How to Build a Pharmacy Career That Actually Fits You

What if the career path everyone told you to follow isn’t actually the one meant for you?

In this powerful episode of Success in Doses, Saley sits down with Dr. Saba Sayed, clinical pharmacist, TEDx speaker, executive leader, and career coach, for a conversation about courage, career pivots, resilience, and building a professional life that truly aligns with who you are.

Dr. Saba shares how a personal family challenge became the unexpected catalyst that pushed her beyond traditional pharmacy roles and into leadership, innovation, value-based care, coaching, and national impact.

If you’re a pharmacist, student pharmacist, healthcare professional, or ambitious person trying to figure out your next move, this episode will challenge how you think about success.

In This Episode:

•  Why traditional career paths don’t fit everyone 
•  How pharmacists can pivot into nontraditional roles 
•  What to do when life changes your plans 
•  How to stop chasing titles and find alignment 
•  Why resilience matters more than perfection 
•  The mindset high performers use after rejection 
•  How to build a fulfilling career without following the crowd 

Connect with Dr. Saba:

LinkedIn + Coaching: www.drsaba.com

Thank you for supporting the show. Follow @successindosespod

career advancement, negotiation skills, pharmacists, personal development, confidence, asking for what you want, mindset shifts, professional growth, self-advocacy, boldness

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Success in Doses. I'm your host, Saleh. This podcast is about the real journeys behind meaningful careers, the pivots, the risks, the moments of doubt, and the lessons that shape who we become. Each episode, I sit down with people who are building impactful lives and careers, and we break down the experiences that help them get there. Because success rarely happens overnight, it happens in doses. Let's dive in on becoming on purpose. You guys, I am so excited to welcome to the pod. Dr. Saba Sayed is a seasoned clinical pharmacist, a TEDx speaker, a career coach with more than 17 years of experience building and scaling clinical pharmacy programs that improve quality and reduce spending under value-based care models. She currently serves as clinical product pharmacist at AINE, leveraging clinical and technological expertise to scale medication intelligence solution for health plans and at-risk provider groups. Prior to joining AIN, Dr. Syed served as the vice president of pharmacy at Ala Day, overseeing national pharmacy strategy for an ACO portfolio covering 2.5 million lives across more than 1,900 independent primary care practices. Her leadership and value-based care space also includes her tenure as senior director of clinical quality pharmacy at Village MD, where she built the clinical pharmacy department from the ground up. Her clinical program at Village MD generated significant quality and cost savings, leading to recognition from Texas Pharmacists Association with the Excellence in Innovation Award in 2022. Dr. Syed is a double board certified pharmacist in both ambulatory care and geriatric pharmacy. She holds her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Houston, a Master of Science in Medication Therapy Management from the University of Florida, and a Master of Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology, recognized as the non-traditional woman pharmacist of the year. In 2025, Dr. Sayed is deeply involved in advancing the profession. She currently serves as the quality-based community member at large for the American Pharmacist Association and as member of the board of the University of Houston Pharmacy Alumni Association. Please welcome to the pod, Dr. Saba Saed. Welcome to the pod.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Oh my goodness. And I appreciate you pointing out that I've been rambling and without pressing record. So thank you so much. Um okay, we caught it early.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

That's all that matters.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

We really did. I'm so grateful we did because I I would have shed tears. I totally would have cried about it. Um, and so I think like anybody listening to your introduction immediately is struck by number one, the variety. And number two, you probably are not unfamiliar with pivots because to succeed the way you have in doing all the things you have in the span of a 17-year career, I'm really excited about getting an opportunity to learn a little bit more about what that journey was like for you. And so when you look back at the beginning of your career, what did you always have? A clear vision of path that you wanted to build? Or did that clarity come with time?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Yeah, well, I can tell you for sure. I did not envision being where I am today when I first started out my career. So maybe like a lot of other pharmacists, I didn't really know what all these options were that are available for pharmacists in the pharmacy profession. There was a very limited view of the opportunities when I was in pharmacy school. A lot of it was around community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy or academia or some of the more larger areas that a lot of pharmacists are employed in and not so much in some of these more niche roles. So I've had a blast so far in my career being able to, like you said, pivot and try new things and go into these roles that not a lot of pharmacists get an opportunity to do.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Yeah. And at what point in your career stage did that lollipop moment like kind of happen where you realize, like, hey, there's clinical practice, there's the traditional path that probably that was beaten to death from pharmacy school, but then something opened up for you where you realized, like, oh, I wonder what this is about. How early was that in your career?

