YFP 335: Pharmacy Innovators w/ Dr. Adam Martin Hosted by Dr. Corrie Sanders


In this Pharmacy Innovators episode, sponsored by First Horizon, Dr. Adam Martin joins Dr. Corrie Sanders to share keys to success and living at a high level.

Episode Summary

On this episode in our Pharmacy Innovators series hosted by Corrie Sanders, PharmD, we get a masterclass from Tony Robbins coach Adam Martin, PharmD.

You’ll want to get our your journal to write down the wisdom Adam shares.  He dives deep into the keys of success and living life at a higher level, emphasizing the importance of having fun in your journey to success. The message is clear: if you’re not having a blast, you might be doing it wrong.

Are you in the right environment? Are external influences steering you off course?

Success leaves clues, and Adam shares a powerful tip for achieving it quickly: proximity. The three-step mantra is simple—get close to people playing the game at the level you aspire to.

A must listen episode for everyone looking to become their best self and living life as it was intended!

About Today’s Guest

As a Tony Robbins Results Coach and Business Results Trainer, my focus is not only on where you want to be, but also on recognizing the value of the space you’re currently in—the space between where you used to be and where you desire to go. It is within this space that growth and transformation happen, and my role is to leverage the progress you’ve already made to propel you towards the results you truly deserve. I am dedicated to helping individuals achieve unprecedented levels of success and transformation, all while ensuring that the process is enjoyable and fulfilling.

Creator of The Fit Pharmacist, I host the weekly Script Your Confidence Podcast. As a doctorate in pharmacy having written multiple authored books, along with running my own speaking business and being certified as a personal trainer and nutrition consultant, I possess over a decade of experience working with high-level clients. I have honed my expertise in guiding clients towards their goals, overcoming limitations, and maximizing performance through a deep understanding of human behavior and performance. My coaching approach is results-focused, action-oriented, and tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of each client.

My clients come from diverse backgrounds, including entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, executives, athletes, and individuals seeking personal growth and fulfillment. I am committed to creating a results-driven coaching environment where they can transform burdens into blessings by mastering the art of resourcefulness and overcoming past obstacles.

I utilize cutting-edge tools and strategies from Tony Robbins’ proven methodologies, combined with my insights and expertise from implementing his material in my own life. This combination facilitates powerful shifts and helps individuals unlock the next level of their potential.

My mission is to coach you to unlock your full potential, live a life of personal excellence, amplify your impact, and create a future that surpasses your wildest dreams.

Key Points From the Episode

  • Finding fulfillment in pharmacy careers through self-discovery and empowerment. [2:35]
  • Career changes, impostor syndrome, and the power of the mind. [6:22]
  • Overcoming obstacles to pursue pharmacy school and leadership roles. [9:31]
  • Adam Martin, a pharmacist and fitness enthusiast, shares his journey of using fitness to fuel his transformation and improve his studies in pharmacy school. [14:56]
  • Career development and non-traditional income sources. [21:55]
  • Overcoming obstacles to pursue pharmacy school and leadership roles. [9:31]
  • Adam Martin, a pharmacist and fitness enthusiast, shares his journey of using fitness to fuel his transformation and improve his studies in pharmacy school. [14:56]
  • Career development and non-traditional income sources. [21:55]
  • Pharmacy career, personal growth, and mindset. [23:48]
  • Cultivating a positive mindset in challenging situations. [28:59]
  • Adam Martin struggled with depression and anxiety, which led him to Tony Robbins’ work. [31:42]
  • Adam Martin emphasizes the importance of sharing one’s experiences and insights with others, even if they feel they are not good enough or have not figured everything out. [38:17]
  • Gratitude practice and its impact on mental well-being. [43:50]
  • Career growth and mindset shift from pharmacist to entrepreneur. [45:41]
  • Faith, career, and taking risks. [50:54]
  • Following God’s call to leave a job despite lack of plan or logic. [57:26]
  • Career transition from pharmacist to coach. [1:00:06]
  • Faith, career change, and pharmacy. [1:05:24]
  • Identity crisis in pharmacy profession. [1:10:51]
  • The future of pharmacy and entrepreneurship. [1:15:00]
  • Making career changes and preparing for the future. [1:19:39]
  • Adam Martin emphasizes the importance of living with integrity, serving others, and having fun in life. [1:24:36]

Episode Highlights

“Oftentimes we get stuck, we just get stopped by saying I don’t have the resources. I don’t know the right people. I don’t have the money. I don’t have enough time. The question isn’t resources. It’s how resourceful can you be? Because again, all you need is all you have, because all you have is within you now. And that’s a core belief. And if you have that belief, that will drive your actions. And when you take those actions by asking the right question, the quality of questions you ask will directly determine the quality of life that you live. Ask a better question, get a better answer.” –Adam Martin [27:15]

“And here’s the thing that I want to and I really want to drive home is that there are always both two things happening at the same time. A loss and a gain. With everything, even my mom passing away, that was a loss. And there was also a gain, someone doing you wrong, there’s a loss and there’s a gain, getting a raise, there’s a gain, and there’s a loss. You get to choose which of the two you focus on and what you focus on, you’ll feel because we’re focus goes energy flows.” – Adam Martin [28:21]

“It’s about facing it and choosing to see it as it is not worse than it is choosing to see it better than it is because that’s the role of a leader is see the vision while no one else may be able to and then make it the way you want to see it. That’s really leadership is all about making decisions in the hard times. And I’m not talking about being a leader position, per se, I’m talking about being the leader of your life. CEO of you. Because guess what, you get to choose what you focus on. Because there’s always both something gained and something lost at the same time. And what you feel comes from what you choose to focus on.” –Adam Martin [29:42]

“So when you think you’re not good enough to help people, you don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to be 10% ahead of the person you’re looking to help and committed to constant and never ending improvement. So from that perspective, I wonder how many souls you can pour into, I wonder how many people you can bring hope to.” -Adam Martin [40:17]

“So if you’re in a job and that doesn’t mean I’m telling you to quit, but say could you be focusing on the wrong thing because you’re influenced by other people in your profession. Maybe you’re hanging out in the wrong Facebook groups. Maybe you need to listen to more YFP. Maybe we get more engaged in that community. Maybe you need to instead of listening to people who are complaining and have a life that you don’t want. Maybe you need to connect with people who are living a life through the integrity and character and lifestyle that you actually do want. Because success leaves clues.” Adam Martin [1:29:23]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode

Episode Transcript

[INTRODUCTION]

Corrie Sanders  00:01

Hi YFP community! Corrie Sanders here host of the Pharmacy Innovators segment of the YFP Podcast. Pharmacy Innovators is designed for pharmacists navigating the entrepreneurial journey. In this series, we feature pharmacy founder stories and strategies that help guide current and aspiring pharmacy entrepreneurs. Today we featured Dr. Adam Martin, known on social media as the Fit Pharmacist. Adam is a pharmacy entrepreneur that recently transitioned out of the retail space after over a decade of practice. Adam has worked with pharmacy schools and organizations across the world on leadership and branding careers since becoming the first pharmacist within the National Speakers Association in 2019. This is the same year that he was recognized as the most influential pharmacist in the profession. Dr. Martin is now a Tony Robbins results coach in 2023. And our conversation is rooted in fitness, faith and finance. He shares many inspirational life sentiments and lessons along the way. Grab a journal and please enjoy my conversation with Dr. Adam Martin.

[SPONSOR MESSAGE]

Tim Ulbrich  01:04

Does saving 20% for a down payment on a home feels like an uphill battle. It’s no secret that pharmacists have a lot of competing financial priorities, including high student loan debt, meaning that saving 20% for a down payment on a home may take years. We’ve been on a hunt for a solution for pharmacists that are ready to purchase a home loan with a lower down payment and are happy to have found that option with First Horizon. First Horizon offers a professional home loan option aka doctor or pharmacist home loan that requires a 3% downpayment for a single family home or townhome for first time homebuyers, has no PMI and offers a 30 year fixed rate mortgage on home loans up to $726,200. The pharmacist home loan is available in all states except Alaska and Hawaii, and can be used to purchase condos as well. However, rates may be higher, and a condo review has to be completed. To check out the requirements for First Horizon’s pharmacist home loan. And to start the pre approval process. Visit yourfinancialpharmacist.com/home-loan. Again, that’s yourfinancialpharmacist.com/home-loan.

[EPISODE]

Corrie Sanders  02:15

All right, today we’ve got Dr. Adam Martin with us. Adam, thank you for being here with the YFP community. 

Adam Martin  02:23

Happy to be here. Thank you for the opportunity. 

Corrie Sanders  02:26

So we will start things off pretty easy. Why don’t you just introduce yourself to the audience a little bit, about where you’re from and where you went to pharmacy school.

Adam Martin  02:35

Happy to. So my name is Dr. Adam Martin. I’m known as the Fit Pharmacist. So if you’ve been on social media for the last 10 years, that’s me Mr. Memes, Mr. Positivity, encouragement, how to break through all those sorts of things. And pharmacy has been an incredibly tremendous asset. For me, it’s been a huge, huge opportunity for so many things. And I’m so so grateful for it. And my journey is a little different, because I’m one of those crazy people that actually liked retail. Yes, I worked full time for 10 years in one of those big three letter companies. And I actually had fun, I actually loved it. I mean, if you weren’t there for 10 years, you must like it at some degree, right? So. So that’s kind of where my journey started. And it actually started with rejection. And that’s really what my whole brand was about. It was about encouraging people who were not qualified or didn’t feel qualified, who had some knocks down, they weren’t really set up for success, so to say. So to really encourage them that your start doesn’t mean it’s your end, to encourage you that you may not be feeling like you’re qualified, but you have all that you need. Because all you need is within you now. That you can be resourceful and actually use what was perceived as a setback as a set up for your success. And that’s exactly what the Fit Pharmacist was all about. It was about encouraging people to use what you felt was your mess, to turn it into your message to encourage others to do the same. Because all too often what I found, and what I’ve heard a lot of my clients say is that it’s there’s a lot of imposter syndrome. There’s a lot of do I even belong here? Who am I look at everyone else I feel behind? What am I doing? Do I have a chance and using those perceptions of disqualification as the exact reasons to qualify you to make an impact in people’s lives. And that’s what I started to recognize. The more I got into pharmacy, the more I got involved with social media and a blogging career and writing books and podcasting and speaking, all of which are parts of that journey. But the whole point of that was to let you know that you define what your future is. You have the pen, you get to write the story and you get to choose because the quality of your life is really two things. Its meaning and emotion. And you get to choose, is this the beginning? Or is this the end? So that’s really what what ignited me in that path of helping people that had so much talent, so much wisdom to really tap into that, and unapologetically own their fire so that they can ignite the spirit and other people to go and do the same. And I think that’s what we’re really here to do. And that’s really what is missing from pharmacy. For those who are feeling like there’s something missing in their career, in their in their passion, or maybe they feel like they don’t have one. It’s fulfillment. They may be successful, they may be making a ton of money, they may have the position, they may have all the degrees after their name. Have y’all ever met people that have more letters after their name than in their name, you know, the ones that have more degrees than a thermometer? They have all the success, but they feel empty inside. Because there’s not fulfillment. And that’s really what it is fulfillment. If you look at the word, we are meant to fill others up. And when you’re able to do that, by being willing to be known for who you truly are, the man or woman of God you were made to be, you can do that, fearlessly. Unapologetically. And when you do that, you inspire others to do the same. And that’s really why I’ve always done what I’ve done. Now I just do it on a deeper level as a full time coach working for Tony Robbins. So long story short, here we are.

Corrie Sanders  06:30

Now, there’s so many things that you said that I think we’ll touch on throughout the duration of this conversation. I mean, I think we’ll dive into impostor syndrome, I think we’ll talk about how you defined your life as meaningful throughout different chapters of your career. So let’s start with that initial rejection. Adam, when you said your career started from rejection, what did that look like for you? And then how did that transform into what you’re doing today? 

