Embracing Opportunities and Leading with Passion with Karen Brown

🎙️ Dive into this inspiring poddie chat between Emma and Karen, where they delve into the heart of determination, camaraderie, and seizing opportunities. 

🌟 Karen Brown, a top-notch pharmacy boss and ex-sporting legend, paints a vivid picture comparing life’s challenges to a tough trek up a mountain. Her words are a true-blue source of wisdom, urging us to tackle life one step at a time, even when the going gets tough. Her infectious passion for both her profession and empowering athletes through safe supplements is palpable, embodying the essence of never giving up and always striving for the extraordinary. 

✨Emma’s genuine awe for Karen’s journey adds an emotional touch to this tale of resilience and adaptability, leaving us stoked for the endless possibilities ahead. This poddie is an honest testament to the magic that happens when you embrace the unknown—a story that’ll tug at your heartstrings and leave a lasting mark on your spirit. 🌞 

#EmpoweredPodcast #InspiringJourneys #ResilienceStories #LifeAdventures #UnlimitedPossibilities 

Join us in this episode and be eMpowered! 💪🎧

00:00 – Get Started
01:42 – Karen’s introduction
03:11 – Karen’s career as a pharmacist
04:26 – Karen’s journey towards success
06:24 – Leadership journey
08:21 – Athlete mindset
10:10 – Karen’s vision
11:46 – Embodiment of being a leader
12:16 – The Magic of Teamwork
15:52 – Cultivating a Positive Work Culture
16:38 – The Team Around the Bus Analogy
20:04 – Managing diverse people
24:13 – Taking Risks and Embracing Opportunities
27:36 – Looking Ahead to Future Endeavors 

If you would like to discuss any of the topics discussed in this episode or if you would like to be a guest on the show, please get in touch either via our website, [email protected], or through any of the links below.

https://redd.com.au

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmaherbie/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-brown-8b7900106/

Thanks for watching!

You are amazing and you are loved!

You can find the full transcript below!

00;00;00;00 – 00;00;46;02
Emma
Welcome to Empowered. Before we kick off, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the past, present and future. Traditional custodians and elders of this nation, and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We further acknowledge the land on which we work here at Redd and the land which is the land of the Terrible and Niagara peoples.

00;00;46;04 – 00;01;14;01
Emma
The struggle you have overcome might be the struggle a Queen is currently sinking in. We all have a story and we all need to share it. Welcome to Empowered. Here you’ll be surrounded by a community of queens who have conquered their own, be it their struggle with the elusive work life balance, building up a business and selling those eventually down the track, a fitness journey, a weight loss goal, or anything that you deem to be success.

00;01;14;03 – 00;01;44;05
Emma
I’m blessed to have a village of people in my corner who lead with love, share their success tips, and this is a platform for those stories. If you had the cure to cancer, you’d share it and your story is someone’s cure. Your story will help save a soul, and this world needs far more of that. The intention for these parties is to host guests with topics and tricks shared with the listener to help them live a life full of love, happiness and success.

00;01;44;08 – 00;02;13;18
Emma
Be surrounded by queens who have walked your path and resonate with their stories. What do you know now that has helped your journey that you would love for your younger self to have in their toolbox? Welcome to Empowered and welcome to Karen Brown, a phenomenal queen in many, many fields. I was just saying before, before our official introduction, how I’ve always admired you and your determination.

00;02;13;21 – 00;02;31;29
Emma
When I first messaged you, just say, Please be a guest on my party. I know you had that moment of heck. What am I? Why have you asked me? And in 60 seconds, or maybe a little bit more just now, we’ve gone over four or five really, really cool topics that we can bring in today. But again, I.

00;02;32;01 – 00;02;51;17
Emma
I admire you. I think you’re amazing. And I’m a bit stalking on your LinkedIn because I think you’ve got so much goodness to share and you tend to have a really nice way of sharing your story and your success. You know that sprinkle of tips along the way without selling, you know, sell some LinkedIn pages. It’s like, Oh, no, not again.

00;02;51;19 – 00;03;24;00
Emma
And it can get a bit preachy, but yours are never like that. Those are always very inspiring. And I’ve always found that I am inspired by you. Thank you. How come we know each other from another life and another business? And that was in the human behavior and culture scene when I was in that field. And obviously you have brought that into here at Red, and I loved working with you and understanding the growth and the passion that you had for your baby business, which is growing in leaps and bounds.

