Turn Your Gift Into Impact

What if the talent that comes most naturally to you is the very thing you're meant to build your life around?

In this episode of Success in Doses: Becoming on Purpose, I sit down with pharmacist, entrepreneur, author, and residency-trained clinician Dr. Desiree Adams to talk about turning your natural gifts into meaningful impact.

Long before pharmacy school, Desiree discovered a passion for teaching. What began as tutoring children through her church eventually grew into a successful business, Brighter Futures Tutoring Services, helping students of all ages build confidence and succeed academically. Along the way, she became an author, created NAPLEX study resources for pharmacy students, and continues to inspire others by leading with faith and purpose.

Throughout our conversation, Desiree shares how prayer, service, and trusting God's timing have shaped every major decision in her life and career.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How to recognize and develop your natural gifts
• Turning service into entrepreneurship
• Building a business while pursuing pharmacy
• Why faith is the foundation of every decision
• Becoming an author and self-publishing your first book
• Why networking can change the trajectory of your career
• Finding purpose through serving others
• The importance of journaling, reflection, and trusting your own path

Whether you're a student, resident, entrepreneur, or healthcare professional wondering what's next, this conversation will encourage you to trust your gifts, embrace your purpose, and take the first step.

"The talent that God gave you was never meant to stay hidden. It was meant to serve someone else."

📚 Connect with Dr. Desiree Adams
Instagram: @desire.k.adams

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to Like, Subscribe, and Share to help us bring more conversations about leadership, purpose, and personal growth to the pharmacy community and beyond.

#SuccessInDoses #DesireeAdams #Pharmacy #Pharmacist #Entrepreneur #FaithAndPurpose #Leadership #WomenInHealthcare #NAPLEX #PharmacyStudent #Residency #PurposeDriven #ChristianLeadership #SmallBusiness #PersonalGrowth

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 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. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of Success and Doses Podcast. I'm very excited about today's conversation, as today we are talking about investing and turning what we know and what feels natural to us into ownership and something that can transform the community around us and using our natural talent. And so as I started looking for other examples that are out there in the professional pharmacy and even beyond, I had this unbelievable opportunity through Instagram of being connected with our guest speaker today and the person who's going to help facilitate this conversation. Our guest today is Dr. Desiree Adams. She is currently a PGY1 pharmacy practice resident at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, where she is continuing to grow in her clinical skills and passion for patient-centered care. She was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, and graduated as valedictorian from Alfred E. Lai Beach High School in 2013. Her journey in pharmacy began with earning an associate's degree in pharmacy technology from Rasmussen College, followed by an associate of health science in pre-pharmacy from South College in Knoxville, Tennessee. She then went on to complete her Bachelor's of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2023 and her Doctorate of Pharmacy in 2025 at Mercer University College of Pharmacy. She is founder and CEO of Brighter Futures Tutoring Services, which she started in 2013. Through this business, she's been able to mentor and support students of all ages, helping them build confidence and succeed academically. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano, spending time with her family, and strengthening her faith. Welcome to the pod, Desiree. I'm glad to be here. It's my pleasure to finally I think we've had so many messages that we've exchanged on Instagram. This is the first time that we are having a conversation. So I'm very excited that I'll have an opportunity to ask you more about yourself and really how we got connected. And so for the people that are listening and have no idea, can you talk to them a little bit about how your journey with tutoring, how did that start? What made you think like, hey, I think I may have something to offer in this space?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

So the way I got into tutoring was through my church. So back in 2013, our church had a program called Homework Help Academy. So we would help tutor kids while the parents were at Bible study. They had like a program in the educational building where we helped students. And everybody kept telling me, Oh, you know, you're good with helping students learn how to talk, how to do this. They understand you, so you should start a business. So I started it with people in my church just coming to me asking me to help their kids learn how to read, write, do math, and then I did SAT A C T prep for some kids in the church. And so that turned into me doing a business. And my granddaddy was like, okay, we could go ahead and get you set up for your LLC and everything.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Go ahead, granddad, because he he saw that this thing was really something. So where do you think that passion for the skill set for teaching came from? Was it were you always, as far as you can remember anyway, were you always interested in teaching other people how to be better at certain things? How did that start?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

