into a must, a non-negotiable. This will happen, regardless of how I feel because I owe this to myself. When you make that commitment to yourself and to your goal, that is what is going to set you ahead. They say so often, go the extra mile. It’s not crowded there. Here’s why. That principle. Motivation vs. commitment. Everyone wants to go all-in, they want to grind, and you know, no sleep, like all work, all day, like no play, all work, whatever that is. And in the beginning, you’ll find that. And that only lasts a couple months. But the longer you stay in the game, the less and less people are there. So if you’re in the game for 4-5 years, there’s not going to be much competition there because it gets hard. Guys, it gets hard. Entrepreneurship is a lonely route. It’s not guaranteed. You’re going to eat crap. You’re going to sleep on couches, you’re going to have adversity you never saw coming. But if you are committed to that goal and that why and your reason, then that is how you’re going to succeed. So delayed gratification is another thing with that. It’s kind of a paired relationship. So you might be networking and putting out content for months without many likes or comments or shares. Keep going. Do not quit because everyone quits. But if someone comes on your article, and they see you’ve been consistently writing one a month or whatever, they’re going to be like, “Oh, wow. You’ve been in this a long time. That shows that you’re committed.” It’s looking at your track record. So those two principles, if you can like put those into practice, you’re going to make it. So be consistent. And be patient. They’re very simple but very difficult to put into practice. And I think if you do that, that’s what’s going to keep you in the game, and the longer in the game you are, it’s not a guarantee because you have to adapt and innovate with time and change and so forth. But that is really the secret sauce because so few people do it.

Tim Church: Adam, that was awesome. And thanks for sharing those tips. And I know that your story and what you talked about today is really going to inspire at least somebody out there to kind of go down this journey but just to pursue their passion. And I want to thank you for coming on the podcast. And what’s the best way for someone to reach out for you or to learn more about what you’re doing?

Adam Martin: So the ‘gram is my jam. So if you’re on Instagram, guys, that’s where I’m most active. @thefitpharmacist. DM me, comment on my posts. I get back to every single person. I pride myself on that because I feel like every interaction, there’s a reason behind it, regardless of what that is. I also have my website, TheFitPharmacist.com, where I have all my articles there, resources, that’s where I highlight all of the Fit Pharmacist Friday features that you can get inspired and connect with them.

Tim Church: Adam, thank you again for sharing your story, for coming on the show. It’s just been a real pleasure.

Adam Martin: Thank you, Tim. I appreciate what you and other Tim are doing. The other thing I say is, guys, get their book. It’s incredible. Seriously. Like I love to read, but it’s — I love how the book is structured. It’s just so simple and practical, so I can’t say enough good things about it. I love what you guys are doing with Your Financial Pharmacist, such a valuable asset to our profession. So it’s such a pleasure to finally meet you, meet you and talk to you, Tim, and I just can’t wait for what the future holds.

Tim Church: Thanks, Adam. Really appreciate that.

Adam Martin: Thank you.

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You Know Where the Weight Room Is?: TJ’s Rise to Becoming an Entrepreneur

On this episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast, Tim Church, YFP team member, leads another edition of the Side Hustle Series where he talks about ways you can create additional streams of income to reach your financial goals faster. This episode features Dr. TJ Allan, a pharmacist and entrepreneur who owns three gyms and is now teaching others how to open their own gym.

About Today’s Guest

TJ is a pharmacist, father, husband, and entrepreneur that enjoys fitness, arguing about the NBA, visiting Disney, and discussing all things business.

Summary

TJ Allan graduated from St. Louis College of Medicine in 2007 with not only a passion for pharmacy, but also for entrepreneurship. While in college TJ didn’t take on large expenses and was very conscious about his purchases and lifestyle. After he graduated, he began working for Walgreens. He was making a good salary and had benefits, however, he jumped on an opportunity to work as a local pharmacist in his small town so that he could become an entrepreneur.

He was living with his parents at the time and drove the same car he did while in college to keep his expenses low. This allowed TJ to save money to use for his business ventures. He opened his first gym, Ageless, in his hometown and broke even by the end of two weeks. He only had to put up $70-80,000 to start. Although several people said that the gym wouldn’t be open long because of its location and the success rate of gyms in general, his optimistic personality reminded him that he could have success. He continued to open two other gyms (a studio gym and spin gym) which have both been successful and are still open.

Ageless, which follows a 24 hour model with classes and only needs 40 hours of staffing each week, brings in $125,000 in revenue with a net profit of 40-45%. Each month, TJ makes $3,000 to $4,000 from Ageless as passive income, however he invests it directly back into the business. Collectively, the other two gyms bring in $90,000 of profit each year.

Of course, TJ has had several failures along the way, but these have taught him so much. He’s learned the importance of marketing and now follows a lean startup method.

TJ has created a work and life balance allowing him to be present for his wife and young daughter. He also has worked to create efficient business models so that he doesn’t have to spend a lot of time running the other businesses. With a block method of scheduling, he works on certain projects each day while also continuing to work as a pharmacist in his hometown.

Mentioned on the Show

• LendKey
• YFP 081: New Year Financial Game Plan
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyoaski
• Tony Robbins
• John Maxwell
• The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries
• The E Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Business Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller
• Contact TJ Allan

Episode Transcript

Tim Church: What’s up, everyone? And welcome to Episode 083 of the podcast. I’m really excited about today’s guest to kick off the first side hustle episode of the year. I think you’re really going to enjoy hearing his story. On the first episode of 2019, the other Tims talked about setting financial goals and how important they are to having a successful year. For some of you, one of those goals may be to finally start that business or project that you’ve been thinking about. If that’s you, I really want to encourage you to think about those next steps to make that vision become a reality. And if you need some inspiration, you definitely don’t want to miss out on TJ’s story. So Dr. TJ Allan, he’s a pharmacist and entrepreneur who owns three gyms and is now teaching others how to open their own gym. He’s also a father, enjoys arguing about the NBA, visiting Disney and discussing all things business. Let’s go ahead and jump right into the interview.

Tim Church: TJ, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show and for being a part of this side hustle edition.

TJ Allan: No problem. Thanks for having me.

Tim Church: OK, being a gym owner, I have to ask you this question before we go on. If there were no royalty issues to worry about, and I could have put on any song for you as you walk up to the mic for this recording, what would it be?

TJ Allan: Right now, I’m a Cardi B man. I don’t have a workout unless Cardi B’s on my iPod.

Tim Church: Wow, is that mandatory in all of your gyms too? That they’re playing that?