00;03;24;02 – 00;03;33;03
Emma
I’ll give a very shameless plug. Karen is a phenomenal pharmacist who has multiple franchises. I’m not sure if you want to mention the brand.

00;03;33;03 – 00;03;34;24
Karen
Name by the way.

00;03;34;27 – 00;03;37;09
Emma
So, Terry, what came out? You have two.

00;03;37;09 – 00;03;38;23
Karen
Stores, two here in Brisbane.

00;03;38;24 – 00;03;40;02
Emma
Amazing. Which location.

00;03;40;02 – 00;03;43;13
Karen
Are they? I’ve got Terry White come around Hills and Fanny Grove.

00;03;43;13 – 00;03;47;00
Emma
I didn’t know you were so north. Awesome. Which inside? West.

00;03;47;02 – 00;03;47;29
Karen
North side of the river.

00;03;48;00 – 00;04;12;24
Emma
Thank you. Beside and along the way, I’ve loved watching. Not only, obviously, your business ownership, which I love and have in common and adore, but also to that leadership piece which you’re creating and it’s almost like you’re you’ve got another brand that you blossoming at the side of what you do as a business owner and a franchisee and franchisor.

00;04;12;26 – 00;04;32;02
Emma
The ownership and the leadership piece there is really cool. And I loved working with you and understanding you, you and your business a little bit more. When we were working in that space together. It’s something that can’t be taught and I think we can unpack a lot of that today from a couple of the context or the stories that you mentioned before.

00;04;32;04 – 00;04;33;16
Emma
So again, thank you for being here.

00;04;33;17 – 00;04;34;09
Karen
Thank you for having me.

00;04;34;10 – 00;04;52;29
Emma
You’re welcome. Karen, tell us tell us everything. We’ve got about 30 to 40 minutes, so go for it. But what brings Karen Brown that I see today to us in this what I believe successful lot? You know, you’re a successful business owner, but there’s so much more to you, Tom.

00;04;53;01 – 00;05;01;21
Karen
Everything I am living, what I would say is a teenage dream. So I was grade nine when I decided I wanted to be a pharmacist.

00;05;01;21 – 00;05;03;18
Emma
Wow, that’s rare tonight. So soon.

00;05;03;18 – 00;05;22;18
Karen
Careers Information Day put in a series of, you know, when you answer the questions and the algorithm. Yep it’s out and it said pharmacist. And I knew I wanted to be in health right but knew that I probably didn’t want to do medicine in the eyes of a 14 year old girl. Pharmacy looked pretty and that was a nice place.

00;05;22;18 – 00;05;26;14
Karen
And as opposed to a medical GP practice.

00;05;26;14 – 00;05;27;11
Emma
Clinical.

00;05;27;13 – 00;05;53;10
Karen
Clinical wireframes. So yes, no family in health like it was just something quite unique. And now I’m got, you know, over the time have owned four different pharmacies. ABC lately. I genuinely love being a pharmacist and being the hub of our community, being trusted and respected, and you really get to make a difference. And it’s everything that I thought it would be.

00;05;53;10 – 00;06;21;11
Karen
And like every industry, we have our ebbs and flows. Yeah, but I’ve been really, really blessed to be part of communities where they truly rely on you and you see generations grow up where they were babies and now they work for you and things like this. So it’s just beautiful. And I think your passion is always infectious and I think if you genuinely love what you do, then success can come true.

00;06;21;15 – 00;06;40;21
Karen
And yes, so I suppose at the core of it, I’m a pharmacist, I’m a pharmacy owner, always knew I wanted to own pharmacies and then have a few other little side businesses that I love. And I have a really big background in sports. And so a lot of what I do in business is what I learned in sport.

00;06;40;23 – 00;07;01;13
Karen
And when we talk about leadership, I was actually asked once, when did your leadership journey begin? And I think we talk about our business journey. Yes. But it’s actually a question of when does leadership start? And is it as an eight year old, when you’re captain of the netball team, is that when you’re at primary school and your school captain like, I think as you said, I think there’s a natural born leader in us.

00;07;01;15 – 00;07;31;18
Karen
But I think then we evolve and I look at now in my leadership journey and I when I reference sport, I think we wear many hats as leaders and that has changed over time. I think probably a decade ago the coach was in the grandstand barking down orders. Now I see definitely through the pandemic in pharmacy, which was a crazy time for everyone, but being on the front line, it was unbelievable.

