Leaving Behind the Pharmacy: A Bold Step Towards True Fulfillment

Amy Stone [00:00:03]:
Renee Yankee, welcome to Imperfect Adulting.

Renee Jahnke [00:00:08]:
Thank you so much, Amy. It’s a pleasure to be here with you.

Amy Stone [00:00:11]:
I’m really happy you’re here. Are you ready for a fun chat?

Renee Jahnke [00:00:14]:
I am ready for a fun chat. Let’s go.

Amy Stone [00:00:17]:
Let’s do it. I want to start by getting to know each other a little bit better. What part of the world do you call home?

Renee Jahnke [00:00:23]:
I call home Arvada, Colorado, which is a suburb of Denver. I’m originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but we’ve been here in Colorado for going on 25 years.

Amy Stone [00:00:37]:
25 years. That, that means you can probably call it home. So I live in, I live in Miami, Florida, which you asked me right before we got started and I said, you have to wait for this answer. So I live in Miami, Florida. And I, when I realized that I had lived in Miami longer than the place I was calling my hometown, I was like, oh, I have to change my answer here.

Renee Jahnke [00:01:00]:
Yes, yes.

Amy Stone [00:01:02]:
I just changed my answer. All right, so I’d love to learn a little bit more about you and your just personal background before we get into work and all of those things. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe some of the important people in your life if you have pets, hobbies, whatever you want to share.

Renee Jahnke [00:01:16]:
Sure. So I live in Colorado with my family. I’m married to my high school sweetheart. We are going on 30 years of marriage this year. We have one son who is turning 21 this year who we are absolutely over the moon about and super proud of. I love doing things outside in nature, in the sunshine, which I’m really thankful that we get a lot here in Colorado. Even in the winter time, we still have beautiful sunny days where even if the temperature feels like it might be too cold to get outside, it’s not. It’s wonderful. So I love walks, I love hikes, love getting together and connecting with friends. Like minded women. Gosh. What else? I love football. So I was. Well, by the time this tapes, we’re going to be well into the non football season. So I, I’m dealing with that and looking forward to August to come again.

Amy Stone [00:02:26]:
Very good. Yeah, I know football season just ended. It was Super Bowl Sunday this past Sunday and, and it is, it is interesting, right, because Florida is known as a sunshine state, but I think that Colorado actually has more sunny days than we do.

Renee Jahnke [00:02:40]:
I think you’re right.

Amy Stone [00:02:41]:
Yes, I’ve heard that. I’ve heard that. I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. I take it. I believe it. I believe it. All right. So to get to the topic of the day, we are going to talk about making the decision to walk away from a 26 in year career. Does that sound like a good topic?

Renee Jahnke [00:02:59]:
That sounds like it’s a topic I know really well.

Amy Stone [00:03:03]:
Yeah, well, you suggested it, so I just, I’m going with it. This, actually this idea of career change and job change turns out to be one of the more popular things that people want to talk about on the show. And as the host and creator of the show, I think that’s really interesting and I, one of the reasons I think it’s interesting is that that says to me that not only is it something that a lot of people are doing, it’s something that people were feel is significant and maybe they were unprepared for. And so that makes it a really valid thing to talk about. And so I’m happy to do it. How old, how old were you? So tell us what your, what it was, what the career was and how old you were when you decided that that was what you were going to do in the past.

Renee Jahnke [00:03:46]:
Yes, of course. So I was a pharmacist and a pharmacy manager for 26 years. I decided, let’s see, in early high school, I would say before ninth grade. By ninth grade, I knew that I wanted to be a medical professional. I loved the human body. I loved thinking about health and, and, and supporting people. And back then I wanted to be a doctor. And so then as I went through high school, started my first semester of college, I realized, wait a minute, I love what I’m studying and, but I want to have a family life too. And so I started looking through the, the addition, the other options of what I could do and still fulfill this need to learn about medicine and health care. And I found pharmacy and luckily was at a university that had a pharmacy school. So my, my second semester I switched to pharmacy school. So I knew back then that that’s what I wanted to do and I really loved what I was doing. Amy. It was, you know, every day was a little bit different. I started out as a hospital pharmacist. We were living in Texas at the time. And I just loved what I did. I loved the people that I worked with. We, we moved to Colorado. I, I had the opportunity to work for a, a company that was like all encompassing. So it was your, it was your, your doctor, your, the pharmacy, the lab, radiology, the insurance plan. So it was all under one one umbrella, which was, I thought really cool. And I got a lot of amazing opportunities. Sometimes when I Tell people that I was in management, they’re like, oh man, that, that’s a bummer. But it was very rewarding. I was really fortunate to work with pharmacy teams and help build them up, support them with training, help them with workflow efficiencies and just a lot of cool stuff. Work on, you know, providing quality care to the patients that came into the pharmacy. And we prided ourselves on quality customer service. So those are all things that just were like, very exciting to me, very important to me. And so I loved it.

Amy Stone [00:06:24]:
So let’s back up just a second because you said something that I want to highlight. I talked about, I love to talk to people about the choices they made. And you mentioned in there that your first dream was doctor, which a lot of times our first career we choose is just from what we know about. Like if you ask a bunch of 10 year olds what they want to do, they just pick, you know, what their parents do. Firefighters, policemen, teachers, just, you know, it’s all, you know, right. And there’s a million other jobs. So. But you said that you were aware, and I think this is young to be aware of this. You shifted because you had some life goals, family goals that you didn’t, you picked up on, didn’t align with being a doctor. So my guess is that you’re talking about the schedule and the demands on your time. Is that the right. Is that the. What was, what was making you aware of that? So you were looking. So you shifted because you wanted to have a job that aligned more with the lifestyle that you wanted and a regular schedule?

Renee Jahnke [00:07:18]:
Absolutely, yes.

Amy Stone [00:07:19]:
And I can’t tell you the number of people that I know in my own life and that I interview on the show that we don’t realize this until we’re doing the job and we realize, oh, wait, this job all happens when I want to be doing things on my own. And now I no longer want this job. So very smart, very smart. And I think that that’s a little bit of foreshadowing that will probably end up coming back to that, making a decision that aligns more with what you want to do. I’ve got a couple questions about the background for getting ready for this job. Give us an overview for people who are curious about how much education and training was involved for you just in becoming a pharmacist. Because this, I don’t think you just get to wake up one day and say, I’m a pharmacist. Yay me.

Renee Jahnke [00:08:02]:
No, no, you don’t. So I went to, when I was in college, which was a little while.

Amy Stone [00:08:11]:
Ago, dinosaurs were roaming the earth. I understand, I understand.

Renee Jahnke [00:08:17]:
There was still, what was still offered was getting a bachelor’s of science in pharmacy. And so that’s what I got first. It took me four and a half years to go through college, earn that degree. So you could either do like a four and a half or a five year program. And at our, the last semester of college this group of people came to our, my, my graduating class, my soon to be graduating class and said hey, we’re going to start offering this PharmD degree. Would you like to stay another year and get this degree? And so of course we all ask questions like what do you mean, what is this? Why would we want this? And at the time it was oh well you might want to do more, more things on the research side, stuff like this. And I was like heck no, I’m going to get out in the world and start working, want to start like doing what I have been working for. And so fast forward to the year 2000. Things really had started changing in the world of pharmacy and across the United States the pharmacy schools decided we’re no longer offering the Bachelor of science, we’re only going to offer the PharmD. And so there was a lot of nervousness in the pharmacy world at that point of what’s that mean? Are we going to be grandfathered in? What’s going to happen to us? And I still was, was relatively young and I found an online non traditional PharmD program that happened to be at the University of Colorado which I wasn’t living in Colorado yet just yet. So anyway, I decided I’m going to go after this. I don’t, we don’t, we haven’t started our family yet. It’s just me and my husband still. I have time to still work and pursue this. So because I was working full time in doing this online additional education on the side, it took me four years to get my PharmD degree. So in total, what’s that?

