Second Act: Pharmacist turned coach

Second Act: In this new series, we profile pharmacists who have gone on to pursue other professions, sometimes outside of healthcare entirely. Conducting this interview from her home office on Vancouver Island, Karen Graham admits her life is pretty idyllic now, thanks in part to hard work and a willingness to take risks throughout her career. After graduating from the University of Toronto’s School of Pharmacy, she spent time as a hospital pharmacy director and later a pharmacy consultant with the Ontario Hospital Association before joining Glaxo Canada as manager of professional relations. All of these work environments, she says, gave her opportunities to grow a network of interesting and influential healthcare stakeholders who inspired her to launch her own consulting business, Panacea Canada Inc., in 1993. Over the last 29 years, Graham has been helping people and corporations in Canada and internationally determine ‘what’s next’ and ‘how to get there.’ “My clients over the years have been hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical companies, associations and others in healthcare,” she said. “I love working with people to help them solve problems and giving them the tools and support to succeed.” In addition to doing operational hospital reviews, she has provided strategic planning and facilitated numerous group collaborations. “I’ve been very lucky to facilitate, for example, consensus meetings where there were those from pharmacy as well as others in the world of healthcare, which opened doors to working with new circles.” She even tried her hand at politics running as the Liberal federal candidate for Ontario’s Simcoe North riding in 2005. She lost a very close race but says the experience was "fantastic" nonetheless because it gave her a chance to meet a ton of interesting people. In 2000, Graham added coaching to her repertoire and earned a post-graduate certificate in addiction treatment and prevention from Georgian College. “It gives me an opportunity to work with someone on a personal level and help them move forward in whatever way they define that,” she said, noting that coaching is now her primary focus as she scales down to semi-retirement. “I’ve always made sure to have other things going on in my life and a huge benefit of being self-employed is that I can take a day off when I want to.” These days, that means finding time for art classes and plenty of outdoor time with her “high-energy puppy.” While self-employment isn’t for everyone, Graham says she has reveled in navigating her entrepreneurial path. “Sure, there’s not a paycheck every two weeks and lots of people wouldn’t be comfortable with that, but I love the fact I am responsible for my own success,” she said. Throughout her career, she credits her pharmacy training for giving her the discipline and ability to rationally analyze situations. “It’s about being able to talk to all kinds of healthcare professionals in their language,” she said. “Plus, pharmacists are very generous, bright and funny people and that’s a great network to have.” Know a pharmacist doing something “different”? Tell us about them. Read: Second Act: Opting for the legal way

Second Act: Pharmacist turned coach

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics