Pharmacy Influencers Share How to Balance Passions and Career

As the digital creator space continues to expand, pharmacists are taking to social media to share their wealth of knowledge and passions, both inside and outside the medical field. According to HubSpot and Brandwatch’s 2022 U.S. Consumer Trends Report, 30% of individuals aged 18 to 24 and 40% of those aged 25 to 34 are involved in the content creation space. However, most of the individuals consider their digital platform to be a side project and remain in their traditional careers.¹

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Pharmacy Times spoke with 3 pharmacy influencers from around the world who share their personal experiences of what pharmacists do when they’re not at the pharmacy.

Anna Carwile

TikTok: @annacarwile.stl Website: annacarwile.com

A love for food and travel is shared by many people, including clinical hospital pharmacist Anna Carwile, PharmD, who has a website where she offers culinary and travel inspiration along with her favorite places to visit.

“I’ve always been a foodie, even though I didn’t really call myself that for a long time. My friends, even in high school, used to make fun of me because all I would think about was food and what I was going to eat next. I’ve always loved trying new foods, and I’ve always loved traveling,” Carwile told Pharmacy Times, noting that her mother’s chicken piccata remains her favorite dish from her childhood.

As she and her husband began traveling the world, Carwile wanted a space where she could share her experiences with a wider audience. This led to the creation of her website, “The Foodie’s Travel Guide.”

A resident of St Louis, Missouri, Carwile immerses herself in everything the city has to offer through exploratory outings with her children and date nights with her husband. She highlights her favorite restaurants and attractions for families, couples, and individuals on her website and social media.

In the past 2 years, Carwile also has covered topics as varied as fashion, family, and medicine, reaching approximately 12,000 followers.

Despite her success as a content creator, Carwile’s love for pharmacy endures. However, as a full-time pharmacist and mother of 2 young children, she said there are weeks when content creation takes a backseat.

“I would never want to stop being a pharmacist, because I love it. I love what I do. But it would be fun to have more of a balance between the two in the future,” Carwile said.

Carwile noted that starting a side business on top of a full-time job is very time-consuming and recommends focusing on a passion, something that brings pleasure.

When deciding on a content topic, make sure it’s something that’s important to you—“whether it’s working out or eating out, or whatever you like to do,” Carwile said. “It is a lot of work—even though it’s more fun work, it’s still work. So it’s got to be something you’re passionate about.”

Emily Griffin

TikTok: @theencapsuledpharmacist Instagram: @theencapsuledpharmacist LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/emily-griffin-821889212

Pharmacist Emily Griffin, BPharm(hons), GradCertPharmPracInt, MClinPharm, AACPA, from Victoria, Australia, focuses her content on health promotion and pharmacist advocacy in “The Encapsuled Pharmacist’s Journal,” which is featured on her Instagram. There, she shares medical information and knowledge she has absorbed as a pharmacist while offering an inside look at some of her shifts as a clinical oncology pharmacist.

Griffin has a variety of roles that she balances in the pharmacy space, stemming from her desire to care for patients. One is in the education field at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where she serves as a lecturer for the School of Rural Health, promoting and supporting the rural pharmacy workforce. She is also a teaching associate in the university’s Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“I went into pharmacy because I like caring for people. That is the underlying passion for my role. I look at it as an honor to be able to serve patients in whatever that setting might be,” Griffin said in an interview with Pharmacy Times.

One of the proudest moments in her pharmacy career, Griffin shared, was being named the 2023 Early Career Pharmacist of the Year at the Victorian Annual Excellence Awards. Equally proud of her accomplishments in the digital space, she also highlighted the accomplishment of starting Encapsuled, her pharmacy consultancy business. Griffin noted that launching her Instagram page was a dream of hers for an extended period and emphasized that she finds fulfillment in all of her endeavors in the pharmacy world.

“If I said it was easy, then I would be lying. I have a pretty busy schedule, so I do have to keep organized. But [at] the end of the day, everything’s about [prioritizing],” Griffin said.

A pivotal moment in Griffin’s career was realizing she needed to step away from a particular workplace due to its toxicity and its unwillingness to change.

“The [best] advice that I have for other pharmacists is that a workplace can have a huge impact on you, so it is best to find one that aligns with your personal values. And not to be afraid to say goodbye to ones that don’t,” Griffin said.

Part of the reason why Griffin shares her personal work stories and encourages positive workplace culture in her journal is to help other pharmacists not feel alone if they are experiencing a similar situation in their work environment.

“It’s nice to get a message here and there. It makes you feel like you’re having some sort of positive impact, whether it’s educating someone on a health topic or about the pharmacy profession, or maybe making a pharmacist feel a little bit more valued,” said Griffin. “If I have a positive impact on just 1 person, then it’s worthwhile.”

Lauretta Ebube

Instagram: Dlaureate_ X: @TheAblebaee_

On top of a career as a full-time pharmacist, Lauretta Ebube, PharmD, from Lagos, Nigeria, is a content creator and influencer focusing on health, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle.

When she first started creating content, Ebube wanted to educate the public on drug interactions and medicine. Slowly, she shifted her focus to public health and lifestyle information, content that she now appreciates sharing with her audience.

“I’m not put in a box; I’m allowed to explore. I am allowed also see other parts, career-wise. I don’t have to be in the pharmacy—that is one of the best things for me,” Ebube said in an interview with Pharmacy Times.

With more than 16,000 followers on Instagram, Ebube says finding a balance between her digital platform and her pharmacy career has been easy because she enjoys being in front of a camera and has learned how to manage her time. She starts her mornings at 4 AM, creating content before her 8 AM pharmacy shift, and continues with content when she gets home at 5 PM.

“Even before content creation became a thing, I was always documenting moments,” Ebube explained. “[I was always] creating memories, before people started monetizing what they do on social media. It makes it easier when you’re eloquent and outspoken [and] using the digital platform just to talk—just being yourself, you’re not being someone different.”

Her inspirations for fashion and beauty come from her childhood, and she believes it was who she was born to be. Starting at a young age, she experimented with trying on different dresses and painting her nails. Finding enjoyment in different clothes and appearances, Ebube said, makes her feel at peace and fulfilled.

The advice she would give to other pharmacists who are interested in being an influencer is to think about something that makes you feel fulfilled and something you love and can give your all to—and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the digital space.

“As a pharmacist, you can pick up anything and try to integrate pharmacy into it—you can be anything,” Ebube said. “That is the beauty of pharmacy: [It] is a profession that allows you to be many things.”

Reference

1. Hubspot, Brandwatch. 2022 State of U.S. Consumer Trends Report. November 2022. Accessed March 1, 2024. https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/Consumer%20Trends%20Report_111522.pdf