TJ Allan: The workout doesn’t count unless there’s Cardi B playing at some point in time during it.

Tim Church: Oh, that’s awesome. I was going to say, I thought maybe you’d go old school, but that’s cool. I like that. Well, I’m really excited to discuss your entrepreneurial and how you came to acquire three gyms. But before we do that, can you talk a little bit about your career path as a pharmacist?

TJ Allan: Yeah, because I think it’s really important to talk about that because there’s so much right now in this entrepreneurial world ripping on college and saying, if you want to go open these businesses, you don’t need college, it’s a waste of money, everything else like that. You know, I can honestly say that without college and without going through the pharmacy route, I don’t think I would be where I’m at with my entrepreneurial stage, without it. So I had actually attended St. Louis College of Pharmacy, graduated in 2007. I got involved in pharmacy, I had my sister’s boyfriend at the time had just graduated from there when I was a junior in high school, so it was on my radar. I was really big into sports, so I was trying to kind of figure out, do I want to do sports, do I want to go into something educational? And I was passionate about helping people is what I would kind of say. And I was also looking for a job that was secure, that paid well, and there was plenty of opportunities around. So of course, pharmacy was a viable option. And it was also nice that it was 45 minutes from my house. So that’s kind of how I got started. I love St. Louis College of Pharmacy. It was a great college. I enjoy pharmacy. People always say, you’ve got all these businesses, you’re doing all these, why don’t you just do this stuff full-time? Why are you still in the pharmacy? I like pharmacy. There’s really nothing right now I can say bad about the pharmacy world other than of people outside the pharmacy world ripping on it. But from my perspective, pharmacy has given me everything that I have right now.

Tim Church: Yeah, that’s awesome, TJ. And thanks for sharing that because I do agree that there is a lot of negativity, and I think it depends on kind of the environment that you’re in, the employers that you work for, but I think there are so many great opportunities to not only have a job and a position, but one that you feel fulfilled and feel like you are truly making a difference. So can you talk about your current role as a pharmacist and what you’re doing?

TJ Allan: Yeah. So right after I graduated pharmacy school, you know, I knew I wanted to move back home. I was a small town kid. My hometown and where I was born and raised has 3,200 people. I went to St. Louis, I’d been to other things, I don’t like the big city. So I knew I was going to come back to a hometown. At that point in time, 2007, you know, opportunities were everywhere. CVS was offering still the $40,000 sign-on bonus. I could go anywhere. I had actually signed on with Walgreens. And at that time, I was a floating pharmacist, so I was picking up shifts. I mean, I was working 60 hours a week, there were so many shifts available. So it was nice. So I stayed at Walgreens for about a year, maybe a little bit less than a year. And I had that entrepreneurial itch. I knew I wanted to get in something, open my own business, but I knew that being at Walgreens probably wasn’t going to allow me to do that because my hours were sporadic, when I was at work, I had literally no access to my cell phone or anything else. So I started looking for a job that would allow me to chase my entrepreneurial dreams but also allow me to still be in the pharmacy industry. And just by coincidence, the pharmacy was located in my hometown that I’d actually sent a letter to the owner my sixth year of pharmacy school, saying that I wanted to buy it, the pharmacist in charge job opened up at Sullivan’s Drugs. So I, of course, jumped on it and interviewed with them, did really well during the interview, but I was really kind of candid with I talked to them, you know, I’m coming back here at this small pharmacy because I want to also chase these entrepreneurial dreams that I have. So there are going to be days where I’m going to have to miss, I may not be able to work five days a week, I may have to take some personal calls during my shift, I may have to have Internet access during my shift. And he was fine with it. I mean, he was looking for somebody, but I told him, I said, “I’ll give 100%. I love pharmacy, but I also need to do this stuff.” So of course, there was a salary difference coming and going from Walgreens to a small, independent pharmacy. And there was also a benefits difference. So I mean, I took a hit. I went from Walgreens, I think at that time, I was making about $125,000 a year. And I started back there at $100,000, maybe $98,000 a year. Walgreens, of course, you had all the benefits back there. At that point in time, when I signed on, there was no retirement package, there was no IRA, anything like that, there was no health benefits. I was paying my own health insurance. So it was a hit, but it was a sacrifice that I was willing to make because I saw my long-term goals.

Tim Church: Was that a tough transition at first, taking that cut that you did?

TJ Allan: Not so much because, you know, I read a really good book. I got lucky. My sixth year in pharmacy — actually, fifth year in pharmacy school, I had a professor, Dr. Kenneth Shafenmeier (?), and he was kind of our business professor. And he really kind of took me under the wing and really explained things because he knew I kind of had a passion for the business side of things, he knew I wanted to be in an independent pharmacy or possibly even own one. So he had kind of always led me money-wise to the right things and the right books and everything else like that. So like the first book I read was “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” by Robert — and I’ll probably butcher his name — but like Kowaski (Kiyosaki), is how I think you pronounce it. And you know, people have their opinions on that book. Some people say it’s awful, and the investment advice in there is horrible, outdated, etc. And that may very well be. I’m not here to argue that. But I will think what it did for me — and I think it will do it for a lot of pharmacy students that they need to read — is that it gave me the mindset of what do I spend my money on? Am I buying assets, which I had no idea what they really were at the time in pharmacy school. I was just trying to get by organic chemistry and that kind of stuff. Or am I buying these expenses? You know, am I buying a new car? So for me, I always kept my expenses to a minimum. At that point in time, when I was working for Walgreens and making $125,000 a year, and I’m still living with my parents, and I’m still driving the same car that I had in pharmacy school. So I never had these extravagant expenses like when you first get out of pharmacy school, I mean, you go from making $10,000 a year to $125,000 a year. Of course, the first thing you want to go buy is a brand new car. And it’s usually $50,000-60,000. I mean, you’re going probably for a BMW or a Mercedes, something like that. When you’ve suffered six years of pharmacy school and really worked your tail off, you want to be rewarded. I was never interested in that because I was just always interested in a business. So I looked at every expense I had was, man, what if I put that money in a business? What could it do? I mean, that was kind of my passion, that was always kind of my hobby was these businesses. I was never into cars, houses, that was not my thing. Those just didn’t really ever entice me. So for me, going from $130,000 to $100,000 at the independent pharmacy wasn’t really a big issue because I didn’t have those expenses.

