Benchmark Happenings
Brought to you by, Jonathan Tipton & Steve Reed of Benchmark Home Loans, Benchmark Happenings is a podcast that is a biweekly discussion about living in and moving to Northeast Tennessee along with the local real estate market. Join your host Christine Reed as she interviews Jonathan & Steve, local business owners, sought-after industry experts, Veterans, Realtors, Benchmark clients, and more.
Benchmark Happenings focuses on discussing all things related to mortgages and Northeast Tennessee. Placing the spotlight on all the reasons you would want to live in and move to Northeast Tennessee, Benchmark Happenings highlights upcoming events, local businesses, things to do, and other aspects related to Northeast Tennessee. We will also be answering mortgage questions from buyers, sellers, and real estate agents as well as discussing everything going on in our local real estate market.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.tiptonreedteam.com.
Benchmark Home Loans | NMLS # 2143
4138 Bristol Highway
Johnson City, TN 37601
Jonathan Tipton
Senior Mortgage Planner
NMLS # 1188088
jonathan.tipton@benchmark.us
Steve Reed
Branch Manager
NMLS # 173024
steve.reed@benchmark.us
Benchmark Happenings
Legacy and Innovation in Family Pharmacy: Gina and Spencer Pinney's Story at Pinney’s Prescription Shop
How do you keep a family pharmacy thriving in today’s fast-paced world? Discover the secrets behind Penny’s Prescription Shop as we chat with Gina Pinney and her son Spencer, the dynamic duo carrying forward a legacy of personalized, community-focused service in Northeast Tennessee. Gina shares her heartfelt journey of following in her father Carl Markham's footsteps, acquiring Moore's Pharmacy, and rebranding it to Pinney's Prescription Shop. Meanwhile, Spencer takes us down memory lane, recounting his early days of working in the pharmacy at just 16 and his evolution into a passionate pharmacist dedicated to upholding the family's high standards. Together, they exemplify the importance of family, tradition, and a deep-rooted commitment to their community.
Ever wondered what goes into compounding effective skincare creams? Gina and Spencer open up about their specialized line of day and night creams, rich in essential vitamins and antioxidants. They also share insights into running a family-owned business and Spencer’s innovative marketing strategies, including creative social media campaigns that have won hearts and minds. From a spirited “vaccinator vs. the flu” campaign to a fun-filled caveman-themed promotion, get a glimpse of the passion and dedication that drives Penny’s Prescription Shop. This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom on maintaining family traditions, growing a community business, and the art of compounding skincare.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
Benchmark Happenings brought to you by Jonathan and Steve from Benchmark Home Loans. Northeast Tennessee, johnson City, kingsport, bristol, the Tri-Cities one of the most beautiful places in the country to live Tons of great things to do and awesome local businesses. And on this show you'll find out why people are dying to move to Northeast Tennessee and on the way we'll have discussions about mortgages and we'll interview people in the real estate industry. It's what we do. This is Benchmark Happenings brought to you by Benchmark Home Loans and now your host, christine Reed.
Speaker 2:Well, welcome back everybody to another episode of Benchmark Happenings, and we have a very special episode for you today One of our local businesses that we love and cherish, penny's Prescription Shop. So I want to thank both of you for being on. We have Spencer, penny Spencer, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And his mom, Gina Penny.
Speaker 4:Hi, how are you doing?
Speaker 2:We're good, we're good. So we go back a long way. Gina and I, we've known each other for years, and Spencer, steve and I have watched you grow up, you know as their son, and so, gina, you've been in the pharmaceutical industry, owning a pharmacy, for many years. Spencer, you're kind of following suit doing that as well, so share a little bit about Penny's Prescription Shop and how each of you sort of got started. So, gina, I guess we'll just start with you Okay.
Speaker 4:So my dad, carl Markham, was also a pharmacist. So I guess I knew from a young girl that I wanted to be a pharmacist. I went to school in Charleston, south Carolina, and worked there a couple years in a hospital. But when I came back my dad owned his own business and he was partners with Bob Moore. Bob Moore was a bit older than my dad so he was ready to retire and he owned Moore's Pharmacy.
