Today we’d like to introduce you to Yasmin Rahmani.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After graduating from the USC School of Pharmacy, I worked at Eddie’s Pharmacy for six years as a pharmacist. At that time, Eddie’s was one of the most established pharmacies in West Hollywood and its surrounding cities. Thanks to my years at Eddie’s, I was able to gain far more than just pure experience as a practicing pharmacist. I learned how to manage and operate a pharmacy at all macro and micro levels.
After Eddie’s was sold, it became time for me to establish myself and make my dream of owning a pharmacy come true. When I established Yasmin’s Pharmacy, I envisioned a highly professional environment ideally located at the junctions of Beverly Hills, Mid-Wilshire and West Hollywood, so that my staff and I would be able to provide pharmaceutical services to a large portion of the L.A. basin.
Fortunately, I was lucky enough to establish the pharmacy in what I believe me to be an ideal location; At a street front location in a wonderful medical building located at 99 N. La Cienega Blvd., directly across from legendary Lawry’s Restaurant.
I was also fortunate because I was able to build the reputation that Yasmin’s Pharmacy has enjoyed for the past five years by teaming up with a tremendous group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Every day, we strive to make the experience of relying on us for your pharmaceutical needs an easy and pleasant process.
Together, the management and staff at Yasmin’s Pharmacy have successfully established a family setting within a professional and efficient environment, where we can address all of our patient’s specialized needs, including:
– Infectious diseases Pharma
– HIV/AIDS treatment and services
– Compounding
In order to enhance the level of service that we have proudly been providing to the LA Community, Yasmin’s Pharmacy also offers delivery service. Therefore, your prescriptions can be delivered to your door within a system that preserves the confidentiality of both the patient and his/her prescriptions.
If you or a loved one are in need of pharmacy services, we at Yasmin’s Pharmacy hope that we can earn your trust by giving us the opportunity to be your provider.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing that leads to success is ever as “smooth” as we would like it to be. The challenge is to not have the expectation that a process needs to be “smooth.”
You must remember that success often times comes to those who persevere and do not give up. Therefore, if the process is not smooth, or you face challenges, setbacks, speed bumps, resistance and any other experience that may seem like a negative experience, you cannot allow yourself to become discouraged. Every setback should be used as fuel to keep the fire within you burning and yearning so that you can continue to persevere and not give up.
You must also believe in yourself and remain confident. For example, during my entire process of looking for a location, signing a lease with my landlord, establishing contracts with distributors, building out the interior of the pharmacy, consulting with experts and attorneys to make sure that all of the Legal matters and handled, marketing, buying adequate insurance and making sure that the business is fully covered (not just for the sake of the pharmacy, but the patients as well), I never once perceived myself as a “woman” (as opposed to a “man”). I only perceived myself as a qualified pharmacist who has paid her dues, has completed her education and training, and is ready and willing to be a productive member of her community. If you carry yourself with this mentality, you will overcome the prejudices and biases that others may possess. They will be having no choice but to eventually treat you with the respect you deserve and not see you as one sex vs. the other, but rather, a professional who does not have time for any nonsense. They must know from the beginning that you are dead serious about your convictions and how sincerely and convincingly you believe in yourself. Anything less and those who treat others with biases and sexist views will be energized. You need to establish your ground without feeling the need to shed light on whether you are a woman or not.
Regardless of the industry you are in or desire to be in, those who you encounter along your journey must be able to see you as a counterpart and a professional from the first encounter. If they do not, then you may have shed light on the fact that you are a woman, which you should never feel the need to do (such as comments like “well, you know, it was not easy since I am a single support and…..”). If you ever find yourself injecting these sorts of words in the middle of a conversation, you are exuding lack of self-confidence, and you are already off to a bad start.
Only inject words of total confidence and self-assurance. Only then would you attract the type of individuals that will provide you with meaningful and fruitful assistance and support, as well as honest and helpful feedback. You must also be strong enough to not be offended by, or become defensive to, feedback that is in the form of constructive criticism.
If you exhude the level of confidence and self-assurance I am talking about here, and the individuals you are dealing with at that time do not help open a door or provide the assistance/support and that you are seeking, then you will know that it may have been a blessing in disguise. It was not a good fit and it would have been a waste of your time and energy,
Move on to the next job interview (for ex.) where the individuals you are meeting with appreciate and embrace your confidence and self-assurance and would be willing to cultivate it – instead of feel threatened by it.
It all starts with yourself.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into Yasmin’s Pharmacy story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a pharmacist. Many of my family members are also pharmacists, so I grew up around pharmacists. I excelled in school and looked forward to the opportunity to join the work force. However, in all honesty, I was never conscious of having a significant entrepreneurial spirit. The yearning and desire to owning my own pharmacy really took shape when I stated to practice while at another’s pharmacy.
When the opportunity presented itself, I found myself wanting to establish my own pharmacy with a level of focus that was frankly surprising to myself, but fortunately, I possessed enough confidence to trust my instincts, which was that I believed I could do it.
Fortunately, I am proud to say that I believe Yasmin’s Pharmacy has successfully established itself as a pleasant family pharmacy for the community, and I also believe that my love of providing service to my patients resonates with both doctors and their patients. As a result, I have established a positive relationship with many of the physicians in both the medical plaza where Yasmin’s Pharmacy is located, as well as many other physicians in the West Hollywood, West LA and Beverly Hills areas. They have been wonderful in trusting us and suggesting to their patients to use Yasmin’s pharmacy to meet their pharmaceutical needs.
I believe that my love for what I do and the dedication of my entire staff to providing a high level of professional and curious service helps Yasmin’s Pharmacy stand apart.
Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
Absolutely. In every industry, there are those who possess the experience and knowledge that you may not, so you should be open to allowing the opportunity to be trained by them. However, in order to help create that kind of opportunity, you must be able to display a level of confidence that is genuine (without coming off as arrogant) so that those who we categorize as mentors within an industry would see it as an opportunity for them to take you under their wings and serve as a mentor. Remember that the work world is not a fantasy world where one becomes a mentor and the other a willing student eager to learn and make the mentor proud. The work environment is, first and foremost, about dollars and cents. Therefore, not only should you be open and eager to working with a mentor from whom you can learn a great deal, but you must also be able to display to that potential mentor that he/she would benefit from having you join the team. otherwise, realistically, how else are you going to meet such a mentor to learn from? Most often, it will be within a professional work setting (regardless of whether it is an art studio, a financial firm, an office, or what have you).
Contact Info:
- Address: Yasmin’s Pharmacy 99 N. La Cienega Blvd., Suite 104
Beverly Hills, CA 90211 - Website: yasminspharmacy.com
- Phone: 310-358-0200
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: Yasmins pharmacy
Image Credit:
Yasmin
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