Amy Stone [00:10:31]:
Eight and a half, eight and a half years. Eight and a half years of education and tuition. I mean I didn’t know what the answer to that would be but I suspected that it was quite a bit of time and training. So we know that eventually you moved away from this career but before we talk about this, you started on this, talking about these things, some of the things that you enjoyed about the career, you mentioned that you enjoyed working in management and building the teams and being a part of a, a holistic program. I Guess that’s the word we’d use. Like it was comprehensive. Like lots of different things were wrapped up in it. What were some of the other things that you liked about the work you were doing as a pharmacist?

Renee Jahnke [00:11:15]:
I did enjoy while I wasn’t the typical pharmacist, dispensing pin prescriptions on the bench. Like the last 16ish years of my career because of being in management, I do remember I still really love talking to patients. So I, it’s probably becoming clear that I’m very much a people person. I love to connect with people, I love to talk to people, get to know people and really support and help people. And so anytime I was asked to, to consult with patients, I loved that. Know, sometimes conversations weren’t, weren’t that weren’t very pleasant, but for the most part I would say 90% of my conversations with patients were just really rewarding for me. Like, like those things that just fill your cup and you don’t really realize it. At the time when I was younger I, I didn’t realize it, but I knew that I liked it. So to be able to have a conversation with a stranger and they, you know, they’re wanting to know information that can help them and sometimes you’re talking about things that are life changing, they’ve just gotten a diagnosis that is pretty life changing for them. So to be able to give them just even a small piece of hope, encouragement, information to make help things be a little clearer, I, I, I always enjoyed that as well.

Amy Stone [00:12:49]:
That is, that tells, that’s a, a window into you as a person. So I appreciate you sharing that very, very much. So now let’s begin to talk about making the decision to walk away because you put a tremendous amount of time making this decision about choosing it as a career, a huge investment in time and professional training. It sounds, I believe that it’s a well recognized job, a lot of social credit, like well respected in the community to be a part of pharmacists. A lot of positives to this job. So what, how long ago was it that you began to think to yourself I’m ready to do something else?

Renee Jahnke [00:13:28]:
So it was, it was the last two years of my career in pharmacy and I walked away from that in 2019. Okay, so that’s been a number of years ago. Yeah, so two years prior I, if things had evolved, there had been lots of changes and my role changed from doing all those really phenomenal things that I got to do with teams and supporting customer service and our quality healthcare Things shifted to, we need you to keep these metrics. We need your teams to work faster. And I, I felt very much like I was running fast, a fast food chain, which didn’t align with, with what made me happy or what I felt like my purpose was. Yet when I started realizing that I was feeling this way, it. I, I couldn’t, number one, I didn’t know what else I wanted to do. I didn’t know what else was out there for me. And I kept thinking about, you know, you’ve been in this career for all the, all this time. Like, you know, I only imagined retiring and, and it, and I imagined that I would be old and gray. This is what I used to tell my husband. I’d be old and gray and someone would come and tap me on the shoulder and say, honey, it’s time.

Amy Stone [00:14:56]:
So, yeah. So. All right, so let’s dig into that a little bit more. What were. So you mentioned that you weren’t sure what else you would do, and you. It didn’t match your perception of when this change was expected to happen in your life. So what other fears and concerns did you have when started to think about this?

Renee Jahnke [00:15:16]:
So, number one, financial. I was very, I was very concerned about the financial change if I were to leave my career. Pharma.

Amy Stone [00:15:24]:
You were well compensated.

Renee Jahnke [00:15:26]:
Yeah, yeah, very well compensated. So that was number one.

Amy Stone [00:15:30]:
Yeah, fortunately, unfortunately, no, I think, I mean, you got it like money is money and we, you know, we need it to live and it’s a valid thing. And I think that it’s actually a luxury to be able to think about it before you make the decision than other situations where, like, you know, the company goes bankrupt, it’s pushed on you, you know, and then you’re in a different situation. So. Yeah, so you were thinking about the finances. You didn’t know what you were going to do. You mentioned that your job had changed. Would you say. I’m not looking for, like an industry explanation, but was this something that was happening specific to the job that you had in the company you worked for, or were there some other things changing in the world of pharmacy overall? Because I think that in my lifetime, my pharmacy has changed a lot. Like the way I think when I think of going to the pharmacy when I was a kid, I mean, I don’t know. This is a very unrealistic description because I’m not a pharmacist. It’s just my consumer experience. But now it’s like so many things are just done, like mail order, like, like I go to the dermatologist, she just calls it in, it comes in the mail. It really feels like things have changed.