Tim Church: And too, it sounds like you kind of had the vision and where you were going and the opportunities were going to be there by making that transition. So I think that’s pretty cool. I want to take a step back because what you said is pretty interesting because if you would have said what you did in the interview process to even another independent owner or somebody else to say, “Hey, I’m taking this job because I want to have the ability to work on some side hustles and other businesses, and I may even take calls during my shifts and things like that,” I mean, what was that dynamic like? Because I’m just picturing here like that if you were to say that, I have a feeling most employers probably would not like hearing that or probably would sort of turn away at that. Can you talk a little bit about that?

TJ Allan: Yeah, you know, I probably wouldn’t have — I know I wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t do my homework prior to. But I had known — like I said, in 2007, pharmacy market was all over. I mean, there was opportunities everywhere. I mean, jobs, they were struggling to fill spots for pharmacists. So I knew I had an advantage with this because I knew what Walgreens and CVS was paying, and I knew what this guy was paying. So I knew he was going to struggle getting someone to come to this small town at that pay rate as a pharmacist, and especially a decent, good pharmacist. So I knew had an advantage there. And I also kind of made it seem like, we had — I left this out. I should have mentioned this earlier. But during the interview process, you know, we had a handshake agreement when I left that I wanted to buy his pharmacy. And that’s kind of how I sold it, you know, I’m going to be doing all this stuff on the side, but I guarantee you I’m going to be giving 100% because I want to own this pharmacy when he retires. At that point in time, he’s about 66 years old. Now, he’s 70-something years old. So I think that’s what kind of sold it to him was he knew I was interested, he knew I was passionate, he knew I was going to give it all my all. But he also knew his pharmacy only did on an average day, 150-160 scripts a day. So there was a lot of time of just standing around. And he knew that. He was smart enough to know that. And he was smart enough to know, hey, I’m not going to be sitting here taking a phone call when I got six people waiting on me. But there was a lot of downtime that I could be working on that stuff. So I think that’s kind of why it worked because like, yeah, you say that at Walgreens, you say that at CVS.

Tim Church: Yeah, hit the road, Jack, right?

TJ Allan: It’s going to be a handshake and, OK, we’ll get back to you. So I mean, those three things right there: knowing there was a huge gap in pharmacists and knowing that I wanted to — knowing that there was a lot of downtime and knowing that I really wanted to buy that pharmacy I think is kind of what sold that.

Tim Church: Wow. That’s a really cool story right there. So at what point in your pharmacy career, you talked about reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and kind of using that as a way to figure out how you’re going to acquire assets, right? And not just liabilities. I mean, at what point did you say, “You know what, I really want to do something beyond pharmacy or something where I have more control and the ability to really dictate kind of that additional income that I could bring in?”
TJ Allan: It was about three months into Walgreens. And I know there’s a lot of people that bash Walgreens, and I honestly can’t say anything bad about my Walgreens experience. I had a lot of good pharmacists, I had a ton of good technicians, really great pharmacy supervisors, I enjoyed the majority of the stores I was at. The problem I had with Walgreens was the problem I think everyone has with their employer. You only get paid if you’re there. So I knew, I was going to be $125,000 and have these 2% raises over the year or whatever the raises are now at Walgreens, and that’s the only way I was going to increase my money unless I want to take extra shifts and of course, it’s tied to me being there. So I knew right away, within three months, you know, if I want to make more money and I want to kind of break those chains from making money and having to be there, it had to be, you know, the entrepreneurial route.

Tim Church: Wow, that is just a cool vision. And I think a lot of people, they get that vision, but not everybody acts on it. I hear a lot of stories of people wanting to make a change, they have ideas for a business, but they never go out and actually do it. But beyond kind of getting additional income and not having to always trade your time for money, did you have any other motivations for wanting to pursue something else and starting a business?

TJ Allan: Yeah, you know, this is going to sound weird. No, I was an athlete in school, and I love sports. But you know, I always had this creative kind of thing. I always wished I could sing or play the piano or I was really good at art. I just had this always — envied these creators. And I think that’s maybe why I went more so with entrepreneur because it’s something I can create, it’s something I have control over, you know? I think entrepreneurs are amazing and probably not given enough credit for the creativity because they take something in their brain that they think could benefit the world, and they put it in action, and then it becomes concrete and tangible. And then people enjoy it. You know, Walt Disney is kind of one of my idols. Walt Disney had this amazing, amazing imagination. And then he turned that imagination into concrete, tangible things that people just love. You know, I’m a Disney fanatic, my family’s a Disney fanatic, we go three or four times a year. But it’s —

Tim Church: DisneyWorld or DisneyLand?

TJ Allan: Both. We go — usually, two or three times a year, we go to DisneyWorld. My wife does the marathons. And then we, in fact, just got back from DisneyLand three weeks ago. And then we’re going to DisneyWorld here in another month.

Tim Church: Oh, that’s awesome. I was just at the food and wine festival, and it was amazing. Great experience.

TJ Allan: And honestly, I go there for a lot of inspiration. Disney is one of those companies — Disney’s like Nike. You watch those companies, you can learn so much, even if you’re in this small mom-and-pop shop in rural Illinois with 3,200 people, there’s so much I can learn every time I go to Disney about how they interact, how they create this experience. So yeah, for me, it’s more about creating an experience and creativity. The money’s nice, and you know, you always have to chase the money because if you don’t make money, you don’t have a business. But really, creating some and creating that experience and creating those bonding experiences with your customers, I think that’s kind of what I’m always after.

Tim Church: So talk about what you’re doing right now. You know, I’ve kind of laid some seeds earlier that you’re owning multiple gyms. So how did that come into play? How did you start that?

TJ Allan: So you know, I kind of got lucky. You know, I think a lot of entrepreneurs don’t put enough emphasis on luck, the role of luck in their success. So I have had luck. And so the first gym I opened up was in my hometown there. The gym had just closed, it was a Curves, it was a women’s only. And kind of me and some friends got together and we were like, man, we wish we would have a gym in town. I was like, you know, Dr. Schafenmeier was in my ear, he always was trying to tell me, start a business. Even when it’s a hobby, start a business because you learn so much when you start a business, and so much of starting a business will help you in pharmacy and will help you in your personal life too. So I told them, I said, “I’ll open a gym. If it fails or if it doesn’t do well, it’s a tax write-off for me. I don’t care. But you know, I’ll open a gym.” So I got lucky, found a business that was — or a building, I should say — the owner really wanted to get rid of, bought the building, bought some equipment, opened up. And honestly, it was a success from Day 1. We broke even by the end of the first month. I was really, by the end of within two weeks, and we really have not had a unprofitable month since we opened almost 10 years ago.

Tim Church: Wow. That is awesome. What’s the name of that gym?

TJ Allan: That’s Ageless. So that’s the one that’s in Gillespie. So yeah.