Speaker 4:My dad owned Markham's Pharmacy, so dad asked me if I was interested in buying out Bob Moore's Pharmacy. So after a lot of discussion and talking with my husband for at that point time actually we were just dating, but we were pretty serious and decided that that might be a good thing to do so I bought it in January 1, 1990. Oh my goodness, so how. It was over 34 years ago and I kept the name Moore's Pharmacy forever. Then, when Spencer, my son, started pharmacy school, I thought well, you know what, if we're going to carry on this tradition, maybe for another 30 years, we might as well change the name. So it was been about eight years ago, I guess. We changed the name to Penny's Prescription Shop. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's you know. That's amazing, gina. I think about a woman and starting a business. You know, as a pharmacist and that was a. You plowed a major path for yourself. Well, thank you, and have been very successful. And I will have to say your daddy, you know, the Markham family has been very significant in the East Tennessee community. You all have helped so many people and Gina, I know you and Spencer, you're carrying that tradition as well.
Speaker 3:Trying to.
Speaker 2:And so tell us a little bit about you. What made you decide to be a pharmacist?
Speaker 3:Well, when I turned 16 years old, my mom told me I was old enough to drive and I needed a job.
Speaker 3:Good mama, yeah. So I was like okay, well, she said I could work at the pharmacy. So then you know, um, no, but all jokes aside, I'd started working at the pharmacy when I was 16, over the summers, um, you know, when I was not in school, uh. And then I just continued working there, uh, through college, whenever I'd come back and things like that, got to know the customers, got to know the job really well, got to where it was, just like well, I mean, I feel like this is definitely something I could do for the rest of my life. Like, I mean, why not?
Speaker 1:Like this seems like a great opportunity.
Speaker 3:It's interesting to me and I, you know, from pretty early on I kind of had an idea that's kind of what one of the things I wanted to do. I wasn't really 100% sure. I don't feel like, you know, anybody's always 100% sure anyway. So through college, you know, I had a couple different ideas of what I wanted to do, but pharmacy was always one of the options that I was, you know, thinking about. And then, as I went through school, that ended up being what I kind of pursued, and the rest is history. Been working there now for as a pharmacist since 2019. So, has it been that long? It has been, yeah, gosh 2019.
Speaker 2:And you know, in pharmacy school it's hard, I mean, it's not easy. And the fact that you choose that as your profession and wanting to help people, you know this day and time, I just think that's amazing. So thank you for carrying on that tradition with your family.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the things that definitely made me want to become a farm assistant work at Penny's exclusively pretty much was just kind of like the I've always liked kind of the aspect of some smaller businesses where you know you're a regular.
Speaker 3:You walk in a store and the person behind the counter knows your name. I always felt like I loved that going to comic book stores when I was a kid and like they knew who I was, or like going somewhere you know, and they'd be like, hey Spencer, how are you doing? And then the more I worked at you know my family pharmacy, I realized we are that store for people and I know a lot of these people. They know me forever because mom had pictures of me as a kid sitting up there. She talked about me and stuff. So I already have that rapport with them. I just need to get to know their name, which is a little bit harder than you know. But no, that really really was a huge, huge factor as well. It's just that kind of small town, you know, getting to know your people kind of feel and almost like I mean, it is a family environment in there.
Speaker 2:So definitely you know, and it really is, and I have a testimony to share about with Spencer in particular. I had had a surgery and I couldn't get my pain medicine and I called and Spencer brought it to me, which is rare. I mean I know you guys do deliveries and stuff, but I mean that's just that personal touch, because you guys care about your patients and the people that you serve, and so I'll never forget that.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean at the end of the day. You know you gotta I mean you gotta, you know you gotta treat people the way they deserve to be treated Just because the store hours closed. If someone needs their medicine, they need their medicine. We're going to look out for our customers.
