Join Ashlee as she talks with Jen Moulton, the president of CEimpact, about her top five takeaways from a transformative year in pharmacy education and patient care.
Listen to this episode to reflect on, learn, and apply the biggest lessons 2023 taught us, from the every-day practices that define us to the big picture within pharmacy education that leads us.
In this episode, the two discuss:
- The power of focus, prioritization, and efficient processes within CEimpact.
- Technology's ever-growing influence on pharmacy education.
- How building connections with clients, team members, and customers can prevent burnout and foster positivity.
- CEimpact's efforts to address pharmacy burnout.
To learn more about CEimpact's By Design memberships, click here.
Join Ashlee as she talks with Jen Moulton, the president of CEimpact, about her top five takeaways from a transformative year in pharmacy education and patient care.
Listen to this episode to reflect on, learn, and apply the biggest lessons 2023 taught us, from the every-day practices that define us to the big picture within pharmacy education that leads us.
In this episode, the two discuss:
- The power of focus, prioritization, and efficient processes within CEimpact.
- Technology's ever-growing influence on pharmacy education.
- How building connections with clients, team members, and customers can prevent burnout and foster positivity.
- CEimpact's efforts to address pharmacy burnout.
To learn more about CEimpact's By Design memberships, click here.
All right, jen, welcome. To Level Up, how are you? Thank you, I'm great, I'm great.
Speaker 2:I pulled you back in. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, last time was fun, I'm excited.
Speaker 1:We should have started recording 30 minutes ago, because we were doing some prep work and then we started talking and then I was like, oh my gosh, we just need to start recording because this was really good. So I pulled Jen in because it's the end of the year and I want to talk about biggest takeaways. I know this is pretty cliche to do kind of an end of the year summary, wrap up, but I think you've had a really big year. We've had a really big year at CE Impact, just with our everything going on. There's so much going on in the pharmacy marketplace, so much going on in our personal lives, so much going on professionally. So I asked Jen, I challenged Jen, to put together, like your top biggest, five biggest takeaways from the year. So are you ready to dive in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I am, I am, yeah, I'm actually excited because every year kind of between I actually learned this from John Maxwell reading some of his books and every year between Christmas and New Year's kind of that holiday, sort of that week that we're always off, we close our office, we're always off that week. I reflect back on the year and kind of plan. Then you know the next year, and so this has given me a little bit of a head start. So thank you, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's hard to reflect back. Yeah, it's hard to think about other things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so important to do and that's why I have to like designate time for it. Otherwise, you know, you're just going on so many things but you don't take time to do that, but it's always so insightful. So I actually liked, you know, when I was brainstorming, I liked it, I liked the challenge of trying to get it to five things. So I'm yeah, I'm excited to dig in.
Speaker 1:So I asked John to break down into five things but also talk a little bit about business development, pharmacy, education, professional development, personal development and kind of categorize it a little bit to be specific. So let's start with number one. John, what's your first? Okay, First take away.
Speaker 2:Well, so my number one is I was reflecting back on my word of the year, so every year, I try to have a word that really encompasses everything that I do personally, professionally, the things I want to, you know, really hone in on, and my word of 2023 was focus.
Speaker 2:I have some time, sorry time doing that there's so many things that I want to do that it's hard for me to focus sometimes. So I actually talked about this in Jen's desk a week or two ago, but I've found with that word this year that you can really only focus on a few things. So you know, it's kind of that saying like just because you can do it all doesn't mean you should do it all.
Speaker 2:And so I have to remind myself of that a lot and you really can only, I feel like you can only focus on, you know, really three maybe things in your life and you know the other things are happening behind. You know the background, but if you want you know, to advance in certain ways, I think you, you know, you can only have a couple of those. So what I have really focused on this year just so kind of took it into a professional and then personal. So professionally this year I tried to prioritize processes and I think that was really important.
Speaker 2:As we grow CE impact, it's important for us to have processes in place so that we're not focused on all the tasks and you know doing things. You know you do it once, then you have to do it once. I mean, you know, if you do it once then you need to be able to repeat that process easily and that really helps us to have some personalization in what we do because it makes some space for that.
Speaker 1:So, we've really professionally, I think, focused on processes in CE impact yeah, I agree with you as someone who works in CE impact. Every time we're in the meeting like actually did you build a process? I'm like oh my gosh, yes, I will get to that.
Speaker 2:But we did it and at the end of the year.
Speaker 1:I could see it now.