Tim Church: Is that a trademark name? I love the name.

TJ Allan: People always ask me, where did I get this name? And it’s funny, at the time, my fifth year in pharmacy school, we had this elective. It an osteoarthritis elective, and the teacher, one of our assignments was, you know, create some kind of business or entrepreneurial thing that could help patients. And mine was a gym, of course. And at the time, I really had no interest in opening a gym or even thinking about that. But I named it in my paper Ageless. I put how osteoarthritis, getting people stronger, these lifestyle modifications can really help people, even with osteoarthritis. And so we kind of just used that and yeah. I haven’t trademarked it yet, you know, my lawyer’s on me about doing it. I honestly just haven’t just because I’ve been involved in so many other things. It just always kind of slipped my mind every time I try doing it.

Tim Church: Well, I love it. I think it’s a cool name. So how much capital did you have to throw in to get this thing started?

TJ Allan: So that’s the tricky thing. When most people think gyms, I think that people think I’m a lot more successful than I am. Because when most people think of gyms, they think of these big, huge, golden gyms, Planet Fitness, these ones that cost multi — $2 or $3 million just to start. My building cost $65,000 at the time. I put 20% down. The gym equipment to put inside the building was right around about $50,000-60,000, so I only had to put up about $75,000-80,000 to begin with. And really, cash-wise, I only had to put about $25,000-30,000. Everything else was on loans. So I really didn’t have to put up that much. Tim Robbins talks a lot about asymmetrical risk, reading his books or any of the investing stuff he talks about with these asymmetrical risks, and that’s kind of how I always looked at, you know, how much cash do I have to put up? What does this mean to me? And I always kind of — this is a weird thing to say — but you say, “I’ll put up enough cash for a car. Would I rather have a car or would I rather just invest this in a business?” And that’s kind of how I look at it. So about $50,000, $60,000 is the most cash I’ll ever put in a business initially just because of the risk.

Tim Church: Was that tough? I mean, because I think a lot of people listening are probably like, wow, I don’t know that No. 1, I could come up with that amount. But even if I could, throwing that all into a gym, you know, from somebody else’s perspective, you could say, wow, that seems pretty risky. What were your thoughts behind that? Like did you have any anxiety about putting that much in?

TJ Allan: I honestly didn’t. And I think it’s 1, I’m an extremely optimistic person. I live in a world of abundance that I think I’ve always thought that, that anyone — and that’s kind of what with my clients at the gym, I believe in everything. Anyone can have success. So failing never really went through to me. For me, losing that money never kind of crossed my mind. But I mean, I had the cash, like I said, my expenses were minimal. I was living with my parents, I was still driving the car that I had in college. So I accrued no new expenses once I graduated pharmacy school. So I go from making about $10,000 a year in a part-time job as a pharmacy tech sixth year to $125,000 a year at Walgreens. And I mean, I worked every shift I could at Walgreens because I knew I needed to have a nest egg if I wanted to do some kind of business. The second thing you look at — and this is what people often forget — is even with that, my building, I could have resold and got my $65,000 back guaranteed. I mean, I got a steal on that building. And even with my equipment, I wouldn’t have been able to sell my gym equipment back for a thing, but I would have got 50 cents, 70 cents on the dollar. So all in all, if it would have failed, worst case scenario, I would have only lost maybe $10,000 max? You know, that’s — to me, that was worth the risk.

Tim Church: Got you. So I think that’s awesome because it sounds like you decided, hey, I’m going all-in. And basically, your perception was that I’m OK with that risk. I’m OK with going in head first because, you know, I believe that I’m going to make this work. And if it doesn’t, you know, I’ve got somewhat of a contingency plan. But it sounds like you were never planning for that. It sounds like you were planning to be successful, and you were going to make it work.

TJ Allan: Yeah, I was. And I guess I shouldn’t have said I didn’t have a contingency plan, because I did. Because I knew that I could always sell the building, I could always sell the equipment back, and at max, I would lose $10,000. But I always go back to a thing, you know, if I wasn’t opening these businesses, I would have probably wasted that money. I probably would have went out and bought a BMW or I probably would have went out and started building a house or something like that that I would have sunk that money over there instead of in the business. So I think that kind of helped me a little bit too.

Tim Church: So you mentioned that essentially, even from month 1, that you’ve either broke even or the business has been profitable. We’re talking still about your gym, Ageless.

TJ Allan: Yes.

Tim Church: I mean, obviously, there are gyms all around the country that are not successful. And I’ve seen many that close just after a few months. So what would you say — what is the secret sauce that you’re injecting into the business to, you know, make it successful, make people to come and to use the facility and getting more customers and retaining customers?

TJ Allan: Yeah, that’s a good question. And if it was one thing, it would be real easy. That’s a good question. It’s a really hard question because if I could narrow it down to one thing — but I don’t think I can. I found a location, an environment, where this gym thrives. You know, most people overlook small towns. Most people have never been in a town of 3,200 people. So most people, this has never been even on their, you know, plan. So I found this small town that most people assume wouldn’t even be able to sustain a gym, and I’ve made it work. And I’ve made it work because I’ve built this efficient model of a gym, and that’s kind of what’s made it succeed underneath the engine. But really, what’s kept it profitable has been the community we’ve created. You know, we’re all about community. When you’re only 3,200 people, it’s a small town, it’s people who take pride in their community, they all live there because they love the people that live there because there’s not a lot of opportunities in small towns. There’s not a lot of job opportunities in small towns. There’s not a lot of businesses in small towns where you can go and enjoy a lot of things to do. I mean, people stay in small towns usually because of the people. But that’s kind of always been our focus. We realize people live in small towns because people enjoy the people in small towns. So our focus has always been on the people. And if you can make the people happy, you can create that community kind of feel, you’ll do well and you shouldn’t have to ever close your doors.

Tim Church: So did you ever have anybody recommend against you doing this or say, “TJ, you’re crazy for going all in on this?” Did you ever have anybody?
TJ Allan: Absolutely. The few biggest business guys in Gillespie that I’m actually friends with, one builds new homes and has been very successful, and he’s about 55. And then there was another one, I went to both of them, kind of gave them my idea, both told me I’m crazy. They said, “You’re in pharmacy. Open a pharmacy. Why would you not open something in the pharmacy? These pharmacies are making bank and everything else.” So they’re going on, they said, “Don’t do this. You can’t sustain it.” So the first bank I go to to talk about the loan, talk about my idea and everything else, they tell me the exact same thing. “You know, you’re in a town of only 3,200, you’re just not going to succeed, TJ. It’s a nice idea, and it would be a great thing for the community, but it’s not going to be making money.” And even then when I went to City Council when we were going to expand, I remember the first thing they told me when I told them we were expanding — my first building was about 2,500 square feet, and then we were going to build this building that was about 8,000 square feet — and one of the first aldermen told me, “What are we going to do in two years when you have to close your doors, and we have this 8,000-square foot that we can’t get rid of?” You know, that was kind of the negativity that’s surrounding the gym.

