Pharmpreneur of the week Jason Chenard: "I never thought I would take on more than an hourly paycheque as a pharmacist."

Snapshot:

Education

BScPhm, University of Toronto, 2008

Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist

Certified Diabetes Educator

Roles

Pharmacy Manager, Metro Pharmacy, Sudbury, ON

CEO, Noelville & Alban Pharmacies, French River, ON www.frenchriverpharmacies.ca

Founder of the Leadership + Wellness platform Layered Leadership

What excites you about being an entrepreneur?

The core result of entrepreneurial success occurs when someone trades their hard-earned money for a product or service you created because it provides tangible value that enriches their life. Believing in that moment is what the entrepreneurial spirit is all about. 

A specific strategy up to now has been finding comfort and excitement in having a diversifying portfolio of revenue generating pathways, such as a corporate pharmacy job, independent pharmacy ownership and services through the pharmacy leadership and wellness platform Layered Leadership, like digital tools, public speaking, coaching, and an athletic apparel partnership. 

How has your entrepreneurial career evolved since your graduation?

I never thought I would take on more than an hourly paycheque as a pharmacist. Organically, I was pulled toward growing responsibilities in exciting ventures that complemented my patient care duties. Over 15 years of practising, new doors opened that led to a host of enriching activities.

I see true entrepreneurship as something that builds on previous steps to discover a more and more fine-tuned, relevant product/service until it strikes gold. What worked last year works less this year unless it gets continually improved, and often the final result is not something you could have ever imagined from the step 1 vantage point.

How do you define success?

Seeing products that your teams create evolve into better and better versions that meet the growing needs of customers while managing a healthy work/life balance. For me, these products and services are the growing care programs we provide from the pharmacies as well as the writing, coaching, speaking and digital tools provided by Layered Leadership. 

Work-life balance comes from finding an extracurricular life in seasons (i.e., coaching my kids’ hockey teams in the winter and racing triathlon in the summer, each which incorporates family elements and time alone).

Understanding the 7 characteristics that I believe leaders practise guides me through association with the right people and creating the right systems to balance a busy work and home portfolio.

What are the biggest challenges to being an entrepreneur?

In being a creator or running a business there is no road map, we don’t necessarily know we have the right answer. It's not like Grade 9 math, where you flip to the back of the book to check your answer. 

We have to be comfortable having skin in the game and trusting ourselves and those around us when things get tough. We have to remember that when others put down something we are in charge of, is it not a reflection of us personally, but a reflection of a product that is not yet perfect.  

We have to remind ourselves that rarely does anyone complement us when we are right and that those providing feedback have spent less time that we have analyzing the process that brought our creations to life.

What books/resources do you recommend for every entrepreneur to check out?

How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Think Again by Adam Grant