Speaker 2:It's so much work, it's so great.
Speaker 1:It is exactly. It's so much just to have it there and to let it be known what the step by step work is, to get to the outcome, I think, and to get to the goal and to make it visible, I think is really important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's analogous to pharmacy. You know, if you have that like dispensing process, then you have space to talk to patients.
Speaker 1:So it's similar to what we do.
Speaker 2:We have all those processes in place internally, then we have time to really spend with our customers and our clients and focusing on the fun stuff.
Speaker 1:Yes, agree.
Speaker 2:And then personally, this year I prioritize, I tried to prioritize well-being.
Speaker 2:So you know, we all, I think coming out of COVID I feel like I was a different person, you know, than going in, and so I really tried to focus on nutrition, exercise, sleep, getting back into some of those healthy habits. You know that I think some of us went slide, you know, during the pandemic and while our lives changed so much like all of my habits changed. So I tried to get back into that and you know that meant that I didn't have time for other things, like when I you know, when I want to get sleep, so I don't have time to stay up and binge shows or go out all the time or, you know whatever that looks like, because I really wanted to eat well and get up in the morning and exercise and get a good night's sleep. So focusing on those things, I think really it, you know, just shows what your priorities are and then you just have to say no to other things. So that was really that was my big takeaway with my word of the year.
Speaker 1:I love that word. I feel like I did a good job, yeah, yeah that's a great word. Focus yeah, love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:All right number two.
Speaker 2:Number two, all right. Number two is and I think this is gonna be my word of the year for next year not 100%, so don't pull me to it, but I feel like one of the other things I learned is, when you set a goal, you have to like have. That will come in mind, obviously, and know, that.
Speaker 2:But really measuring it and putting a metric to it, regardless of what it is, is super important. So I think my word is gonna be measure, but I'm still kind of ruminating on it. But one example is I had a goal to read more this year because I just found that like I was so tired when I got into bed and then I wasn't reading and I wanted. So I wanted to read at least a book a month, and then I wanted to listen to a book a month. So I do auto.
Speaker 2:That's a lot, and then I also read, so I kind of have two going on at the same time. I'm just every time in the car going for a walk or whatever. I'm just like that, and so I said I wanted to do one of each per month, and I did it, like actually some months I did more than that.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I just found myself there. So there were a couple of months that were a little harder, like in the summer when I'm busy, but I got to the end of the month. It's like, okay, I have five days to finish these two books, so I would go for an extra walk or put my AirPods in when I'm doing stuff around the house or whatever, just to get it done. So I think that was the other thing when you actually like have a goal, you push yourself at the end to make sure it happens, and often I would just be like, oh, it's fine, I didn't need that goal or whatever. So just measuring things really does make an impact and that's kind of why I think I'm gonna go with that for next year.
Speaker 1:I feel like Josh would be disappointed if we didn't mention Libby.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, he would be. So, we met in person last week as a team and we were talking about this and he's like I can't believe all you people that pay for Audible.
Speaker 1:He was so mad at us, he was so disappointed. He was so mad, so disappointed, so disappointed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know. So Libby is, if you don't know, is an app through your library, so it's connected to your local library and then you basically check Audible books out on it. But often, like, the new releases have a little bit of a weight and so those are must that don't have to be there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and why would anyone want to wait? We love people for that Exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2:And he's like why would anybody want to buy an Audible book? So?
Speaker 1:It was a point of contingency. Yeah, it was a thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was a thing. Yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 1:Funny. Yeah, I feel like we would be remorse without mentioning Libby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shout out to Libby. Shout out to Libby. Yeah, shout out to Libby, all right, Number three.
Speaker 2:Okay, number three is appropriate, because number three words that really changed our business this year entrepreneurial operating system.
Speaker 2:So this is EOS and I don't know those of you who are in a business, even if you don't, you know run the business.
Speaker 2:I think it's just so good to know about this. I have discovered that I don't know how any business organization, anybody, really operates without this, because it is a framework you know as a firm, so some kind of like recipe driven and it's sort of a recipe for your business it, it, it, it structures meetings and the people that you need in place and what those people need to do and how you, you know, make sure they're doing what they're doing. You know creating your mission and your vision and your core values. And you know it operates on a 90 day cycle. So even personally, we can all benefit from this. Like 90 days is like a good amount of time to like sprint and get something big done. That might feel too big. We call those rocks that's what the system calls them and so we just have operated in sort of that quarterly timeframe and when you look back on the years that we have been doing this, it's amazing how far we've gotten.