Tim Church: And so talk about — obviously, Ageless has been very successful, that’s your first one that you opened. And how did you decide, OK, it’s time to expand, it’s time to get some other gyms up and running?

TJ Allan: Well, Ageless’ expansion was always based on our members. You know, listening to their feedback, hearing what they have to say, and then looking at our numbers and putting the math. Math, putting a pen to paper and kind of figuring it out. So we’ve always expanded the Ageless, so we went from about 2,500 square foot to where we’re at now, about 8,000-9,000 square feet. And we’ll probably stick to 8,000 or 9,000 square feet. I don’t see an expansion in our future, but who knows? So then it came down to, you know what, I’m still working as a pharmacist, still — everything that Ageless made, it was nice, and this is why I always recommend that people opening a business but keeping their day job because what that has allowed me to do is use my pharmacist salary for my personal expenses, but then any profit that I’ve ever made from Ageless has always went into either opening new businesses or just investing. So I’ve never had to touch any of that or reinvesting in Ageless, which has made it nice. So I’ve always looked at, you know, at the end of the year, here’s the profit from Ageless, what do I want to do with it? And then that’s allowed me to invest in other businesses, it’s allowed me to open other businesses, and it’s allowed me to open some businesses that have failed, unfortunately. But you have to take that risk.
Tim Church: So talk about those other businesses that are up and running currently.

TJ Allan: OK. So you know, in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” he has this good cashflow quadrant. And he talk about the first cashflow quadrant that most people are in are employed. They work for somebody, they’re tied to their job. They don’t make any other money if they’re not actually at their job. Then the second quadrant is self-employment. So that’s a little bit better employment but still, at the same point in time, you may be self-employed, but still, your business isn’t making money unless you’re there. And then it comes down to an actual business owner. And a business owner is one who doesn’t necessarily have to be there to make money. His employees actually run the business, and he works there, but he doesn’t have to work there if he doesn’t want to. And the fourth one is kind of where you eventually want to be as an investor, where you don’t have to do anything except give money and get a return on it. So I’ve kind of followed that, tried to follow that. But unfortunately, you just can’t start as an investor. You kind of have to work your way up. So that’s kind of what Ageless has allowed me, as an employee of Walgreens and Sullivan’s, which has given me money. And then I started to open a business, which I would never say I was self-employed because I always worked for the pharmacy, and I never had to actually work at a gym. And then I became business owner. And now, I’m almost to the point where I’m just an investor in things. So what I’ve always just taken this Ageless money, and I’ve partnered with two other co-owners in a town about 60 minutes from us, and we’ve opened a studio gym. Then a year and a half later, that was doing well enough that we decided we were going to open a pay-per-class, like a spin gym only. And then I’ve tried some other things that haven’t done well. But those have been my two other successes have been those other two gyms there.

Tim Church: And have those been profitable most months, just like Ageless has been?
TJ Allan: They have. Now, they took a little bit longer to get to a break-even point. It’s primarily because of the models I use. The studio gyms, of course there’s a longer sales cycle. It’s easy for someone to walk in Ageless and buy a $29 a month membership. I mean, that’s not a hard decision for most. But with these studio gyms, it’s a different model. And when you’re charging $99, $139 as your smallest packages, that’s a bigger decision for people. So it’s a longer sales cycle, so it takes a little bit longer to get to that break-even point. So by about Month — I think three and a half months in, we hit our break-even point for that to where we weren’t having to invest any more money of ours into it to keep it afloat. Now, the spin gym, which is a pay-per-class thing, that was almost profitable from Month 1. In fact, I think it was profitable Month 1. If not, it was for sure profitable Month 2 because again, that was a low-cost, low-barrier offer. It was $15 for a class, so that wasn’t a hard decision for most. So you know, those two have been successful pretty much from the get-go, I would say, and still are successful to this day.

Tim Church: Wow, that’s incredible that you basically had to inject capital in the beginning, but they have been so successful that you haven’t had to put any more in since then because you’ve been able to make it work with the personnel and the way it’s been managed, so I think that is really cool. And obviously, that’s not the case for a lot of other businesses, you need to inject capital periodically in order to keep it afloat, even, but also to expand and to get to the point where you need to be. So I think that’s a cool feature of what you’re doing right now.

TJ Allan: Most definitely. And that’s kind of always been the business opportunities that I’ve looked at has kind of always been, you know, how long does it take to get to break-even point? How much capital — you know, people forget. People want to start a business, and what happens is they want to — especially a lot of gym owners, they come to me, and they want to start a gym. And what they always forget to factor in in their startup costs is those 3-6 months of operating expenses because they assume they’re going to hit the break-even point on Day 1. They’re going to open their door, and they’re going to get all this money coming in, and they’re going to be able to pay their monthly bills Month 1. Month 1, Day 1. And what happens is, usually, that’s not the case. Usually, you don’t hit that break-even point for 3-6 — and I shouldn’t even say usually because it depends on the industry — but man, it could take 6 months to hit the break-even point. And they always forget to factor that in, and that’s why they struggle. And that’s why a lot of gyms go out of business in a year because these owners use all their startup expenses initially buying equipment and just getting the building ready. And they start with their bank account at 0 on Month 1. And then, of course, they have to inject their business with their own cash, that runs low, and it just spirals out of control.

Tim Church: So is that something that you got information from other gym owners or your own research that you said, hey, if I’m going to do this, I really need to prepare and make sure that even if they don’t make money or are profitable in the beginning that I’m going to be OK and I’m not going to have to pull out?

TJ Allan: Exactly. And that’s what it was. And it really came down to research. It’s really doing as much research as possible prior to getting involved in these kind of things because these are big decisions. And a lot of people take, you know, opening a business kind of lightly, like, ‘Oh, I’ll get into it. It sounds fun.’ And it is fun. But there’s a lot of research, and it could get extremely stressful, and it could get extremely bad if you don’t do your research. Luckily, I did my research, and I knew the risks because there were still risks. And it still could have went south real easily. But I understood those, and I accepted those. And I kind of did as much as I can to minimize them.