00;07;31;20 – 00;08;05;22
Karen
And I felt like you were the captain, coach, you were in the middle, you were doing everything. You were leading, you know, the big players. You were inspiring the people around you. Now it’s trying to be back to being the coach in the grandstand. But in that kind of bird’s eye view kind of role. But then I’m loving being a cheerleader as well and realizing that my team can actually do it without me being out there in the middle of the field and trying to, you know, just letting them have a go and letting them pull off the big plays and just being that proud mom on the sideline, seeing them flourish.

00;08;05;22 – 00;08;06;20
Karen
So an amazing.

00;08;06;20 – 00;08;07;03
Emma
Analogy.

00;08;07;10 – 00;08;23;29
Karen
That’s come on. I think sometimes you get to be the referee and you got to be really tough calls. Sometimes you’re the waterboy that runs out and just gives them the pep talk in the water when they need it. And I think each team, the joy of that then is each team member needs you to play a different role and you’ve got to know which role they need you to do.

00;08;23;29 – 00;08;28;05
Karen
And that’s the fun of it as well. And yeah, I love it.

00;08;28;05 – 00;08;36;09
Emma
Have you actually put that down as a construct to your business and success of that or you just sort of keep that in mind when you are day to day going through?

00;08;36;15 – 00;09;01;01
Karen
I do, as I said, as an athlete, I think you always got an athlete mindset and we did. I’ve done a different kind of psychometric testing. Yes. And like we did our strengths profile and my top five are competition. Everything is a competition to me. How can I possibly be better? How can we do the one more percent to be better?

00;09;01;04 – 00;09;22;06
Karen
So, yeah, competition, drive, focus, achiever, strategy, lab and that’s all from being an athlete where it’s, as I said, what are the one percenters? How can I, you know, I don’t get caught up in my obsession or my competition, but I respect them. How do you move on quickly? Like I don’t hold grudges. We move on pretty quick.

00;09;22;06 – 00;09;30;00
Karen
It’s good, you know, So there’s so much of what I do, and I think I actually was only six months out of uni when I became a partner.

00;09;30;07 – 00;09;30;24
Emma
Wow.

00;09;30;24 – 00;09;58;16
Karen
So I was a very young partner running my own store with people a lot older than me, a lot more experience with me. But I’d come from playing netball at the elite level, right? Coaching teams, managing teams. So that didn’t faze me. It was just another team and I’ve always been one to lead by example and always be in there with them and you just earn respect and you earn respect by leading from the front and helping them and inspiring.

00;09;58;22 – 00;10;19;01
Karen
My job, I always say, is to make them a better person. So it doesn’t matter how long you’re with me. And in pharmacy, it’s a very interesting work environment because you’ve got career pharmacists, you’ve got part time, full time, you’ve got assistants that might be at uni doing law. And then once they graduate, they then go into law.

00;10;19;03 – 00;10;35;16
Karen
So you’ve got kind of temporary, you’ve got people that are in it for careers, you’ve got full time, part time, weekend, weekdays. And so my vision is always that you leave a better person than when you first started with me. If I can make you a better person, then I’ve done my job kind of thing. And this is.

00;10;35;16 – 00;10;38;06
Emma
Why tissues are in my podcast recordings.

00;10;38;06 – 00;10;56;20
Karen
And I’m also big on creating an environment where people belong. And I think that as a team that they feel as individuals, they feel like they belong as a team. But even as our community, that’s where you have really successful pharmacies is if the community feels like they’re part of your family, we call it salve.

00;10;56;21 – 00;10;57;01
Emma
I love.

00;10;57;01 – 00;11;26;04
Karen
That. That’s what I want to create. And they walk in and, you know, for some people it’s at the worst times of their lives that we can be that big hug, virtual hug to kind of make them feel safe and better. And yeah, so creating a sense of belonging and that comes from teams as well and sporting teams and I also think as a leader we are just managing people and I think some of the best coaches in the sporting world, actually the best people, managers, they might not be the best tactical, skillful.

00;11;26;04 – 00;11;50;17
Karen
They employ those people. It’s actually they just bring out the best in individuals for a common goal. And whether that’s to have a successful business or to win an Olympic gold medal grand final, it’s all just about bringing a group of individuals together and bring out the best in them. And I think when you love what you do, that’s infectious and you attract the right people and the success is just an offshoot of that kind.

00;11;50;17 – 00;11;54;02
Emma
Of thing, you make it sound so easy. I know it’s not. It’s not.