Adam Martin  06:53

100%. So, back when I knew everything about everything, as a 13 year old, I wanted to be a vet, a veterinarian, because back in the day, I have the astute wisdom that a vet was playing with puppies and getting paid for it. Until I got the bright idea to actually work at a vet hospital and see what actually a veterinarian does. And I got what you call an education, that that’s not what it is. And there’s a lot more to it. And while it was for good reasons, veterinarians put dogs to sleep almost every day. And again, while it’s for good reasons, I just couldn’t deal with that. So it wasn’t what I thought it was. And that’s the first piece of advice that I could give anyone that’s looking for a career change is getting multiple perspectives from people actually doing what you think you want to do. Because you may have your perception, but perception is not reality, especially when you don’t have any experience there. So that was the first thing that I did was I just got experience and where I thought I wanted to go. And it was right around that time. I was coming up to graduate high school. And my mom went in for a routine colonoscopy. And she had turned 50. I remember like it was yesterday and we’re filming this on a Wednesday. Ironically, it was a Wednesday. And I remember I remember it clear as day. Kissed her goodbye, went to school. I said good luck, mom. And I stayed after school in those days. And my dad picked me up after and he was never late. But he was super late that day. And I knew something wasn’t right. I got in the car, and he said mom failed her test. Now, I didn’t know this at the time. But at the point of diagnosis, she was given less than six months to live. She was they caught stage four metastatic colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver, lymph all over, all over her body. But she didn’t. She didn’t accept that. She refused that diagnosis. And she used the power of her mind and her faith to move forward through that. And she had multiple surgeries. And long story short, that’s what led me to pharmacy. Because being on so many medications, we were in the pharmacy most days of the week. And at this point in my life, I didn’t even know what a pharmacist was. We didn’t have any neighbors, no family, friends, nothing. And all I knew being in there picking up meds from a mom is that there’s the smart person in a white coat running around like a chicken with their head cut off trying to help strangers. And the more we were there, the more I saw this compassion that they had. They didn’t know us. We were strangers to them. But they treated us like we were actually family. How’s your mom doing? If you guys can’t get to the pharmacy, you’re not that far away, we’d be happy to drop it off. And it was the perfect timing that really caught this because it was a time when I didn’t know what I was going to do because I realized that I wasn’t going to be paid playing with puppies. And it was about to graduate high school so I had to figure something out. And from that modeling of just interacting with people, that’s what I wanted to do. So I had a very strong why that kept getting deeper and again, mind you at this time, I didn’t even know what a pharmacist did. I just saw this. And I said, I want to do that. So again, to the advice of the that I started to take my own advice, because success leaves clues. So I got some experience to shadow with some pharmacists. And I just saw the interaction, the impact that they had with people. And I thought this is pretty sweet. So I decided I’m going to be a pharmacist. So I did my two years and undergrad, applied to pharmacy school, I was so pumped, I had such a strong why I actually applied to three pharmacy schools, and I got rejected by every single one. And I’ll never forget it. I was sitting on my bunk bed, in my college dorm, like I had to make a decision. Like I really like thought with myself. And I was and also my undergrad advisor at the time said pharmacy is competitive, you may want to pursue and other options, consider some alternatives. And I was getting this advice. But I also had this clear why. And I was wrestling with it. I was like the the writing on the wall, the paper, the quote, “recommendations”, or to do something else, but I have this calling. And I didn’t really understand that at the time. But I decided to go for it again. So that required some summer school. That require an eating what I call some Humble Pie, retaking some classes, really doing whatever you could to up your grades to get more involved to really say I’m committed to this. So I ended up reapplying the next year. And I didn’t get in. But what I did get was waitlisted, which means we gave our offers to everyone we really want to let in. But if they say no, we’ll give you a chance. Let’s just be real. That’s what it means. Okay, so I ended up being dead last person getting into my class, and I was not going to waste the opportunity. And that light bulb clicked for me before pharmacy school started, it was like a couple days before, they have like a two day orientation. And the last thing they said is, by the way, you have to elect the president of your class. And I remember that this was 2008-2009. I still remember that moment, a light bulb went off, because all throughout like I’m an Eagle Scout, oh did all these leadership things. And I didn’t really understand what the purpose was going to be. But in that moment, it all made sense. I was born to be a class president. I didn’t even know what that meant. But I just had this again, this calling. I couldn’t even put a finger to it. So what did I do? Success leaves clues. I modeled the mentors. So I got a mentor who was a pharmacy student two years ahead of me shout out to Jimmy Gill, to attend to the hot step. This guy was awesome. I joined an organization called SNPHA, the Student National Pharmaceutical Association, which I’m a huge fan of their platform is serving the underserved. Shout out to y’all love y’all. Well, after one of the meetings, I went up to him like, Hey, man, I heard about this class president thing. And I really want to do it. But I have no clue because you have to give this five minute talk. And I don’t know what to say. And he says, Yo, this is what you do. You get up and say you’re gonna be a liaison between faculty and students. And when people hear that, they’re gonna say, Oh, he speaks French, and then they’ll vote for you. And that’s what happened. That’s what happened. So I did not waste that opportunity. That was my first like speaking gig, right? But I was so stoked. And I took that job. So seriously, I took notes, I sent weekly emails, I treated like that it was my full time job. And it was awesome. Because from that, I gained a lot of connections. I networked because I would be meeting with professors. I literally was that liaison, don’t ask me how to spell it. But I think I can say it well. But that’s what really helped me in networking initially, was stepping into that role and saying my class is counting on me. And they may not have. I hope they read the emails. But that was the identity that I adopted. And the strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consistent in how we define ourselves. So all throughout pharmacy school, I really enjoyed that. And I ended up going to seven pharmacy conferences while I was a student. It was incredible. I met people I got to go all over the country, Florida, State of Washington all over it was so fun. And on my rotation my last year Pharmacy school, I was doing a rotation at the FDA. And I got a call from my dean. And I was like, Oh crap, what I do? But what happened was, she said, Adam, you might not know this, but every year for the graduating class, I personally give a scholarship to one male and one female who I believe is going to innovate the profession. And it’s for $10,000. I’m like wow, what a fun fact. That’s awesome. She’s like I’m picking you. So I went from being rejected saying you’re not going to get in to now you’re the most influential pharmacist in that I think that’s going to come out of your class. And again, I said, I’m not going to waste this opportunity. So what happened was, when I got into pharmacy school, I started to find this symbiotic relationship between fitness and pharmacy. And fitness for me began when my mom got diagnosed with cancer. At the time, I was bullied up into that point, most of my life, I was scrawny little kid, I was very quiet, believe it or not, yes, it did exist. But things change, right? So there’s proof positive. But what was through that time that I used fitness to really fuel my transformation. And whenever I got into pharmacy really looking to uplevel, my studies, I found that if you partied and screwed around and didn’t sleep, well, your workouts would suffer, and so would your performance in the classroom. But if you ate well, if you slept, if you did the things you knew were good for you, your workouts would be great. And your studies would also improve. So like I said, it became a symbiotic relationship. And the point of that is once I graduated pharmacy school in 2012, was right around when Instagram was happening. And my friends were like, Dude, you got to get this. And I’m like, Well, what is it? Like? Well, you just pick a name that represents what you’re about. So I was like, Okay, well, I like fitness. I’m a pharmacist, I’ll become the Fit Pharmacist. And that’s literally how it started. Then what happened was, I just started sharing stuff, things that I liked, nutrition, things like that. And when I graduated, I thought that if you’re in health care, you need to be leading by example. You’re promoting health. So you’ve got to walk the talk. And that just made sense to me. Until I realized that it wasn’t very common. Because I started to see people over time after graduation that started getting really stressed out, gaining weight all this stuff resentful. And I was like, What is going on? You’re a genius. How come you’re on the struggle bus. And they started to share with me the things that were in their way. And I started to say, oh, try this, oh, give this a try. And it started to work. So I wondered, I wonder if other people could help benefit from these tips. So I started sharing them on Instagram. And then I started to get a website, and I started to just share these little tips. And my first business was in 2013. Being a certified nutrition consultant, helping people with nutrition. As when I was going through pharmacy school, I wanted extra. So on my off block, I decided to become a certified personal trainer, which I did I pass that exam through American College of Sports Medicine, because I was doing it anyway. So I might as well use that as an asset. Right. And that helped with that first business. And the reason I tell you this, is there was a pharmacist who was starting his entrepreneurial journey, who saw that I was growing the following back in the day, I think it was like 1000 followers. He’s like, Hey, man, I’m starting my journey. I’m looking to get some traction, you have some followers? Can you like, give me a shout out or something? And I was like, well, let’s come up with this. How about how about, since you’re into fitness too, you share your fitness journey. And because I’m a dork, we’ll we’ll call it Fit Pharmacist Friday, and we’ll publish it on Friday, or just be a short little thing about how you define fitness. And we posted it. And I got five DMS in like the first hour of people saying I want to be featured, I want to be featured. And literally from that launched a four year four year blog campaign. Every Friday for four years. Pharmacist students from all over the world, it was friggin awesome. That’s really how my brand and business began, was just creating a platform, a space for people to have a voice, to feel like they mattered. So like give them a place where they can share how they could help other people who felt like they weren’t cut out for it, how they define fitness really giving their perspective of what’s important for them. And that’s really where the social media thing began. And that again, launched into, I wrote for three pharmacy magazines through the years in the United States also in South Africa, led to writing my first book, RX You, which was all about self care for pharmacists, and students grab it on Amazon, then that led to my second book, which helped pharmacy students overcome setbacks and really dominate pharmacy school. And that then led to publishing other books as well with co authoring, and launching a podcast that I still run to this day going on six years. There’s a new episode every week, and then it led to a speaking career. I became a professional speaker through the National Speakers Association. So long story short, those are the highlights but I’ll say I say all that to say, if someone tells you can’t do something, check in with yourself. Ask why am I doing this? Because if you ask how first you’ll always get overwhelmed you will always fall into what’s called the tyranny of how frustration overwhelm, and you’re just going to be stuck. That’s the maybe the right question but asked at the wrong time. The first question you want to ask is, what do I want? And get clear on it? The second question you want to ask is, why is this important? From an emotional connection? not logical. So oh, I want to do this because it’ll create a financial security for my family. That may be true, but get an emotional why to it, because he or she, who has their why can bear almost any how, once you then have a clear outcome, and you have a clear, emotionally driven reason why, then you can ask how because you’ll be pulled towards it, rather than feeling like you’re pushing all the time. And then all of that led to a coaching career. I’ve been coaching, like I said, since 2013, with nutrition, and that morphed into mindset and psychology, of really helping people get out of their own way, and live a life that was purpose driven and fulfilled on their terms, regardless of what they’ve gone through. And I’m not just picking this crap out of books, I’ve lived this stuff. I’ve coached hundreds of people through this, now 1000s, to really create a life on their terms, all over the world. And it’s really, really fulfilling. And as we’re filming this, as I mentioned, I think you’re my 13th Call today. And I mean, I’ve been up since 330. And you can hear, and I don’t even drink coffee. So it’s just fueled by passion. It’s fueled by passion. So once you get clear on those things that are really put you in a position where you can be of service to other people, because that’s really where fulfillment comes from. fulfillment is that you’re meant to fill others up. And when you can align with your God given purpose, it positions you to co mission with God. So to carry out the purposes to do that. And that’s really what I’m all about is helping people do that, too. 

Corrie Sanders  21:55

Yeah. And Adam, that is, I mean, such an inspirational story. And it’s so amazing to see how many unique facets there have been to your career. I mean, before I even dive into the next question, I just want to say I’m so I’m so sorry to hear about your mom. But it’s such a strong testament to her faith, and to your faith, to be able to take an event like that, and really changed the trajectory of your life in a very positive manner. And to be able to give back to so many others in a meaningful way. And to use that really is fuel. So I’m so sorry to hear that. But I’m so just amazed by the outcome. And I’m just I respect you so much for how you’ve turned that into something that’s so positive in your life. I think there’s a lot of different facets that I have questions about throughout your career. And the first one is you’ve you’ve dabbled in, in sports and fitness and speaking in various different engagements. What did that look like, in parallel with your community pharmacy position? So is that something that you were doing on the side while you still held this community pharmacy job? How did you split those incomes? What did the development of these supplemental non traditional incomes look like, while you were serving in that community pharmacy role? 

Adam Martin  23:10

Beautiful questions, and thank you so much for the kind words really appreciate that. And my belief is nothing has any meaning except the meaning you choose to give it. And while she was an amazing woman, still to this day, I hear people that she was a principal of a school, and she’s been gone 19 years. And still to this day, this just happened last month, I kid you not. I was at dinner with someone. And they said we were just in Florida. And we met someone we used to work with. And we mentioned your name. And they used to work with your mom, and they went on this half hour story. This happens all the time. It’s incredible. So the memory keeps going. So I really appreciate that. Thank you. And to answer your question. So I’ve I was I started full time pharmacy in 2012. I believe it was July. And actually no, it was and here’s how I know. Back then, before corporate realized that this was a liability, what we would do – and thanks to my partner for coming up with this with this idea. The partner that shared the pharmacy with me – is the idea was if we work three full time shifts, will have a week vacation every other week. So back then we would work I think it was 8am to 10pm. And we did three of those in a row. Now. I’ll be real the first couple months was rough. But after that it was normal, you adapt. So I remember it was July because that like a couple of weeks after I started the state insurance changed to the preferred insurance that my pharmacy that I worked for at the time had it. So there were about 30 to 50 transfers a day for a brand new pharmacist at a high volume store. So I remember my first full day I worked. I went at 8am and I was there until like 100-130. So that’s how I got fast at verifying prescriptions because I didn’t want to do that again. Right. To answer your question. Yes, I did this on the side. Although it wasn’t at the pharmacy. So that’s what that schedule allowed is we would do three full days. And then I would literally have a week vacation every other week, which gave me that, that bandwidth to do that. So that’s kind of how that foundation started. And again, when you’re launching a rocket, 90% of the fuel is on takeoff. So once I got the systems in place, once I got these things down, then that really through that time, then it became easier to to grow and scale that from there. So yeah, I did the writing. I did all that sort of stuff on the side on those days that I wasn’t on the bench. And then with the fitness part, yeah, I’ve been so I’m a lifetime drug free, natural bodybuilder. I know that’s an oxymoron, a pharmacist that’s drug free, but it’s true. I do tested shows. So I’ve competed four times. And I did compete four times as working as a full time community pharmacist at a high volume store. The most scripts that we did on a Monday, when I left was 651 with one pharmacist. I’ve checked in with them since I’ve left and that’s expanded dramatically. So God bless them.

Corrie Sanders  25:59

Mm hmm. And did you have any goals in mind with okay, this is something that I want to take on my own. At some point outside of a community pharmacist, were you running those things in tandem hoping to pay off student loans? Did you have any thought as to what the end goal is? Or were you just in a state of built building and growth and development? And you were just writing that out for however long you felt comfortable? Great question. So I paid off student loans very quickly, I think it was just a few years after graduation. So that was kind of over and done with. And in terms of, you know, what does this look like? Where am I going? I love being a pharmacist, I was really good at it. 20 Because of that, that growth and the impact, 2019 they had the pharmacy awards. So 2019 I was I was honored to be named the most Influential Pharmacist nationwide. So that was that was really cool. And the reason I say that is again, if someone tells you you can’t do something, you’re not cut out for it. Tada. Right. So as soon as, as long as you have that, why, and you put in that work, and you’re consistent, and you just innovate. And that’s really what my I guess you could say my secret sauce is through this process is just being obsessed with how can we do this better? And how can I be resourceful? Oftentimes we get stuck, we just get stopped by saying I don’t have the resources. I don’t know the right people. I don’t have the money. I don’t have enough time. The question isn’t resources. It’s how resourceful can you be? Because again, all you need is all you have, because all you have is within you now. And that’s a core belief. And if you have that belief, that will drive your actions. And when you take those actions by asking the right question, the quality of questions you ask will directly determine the quality of life that you live. Ask a better question, get a better answer. What can I do to be resourceful with this? Simple questions. That’s how we make the shift. So that’s kind of what I what I did was doing that on the side. But to answer your question of, you know, what was my vision for this? I just love doing what I did. I genuinely loved it. I know that sounds crazy. Being in you know, full time community. And I have the same stuff, staffing, all the stuff that everyone talks about on the uplifting Facebook pages. I went through all that stuff. I still loved it. Because of my attitude. Yes, things were burning down all around me. And here’s the thing that I want to and I really want to drive home is that there was always both two things happening at the same time. A loss and a gain. With everything, even my mom passing away, that was a loss. And there was also a gain, someone doing you wrong, there’s a loss and there’s a gain, getting a raise, there’s a gain, and there’s a los. You get to choose which of the two you focus on and what you focus on, you’ll feel because we’re focus goes energy flows. So yes, all the things are happening. And when I say this, I don’t mean be blindly ignorant. I don’t mean be like now what do you call it blindly optimistic. The thing that I always say is, if it’s raining outside, I’m not telling you to go out with your eyes closed, and say it’s sunny, it’s sunny, it’s sunny! It’s raining, you’re wet! Get an umbrella! And while you’re out there, recognize that now you don’t have to water your gardens because it’s raining. So you just saved yourself an hour of time. You don’t have to wash your car and you just got a free car wash and that work you’ve been putting off because you had FOMO fear of missing out on the sunshine. Well guess what? Now you get to do it without FOMO there’s three wins right off the bat. So it’s not about being blindly optimistic. It’s about facing it and choosing to see it as it is not worse than it is choosing to see it better than it is because that’s the role of a leader is see the vision while no one else may be able to and then make it the way you want to see it. That’s really leadership is all about making decisions in the hard times. And I’m not talking about being a leader position, per se, I’m talking about being the leader of your life. CEO of you. Because guess what, you get to choose what you focus on. Because there’s always both something gained and something lost at the same time. And what you feel comes from what you choose to focus on.