Speaker 2:Right, and I know you guys offer home delivery too, right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely During the week. We offer home delivery. As long as the order gets sent in before 1 o'clock, we'll get it out to you that day, guaranteed. Sometimes you know, if things trickle in afterwards, you know we can still try to get it out to you within reason, of course. But yeah, we try to help as many people as we can. That is mostly within the Kingsport city limit.
Speaker 2:Sure, absolutely yeah, cause I couldn't imagine trying to fill that need, you know, in such a large Tri-City area, so, but I still think that's great. You know, I was looking at your website and it's extremely informative, so why don't you share, both of you, some of the things that that that you guys are offering to the public, that your pharmacy provides? That, I think, is really important for people to know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we offer most vaccinations that are available currently, at least most routine ones. And obviously ones that you know a pediatrician would do.
Speaker 2:We don't really do that as much so like a flu vaccine.
Speaker 3:Exactly yeah, or the COVID vaccine or any kind of RSV shingles, things like that.
Speaker 4:Pneumonia Tdap. We do offer some routines, but most certainly the yearly vaccines that you have to get.
Speaker 3:Yeah, on top of that we offer, obviously we talked about the free prescription delivery within Kingsport, which, as I said, is free. And then another big thing that we offer free of charge is medication adherence packaging for people that struggle. You know, maybe someone takes so many medications and you know especially the drug shortages. You know what things look like can change all the time, so it can get a little confusing. So what we do is we'll actually hold on to their bottles, we'll put them into these easy to see. Ok, this is my Monday morning dose. They pull it off.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 3:And, yeah, it makes it very easy for a lot of people. So we offer that free of charge for many, many people, and that's another big thing that we try to do.
Speaker 2:You know, and that's so much better than and you guys have seen those and it was great in its time, but the little boxes, you know, the Monday, tuesday ones. But you know what People still use those, if you flip that and you turn that thing over, then there goes all those pills.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think about that. So those blister packs or those see-through packs, I think that's just fantastic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and another really good thing about the ones that we use is we can actually put the specific date on there, because sometimes if it just says Monday and you know you have someone that does have you know men, you know memory issues or something and they look at it and they're like, okay, was that, did I miss this Monday? Or you know. They just don't really know how far off they've gotten. So this keeps it completely on track. You can see okay, this is for September 26th or something like that.
Speaker 4:You know what I mean. Yeah, it also helps people be way more compliant with their medications as well, which is better for their health.
Speaker 2:It is especially. We have so many older people, you know, that are living alone, that don't have somebody to check on them. You know of how they're doing with their medications. I remember when I worked in the ER it would be like, okay, let me take a look at your medicines, and they would have a Walmart plastic bag and it would be full of medications. You know what I'm thinking.
Speaker 3:There's no way they're compliant with this stuff, yeah, yeah, and I mean with the way doctors sometimes, will you know, change a dose and then they get another bottle on top of something they already had at the previous dose. Sometimes people don't even look at what's on the label, they're just like, okay, something else boop.
Speaker 2:And then now they're taking double. Exactly, yeah, or like my daddy.
Speaker 3:Well, I don't want to throw that away, it's still good He'd have three bottles of low presser.
Speaker 2:I was like no let me throw some of these away dad, it can definitely get confusing, yeah it is hard.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about some of the things that you guys that really set you apart, and I just you know, I think it's just so unique to have a business that is truly all about knowing people and family, and I'd say both of you now and Gina especially. You guys kind of know people's health history and their medicines and you know when they walk in the door and um yeah, lots of times now we actually can bring up on our computer when things are due.
Speaker 4:So sometimes you'll come in and we'll already have your medicines ready for you. You know so many people love that. It's like gosh, I don't. I don't even have to call anymore, I, you just already have things ready right, but you do get to know their family and their history and their kids and their grandparents and their parents, and so it just becomes much more personal service.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so you become a multi-generational business because you're serving so many generations, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, thankfully, some families do you know, now we're treating the, you know, the next generation of their family, and they come in they say you know, I've been with your mom for however many years and, like you know, we only come to pennies. We have so many people that say things like that and it's, you know, it makes you feel really grateful to have people like that.