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Yeah. So I really loved community pharmacy. That was my first passion. That's my first job that I had when I came out of pharmacy school. I was one of those people that really enjoyed it. I love talking to patients. I love being in the pharmacy. The fast pace of it was something that really appealed to me. No two days were the same. Yeah. You could have a chance to really educate everybody in your community. And I really loved that aspect of community pharmacy. I probably would have stayed there for a really long time, but actually the catalyst for me, even considering different career options, was the fact that my son was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old. So that was the catalyst. And the reason why I started looking for other jobs was because the company that I was with at the time did not cover his therapy that he needed for his autism treatment. So what I found out from that was hey, there's companies that will cover this as a self-funded company. They can decide what they cover under their insurance. I started looking around for other opportunities because of the fact that my son was on the autism spectrum and needed a lot of support. And that was the catalyst. So I started looking for other options, other opportunities, and it led me to where I am today.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Wow, that's so interesting. So it's not that you were in your career feeling unfulfilled or unhappy, but this major life event that has come into your family is really what forced the pivot.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Yeah, absolutely. It was the insurance coverage for his therapy that made me go and start looking for other jobs. I found one actually when I when I did that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

How interesting is that that you it was just a matter of looking and then it it was available to you. Um and I could that authenticity in that search because I think in that moment, you're probably there's a lot of uncertainty finding something like that out. But how did you navigate this next phase then? Because that's an adjustment and a pivot that wasn't planned for. Like you didn't, you didn't set a strategic plan of, you know, I'm here, it's cool, but I'm gonna go explore over there. So I think people see pivots as something that I need to strategize and plan for. But what you just described is life happened and you need it to figure something out. Can you take us through like what that was like?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Yeah. So I would say before sort of life changed completely for me with this autism diagnosis for my son. And I do talk about this a little bit in my TED talk as well, is having to deal with that unacknowledged grief and having to let go of certain notions that you had about what your life was supposed to be like or what your kids' life was supposed to be like, and taking that and moving forward and you know, deciding to take that grief with you, but continue on with your life in a meaningful, positive way. So there's a lot that I learned from that experience that I was able to take with me as I proceeded with these other pivots in my career. But you're absolutely right. There's some things that you plan for, and then there's other things that you can't really plan for. Yeah. And I was one of those people that always planned everything, like really, really meticulously planned everything. Like I knew that I wanted to be a pharmacist when I was in high school and say, okay, this semester I'm gonna take this, I'm gonna do my prereqs, I'm gonna get to pharmacy school. Like I had my whole life plan. I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. And this came in like threw a wrench in all of my plans. And I think in a good way, right? Because in some ways, it's good to have that experience early in life so that you don't get so set in your ways with all the planning. Yes, you need the planning, but then sometimes it's okay to be a little bit spontaneous and take a chance and take a risk and do something new. Cause I think one thing that I've done a lot of in my career is take a take a chance on something new, do something that's risky, bet on something that's uncertain, things like that. Just say yes to more opportunities and somehow they they still keep coming.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

