In March, the National Community Pharmacists Association did something unusual for a trade group. It bought national television.

Multi-million dollars, multi-year, running on CNN, Fox News, HGTV, TBS, and TLC, then moving to local cable, streaming, and social. The ads are satirical. Customers heap ...

I used to believe word-of-mouth was the secret to my pharmacy's growth.

In the beginning, it was the only explanation I had. New patients would walk in, and when we asked how they heard about us, the answer was almost always some version of: "My neighbour told me about you," or "My mum has been com...

The chain pharmacy on the other side of town has a marketing budget bigger than some small towns' entire economies.

More locations. More buying power. More corporate marketing dollars. Billboards on the highway. Digital ads that follow people across every screen they own. Glossy postcards landing i...

Years ago, one of my first customers, a woman named Carol, stopped coming to my pharmacy.

She had been with us for several years. We knew her by name. We knew her medications. We knew about the daughter two states away she talked about every time she came in. My staff genuinely liked her. She genui...

Last month my son got married.

I sat in a pew near the front, in a suit that fit a little tighter than it used to, watching him stand at the altar waiting for the doors to open.

And during the ceremony, the monsignor said something I have not been able to shake since.

"You have not lived life unt...