Community Highlights: Meet Ken Thai of 986 Pharmacy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Thai.

Hi Ken, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started in my career as a refugee coming to America after the fall of Vietnam. As a Chinese American to the country I had to find a way to provide for my family. I was able to channel my American dream, like many through my education and passion for healthcare. After successful completion of my undergraduate training at UCLA, I completed my Doctorate of Pharmacy Degree from USC. I also completed a Community Residency Program that provided me formal training in corporate management. However, I goals and dreams ultimately lead me to open my own startup up independent pharmacy in 2006. Soon I was was able to open multiple locations and formally created a pharmacy franchise, 986 Pharmacy in 2014. Now coming on to my 20th year as a business owner, we have opened 55 plus locations in Southern California and Nevada. The goal of the company was allow a platform for young entrepreneurs and immigrants like myself, to be able to achieve the American dream as professionals. 986 Pharmacy was branded to represent our normal body temperature, 98.6 Degrees Fahrenheit. Our mission to keep everyone healthy. Separately, we tailor to the underserved communities in all ethnic populations.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. There has been many struggles in my journey. From issues on a personal level with my parents dealing with financial hardship and bankruptcy, to the growing pains of business, which include cashflow, staffing, and changing of the pharmacy/healthcare landscape. It was not an easy journey. I had to go through many challenges, obstacles, and failures to build and grow my business to where it is today and position myself for the next phase of our growth.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a pharmacy franchise started in 2014. We are known to provide services in underserved communities, while focusing on an ethnically diverse population of patients in both Southern California and Nevada. What sets us apart, is our almost concierge like patient care services, which go above and beyond to coordinate care between healthcare providers, patients, and their medications. We are most proud of the diversity of patients we serve. We want to share that we welcome patients from all communities to make sure they feel at home, while ensuring they are cared from in the best way possible through all of our 986 healthcare team.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t believe that luck plays a large role. I do feel we have a great hard working team that has prepared us for the opportunities that we have been presented. We have also had a strong commitment and resolve to fulfill a vision for what healthcare, through pharmacy, can look like. That has allowed us to stay strong and resilient despite times when the industry has proven difficult to keep the operations viable. So in many ways, we have put ourselves in a position to absorb and take advantage of “good luck” that we have been presented, while weather the “bad luck” that might have put us out of business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://986pharmacy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/986pharmacy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/986pharmacy/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/986pharmacy/?viewAsMember=true