Renee Jahnke [00:16:37]:
Yes, absolutely. So no, this, this was not only at the company that I was the organization I work, it was across the board and actually we, I felt like our organization was the last one of the last to move into that, that mindset or that, that way of doing business and pharmacy, so retail. So what you, you think of when you go to your, your local pharmacy, that they had evolved to that already. And so we were kind of like the one still focusing on the other things of the business, the quality healthcare, superb customer service, that kind of stuff, building up your team so that they can get. Provide great health care to patients. So we were kind of on the back end of it, but yes, industry wide.

Amy Stone [00:17:32]:
Industry wide. All right, very good. So who was on your. When you started to think about this? You were experiencing, it sounds to me like displeasure in the daily, daily grind. Right? It’s coming up on you on a daily grind. Who is your support team as you are going through this? Because one of the challenges that I think I’m aware of when people are making these lifestyle changes is sometimes we’re so siloed in what we’re doing, everybody around us is doing the same thing. So when you think about, hey, I’m going to change, maybe you don’t talk to your coworkers about it, maybe you don’t talk to your boss about it. So who is your support team when you began to have these thoughts and do the research?

Renee Jahnke [00:18:15]:
So first my husband. Absolutely. And he knew that I wasn’t happy because, you know, things were evolving. I was coming home more stressed, I was working more hours and I became that person that on Sunday started dreading that I had to go to work the next day, which was a really big eye opener for me.

Amy Stone [00:18:36]:
Yeah, there’s a name for that. I forget what that’s called. The money or something like that.

Renee Jahnke [00:18:42]:
Yeah, yeah. But I knew that was like a big fat red flag for me. I did confide in a couple of co workers, people that were, were my peers that I was closer to and interestingly, like they are unhappy as well at the time. And so I would talk to them about like, what, what, how can we make this better? Because there was a part of, it wasn’t only the, the financial that like kept me trying to find ways to make it work, but there was also a part of me that was like, you’re just going to give up, you’re just going to walk away, you know, can you, can’t you find something to be passionate about, about this job again? So I was like, on this search for. For finding that and trying to find, like, a new way to. To make myself purposefully and happy in this career. And as I would talk to a few people that I could confide and trust in at work, they were like, they had no idea. They were like, I don’t know. I just know I’m not happy. The only reason I’m staying is because I don’t know what else I could do. And that was just very interesting to me that, that there were. And there probably would have been even more people in the same boat of, I’m not happy. But I don’t. I don’t want to leave because I. I have job security, I have financial security, and I don’t know well what else I could do out there.

Amy Stone [00:20:21]:
So there’s a surprising amount of research that people are. They’re much more likely to stay in a comfortable situation, even if they’re unhappy, than to do something that feels uncertain. And it’s a. It’s research that crosses all kind of things. So you’re much more likely to order a food that you’re familiar with and try something new and, and you know that try something new is a, is a. Is an outreach. But I think this is interesting because you were looking at it, and I’m curious if you have an opinion. You spent some time doing some soul searching, like, should I stay? Should I be invested? Should I be able to find a way to be here? Was some of that. That you were doing, like, that you were pressuring yourself, like, it must be me if I’m unhappy or I’m supposed to stay and be happy. Like, what were some of the things that were driving that thought, those.

Renee Jahnke [00:21:09]:
Oh, absolutely. There was. There was a little bit of, you can’t change. You can’t walk away. Like, this is what you picked, you’ve invested in, and you only get to choose once. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Like, that was, you know, in my. In my world, in my lifetime at that point, it. It was not a common thing. I don’t know if I knew anyone that had a very successful professional career and completely changed and did something else. You know what I mean? Like, people changed departments within health care, but I never saw people making drastic changes. And so, yeah, I wasn’t thinking, like, you can do this. This is allowed.

Amy Stone [00:21:56]:
Did you. Was there any part of you that was like, what will people think if I change?