Speaker 2:It's a true blessing. It really is. Yes, absolutely, and so you guys do some compounding. So what are some of those items? And you brought me a little special gift today, but I'm going to let you talk about it.
Speaker 4:So the biggest thing that we compound is we have our own line of face creams and I am the one that developed this. So the biggest thing that we compound is we have our own line of face creams and I am the one that developed this and it probably took me two years to bring it to market. But we have a day cream and then we have a night cream and really those two are the same. It's just in the day cream we add a little bit of sunscreen and we also have a pigment correction cream for brown spots and we have an eye cream. But, like in our day cream, it has lots of different vitamins antioxidants. It's got B3, which is big in face creams these days Vitamin C. It has vitamin E. It has things for fine lines and wrinkles, for skin tightening, cell regeneration.
Speaker 4:It really is, I think, the most complete face cream and it has the highest percentage of active ingredients that we can put in there. So I would look at you know the range of what percentage you could put in this cream and I'd always start with the highest. Now, sometimes it might cause a little discoloration or maybe an odor, so I had to work with that for several months to try to get it right, but it definitely has the highest percent that we can put in these creams. And so many times when you buy something over the counter, like the Olivolet or the I don't know so many different ones, if you look, the first ingredient listed is the top thing that's in that cream, and so many times it's water, water yes, you're right, and they will use over the counter the absolute smallest percent of active ingredients they can use.
Speaker 4:So sometimes you're paying a fortune. Yes, it's very expensive 30 to hundreds of dollars. I know I went through that whole Abagge line and I think, goodness this is 20 years ago I spent 400 and some dollars.
Speaker 4:Nowadays I can't imagine what it cost. 20 years ago, I spent 400 and some dollars. Nowadays I can't imagine what it cost but this, since we make it in our compounding lab and we don't have the stars, of course, advertising for us on television. I truly feel that you are getting a tremendous cream for such a bargain. I mean, I thought our day cream and night cream is only like $18.35, I think, whereas if you bought something like this over the counter, I think it would cost you at least three times as much.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, definitely For sure, and I'll have to say that I use this cream. I love it. Thank you for bringing it. It is a great face cream I've never had any issues with it, you know and the night cream too, and you have an eye cream as well.
Speaker 4:Yes, we do, and the eye cream has some of the same ingredients as the day and night cream.
Speaker 4:But it has a few extra things specifically for those fine lines and wrinkles in the real sensitive areas around your eyes, okay, and also has a little bit of coconut oil in there, which gives it just such a real nice texture because you don't want to rub around your eyes real harsh, so just put it on very lightly and just has a real nice feel. I think all the creams just have a really nice feel to it and I've only I mean we have sold these to hundreds and hundreds of people and I've only I mean we have sold these to hundreds and hundreds of people and I think I only know of one or two that have had any kind of allergic reaction to them.
Speaker 4:So I'm very proud of it, and my husband at the time I brought this to market, worked at Crown Laboratories so we actually sent it to their research lab oh cool. And had them test it for stability and all kinds of different things. So it's it really is very good, it's stable for quite a while and um just real proud of it yeah, and you're very passionate about it.
Speaker 2:I can tell so those listening, if they decide, you know what I'd really like to try that cream, if they call Penny's, what do they say?
Speaker 3:So, basically, they'll just call and ask us about our face creams. And the good thing too is, since it's a compound, we actually will get a little information from them because we put it on a prescription. The way we're able to do that is we have a collaborative practice agreement with a dermatologist, dr Joni Sago Nice, and through that we're able to put it on a prescription. Therefore, it's a compound. We have all of the information we need to do this legally, without having to go through manufacturing and all things like that. And then, thankfully, since it's a prescription, it's a tax exempt, so you're not having to pay tax on top of you know what. Also, you're already paying for our face cream. So, yeah, all they would have to do is call. We'll just get a little information from them, put it on the prescription and we'll have it ready to go for them.