Corrie Sanders  30:25

And Adam, that’s so well said with just your perspective on life, your perspective on problem, your perspective on challenges. And then also it sounds like how you’re receiving information, and the lens that you’re receiving information through, or maybe being in tune to the lens of others that might be giving you information and being cognizant of that information as well. So it just says a lot to your personality and your outlook on life. Do you think that that’s something that you’ve always had within you? Or did you use your pharmacy career as a platform to be able to build upon that positivity? So I guess my, my takeaway question here is the pharmacists that might feel like they’re stuck in these negative positions, or these downward spirals or a headspace that they can’t seem to tap out of – how do you advise them to come out of that hole? How do you advise them to change their mindset? Is this a question that can even be simply answered? I don’t know. But you’ve done such a good job of just cultivating your own positive mindset, any advice for our listeners that might feel like they can’t claw their way out at the moment?

Adam Martin  31:30

Beautiful question. And oftentimes, people think that they’re stuck, because there’s something wrong with them, that there’s something missing, that they’re broken, that they need fixed. There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re in conditions. And again, you get to choose. And I’m not saying this from some superior place. I’m saying this from a kid that was bullied most of his life. I’m saying this from a kid who was in an incredibly abusive relationship for two years, which led me to a very deep depression. And that’s actually what led me to Tony Robbins. So I was in a very deep dark depression in my life in 2017. And that’s actually how I got into Tony Robbin’s world. And funnily enough, I have the book right here, Awaken the Giant Within. I read this book, like my life depended on it, because it did. And in this book, it listed the power of focus that’s directed by the questions that you choose to ask. And it is a resource called the Morning Power Questions. And I was so desperate at this time in my life, no joke, I remember this, I would wake up in a state of anxiety, because because here’s what happened. I, I was, I would always wake up in the state of anxiety, to the point where it would be a like a literal panic attack, hard breathing, all this sort of stuff. So in my mind, I linked up that sleep led to anxiety. So for six months, while I was in the middle of prepping for a bodybuilding show, working full time as a pharmacist, running two businesses, I was getting three to four hours of sleep at night, because my brilliant brain came up with this distinction, that if you wake up, you’re in anxiety. So if you don’t sleep, you won’t have to worry about it. So you can imagine how fun that was. I’ll never forget it. Because in the morning, when I would wake up in that anxiety attack, it would take me about two hours to get myself together, not to feel good, to get out of the door. And those questions basically said, where focus goes, energy flows. And that’s directed by a question. So I thought, I’m going to really do this. So I didn’t just stare at the page. I said those questions out loud. What are you grateful for today? What are you happy about? And the caveat I gave is, I would have to pick an answer. And say it out loud for something that was true for me, that happened in the last 24 hours, because it forced me to look and seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given. So when I went through these seven simple questions in 5-10 minutes, I actually felt better. It was the first time where I felt like I was picking myself up out of this hole of depression. And from reading this book, I still have the highlights the note cards from when I was in this place in my life. I thought if this guy can have this impact from a book, I’ve got to meet him. So 2018 was my comeback year. I went massive action on personal development, went to Tony Robbins conference, Unleash the Power Within. That was when Grant Cardone and one of the guys in sales, had his growth conference. 2018 10x Con, once of that, on and on and on massive action decided to become a professional speaker. And then that next year from all that work is when I became named that most Influential Pharmacist. So you’re in these situations, how are you going to use them? How are you going to use them to grow because you get to choose? Is this the end? Or is this the beginning of something that you’ve never thought possible before? So to the to your question about how do you how do you come back from this? If you’re feeling stuck? Well, what if this isn’t you being pushed down? What is what if this is your opportunity? What if this adversity is an opportunity in disguise? What if this stressing is really a blessing in disguise? What if you can take everything that you thought that you can count out, but it’s actually the exact things that you can count on. Because by going through that depression, by going through all of that crap, I now coach people to overcome it, who might feel stuck, and don’t have the courage, because oftentimes, when we don’t believe in ourselves, sometimes we have to lean on the faith of others in us until we can lean on our own faith, to move forward to continue to pursue, to actually see that maybe we can do this. And that’s really the thing. It’s questions. We have this opportunity, we’re not happy in our job. And we think and we there’s an opportunity to change or maybe go to a YFP conference, or do something like that. And we think, what if I fail, though? What if I look like a fool? What if I show up and everyone laughs at me? What if, what if I’m kidding myself? Well, what if it does work out? What if you do pull it off? What if you’re the smartest person in the room that has something to offer that you didn’t even recognize, I call this being blind to your brilliance. And I know it because I was trapped in it for a very long time. Oftentimes, we discount compliments, because we think that people are just being nice. So here’s a tip that I want to give to your listeners for how to identify something that you may have been blind to. If you hear compliments from people, it’s very easy to say, Oh, they’re just saying that because they’re my family, because they’re my colleagues and this and that. So there’s four categories of people that are in your life, you have your friends, you have your family, you have your colleagues or co workers. And then you have random people that you meet for the first time. So looking at those four groups of people, just literally take a moment. And don’t just think this, physically write it out. Because what you write you invite, and go through each group and say, what are what are compliments that I’ve heard over and over from my family? What are compliments that my friends have told me over and over? What are some some nice words of encouragement that I’ve heard from my colleagues or co-workers? And if I’m out at a party at a social event, a pharmacy conference, and I meet people for the first time, or we’re doing a podcast meeting for the first time, and we give compliments? That sound familiar, right? We can say, wait a minute, there’s a pattern here. All four groups of people who don’t know each other, said the same thing! Maybe it’s true. It’s so simple, but I can’t tell you how freeing and encouraging and enlightening this simple little exercise is to possibly reveal that everything that you’ve been looking for outside of yourself has been within you the whole time, the hero you’ve been looking for has been within. The person you’ve been waiting for you to come save you has been you, because no one is coming to save you. No one’s coming to save you. Jesus saved your soul. But you must take part in your own rescue. And when you do, you can then use that for the platform of a business of a brand of a book of a course and asking these powerful questions. What have you survived? What have you had to build a life raft for? Because if we’re being honest here, right now, you are not where you want to be. And you’re not where you used to be. And that space, you’re in between holds value for someone who is stuck, where you came from, who would die to have the insights, the wisdom, the knowledge that you now have, which leads a lot of people to say, sounds good, Adam, but I don’t have it all figured out. I don’t have my whole life that you know, I’ve got a lot to learn, and I don’t feel ethically qualified to help someone unless I’ve gone through it all. Well, here’s the reality. Look, this is Book of Life that we’re fictitiously talking about. Let’s say that your book of life has 30 chapters. And right now your quote “only” in chapter five, and you think, Oh, I’m not qualified because there’s so many chapters to go. Well, here’s the real talk. You’re on chapter five out of 30. And you’re discounting the things that you can count on, because there are people stuck in chapter one who are too terrified to even consider chapter two. But because you’re in chapter five, you’ve gone through chapter one and chapter two and chapter three and chapter four and chapter five. So you’re actually perfectly positioned because you’re close enough that the person you’re helping can relate to you and they don’t feel far removed. Because if you waited until you were chapter thirty, if you waited until you were perfect, you would actually disqualify people, because they’d see you and say, See, that guy’s perfect, I can’t resonate with him. The thing that you’re trying to make perfect is actually if you got that would disqualify you from connecting to the person that you used to be. So when you think you’re not good enough to help people, you don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to be 10% ahead of the person you’re looking to help and committed to constant and never ending improvement. So from that perspective, I wonder how many souls you can pour into, I wonder how many people you can bring hope to. I wonder how much impact you can have from the imprint that God put on your life, not for you, but so that you can steward it and give to others, the skills, the abilities, even the trauma that you have. Those weren’t curses! Those were gifts. And they’re not for you, period, they’re for you comma, to steward and develop so that you can help others from your gifts to lead them to theirs. Because if you’re in a dark room, and a light turns on, what are you going to do? You’re going to move towards the light. And the closer you move towards the light, you can see a reflection of the light that’s been within you the whole time, the light you’ve been praying for outside of yourself, it’s been within you the whole time. Because all you have is all you need. An all you need is within you now. So perhaps the place that you’re in right now in life, perhaps you were created for such a time as this, perhaps you were perfectly positioned to help the younger version of yourself. Perhaps you were perfectly positioned to give more than you ever thought possible. Because the secret to living is giving.

Corrie Sanders  42:17

So our listeners, I want everyone to pause that and just rewind it back when you need a boost of confidence. Why you are where you are, what that looks like and what your intention is, and your purpose can be looking forward. Adam, that was so inspirational. And I think I could not have said that in a more beautiful way in terms of people taking the things in their life, whether they’re perceived as positive or negative, and how they can relate to past versions of themselves and develop them into the future person that they were meant to be. So thank you for saying that. And I want everyone to go relisten to that when you really need a boost of confidence.

Adam Martin  42:53

That’s all from the heart so that it’s just it’s all the truth. And I think that’s what resonates, because it’s it’s not made up like when you hear that are like yes, that is true. That is the truth. So what’s stopping us? The only two things that will ever stop you. And here’s another tip for your listeners, the only two things that will ever stop you is fear and anger. And the good news. The reason I’m telling you that is that the antidote to both is the same. It’s gratitude. Now, I’m not just saying pick random crap on grateful to be alive. I’m talking about real stuff. Because when you’re grateful, it’s impossible to be angry. When you’re grateful. It’s impossible to be fearful. And if those are the only two things that mess you up, and the antidote to both is the same. You can become invincible literally by living in a state of gratitude. Now, here’s the trick. It’s not just saying I’m grateful for this, you have to feel it. So I came up with this thing. Back in my time of anxiety that I mentioned. I was like, I’m sick of this. I’ve heard this gratitude stuff over and over. But it sounds like a bunch of phooey. But let me actually try it. So I woke up this morning, like years ago, and I was in my bed and I started to feel this anxiety wash over me. So it was like, Okay, everyone says gratitude. Let me actually try this. And I was like, what if I didn’t try it? What if I experienced it? This is a true story. So I was lying in bed, and I thought what can I be grateful for right now? Well, I knew that it was like cold outside. So I felt my blanket. And I just literally started physically from the spot I was in and I lit I physically felt my blanket. And I thought I’m grateful for the soft blanket. I spoke it, I felt it and I saw evidence that was real. And I was like, Oh, that is soft. I’ve always wanted this really awesome, luxurious bed. And I have it! So I thought I’m grateful for this comfy bed and I rolled around slightly and I felt it. Well, I’ve always wanted a house! And I was in my home. I’m in my dream home. Well I always wanted a master bedroom. So I looked around, and I saw that I saw that I was in this bedroom. And I felt the air on my face. I looked around and recognized I was in my dream home. And I had like, I’m so grateful to be in a quiet neighborhood. And I was just silent and listen to the silence. I call it a gratitude ripple in the now, which stands for grin, G R I N, you start with where you are, and then you ripple outwards from that place. And then it was I’m grateful for being close to an awesome city. I’m grateful for being in Austin close to work, my my family lives, I’m grateful to be in a state. I’m grateful to be in this country and outwards from there. So if you start physically where you are, it’s not just words, it’s physically connecting and experiencing the gratitude that will make you invincible, it’s impossible to be grateful and fearful. It’s impossible to be grateful and angry at the same time. So if you’re grateful first, you can’t lose, because that’s the only two things that will stop you from what you said rewinding and listening to the dose of truth, and really embracing those things. So now we know not only how to get into that, but also what will stop you. So now you’re fully equipped. And here’s one other caveat again, just to be aware of, oftentimes, when we when we talk of fear, there’s lots of different types of fear, fear of success or failure, all this stuff. Well, every human being has two fears. And I’m telling you this, because if you’re listening and you’re a human, you resonate with these. How the mind plays tricks is that you think that oh, this is just me everyone else has it figured out? No. You thought that in pharmacy school too. And you found out quick, everyone else was farther behind the you, let’s be real, right? So the two fears that every human being has, is the fear of not being enough, and the fear of not being lovable. So when you hear that, and you’re like, Oh, he’s reading my mind, it’s because we all have those fears. And when you’re grateful for how far you’ve come, that’ll help with that, if you want to and one of the real one of the slippery slopes to getting into these pits is comparison. You may have heard Comparison is the thief of joy. But it depends how you define comparison. If you compare yourself to other people, yeah. What if instead, you compared yourself to how far you’ve come? What if instead, you compared yourself to what you’ve learned? What if instead you compare it to how much resilience and persistence you’ve sculpted, since you started, that’ll have a quite a different feeling won’t it? When you give yourself that gift, because it’s true, it’s not make believe positive self talk. It’s just reality. Again, all stemming from asking a more powerful question.

Corrie Sanders  47:52

And two observations there. One I will give you credit for it sounds like throughout the duration of your pharmacy career, you were always taking action in some way, shape, or form that aligned with your why. And that is something that we hone in on a lot. I’ve mentioned this numerous times on the Innovator Series of the YFP Podcast is before you make a career transition, think about what is your why because as you alluded to earlier, there’s a million reasons and a million people that are going to tell you that you can’t do what you want to do. But if you’re aligned with your why and your personal reason, and you are strong and steadfast in your mission and your goals, that will keep you moving forward. And that is all that matters. So I want to give credit where credit is due to you too is not only being grateful and having gratitude for where you are and where you stand at each moment, but taking action in that grateful presence. And maybe it’s the gratitude that allows you to move forward as well too. But you have always been taking action so that when you’re in those mental funks, or when you’re in those lows, or how you ever we want to describe that, you have been building a repository of skills that you can fall back on or that you can lean into, to help pivot you into the next chapter. And so I want to give you credit with that and say to the pharmacists that are maybe in in these ruts, take action and take grateful action, like you’re speaking to find something that you enjoy, and start tapping into those areas of your mind or your skill set or brush those off or whatever it is. Because in order to get yourself out of those positions, you ultimately will need to pivot in some way shape or form. If you want to stay in pharmacy, it’s having that skill set and having some kind of polished skill that you can move back on to or that you can progress forward. And so Adam give you a lot of credit again for constantly developing yourself and for taking steps to move yourself forward. And then also just having that mindset of positivity and strength and reflecting on what you’re grateful for. And it sounds like you do a lot of reading and journaling and that is certainly integral to my daily routine now as well. And there’s a lot to be said for the written word, but just two observations from my perspective of not only that mindset, but taking some action behind it. So now I kind of want to flow into the next state of your career, it sounds like so you tapped into speaking, you had all of these wonderful skills that you had been building during your time as a community pharmacist. And I think I listened to it on another podcast where you said you were giving this speech and you were all of a sudden, just in this flow state? Is that when you defined yourself as an entrepreneur, is that when you started seriously, considering stepping back from that traditional pharmacist role? Can you let us into your mind a little bit about that transition from your community pharmacy career to where you are now? 