00;11;54;03 – 00;11;59;07
Karen
But it is. And I enjoy it. So I thrive on, you know, the challenge of it.

00;11;59;14 – 00;12;19;02
Emma
It’s amazing. You said before that somebody asked you when you become a leader, I can’t remember the exact phrasing, but yeah, it can be difficult for someone because they’ve got it in them. But it’s that confidence. And I think your sporting career and your athleticism, as you mentioned, you kind of have to be a bit confident just to know your space.

00;12;19;02 – 00;12;29;17
Emma
Yeah, physically and metaphorically where I’m good at this thing and, you know, without that ego, I think you don’t have an ego about you. You’ve got it. Beautiful, natural.

00;12;29;22 – 00;12;46;15
Karen
But I think it’s also that you care about everyone that you love the best for everyone. So if you as a team, a team player and I look at my children who are 12 and ten, you know, they’re they’re so supportive of their teammates and they’re the ones cheering and the ones going, How can I help you? What can we do better like that?

00;12;46;15 – 00;13;17;13
Karen
So when I look at little kids and go, You’re going to be a good leader one day because you’re not this individual. You actually care about everyone else and how they can do better. And yeah, I think that kind of childhood we talk physically, mentally, I am six foot three and so I’ve always been told and I’m not shy about that, I like I have a real presence, I think, and I love talking to teenage girls and things like that, that they, you know, don’t slouch big, confident, loving, tall, little male.

00;13;17;13 – 00;13;19;10
Emma
I wish I could. Yes, But it’s.

00;13;19;10 – 00;13;24;01
Karen
True, you know, And I think the generations have changed now. There’s a lot more to.

00;13;24;03 – 00;13;24;07
Emma
To.

00;13;24;14 – 00;13;52;22
Karen
Children now, but be really comfort about it. Don’t shy away. And so I think I always kind of probably had that physical presence. And then I as I said, I’ve just loved being in teams and how can we have fun when we collectively win your race? And it’s really interesting. So my career’s as netball, but I went to St Margaret’s, which is one of the top girls schools here, and it’s a very big rowing school and the rowing coach always wanted to get me in a.

00;13;52;22 – 00;13;53;16
Emma
Boat, right.

00;13;53;16 – 00;14;22;05
Karen
But it was always at the same time as netball. So I always like, no, I’m doing netball, but when I retired from netball I ran into that said rowing coach at the Queensland Academy of Sport and he said, okay, I know you know, doing netball anymore, can I get you in a boat? And it’s really interesting. I think rowing is one of the ultimate team sports in that you can be one second out and it affects the whole crew, whereas at Naval I can have a bad game, but the other six around me can pick up the pace kind of thing.

00;14;22;07 – 00;14;38;18
Karen
So I think it’s the ultimate in team sport. But I’ve never felt so lonely and I felt and apologies to all the amazing rowers that are out there, I think I felt it was like everyone was in a silo doing their job perfectly and the production line perfectly. I can.

00;14;38;18 – 00;14;39;08
Emma
See that.

00;14;39;08 – 00;15;05;20
Karen
Whereas in netball it was the face to face, it was the talking, it was the camaraderie. It was just a real different feeling that two teams, but a totally different feeling for me. And I think that happens in business as well, that you can have these teams that just a phenomenal production line and everyone does their job. And to me as well, the success is in the intangible, it’s in the magic.

00;15;05;24 – 00;15;16;26
Karen
It’s not the black and white, it’s not the strategic document. It’s not what’s written up on the walls and stuff in businesses. It’s actually the stuff you can’t pinpoint that make it that.

00;15;16;26 – 00;15;17;08
Emma
Secret.

00;15;17;08 – 00;15;40;16
Karen
Sauce. I think one of the biggest compliments I can get in the pharmacy is I love the vibe in your store, and I think that’s like if we’ve got a good vibe and the customers and patients can pick up on that, then we’re winning. That’s so I think it’s the intangible stuff that makes teams magical. And yes, we can teach the skill and all the, as I said, all the quantitative things.

00;15;40;18 – 00;15;43;09
Karen
But yeah, it’s the magic that makes it special.

00;15;43;09 – 00;16;10;09
Emma
It is. And that’s culture is in essence a well. Daly Culture culture queen at heart. I adore that. And I could feel that and see that back when we were working together. You know you’ve got that something different that people want. And sometimes they can’t You know you say that you customers that say that there’s a great vibe, they may not be able to articulate what it is, but you just you know, I’m sure if you sat down with them and drilled it out of them, it would be the comfort factor.

