Scripting your Personal Brand | Adam Martin, PharmD, 'The Fit Pharmacist'

Transcript Disclaimer: This transcript is generated using speech-to-text technology and contains multiple spelling errors and inaccuracies. It is only intended to capture the essence of the conversation. 

[00:00:15] Adam Martin, PharmD: Well, hello, Adam. Thanks so much for having me on. 

[00:00:17] Mike Koelzer, Host: Thanks for joining us. I've seen you all over and you're always popping up on my screen and it's time we sat down and talk 

[00:00:26] Adam Martin, PharmD: finally, almost a year later, right? Yeah. Adam, 

[00:00:30] Mike Koelzer, Host: for the people who haven't come across, you introduce yourself and tell our listeners what's going on.

Hot. Why are we talking to them? 

[00:00:40] Adam Martin, PharmD: Absolutely. So I'm just a normal dude that really loves pharmacy and fitness. So back in the day, when no one knew what Instagram was, I made an account called the fit pharmacist, put those two passions together and just relentlessly pursued it. And through that process brought me to a lot of pharmacists, pharmacy students, and then really bled into all of other niches of health.

To find people that are really committed to dispense their full potential and sharing their struggles, sharing tips that they've had to overcome and just creating a community of inspiration, which I honestly didn't create intentionally, but that's what it's become and grown into a business. And that's really, uh, where all of it started.

So yeah, I'm just a dude that loves pharmacy and fitness. That's really it. 

[00:01:27] Mike Koelzer, Host: I've got to add something to that now because. I know you love pharmacy because I saw your award of a pharmacist of the year. And you in fact, work in a community setting. 

[00:01:41] Adam Martin, PharmD: Yes, full-time. Uh, since I graduated pharmacy school back in 2012.

[00:01:46] Mike Koelzer, Host: Okay. So I know you love that, and I know you love fitness. That's where I've seen all your stuff. But when I went on your website today, About the stuff that you're speaking about. And when I look there, I see, because that's how you can always tell really what someone loves, what they're talking about. And when I looked at your speaking bureau things, I'm seeing a lot about branding.

[00:02:18] Adam Martin, PharmD: Exactly. And I love how you introduced what I'm about and then led directly to that because honestly it's been. Quite a journey of passion and of purpose and how that started was just, like I said, I was a dude passionate about pharmacy and fitness. And because I pursued that pretty much like a full-time job, as far as helping people who are struggling and making content videos, articles, just literally jumping on the phone with students or pharmacists that were having a hard time.

Uh, I just created this community that was so strong. It became a brand, which I didn't even do intentionally, to be honest, 

[00:02:57] Mike Koelzer, Host: helping students and pharmacists do their fitness. 

[00:03:03] Adam Martin, PharmD: Yeah. So when I say fitness, I don't mean necessarily what the scale says or what you look like or how much you can bench, uh, so much more than that.

It really started for me that way. That was how my journey was. And it really started with an embattled journey in a way. Where I realized that fitness is way more than just physical. It's actually more mental. And if you're in pharmacy, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Stress dealing with the environment exams.

If you're in pharmacy school, if you don't have your mental fitness on point, you will destroy yourself mentally, physically. You won't want to go to the gym. You'll make less than ideal food choices to say it as, as good as possible. Um, so yeah, that's really all encompassing. So you've got, you've got your mental health.

You've got your physical fitness and then where I've really dove deep into in the last few years has been spiritual fitness and really bringing faith in the pharmacy. So that's, that's really been my, my vision for myself and what I've helped other people do as well. If 

[00:04:04] Mike Koelzer, Host: you haven't been on to see Adam stuff, you got to go on because he does a lot of recording when he's out walking and things like that.

And I love to see that combination of things, but Adam. When I see your speaking stuff. Now you're talking a lot about branding. Now, if I told you right now, Adam, you've got to take one of the three away. You can't do one of the three anymore. Which one would it be if you had to take one away, 

[00:04:40] Adam Martin, PharmD: it would be the one that the audience needs least.

And that's really where my brand has come from is how can I best serve my audience? It's not about what I want or, you know, anything like that. It's who's my tribe and what is most important to them and that's what I'm going to do. And that's actually where the branding stuff came from. Uh, so I was really passionate about fitness and pharmacy and sharing those types of things.

But about a year ago, I started to have a lot of people hit me up on Instagram. If you're there, that's where I'm most active at the fit pharmacist, but they'd be asking like, dude, how did you build such a strong brand? And I didn't, I was like, what do you mean? Like, I did not go into this like posting social.

I did not like that I'm going to build a brand like that was not my intention. But I started to realize that that's exactly what was created and it was strong. Um, I have people involved, actively involved from about 30 different countries. Um, I have my book sold in 20 countries. I have people all over the world.

I want to speak in Ireland in January. I have never been there before. And 90% of the room knew who I was that blew me away. And I was just like, what the heck is going on? And so I started to realize that dude, you build a brand. And I was like, I got to figure out like, reverse. So straight up, I wasn't this, you know, guru genius of like, here's, you know, here's the plan and dah, dah, dah.

It was, I followed my passion genuinely. How can I help people? Not my, not all like to help people second, but first, like I have this passion. What are people reaching out to me about? What are they struggling with? Where, where is there a spot in pharmacy and in health? That needs to be improved as far as making solutions easier, simpler, or just more entertaining because you know, pharmacy can be super stressful.

That's one of the things I started my whole brand and speed talking about. So if you can't have fun doing it, you're not going to last in the long term. And that's really what I'm about 

[00:06:40] Mike Koelzer, Host: to your brand building without you even knowing it in 

[00:06:42] Adam Martin, PharmD: working and meeting and speaking with literally thousands of pharmacists and students over the years.

I found those that make the most impact are those who have a strong passion outside of pharmacy. And here's how that works and, and why having a personal brand is really so essential to stand out in such a competitive industry. When you go to pharmacy school, regardless of where you go, you're taught to think a certain way because you're a pharmacist.

However, there are problems, issues, things that might be solved, but not. So, if everyone's thinking the same way to solve the same problem, you're going to get the same result. The people that are innovating and leading pharmacy, they're awesome at pharmacy, but they also have a side hobby, a passion that's not necessarily directly related to pharmacy, but because they're thinking in that lane, in that niche, in that mindset, They have that capacity to bring that way of thinking over to pharmacy, because how many pharmacists do you know that are race car drivers?

How many pharmacists do you know that are professional poets? I know these people, but you might not have heard of them. So when they come into a problem, a situation they're like, oh, well in poetry, when I get stuck, this is how I come up with my next line. Well, whenever I am driving 150 miles an hour on a race.

I don't look at the problem at the wall. That ahead. I look where I want to go, because that's where the car's going to go. I'm going to take that same psychology and apply it to this problem. And that's how innovation happens. 

[00:08:15] Mike Koelzer, Host: It's not based on coming up with something that no one's thought of before.

It's just exactly what you said. It's taking what another industry has done and. To your own industry. And you can see that across, across everywhere. You know, you look at everybody like Dyson comes to mind with his vacuums. He's always comparing it to something else, how he did this because it was something else.

And so that's very strong. Determinant of ingenuity and invention. Just taking something from the other part of life on the branding. When people come to you and say, what do I do for branding? It seems to me that this is the easy answer. Find a passion and tell the world about it. What am I missing 

[00:09:05] Adam Martin, PharmD: there? So that's part of it.

And you definitely want to do something that you like because there are going to be a lot of times where you don't want to do it, but if you like what you're doing, you'll be able to push through that and be so glad that you did. Um, but when it comes to building a brand, here's the reality of pharmacy.

And if you're a pharmacist or a pharmacy student, you know, this whole thing. Not music to your ears, but you'll nod your head, but also just shake your head because it's so true. The reality is that competition is just out of control. So the point, and this is the truth. Every single person graduating has a doctorate.

And back in the day, even before pharm D LAN B farm. If you got that doctorate or beef farm, you were set for life, you could get a pension, you could rock it with six figures, all this stuff nowadays. It's now up to the level of doctorate is the standard, but that's not like the end point where you can rest on your coattails and coast through your career.

That's your starting place. That's where the game begins. Yes. I'm not saying that you have to go out and you have to do a residency, you have to do a fellowship. You have to go and get more degrees than a thermometer. What I'm saying is you have to leverage your expertise. I know people that quote only have a pharm D that are thriving and dominating their career in a niche where others have, you know, master's PhD, all that stuff.

So it doesn't necessarily mean you have to get more degrees. What it means is you have. Focused. And the key with a brand is not being a Jack of all trades and master of none, but it's this, you want to be able to go an inch wide and a mile deep. So if you're going to take that deep dive, you better do it about something that you enjoy.

Do 

[00:10:48] Mike Koelzer, Host: You still talk brand to people outside of social media? A lot 

[00:10:55] Adam Martin, PharmD: of people here personal brand and think that's synonymous with social media. Social media is a tool to leverage your personal brand, but it's not all essential. I know people that have built amazing brands that never were on social media, literally multi-million dollar businesses until I talked to them about social and they realize that they're giving up an opportunity and they started to get in on that.

So social media, you don't have to use it in order to build your brand. You can do it. Through people, your personal brand is looking at yourself as an influential means to help other people with your passion, every or brand is, 

[00:11:32] Mike Koelzer, Host: it might not be a worldwide brand. It might be a brand. And just the people that you're immediately influencing is that right?

[00:11:38] Adam Martin, PharmD: Your personal brand is what other people say about you when you're not in. So that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be on social media. That doesn't mean you have to post 20 times a day. It means, are you doing what you say you do? Are you leading by example? Are you stepping up to do the things that are challenging, that most people wouldn't to really help other people because you can post all you want.

And I see this, unfortunately, all the time you see someone on social that, that acts, you know, they have. Imagine one way, but then you meet them in person and they're not anything like that. And that's one reason why I love speaking because you get to see I'm the crazy weird dude. The same on social media as I am in person.

Like that's genuinely me. So, and by the way, I can't take credit. That's actually a quote from Jeff Bezos of a company you might've, might've heard from, uh, so just to give a little more weight to that, but it's the truth. So social media is a tool, but it's not, if you're not on social media, you can't have a brand.

Oh, I don't like social media, so I can't have a personal brand. Not at all. It's how you choose to represent yourself in the work that you do for the service of others. That's my original quote. And I just did that right here. Well, mark it. I'm going to listen to this and write it down because I'm like, oh, I can make a meme out of that.

Do you 

[00:12:52] Mike Koelzer, Host: read, do you like to watch movies? 

[00:12:56] Adam Martin, PharmD: I read three books a month and if a movie catches my eye I will definitely be, uh, all immersed in it. I used to read a 

[00:13:03] Mike Koelzer, Host: ton until I was like 40 and then. Well, a lot of the stuff was repetitive. Sometimes you hear stuff up to a certain age and it's repetitive. You read three a month and that's a goal of yours.

[00:13:17] Adam Martin, PharmD: Um, uh, I wouldn't necessarily say a goal as far as a habit. Like it's just been such a routine and it's improved so many areas of my life. It's just been something that really. Bleeds into elevating everything. Is it a pattern, 

[00:13:31] Mike Koelzer, Host: three books? I mean, that came out very 

[00:13:34] Adam Martin, PharmD: easily. Yes. And the reason I answered so quickly is I got asked that question.

Because I write a ton, I've been a healthcare blogger. I've written over 300 articles. I've written two books. I've co-authored three other ones. So I do a lot of writing and you don't write a lot unless you read a lot. I have a lot of quotes and I'm interviewed on podcasts like yours, and I'm asked these sorts of questions and it normally leads people to say, how much do you read?

So I started to get asked this so frequently I started to. How much do I read? So I just started to pay attention to my way three times a month. Yeah. So my goal is 10 pages a day. You do have a goal of that 10 pages a day. Yeah. 10 pages a day. It's very simple. What can you do, and that's what I help people do? How can you, you know, solve the world's problems in a day?

How can you create a consistent habit that will allow you to get there almost mindlessly? Because it's ingrained into me, I have to do this before I go to bed. So 10, 10 pages a day, but then my work commute. So the pharmacy is roughly 45 minutes one way, but there's no traffic. And that's how I got into audible audiobooks and podcasts and things like that over the years.

So audible books plus reading, that's kind of what it turns into. 

[00:14:47] Mike Koelzer, Host: I got a free subscription to condense books. I realized that's my relaxing time. I don't like to really think, but I realized the condensed books were. Too short. Do you find that when you're reading a book, it turns into a book because of a lot of the fluff?

Or do you like the depth? What if I said Adam, all those books you're reading. Why don't you get the cliff notes of the book and you'd pick up the same, would you say? No, I like the depth of the flow and all that. 

[00:15:17] Adam Martin, PharmD: So here's how books work. One concept goes. That is literally what books are focused on. Good books are focused.

One main concept, then you get down to the sub concepts and then in order to bridge those, you need context. You need a story. So some people there that's what they like, boom, boom, boom. Some people like the story. So it's interesting you say that because that's included in my three books is I can listen to books that are Clifton.

I listened to an audible book or a podcast. And then I read a book like physically where I write more. I probably write more in the margins than there are letters in the book. Um, but that's just how I learn as I like to take notes and just physically kinesthetically learn in that way. So I think it really depends.

And if you're in a high traffic area, like for me, I wouldn't be able to, I wouldn't be able to focus. Uh, but some people do 

[00:16:09] Mike Koelzer, Host: with that definition. Do you feel cheated with cliff notebooks or do you usually like to get through a book? 

[00:16:13] Adam Martin, PharmD: Well, it depends. Like if you want to do a, if you want to do a class.

Maybe that sparks such an interest. That one point, that one idea that you want to go deeper and maybe, and it could be a time-saver. So maybe you thought it would be this huge enlightening thing. You read the cliff notes and you're like, that was dumb. I knew that already. So you just saved yourself an immense amount of time from reading a book and not enjoying that process, because that would probably lead you to break that habit.

So it could be very valuable, not just for allowing you to. Learn something, but really bring you to a crossroads of, do I want to dive deeper in this? Or is this something that I need to put on the 

[00:16:47] Mike Koelzer, Host: shelf? Uh, a psychiatrist I listened to recently said that most people, if you stress them in two or three areas, They're going to be like a raft where a seam is going to break loose and that's going to be their mental illness.

So Adam, what mental illness do you feel closest to? Do you feel susceptible to any mental illnesses? And I'll tell you, you know, for me, too many things happen and I start to get anxious, you know? And then sometimes I get depressed because I'm so anxious. If you get pressed in certain areas, And who knows what they would be.

Maybe your health got taken out from Andrea, maybe family member, maybe career something or other what mental illness would you think you'd be most susceptible 

[00:17:35] Adam Martin, PharmD: to? That's how this whole thing started was actually out of depression. So that's actually what led me into pharmacy in fitness and the whole deal.

So the whole reason I got into pharmacy is my mom was diagnosed with very aggressive stage four cancer and given less than six months. Now at the time of diagnosis, I did not know that because her attitude was such that that might be what the doctors say, but that's not what I believe. So she literally did everything she could and ended up fighting for five years.

Um, but in that time and a little background story on me, I knew no pharmacists, no family members, no neighbors, no, nobody. I didn't know what a pharmacist was, but we were in the pharmacy most days. So, all I knew was these were really smart people in white coats running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

And that's all I knew, that was my view of pharmacy. So the thing that caught my attention was these total strangers would actually take the time seeing how busy they were and how many, obviously, how many other things were going on for a total stranger to ask them, you know, how's your mom. If you guys ever can't get into the pharmacy, we'd be happy to deliver it.

It's, you know, you're not, you're not far away. We live pretty close by, and that caught my attention because around that time I was, uh, ending high school and I thought I wanted to be a vet for like my whole life, because I love dogs. I love animals. So I ended up shadowing. A vet hospital for like nine months.

And I did not like it at all because they put animals to sleep like every day now for good reason. Because they were in pain and everything else, but I just couldn't deal with that. Right. You have to deal with that. Yeah. I mean, I thought it was going to be like, you know, you go in and play fetch and all this, but then when you like, you know, logically think about it, you know, happy puppies don't tend to go to the vet.

You know, but that concept is what's. So I wouldn't give so many Dutch people stress and pharmacy because they get so fed up with patients and they get so angry that they're mistreating them and yelling at them. But. Are people that are having a great day that are super healthy coming into the pharmacy, just to say hello, or were they just diagnosed with an illness or their wife was just in a car accident or, you know, some catastrophe happened.

So you have to realize that people are coming into the pharmacy. Are not having a good day. And most people, not just in the pharmacy, but just in general, don't have self-awareness. So they might have this unresolved pain. They might have this unresolved anger. They might feel like they're trying to talk to their doctor, but there's still their doctor not listening to them.

So they're super frustrated. So what ends up happening is they start to project these feelings onto you. Now I'm not saying that you should tolerate abuse or anything like. But what I am saying is you have to realize where people are coming from. You have to realize where you are. You are literally in a place where sick people come to get their medication.

They're not having a good day. So if you approach that with grace and compassion, you're going to realize that if there is some inner interaction, that's not ideal, realize that it's not about. It's about what they're dealing with and realize that most people are just projecting those to whoever's around them.

And if you can realize that and really adopt that parrot with faith, that allows you to say, Hey, this person might be acting this way, but do I ever act that way? Did I ever get grace from Jesus Christ? Because if I get it, who am I not to give it? Right. Eh, come back to one of the classic stories. You know, someone is coming at you like, oh, you gotta get, you gotta get that, get that out of your eye.

You've got that, that, that issue going on, like, I would love to help you remove the speck out of your eye, but I can't see it from the log in life. Right or, uh, let he, who is without sin cast the first stone. So once you really humble yourself and have that dose of humility, you're going to be able to dispense a lot more compassion.

And I think that as pharmacists, yes, we're the medication experts, but also we're hope dealers. And we have to really realize the amazing position we're placed in to be that person in that person's life to dispense more than Medicaid. But to be a hope dealer to dispense that dose of humanity, that really connects us with this.

Person's in my corner. They're here to help me and I trust them. And that's what a pharmacist is. You're not susceptible well, no, you are susceptible. 

[00:22:14] Mike Koelzer, Host: No, you add them. Your not susceptible. 

[00:22:18] Adam Martin, PharmD: No, no. That's what I'm saying is once you have depression, it's not like, oh, I had, you know, I had, I had this, uh, infection and I took this medication.

I'm gone. This is something you're susceptible to. So you have to constantly manage this. It's not something that rules your life, but it's something that you have to really focus on and realize that I am not depressed. I had this condition. I see 

[00:22:42] Mike Koelzer, Host: you as being, uh, And I see you as trying to help people, but I know all of us have a reason for it.

And it sounds like as I look around your stuff about stuff like hope and so on, that is from a buddy who has tasted depression in the past and has worked on. And that could be a place that if you didn't work on it, that might be the place where you would have been, if you didn't change your address. 

[00:23:11] Adam Martin, PharmD: Yeah.

Just really being aware and saying like, why do I feel so crappy? And, uh, it actually came back to junior high school. That's when I got into lifting and a couple of friends in my math class were like, well, we're going to lift after. And I just said, oh, can I. And that's literally where it started and it turned into this whole thing, but fitness really became my medicine.

That's an area 

[00:23:31] Mike Koelzer, Host: where fitness, giving other people hope, expanding the joy of our Lord and those kinds of things. Those are all ways to give people hope. And the opposite of hope is really despair. And arguably 

[00:23:45] Adam Martin, PharmD: depression. Yeah. But that's it, it's one thing to tell someone like, oh, you're going to get better and have a good day.

But it's another thing to say, like, I understand how you feel. I suffered from depression too. Here's how I got through it. Let's have a conversation about where you are and where I can help you, or just what you'd like to learn about what, what are you struggling with, where's your mind at? And, if you look at my posts, my main platform again is on Instagram.

If you look at my post. Just really just through my feed, you'll see those black squares of quotes. And it's not just posting a motivational quote, but if you read the caption there's a story behind where that came from and leading people on that story to a place of understanding of what that means, giving it context from either someone that I've met in my life or someone.

Uh, has been in my life and sharing that story through that process. So I think that's really what coming back to a personal brand is . How can you use your story to be of service to others? Because when you share that the good, the bad, the ugly, you're going to be able to tell other people who are feeling hopeless, who are feeling like I'm labeled as this, or I'm labeled as whatever.

I can't do it. I'm not good enough. You're saying. That might be how you feel now. I used to feel that way too. Here's where I started. And here's the process that led me to where I am today. 

[00:25:13] Mike Koelzer, Host: So when you talk about the good, the bad and the ugly, the bad and the ugly, you share some of those times that you had come out 

[00:25:20] Adam Martin, PharmD: of.

Because you can't relate with people like if someone's struggling and you can't say like, I've gone through that, no, no one's going to care. But when you meet them where they are and show them the potential of where they can be, then they start to get curious because they see you as someone who gets it.

And I think that's why with my speaking career and helping people with branding it's become so impactful because I practice what I preach. It comes back to that same con. And if you can do that, you're going to be able to be successful in whatever endeavor you're going after. Time-wise. 

[00:25:57] Mike Koelzer, Host: I don't know, five, 10 years from now.

Let's say, even though you're able to, and you still want to share pharmacies, share fitness, share branding, and so on, what would you like to be doing with your time in 10 years? Would you, would you like to be traveling and. Breaking: would you like to be shacked up in a cabin in Montana and not see anybody and do this online?

What would be a perfect day for you? A perfect week for you 10 years from 

[00:26:31] Adam Martin, PharmD: now. So the reason I'm able to do what I do, uh, for so long. And so the degree I do it is because I genuinely love people. So without a doubt, it would be traveling as a speaker and there's. So in the NSA that I'm involved in the national speakers association, so people, you might be familiar with Les brown.

Uh, but interesting. I became professional in, uh, October of 2019 and fun, fun fact, the first ever pharm D to be a NSA professional speaker. No kidding. Yes. What does that mean? The tour. So in order to do that, you have to do 20 paid talks in a 12 month time. To an audience of more than 15 to 20 people.

Interesting. So I did that while working full-time and in the community. I don't know how, but again, God put that in my site back at the end of 2018, I had an opportunity to speak at a university to 200 faculty. And I just felt so alive. Like I've never liked the only time I felt that way. It was my first day of pharmacy school orientation, where I was like, this is what I was meant to do.

And that's the only other time I felt. So I had a friend who was a professional speaker, and did that for a living. And he invited me to an NSA meeting. Uh, I went and I was like, these are my people. The only way this would be better is if they were all pharmacists. But, so I went on that journey and that's, I mapped out 2019 in NSA.

The highest credential you can get is being a CSP, a certified speaking professional. So in order to do that, you have to pay 200 dollars. No timeframe or necessarily, so mapping that out of how long that would take me, uh, 20 talks a year. It was a stretch. I don't know how I did it, but I did it in 10 months actually.

So I thought, you know, if I can do about 20 talks a year, Uh, times 10 years that'll lead me right up to CSP. So that's really, my long range goal is to do that. Speaking is my calling. Uh, it's a gift that I've been given from God. And it's something that I can't take for granted. I needed to develop because I've seen the impact that it has on lives.

Um, whenever I talk, normally it's an hour, but I'm there for a good three hours after because of the people coming up, you know, in tears telling you their stories and they still connect with. Two years ago, and I still get messages from people to this day. And that's just a blessing like, um, uh, that's not me, like that's, God's gift to me and I'm just the vessel to spread that message.

So, uh, really using that platform, tying it back to God and leading people to that by sharing the struggles and the practical ways to overcome. With my flare of entertainment, being weird makes it a cool experience. And that's really what I like to do is not just talk, but really invite people in for that experience.

And I call it tricking people into learning. So you're there, you're enjoying it, but you really get actionable content that you can put into practice that will guarantee. Increase your life, your performance as a student, as a pharmacist, whatever it might be. Uh, so yeah, that that's really phenomenal and I'm always open to stepping up to the challenge.

One example is, uh, when I was speaking in Moines at the Midwest pharmacy expo, this, uh, this winter, one of the people in the audience was like, Hey, I'm on the board for a state pharmacy organization and would love to have you be the keynote speaker. Talked, you know, sold. They loved it. So, uh, last, so we're right now, this is recording in July.

So last month they were, uh, you know, reaching out like, Hey, you're gonna come here. You gonna come? Well, the reason is that it's in Minnesota, uh, right. Where everything went down with, you know, the race rides and everything else. And they were like, are you still going to I'm like, absolutely.

Like I was called. Like I don't shy away from adversity. Like this is, this is an opportunity that can't be wasted like this. This is an amazing time to really use our platform as pharmacists to be more of that. And I actually did a podcast video, uh, down in Pittsburgh, uh, in the, in the race riots, in, in the protests, uh, that were peaceful and good purpose.

And when COVID hit, I mean, pharmacy times reached out and I've been doing a lot of things with them, helping farmers. Uh, and it's been so successful now, I host a thing on their Instagram every Monday, uh, to help people through this time. Because it's challenging. Uh, if you go to my website, there's a banner, you know, COVID-19 resources for pharmacists, um, because it's not easy.

It might look like this is easy for me, but we all have struggles from different areas. So just providing resources, again, asking people, coming back to how we started this podcast, asking people, what are you struggling with and how can I use my skills, my passions to help you. And without a doubt, it was, you know, how do I deal with, you know, COVID and being in the epicenter.

And one of the only places open the people are coming to, how do I deal with that stress? How do I deal with all these new roles, like testing for COVID like, I'm not a testing center, but now I'm required to do it. Like. These are real things. And if you're able to provide hope by saying like, oh, I do that.

So let me share with you not, this is the right answer, but this is how I chose to do it. Just to give you some potential perspective that might lead you to finding a way that you'll be able to handle this. So the best of your ability, how many speeches 

[00:31:28] Mike Koelzer, Host: would you like to give a 

[00:31:29] Adam Martin, PharmD: year? I think. Hmm. I don't really, so again, like 10 to 20, I think it would be healthy because again, if you don't use it, you lose it.

[00:31:38] Mike Koelzer, Host: No, no, no, no. When you resigned from pharmacy because you're speaking and everybody wants to hear Adam and you're going around the country, how many will be too much? I mean, for example, I imagine you wouldn't want to do 365 talks a year. That might 

[00:31:55] Adam Martin, PharmD: be the need then, but I don't know, like, I don't know if I'll have kids.

I don't know what that's gonna look like. So I, you really have to look at the context of it. So I, I, my answer to that, What will the calling be? What will the need be for, for the services, for the skills that I have and where will my life be in a way that I can line that up so that I wouldn't spread myself too thin, but be able to show up at the best of my ability to serve those who are in need of it.

And that could be your full-time job. It could be, but I love pharmacy and I get asked this all the time. Like, when are you gonna leave? When are you gonna leave? I love it. I don't want to go nowhere, 

[00:32:28] Mike Koelzer, Host: but when are you going to leave, 

[00:32:31] Adam Martin, PharmD: dude? I love it. I know you love 

[00:32:32] Mike Koelzer, Host: it at, but there's always a point where let's say when you're a popular speaker and you're pulling in X, X thousand dollars per talk, I know you love it, but I love a lot of things.

It doesn't mean I do it. So everybody's like, Aw, I'll always. Five hours, 10 hours. I said, no, he probably won't. When does that time come? When you say, no, you're not used to it, you still can love it, but you can love it as a memory instead of working a four to eight hour shift. When does that happen? 

[00:33:00] Adam Martin, PharmD: That's an excellent question that I don't have an answer to.

[00:33:04] Mike Koelzer, Host: All right. Here's straight up. All right. Here's another question. You're at your speaking engagement or you're flying there and you're hanging out and you have a talk in the afternoon and then a talk the next morning or something. Then you fly out. What kind of people can't you stand being around? What kind of personality would you get back from your talk and say that was a pain in the ass being around that guy or that lady?

What are they 

[00:33:29] Adam Martin, PharmD: bugging you? I think that every opportunity is an opportunity. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. 

[00:33:35] Mike Koelzer, Host: I'm not settling for that. Adam. 

[00:33:37] Adam Martin, PharmD: You're cutting me off. I'm not able to finish the answer. So the answer is. You have to really look at what that is. So I had one talk where I had, I guess you call it a negative Nancy where someone just was, you know, Debbie down and all this stuff.

And I just asked them, Hey, I'm really curious, like, what has led you to a place where this is your reality, where you're just shooting everything down and they just opened up about their story. And I just shared with them some context to help with that. So at first. The first perspective I used to have back when I started is I don't like negative people.

I don't like spending time with that, but over time I started to realize that those are actually the best opportunities, because those are the people who need to hear this. There are the people that have given up or they've been screwed over or betrayed or whatever that might be. Where they don't even think hope is an option.

And even when hope is literally staring at them on the stage, they don't want to hear it. So if you discount those people, you're giving up an opportunity to really meet them where they are and understand them. So again, seeking to understand rather than be understood and see how you can lead them to a place not to change their life, but just plant a seed of maybe there is some hope that is where the gift is.

Are you done? Yes. 

[00:34:52] Mike Koelzer, Host: I listened. Right? You got it, but you didn't answer my question. All right. So you liked Debbie downers now, cause it gives you a chance. What kind of people bother you still? 

[00:35:03] Adam Martin, PharmD: People that don't show up or people that leave on the talk. 

[00:35:06] Mike Koelzer, Host: Ah, okay. But you're going to twist that to something good too.

And then I'm going to say, well, you didn't answer my question, Adam. So if you're going to put a positive spin on that, I'm going to come right back and ask you again. All right. Then what kind of people bother you? People that keep asking you questions and interviews? I 

[00:35:22] Adam Martin, PharmD: I think this is really where faith comes in and I'm not really one to be a judge at all.

And that's really where this comes in is if you asked me this question five years ago, I'd probably spell it. Gotcha. But once humility came into play, I realized that I can't label people as you know, I don't want to deal with them or their undesirables or anything like that. Which one's going to be the most challenging, because I really believe that when you have an interaction that ticks you off or just is wrong, instead of getting upset and saying things like, I hate people like that.

What I started to do is pause and say, why has God brought that person into my life? And or why does God want me in their life at this moment? And once I started to look at life. It changed completely. So that might not be the answer you want to hear. That's the honest to God's truth of how I look at it.

[00:36:15] Mike Koelzer, Host: I don't disagree with you. We can find good and everything. And like you said, with the humility, because we all have these thoughts inside of us. We don't label ourselves as all of those. How about someone with pride that doesn't think that they need to change? 

[00:36:31] Adam Martin, PharmD: Well, two things pride is the root of all sin 

[00:36:34] Mike Koelzer, Host: pride and root of all sin.

[00:36:36] Adam Martin, PharmD: Yeah. So if you have humility that really helps with that process. Jesus, 

[00:36:41] Mike Koelzer, Host: didn't like the proud, you know, he didn't like the Pharisees and all that, who thought they had all their stuff together. 

[00:36:46] Adam Martin, PharmD: Look at the good Samaritan whenever there is someone on the side of the road and the first two people that passed them were the high and mighty.

They couldn't be bothered. Right. But the lowly center is the one who helped them. So there's a parable that would really paint that picture. Well. Um, but in regards to what, what you're asking, uh, prideful people. You can't help people who don't want help just by looking at pharmacies, right? You have all the knowledge as a pharmacist.

You let all the knowledge in the world. You can talk about mechanisms of action, side effects, discounts. But if it is, and those who have recently graduated pharmacy school or those who've been practicing for a year or two, you know what I'm talking about? When you graduate, you take your nap lecture on PGE. You're on fire.

You're the pharmacy genius, right? Where are you at? I 

[00:37:34] Mike Koelzer, Host: never really felt that way. 

[00:37:37] Adam Martin, PharmD: I've been told these 

[00:37:37] Mike Koelzer, Host: things. I missed the boat on that one. 

[00:37:40] Adam Martin, PharmD: I'm told these things, but whenever you want to, whenever you interact with patients, you really want to give them your absolute best. You want to counsel them for, you know, an hour and all this.

But if you have someone that really doesn't care, you know, you have to manage your time. Well, but you can't really force people to do what they don't want to do. And I started my business and coaching back in 2013. And I learned very quickly that, you know, we might have the best intentions. We might see the path.

They say they have this goal. We know where they are and we know where they're looking to go so we can coach them all we want. But if they're not ready, You can't do anything about it. Let's look at it from a pharmacist perspective, smoking cessation, the trans theoretical model of change. You've got the pre contemplate of the contemplate of action phase.

All that. If someone comes in and you see them, you know, they're, they're smoking and you say like, you know, are you, you want to quit? And they're like, no, I want to buy a pack of cigarettes. Why do you guys don't sell them anymore? Are you going to go into talking about it? What are you going to do? So it's the same type of thing.