So I think it started as a little girl because what I used to do is I had my baby dolls, and my granddaddy and grandmama, they have a deck on their back porch, and I used to spread out the baby dogs, and one day I'll pretend like we're in church and I'll I'm preaching a sermon, and one day I'll do it like we in class and I teach them a lesson. So it came at a young age with me teaching, and then I used to help different family members and stuff with their homework, like my cousins and stuff. I used to help them with their homework as well. So that kind of led me into tutoring and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

That's really cool. I think like that's amazing because it seems like it's almost like a natural talent, like a God-given talent, and you enjoy it. You seem to be good at it, but you've gone you've come a long way because you graduated from the baby dolls now to creating your own uh you created a NAPLEX study assistant too. So tell the people a little bit about how that got started, because that's when I connected with you.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, so what happened was when I was in pharmacy school, I had different classmates and stuff who used to come to me like, oh, you good at this, and then we used to go to the library. So it started with us going to the library after class every day, and we would go over different topics. And then when they saw how I explained things and stuff, they was like, Well, you should make us like a study guide, and then we could use that to study. So when we started studying for the Netflix, I took the stuff in the book and I tried to break it down into where they can understand it. And then I did my rotations in Savannah while the rest of them were doing their rotations in Atlanta. So what we did was I made a study guide. It was like a Google Doc where everybody had access to, and then we used to get on the Zoom call and have like different study sessions.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

That's crazy because I remember like I tried to ask you questions and I'm like, how did you do this? How did you get started? But I was so fascinated and so, so excited after you circled back and you were like, I passed my Netflix and I'm fully licensed now. I was so happy for you. But how do you, from the time where your granddaddy, right, like he recognizes in you, like, all right, Desiree, I think we need to go on ahead and set you up with an LLC. How do you go from that point of somebody else recognizing the potential in you to you being like, you know what? This is a business. Like, let me get my thing and myself organized. Take us through what that thought process was like. 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_01 7:29

So when I first started was thinking about starting it, my granddaddy said, okay, we'll get the paperwork together. And at first I was like nervous and scared about it, but then I went in prayer. Because me, I'm a person that like prayer. I pray about everything before I do it. So I had to pray about it. And then the Lord was telling me, Well, this is the talent that I gave you, so you need to go out there and use it and show others.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

I try to let that be my light. Yeah, by helping others and showing others how to I think that's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

That's so amazing because it goes back to that whole conversation about purpose, like putting everything, like holding on to your faith and having that be the anchor that guides you with all the decisions. It can be so powerful in taking away how nervous we get or or scared we get when we're going to do something new or even taking on the responsibility of being like, I think I can I have something to share and teach other people. How do you balance that? Because I know I struggle with that sometimes. Like in the beginning, when I started helping people get residency, I used to be like, girl, do you know what you're doing? So, how does that like, do you have any of that? Like, maybe you don't go through that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

So at first, when I was helping people, I was like, Do I really understand what I'm helping them with? Do I really understand the subject? Yeah. Go back and learn some things for myself and try to learn the new ways. Because I know they teach math different now than how we grew up teaching math. So I had to try to learn the new ways of how they do things. Yeah. I can be of a help to them. Yeah. Try to teach them the old ways too, because I'm like, if it's not broke, why fixed exact?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

So this is the thing, right? You a tutor. Maybe you can help me understand this. Because my niece stays with me sometimes when my sister is going out of town for work, and I gotta Google all these different things and all this new math and get on YouTube. And I'm like, this is not how I learned it. What do you understand about why they're trying to reinvent math? I don't know why they're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

I don't, I feel like the old way is better. I feel like the new way kind of dumbs it down so I know people used to be scared of math, and now I know more kids they enjoy it more now. The way so I guess they try to adapt it to different learning styles.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Absolutely. Yeah, okay, yeah, because math, like, I was good at it, but never really liked it. It's really weird. I was good at it, but never really liked it. It's not till I went to my first chemistry class where some of like that analytical part and math started coming together that I started to enjoy the math that I was doing. But I definitely was one of those kids that was super intimidated, even though like, but I worked really, really hard on it. So that's great. And I I saw that you're also an author. I see you didn't put that in your bio, girl. Why? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