They've been working out, but I think like even as you talk about that bet on something uncertain, I remember like the decision. And I think we talked briefly about this at APHA. Like, I was in the early stages of planning launching this podcast when we met, and how I knew nothing about the technology that would be required, as proved by today and the fact that we started talking, right? Like, and I hadn't even pressed record yet. Where do you believe for you, like that courage came from to be like, I'm not sure what's gonna happen next, but I'm gonna step up and step into it. I'm curious, like what that anchor and that source of that courage for you came from.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yeah, and again, I'm gonna go back to my son because it's it's truly because of him that I was as brave as I was to even make a decision to make a move. Because back in the day, companies that I worked for, that was the place like you got your foot in the door, you stayed there for 20, 30 years, you retired from the same company, you got a pension. Like that was the roadmap for people. That was the way that they did their careers. I did not envision that I was gonna be changing roles or trying new things and doing it as often as I have. It was really my son, who was a catalyst, who again made me brave enough to try new things and to not be afraid to step out of the box and do something different. So that's really where I got a lot of my courage from because I was like, you know what, I gotta try something new and do something different anyway. And each time that I did that, I actually learned so much and I was able to grow a lot in those roles and do so many different things that I would have never gotten the chance to do if I had stayed in one place or stayed in one role for as long as I did. So I am very thankful for him for being the catalyst for it, but then also for to me, because I totally truly leaned into it. Yeah, I'm on this path, I'm gonna stay on this path, I'm gonna keep doing different things, trying different things. Sometimes it works out really well, sometimes not so much, and that's okay. Just again, make another pivot and you keep going. You learn as much about the things that work really well as the things that don't work as well, and that's okay, you just keep going.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

And I think in your current experience, in your experience with being a manager, being an RPD, seeing people at all of these various stages in their career. A lot of my listeners or young professionals struggle. We struggle. A pharmacy career of 10 years, like you're just starting, right? That reconciliation of authentically being yourself, showing up exactly as who I am and building a career that I can look at and say, yeah, the work I'm doing professionally is an accurate representation of the things I really deeply care about. I wanted to know a little bit from your experience as a manager and how you've seen some of those struggles surface for people that are just starting out and any guidance or direction you may have in that, those early moments of career uncertainties for young professionals.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question. I actually did see it quite a bit as a manager, but then also in my coaching practice too. So I'm a career coach and I have clients who I work with, and I focus a lot in my sessions around creating that clarity, right? Like, who are you? What's important to you? What do you really want in your career? What motivates you as a person? Unless you know enough about yourself and truly have that self-awareness around what's gonna make you feel fulfilled at work, you're gonna be chasing something and not knowing exactly what you're what you're trying to do. One thing that I encourage everybody to do is to have that values assessment of, you know, what are my top two or three values for me as as a person, and how do I see that reflected in myself and in my work? What actually gets me invigorated? What are some of the projects that I worked on that made me feel really accomplished, made me feel really happy? And then what are the things that drained me? Like everybody's different and that's okay. Like if somebody really likes something and another person doesn't, that's all right. If somebody is really drawn to being a manager and somebody's not, that's okay too. Like I would tell my direct reports this all the time. They would think the only way for me to advance is to get become that manager because the person that's gonna be that people manager, and that not may not be for you. So I had an employee in um my company who was like, no, that's not really what I want to do. I want to focus more on these projects or focus more on education or focus more on some of these other things that I find more more fulfilling. Like, I don't really want to manage people, and that's okay, right? Like I think it's really great when people know exactly what what is going to fulfill them and make them feel happy in their roles. And that might look different for for everybody. So that's one thing that I always encourage people to do. Don't think that you have to walk a certain path just because people told you that's what the path, you know, to progress in your career is. It's okay. Like it might look different for everybody. And as long as you're feeling fulfilled and you're motivated and you feel like you're making an impact in your in your role, you're you're gonna you're gonna feel really happy in in the job that you're in. But first you have to recognize yourself and know what you want. And then you can work on how you're gonna get there.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