Speaker 2:That's awesome and it's great, and I will. Anybody listening is if you ever want to try a face cream, I definitely recommend it for sure. Well, thank you, I appreciate that. So okay now, spencer, I have to ask you this question. Okay Okay, being the son and you are going to be the owner of Penny's Pharmacy. He is the owner.
Speaker 3:You are the owner now. Excuse me Okay.
Speaker 2:You are the owner now, excuse me. Yeah, okay, you are the owner now. So, um, any kind of sparks between you and your mom when you were working together? Or um, how did you know a mother and son working together? What kind of challenges did you guys face?
Speaker 3:I think there are more challenges early on than there are now really.
Speaker 4:Um, certainly as I was teenage years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was working there at teenage years, maybe growing, and we'll, we'll give you a break on those.
Speaker 3:Maybe some of the college years, too, when I was not taking it as seriously as uh, you know, I probably should have, but you know I had plenty of wake-up calls throughout, uh, my schooling and uh, certainly once I got in pharmacy school and as I started to get to know for sure, oh, this is what I want to do. You know, mom made sure to teach me that you are being, you know, set up to be the owner here, so I am holding you to a higher standard than everyone else and that higher standard, you know, caused a little tension sometimes, but ultimately it's made me the pharmacist.
Speaker 4:I am. He used to get mad and say you are so much harder on me than you are any other interns. And I would say it's because I'm just training them to be a pharmacist. I'm training you to own this place. Yes, that's right.
Speaker 2:You know, and there's a great book out in leadership and it talks about passing the baton, and that's what we have to do for those of us who are going to take our place. Whatever it is we do in life, you know, we pass that baton and we can do it well or we can do it poorly. And, gina, you've done a phenomenal job with Spencer. We've watched you grow up. You're just such a fine young man. And how long have you been married?
Speaker 3:Um, I've been married since January 22nd, or one, two, three, january 23rd of 22.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's pretty good Cause most men don't even know.
Speaker 3:I just know one, two, three, two, two.
Speaker 2:And it was a great party up at the Chateau Soleil. We loved it. It was so much fun. Your beautiful wife Summer and you guys do.
Speaker 3:you live here in Kingsport we actually so, summer and I live in Johnson City right now. Yeah, but she actually just moved her practice. She's a mental health therapist into the building that the pharmacy's in right above us.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so it's great. It was cute. The other day they carpooled in together. Yeah, it's kind of cute seeing my little children come in.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes. Well, I know you're so close to them and just have a lot of fun together. So, Gina, what are some of the things that you've just truly enjoyed watching? You know, your son Spencer, just really step up to the plate and just, you know, be the leader that he is and the owner of the pharmacy. What are some of those things you'd like to share?
Speaker 4:Well, I'm just so very proud of him and, like you said, we had a little, you know, as all parents and children do through the growing up years and also when they're trying to work for you. But he's done a great job and he's matured so much and just really he bought it January 1, 2023.
Speaker 4:So it's been almost two years now, I guess, but he's done a wonderful job and he takes it very seriously and just his personality I can tell he's gotten more confident as he's been there longer and more outgoing with the customers and he's just doing a great job.
Speaker 3:Well, I have a great mentor.
Speaker 4:Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, you do, and I'll tell you, spencer, I love your social media oh thank you. So Instagram? So tell us how we can go on Instagram find you so we can see those amazing videos of Flu Buster and the Geico ones we have, so it's also on our Facebook.
Speaker 3:You can either go to our Facebook or Instagram.
Speaker 1:Our.
Speaker 3:Instagram is Penny's Prescription Shop? I believe it is, yeah.
Speaker 4:And it's P-I-N-N-E-Y.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you said that.
Speaker 1:Because so many?
Speaker 4:people try to spell it P-E, but it's P-I.
Speaker 2:So that's a little hard for people to find. Sometimes yeah, p-i-n-n-e-y. Yes. Yeah, e-y times. Yeah, p-i-n-n-e-y yes yeah, e -y.