Tim Church: Got you. So I think one of the big questions is now is you’ve got these gyms up and running, they’re profitable, they’re making money, but depending on the type of gym and what services and products are offered, there’s different ways in terms of ways people can make money from those services. So can you talk a little bit about how you’re actually making money? And also maybe a little bit of an insight as to how much you’re actually bringing in from these?

TJ Allan: Yeah. OK. So I’ll go with Ageless first. Like I said, the gyms I had are all different business models, so they make money a little bit differently and the amount of money they make is a little bit different too. With Ageless, we’re a traditional, 24-hour gym. If you know Snap Fitness, we’re basically like Snap Fitness, but we include classes. We have a little bit more all-inclusive than Snap Fitness. So Ageless is nice. And Ageless is a nice model, especially for someone that still wants to keep their existing job because it only requires about 40 hours of staffing a week, even though it’s open 24 hours. So it allows me — I mean, I spend I think about three hours a week working on stuff with Ageless, and a lot of the stuff, I really don’t need to work on. It’s just that I still enjoy it and working on the things. So in a small town, expenses are minimal. And that’s why I also like investing in small towns because there’s less risk. So people are kind of shocked, I just an interview with a business coach who does fitness. And he was kind of shocked — he’s from these big communities out in Connecticut, and he’s used to these monthly leases of $8,000-10,000 a month minimum, if not higher for these gyms. And when I told him, “You know what, we pay $2,000 a month, and we’re 8,000 square feet,” you know, he’s kind of shocked with that. But the model that we use, we’ve kind of built it to where we have this net profit percentage, right about 40% is kind of our goal we hit. So on average, if you look at our sales, it’s not impressive. But I tell people, you know, we do about $125,000 in revenue a year, nobody really blinks an eye. And they kind of just laugh and like, OK, whatever, you’re probably making $5,000 off of that. But we’re not. We’re actually making right about 40%, sometimes 45% if we can really get the efficiency built up a little bit. So anyway, so I make about $3,000-4,000 of passive income from Ageless alone a month.

Tim Church: And that’s what you’re actually bringing home? You’re actually bringing home?

TJ Allan: Yeah, so that’s what I’m actually profiting, yes. We do about $125,000, on a good year, we’ll do about $140,000-150,000 in revenue. On a down year, we’ll do $120,000-125,000. This upcoming year, in 2018, we’re probably going to hit about $120,000. We took some services off that we thought were taking up too much time and making it a little bit more inefficient, so our revenue’s going to be down. But our net profit percentage is going to be up because those things were more labor-intensive. So yeah, so what I would bring home, I bring home — and I shouldn’t say I bring home because I keep everything in the business — but if I needed it, I could bring home about $3,000-4,000 a month.

Tim Church: And then what about from the other gyms?

TJ Allan: The one gym is just over a year old, and the other gym is 2 years old, going to be 3 years old here, so it’s about 2.5 years old. So right now, I take nothing from there. I do have two co-owners, so right now, we’re on pace — between the two gyms combined — we’re on pace for about $300,000 in sales this year, $325,000 in sales this year. Of that, the profit would be, is going to be probably about $90,000. But we’re not going to touch any of that right now. So it’s hard for me to even say what I would bring home for that because that’s all being invested because we kind of have bigger plans for that gym. It’s in a larger community, it’s kind of a suburb of St. Louis that’s extremely wealthy, and we have some other ideas going along with that. So that I can’t say much. I know that to do this, we’ve been talking with a bank to put in a $1 million gym. We won’t have to put a penny down. So I’ll say that, so to get this loan and to put this $1 million gym, if we do decide to go that route, we won’t have to put a penny of our own money down. It will all be funded by those two gyms.

Tim Church: And I’m assuming that the income that you’re pulling in from Ageless, is that 100% just from new members and the retention of existing members and the fees that they pay?

TJ Allan: You’re exactly right. So what it is — how I talked about we removed some of those services, like we don’t offer personal training, per say. Everything that our revenue is built on is basically built on memberships. 95% of our revenue is from memberships, 5% is from waters, key tags, miscellaneous little classes we have or camps we have I guess is what you should call them. The 95% of it is just on memberships: new memberships, existing memberships. I can say that the model’s nice because it’s a subscription-based model, which right now is hot, and everybody’s trying to get this subscription-based model. That’s why you see basically a subscription-based service for everything under the sun, from razors to dog toys to everything because those are nice models to have because the cash flow is so nice. So that makes it nice. But more importantly from my perspective, is I own the building that Ageless is in. So it’s paying for itself. So I’m going to have this asset here in the next 10 years that last year, was appraised for about $550,000 that I really didn’t pay more than the $12,000 or $15,000 I initially put down on the first building for. So that’s why when you have this, because Ageless has just been paying this off for me the whole entire time.

Tim Church: And is that how you’re directing a lot of that cash that you’re getting every month? Like how are you breaking that additional income from Ageless, aside from what you’re making as a pharmacist?

TJ Allan: So Ageless is on its own separate bank account, so I keep everything in Ageless. So what I do, you know, I know some people would probably recommend starting making double mortgage payments, stuff like that, just because of course you’re paying interest on those payments and everything else like that. I’m not that way because I want to start new businesses. So I put — basically, what I do is I have these budgets for Ageless, whether it’s new equipment, there’s a budget for just monthly gym expenses, the new equipment purchases every year. And then I put everything else aside and put the profit at the end that we use for new businesses, whether it’s an expansion on Ageless or whether it’s some kind of new business to get into. So that’s kind of how I put Ageless. My whole goal with Ageless is never having to rely on that and allow that to build this nest egg for me.
Tim Church: Got you. So you’re not using any of that in terms for personal use, for debt paydown, student loans, or IRA contributions, anything like that.

TJ Allan: No. And I know you guys are probably going to call me an idiot for not doing that, but honestly, I haven’t. And it’s just because cash is king when it comes to business, and I like having a nest egg because if there’s an opportunity arise, I want to jump on it. For instance, I just — the other night, I was just watching TV, and I got a text message about a gym going up for sale in Litchfield, and the guy wanted to know if I was interested. You know, if you don’t have cash, it’s hard to play, and I’d miss out on that opportunity. And luckily, we have that cash set aside that hopefully we can take advantage if everything works out in these negotiations and be able to jump on the opportunity. So at times, I question myself whether I’m not making a smart decision by not either contributing to IRAs or paying this or that, whether it’s student loans or whether it’s the mortgage. But it’s just — I’m a business — I like business.