I couldn't agree more. And I think that because like what you're describing, I'm I'm I'm picturing like the average student and their journey to entering the profession. It's you have to plan the class you take next semester, you have to plan the rotations you're gonna go on, you have to do research on the residency if that's what you want. You have to read the idea that there's a a version of your career that could unfold where planning is not going to help with that. Can you imagine anything more frightening? You know, because I think like when I talk to students sometime, some of them are moved to tears when they think about the possibility that they won't match to a residency program. And in that moment, I'm speaking to them as like I've seen this play out in so many different ways, where there's the person that gets the residency and they are miserable that entire year and realize this has nothing to do with what I am interested in. It could be the place, it could be them, it could be a mismatch. But I'm curious in like any from again, from what you've observed and watching super aligned people go through their professional career and watching people that are just like making it up as they go along. What are some observations that you've made when people are just extremely afraid of taking the next step because what's ahead isn't clear?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah, that is a really great observation because I've noticed that as well. I think there's a middle ground here that I would encourage a lot of people to try and stick to. Yes, there is a benefit to planning things and making goals for yourself and deciding, right? Like you said, when you're in school, it's very clear, right? Like what you have to do next. If you want to go into clinical, try for residences, you know, like people understand what they need to do and how to create that path for themselves to get there. So in that way, yes, that that planning does make a difference and making sure that you are feeling prepared when you do get to that stuff is is really important. I'm not saying that that's not important. On the other hand, it's also important when things don't go to plan, right, to not feel that sense of despair. Right. For me, it happened in real life, and then I had to take that and turn it into something positive, right? And that's that's the part that I think is even harder than creating the plan and sticking to the plan and following the plan. Like, yes, that's wonderful. You want to do that, but at the same time, like, how do you bounce back when you don't get the thing that you want, when life turns out really differently than you thought, then what do you do with that? Right. So that that moment, I like to think of it as an opportunity. Maybe it's a no, not right now type of situation.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Okay, so real quick, if you're enjoying this conversation, go ahead and rate and review the podcast. It helps more people find the show and keeps the conversation going. Okay, so let's get back to the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

And maybe it's a hey, why don't you go pursue this other option for me? And I don't know if this gives hope to people, but I didn't do a residency. Yeah. I was able to find somehow get into all of these opportunities. So it's not the end of the world. If you don't get a residency, it might make it more difficult for you. It might make your path a little bit more challenging to get to where you ultimately want to go. But it is not the end of the world. There are other ways to get to where you want to go. And there might be other things for you to do that still help you make that sense of fulfillment out of your work.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

I love, I love what you said there so much because it's the other thing too, convincing them that a fulfilling career can absolutely exist absent residency. Can you just talk a little bit about how that unfolded for you?

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah. So for me, it was I knew what I wanted to do. I knew that I I was in love with community pharmacy, had worked in the pharmacy my whole time when I was in school. And when I did my rotations, I did not enjoy any of my other rotations. As much as I enjoyed community pharmacy, like I was just like, no, hospital's not it. I prefer my patients like being able to actually talk to me and not like sedated, right? It's not to say that hospital pharmacists aren't doing great work, but it just I knew myself and I knew that that wasn't for me. I wanted to have that long-term longitudinal relationship. Yeah, really get to know them the way that you get to know them in a community pharmaceutical. Like so I I loved that. That plus I I loved I love primary care and care as well, but I just I love community pharmacy even more. So I didn't think there was a point in doing a residency because I was like, you know, I just I'm gonna do community pharmacy anyway. I'm just gonna go get into it, do it, and get my get my career started. Plus I had loans and stuff to pay. And I'm like, you know what? I want to do that right now. So that was the reasoning for me. Um then, like I said, when my son received his diagnosis, I had to start making making a change in what, you know, what I was gonna do with my with my career and where I was gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

And that's when I went back into more what I would say like planning mode, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

At that point, I was like, you know what, getting out of community pharmacy, I'm trying something else, but how do I get to where I want to go? So I looked at all the different job opportunities that were out there. And at that time, believe it or not, Medicare Part D was new-ish. I'm like totally dating myself now. The people were like, man, she's old. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

When Medicare, when part D was new, new-ish.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

