Page 24 - Retail Pharmacy Assistants - October 2020

22 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW FROM PAGE 21 That is some really great advice. How can pharmacy assistants instil some of these messages in the work they do and the customers they serve? Triathlon is always exciting because every race is an exercise in problem solving. Nothing ever quite goes to plan, but how you adapt to the changes can make or break your race. I think that being a pharmacy assistant could be very similar in some ways. I’m sure there are many customers who come to a pharmacy assistant with a difficult question or problem. Each person may not immediately know the answer, but listening to the problems/questions and then looking for opportunities to help solve them can make the interaction successful. Let’s talk body image for a moment. As a female athlete, what have the body image pressures been like? How have you managed to avoid getting drawn into body comparison etc.? a 3.8km swim and a 180km bike ride, and I still have cellulite – that’s pretty impressive if you ask me! I’ve learned to love those little dimples – ha! Also, with the omnipresence of social media, I’ve learned that showing what my body can do, despite my imperfections, is really what resonates with other people. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about getting the most out of yourself with what you’ve been given. How do you define beauty? The most beautiful people to me are those who show kind confidence. Someone who is caring and empathetic to others, but strong and confident in her own way, to me, is the ultimate beauty. I think pharmacy assistants can create a culture of positivity by being kind and confident with their colleagues and their customers. How do you maintain balance? How do you juggle everything you have going on? I’m not sure life is very balanced at the moment, as I’m in a full Ironman training block, but I do work in seasons of focus. In three weeks, after Ironman Cairns, I will shift my focus from training back to spending more quality time with the kids and prioritising family. Our activewear brands are still very young, so they do require a lot of focus. However, I’ve been working on creating a competent team that can help move the companies forward. What is your secret to success? The only secret I have is to be consistent every single day. Nothing happens with small bursts of greatness. The only true way to succeed is to do a better than average job every single day. I think we’ve all come a long way with regard to body image and the definitions of beauty over the past few decades. Gone are the days of everyone emulating a tall, stick-thin, blonde bombshell. With the evolution of women’s sports, so many young girls are beginning to realise that strong is beautiful, and being unique and different is the ultimate beauty. Personally, instead of focusing on the things that make me insecure, like wrinkles and cellulite, I try to focus on what my body can do. My body can run a sub-three-hour marathon after RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • OCT 2020