Corrie Sanders  50:46

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m really glad that you said you put in the work. Because we’re about to go with the story a lot of people get twisted. So I want to make this very clear. Faith is central to everything that I do. And this is I’m just going to start with this. How we define faith is huge. And again, I’m not putting beliefs on anybody. But what I will share with you, is that oftentimes we think that faith is like a quadrant of life. It’s a checkbox, like I went to church, I did this and that check. Faith is actually not meant to be a priority in your life. Let me say that, again, faith is not meant to be a priority in your life. Faith is meant to be central to all priorities in your life. And that’s what leads up to this next chapter. So what you said is important, again, is that you put in the work, because there’s there’s extremes, there’s all work and you know, I’m on my own faith and all this. And then there’s also God’s got it. I’m just gonna sit on the couch and just pray. Neither are correct! Faith without works is dead. One thing that I came up with over the years that I’ll just shamelessly continue to share is yes, Jesus take the wheel. But you’ve got to put your foot on the gas! You’ve got to put the gas in the tank! Let’s go! Right?  So whenever I want to my first National Speakers Association meeting, a friend of mine invited me he’s like, Hey, man, I think you’ll love this. And at that time, I didn’t know what speakers were, I thought I had no clue. So I went to this meeting. And I was blown away. I was blown away, because these were incredibly positive people that genuinely cared for people. And they had all these awesome backgrounds. And they were genuinely encouraging one another. And they were sharing stories. And you could just tell it was genuine. And I was like, wow, this is amazing. There’s no backstabbing, none of that. So I thought, this is a career? You can do this? I had no clue. But I then this is where that “blind to your brilliance” thing came in. Because I was I was talking to these speakers, and they literally would say, first time I met them, you’re a national speaker.  You’ve got a gift, blah, blah, blah. And these people weren’t recruiting me. They had nothing to gain. So I thought, why are they giving me these compliments? And then I thought, Where have I heard this before? And then I went through the tool that I just shared with you, in that moment is where I came up with that tool, true story. And I thought, wait a minute, everyone, my whole life has been saying the same thing. But I was discounting it, because I thought, oh, that’s just my professors being nice. Those are just my colleagues being nice. That’s just my family being nice. That kid at the party when I was going riffing, doing what I did with the confidence thing, he was just drunk, being nice, or whatever it was, right? And I thought all these people said the same thing. Maybe there’s a thing here. And then to what I said earlier, I started having doubts. But who am I? I’m not I don’t have training in this. So it was right around that time when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. And that’s where my, that’s where my faith journey really started to take off. And in that moment, when I came back, I remember clear as day I was in my apartment at the time, and I just got to my knees in prayer. And I said, God, I feel like the speaking thing is like a gift, but I have no clue what to do. And I have a job I love I don’t know. What do I do? And that was the first time I audibly heard God’s voice. And he said, Go speak. Crazy stuff. Crazy stuff. So working full time for a corporate retail pharmacy, if y’all know about the scheduling, meaning you don’t get to change your shifts, and if you want to vacation, from where I worked, you had to give a year and a half notice for a week vacation. True story. And if you wanted to shift a few days, oftentimes you had to give months notice, that was often rejected, but I digress. With that, in the at the time, NSA, National Speakers Association, offered the professional speaker certification. This was before COVID I think they’ve taken it away since. But in order to do that you had to give 15 paid talks in a 12 month period to a room of 15 or more people. So try doing that with a full time retail pharmacist schedule that you can’t move. Well, God moves. So I declare that was my one goal that year, I hired a professional speaking coach. And that was the other thing, tying money into it. It was a God situation, but long story short, this woman was brought into my life. And she ended up being one of the most influential speakers still to this day in NSA. When I was at National Convention two years ago, in Nashville, they had Hall of Fame speakers on stage showcased as keynotes and stuff. And I think there were like 12 or 15 of them. 10 of them referenced her by name in credit, and this one was brought in my life. That ain’t an accident. So this woman is brought in my life. And she’s like, Yeah, you you know, I do speaking seminars, you fly out to St. Louis, it’s two days, and it’s seven grand. Didn’t have that, like laying in my back pocket. So I thought about it. And I was like, this is when we step up. And I never, I’ll never forget, I remember recording this this video, because I do Instagram reels and stuff. On my stories just behind the scenes. I remember while going on a walk on the treadmill in the morning in St. Louis telling people, I’m here because I have a calling from God, I know I have the skill and also don’t know, I also know I don’t know what to do with it. But I’m willing to go into debt over it. And I’m not promoting debt, but I’m just saying Money talks, right? And if you really believe in something, and you know, you can make something of it. You got to be willing to put your money where your mouth is. There’s double puns right there. Right. So I did that. And I hired this professional speaker. And that whole year, things lined up, you’d like you wouldn’t believe this one month. And I ended up scheduling 20 talks, because you want to always overshoot because things happen, people cancel. And that did happen a couple times. I ended up becoming a professional in 10 months instead of 12. But but this one month, I’ll never forget, it was so busy with holidays and vacations and all this stuff. There was only one day that I had off. And I found an opportunity to speak. And it was at that day at that time. That doesn’t just happen. So God was in that whole thing. So that was that whole year fast forward. And you know, living life, blah, blah, blah -buy my house true story. Bought my house in COVID 2020. Long story there another God thing, but I’ll fast forward to this. Beginning of 2021, I hear God for the second time. You will not be in this job this time next year. Huh?  God, what’s that mean? Silence And I’m like, oh, I must have misheard, right. So because I’m in a job I love and making good money, I’m making good impact. It’s all good. And I just bought a house, right? So I’m like, Oh, it’s fine. So I just ignored it. Well, as time went on, God started to poke. And he started to poke deeper and starting to poke more frequently. And it started become very apparent that I was called to leave. It didn’t make any sense. To be honest, I was very angry with God. How could you lead me from this huge, amazing impact of being rejected to given 10s of 1000s of people hope all over the world. Now you want me to walk away, whaaat? True story. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. I went on a walk in the fall, I’m pretty sure was October. And it was raining, pouring down rain and I went in a walk because I had my breaking point like it was clear I had to make a decision. I walked in the rain yelling at the sky. It’s true. I can’t make it up. And I got back and I surrendered. I fell to my knees and said You want me to quit fine. It made no logical sense. I had no plan whatsoever. I didn’t like quit the job at the time. But mentally I surrendered and said okay, I will obey. I will obey. I’ll do this. I don’t know how or what. But I surrender my intention. Not too long after out of the blue. Oh, double pun there! You’ll hear why in a second. I get a text from a dude who I had connected with who went to my alma mater University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. And he had been following my work on Facebook, Instagram with the Fit Pharmacist, and he texted me and he says, Hey, man, I don’t and long. So another caveat a couple years ago, he had a grand opening. It was actually March of 2020 when he opened his pharmacy two weeks before the lockdown. And I thought it was pretty badass for a pharmacist to open an independent pharmacy without insurance. So I went in it just so happened that was my one day of the week off it things have shifted with the work schedule since I originally mentioned. So I thought I’m off that day. I’ll go you know, wish them grand opening. Little did I know that planted a little seed. Because fast forward to this time. He said, Hey Adam, I don’t know if you know if you’re still in the area, but we’re we’re doing really well and we’re expanding. We’re looking to hire on a part time pharmacist. Do you have any recommendations? I was not intending to join at all, but I had a network of pharmacists, and I didn’t want to make some inappropriate recommendations. So I said, let’s meet up. Let me hear what you’re looking for and I’ll see if I know anyone. So we’ll meet up at Panera and he’s tell him you know, saying, well tell me about the Fit Pharmacist, what exactly do you do with like speaking and coaching and stuff? So as I’m telling him my skills with marketing and innovation and all this, he’s leaning in, and he says, I don’t know if you’re looking for a job, but your skills are exactly what we’re looking for. Can’t make this part up. I said, Well, what would that job entail? What’s What’s the job description? Never forget this. Hands me a pen, and says, you write it. Now you tell me a pharmacy job where they tell you to write your job description. What the heck is this? So now I had no intention of doing this. God’s at work. And I say, Well, I love speaking and I love coaching. I know you don’t do speaking stuff. But if I could do like 50% coaching, or I’m sorry, 50. I was in marketing, like I really love marketing, growing innovation. If I could do like 50% marketing, and tie in coaching and then do some bench work as a pharmacist. That’d be cool. Done. Huh?What pharmacists job is that?! So I ended up working part time from this guy. And again, I quit in December of 2021. After just buying a house with a pharmacist mortgage, no clue what’s coming. This is a startup company. There’s no guarantees, working part time, full faith. Full faith. Still to this day. It’s the number one LinkedIn post I’ve ever made was my last day working my 10 year career. It was crazy. And it was crazy faith. So I started this job, and it was incredible. So the reason I said it was a double punch out of the blue is it was Blueberry Pharmacy. If y’all know Kyle McCormack shout out, bro. That is a literallyis utopia, pharmacy. Anything that you can think of with retail pharmacy, that gives you a headache that you hate does not exist. They’re both on the side of the pharmacist and on the side of the patient. No insurance, over 1000 generics and the prices are wild. Like incredible. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s crazy. So I’m hired to do this. So I start that in 2022. Amazing, like phenomenal. One of the most up true story my two favorite pharmacists of all time, is Tim Ulbrich and Kyle McCormack. Their level of character is unmatched. Like I’ve never seen anything like it. And that’s withstood years of watching behind the scenes at their worst all that stuff. Strongest character I’ve ever seen in my life. Those are like I love both those guys to death. So and I would I have told Kyle like you remind me of Tim and I told Tim you remind me Kyle this is like awesome, right? Working with this. And the mission is to help people who don’t have insurance, get medications for cancer, MS. and all kinds of other things. When insurance is charging them $120 a month and we’re getting it sold them for 80 bucks, same exact thing. Same exact manufacturer, all that stuff. Crazy. So I’m joining them to do marketing. So long story short, we 5x Google reviews, I don’t know of any pharmacy that has above a three star on Google reviews, we have 128 five star Google reviews. That don’t happen, go find that somewhere! Don’t exist. There’s nothing like it. And our slogan of Blueberry was “Welcome to Different” because we did things differently. It was incredible, amazing culture. And I could go on and on about it. But that’s what led me into coaching because I was shifting with the Fit Pharmacist, I’m like, I really want to coach, I really want to get inside with people and help them break through what’s stopping them. Get through these limiting beliefs really tap into their God given potential. So they can live life on purpose for a purpose and stop settling. So I got deeper into coaching. And I had a Tony Robbins coach myself at this time. And I was wrestling, I was trying to change the business. What’s the next step? And it hit me like a lightning bolt. I’m going to all these Tony Robbins conferences, I’m using these products. I’m paying for a coach, why don’t I become a coach. And it all made sense. All of it made sense. And so I decided to apply to become a Tony Robbins results coach in the fall. And just fast forward. There’s about a 4% acceptance rate. And this is a three month interview to get in. And this isn’t like you meet with someone and a month later you have another meeting. It is literally a full time job to do this interview. And they do wild stuff like mind blowing and there’s three phases. So you’ve got to get in, you got to pass the interview. You’ve got to do all these background checks in this. You get in and there’s a phase one, if you pass and these are by the way at the top 1% of coaches in the world watching you like a hawk on and off the screen. If you pass, you’re invited to phase two, if you pass, you’re invited to phase three. And then if you pass that you’re invited for the opportunity to become a coach. So that’s what I did. And I was like, I love this. And I was doing full time coaching and part time pharmacy. But there was this calling this was there’s a lot more to this, but I’m gonna fast forward, there was this calling to become more and to be a coach. So I was talking with Kyle and he was expanding. And he’s like, Hey, man, we’re getting busier. I’m like, Yeah, it’s like the marketing is working. It’s like, it’s like we do its work. Right? And he is all the team wasn’t me. It was the team. Like, there’s Ravi, there’s Kyle. There’s all the students, like it’s a team environment. It’s incredible. Doesn’t exist anywhere else. Mind blowing, check it out. BlueberryPharmacy.com. Go there. Right? I digress. But he said, You know, I’m thinking about this, like, Well, man, I really had a great time with coaching. And I actually think that I’m called to do that full time. So he’s looking for me to transition from part time to full time. And I’m basically saying, I don’t I’m going the other way. Yeah. So it was like, well, one of the things that we always taught me as an Eagle Scout is never leave somewhere without making it better than you found it. Never leave somewhere without making it better than you found that so I thought I can’t just leave because they don’t really teach marketing in pharmacy school, right. And it’s such a strong mission. He’s such a great guy, I can’t just leave. So I was like, I need to find a replacement. And thank God, there was a pharmacy student on rotation, phenomenal guy, entrepreneurial spirit. And he was looking to actually sign on with Rite Aid. And both Kyle and I were like, nah, nah, don’t do that. So we’re talking to him. We’re just being honest. Like, you know, tell us what your goals are really understanding, getting to know what he’s about. And so we talked with him, like, Hey, man, I actually would like you to take over like, you’ve got the skills, let me train you all this stuff. So we ended up making the decision. Again, it’s you’re coming out of school going all in on a startup, still, it’s a risky move, but he did it. I tell that point of the story. Because he had a mentor, he had Kyle as his mentor, he had us to support him. And he made that move. He already signed with Rite Aid before he graduated, and then he ended up changing. So I’m going to Blueberry appreciate the opportunity. All this. A month later, Rite Aid goes bankrupt. How about that? How about that? God continues! Right? No, I ended up working my last shift of August of 2023. And I was full time I think it was in May. So now I’m working with 93 clients all over the country. I also am a business results trainer, helping businesses from, hey, I have an idea. I don’t know what to do to hey, we’re making 100 million, we want to turn it into 200 million next year. So I not only train the owner, I also get to train their team. And what training is, is it’s combining coaching and speaking. It’s my playground, it’s awesome. I’m able to have all the So long story short, God guided me through this. God directed me he called me to walk away from a career, everything that I shared. Adam, it’s time to walk away. It’s time to change your identity. Because your identity isn’t linked to a role. It isn’t linked to a job. It’s who you are in Jesus, it’s who you are in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So that was a real coming to Jesus moment, and laying down everything that I thought I had built. But it was really him the whole time. And really surrendering to that and talk about a faith leap. And here’s the thing that we’re understanding ends is where faith begins. Because that move made no logical sense to anybody. True story. When I posted I’m leaving pharmacy, I had my professors text me to make sure I was okay. I had a professor who’s now a Dean at a Pharmacy reached out to me. And if you’re listening to this, I love you, man. Thank you. Make sure I was okay. Because it made no logical sense. But God does. And then to your point, you did all this work? Yes, faith and work is required. It is a co partnership. And that’s really my mission is life. My mission in life is to comission with Jesus to reconcile relationships and redeem people’s lives. That’s it. That’s why I do what I do. And it’s so incredibly fulfilling. And it’s a blast. We have fun. And when I tell my clients, I say you’re here to get results and you’re guaranteed results every session because we’re not called coaches, you get a result in 30 Minutes or Less guaranteed, and you will get a result and you’re going to have fun because if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. So if you don’t like to have fun, we got to get you a new coach. So that’s the first call I have with my clients. And if they’re not laughing I know it’s time to go! So it’s fun. It’s a blast. People are changing their lives and being able to witness that being able to be a vessel for God to do that work. It’s absolutely extraordinary and, and the level of faith that this has grown, I’ve gotten to see people bring their lives to Jesus through this, I’ve gotten to see people turn the impossible in the into the possible, which is really what a breakthrough is. A breakthrough is a moment in time when the impossible becomes possible. And you actually are living that, and seeing someone do that the look in their eyes, the moment where they think this can happen, this is possible. That’s why do this all so that people ignite their light within. And when you unapologetically own your fire, you get to spark someone else’s light. And then they can go and do it too. And that’s why I do what I do to keep that moving through.