And there was a part of there was something new at that time. It was called medication therapy management. Yeah. And I was like, you know what? This is a new thing that's happening in pharmacy. Medicare Part D is new. And all of this thing, all of these things were coming out of the centers for Medicare and Medicaid around this new benefit and how the health plans were supposed to administer it, what were the things they were gonna be graded on? There was this stuff coming out about star measures. I'm like, you know what? That sounds really cool. I want to learn about it. So I started getting really curious about it, and that's when I decided to go back to school. So I went back to school and um I got a master's in pharmacy and medication therapy management from the University of Florida, uh, the distance learning, just because I was so curious to see what are the different models going on across the country around MTM, how are how are different companies approaching this? And as part of my project, my thesis that I wrote for my masters was around health plans and quality ratings and how MTM can support with quality ratings, not just the CMR completion quality rating, but also others, including that all together as a comprehensive plan. So, as part of that work that I was doing, I was able to try to apply that in my current role. I was working at that time at um a health insurance company. I was like, hey. Is there an opportunity for me to try to do some of this work here? Like I even talked to the CEO about it and our location. I was like, hey, I'm working on this for school. Are there any opportunities? Is there a way for me to work on some of this stuff while I'm here? Um, so I would just say, like, at that point, I was really curious about what was happening in pharmacy. I was reading up a lot about all these new developments. I was trying to find options for me to apply some of this new knowledge, and I was being very proactive.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yes. And I I was like, I'm listening to you describe this entire journey. And I'm like, all I'm hearing is like you took responsibility for the direction you wanted things to go.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Absolutely. Yeah. So then, I mean, and of course, I nothing was guaranteed to me at all at this point. Like, yeah, this could have been a really bad decision to go back to school and take out more loans. And, you know, who knows? I was like questioning myself too. I was like, is this a good idea? I don't know if it's a good idea or not. I don't know if this is going to lead me anywhere. I think the fact that I was taking the initiative and I was being proactive and I was going a little bit above and beyond what some other pharmacists were doing at the time, I think that actually did end up helping me stand out when I applied for my next position, which was my my true quote unquote clinical pharmacy, my very first true clinical pharmacist position. I was able to explain in the interviews that I was like, you know what? Yes, I haven't done a lot of clinical work, but here's what I've been doing in the meantime to try to boost up my clinical skills. And they took a chance on me and they gave me the job because they could see how motivated I was and how much I wanted to do this work. And that was my first like clinical job. I was doing MTMs, CMRs, post-hospital discharge work, quality stuff, like all the things that I had studied in my program. And I was able to explain what I had done and what my research was about and all this stuff. So I think it it really worked in my favor. I kept my eye on what was going on in the industry. Yeah. And I was looking to see what do companies out there need potential gaps that are in the pharmacy world today that I could plug into and I can fill these really interesting niche areas within pharmacy that nobody's nobody else is really thinking about. Yeah, that's kind of the pattern that I've repeated since then is finding these like really weird niche roles and inserting myself into them somehow.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

That's so cool because you're pretty like exactly as you said, you figured out a formula that seems to work beautifully and you've just repurposed it. You're like keeping your pulse on what's going on in pharmacy world, and it's like, that's next. I'm gonna figure out how to get really good at it. And and like as I've said, it's about taking responsibility for the direction you want your career to go. And I think the traditional path forces us to just think that because you walk a certain journey, these doors are gonna fling wide open for you. I always tell, I tell every mentee this. And and you guys can tell me if I'm lying. I tell you guys this all the time. A person that is driven, that is ambitious, that has foresight about their career is going to outdo the most intelligent and complacent person in the room every single time. Because that other person, they're not thinking, oh, I'm the smartest in the room. I just need the problem to be brought to me. But the other person that is like forward thinking, that is solution driven and has all these ideas about where they're trying to go and how they're trying to elevate their profile within a company, they're gonna go looking and searching for the problems and the opportunities and how they can get better and serve that company. Talk to me about what kind of courage does it take to walk up to a CEO and say, hey, I've been doing this thing and I think I could I could bring that in for it.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

I know. I'm like, I'm like horrified thinking back, like, why did I do that? I was like so blatantly self-promotionable. I'm like, you know what, what do I have to lose? I just was like, yes, let me tell him. I was like, you know, this is this is what I've been working on. I'm gonna use my use his time to my advantage. He's here, he's visiting, and I was like, may I email you my proposal? He's like, okay, so I emailed it to him.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

