Alright, Dr. Rolonda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I started pharmacy school at age 40.

I was always employed except for the 2 times I had been laid off because the businesses closed. Side note, both businesses were run by the same person. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

When I lost my job the second time, I decided that I was going to go back to school to get a degree where I would always be able to support myself, without wondering if the business was going to go under.

I looked around at the opportunities available. My sister-in-law had recently graduated from pharmacy school, and I thought, “why not?” I had one year of college classes, so I went back to get my associate degree (2 years). I was fortunate to get into a state pharmacy school by default. Someone gave up his/her slot. No moving out of state, my husband was able to keep his current job and my son was able to stay in his school. Yea!

After 4 long years of commuting and studying daily, I graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. All along the plan was to relocate to Florida where it was warm and sunny and leave the Oklahoma winter weather behind along with the rest of my family. That part was hard, but it was rewarding to be able to use my new salary to offer travel opportunities for my parents and family. Even more rewarding was the ability to pay for my son’s bachelor’s degree so he would not graduate with a huge debt.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I worked in a big box retail pharmacy for 13 years. The first 7 years were awesome! I was really happy at the store where I worked and had great technicians. I often told people I had a working vacation. Plenty of time to explore my new state. After a corporate takeover in 2015, the culture went downhill. It became more and more stressful to work in that environment. I thought maybe it was the area I was working in, but it was not. My husband and I moved around to various cities in Florida (St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Tavares) after our son went away to college. When the pandemic hit, I was done.

During my last few years at the pharmacy, I had started researching other ways to use my pharmacy license. I knew helping people with their medications and wellness was the path I wanted to pursue. After I left retail pharmacy, I found another pharmacist (who worked for the same company I did and was having the same experience) on Linked In and started following her. Her name is Jamie Wilkey, and she is amazing!  She was working with independent physicians offering Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing. She didn’t invent the test but has been instrumental in getting the word out to hundreds of pharmacists. A PGx test is a simple cheek swab that determines how you metabolize medications. Basically, it uses your DNA to determine which medications will work best for you. Game changer!

I was definitely on board with this! Why hadn’t I heard about this in pharmacy school? This is a great tool that could prevent adverse drug reactions and help save patients money by eliminating the “trial and error” method of prescribing. And why weren’t more doctors using this?

The tests are not expensive, averaging about $350.00. So, I tested myself, my husband, and my mother. My mother had breast cancer in 2007. She had a mastectomy, no chemo and was treated with tamoxifen. When I tested her in 2022, we found out she doesn’t metabolize the drug and received absolutely no benefit from taking it for 5 years! We are very fortunate she has not had a recurrence of cancer because I have talked with patients that weren’t so lucky.

My mission is to help people find the right medications to achieve the best possible outcome and live their lives to the fullest.

I do this by offering consulting and testing services through my company, QRXConsults, LLC. I work with individuals and private clinics to achieve health and wellness goals as well as prepare for the future. My offerings include personalized medication reviews using PGx and nutritional evaluation using Nutrigenomic (NGx) testing. I also am a patient advocate which means I help clients work through health challenges and chronic disease states one-on-one. It’s time we focus on wellness instead of illness.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Some of the most valuable knowledge has been from the “school of hard knocks.” Having work experience before getting my pharmacy degree was truly valuable. And from my family, I learned respect for other people and a healthy work ethic. I also spent time being creative, be it art or gardening. I feel this has led me to be able to “think outside the box” and be creative in my work.

My most recent “training” was moving back in with my parents for a year. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. After I left my retail position at the end of 2020, I was able to visit for a few weeks at a time. During those visits I would help them go through mountains of photographs and help them declutter. My mom sent me a Facebook post that a local pharmacy was looking for a pharmacist. I totally laughed at her. Then I got to thinking. I was building my remote business, I had no set hours, and I could do it from anywhere! I already had a fall trip booked to Oklahoma, so I contacted the pharmacy and had a few meetings with them.

The day after I got to Oklahoma, I interviewed for the position. The hours were perfect for me as it was part-time and the salary was enough that I could take care of all my financial obligations in Florida AND help my parents out with some projects. I told the pharmacy I would commit for one year because I loved Florida too much to move back permanently. I didn’t go home at the end of the 2 weeks.

My family was so excited that I was able to stay for the extended period. And it was a really busy year. My siblings probably grew tired of getting photographs for birthdays and Christmas. But it was a real treat to go through the old pictures and school projects with my mom. My dad and I planted his garden in the spring, and I helped him work it all summer. There were school pickups and ball games, lots of decluttering and cleaning. My parents are in their 80’s so my main focus away from work was trying to figure out how to make their home “work” for them as long as possible. They are both healthy so doing some remodeling was the first step.

During the year, I actually LIVED with my parents in their home. I could see their day-to-day activities and pick out the challenges they faced. The first one was the cast iron bathtub in the main bathroom. While there was a shower in the master bath, the room was too small if assistance was needed. My brother and I remodeled the bathroom and built a beautiful walk-in shower. A few other projects like new flower beds, a water softener, and roof repair were also done. But mostly it was just decluttering and giving away 50 years of accumulated “stuff”.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I definitely would choose a pharmacy career again. I just wish I had started after high school. Granted, the pharmacist’s salaries were not anywhere near the salaries in 2008. I just wish I had the extra years to build my retirement. But then again, pharmacies didn’t have as many computer programs to run things. From private databases to robot filling stations, my pharmacy experience was pretty cool. Until the power/internet went down or the robots’ got labels or pills jammed. But you have to just work through it and get things done. That’s where I think my previous work experience benefited me the most. I was able to find other projects that could be done without power or internet.

Pharmacy has more flexibility now than when I graduated in 2008. There are over a hundred (maybe more) individual roles a pharmacist can do. Not only do pharmacists work in retail and independent stores and hospitals., but we also work in private practices, insurance companies and technology.

After leaving retail pharmacy, I found my niche in private consulting. I don’t take insurance so it’s all cash pay. I set my own schedule and work with individual clients to improve their wellness. I have several business acquaintances and we each have our own little area of expertise, providing different kinds of services.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.qrxconsults.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qrxconsults/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.RQualls
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rqualls-pharmd