00;16;10;09 – 00;16;13;26
Emma
The the what was the pharmacy family analogy.

00;16;13;28 – 00;16;14;20
Karen
Of family.

00;16;14;20 – 00;16;35;02
Emma
Family who love that. And you’re creating that as a core. And if that’s you know what you as the leader of the organization or the team want, then obviously you’re going to instill that. Have you found much along the way where people don’t subscribe to that or don’t want that type of environment for their career? I highly doubt it.

00;16;35;02 – 00;16;36;04
Emma
But have you?

00;16;36;06 – 00;16;59;05
Karen
We do ask. So at my main store around hills, we have what’s called the team around a bus. So we have an analogy. I was looking to do a team charter, but I didn’t want to document. Yes, So we wanted something more graphic and the bus analogy really rang true to me. So we as a team initially when we kind of launched it was, you know, where’s the bus going?

00;16;59;07 – 00;17;19;00
Karen
Who gets a ticket on the bus? What’s your role on the bus? What do we do if we hit speed bumps? What do we do if we want to go off road and there’s no map? What if we turn left and we should have turned right? What’s our fuel supply? So we go through all of this and it has become a real, I suppose, notoriety of our store that actually intrigues people.

00;17;19;03 – 00;17;39;22
Karen
I definitely in a recruitment sense, people like your bus looks really fun. What happens on your bus? Yeah, but also then it gives that analogy of who are the right people on the bus, in the right seats, and if you’re going to drag your feet or try and pull the bus in the other direction. Now it’s not this easy, but get off the bus like and also over time, I don’t take it personally.

00;17;39;22 – 00;17;56;09
Karen
Yeah. Like I want to actually help people to get to where they want to go. And if our busses in the right bus, I’ll help you find another bus and that’s okay and normal. And I’ve also learned over my time is actually really showcasing that in the recruitment phase. And this is what we’re all about.

00;17;56;11 – 00;17;56;28
Emma
Be proud of.

00;17;57;01 – 00;18;04;22
Karen
This is what it means to be here. This is what it means to get a ticket. We don’t give them away lightly. And if it’s not for you, that’s okay. I’m not offended.

00;18;04;24 – 00;18;28;09
Emma
We had a hard sorry to interrupt. We had a an interview from about six months ago and they went through and we offered them a second interview. And the candidate said, look, I really appreciate your time. I just feel like your art business is a little too extroverted for me. And I said, thank you so much. And Chris, my husband said, Darling, I don’t think it’s a compliment.

00;18;28;12 – 00;18;53;06
Emma
But for me, like there was two parts, it yes, we are different in our world and that’s okay. That’s who we are. It’s yeah, absolutely. We’ll never shy away from it. And I respect that. If people can’t see themselves here, that’s okay. We’re very open with feelings and thoughts and emotions and neurodiversity and mental health because it’s, you know, burnout is so prevalent in that world.

00;18;53;09 – 00;19;09;13
Emma
And as the chief of happiness here, I, I’m very much leaning to that, not leaning away from it. But yeah, it was funny when Chris said, I don’t think that’s a compliment, Emma, but that’s okay. You know, it’s not going to be for everybody, all right? But it’s part of our brand and that’s part of your brand. Your bus is part of your brand.

00;19;09;13 – 00;19;27;15
Karen
And and you attract the tribe. Like the people that want to be part of your tribe, you attract. And when I said to you before, my number one strength was competition. My my loss, my number 34 is empathy. But I surround myself with people. I’ll deliver the news. But then I’ve got an amazing operations manager that gives them a big hug and says, It’s.

00;19;27;15 – 00;19;30;11
Emma
Like that yin and yang. Yeah, yeah. Good cop, bad cop.

00;19;30;12 – 00;19;39;16
Karen
But so it’s attracting the people. We have a little slogan in our store. It’s not a competition. Everything’s a competition, but that you attract the.

00;19;39;16 – 00;19;40;09
Emma
Love that people.

00;19;40;09 – 00;20;00;27
Karen
Need. I will have little challenges in store for our farmers in particular is one of the top in Australia for vaccinations. So we’ve done over 30,000 vaccinations in our room and we just, you know, subconsciously, at the end of the day between the pharmacies, how many do you do today? What do you do today? So but then there’s other people that don’t like that kind of stuff.

00;20;01;01 – 00;20;02;11
Karen
Yeah, and that’s fine. We’ve got.

