#215: Blair Thielemier: Helping Pharmacists Become Entrepreneurial Consultants

10/28/21 • 47 min

OVERVIEW:

Jason A. Duprat, Entrepreneur, Healthcare Practitioner, and Host of the Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy podcast talks with Blair Thielemier, PharmD, and founder of Pharmapreneur Academy and the Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit. Blair talks about the ups and downs of her transition from employee to entrepreneur, highlighting the importance of working with a mentor. She also discusses the challenges of starting a consulting business and a virtual summit, offering advice for people who want to venture into these startup areas.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

Blair knew early on she wanted to work in healthcare, and it was her love for biochemistry and physiology that led her to become a pharmacist.
After pharmacy school, she worked for a small independently-owned community pharmacy. Eventually, she wanted to do something more challenging so she switched to a clinical hospital role.
When she lost her job in 2014, Blair found support from a network of independent community pharmacies. She was six months pregnant and picked up PRN shifts. As a result, this is the community she now serves and helps through her online academy and virtual summit.
Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is an umbrella term for the variety of services pharmacists offer. Pharmacists conduct a comprehensive review and suggest interventions for patients. Ultimately, MTM is what reignited Blair’s passion.
She’s an advocate for pharmacists because, at the federal level, they’re not recognized as healthcare providers.
After giving up a director position to launch her pharmacy consulting business, Blair dove into business podcasts and worked with a mentor to put her in the right mindset.
Healthcare professionals tend to fall back on certifications and more education, but entrepreneurship is a challenge because there’s no curriculum or rule book to follow.
Blair grew her email list to 100 people and decided to launch the Pharmapreneur Academy in 2015. She had eight people sign up as her beta group. The course was $297 and offered six lessons.
She then doubled the enrollment and added a seventh course on chronic care management based on requests from the beta group. And after this session, she switched to a membership model for the online academy.
After finding inspiration from a podcast and learning from other experts at virtual summits, Blair launched the Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit in 2017 and it’s been held every year since then.
The benefits of going virtual include being able to launch events during the pandemic and scaling your message as a healthcare professional.
Find a mentor/coach who’s doing what you want to do and don’t be afraid to pay them for their expertise. If you feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign you’re on the right path.

3 KEY POINTS:

A full-time job is not a guarantee you’ll have a stable career. Have a backup plan in case life decides to throw you a curveball. Consider starting your own business and taking ownership of your time and freedom.
Pharmapreneur Academy provides pharmacists with a framework to leverage their skills as consultants. It started with one-on-one coaching programs and courses before shifting to a membership site.
The Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit gives pharmacists a voice and adequate representation, averaging 1500-2000 attendees each year.

TWEETABLE QUOTES:

“Maybe my purpose in entrepreneurship is to have an impact on patients throughout the country.” - Blair Thielemier

[Leverage your knowledge in a new way.” - Blair Thielemier

“Pharmacists—at the core of what we do—are very entrepreneurial, very innovative, and very community-centered.” - Blair Thielemier

CONNECT WITH JASON DUPRAT:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Group

RESOURCES:

Sign up for one of our free business start-up Masterclasses by heading over to https://healthcareboss.org/masterclass/
Have a healthcare business question? Text me at 386-284-4955, and I’ll add you to my contacts. Occasionally, I’ll share important announcements and answer your questions as well.
Do you enjoy our podcast? Leave a rating and review: https://lovethepodcast.com/hea

OVERVIEW:

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

Blair knew early on she wanted to work in healthcare, and it was her love for biochemistry and physiology that led her to become a pharmacist.
After pharmacy school, she worked for a small independently-owned community pharmacy. Eventually, she wanted to do something more challenging so she switched to a clinical hospital role.
When she lost her job in 2014, Blair found support from a network of independent community pharmacies. She was six months pregnant and picked up PRN shifts. As a result, this is the community she now serves and helps through her online academy and virtual summit.
Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is an umbrella term for the variety of services pharmacists offer. Pharmacists conduct a comprehensive review and suggest interventions for patients. Ultimately, MTM is what reignited Blair’s passion.
She’s an advocate for pharmacists because, at the federal level, they’re not recognized as healthcare providers.
After giving up a director position to launch her pharmacy consulting business, Blair dove into business podcasts and worked with a mentor to put her in the right mindset.
Healthcare professionals tend to fall back on certifications and more education, but entrepreneurship is a challenge because there’s no curriculum or rule book to follow.
Blair grew her email list to 100 people and decided to launch the Pharmapreneur Academy in 2015. She had eight people sign up as her beta group. The course was $297 and offered six lessons.
She then doubled the enrollment and added a seventh course on chronic care management based on requests from the beta group. And after this session, she switched to a membership model for the online academy.
After finding inspiration from a podcast and learning from other experts at virtual summits, Blair launched the Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit in 2017 and it’s been held every year since then.
The benefits of going virtual include being able to launch events during the pandemic and scaling your message as a healthcare professional.
Find a mentor/coach who’s doing what you want to do and don’t be afraid to pay them for their expertise. If you feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign you’re on the right path.

3 KEY POINTS:

A full-time job is not a guarantee you’ll have a stable career. Have a backup plan in case life decides to throw you a curveball. Consider starting your own business and taking ownership of your time and freedom.
Pharmapreneur Academy provides pharmacists with a framework to leverage their skills as consultants. It started with one-on-one coaching programs and courses before shifting to a membership site.
The Elevate Pharmacy Virtual Summit gives pharmacists a voice and adequate representation, averaging 1500-2000 attendees each year.