I'm just a new author, so I'm getting used to it now.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

But I think so. I have had thoughts about publishing a book for a really long time. And let me tell you something. It's one of the most intimidating thoughts that can come in my mind. And so when I saw that you published, I was like too excited to be like, girl, you gotta come on a podcast and talk to people about this because I think it's so brave, it's so bold that you've done it. Where did the idea come from to say, by the way, she's also in a residency and she's publishing it. Like, can we just talk about, can we talk about how super I don't even know how you're doing all this, but where did the idea for the book come from for you? Had it been something you thought about for a really, really long time?

SPEAKER_01 11:36

So I'm always I always used to like write and creative stories from a young age. So I wrote this as like a play, and then my mama, she I used to read it to her back in the day, but she wasn't really paying attention when I was reading it. You know how you listen to your child reading stories? And then one day I was like, well, now I want to make it a book. And so I decided to make it into a book, and then I decided, well, I'm not gonna go with a publisher, I'm gonna try to publish it myself. And so I did everything through Amazon with trying to publish it. But the only hard part is like trying to edit it yourself.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

I think that it is absolutely amazing that you just was like, I think I'm just gonna do it on my own. I and I think like for you, you probably think like, oh, this and that, and like I'm just I'm just being I'm just being desire, but I could tell you that as a person who's contemplated publishing for a really long time and even said, Oh, I'm gonna do it myself, or I'm gonna I think it's a really big accomplishment. So I really wanted to like congratulate you and applaud you on publishing the book, but also I want you to tell people about this book and what the book is about. We want people to know about this book, girl.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

So the book is called Circle of Deceit. And so it's a it's like a fiction story. So I made it a fiction story. So it's about a family, and the daddy's name is John Daddy Taylor Sr. And he dies, and at the reading of his will, it sends shockwaves through the influential Taylor family. So what should have been a moment of mourning quickly becomes the beginning of a dangerous battle of power, wealth, and control of the multi-million dollar empire known as Taylor Enterprises. So it has a lot of like life lessons in it, and then it also has a lot of like business things in it.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

So it's like a story about life lessons, and then it's basically like watch, watch your back and making sure you know who to trust. Where'd the inspiration for this book come from, girl? I just came with it on my own because I seen stuff in life that happened with different things in life. Yeah. And I seen how people can sometimes be like you want to go on your path, and sometimes some people can be backstabbers. Some people not always there for the right reasons in your life.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

And what so in all of those lessons or things that you've observed in life, what what has that taught you as a person, but even as a person that's building a business? What has some of those observations that you've had about people watching or seeing situations unfold? What have some of those things taught you about how you want to move forward in life?

SPEAKER_01 14:43

It taught me to keep my faith at the center of my life. And then it also taught me to continue to look out for yourself first. Yeah. And you also have to watch who you who you surround yourself with as well.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Absolutely. This is so very important. Because I could tell you, like the advice that a lot of people give me as a person who's creating and establishing businesses, they're like, you gotta be involved because you need to understand the ins and out. Otherwise, like you're not going to realize like you're working really, really hard, but can't have nothing to show for it because you just don't know all of what's going on around you. I really wanted to touch on being a young entrepreneur and creator because I don't think people understand like the type of space that we are in, right? Like you're taking something that you are either passionate about or something that you've spent time and energy to build and understand and learn to turn that into a fully functional business. And it sounds like you tutor children of all ages because you're telling me about new math. You definitely tutoring kids of all ages. Are you still tutoring that age gamut now?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Because I tutor from like they can be elementary school all the way up to college. Hey, I have some adults who I was tutoring too.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah. What's what's been the biggest difference? So let's say between the tutoring the fifth grader and tutoring the sophomore in college that's taking their first writing class, how what difference? What how do you adjust? Like what version of Desiree the tutor shows up for the eighth grader or fifth grader versus the college student? Is there a difference?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