Corrie Sanders1:10:51

I think it’s beautiful to hear that you didn’t necessarily have an identity crisis. And that’s something that I think about all the time because I am similar to you, Adam, I mean, just about as involved in pharmacy as I can be in the state of Hawaii, and I love being a pharmacist.

Adam Martin  1:11:08

In Hawaii! 

Corrie Sanders  1:11:10

Specifically.

Adam Martin  1:11:12

People probably want to switch with you!

Corrie Sanders  1:11:15

But I also think about all the time, I mean, I’ve been very I’ve taken a lot of risks in the past year. And I’m like, if worse comes to worse, my identity is not tied to this profession as much as I love it. And I love being a part of it. And I think there’s so much that we can do, and there’s a lot of untapped potential in pharmacy. If the world were to collapse on pharmacy, tomorrow, I’m going to be fine, I would figure it out, it’s going to be okay. So I think that that’s always an interesting lens as a pharmacy entrepreneur is are you tied to being a pharmacist, because that almost can become a self limiting belief with potential that you can have on the healthcare community in general, not just the pharmacy community. And I think when you’re on this path of impact and growth, and you’re finding your flow state, the opportunities that present themselves to you are beyond what you could have comprehended and a lot of times they reach into healthcare in general, not just this unique, narrow pharmacy lens, which is obviously something that nobody teaches you in pharmacy school, and that you don’t learn without experience. But I do think about that identity crisis all the time on my own path. So I just wanted to articulate that and to point that out, and to give that to other pharmacy entrepreneurs or to other pharmacists that, you know, don’t ever define yourself as a person to your career, I think that is just such a huge, it’s just a It hurts my character to think about that.

Adam Martin  1:12:41

Brilliant point. And I’m really glad that you highlighted that. And first, I want to acknowledge you because you said you’re taking lots of risks. No risk, no reward. Now, to your point about people tying their identity to pharmacists, this is a very, it’s a nuance, but it’s very important. How you identify how you label, the word pharmacist, how you define that can totally change your life. When you change the way you label things, the things you label change. And what I mean by that is, how do you define pharmacist? Most people in retail, the identity pharmacist is that you’re working full time at one location. So if you were to change, you are threatening your identity. And again, the strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consistent and how we define ourselves. So if your definition of being a pharmacist is staying full time at a retail establishment, and you have an opportunity to go do a residency, go do a fellowship, go do whatever that threatens your definition of your identity. And you might not understand why you may chalk it up to fear. But really what it is, is you’re protecting your identity because of how you choose to define pharmacists. And most often that wasn’t consciously chosen that was subconsciously adapted or borrowed from someone else. So really think if you are stuck, if you’re thinking of oh, I might want to change or explore other options are go the entrepreneur route, and you and you thought about it. But if you’re honest with yourself, are you still stuck where you’ve been? Or you maybe complacent. And this isn’t coming at you, I’m actually coming with you. If you’re not making any progress, just pause and say, how do I define myself? If I define myself as a pharmacist, critical care, ambulatory care, whatever it is, what’s that mean to me? Because nothing has any meaning except the meaning you choose to give it and when you give it an identity, you protect that to the death, including your passion and fulfillment. So if you’re feeling burned out, maybe it’s not that you’re overworked. Maybe it’s that you’re underwhelmed. 

Corrie Sanders  1:15:00

And to kind of plug a line in the same vein there, too. I know we spoke earlier about the mindset of people in pharmacy right now. I mean, I don’t think it’s a secret. There’s all these positive I’m I’ve got air quotes on for the listeners, these “positive” Facebook communities or we’re seeing a lot on LinkedIn and across the news with Pharmageddon. And these pharmacy walkouts, and a lot happening with pharmacists not necessarily even asking for higher pay, but just asking for safer working conditions. I would love to ask for your insight on the future of pharmacy because you’ve got this lens of having been in a traditional three letter pharmacy setting having been in a very non traditional Blueberry Pharmacy setting where you’re doing something totally different. And now being a pharmacy entrepreneur, where you’re coaching people in both of these settings, and you kind of have your hands in a lot of different pharmacy baskets, so to speak, or you’re able to see pharmacy through a very, very unique lens that I think only comes with experience. So to pharmacists that are potentially in those retail settings,  any advice on what the future of pharmacy looks like, advice for them in general, I will leave the floor open to you with anything that you want to add just based off the current current climate of pharmacy in November of 2023.

Corrie Sanders  1:16:06

Really good question, and I’m going to steal something from my dear friend Joseph McClendon, the third, who says the future is what you dare to make of it and Fortune favors the bold.

Corrie Sanders  1:16:41

I love it a short and sweet and simple answer. We don’t need to dive into the weeds.

Adam Martin  1:16:48

But It’s the truth. Nothing has any meaning except the meaning you choose to give it we can look at all the things that are wrong. And we can also say, is this terrible? Or is this actually an opportunity in disguise, because of injustice goes on for so long,  eventually it’s going to pop and that’s an excellent opportunity to innovate. Let’s let’s use an example. I like this one. The music industry. Y’all remember the 90s when CDs had like 12 songs, and they were like $20. That was such a rip off. It was screwing people! And what happened? Napster. Online music. The industry was destroyed because of their greed. And history tends to repeat itself.

Corrie Sanders  1:17:34

Very well said and a lot of food for thought and very many different ways that you can take that. So I love it will leave our listeners with a little tease and a little bit of introspection with their own beliefs and where they see where they see pharmacies going. But I do really appreciate that comment, Adam. 

Corrie Sanders  1:17:52

So I will kind of round things out here with three questions that I just like to throw on at the end of our podcast, just very brief, meant to be a little bit of a personal testament to your journey, and hopefully bring some inspiration to some of our listeners. So what has been the most memorable aspect of being a pharmacy entrepreneur, any moment that sticks out in your head?

Adam Martin  1:17:52

Absolutely. 

Adam Martin  1:18:18

I think it’s really taking the leap and not looking back. And there’s something that is really cool. When next time you’re driving, if you’re thinking of making the leap, if you’ve had the courage, and like I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it. I, I want to Tim’s thing, and I’m in this community and I’m fired up and you go and you hold back, and you pump the brakes. And you’re in this cycle of getting pumped up, but not actually moving forward. Well, the next time you’re in your car, just take a look. Because again, it’s all about being resourceful, and success leaves clues. So if you look forward, you’ll see that the windshield is quite expansive, and it’s looking forward. But you also see your rearview mirror. That’s quite tiny, looking back. Which would you like to focus on?Which way are you going? Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.

Corrie Sanders  1:19:17

For a second, I thought you were gonna say “close your eyes.” And I was like…..next time you’re driving close your eyes! Very well said. Puts puts perspective into true form. So Adam, a piece of advice for someone contemplating a non traditional pharmacy career path? 

Adam Martin  1:19:37

Absolutely. Why do you want to do it? And here’s this is actually a really good question. And something that I see a lot of people doing when they do it and they have regrets, or they get angry or resentful is are you moving towards something? Or are you moving away from it? Oftentimes people make changes preemptively off of emotion and when you make an emotion out of fear or anger, it’s almost always the wrong decision. So looking at human behavior and test me on this, don’t just listen, test me. The only two reasons that humans make any action is to avoid pain and to seek pleasure. Now of the two just asking you, which one do you think is a stronger driving force initially avoiding pain, or seeking pleasure? 

Corrie Sanders  1:20:30

Initially avoiding pain.

Adam Martin  1:20:31

100%. Spot on. So what most people do when they’re making career change, is they’re like, Oh, we’re understaffed and underpaid. This is terrible. So they jump out of the pan and into the fire. So initially, it is very helpful to get leverage on yourself. Because without leverage, nothing lasts. And in order to make that change last long term, you need a also pleasurable future, a compelling future that has emotionally compelling reasons why. So yes, you want to be real with the pain? Why do you want to leave? But you also want a clear, compelling future with emotionally driven reasons why? That’s how you’ll make it to last. So just ask yourself, why do you want to leave? Most people say because it sucks here. It’s another day in hell, whatever. Okay? That’s real. Well, what’s the other alternative? Because make sure that you’re not jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. So be really clear on why you’re looking to make a change and be responsible. If you’re married. If you have kids, and it’s a huge risk, make sure you’ve got money in the bank, make sure you have a contingency plan. And this is something that I train people when they’re starting a brand. And we’re going to scale it down to scale it up. So when you’re when you’re gonna make a brand, and you’re going to get on social media, create content, podcasts, episodes, whatever. Well, right now, when you’re ready to launch, we’re super pumped up, just like when you’re ready to change jobs, you’re super pumped up to do whatever it takes. And you might commit some posting every day, twice a day. Well, what about when you’re not pumped up? What about when you’ve had a really rough day? What about when you lose your best friend. So what I recommend is future pace yourself. So imagine and use the future, use the past. So you’ve already had troubling experiences, it’s already happened. Use those to your advantage. Think back to a time when you were in a rough spot in your life. And so this is the personal brand context of making content. Think back to a time when you were having a really rough spot? How if you were in that spot back then how much energy and mental effort would you be able to commit to posting? So how many posts a week would you make if you were in the toughest spot in your life, and most people say, like once a week, so use that as your baseline, and until you’re consistent for three to six months, then scale up, it’s all about consistency. That’s the key. And as a fitness person, consistency is the best workout. Consistent, and we all want to make these intense changes post 10 times a day, change my job, burn the boats, well, we want to be intense, but we don’t want to be consistent. And consistency is the most intense thing you can do. Because hardly anyone does that craziness. So the thing that is telling you this is prepare. So if you’re looking to make the change, recognize that you’re likely in a very heightened emotional state. So future paced by looking at when you were rough, what was the most stressful financial time that you had in your past? What did you what was what was in jeopardy? Was it your rent? Was it your mortgage? Was it your children’s medical bills, and then use that knowledge because history tends to repeat itself. So use that knowledge to prepare for the storms that not may but will come in the future. So consider not just yourself, but who you’re who’s dependent on you, and set yourself up. Now, again, it’s different for everyone. This is the general 80% you know, the bell curve. This is 80% this is the strategy you want to look at is who’s dependent on you? What are their needs, and calculate what’s your cost of living, and also planned for rainy days, what were some rainy days that you experienced in the last five to 10 years of your life? Imagine if all of those happened over the next month. Because oftentimes when you take this leap, you will be tested. 100% of the time. You say you want something you will be tested, and the world moves for those who are persistent. So plan ahead to make the journey more enjoyable. Because again, if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.

Corrie Sanders  1:24:46

Yeah, I loved – I love the point that you said about being in a heightened state of emotion. And that’s something that I think a lot of our guests have had in common is that they really sat with that emotion for an extended amount of time. I mean, it was a very calculated risk. To your point, it looks so different for everyone. There’s obviously not a blanket formula. But I love dialing into this is a heightened state of emotion, I need to be aware of it and how do I dial this back to something that’s going to be on a completely different plane and trajectory of emotion that I may not even have experienced yet up to this point in my life. So let’s try to just put our feet in that situation and see how we feel and try to plan for a rainy day, so to speak, or try to plan ahead. I really love that point. And Adam, my last question is, what is I actually think I might be able to answer this for you. But what is your favorite part about being a pharmacy entrepreneur, or in this case, you’re not a pharmacist anymore. So we’ll just dial that back to what is your favorite part about being an entrepreneur?