Speaker 3:So so my uh, one of my uh, our techs, jamie uh, she downloaded this app that allowed us to kind of make these posters and a couple years ago, you know, she decided we made a very simple one like get your flu shot here, and um, you know, from there she decided, oh well, I kind of want to get a little bit more fun with it.
Speaker 3:So then, she kind of came up with this one of like me versus the flu, and it was what would she call it, the vaccinator versus the flu. So then from there I started kind of thinking about, okay, well, what can we do? So then I'm starting to think of well, how wing costumes do I have, what could I do, what could I bring in to dress up? And you know, we've tried to come up with fun little reels, like animated pictures into reels and things like that, just to make fun.
Speaker 3:You know, have fun. We put up posters in the store and our customers get a kick out of it. They sure like laughing at it. And you know, have fun. We put up posters in the store and our customers get a kick out of it. They sure like laughing at it. And you know, whatever makes people smile makes me happy.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's great. One is because Spencer has a beard and he actually has just cut his hair, but he did have longer hair but was dressed as a caveman. Even a caveman can understand our med packs, I thought that was a really funny one.
Speaker 2:I love that one yeah.
Speaker 3:Tried not to do it exactly, you know, like Geico, don't, you know, infringe on any copyrights or anything. But yeah, very similar. And thankfully you know that was just me thinking what do I have? Oh, I have a caveman costume. I can do something with that.
Speaker 2:There you go and you know what I love, how you're bringing in some creativity, just you know, just things that people are going to remember right.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I mean, at first I was a little, you know, I was like kind of apprehensive, maybe a little embarrassed, but then, as people started coming in and telling me how much they love it, or seeing people laugh, it was like well, heck, yes, keep doing this.
Speaker 1:This is kind of fun.
Speaker 3:And now I get so much it's like maybe one of my favorite parts of the job now Absolutely Coming up with these little things.
Speaker 2:Well, what's interesting is, last Tuesday I went to a class. It was on social media. And it was how to present your business in social media and there's just much to it. But if you post these short little videos, put yourself out there, and she was even saying sometimes you might be a little embarrassed, but that's what people like, because they want to see real. They want transparency and that's what we remember. But anyway, Instagram can pick those up and they will continue reposting them if you have a big following with that.
Speaker 2:So I thought, yeah, now that and what you're doing.
Speaker 3:You keep that up, because that is definitely going to pay off we're trying, yeah, we keep trying to come up with one about every, you know, six weeks or so that's great, that is great.
Speaker 2:So, uh, were you gonna to say something, gina?
Speaker 4:I was just going to say, advertising these days is so different than the way it used to be. Yes, just taking an ad out in the newspaper. Now, I'd say 90% of advertising is social media and online.
Speaker 2:It is social media yeah.
Speaker 4:It's crazy how things have changed.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's like Steve's you know, here with Benchmark Home Loans, you know, one of the big things for Steve's industry is Google reviews. And so, spencer, I know, especially your, your age group and younger, that's what they're looking at. You know we look at Google reviews, and so he's got. You know him and Jonathan. Five-star reviews, one after the other you know, and those are real, those are people.
Speaker 2:that's actually okay. You know, steve did my loan. What a great job, what yada yada. But anyway, that's so important that we have that now. Yes, it is definitely.
Speaker 3:It's a little scary too. You know you have one bad interaction, maybe someone you're like oh please don't go Google review based off of that, you know. But no, we're very, very thankful and you know many of our big time customers, long-time customers, have gone on and Google reviewed us. I'm very, very proud of where our Google review total stands right now with the store on there.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I mean, I will say, if you know, in my generation, like you said, google reviews are, you know the way I kind of show appreciation to a business, or you know the way I kind of show appreciation to a business or you know, Make a decision or show my displeasure in something. Sometimes you know, but typically not, you know unless it's very, you know, of course, within reason.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what I'm thankful for. I'm so thankful that you chose to stay here, spencer, in our region, because I know so many of our younger people. They want to move on. They want to. You know there's something better over there. I don't want to. I've grown up here in East Tennessee, so thank you for staying here and continuing to contribute to the community.