So, like when I tutor, I try to individualize it. So the first thing I do is ask them how they learn. And then I try to individualize the tutoring session based on how they learn. And then I try to uh assess where their skill level is at first. Yeah. Then I know how to gauge the lesson plan and how I'm gonna um go about helping them. And then, like most times with the college age, it's like they're trying to get used to coming from high school where you didn't have to study as much to when you go into college, you can't just think you can just not study and pass. Nah, you have to really study.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

It was it's such an adjustment. And I don't think it's talked about enough. Like that transition where you go from I show up, I turn in my homework on time, I do my group projects, I'm gonna get an A in the class, versus you could do all those things in college and you still have to study because you could do all those things and still not pass. And I think like it could be a really jarring and like, what do you mean I'm about to fail this class? I come to class and I do the homework and I'm still about to fail. So I think that that's a really great thing. For for what you're building right now, the tutoring business, you've started authoring, you're publishing. What does success look like for you when you think about it and you sit down and and kind of project into the future? You you say that you pray. And I think one of the benefits of people that really pray and you pray with intentionality is it forces you to sit down and really think about what brings you true meaning and purpose and joy. Are you able to share with us a little bit, like what does that vision of success looks like for you? 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_01 18:45

Well, for me, I think of success as trying to make sure I'm helping others and also making sure I'm helping my family as well. So I don't want to just be successful for myself. I want to be successful for the future generations that's coming behind me. Because I'm trying to be an example to like my cousins. They have children, and I want to be like an example for their children to look up to the know that they can do it. If I can do it, they can do it. Because some of them are about to, they in high school now, getting ready to graduate, go to college, and I want them to have a good example to follow behind.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

A role model. That's so admirable. I love that. I really love that. That's amazing because I feel like in any community, you can never have enough people that are doing well. Like, we need everybody in any community to be that example that other people can see and be like, well, look at Desiree. Like, she's doing it and she got she's able to do it. Like, I can do it too. So I find that incredibly commendable. I ask every guest this question because I think one of the things that I've been able to benefit from really, really well in my career is getting really good advice. Some of the advice wasn't always good, but as a tutor, what's been advice that you received that you thought was absolutely the worst advice anyone could have given you?

SPEAKER_01 20:19

Not go to pharmacy school. No way. That was the advice somebody gave me. They said you should not go to pharmacy school. Well, girl, you can't stop right there. You gotta tell us what. So they told me, because I was on my first um day at I was working at Crowgood. That was my first day as a pharmacy intern at Crown. And she said, you chose the wrong profession, you shouldn't go to pharmacy school. And it was a pharmacist telling me that. She was like, you should have been a PA, a nurse practitioner, or go to medical school. She was like, pharmacy is a dead profession. You shouldn't go to it, it's no, it's no growth in pharmacy. You're gonna hate your job. And I was like, just because you don't like where you're at, don't mean I can't find something that will work out for me. So I always tell people, pharmacy is continuing to grow. And it's more than just doing retail hospital. You have to look for opportunities and you have to network with people. Because I never knew that I was gonna come to Cleveland to do a residency. I thought I was gonna stay in Georgia, get a hospital or VA residency. Then this opportunity came upon me, and I'm doing ambulatory care, managing my own patients, sending in prescriptions by myself with no issues. So I love that corporate residency for me. And I never would have found it if I gave up like she told me to.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Because I think that we tell people you need to get some good advice, you need to talk to people that are already in, and they're gonna give us some advice. They're gonna give you some advice, but no one prepares you for the fact that sometimes some of that advice can can be people projecting onto you. Like she basically looked at her career and how miserable she was, and the fact that she feels stuck because I think some pharmacists they feel like they're stuck, either because of life circumstances or professional choices, but they feel stuck. And then they tell other up-and-coming people that don't pick this profession at all. So I always tell people like be very wary of people who give you advice that's like global. Like the person that tells pharmacy is the greatest career you could ever have. It's it's it's roses, it's it's just everything is awesome over here. Be careful about that advice and be careful at the person who's telling you that it's also the absolute worst, because reality is, to your point, you gotta network effectively, you gotta be open to new opportunities and exploring because the profession is growing and changing. Wow, I can't believe, like see, that's never happened to me, even though people say that like they were told to their face, like, don't go to pharmacy school. Yeah, that's crazy. Um, so then for somebody that received really what turned out to be bad advice, and I'm glad you didn't listen to it. What is one piece of advice that you have for somebody right now that is trying to figure out what to do next?