Adam Martin  1:25:44

 So that’s interesting. I don’t think I consider myself an entrepreneur. And by definition, by all definitions, people like, of course you are, you’re out on your own running your own business, you’re doing all these things. I just consider myself a secret agent for Jesus. That’s it. Because people come to me for all kinds of things. I want to a new career, I’ve helped them do that over and over, I helped you get I’ve 10x people’s income. I’ve done things that would blow your mind, helping them do it, empowering them, I really don’t do anything. I just ask questions. As a coach, I’m literally a professional question asker. That’s all I do. So when it comes to being a professional entrepreneur, a pharmacist entrepreneur, it’s not about me. That’s what I love about it. Because we put all this pressure on ourselves to have it all figured out. We want to have control and certainty of our future. And oftentimes, when we surrender that or even entertaining, the idea of surrender, we think that surrenders giving up and again, how you define things makes a huge thing. Surrendering is one of the most strongest things, or there’s a there’s a good word, clearly I have an English degree, the strongest things you can do. But know that to tie it in it, surrender is one of the most courageous things that you can do, because you’re dying to yourself. And the ways of the kingdom are the opposite the ways of the world, when you die to yourself is when you live. If you want to lead, kneel, if you want to be first, go last. So recognizing that I’m not really I don’t have this plan for this 10 year vision. I’m living on daily bread. And that’s faith. And again, that’s not, you know, not doing anything and expecting money to fall from the sky, which it did and does. But it’s being an active participant in your own rescue, recognizing and being resourceful. These are the gifts I’ve been given, how am I going to steward these responsibly, not for my own gain, but so that I can be a river an avalanche of abundance through which I can pass through and serve to others. It’s not about me, it starts with me. It goes through me I’m required. But it doesn’t end with me. And when you put the focus off yourself, you start to look at how can I give? How can I use this stuff, and give it to other people because again, the secret to living is giving. And then when it’s never about you, you can’t lose. And especially in times when we’re feeling lost or helpless. When you’re feeling helpless, get helpful. Because once you give,it adds this level of gratitude that you can’t even imagine. So my favorite part is and the best way to describe what I do now is I get the honor and privilege to have a front row seat to witnessing miracles. It’s freaking incredible. Like, I literally cry, I’m not kidding, ask my colleagues, I cry two, maybe three days a week, because of the things that I get to witness, the breakthroughs, the marriages that are saved, the all on and on and on. It’s amazing. And having the honor and privilege to be a witness to be a conduit for this is absolutely extraordinary. And we have fun! It’s a blast! So if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. So if you’re in a job and that doesn’t mean I’m telling you to quit, but say could you be focusing on the wrong thing because you’re influenced by other people in your profession. Maybe you’re hanging out in the wrong Facebook groups. Maybe you need to listen to more YFP. Maybe you need to get more engaged in that community. Maybe you need to, instead of listening to people who are complaining and have a life that you don’t want, maybe you need to connect with people who are living a life through the integrity and character and lifestyle that you actually do want. Because success leaves clues. And I’m gonna give your listeners a big tip. If you want to get success as fast as possible. There’s three simple steps. Number one, proximity,number two, proximity, number three, proximity, whatever you want to attain, get around people playing that level of the game. Because like crabs in a bucket, if you’re in an environment that doesn’t support or encourage your growth, they will always pull you down to their level. So level up and become the smallest person in the room, from the humble perspective to grow and become a part of something. And that’s really intimidating. You might be in that room thinking who am I? I feel out of place. Yes, you’re in the right room. Congratulations! Now be of service. But how can I be of service I have so much to learn? Figure it out. Favorite quote from credit this to Marie Forleo. Everything is figured-out-able.

Adam Martin  01:39

Yeah, exactly, exactly. I can’t credit that one. But it’s the truth. It’s all about innovation. And that was one of the biggest takeaways that I got from University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, our values aligned. leadership, innovation and excellence. Personal excellence is the ultimate rebellion. I learned that from Andy Frisella, creator of 75 Hard, I’ve done Lift Hard, I’m actually finishing my second year of that. Incredible program. It’s free, not not tied to it in any way, but if you want to level up your life, get up on 75 Hard, I did a podcast because I did that while I was a pharmacist highly recommend, but I digress. All kinds of tools, get resourceful. Surround yourself with people who encourage you. That’s the best part of this is, being around people that you want to be around. Because you’re serving at such a high level. I had the honor this past. I was there Saturday through Wednesday. Every year Tony Robbins has the annual coaching meeting. So there were 108 coaches from 29 countries. And these are the most amazing souls you ever met. Because they’re givers. There’s no, there’s friendly competition, but there’s not like backstabbing competition. It’s give give, give without any expectation. They don’t keep tabs, they give with unconditional love. It’s incredible. It’s what we call our chosen family. There’s nothing like it I’ve ever seen or heard of in the world. It is incredible. And they make me want to be better. So get around people that are playing at a level higher than you. And watch what happens. Because proximity is power. So that’s why I’m honored to be a part of this podcast seriously, it’s such an honor, because I’m such an admirer of Tim and you and the team that you have, because it’s such an honorable community of people that want to play and live life at a higher level so that they can create a future for their family that they may have never had. So that they can inspire other people, maybe they’re mentoring, maybe their colleagues that it doesn’t have to be that way. The way that all the loud people are complaining about yes, that’s may be happening. And there’s other stuff too because in every adversity there’s also an opportunity in disguise because again, there’s always both two things happening at the same time. Something that’s gained and something that’s lost and you get to choose which of the two you focus on so choose wisely.

Adam Martin  04:43

Best way is probably at this point. I’m on LinkedIn. Dr. Adam Martin, Also the original on Instagram, all one word The Fit Pharmacists, that’s that’s where I’m most active. But you can also email me at [email protected]

Adam Martin  05:09

All right, let’s go.

Adam Martin  05:45

My pleasure, thank you so much for the time for your kindness. And again, just a reminder, you were all blessed to be a blessing. So go forth, be great and dispense your full potential. 

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Tim Ulbrich  05:56

Before we wrap up today’s show, I want to again thank this week’s sponsor of the your Financial Pharmacist Podcast First Horizon, we’re glad to have found a solution for pharmacists that are unable to save 20% for a down payment on a home. A lot of pharmacists and the YFP community have taken advantage of First Horizon’s pharmacist home loan, which requires a 3% downpayment for a single family home or townhome for first time homebuyers and has no PMI on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. To learn more about the requirements for First Horizons pharmacist home loan, and to get started with the pre approval process, you can visit yourfinancialpharmacist.com/home-loan. Again, that’s yourfinancialpharmacist.com/home-loan.

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Tim Ulbrich  06:41

As we conclude this week’s podcast and important reminder that the content on this show is provided to you for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for investment or any other advice. information in the podcast and corresponding materials should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any investment or related financial products. We urge listeners to consult with a financial advisor with respect to any investment. Furthermore, the information contained in our archive newsletters, blog posts and podcasts is not updated and may not be accurate at the time you listen to it on the podcast. opinions and analyses expressed herein are solely those of your financial pharmacists unless otherwise noted, and constitute judgments as of the date published. Such information may contain forward looking statements, which are not intended to be guarantees of future events. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements. For more information, please visit yourfinancialpharmacist.com/disclaimer. Thank you again for your support of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast. Have a great rest of your week.

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YFP 142: Scripting Your Dream Career with Dr. Adam Martin


Scripting Your Dream Career with Dr. Adam Martin

Dr. Adam Martin joins Tim Ulbrich on the show to discuss his most recent book Gen-Z Pharmacist: Dominate Pharmacy School & Script Your Dream Career.

Dr. Martin is the founder of The Fit Pharmacist, host of The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast and a two-time author.

About Today’s Guest

Dr. Adam Martin works with people to write their script for success using proper nutrition, stress management, and the power of a positive attitude. He earned his doctorate of pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, and with over 7 years of experience working full-time in the community pharmacy setting, he’s passionate about empowering other pharmacists and pharmacy students to put the health back into healthcare through leading by example in their professional practice to not only live their best lives, but to inspire others along the way to do the same. He pairs his PharmD with his expertise as a certified personal trainer and nutrition consultant to guide self-care back into healthcare.

Dr. Martin is the founder of The Fit Pharmacist, LLC. As a National Speakers Association (NSA) Professional Speaker, Adam’s core passion is traveling to pharmacy schools across the world to speak to pharmacy students, sharing practical plans of action that will empower them to maximize their careers and create a competitive edge in the profession to maximize their success and degree of impact.

He has made his life’s work showing people how to take control of their overall wellness, sharing SimpleSolutions through his writing for numerous pharmacy publications including PharmacyTimes magazine, and is the author of the best-selling book Rx: You: The Pharmacist’s Survival Guide for Managing Stress & Fitting in Fitness as well as the forthcoming book Gen-Z Pharmacist: Dominate Pharmacy School & Script Your Dream Career.

He is the host of The Fit Pharmacist Healthcare Podcast, sharing successes and practical strategies from the most successful minds in the profession of pharmacy with a new episode released every week. You can subscribe and learn more here: https://thefitpharmacist.com/podcast

With a passion for learning and serving his patients, he’s an inaugural member of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association’s Leadership Excellence and Advocacy Development (LEAD) program, and strives to serval the global community of pharmacy as a medical missionary, having served in Honduras and Panama as a pharmacist in the field. In 2019, he was named the “Most Influential Pharmacist” by SingleCare’s Best of the Best Pharmacy Awards.

You can connect with him on Instagram

Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn: @FitPharmFam

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thefitpharmacist

Summary

In this episode, Dr. Adam Martin digs into his reason for writing his most recent book the Gen-Z Pharmacist: Dominate Pharmacy School & Script Your Dream Career and key points in it.

Adam explains that the number one problem he heard other pharmacists say was that they were never taught how to be a pharmacist. Although they were extensively trained in medicine and other essential knowledge that lays the PharmD groundwork, they didn’t know how to enter the workforce, interact with their colleagues, develop their career, or attend conferences. Essentially, pharmacists entering the workforce already felt behind.

Adam identified this problem and knew that something needed to be done. He’s very passionate about giving back to pharmacy programs and wanted to make a lasting impact on students. He decided to focus on what isn’t taught in a PharmD program but needs to be known. Over a four year period, Adam wrote his second book, Gen-Z Pharmacist: Dominate Pharmacy School & Script Your Dream Career.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is about your prescription to dominate pharmacy school. Topics like clarifying your why, molding your mindset and networking are discussed. Part two delves into how to script your career. This section consists of 22 expert interviews with some of the best pharmacists in their niche. In this section, pharmacy students ask seasoned pharmacists what they would have done differently in the pharmacy school and their career to get to where they are today but faster.

Mentioned on the Show

Episode Transcript

Tim Ulbrich: Hey, what’s up, everybody? Welcome to this week’s episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast. I’m excited to welcome Dr. Adam Martin back on the show to talk about his most recent book, “Gen Z Pharmacist: Dominate pharmacy school and script your dream career.” Dr. Martin was previously on the show back on Episode 091 with Tim Church as a part of our side hustle series where he talked about how to become a fit pharmacist. Now, for those who don’t already know Adam, honestly, I’m not really sure how that’s the case as he’s everywhere having a positive impact, now internationally as well on so many so early in his career. His mindset, positivity and energy for helping inspire others to be the best version of themselves is second to none. I’ve been blessed to get to know Adam over the past couple years, and he’s inspired me and I’m confident will do the same for those listening today. Adam, welcome back to the show.

Adam Martin: Dr. Tim, it is a pleasure to be back, my man.

Tim Ulbrich: So glad to have you. It’s great to have you back in front of the YFP community, and it’s an exciting time for you with the recent book launch we’ll talk more about on the show as well as getting back from an international speaking gig. Tell us more.

Adam Martin: Yeah, man, so that was a blast. I actually just got back from speaking in Ireland at two pharmacy schools. So I was invited to speak on a mental health symposium in the city of Cork, Ireland. So flew into Dublin and then drove to Cork. And in Ireland, there’s three schools of pharmacy. So a little background: The healthcare system in Ireland is roughly three years behind that of the rest of the world. So just to paint a scenario for you, if someone has a mental health crisis, let’s say they have suicidal thoughts and they go to their provider, at that point, there is a 6-8 week waiting period for them to get any kind of treatment.

Tim Ulbrich: Gees.

Adam Martin: That paired with the fact that there’s a lot of stigma and no one’s talking about mental health is what’s prompted the creation of this symposium. So I was invited to speak. It was the first time ever in the country. All three schools of pharmacy were there. There were about 250 pharmacy students from the country. I spoke along with psychiatrists and pharmacists doing groundbreaking research to advance mental health. And it was the first time that there was a gathering to talk about mental health resources available and how to break down that stigma and lead to a positive impact. And the other thing that was fun — and I didn’t know this until shortly before the talk — is Irish people tend to be somewhat reserved. So they’re not used to my speaking style, and if you ever heard me speak, it is not a talk. It is an experience.

Tim Ulbrich: You bring it. You bring it.

Adam Martin: Yes. So I get everyone engaged, I get literally people up dancing in the talk. So they — the words that they used was “bloody brilliant.”

Tim Ulbrich: Bloody brilliant.

Adam Martin: It was a blast, man. And then I went the next day to speak at Trinity College at Dublin all about self-care, specifically for combating burnout that we’re facing in our profession because we hear about that all the time here in the States, but this is something that’s global. So it was an honor to be a voice representing pharmacy from the United States to talk about that in Ireland and bring what I’ve been working on here over there.

Tim Ulbrich: What an awesome experience. I mean, we talk about opportunity meeting the interest, the passion you have, the impact that you want to have. But just to be able to have that experience in Ireland, I followed you on Instagram throughout that journey. It looked like you were having a blast while you were there. So not only that, but you’ve got a second book out as well. I mean, how does that feel? We’ll reflect more on the details of the book and some of the concepts in there, but man, as you’re on the back end, the journey of writing a book is intense. I’ve joked with many, I’ve done it one, I’m not sure I’m going to do it again.

Adam Martin: Yeah.

Tim Ulbrich: But you’ve done it twice now. I mean, how does it feel to be on the back end of it?

Adam Martin: Oh man, so this actually is a funny — it leads me to a podcast that I did with a really world-renowned author. His name is Michael Lozier. And if you ever heard of the law of attraction, there’s a book called “Law of Attraction.” And it is a phenomenal read about mindset. But when I was interviewing him, I said, “Oh, I love your book. I’ve read it like five times, listened to it.” And he’s like, “Oh, that’s funny. I wrote it 100 times.” And at the time, I laughed. But after writing my second book, I was like, that is so true. So yeah, man, it’s a lot of revision and that’s really what people need to know is if you’re thinking about writing a book, really doing anything, the first draft is going to be trash. So you have to get started and dive into that process. And it’s fun. You learn, you get insight as you go. But that won’t happen until you get started. So that’s my learning experience and turned into piece of advice for anyone considering going down that path.

Tim Ulbrich: I think that’s great advice, and I think for many that have the aspirations of writing a book, they see a finished product and they think, oh my gosh, it’s so overwhelming, I’m never going to get there. But as you and I both know, to your point, the first draft often you look back at and you’re like, what was I thinking? You know, in terms of what I had here. But just the small compound effect, you write a few hundred words a day, you keep at it, and you get a draft on paper, you make revisions, you get feedback from others, and you start to refine your message and see what’s resonating.

Adam Martin: Absolutely.