00;20;02;11 – 00;20;05;09
Emma
Some here to Gamify, so everything’s a ticket in our.

00;20;05;09 – 00;20;05;15
Karen
World.

00;20;05;15 – 00;20;17;01
Emma
Oh, yeah. Ticket with associated number. Yeah. And closing tickets or opening and closing tickets and they gamify it and we’ve got dashboards everywhere and some love it. Yeah. Again, just a silent performance.

00;20;17;01 – 00;20;17;24
Karen
And they like.

00;20;17;24 – 00;20;19;08
Emma
To do their own thing.

00;20;19;10 – 00;20;26;10
Karen
And as I said before, that’s the beauty of leadership is it’s managing all the different individuals and you can’t have everyone the same. You want diversity, boring.

00;20;26;10 – 00;20;26;19
Emma
It would be.

00;20;26;21 – 00;20;46;12
Karen
Correct. So you want people that challenge you, you want people that get excited, you want people that. Yeah. So I just think you kind of find the right people that make your tribe. And then that’s when the magic happens and you kind of sometimes want to take stock and go, Everything is just humming right now. But then you ready for the careful?

00;20;46;14 – 00;20;49;21
Karen
And I think the more hopeful you get, the better catching them. You are so.

00;20;49;21 – 00;20;57;27
Emma
Awesome. Actually, that’s probably part and parcel of your sporting career too. Is being able to deal with.

00;20;58;00 – 00;20;59;08
Karen
Anecdotally or and.

00;20;59;08 – 00;21;03;08
Emma
Feedback and, you know, conflict and all those, you know.

00;21;03;12 – 00;21;26;09
Karen
And things that are out of your control. I don’t get caught up on things that aren’t in my control. Yeah, what’s in my control focused my energies on that. And in the pharmacy world, there’s so many stakeholders now. You’ve got governments, you’ve got all this, so many. So don’t get caught. I don’t get caught up in. And that’s another sporting thing, you know, you just focus on what you can do and as an athlete and as a team.

00;21;26;12 – 00;21;52;17
Karen
And then as I said, you understand what your opposition are doing in that, but you can’t control what they do. You can’t control how they turn out and you can’t control that. So focus on what’s in your controls room. And one of my other favorite sayings is be where your feet are. And so I was very lucky to do Kokoda in 2019, so pre-pandemic, which was just a godsend in this.

00;21;52;19 – 00;22;20;04
Karen
But I went as a part of Terry White Kmart, and we were it was for a charity with Ovarian Cancer Australia, which is our charity partner, and we had ten owners, our CEO and our head of operations. So pretty powerful group of people. The best ten days. It was the most amazing experience physically, mentally, emotionally, history, cultural, the environment, the people, the villages.

00;22;20;10 – 00;22;40;24
Karen
Just phenomenal. But it was so interesting that two good stories in the lead up, we’d said to Glen, for rich professionals who was taking us like, you know, we want to know what are the heights, what are the distances, We want to make sure we’ve done all the right training, have we done the right, you know, the right hills, everything.

00;22;40;26 – 00;22;55;20
Karen
And he’s like, I’m not telling you lie. You’ll just find out. So each morning he would say to us, okay, this is where we’re going today. It’ll be up, down through some water and we’ll make it into the village about 5:00. So I had no kind of quantitative.

00;22;55;20 – 00;22;56;20
Emma
That would have.

00;22;56;22 – 00;23;17;21
Karen
Fully put us out of our comfort zone. Yeah, but it really taught me just to take one step at a time and you eventually get to the top of the mountain and you eventually get. And then there was one one day where we could have a challenge up this mountain so we could time it. It had kind of become a little bit of a tradition that your time with this stretch, right?

00;23;17;26 – 00;23;32;05
Karen
And so there were half of us that were in and the other half that were like, we’ll just walk up behind you and cheer you on. So the competitive group were like, okay, let’s set this time out. Hey, you know, I think that the winning time was about 22 minutes, but average was about 30 minutes to get up this hill.

00;23;32;08 – 00;23;55;09
Karen
So someone gave me a timer. I watched a way out and I set off, you know, hot as I could go. Quite a stage start. Yeah. And I was gassed, just God. And I looked at my watch and I was like, Oh my God, how do you like 10 minutes in? Like, how am I? And this time frame I was literally like, how the hell am I going to get to the top and pretend my kids are at the top?