Tim Church: Well, I mean, obviously, you’re successful. So it’s not like you’re throwing that money away. You’re doing it with the anticipation that you’re going to continue to grow and expand. But I think a lot of people would look at that and say, ‘Well, what about other retirement accounts?’ Are you doing other things in addition, with your pharmacist salary so you’re kind of diversified in addition to what you’re doing with the businesses?

TJ Allan: Yeah, so what I do — so now, initially, my employer didn’t offer, Sullivan’s didn’t offer any kind of retirement package. Now, he does where he matches up to 4%, so of course I match him to 4%. And that’s just in a basic IRA. And then otherwise, by myself, I do index funds. That’s about it. I don’t make it real complicated. I kind of follow BogleHeads. It’s index funds, and that’s the extent.

Tim Church: That’s the KISS method, right? Keep It Simple, Stupid?

TJ Allan: Yes. Exactly.

Tim Church: Wow. So I mean, I just think that is so cool not only to hear that journey but the risks that you were willing to take, the ability to take a lot of heat from other people saying that it wasn’t going to be a good decision and just kind of persevere anyway. But you know, I think a lot of people may be listening and thinking, like obviously all entrepreneurial ventures are not successful. And it’s not the way that it happens. And I think John Maxwell said it best that the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. And I think that’s so true with entrepreneurship and I’ve certainly experienced this myself. But have you had any failures that you would say, TJ, prior to what you’ve done that’s been successful? Or even along the way as you’re doing some of these things that have been successful.

TJ Allan: Oh, most definitely. In fact, I probably have had more failures than I’ve had successes. You know, John Maxwell is of course correct. I started out, I think I always had that optimistic mindset because I always played baseball. In the game of baseball, you could be a really good hitter and you could only get a hit three out of 10 times. So seven out of those 10 times, you’re going to be a failure. But you’re still considered a really good hitter, even if you fail seven times. So that was always in the back of my mind when I started these entrepreneurial journeys. And again, it was Dr. Schafenmeier (?) who was always in my ear, who would always say, “You know what, you’re paying for experience is what you are.” You can’t look at a failure as you’re dumb or you can’t do this or you’re not made out for this. You need to learn from it. These are expensive teachings, but you need to. It’s the only way to really learn is to get your hands dirty and fail. So my first one I failed, I was actually still working for Walgreens. And this was kind of a weird business to start. But at the time, I’m 26-27, couples our age, my wife was fiancee at the time, we’re starting to have babies and everything else like that. And of course, we were always looking at what to give them, what to give them, and a lot of them would always joke, why don’t you bring us some over-the-counter pharmacy stuff that we should use for our kids. We don’t know what to get and everything else like that. So we actually created this Mommy Indeed baby basket. And it would have the Tylenol in there, the Desitin cream, all that stuff that a newborn would need eventually. And it would have little notes from the pharmacist saying, use this when this happens and stuff like that. So that was kind of our first business venture. And of course, it was a failure. But it was a good learning experience because it taught me a lot about marketing. And you know, you could have a really good product, but if you can’t market it, it’s useless. And then my second business venture, I actually partnered with a pharmacy student that I graduated with, and we created this dietary supplement. It was more of an energy-type supplement that we called — I think it was All Night IQ is what we called it at the time. It was really to help students kind of stay up and binge study for the night is what the goal of it was. And again, we each invested about $10,000 into it, and we lost everything. We could never — we thought just because our product was superior to any other product on the market, that we were going to be a success. And we virtually had zero marketing budget for it, and it was a failure. So from then on, I realized how marketing is extremely important. And if I don’t factor in a marketing budget initially or in my cost to acquire a customer, then I’m never going to have a success. So that’s how — then my next one was Ageless, and we did really well. And then right after Ageless, you know, we were doing really well, and Ageless was always built for the community. You know, I really enjoyed the community, I was born and raised in it, and I wanted to give back. So what we did is I had built — hired some programmers, and we had built this website that allowed small town businesses, small mom-and-pop shops on Main Street to basically put up an e-commerce store within minutes, and all the e-commerce stores would be on the website. So it was almost like a virtual mall. So what we wanted to do is basically give an advantage to these small mom-and-pop-type stores and give them this online presence that we thought they needed if they were going to survive the Walmarts and the Internet if they didn’t have it. And that was an expensive venture. That one, over the course — and I used all Ageless money, I didn’t have to use any of my own money on this, all the profit from Ageless went into this — and it ended up costing me about $20,000 or $25,000. And that taught me something really well is you — a really important lesson, and I wish I would have read the book “The Lean Startup” prior to that — is that you better go to your customers prior to and make sure this is something they want. You may think they need it, but they may not think they need it. And even though you think they need it, and you think it would definitely help them, if they don’t think they need it, I don’t care how great it is, they’re not going to jump on board. And we just couldn’t get anybody to jump on board. These small mom-and-pop shops, I finally realized, they don’t have an online presence because they don’t want one. And they don’t want to learn about one. So that was another failed one.

Tim Church: And would you say that those have been key for helping you to drive your success forward?

TJ Allan: Oh, most definitely because the lessons I learned about marketing — I mean, I have a voracious appetite for reading. I read business books, marketing books, behavior psychology books, I mean, I’m constantly reading books. So usually, I’ll read about 40-50 books a year. And I love being — and even all the marketing books and everything that I read prior to it and all the business books I read too that always talked about cost to acquire a customer, don’t forget about that, and how important marketing is and having a marketing budget and all these marketing methods — even knowing that, it’s still a difference between knowing and doing. And it wasn’t until I did it and then failed that it really hit home that hey, marketing has to be a key, you have to build it around marketing. And then the second thing was the lean startup method.

Tim Church: That’s so good, TJ. And thanks for sharing that. Because I think a lot of times, people will look to others who are successful and it kind of looks like they’re an overnight sensation. But you don’t see the back end, what’s behind the curtain, what’s been going on and what hasn’t worked. And a lot of times, even the most successful people out there, they’ve failed hundreds of times before they’ve become who they are. So I think it’s just cool to highlight that. I appreciate you sharing that. So you talked a little bit earlier about the time that you were spending each week because I think a lot of times, people before they start a business or maybe they have an idea to pursue a side hustle, is they say, “You know, I’m working full-time as a pharmacist. I’m a mother, I’m a father, you know, I have a family. How am I supposed to manage that?” So can you talk a little bit about how do you practically manage all of these businesses and work as a pharmacist and be a husband and a father?