Tim Ulbrich: So let’s talk about the book in detail. Again, the title is “Gen Z Pharmacist: Dominate pharmacy school and script your career.” Our listeners can learn more and get a copy at FitPharmacist.com/book. Now, three things that I love about this book as I had a chance to get a sneak preview from Adam: No. 1 — and I’ve shared this with you already — I think it’s really written in a way that is easy to understand, it’s digestable, and it’s written by someone who really has been through this journey. You know, you’ve walked the walk. And I think you’re doing a great job of teaching it. And I think it’s written in a way that it’s action-oriented is really the second piece that I love is that you can’t blow through this book. I think you’ve done a really nice job of you’re talking about some big things in the text in terms of mindset, you talk about leadership and time management, all these different concepts, and you really do a great job of forcing the reader to stop, reflect, and actually have space in the book where they can do some activities to think about that. I thought that was awesome. And then the second part of the book, which you called “Script Your Career: Experts speak,” you’ve got I think 20-something I think different experts that you have examples and stories from that I think really just showcases not only the journey you’ve had but also others. And so the thought that went behind this, you know, I think often when I see people that publish multiple books, you think, man, what are they pumping out? How quick are they doing it? What’s the quality? The intentionality here was awesome, and I think you did a really wonderful job. And I’m excited to talk more about this. So let’s start with why. What was the need? I mean, you’ve got your first book that was out, I see a copy in the book here as we’re recording.

Adam Martin: Yeah, there it is.

Tim Ulbrich: What’s the need for a second book? What was the mission and the vision?

Adam Martin: Absolutely. So first off, thank you for the kind words, Tim. I really appreciate that. It means a lot coming from you. I have tremendous respect for you and all the work that you’ve done and the impact you’re making for pharmacy. And I think that’s why you and I resonate so well and why we’re joining forces, sneak preview, for something coming up later in the spring. But to answer your question, so I’ve worked first as a nutrition consultant, and I’ve been doing that since 2013. And my niche is pharmacy students and pharmacists. And you know, we talk about problems, struggles, things like that. And the No. 1 problem that I kept hearing was very similar to what we all faced when we graduated. And that is I was never taught how to be a pharmacist. Yes, I was taught all the knowledge and all of the medication information and all those essentials that laid the groundwork for what our PharmD is for. But when it comes time to actually entering the workforce, interacting with your colleagues and then also developing your career in an increasingly competitive industry, how do you leverage social media? And then there’s all this talk about personal branding. Oh yeah, and then there’s conferences. And then there’s all that stuff that you’re not taught about in a structured way. And you get out in the workforce and then you feel behind. And something that’s something that people were struggling with a lot. So I thought, man, something needs to be done about this. So you asked why a second book, but the fun fact is I actually started working on this book before my first book came out. So this book was a four-year process because I do work full-time in the community and run a business. So time was interesting. But as far as the reason why, that comes to innovation. And that’s a core belief and a core concept at University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, where I graduated, that being innovation, leadership, and excellence. So whenever I graduated, if you guys know my story, I was quite on the struggle bus to even get into pharmacy school.

Tim Ulbrich: Last seat, right? Last seat.

Adam Martin: Yeah. Last seat. Last one to get in, and no one in my class knew it. But I ended up being president of my class and all that other stuff. But because of that, and I worked so hard to get in, I was tremendously grateful for the opportunity and I had just such an amazing learning experience with phenomenal faculty and just great networking. So when I graduated, I started to think, man, I really need to give back. Like I need to get involved. So I started guest lecturing and helping some of my professors here and there. But working full-time, I would only be able to get in like when my schedules aligned, like once a semester. So that wasn’t really making a huge impact. Then I thought well, they asked for contributions financially, which is great, but I’m not a gazillionaire yet. But you know, after reading “Seven Figure Pharmacist,” it’s going to happen. Shameless plug. But you know, I don’t have enough money to make a huge impact with like a building or whatnot. So I thought, you know, how can I put this concept of innovation into practice? So I thought, what am I good at? What do I enjoy? What do people resonate with? And it’s writing and speaking. So I thought about what they don’t teach you in pharmacy school but what everyone needs in order to be a successful pharmacist. So I reached out to the dean and I said, “Hey, I thought about this idea of writing a book to complement pharmacy school. But before I do it, I just want to make sure that this doesn’t exist so I’m not spinning my wheels.” And she said, “No, it doesn’t exist.” So I was like, awesome. Well, what I want to do is I want to write a book helping students on this process so that when they graduate, they have the groundwork to hit the ground running. And what I want to do is reach out to 22 of the best pharmacists in their niche that are really crushing it. So like nuclear pharmacy, administration, dean of pharmacy school, how to get a residency if you want to get a PhD after pharmacy, all of those types of things. And what I want to do is I want to interview them and say right now, you are the best at what you do. And you’ve been doing this for years. If you knew you were going to end where you are now on your first day of pharmacy school, what would you do differently to get there faster? What organizations would you have joined? What publications, what meetings, all of those types of things. And that was my original idea. And she said, “That’s a great idea, but what if instead of you doing the interviews, you have pharmacy students do them so it’s not only a book for pharmacy students but written by pharmacy students.”

Tim Ulbrich: Love it.

Adam Martin: And it sounded great until I realized how to implement that. So you’ve got a dude that’s full-time community — and if you guys work in community, you know how rigid that structure is. I mean, we’ve got to submit our vacation requests like a year and a half advance. So you’ve got that. I’m running a business, diving into my speaking career, OK, and then you’ve got 22 super busy people that are crushing it and then you try to get pharmacy students who are in pharmacy school in leadership positions. So try to align those schedules 22 different times.

Tim Ulbrich: Sure.

Adam Martin: And that turned into four years.

Tim Ulbrich: So Adam, what I hear there is a lot of persistence as well as certainly some good mentorship and folks that gave you insight into the book. But I think that last part, you know, interviewing 20-something folks that are crushing it in their respective careers, honestly, that alone could probably be a separate book, could be a separate resource, could be a separate podcast — not that you have free time. But really getting insights into folks, you know, that’s something that I often wonder is I love the concept of sitting down with somebody and just asking them about you know, what’s made you successful? What’s your routines, your habits? And there’s obviously a lot of networking to be had there but also to learn. And that was really a big takeaway for me as I read this book was man, I wish I would have had this in pharmacy school. I wish I would have had this available to me. I just think it’s an incredible, incredible resource. And I see so many connections between this and the financial piece.

Adam Martin: Oh yeah.

Tim Ulbrich: And again, sneak preview, excited we’re going to be collaborating on some things, more things going forward. But in the book — and we’ll talk here in a minute — you talk about clarifying your why and mindset and time management and developing an outside passion and leadership and mentorship and thinking about the long game. And the thread, so much of that for me depends on is your financial situation in a position that you can clearly focus on all of those things? Because what I hear from so many people is, yes, yes, yes, but hey, I’m in $200,000 of debt and I can’t see what’s beyond this $200,000 of debt. And so I think there’s so many connections here to having a sound financial base and having a good financial plan so that you can be able to focus on these things. And so to that point, Chapter 1, which I loved, you started with this concept of clarify your why, which is something we talk about on this show as it relates to one’s financial situation. But tell me more about what you mean in terms of this concept of clarifying your why.

Adam Martin: Absolutely. So with the book, there’s two parts. The second part we talked about are the interviews that we did. So what that is it’s looking Part 1, the concepts we explore and how people in the industry have put those into practice and are thriving because of it. So it’s kind of like, here’s the script and literally Part 1 is “Your Rx to Dominate Pharmacy School.” But then Part 2 is here’s people that did this, and here’s the result. So absolutely. And that comes down to two parts. So we want to impact patients. We want to have a way to help people enrich their lives. We can’t do that until we can do that for ourselves. So that’s why in the first part, there is self-mastery and then relationship building. So the reason that the first chapter is clarify your why is because in order to thrive in your business, in your personal endeavors, whatever that looks like for you, you will face adversity, you will face setbacks.

Tim Ulbrich: Yes.

Adam Martin: Guaranteed.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep.

Adam Martin: And if you only have a short-term goal like “I want to make a ton of money,” or “I want a name for myself” or whatever that is, you will fail every time. But if you have a why that is bigger than yourself, if you have a purpose that extends farther beyond you, you will be able to realign with that and stick through that and do what it takes to overcome those hurdles.

Tim Ulbrich: Yes.
Adam Martin: For example, if you’re listening to this and you have kids, alright? When you’re sick, when you are exhausted, when you’ve got projects on the line, but your kid needs help, you do it anyway because it’s something bigger than yourself.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep, absolutely.

Adam Martin: It’s the same concept. So that’s why having a why that is clear, aligned with your goals and is bigger than you, making it about other people instead of just yourself, that’s the secret to staying at the long game because it is a process. And the thing you people have to realize is it’s not — and this is something that’s rampant in our profession being everyone Type A. I mean, I’m so Type A, my name starts with A. So I get it, y’all. Real talk. But you have to realize that it’s not going to be getting it right the first time. You can’t focus on being perfect. And we’re wired to think that way because literally as pharmacists, depending on your role, if you’re dispensing, one mistake could kill someone. That’s reality. So we take that thought process, and it translates into other areas of our life. So you have to shift your focus away from perfection and on progress because it’s a process not a one-and-done, and you have to realize that the value is on progress not perfection.

Tim Ulbrich: Absolutely. And if I could even add onto that, you know, Seth Godin, one of my favorite authors, would argue that you want to run from perfection. You want to fail often but quickly. And obviously, there’s places where you don’t want to fail and when you think about medication safety and other things. But you know, in terms of developing yourself as an individual, a road of perfection and a road of no challenges is one of the greatest fears I have for my children.

Adam Martin: Yep.

Tim Ulbrich: I don’t want them to have that, you know. They need to have adversity. They need to learn through that because as I reflect back even on a young career, like those moments, being in those, however painful they can be and however significant they seem in the moment, that’s really where the sweetness is happening. And to this concept of why, you know, again, to the listeners, the action-oriented nature of this book, I’m on page 6 here. Here I am, maybe I pick up your book and I feel like I’m just going to fly through this thing. And I’ve got to sit down and reflect on my why. And I can tell you that I recently did this activity to over 100 students in a personal finance course here at Ohio State, and I had them reflect on their why using some of the life planning questions we’ve talked about before on the podcast. And I will tell you through those responses, rarely have people thought about this question. And this is somewhat uncomfortable to think about. I think that’s good, that’s the purpose of the activity, you stop, you reflect. But again, I think it speaks to the nature of this book, you’re not just talking about this concept, you know, here I am on page 6 and I’ve already got to dig in and do some work, which is awesome.

Adam Martin: I love it, man. But yeah, to your point about the action-oriented nature of the book. And I’m an NSA professional speaker. And I tell people this at almost all my talks. I’m not a motivational speaker. I’m not here to pump you up. If you want to get pumped up, go to the gym. I’m here to literally make an impact and get you thinking to change your life and move the needle in the direction so that we can create momentum right now because when I leave, there’s two choices. I leave and a couple days later, you’re right back in your old habits.

Tim Ulbrich: Yeah. Right.

Adam Martin: Or in the moment while I’m with you, we create an action plan so that you can just do simple steps to get the momentum moving. And that’s the key because I’m really good at bringing the energy and getting people in peak states of motivation. But unless you do something with that, nothing’s going to happen. So I took that same concept with the book. I talk about the concepts in simple terms to lay it down. But at the end of every chapter, there is a place to put that into practice specific to you, the reader, because all of us are different. We’re all at different places in our life. I’ve had pharmacists that have been graduated over 15 years saying, this book is starting to change my career. So while it’s catered to pharmacy students, it depends where you are in your career. And this really can impact anyone in the profession.

Tim Ulbrich: Well, and to that point, Adam, I mean, I’ve been out of school for 12 years. And I tried to hang onto my title of “new practitioner” as long as I could, but I don’t think I can use it anymore. But I think there’s something to learn here for everyone. I mean, to me, the mindset is you are always learning. So while I talk about your why all the time or I talk about mindset or time management, like, I don’t have all the answers. I mean, I always have something to learn in these areas. And I think this is another great resource that yes, it’s really geared toward pharmacy students, but I think many can learn beyond that. Now, Chapter 2, Mold Your Mindset. And I want to spend a few minutes talking about this because one of the things I love about you, Adam, is I feel like mindset, mindset, mindset. You know, I had a chance to meet with you in person on a couple occasions, and I strategically brought my son with me one time because I wanted him to see firsthand, you know, he might not be able to articulate it as 7 or 8 years, but being around people like you that have positivity, have mindset, you know, it’s a choice that you make despite circumstances that are around you, you know? It reminds me, I’m coaching first and second graders in basketball right now. And we’re learning a lesson on joy v. happiness.

Adam Martin: Ah.

Tim Ulbrich: And so this mindset thing, I want for a moment, give us some practical tips or strategies because I think you do this so well. And you talk about in the book as well that you’ve used or you’ve seen others successfully implement that helps to mold the mindset. You know, I think we all agree that having this mindset is incredibly important, but what are some things that folks can think about that either worked for you or that have worked for others?

Adam Martin: Absolutely. So it really comes down to what your focus is. So Bruce Lee once said, “As you think, so shall you become.” And it’s really a simple concept, but when you try to apply that to the organized chaos of pharmacy, it doesn’t seem so simple because you’ve got a lot of things. You’ve got doctor calls, you’ve got texts, you’ve got patient questions, you’ve got errors, you’ve got issues, all of that stuff. But you’ve got to put a smile on that face. How are you going to do that when you feel stressed and stretched too thin to even like have time to drink water or eat lunch during a break you don’t get or stand on your feet for 13 hours? How are you going to do that? How are you going to smile? How are you going to make it real? So it really comes down to the focus of how you’re going to conduct yourself at work or in your job and then also outside of work because if you’re having a stressful moment and you need to deal with that, that’s not really practical in the moment at a pharmacy because your patients are your priority.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep.

Adam Martin: But if you don’t put in that work of self-growth and development outside, that’s really where it comes from. So to answer your question, what’s a simple tip? It’s really what you focus on. So in pharmacy, in life, there are two realities. There are things that you can control and there are things that you cannot control. And what we tend to do as Type A pharmacists is we like to just blur that line, like, oh, we’ll figure it out. We’ll make this work. So we’re wired as humans to focus on the negative, that’s what we’re wired to because that’s what kept us alive back in the primal age. And you guys probably listening to this, you probably see this happen. You have a win, something’s checked off the list, and it’s just gone. And now you’re focused on what’s the next problem I need to fix.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep.