00;23;55;12 – 00;24;11;19
Karen
Like, let’s just, you know, and ended up getting there. And I got to the top. I threw the watch and I said, I don’t want to have a reference point anywhere on. And he actually when we all got to that, he said, you know, that actually wasn’t the hardest hill you’ve actually done. But because in my head it was I had a distance of it.

00;24;11;19 – 00;24;28;07
Karen
It’s going to be about 30 minutes. It was get to the top. It’s going to be hard. Yeah, but every other hill that we done that was harder. It was just one foot in front of the other to be in the moment. So be where your feet are. So I juggle a lot of hats. I have the pharmacies, I have another business called Batch Tested.

00;24;28;09 – 00;24;47;10
Karen
I run a pharmacy on his conference. I’m married to children. So trying to be I’m not a kind of fine balance person. Nothing fun happens at equilibrium. Like when you’re on a seesaw, just go up or down. Something’s going to happen. Absolutely. And one of my favorite quotes is fly the plane. Build the plane while you’re flying it.

00;24;47;14 – 00;25;04;22
Karen
Oh, that’s cool. Don’t wait for the perfection. Don’t wait for crossing all the eyes and tails Have you parachute ready. But just go launch and see what happens. And I have that philosophy at the store, the pharmacies as well. Let’s just do something. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You go back to we need to edit it, remarket that, change that, tweak that.

00;25;04;24 – 00;25;08;14
Karen
But let’s just go and let’s take flight and see what happens kind of thing.

00;25;08;14 – 00;25;16;05
Emma
That’s that confidence there that I was speaking about before. And can you imagine saying that now versus when you first?

00;25;16;07 – 00;25;34;21
Karen
Well, I think that’s one of the biggest things in the last. For the first ten years of my career, I solely ran one store and one store, and it was my primary focus, right? And then I look at what I’ve done in the last five years, and a lot of that, I think was sport teaches you about goal setting, but it can create a real tunneled vision.

00;25;34;25 – 00;25;50;13
Karen
You and then I kind of took my blinkers off and really opened my periphery in the last five years and I’m very big on saying yes and work it out afterwards that you never know where a door will lead and might be just a slight crack in the opening. Just walk in, you know, see where it takes you.

00;25;50;13 – 00;26;10;27
Karen
Yeah, work it out kind of thing. So I think definitely what I’ve done in the last five years, I was kind of just known for just being the owner of this one store. And I love the fact that I’ve brought it and I love the variety. I love that each day, you know, some days I’m a pharmacist on the floor, some I’m running up, you know, and batch tested is with athletes and helping them with.

00;26;10;29 – 00;26;16;27
Karen
So one in five supplements that you’ll find at the pharmacy or supermarket contains a prohibited substance.

00;26;16;27 – 00;26;17;08
Emma
Right.

00;26;17;12 – 00;26;20;18
Karen
That would result in a positive career ending drug test for an athlete.

00;26;20;18 – 00;26;21;05
Emma
Okay.

00;26;21;06 – 00;26;39;09
Karen
So I had some sports dieticians that came to me a few years ago and said, we really struggling to find the tested batches of the right products because some companies will actually pay you to get independent testing done to show they don’t contain prohibited substances and they’re the ones the athletes want, right? It’s just a real struggle to find them.

00;26;39;11 – 00;26;53;20
Karen
So with my contacts in pharmacy and being an athlete, these dietitians came to me and say, Can you do this? And I remember walking out of the meeting, it was pre Tokyo Olympics, and my business partner looked at me and he was like, What have you just agreed to that? Just hang on for the ride. It’s going to be.

00;26;53;23 – 00;27;24;24
Karen
Yeah. You know, And so, yeah, now we service most of the athletes across the country ensuring that they have safe supplements. But it’s a beautiful blend of my world. So there’s a synergy with being back in the sporting world, being amongst the athletes, being part of their team with the doctors and the dietitians. And sport pharmacy is huge overseas and not really noted in Australia, but if I can change that, it would never in my teenage years or at uni did I ever think sport pharmacy or my sporting and pharmacy worlds would come together.

00;27;24;24 – 00;27;47;25
Karen
And I love that. Yeah. And then the pharmacy ownership thing is just I love helping other pharmacy owners and all coming together and sharing best practice and inspiring each other. It’s a really beautiful community to be a part of. So I love the variety in my life now and I’d be really bored. I’m taking some leave. I’m actually taking I’m actually taking some leave.

00;27;47;25 – 00;27;51;20
Emma
Let me just jump Been.