TWEETABLE QUOTES:

“Maybe my purpose in entrepreneurship is to have an impact on patients throughout the country.” - Blair Thielemier

[Leverage your knowledge in a new way.” - Blair Thielemier

“Pharmacists—at the core of what we do—are very entrepreneurial, very innovative, and very community-centered.” - Blair Thielemier

CONNECT WITH JASON DUPRAT:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Group

RESOURCES:

Sign up for one of our free business start-up Masterclasses by heading over to https://healthcareboss.org/masterclass/
Have a healthcare business question? Text me at 386-284-4955, and I’ll add you to my contacts. Occasionally, I’ll share important announcements and answer your questions as well.
Do you enjoy our podcast? Leave a rating and review: https://lovethepodcast.com/hea

Previous Episode

#214: Tactical Tuesday: My #1 Production Hack to Alleviate Stress & Remain Organized

OVERVIEW:

Jason A. Duprat, Entrepreneur, Healthcare Practitioner, and Host of the Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy podcast talks about the importance of staying organized and shares what he’s learned after years of running a business. He also discusses a great software tool that will help you manage your projects, team, and communications more efficiently.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

When you run your own business, it’s important to get your to-dos done and remain organized.
Systemizing is a must. This can be a struggle and for Jason, it took a few years to learn how to streamline tasks.
Projects aren’t stressful; the details are. Become a production expert and alleviate stress. One great software tool to help you do this is Asana.
For example, when Jason has a new lesson for a course, he creates the main task within Asana and then adds subtasks. He can include links in the task description and within each task, assign followers so team members remain in the loop.
Communicating via email can be confusing and it can quickly create disorganization when several people are involved in a single project. This is particularly true if you’re working with dozens of contractors, freelancers, and staff.
Asana alleviates this chaos by centralizing the work and communications associated with team projects.
Asana can be used to organize personal tasks as well, which is something Jason does. When you log in to the dashboard, you can easily see your to-do list for the day.

3 KEY POINTS:

Making mental to-do lists, using sticky notes, or keeping track of tasks through a calendar is fine but having a systematized way to handle everything that needs to get done for your business is an absolute must.
Asana is one of the best software tools Jason uses across multiple projects. One of the benefits is you can create teams and manage communications for specific projects within the software program.
Letting a software program organize your tasks or to-do lists leaves your mind free to think and work more creatively.

TWEETABLE QUOTES:

“You need to be organized in order to lead an effective and organized team.” - Jason Duprat

“As the business owner, you are setting the direction for where you’re going.” - Jason Duprat

CONNECT WITH JASON DUPRAT:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Group

RESOURCES:

Sign up for one of our free business start-up Masterclasses by heading over to https://healthcareboss.org/masterclass/
Have a healthcare business question? Text me at 386-284-4955, and I’ll add you to my contacts. Occasionally, I’ll share important announcements and answer your questions as well.
Do you enjoy our podcast? Leave a rating and review: https://lovethepodcast.com/hea

Next Episode

#216: Tactical Tuesday: Evaluating High-Level Mastermind Programs to Show Up & Level Up

OVERVIEW:

Jason A. Duprat, Entrepreneur, Healthcare Practitioner, and Host of the Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy podcast explains why high-level mastermind coaching programs offer a ton of value. He shares features of the $25k mastermind he recently signed up for with Russell Brunson. He also offers advice for people who are considering joining a coaching program, highlighting the importance of taking action.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

A master’s or doctorate course can cost $2,000 up to $7,000, however, a lot of the information is outdated and not applicable in the real world.
Mastermind programs provide relevant information and resources because they’re often taught by people who are in the thick of running a business.
Enroll in a mastermind led by someone who’s where you’re aspiring to be, and focus on the ROI instead of the sticker price.
Jason enrolled in Brunson’s entry-level program, Two Comma Club X because he wants to network with like-minded people.
The program provides a year of coaching and training and includes an online course, two different types of coaches, a focused path (E-commerce or expert), two in-person events, and a weekly live lesson with an instructor.
Participants are assigned a ‘momentum coach’ to help adjust their mindset and a ‘progress coach’ who reiterates lesson content and answers questions.
Making plans and reading books is a good way to get started, but you need to commit and keep pushing to get results.
If what you’re doing every day doesn’t excite you, get out of that situation or environment. Get pumped for the future and dive in!

3 KEY POINTS:

High-level coaching programs are almost always led by someone who’s successfully running a business. They come with extra support, and you can connect with other like-minded individuals.
These high-level programs give you the tools you need to overcome obstacles and get in the right mindset to take your business to the next level.
Don’t look at mastermind programs as an expense but as an investment. Keep taking action to move yourself and your business forward.

TWEETABLE QUOTES:

“As you invest more, you get more.” - Jason Duprat

“All sorts of cool things could happen if you show up and do the work.” - Jason Duprat

CONNECT WITH JASON DUPRAT:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook Group

RESOURCES:

Sign up for one of our free business start-up Masterclasses by heading over to https://healthcareboss.org/masterclass/
Have a healthcare business question? Text me at 386-284-4955, and I’ll add you to my contacts. Occasionally, I’ll share important announcements and answer your questions as well.
Do you enjoy our podcast? Leave a rating and review: https://lovethepodcast.com/hea