Why did you decide to become a pharmacy technician?

I’ve always been interested in the medical field. My mom teaches nursing, so I’ve been exposed to medicine my whole life. It’s what I knew and what I liked, so I continued with it. I took a pharmacy technician class, interviewed at Kroger, and got the job. I’ve been working with Kroger for over nine years.

Now I’m the lead technician at my store, which means I’m in charge of training my technicians, answering their questions, and guiding them in how to handle patients—especially if patients become emotional. I’m also in charge of inventory, making the schedule, and since COVID-19 started, I follow the cleaning schedule and log it so my technicians don’t have to break out of their workflow to sanitize.

What does a day at work look like for you?

Our new normal since the pandemic started is opening early and staying late to make sure we’re caught up on patient prescriptions. We went from filling about 300 prescriptions a day to filling 500 or 600 daily. Many customers requested early fills or 90-day fills, and that added the steps of getting approval from the doctor’s office and the insurance company to keep people stocked up on their medications. Now, with flu season upon us, we’re processing a lot of vaccinations. You’ve just got to keep going and not let anybody see you sweat.

Kroger has been very supportive of employees during this difficult time. The store let us work extra hours to make up for missed shifts, approved overtime, and added Hero Pay and Thank You Pay to our regular checks.

It’s my responsibility, my duty, to make sure that my team isn’t getting burnt out, to offer a helping hand—not only for my technicians, but for patients, too. Everyone is worried about the pandemic. I want to make sure everyone knows that we have delivery and drive-through options—to make sure that everyone is taken care of, healthy, and happy. I try to do that all the time.

How do you go above and beyond for your customers?

I always try to empathize with my patients. I’ve been through some situations in my life that make me appreciate how good things are right now. When someone comes in who is being ugly, I assume they are going through something difficult. Maybe they spent 12 hours in the emergency room. Maybe their baby has a bad infection. 

They are probably exhausted, too. They just want to go home and start healing. I don’t hold it against them. I try to be a listening ear, a shoulder for them to lean on because one day, they might open up and tell you what’s going on—and then I can help.

Can you share a time when you helped a customer that made a particularly positive impact?

Once, a young woman came in who needed Vyvanse for her son. She had insurance through her employer, but the medication was still $300. She had just gotten out of a tough spot, and that was way more than she could afford. She didn’t have a smartphone, so I searched online for her, and found a copay card that brought the price down to $30. She actually started crying. I was like, “Wow, I can’t believe I made that big of an impact on somebody because I was just doing what I felt was right.” 

That moment set the foundation for me trying to make sure I help everyone I can, because I don’t know their personal situations. Sometimes you get knocked down, and it’s hard when you’re bringing yourself back up. That’s exactly what this mom was doing, and she was struggling. I helped her, and that was amazing to me.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

It’s seeing patients happy—whether it’s because I ran to the shelves and brought them Band-Aids at the drive-thru, so they didn’t have to wake a sleeping toddler or because I saved them a tremendous amount of money. Their satisfaction is gratification for me. I want to make sure that they’re taken care of because I would want someone to do that for me or my family. It actually makes me feel better to know that I can do something to help someone else.

What does this award mean to you?

I was like, “Holy cow. Really? Somebody actually took the time, and thought of me to nominate me for this?” It’s amazing to me. It makes me feel great that I’ve done something to impact someone’s life that much.