00;27;51;22 – 00;27;57;27
Karen
In January, February and I’ve been told I should write a book by a few people. So I’m going to look at writing a book. Wow.

00;27;57;29 – 00;28;03;03
Emma
So I listen, I segway into the book. Writing is so much there. There’s so much more to unpack.

00;28;03;03 – 00;28;12;06
Karen
Yes. So I’m not a writer. English was probably my worst subject. I’m a talker so often someone to dictate to.

00;28;12;09 – 00;28;12;27
Emma
Absolutely.

00;28;13;00 – 00;28;24;28
Karen
Me. But yeah, I love the variety that the last five years have bought me, built on the foundation, I suppose, of that dream and the passion for pharmacy. And now all the little avenues it goes off into.

00;28;25;01 – 00;28;46;07
Emma
My goodness. And what a bright, bright, bright future ahead. Given that you’ve I feel like you’ve sort of taken on and flourished, you know. Yeah, you’ve always been confident, but I think it’s even more so I’ve got something that people need and want. Yeah, it gives you that extra zest, that extra confidence. My goodness, the next ten years are going to look amazing for you.

00;28;46;08 – 00;29;05;10
Karen
Yeah, and I love the leadership side of it. I love the business side of it. I love the entrepreneurial. And the interesting thing in Australia is you need to be a pharmacist to own a pharmacy, right? But there’s no business training. It’s all clinical. When you do your degree. So it’s a very interesting space, but it’s one that I absolutely love.

00;29;05;10 – 00;29;20;26
Karen
And even, you know, you are corporate, but you’re not corporate, and I love that side of it as well. But equally there’s opportunities that have opened up recently of being on boards and things like that, which I love go for. So yeah, just say yes, I’m working out afterwards.

00;29;20;26 – 00;29;47;24
Emma
That’s amazing. Speaking of the book, I feel like, as I said, it’s a nice Segway and we could continue speaking a long, long time and unpacking. Furthermore, your success and what brings you to today? As I mentioned in the beginning, it is a short, sharp, powerful, impactful. And that was absolutely everything. I can’t believe. I keep looking down at your watch for reference and we’re at about that 35 minute mark, but I feel like we could continue this for a long, long time.

00;29;47;24 – 00;29;50;06
Karen
So to be continued, Yeah, exactly.

00;29;50;08 – 00;29;57;09
Emma
That part two soon and or the book I look forward to. Hopefully that’s an audience send you a better or.

00;29;57;11 – 00;30;02;18
Karen
Yes, yes. So am I better with the podcast than amazing sitting down and reading.

00;30;02;18 – 00;30;25;28
Emma
Amazing in when we first started speaking off camera and off recording, you sort of, you know, spout out a couple of contexts and couple of topics to cover. That was amazing. That was even better than I probably anticipated. Not that I didn’t think that it was going to be, but I just wanted more, more, more, more, more. And unfortunately, we have to start wrapping it up for out for respect of everybody who’s watching and or listening.

00;30;25;28 – 00;30;33;14
Emma
But Karen, that’s amazing. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that so much. You were just so natural. It just came out because it’s just you.

00;30;33;17 – 00;30;36;05
Karen
Yeah. It’s just I love what I do say.

00;30;36;06 – 00;30;36;15
Emma
Thank.

00;30;36;15 – 00;30;36;25
Karen
You.

00;30;36;25 – 00;30;47;04
Emma
Thank you. Thank you for what you do for our community and our people. I’ve always been human focused, and I love that I can feel that about you. Yeah, I hope that was as interesting and fun for you.

00;30;47;04 – 00;30;47;17
Karen
And for.

00;30;47;17 – 00;31;08;13
Emma
Me. Yes. And I look forward to watching this again. It’s always the best part for me, selfishly, is I get to be here physically and and listening and watching, but then I get to watch it again and again and again. So it’s really cool. So I know you’ve helped somebody out there. I think watching or listening and I just think we’ve got so much goodness to share.

00;31;08;13 – 00;31;11;29
Emma
And you’ve said so much today, so massive pleasure.

00;31;11;29 – 00;31;12;25
Karen
And thank you for having me.

00;31;12;25 – 00;31;39;27
Emma
You’re welcome, Karen. Thank you. Well, that wraps up another episode of Empowered. If you would like to be a beautiful Queen guest here in the studio, please contact me. And thank you very much. As I said to our queen today, Karen Brown, it’s been phenomenal. And thank you for listening to another episode of Empowered.