Renee Jahnke [00:22:00]:
Yeah, there was a little bit of that, too. Yeah. And it was not only, like, colleagues and people that I worked with, but my family. My family and friends. I would think about that, too.

Amy Stone [00:22:12]:
Yeah, no, I think that’s. I think that makes sense. And I think that that’s. I want to thank you for sharing that. That you felt like you were not allowed the choice and that you didn’t have an example of other people making a positive shift. Because that’s one of the reasons I want to share these stories, because representation really, really does make a difference in how people can feel about it. So then it was two years of you still working and trying to figure out what you were doing, putting some investment and soul searching into whether or not you could make it work within the firm you were in and the job. What did you decide to do and how did you make the switch?

Renee Jahnke [00:22:51]:
So the. The sort of icing on the cake for me was that, let’s see, at the time, my son was. I would have been 27, 17. My son was 13, 14. And I realized, wow, look at the role model you are showing him. Like, stay in a career that you are absolutely not happy with and come home and. And be impatient and too tired to. To spend quality time with your family. Like, what. Look, what you’re showing him is okay. And I. And that was like, that was it for me. I was like, all right, I’m making the decision. Because this whole. This whole journey, the whole two years, my husband was very supportive and very encouraging and, you know, telling me, we will be fine. We will be fine. You, you, it’s okay. You can leave that job. You will figure out what you want to do. And then finally I realized what I was teaching my son, and I was like, that’s it. And so I. I put my notice in, like, the next day.

Amy Stone [00:24:05]:
That is really interesting that it was the reflection back of how you. How you want. How you wanted your son to see you, like, the example you wanted to be. That’s a really powerful story.

Renee Jahnke [00:24:16]:
The.

Amy Stone [00:24:17]:
So then what did you decide to do? Tell us what you do now and, and also give it a description and tell people how they can find you online.

Renee Jahnke [00:24:25]:
Oh, sure. So when I. When I did put my notice in and leave, I didn’t know what I was going to do yet.

Amy Stone [00:24:31]:
Oh, so you jumped with no safety net. Okay, that seems very out of character for the 30 minutes that I’ve known you. That seems like a very unrenay move. Actually, it was.

Renee Jahnke [00:24:43]:
So I had. I had found a community college local close to me that had an integrative Health program. And I was like, okay, I’m going to start by taking some classes and finding out what all, what’s available out there. You know, I was already interested in some holistic health things, even as a pharmacist. Like, I was like, I’m not taking, I don’t want to take any of this stuff. I don’t want any part of this stuff. I want to take, try to take the best care of my body and my health that I can naturally. And so I knew that I was going to start taking classes that summer. I left my, my job in May and I started classes in June. So I knew that. But as far as like money making, I didn’t know what I was going to do.

Amy Stone [00:25:36]:
Okay, how did you figure that out? So you took an integrative nutrition course and which I think even though we would, some people would split this into, you know, western and non western styles, I think that you described yourself earlier as having an interest in the human body and the way we do things. And so I think it’s all pieces of the same interest pile.

Renee Jahnke [00:25:58]:
Yeah, it is, very much, yeah. So fast forward, I found a course online called Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. And I took that course and this was like the thing, this was it. So not only was it lots of training and education about nutrition and lifestyle and how we can support our bodies with nutrition and lifestyle, but it also was about functional lab testing. And that really piqued my interest, like to get data about someone’s body to tell you like, here are the healing opportunities, here is what you can focus on. Instead of all the years that I was in Western medicine where the focus was, oh, this is the symptom, let’s treat that. And this, this course really spoke to me about getting to the root causes are at least what the healing opportunities are in the body that we’re unaware of. No matter, no matter what the symptoms are, the symptoms can definitely correlate with that. But to get that data specific for someone and to tailor what they need because we’re all different, we’re all unique, was just that. It just really spoke to me and I was like, that’s it, that’s it, that’s what I’m doing. So that’s what I do now. And I do feel like all of my experience that I went through for 26 years has formed the practitioner that I am today. And that’s why my business is called Wellness Rx Integrative Health, because I feel like not only have I integrated my experiences of Western medicine and holistic health and functional medicine. But that’s what I aim to help people with as well.