TJ Allan: You know, I’m kind of an organizational freak. I live on checklists. And another book that I was lucky to read very, very early was called “The E Myth.” The E Myth, Michael Gerber talks about systems and processes. So from Day 1, I always put in systems and processes in my life, in my businesses, everything like that, so everything kind of runs smoothly. So everything is kind of — there’s a system for everything. There’s a checklist for everything I do. On Mondays, I work on the Ageless stuff. On Tuesdays, we have this new venture going on, we’re going to coach other people on building new gyms, I work on that. On Wednesdays, I go back to work on Ageless stuff. On Thursdays, I look over the paperwork and the flow of our other two gyms’ stuff. And then on Fridays, I have this other other new venture that I partnered with somebody and we’re going to work on about marketing, marketing the Facebook ads. And I work on that. But everything’s kind of blocked off in blocks. And just everything is organized, and I think that’s the biggest thing. And people say they’re organized, but to me, if you don’t have it in a spreadsheet, you’re not organized. It’s one thing to say you’re organized, but it’s got to be in a spreadsheet. So everything I do is in a spreadsheet, everything I do has a checklist on it. And that’s what’s helped me to be able to do all this kind of stuff because I am a father. I have a little girl who’s 5 years old who I adore. And we play all the time. And that’s my purpose for living right now is to be able to play with her and have that time, and that’s why I kind of do a lot of this stuff so that it gives me time, that I’m not tied to pharmacy for the rest of my life. And I have a wife, and we travel, and you know, I like to workout on my own. And I have a lot of other hobbies and a lot of other things that require my attention. But I’m extremely organized, and that’s why I’m able to get it in.

Tim Church: Yeah, and it sounds like you’re just very intentional about it. So besides having a system in place, you know, you’re proactively saying, these are the days and these are the times, this is what’s going to happen, and this is how it’s going down, even before it actually happens. So I mean, I think that’s great. And a lot of people, like you talk about, they think they’re organized, but you know, I think the book that I read before called “The One Thing,” by Gary Keller, and he was talking about time blocking and how important it is that you need to put these things down as they take priority over everything. And unless there is an emergency, this is what’s going to happen.

TJ Allan: Yes. And that’s a great point because I love that book. And that’s probably even more important is being able to prioritize. If you cannot do that, I mean, a lot of people say they’re organized, they have 20 things listed down. But honestly, 18 of those things probably aren’t going to make that big of a difference. There was that 80-20 principle, and that’s kind of what I’ve always done is the 80-20 principle. What’s the highest priority? What’s going to give me the biggest bang for the buck and provide the biggest return? And so I think that’s even more critical than having your spreadsheet out.

Tim Church: TJ, you have shared just some amazing wisdom on this episode, and I’m so excited that we got to talk and you got to share your story. But as we kind of close out, what advice would you give to other pharmacists or even pharmacy students out there who have an interest in becoming an entrepreneur? What would you say to them?
TJ Allan: You know, I have pharmacy students, and we talk a lot about this with pharmacy students. You know, when I graduated in 2007, there was about 80 pharmacy schools. Today, I think there’s closer to about 140. We’re graduating about 15,000 new pharmacists a year. And the opportunities just are not there as much. And a lot of it has to do with acquisition, I mean, Walgreens, CVS, buying everybody out. We’ve had 1,100 independent pharmacies close their doors since 2011. We have all this automation going on now with these mail-order companies, telepharmacy, Amazon’s getting involved. So automation’s going to improve immensely over the next five years. And so and unfortunately, we’re still getting paid per pill we do. So I think it’s important that they look at these entrepreneurial ventures. I don’t want to say the outlook for our industry is bleak, but it’s not as great as it once was. So it’s important to expand your skill set. And that can be anything. A lot of people think, oh, you need all this money to start these businesses, you know, you don’t. With the internet and everything else like that, a blog, selling on Amazon — I talked to one pharmacist the other day, and he sells on Amazon. And he started selling on Amazon about a year, year and a half, and it’s taken him about 12 months, 13 months, to really start making kind of a profit on Amazon. But it was a learning experience for him, and he said the same thing as me. He saw kind of the outlook, and he didn’t think it was that great for him continuing to make $100,000-125,000 a year from pharmacy. He thought that there was really going to be a shrink. So he was looking for a different skill set, this was being able to sell on Amazon. So I think that’s really important to find these different skill sets in addition to pharmacy because there’s a lot out there that you can learn now on the internet and start these businesses for very minimal.

Tim Church: Right. And I think you highlighted such a great point that even though a couple of your businesses, you actually did put some capital, you injected what some people may consider quite a bit of money, but there are a lot of other businesses out there where what you’re investing is really sweat equity. It’s really your time, your energy, your focus. And maybe in the beginning, you’re not going to be able to bring home a revenue, and it may take time. But I think there are so many different opportunities out there, we don’t necessarily have to have a whole lot of cash to get started.

TJ Allan: Exactly. And that’s kind of my thing — and I was trying to use myself as a case study with this last year and a half. I dived deep into Facebook ads, and I have taken almost every course and paid for every little membership thing, really dove deep because I wanted to prove to people that you could start a business for very minimal. So in July, we started a business. And it’s basically we’re helping pharmacies build these Facebook ads for their pharmacies to get new patients, to deepen their relationship with current patients. But my goal behind this entire time was never to spend more than $150 a month on this business. And that’s kind of been my goal since Day 1. And so far, we’re growing. We haven’t had any paid customers yet, I wasn’t expecting a paid customer, this is a long-term process. I expect one here in the next two or three months. I have a few that are really interested and that we’re still talking to. But I mean, that was my whole thing was, you know, this can be done. And it can be done where you don’t have to spend even $2,000-3,000. It could be done for $100 or $150 for now.

Tim Church: Definitely. I totally agree. So TJ, if somebody wants to reach out to you to learn more about opening up a gym or more about your entrepreneurial journey, how can they get in touch with you?

TJ Allan: The easiest way, I’m connected to my email all the time. I can tell you to go to these websites that I have for each little business, but they all feed back into my email anyway. So if anyone ever has a question, I’m an open book. I’ll send you my P&L’s, I’ll answer any questions you have, I’ll help you in any way that I can. I love business, I love helping people start businesses, that’s kind of — I enjoy that kind of thing, so if somebody’s got that itch and somebody’s really got that drive, I’ll help you in any way that I can. So all you have to do is email me, it’s [email protected]. And like I said, I usually respond within a few hours at most.

Tim Church: Thank you, TJ. And we just really appreciate you coming on the show, telling your story, and I know that this is going to inspire. This is going to light the fire for some people to get going, to really start to act or think more about their entrepreneurship and their ideas that they want to bring to reality. So thank you, TJ.

TJ Allan: No problem. Thanks for having me.

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