Yeah. So it's 

[00:38:40] Mike Koelzer, Host: not a disdain for those people, but it's just like, there's not a connection they don't need, they don't need you at that point. And then you don't really have that connection. So it might be how's the weather and that kind of stuff. But that's about as far as it goes, 

[00:38:53] Adam Martin, PharmD: Yeah. I mean, and, and with that, it's not that, you know, you discount those people or write them off, but it's having a conversation and instead of looking to change or guide them, what if instead you just planted a seed, just a thought, like maybe, you know, you're doing great things, but maybe there's a way to take those great things and put them in a way that you can actually help others more just planning that idea.

Like, what do you think about that? Not telling someone you have to do this or you're wrong, you have to choose. But just having an honest conversation and hearing what they do, because one of two things can happen or both one they might stop and think, and you might never know what happens from that. And the other thing is the pushback that they give you might plant a seed on your own.

Yeah. And might give you a dose of humility. So that's why these interactions. And again, I know that's not the answer you want. I was messing with 

[00:39:42] Mike Koelzer, Host: you to kind of find out where this one, you know, 

[00:39:43] Adam Martin, PharmD: I appreciate that, but that's actually how I live my life. And if you ask anyone, look at any of my posts, it's not like, oh, I'm a blind optimist.

I'm a realist in the fact that. If you look at it, seek, and you shall find if you look at negative people or negative, and I only want to be with positive people, let's look at Jesus Christ. Did he hang out with all the people that were leading the church? All the holy mighty. No. He was hanging out with prostitutes and centers because those are the people he could help.

And those are the people who are needed. If a spark 

[00:40:11] Mike Koelzer, Host: was going to show on their eyes, it was going to be from them typically not the, you know, the high and mighty. 

[00:40:17] Adam Martin, PharmD: I'm not trying to live a prideful life, but I'm really trying to approach it with humility and ask, how can I live my life? Like Jesus. I'm not sure.

We'll never get even close, but if I strive for that, I guarantee I'll make progress along the way. And that's what I'm trying to do. Yeah. Because 

[00:40:31] Mike Koelzer, Host: Jesus, he always pulled us to our best. I mean, cause you, you have him saying two things, you have him saying forgiving someone seven times 70, and then you also have him saying, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

As a parent, I might do that. Or as a husband, I might do that. When I screw up with my wife, it's like, yeah, I, I need that forgiveness, but that doesn't leave me down. And the doms, I've got this hope of following what Jesus can do of being perfect as his heavenly father's perfect high goals for us, but we're met where 

[00:41:01] Adam Martin, PharmD: we are, what you said.

I'm so glad you said that because that ties into. One of the biggest issues that we have as a profession for pharmacy students and pharmacists it's type A, which is why we're good as pharmacists, paying attention to detail and doing everything. But it's also a curse with a blessing, trying to be perfect, comparing ourselves.

We're a first year pharmacy student, but we're comparing ourselves to our prep, to our professor that has more letters after their name than letters in their name. And we feel bad about ourselves because we're not there. And y'all are laughing because you guys know you do it and that's our profession.

But the message I want to really harp on here is it's good to have that goal, but instead of focusing on achieving perfection, which is an illusion, focus instead on progress, because progress over perfection, if you can do that and share that journey. You have a story that allows people to see how you're going and how you can guide them.

And therein lies the foundation for your personal brand. 

[00:42:04] Mike Koelzer, Host: You 

can compare yourself to who you were 

yesterday. 

[00:42:08] Adam Martin, PharmD: It's a process. Yeah. It's, it's not a, it's not an end destination. It's not, you know, when I want to have this contract or have these many followers I give up, no, no, this is an evolutionary process to dispense your full potential and do that in a way that fulfills you, but allows others to benefit from that too.

That's what makes it fun, because again, this is a process. So if you're not enjoying it, what's the point. So that's why you really need to have that guide. And. have that Process laid out so that you can make sure you're maximizing your time from someone who's actually done that themselves so that you can have that trust and not if, but when you come against those struggles or limiting beliefs or self-doubts Someone's there that says I went through that too. Here's how we can overcome that together. 

[00:42:57] Mike Koelzer, Host: I 

might start that process one of these years of trying to become a better person.

I'm not sure when, well, Adam has been a pleasure. I can picture you in stages across the country, bringing this important message to people. So keep up the good work. Thank you, 

[00:43:13] Adam Martin, PharmD: sir. I appreciate the opportunity and thank you for all you're doing with, uh, taking so many amazing leaders. Are they humble to me, great people?

Yeah. Just phenomenal and giving voice to them so that they can share their story and give that just spark of hope to make people think. Hmm. I wonder if I can do that too. All right, Adam, we'll be in 

[00:43:32] Mike Koelzer, Host: touch. Thank you, sir. Thank you.