Amy Stone [00:27:55]:
That’s fantastic. So I’m going to put that link into the show notes and it’s also in the email that I send out to everybody who subscribed. That’s the best way to do it. You have made a wonderful offer for the audience. I’m going to share so that you don’t have to remember what it is. So this is for anybody who’s wanting to improve their nutrition. You offer what you call a seasonal reset. These are gentle whole food based detoxification programs to support your body with getting rid of excess toxins in the body. It’s a five day program. Normally it’s $97, but for listeners of the show, you’ve offered a $20 off coupon, which is a great deal. There’s a code grow 20 and a link in the show notes. And the best way to get these links, the easiest way for subscribers and listeners to get it is to be a part of my email community at Imperfect Adulting. Because then it shows up in your email box and you just click it. Just click it and it works like magic. So that’s very generous. I want to thank you for sharing that with the audience and sharing your transformation, transformation and all the decisions you made. This is a story that had decisions inside of decisions, choices and decisions like sort of stacking up like dominoes. So I love to tell those stories. All right, so I’m going to ask you three totally random, unrelated questions. Are you ready?

Renee Jahnke [00:29:10]:
I’m ready.

Amy Stone [00:29:11]:
All right, here we go. Do you know the phrase the best thing since sliced bread? Is that something you’ve heard, like when something is the best thing since sliced bread? Okay. Right. What is one thing that you think is so fabulous for you, that it is for you the best thing since sliced bread?

Renee Jahnke [00:29:27]:
Oh, my first thought is a recipe that I was recently introduced to. It was just. Well, it was just a month ago, but so I am gluten free, dairy free. Very rarely do I eat sugar. And the reason for that is because of the effect it has on my body and that I feel so much better without those. And so this is like this amazing treat. It’s chocolate and peanut butter and it fits all those criteria. There’s like seven or eight ingredients in it. It’s easy to make, which also fits my cooking criteria. And it feels like this wonderful treat for me.

Amy Stone [00:30:10]:
Ah, all right, very good, very good. That’s interesting. So I tried out that question on my teenager and he Also answered with a food. He said, is it supposed to be a food? So I’m not sure. Like, it’s. That’s. I think that’s very interesting. All right, so when you travel, I don’t know if you travel, but if you travel and when you travel, do you consider yourself a light packer? Do you travel light, or are you a person who brings everything and the kitchen sink.

Renee Jahnke [00:30:34]:
I do not bring everything in the kitchen sink. I would consider myself a light to medium. So I have. I’m not the. Like, let me just throw everything in a backpack and I’m good to go. I. I need one or two more bags, but I’m definitely not the everything in the kitchen sink.

Amy Stone [00:30:54]:
I can do it. I can do it either way. Now with the low. The low frills airlines, like, if I like. So I live in Florida, so spirit before. So if I’m. If I’m going to. Flying an airline where they charge for like every single thing, I will try and game the system and be like, all right, I’m just gonna. Not taking any bags. I’m gonna put everything that I need in my pocketbook. All right. So when you were a teenager, thinking way back to when you were a teenager, did you have a celebrity crush? And if so, who was it?

Renee Jahnke [00:31:23]:
O. That’s a good one. So my first thought, and maybe this is because a couple days ago in conversation with friends, this movie came up, but there was a movie called the Outsiders.

Amy Stone [00:31:38]:
Yep.

Renee Jahnke [00:31:38]:
And a lot of they were all young then, but now there’s all these guys that have made it big. Anyway. Rob Lowe. Not Rob Lowe. I’m sorry. C. Thomas Howell was in that movie with a lot of other up and becoming soon to be superstars. And I just, I think it was this character in the story. I liked him the best. So I. I feel like I had a little crush on him.

Amy Stone [00:32:03]:
That is a great answer. I am so happy I asked that question. That brings me so much joy. I love it. That’s it. Renee Yankee, thank you so much for being a wonderful guest today on the show.

Renee Jahnke [00:32:14]:
Oh, thanks so much, Amy. It’s been a pleasure to be here with.