Adam Martin: And we get our focus set on problems we can’t fix. And if you just look on Facebook at a lot of the large pharmacy pages, that’s all you see is bickering and complaining about things you can’t necessarily control. And while they’re true and I’m not saying there’s no problems, there’s always room for improvement. And yes, there are some issues that we’re facing in our profession. If you focus on that long enough, that’s exactly what you’re going to get. That’s the mindset you’re going to have. That’s the emotion you’re going to create. And that is the action you’re going to interact with others as. So I’m not saying ignore problems, I’m not saying that if you go out in your garden and you see weeds, you close your eyes and say, “No weeds, no weeds, no weeds!” If you open your eyes, the weeds are still there. You’ve got to get down on your knees and yank those suckers out. But what I am saying is focus on the fact that you have the power to pull those weeds out.

Tim Ulbrich: Yeah.

Adam Martin: Focus on what you can control and focus on those wins. Look at where you can make an impact, both in your own life and in the life of your colleagues, partner and your patients.

Tim Ulbrich: And I think this is another great example, Adam, and you go on I think in Chapter 3 or 4 talking about self-care and again, bringing back the financial piece, being in a position of having a good mindset, being able to mold your mindset, you have to have other behaviors, other strategies in place to give yourself the opportunity to be there. You know, I think about the value of something like a morning routine for a community pharmacist who gets up, alarm clock goes off, you start checking your email, the day is crazy, you run into a 12-hour shift, and you walk into chaos and in the moment, maybe a floater left you a bunch of baggage from the night before, the phone starts ringing.

Adam Martin: No.

Tim Ulbrich: That day from the very beginning was set up to not necessarily be successful in terms of mindset. So what I like about — and for me, it’s been things like morning routines that include journaling and meditation and prayer and gratitude reflections. And you give some great examples here in the book as well. But I think this is a great area for folks to think about what works for them but starting your day with intentionality, No. 1, and really leaning on others and seeing what others are doing and seeing what ultimately will work for your plan as well. And you know, many have heard this said over and over again, find those that are doing things successful that you want to role model your behaviors after. Find out what they’re doing. And hint, many of those people are very willing to share what their successes are and to talk about it. And so I think really finding people that you look at and say, wow, they’ve really got a different attitude about the day, they’ve got a different mindset. Well, why is that? You know? Ask them some questions, learn about their behaviors and habits. And I think you do a really nice job in Chapter 2 talking about some ways that folks can do that.

Adam Martin: Thank you. But yeah, to your point, that’s absolutely spot-on. You’ve got to have those morning rituals. And it’s super important. But looking at — because what you said happens at the time of getting into work and there’s all these problems. And that’s a slippery slope with the mindset of looking at problems saying, oh, it’s going to be one of those days or, oh, this always happens to me. If you say things like that and believe things like that and say like, oh, I don’t have hours, I don’t have the time, blah, blah, blah, that’s what you’re going to look for. That’s what this concept plays out to be. But instead, if you ask the question of how is this happening for me and if you just change that just a little change in your mindset but specifically the questions you ask will determine the quality of your life. So I just want to harp that point because it’s huge at breaking that slippery slope of negativity.

Tim Ulbrich: Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And I’m going to jump ahead here a little bit in the book. My goal here is not that we would cover the book in its entirety.

Adam Martin: Oh yeah.

Tim Ulbrich: I want folks to pick it up and read it and take action themselves. But in Chapter 9, you talk about Nurture Your Networking. And as soon as I saw you make a connection between network and net worth, I said, “I’ve got to” — I mean, it’s a financial show. Got to ask him about them. It’s something we’ve talked about before, the power of networking. We had David Burkus on the show to talk about his book, “Friend of a Friend.” So talk to me about networking, the importance, the value and ultimately, you know, why a pharmacy student should be really strategically thinking about this and how they may feel like hey, I’m in a vulnerable position, I don’t really have much to contribute or share, you know, some practical strategies for how they can implement this.

Adam Martin: Excellent question. So the profession of pharmacy hinges on one concept: It’s all about relationships. And that is so true. And that applies to all areas of life, whatever profession, whatever niche you’re in. It’s all about relationships. And how many of you have heard pharmacy’s a small world? So that’s the truth. And you can either ignore it or ask how can I be resourceful with this fact, coming back to that question that you ask yourself. So a lot of times, to your question of how can people get started if they’re a pharmacy student or if they have this thinking of, oh, I haven’t started yet. And they get in that trap of comparison like, oh, well I don’t have a podcast or I don’t have a book or I don’t have Your Financial Pharmacist success, like who am I to say this and that? Don’t fall into that imposter syndrome.

Tim Ulbrich: Absolutely.

Adam Martin: Every single person would be so grateful to learn from your experience. And in another chapter, I talk about the three levels of mentorship. And that is the concept that a lot of us think of as, oh, just get someone that has more degrees than the thermometer and learn everything that they know. And that’s mentorship. That’s one of three parts. The other part is having someone on your level that is looking to make progress. But the other part that so many people miss is the best way to learn is to teach. And while you might think that you’re not “there yet,” or you haven’t “made it,” whatever that means, you have people in your influence, in your school, in your company, that would love to learn your points that you’ve gone through, that are starting where you started a year or two ago. So the third part of mentorship is teaching someone who is starting where you started. While you might not think you have value, everyone has a story, everyone has experiences, and everybody wants a mentor. So by teaching that, it creates what I call the win-win-win framework. You can stock that so that you win, they win, and the people you serve win because both of you are rising together.

Tim Ulbrich: Love that. Great advice. So again, we’ve just hit on a couple high points here. I would encourage our listeners, check out a copy of the book, FitPharmacist.com/book. And as Adam mentioned, Part 1 is Your Prescription to Dominate Pharmacy School, ranging topics from why to mindset, self-care, time management, networking, mentorship, just so much wisdom here. And again, a resource I certainly wish I would have had in pharmacy school. And then Part 2, Script Your Career, experts speak, over 20 different experts sharing their career journey, stories and what’s allowed them to be successful in their own regards. And I think, Adam, before I wrap up with a couple questions here, I want to come full circle. You know, you alluded to this concept of making it, whatever that means. And I think bringing this all the way back to the beginning, this is why I loved that you started Chapter 1 with the why because all of this really goes back to this concept of what is the goal? You know, I think so many pharmacy students have this image of success in their mind or residents, they’re chasing something. But they haven’t stopped to think about what are they chasing? Why are they chasing? And do they really want to be chasing that?

Adam Martin: Absolutely.

Tim Ulbrich: And you know, this is where you see people I think often that may be 5, 7, 10 years out and maybe they finally got to whatever they had aspired to be, but they look up and say, “I’m burned out, I’m miserable. This isn’t what I thought I would be.” And I think it goes back to all the way to the beginning, taking time to stop and reflect and say, “Why? Why? What was the purpose to begin with?” And then you start to mold the plan around the why. So we often have people that approach us and say, “You know, I’ve got a really cool idea. I’d like to write a book. But my gosh, I have no idea where to start.” You mentioned four years. We might have scared them based on that statement. But talk to us about process. Like what was this like for you in terms of the daily, the weekly, the monthly rhythms to ultimately have something that you’re holding in hand and you’re distributing it? What was the process that you were able to implement to write the book?

Adam Martin: Yeah, so that comes to what we started this podcast talking about is you don’t want to be perfect the first time. You want to leverage your struggle to create your strength. And that’s really how my whole personal brand began, and that’s a whole other podcast that I think we did, actually. But the thing is is for me, one of my weaknesses is I get great ideas. And if I don’t write them down right away, they’re gone. And I don’t know if you ever resonate with this, but you’ll have a great idea and then like you get distracted and then you think, oh, what was that awesome idea? And you like think and think and think and it never comes back. So I learned quickly to avoid that pain of what was that golden nugget to writing things down. So I would just get ideas, whether it was driving to work or at home or whatever. Most of my ideas come from walking or in the shower. Real talk.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep. I’m with you there.

Adam Martin: So I would just write those down. And that’s literally how I started. I got these ideas and as I kept writing them down, I started to see the structure. I started to see how those aligned in a bigger picture. I would have — so I’m very active on Instagram @thefitpharmacist is the best place to reach me — but I would have people ask me questions through DM or commenting on my posts about struggles, about things they’ve been dealing with. And I kept seeing repeat questions. I was like, wow, there’s a need here. This needs to be addressed. So collectively, just taking notes and engaging with people and just being of service to others, that’s where this content, that’s where this concept came from. So a lot of people think, oh, you’ve got to sit down and crank it out and write 12 hours a day. No, guys. Like this book started from getting an idea and writing it down.

Tim Ulbrich: Yep.

Adam Martin: Getting an idea and writing it down. Doing it over and over again and just looking at how can this be of value? And that’s how you start. It’s always a draft when you start. So why not start with one word?

Tim Ulbrich: Yeah, and this reminds me of one of my favorite books, “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy, you know, which relates to finances but any goal, any project you’re working on, is small steps eventually over time result in big things. And I think that’s so true with writing, you know, you’ll see often people will do writing challenges, a few hundred words here or there. But it’s really true. It’s the habit, it’s the practice, and you surprise yourself. You look back and say, “Wow. I didn’t realize I could do this.” Then you start to shape it, you form it, it becomes a chapter. You beat it up, you get to Version 2, Version 3, and so on. But so much less intimidating than starting out and saying OK, I’m going to write a book from scratch. And I always encourage people, if there’s a topic you’re really passionate about, you know, start writing it down and posting things on LinkedIn and doing some other things. Then after 10 or 15 or 20 of those, you’ve got the beginnings of what could be a chapter or a section of a book or certainly could be a podcast or some other medium. Something I also want to point out to our listeners that are thinking about OK, so yes, Adam, you’ve written a book, but you’ve also built a brand. And sometimes I hate that word because I think it’s like we envision Adam as just like scheming in his house how to brand and market things. But the point I want to make here is that as I followed your journey for several years, you started in one place, which is a place I’m passionate about. You provided a value and service to others based on a pain point and a problem that needed to be solved and was one that you were passionate about. You didn’t start by thinking about how you were going to scheme a brand. You started by providing value, providing value, providing value, consistently, regularly, and from that, you’ve learned from the community what they’ve like, what they’ve resonated, what they’re passionate about, where you can provide a service. And so as you’re working then on a book, something like that, you’ve got a group that’s been following you and following your work because you have served them. And I think in my opinion, great businesses are formed off of serving individuals. And I’ve truly believed when you do that well, often the business will follow closely behind.

Adam Martin: 100%. And that comes back to your question about what’s the value of networking, and it’s what you just said. It’s all about relationships. So again, I like providing value in everything I say whether it’s a podcast or talking, so challenge to you, the listener. If you’re thinking about writing a book, if you’re thinking about doing any sort of endeavor whether starting or diving deeper, ask yourself two questions: What are you passionate about? And how can this help other people? Just like someone who thought, I’m passionate about investing and creating financial freedom, I see that there’s a problem with students coming out of pharmacy school at an average of $120,000 in debt, there is a need. I can help them based on my passion. Who am I describing, Tim?

Tim Ulbrich: Sounds familiar. Vaguely.

Adam Martin: Yeah, you. Exactly. And because of that, because you focused on that, you have built a brand that is so strong because it’s not based on scheming or how can I get a quick buck? It’s on how can I create relationships with people that have a need that I can solve based on my passion. And that concept, that’s your avenue. Mine’s the same with mindset and health. And I realize that our niches, you know, cross ways in a lot of different paths. And in speaking with you through the years, that’s what’s been so exciting with what’s coming up in the future because yes, self-care, self-development is great health and fitness-wise and creating that freedom, but then there’s also the financial piece. That’s the piece that together, creates the whole picture of the pharmacy student, of the pharmacist, to really be the best version of themselves so that they can dispense their full potential to those that they work with and serve.

Tim Ulbrich: And speaking of those paths crossing over, you and I have been scheming for a long time to figure out, man, how can we work together on a speaking engagement, something we both love doing, we’re passionate about inspiring others. And we’re excited to announce it’s finally going to happen this spring. Saturday, April 30, the Ohio Pharmacists Association annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, really excited. Great meeting that OPA puts on each and every year. They get a great draw of students and new practitioners and pharmacists and we’re excited to bring this topic. So for those that are attending the Ohio Pharmacists Association meeting or maybe perhaps we can inspire them to do that after hearing this, what can those attending expect to hear from our session? What can they take away?

Adam Martin: Absolutely. So real, practical tips on how to manage stress, fit in fitness and create financial freedom for your life. Those things are crushing our profession. They are stopping people from living their dream and leading to burnout, which is a huge epidemic. And by the way, not just here in the States, but I saw it in Ireland too. And that’s why there was a whole conference on self-care because there’s a need, because there’s advice out there. And I’m sure a lot of you resonate with this. It doesn’t seem practical, it’s not specific to our profession and/or taught by people that are actually in the trenches, facing these problems themselves. That’s why I’m really excited for this because I speak the truth, like I’ll talk and I’ll be like, “Hey, I just dealt with this issue yesterday working my 13-hour shift.” Tim, you got out of school with — like your transformation financially is tremendous and you write about that in “Seven Figure Pharmacist.” And that’s the real talk is we face these things ourselves. And we’re able to speak about them with such conviction and passion because we’ve overcome them and we want to help you do it too.

Tim Ulbrich: It’s going to be a lot of fun. Saturday, April 4. I said the 3rd. It’s actually Saturday, April 4. We’re on for 8:15 a.m. And I can tell you, I don’t think the coffee’s going to be needed when Dr. Adam Martin is in the room. So we’re going to bring a lot of energy. We’d love to see you there. You can register for the OPA annual meeting, learn more about the scheduled events, including this session, by visiting OhioPharmacists.org. So Adam, in addition to picking up a copy of the book, FitPharmacist.com/book, best way for our listeners to reach out to you and learn more about the work that you’re doing over the Fit Pharmacist?

Adam Martin: So the ‘gram is jam. So hit up Instagram, @thefitpharmacist, also on the Facebook page where I create many memes because laughter is the best medicine. So you can get all of your funny memes and gifs and everything else in between on The Fit Pharmacist. That’s Facebook, @FitPharmFam.

Tim Ulbrich: Awesome. Always a pleasure, always inspired by the work that you’re doing. Excited for more collaborations in the future and to see what lies ahead and certainly greatly appreciate you taking the time to do this interview and to share your work with the YFP community.

Adam Martin: Hey, Tim, it’s an honor to be on here. Thank you so much for having me. I believe 100% in what you’re doing. And that’s why I’m super excited for this collab.

Tim Ulbrich: Absolutely. And to the YFP community, as always, we appreciate you joining us. And if you like what you heard on this week’s episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast, please leave us a rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your shows each and every week. Again, thank you for joining us, and have a great rest of your week.

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