No, but it's it's it's a real life example of why you you should always shoot your shot because you don't know.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Yeah, just take it.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

But it also tells me that it's a personality trait because you just came to us at APHA, like we were sitting around lounging, waiting for a session, and then you came and struck up a conversation. You're not scared to talk to people, like you'll just come up to people. And yeah, I think that that's such a great trait. I wanted to touch a little bit on the coaching experience. You see people come to you at all levels of their professional development, right? What about the people that have got it figured out? What do you think maybe is like if you had to give a top two or top three trait or quality of people that are excelling professionally? Like, what would those things be in your general observation and working with different people?

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Yeah, I would say one of the things that really stands out to me and my in my coaching practice is for people to truly be very persistent and consistent and motivated is one thing that stands out to me. And the other thing that stands out is when people are truly aligned with what they want. They have that clarity around this is where I want to go and this is why I want to go there. Those people, instead of just like going around looking for anything and everything, they're very focused on exactly what it is and they know what is the right opportunity and what is not the right opportunity for them. And those people tend to do really well because now they can explain themselves really well in an interview. They know which companies and what roles to go after. They're not wasting their energy running after things that are not for them. So they tend to do pretty well. And then the other trait I think really helps people is that resiliency of not giving up after you have the hundred rejections or however many, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Yeah, no, literally, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

The job market is hard, you know, getting the rejections are hard, hearing not now is hard. Like all of those things are really hard, but these people they keep going, they learn, and they keep moving forward in their whether it's their pivot or in their career search or whatever it is that they're they're looking for. So all of those things I think really, really help people.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

100%. I couldn't agree more. And I I I say it all the time. I was like, I don't need 10,000 people to say yes. I really just need one yes to get off to the like so that that's what like keeps me motivated and keep going. It's like, even if I get 99 no's 100 is gonna be the yes. I keep I I tell myself, I'm I'm like one step closer to my yes. I just need to blow through all the no's to bring me closer to my yes, because the thing that also happens with the no's, if you're lucky, is you'll get a little bit of feedback. They'll give you a little bit of information. You'll get to use those moments as data collection points in time. And you you hopefully take some time to reflect, recalibrate the plan, and go back in. But the resilience component can't be overstated. What is one dose of advice you would give someone who is trying to build a career that truly reflects who they are?

SPEAKER_00 29:46

There's two pieces of advice that I would I would give. One is be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That's one thing that's truly, truly served me very well in my career. Is I've been a lot of times the first one to volunteer for new things, to raise my hand when no one else will, right? Like those kinds of things have worked out in my favor a lot of times. And then you can't have growth without feeling a little bit like you're out of your death. Yeah. If you're always like an expert, you're feeling like you got this, you're comfortable all the time, then you know you're not truly challenging yourself. Like there's something else you gotta be doing, there's something else you should be doing to either learn something new or take on a new project, challenge yourself a little bit, try to improve something in your workplace. Like there's always an opportunity for you to be either building up your skill sets or trying out something new that will help improve your skills and build your your career. And the second thing that I would advise is something that we've already talked about, which is making sure that alignment is there, right? What your values are, what motivates you, what are the things that are gonna make you feel fulfilled. And then finding a way to actually do those things. And the answer might not be that you have to switch your job. The answer might be maybe I want more opportunities to do different projects in my workplace. Maybe I just want to, you know, start a podcast or things I can do that's non-work related that'll help me fill my cup and still give me that sense of, hey, I feel really accomplished and this is feeding my soul, right? So I've had really great conversations with people in my coaching practice around this. It's like, okay, well, you're not maybe getting that level of fulfillment from work. Are there other areas in your life that you can pursue that will make you feel that same way while still giving you that financial stability that you want right now so you can reach that financial goal? So I've had really, really interesting conversations with folks around that too. And they've appreciated getting that that clarity and having somebody to bounce these ideas off of because they're like, you know what? Thinking that I needed to find a completely different job helped me recognize that I don't need to do that. I can stay where I am and then do these coup, you know, one or two things. And I've been, you know, doing that over the last few months, and that's actually been enough for me. Like I feel really good about my life now.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