Speaker 2:So I just I don't know how any, whether it's EOS or something else I just don't know how anybody kind of operates without sort of that structure in place. So that's been a huge takeaway this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and going back to your possible word of the year measure and measurement, eos. What I found, or any system like EOS, the business model is making sure you're focused on the data too and you're measuring what you're putting in so you can compare you have. You can compare apples to apples and not just, yeah, you know something. So I think that's been one of the benefits of implementing a model or a system like EOS is we are always, always keeping a pulse on the measurement and the data that supports our decisions, which has been huge in business development.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, yep, for sure.
Speaker 1:I like EOS. Okay, it's been good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been great. Yeah, I mean it doesn't have to be that, but you know just any system.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it is, it's like a recipe.
Speaker 2:It's just well. Some people can throw stuff in and have it taste good, but I need to know exactly how much.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's another discussion. Yeah, yeah, that's so funny. Yeah, that's a good analogy. Okay, number four. Number four.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, okay Okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, okay, okay Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay. Number four is yeah, I have learned that people. I mean, this is kind of a post pandemic thing too, potentially, but shorter learning time doesn't mean that you learn less.
Speaker 1:So I think, that pharmacy educate.
Speaker 2:I've really seen in the last couple of years, but particularly this year, pharmacy education is really evolving and we're all trying to do more with less and from the data that you mentioned that we've collected and measured, we really saw that people want to learn in shorter segments, like listening to our game changer podcast for 30 minutes and getting CE from that. Like that's a good amount of time and you can be doing other things too.
Speaker 2:You can go for a walk and listen to that podcast and then you get CE. So, versus sitting down at your computer all day on a Saturday and slugging it out doing eight hours of stuff like which, sounds terrible to me on a Saturday Sounds terrible, but that's what I used to do. Oh, totally, me too I know, that's what we used to do. And going to conferences is a whole different deal because you're networking and there's so much other stuff going on at the same time and I still love that ideally.
Speaker 2:But if I'm, if I'm thinking about like my on demand learning, I like to do it kind of constantly in shorter, you know, like I mean really the podcast, the great example of that, because it's just kind of like, every week it's 30 minutes, something that you didn't really know, that you wanted to know. So we have seen that from not just that's just not my opinion, but that's what we've seen from everybody else who is working with us is just, you know, doing. We're all trying to do a lot with a little time and so that's been a really popular way to stay up to date. We've seen people really switching to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think there's a lot of value to the data out there that shows how people are learning differently these days too, and this post. We keep on talking about the COVID, but I hate kind of bringing it up, but it's true Like there's just so much new data out there that shows people value their time differently than ever before, and I agree with you this this, the short sprints of learning, is showing in our, in our data, in our feedback and the people that we work with, the experts, the faculty that we bring in. I mean that is definitely the popular route, the preferred route.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just you know, from an education development standpoint, you know, I think that that philosophy has changed too. You know, it used to be like oh, a half an hour is not enough, and it really is, I mean you can dig in pretty quickly. When you have an assumption that people are at a certain level, you can really dig in quick.
Speaker 2:And then if they, you know, if people aren't at that level, then that gives them the opportunity to, you know, maybe do a little bit of research to get themselves up to speed so that they understand it better, and then that's better learning too. So I think you know, I think you know, I think that's a really good point and I think you know, I think we don't need to, like, do all the basics setting it up, and you know, we could just dig right in, and I think people really appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, agreed. Yeah that's good, all right, last but not least, Okay, so we're on five already, speaking of time frames. We are like really.
Speaker 2:Number five is relationships. I think I've really realized how important relationships are to me and Priority to me and our team. You know, after really running a business for nearly 10 years, you know I've read some of these books and listen to podcasts and tended conferences, invested in coaching. You know, done all the things and through all of this, you know I've realized that one of the main things that really separates us From other organizations like us are the people, and I think that's what separates small business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know not just us but a lot of small businesses Is just the people. It's not transactional, it's you know we have the same values as the people that we work with, whether it's a client or a customer or a learner, pharmacist, technician, preceptor, you know we all have the same values and Just those relationships that we're able to develop with people is it's really important and it makes it, you know, when I think about burnout and everything that's happening. You know, not just in pharmacy but in all, you know, lots of businesses. I think keeping the, the focus on the people is what makes it fun.