SPEAKER_01 23:37

I would tell them if they are a Christian person, I would tell them to pray about it. But that's what I did. At first I didn't know if I wanted to do a residency or not.

unknown 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Then I sat and I prayed, I read my Bible, and then I just trusted in God with the process. And then I would tell anybody, like, just sit by yourself and think in your own thoughts, and then write down things that you feel inspired by, and then try to use that to navigate your next point.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Like if you like the journal, I like the journal a lot. So I feel like journaling a lot and being by yourself helps you to see and have more clarity. Uh like going with other people's opinions, put them out the way, and just think about what do you want for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah. And you see, like Desiree, like, I'm so glad you're saying that because it sounds so simple because we've practiced it. And what I've learned over the years is sometimes people are really scared to do exactly that, like sit down by themselves and reflect and actually think about what it is that they want. It can be very, very scary and intimidating for them if they've never done it. But I always tell folks, and I'm like, if you're afraid of your alone time, you need to do it more. Because the first time, the first few times that I was like being consistent with journaling, it wasn't very deep. Like I feel like I was just talking about the day I had. Like, it wasn't very deep. And then I went from that to starting to journal journal in a way that almost felt prayerful. Like I was writing down my thoughts and feelings and aspirations and looking for guidance about what step I was gonna take next, right? What is your journaling like? What do you have a process or at all or anything?

SPEAKER_01 25:45

So, what I try to do is I try to base it on like a scripture for the day. That's true. That's really good. I try to base it on a scripture for the day, and then I let that be my guide for my journaling. And then because before I used to just write whatever on paper.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

That's amazing. I love that for you. I'm so happy for you. I'm really proud of you for all the work you're doing and making yourself available at scale to help people of all ages accomplish their goals of doing well academically. It's something I support and will always admire. I appreciate your time. Before we let you go, though, for anyone who wants to find the book, anyone who wants to connect with you, how can they do that?

SPEAKER_01 26:45

So I'm on Instagram. You can find me at desire.k.adams. And I'm also, you can find my book on Amazon. It's called Circle of Deceit.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Very good. Thank you so much for your time. I can't thank you enough. And thank you for saying yes. Thanks, Desiree. Thank you for having me. Of course. Okay, so now that it's just us, this is where the power for me of social media will be forever undefeated. If it weren't for Instagram, if it weren't for Desiree's courage to just inbox me and say, hey, I created this Notplex study guide. If you know anybody that is looking for help as they're preparing for Notplex, you can share it with them or send them my way. I would have never connected with her. And I'm proud of her for her residency position out in Cleveland, and she's doing well. But I think the thing that we learn the most about Desiree is again, every mission being anchored and placed in the shadow of purpose. Having things that govern your step that really transcend you. It helps with the fear that we have about doing bold things and big things and brave things. And it really does help give us that courage of knowing that whatever the challenge is and whatever the journey is, we are not at it by ourselves. And I think this is where faith can be such a superpower for someone. You find yourself doing really bold and brave things that you would otherwise kind of agonize over and have so much anxiety around. But I think, like in talking to Desiree today, being published, completing a residency, passing her board exams on first try, graduating valedictorian service and community bubbles to the top for me as a lesson we can learn from her and how she's living, and tutoring people of all ages and helping others accomplish their goals. She talks about how she wants to be a role model directly in her family, but also for others in her community. I admire people that are purpose-driven and I admire Desiree, particularly because of all of the amazing things that she's accomplished already. I cannot wait to see all of what's coming next. As always, I am grateful, very, very grateful for you choosing to start your Monday morning with this podcast on a high note. As always, rating, subscribing, and reviewing to this podcast is one of the most powerful things that you can do to help spread the word and support this podcast. I am grateful as always. Please have a wonderful rest of your week. 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 Dosing.