I'm like, hey, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

For you, yeah. So it's it's nice to be able to give people that clarity around what it is that's really gonna support them in their career and make them feel fulfilled. And sometimes it's their job, and sometimes it's other things outside of their job, and that's okay. Like you can have a really nice, fulfilling life and get meaning out of things that are that are not work. Your job doesn't have to be everything for you.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Yeah. Oh my gosh, what an excellent high note to close the episode on. But I really want to give the listeners an opportunity to hear directly from you on where they can find you because LinkedIn, I know, is the great platform. That's where we connected first. But where can the listeners today have an opportunity to connect and reach out and support projects or even become involved or partnering with you, so on and so forth?

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Yeah, absolutely. So LinkedIn again is a great place. I respond to messages pretty frequently on there. I will connect with you if you send me a connection request. I also have my coaching website, www.has all of my information on there. You can schedule a complimentary coaching session with me, and it's a great place for you to reach out to me for uh speaking opportunities and also for those coaching sessions as well. So excited to potentially hear from some of you all soon.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

I cannot thank you enough for the opportunity today to get to talk to you and for other people to also get an opportunity to meet you if it's their first time. Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

You're welcome. Thank you so much for having me. It was so great talking with you.

SPEAKER_01 33:54

You as well. Thank you. So now that it's just us, on today's episode, we had this unbelievable opportunity to meet and speak with Sebba. Um, I cannot tell you again how striking of an experience it was meeting her at APHA Annual. But today, we really, really, the lesson that she gave us is the importance of alignment and understanding that we may need to take that next step professionally without really having clarity on what the next step is. Uh, for Saba's family, it was that her son was had a uh this life-changing diagnosis and it forced a pivot on her. But you can hear in this episode how she welcomed that challenge, how she was open to redirecting her energy in ways but she had a clear mission in that she knew that she had what it takes to build the type of career she wanted, even if that was a non-traditional path. She was prepared to do that. And yes, the catalyst of that was this uh transformative diagnosis for her son. But it is always so impressive to know what she's been able to accomplish as a result of this major pivot and change that happened for her and her family. She talked about today the power of resilience and persistence, and how these have been incredible tools for folks that she's seen be able to excel in their careers. And she talked about alignment and why that's important and investing in as a thing to make sure that we have. But the thing that I thought was super cool, also, she dropped in there towards the end, is that alignment we tend to think is gonna come from our jobs, it's gonna come from our professional careers. Today, I think I loved that she talked about the fact that that extra fulfillment that we need to keep going, to fill our cup, may be something external, something that has nothing to do with our careers and our professional identities. That resonates so deeply with me because as I sit here, a creator of a podcast and creating a student pharmacist coaching business, I can tell you that those were not things that I thought about in pharmacy school and said, Yeah, I'm gonna create a podcast to have unique conversations with people that I admire and respect. No, but creating has become this uh incredibly important part of who I am as a pharmacist, as a mom, as a creator, that that comment and that advice that she gave in making sure that we are staying on the lookout for other places and other things in our lives that could bring that alignment and fulfillment, it doesn't all begin and end with our professional careers. And so I thank you so much, as always, for tuning in and listening into this episode. As always, I am grateful uh that you choose us to begin your Monday. As always, please, please, please remember that success does not happen at once. It really does begin with small incremental steps we take intentionally forward and deciding that the choices we make are going to result in big, big, big results for us. Thank you and have a wonderful week. I will see you next Monday, and you will hear from me next Monday with a brand new episode and another dynamic guest. Okay, bye. If this episode gave you something to think about, something to hold on to, or even something to act on, I want to ask you for one more thing. Take a moment to write and review the podcast. It feels really small, but it's actually one of the biggest ways you can support this show. It helps more people find these conversations and become part of this community we're building right here on Success and Doses.