Third generation Cork pharmacist: I'm proud to be part of a wonderful tradition

A CORK pharmacist, who is the third generation of her family to run a Millstreet chemist, is determined to leave a lasting legacy after her time at the helm, despite the challenges of the rapidly evolving profession.

Mairead Reen’s grandfather Frank started the business in 1938; her dad, also Frank, took over in the ’80s, and works there with Mairead, who came on board in 2005.

“I am really proud to be part of this wonderful tradition but with that also comes a sense of responsibility, to take care of and grow the business,” said Mairead.

The past few years, she said, have been about fire-fighting due to the demands of the pandemic; followed more recently with challenges caused by global drug shortages.

And even though she relishes her work, she had a growing and hard-to-ignore feeling that she needed to take a step back, in order to help the business take a step forward.

With that in mind, in a ‘moment of bravery’ late last year, she applied to be part of the country’s leading female entrepreneur programme ‘Going for Growth’. It’s an award-winning programme for ambitious female entrepreneurs, with just 70 candidates selected every year – for every four women that apply only one gets a coveted space.

The programme, which Enterprise Ireland and KPMG support, is designed to assist entrepreneurs in achieving their growth ambitions, helping create new jobs and growing their sales. Over the past 15 years, 850 businesswomen have participated in this unique programme, including Aimee Connolly of Sculpted by Aimee, Derval O’Rourke, athlete and founder of Derval.ie, and Vanessa Creaven of Spotlight Oral Care.

And among this year’s cohort is a delighted Mairead.

“I filled out the application probably more in hope than expectation. but I said I’d give it a go, and so far it’s been incredible,” said the mum-of-two.

Running Reens Life Pharmacy has, she said, over the past few years been about responding to things happening outside of their control, rather than planning and building for the future.

“We’re a community pharmacy and were very lucky we managed to stay open during the pandemic. They were a difficult few years. We were trying to keep staff and customers safe. There was a lot of sourcing of sanitisers, masks and antigen tests, and then running a Covid vaccination clinic,” she said.

The vaccine part of the business has always been something Mairead has been keen to embrace.

“We started administering flu vaccines in 2011, the first year they were rolled out to pharmacies, and I did 10 that year – now we’re doing hundreds every season.

“Covid vaccines started 18 months ago, and that was a huge learning curve for us. We were doing up to 60 a day which was a lot different to 10 a season. So really the whole profession has developed, as well as the retail side of things, where you’re competing with online all the time,” she said.

Growing up, listening to her father Frank, and her grandparents Frank and Margaret, she said their customers were always the priority. Mairead’s favourite thing about her job is interacting with her customers and that is why she chose her profession.

“Taking part in Going for Growth is about challenging myself so I can grow the business, it’s about getting a picture of what success will look like in five years’ time, and setting out the steps to get there. You can’t aim for something unless you have a clear picture of what it is,” she said. “I’m really lucky to have three other pharmacists working with me part-time, as well as my dad, so I have the opportunity to step back and see what we can do.”

Going for Growth was the brainchild of Paula Fitzsimons, who said: “The idea came from recognition that while more women are being encouraged to start new businesses, there is a need to move beyond just starting into growing. My mission is to support women entrepreneurs to achieve their growth ambitions and to get more women entrepreneurs into a growth frame of mind.”

The idea is that entrepreneurs learn best from each other, and each candidate is assigned a mentor with experience in their field who they meet with monthly for round-table discussions

“Someone who did the course previously summed it up perfectly as having access to ‘the board that I can’t afford!’ It’s all about having access to a sounding board of like-minded people and when you step back you really get to see the bigger picture,” said Mairead.

Her advice to anyone thinking of applying?

“When I sat down to fill out the application, I didn’t think I had a hope, but I said I’d give it a go and apply, have a bit of backbone and it was the best thing ever. To anyone else, I’d say, just take that step, take a chance, be that little bit brave – you won’t regret it.”

See goingforgrowth.com