Speaker 3:I appreciate that and help people.
Speaker 2:Like I said, your family has made such a tremendous impact in the Kingsport community and so many people know you all and just thank you for what you've done and how you care about people.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:And that sets you head and shoulders above any box pharmacy. There's just no comparison.
Speaker 3:Well, I really appreciate you saying that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:You're welcome. So let me ask you this and, gina, you can chime in too but I've considered both of you entrepreneurs, because you know entrepreneurs kind of we challenge ourselves, we're motivated internally for we've got our own bigger picture and goals to achieve as an entrepreneur. So what are some of the things that you would share with a younger version of yourself? You know a high schooler or something. What would you, what could you share with them to encourage them to? You know, stay the course, work hard. You know those things that have made you successful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean I would just share you know, keep your work ethic up. Keep you know, keep going. Don't get too down if you know something doesn't go your way. You gotta just keep fighting and just keep pushing forward. Especially once I got to pharmacy school, that kind of was a wake-up call too, is like at that point, if you're just cramming information to pass your next test, I mean you're not learning.
Speaker 3:And ultimately, that's the things that you know point blank, are going to be asked to you once you become a pharmacist. So, yeah, just reminding myself like, hey, this is what you need to know, because you know you're not going to have multiple choice when someone asks you a question, point blank at the counter. So just kind of maybe say something like that to a younger version of myself.
Speaker 2:And what do you think created in you such a great work ethic? Because I hear so many business owners and CNOs of hospitals and the work ethic is just not what it used to be. Why do you think you have such a great work ethic, Spencer?
Speaker 3:Well, I don't know about great. I think I have an appropriate work ethic.
Speaker 4:He has a great work ethic, even working out, and you're structuring your whole life. Your food preps every week. I think you and summer both have great work ethics. Yeah, just don't look at my bedroom.
Speaker 3:You know no, um no, I definitely probably the example of my parents, for sure I would say absolutely and uh, you know them getting on me when I was younger, you know making sure I got my everything done. So I would definitely say good parenting.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. That is awesome, gina, anything you want to share?
Speaker 4:One thing you were talking about entrepreneurs and young people. Sometimes people are so afraid to take that step to start a business. People are so afraid to take that step to start a business, you know, they're just so complacent with I'll take this job and I'll work for someone else Sure, and just afraid to take that step. And it is a big commitment and I know when I first started I was working a ton of hours, sure, and a financial commitment as well. Financial responsibility that's a little scary, but for me it has been so worth it. You know, through my life.
Speaker 4:And so just having pride in yourself and knowing that you can do something and just taking that step if you want to own your own business and, you know, step out of the box a little bit.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I love that. Well, thank you both and we're going to have to give Fred, fred Penny, some kudos here, right Spencer on the parenting. So we always my Steve and I always call Fred and Gina the fun couple because they're always we can never get on their social calendar. It's like you got to plan way out because they are the fun couple. I think you guys have a pretty full social calendar. It's like you've got to plan way out because they are the fun couple.
Speaker 4:I think you guys have a pretty full social calendar. No, we love you guys, we love you too.
Speaker 2:I want to thank both of you for being on today. Thank you, Spencer.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having us. Yeah, absolutely, thank you so much for having us All right?
Speaker 2:Well, we'll bring you back again, okay.
Speaker 1:All right, sure, awesome, bring you back again. Okay. All right, sure, okay, awesome. Thank you guys. Thank you. This has been benchmark happenings brought to you by jonathan tipton and steve reed from benchmark home loans. Jonathan and steve are residential mortgage lenders. They do home loans in northeast tennessee and they're not only licensed in tennessee but flor, georgia, south Carolina and Virginia. We hope you've enjoyed the show. If you did, make sure to like rate and review. Our passion is Northeast Tennessee, so if you have questions about mortgages, call us at 423-491-5405. And the website is wwwJonathanAndStevecom. Thanks for being with us and we'll see you next time on Benchmark Happenings.