Speaker 2:I mean that's like you know like if you you don't burn out when you're working with great people that you really like to work with or that you, you know, really like the customers that you talk to every day. So those relationships are are important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, burnout obviously is such a big topic and so many, so many different ways we can go with that. But I do think, in regards to relationships in our business, I think we're able to progress more when there's a sense of trust amongst the team too, like there's this collegiality, that I get it. I get what you're trying to say, I get you and I got you, yeah, and I think that is really deeply rooted in CE impact and I think that's why A lot of our clients work with us, a lot of our customers come with us, a lot of people feel very Connected to you, jen, and to our team, and and I think that that's a system or that's a, that's a relationship that's been or that's a process that you like that's been that's been engraved and that's been the foundation of the business for you know, a long time, like over 10 years now.
Speaker 1:So it takes time to build that. It does.
Speaker 2:It does and I would say, this year in particular, you know, I would give kudos to Somebody that we worked with, who's a pharmacist. Brandon Jennings Did his five voices workshops with us at the beginning of the year and I think that went to that. That just it took us to a whole nother level because it it shows each of us what our voice is within the team, and it wasn't just professionally but also personally. I think you know we we are able to develop those relationships because we understand where people are coming from and who they are and how they work as part of the team.
Speaker 1:And so.
Speaker 2:I know I didn't mean to put a plug in for this, but you know he does a leadership academy and he Does five voices with I. I know he does it with a lot of pharmacies and it's they have said it's the single most you know important thing that they've done to work together because they, you know, just it creates that teamwork and those relationships go to a different level. So I mean, speaking of the recipe, there's so many different things to add to the team.
Speaker 1:I mean, speaking of the recipe, there's so many different things to add to a successful Work environment professionalism and I think that the relationship and the trust and Identifying each other's strengths is just part of the recipe to a successful professional career and I have to say CE Impact has done a really good job with that. I've been at multiple different businesses and I've worked with a lot of different companies, especially in pharmacy. I'm a third generation pharmacists pharmacists so this is not a new arena for me and I think it's just that's a huge challenge that pharmacy is up against and I can not just because Jen's my boss, but because I can say this honestly I think CE Impact is a trailblazer with that, especially given the need for that, and I think that's the nature of pharmacy burnout and specifically. And so kudos to you, jen, but also I need to have Brandon on the podcast.
Speaker 1:Have I not had him here?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, you know he was on our Precept to Practice podcast with.
Speaker 1:Kathy, oh, that's right, that's right, that's right. Yeah, but not a whole lot of level up, so yeah, yeah you'll definitely have to have them.
Speaker 2:I think you know. I think you know part of it. I mean, it's very intentional from my standpoint. But also because we're a virtual company, I think we've had to work really hard at the relationship part, because we're not in the office with each other every day or not in a pharmacy, we're not in four walls with each other.
Speaker 1:Could you imagine sitting next to me every day. What would we get?
Speaker 2:Oh well, good point. I do get a lot done in my quiet little office. We would get nothing done but it would be more fun and we would probably be able to show that relationship with you know, in less time, I think you know, it's just quicker, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we've had to really invest in doing that, but I think because of that, the fruits of it have been really powerful, and I think it's you know, I think it's in all businesses these days. You know, we aren't where everybody's focused on the metrics right, you know, and a relationship isn't really that.
Speaker 1:But we have to remember that in order to get the metric. It, yeah, it is. It's such a annoying, I think, that word, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, that's why I'm worried about having it as my word for next year, because I don't mean metric measure to me is a little different than you know actual numbers.
Speaker 1:So that's what I'm afraid of. We have the foundation of trust already, yeah, so the trust of the team is there. So it's okay to shift your focus a little bit into building the business. Anyways, I digress, we digress.
Speaker 2:This is what happened if we would sit next to each other. Right, right, this is what happened, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we gotta get back to our word.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, right, here we are. Well, john, thanks again for your time. Your time is limited and I just, yeah, you're the my favorite guest, so this is fun. I mean not, not, I shouldn't say that it's like choosing your favorite kid. I definitely have a favorite kid right now, so it's okay to say that I'm all right, I'm going to get Brandon, I'm going to email him and this is going to be posted next week. So thanks again for your time. This was great. Appreciate it. Yeah, and for those of you listening, reach out to Jen, tell her your biggest takeaways, tell her what your thoughts are of your, your year, and make sure you take time to reflect, because I think this was a really valuable conversation. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Bye, okay, where is the stop?