As I’ve gotten into the online space, I’ve had quite a few influences and people I’ve admired from afar (literally really afar).  Many I have never met in person, but from following them and having interactions on various social media platforms, I can tell they are great resources and care about what they do.  These pharmacy leaders are using the internet, podcasts, blogs, videos, and their knowledge to help patients, pharmacists, students, and other healthcare professionals.  Here’s my list of those who’ve really made a significant impact on me personally.

1. Jason Poquette is a Pharmacy Times contributor and owner of The Honest Apothecary He was one of my initial role models.  I’ve followed him from a distance, but I’ve also interacted with him a few times and can tell he is nothing but a class act.  He’s a big fish in the online pharmacy ocean even though he’d never admit it.
2. Blair Thielemier at BT Pharmacy Consulting is brilliant and most importantly has figured out a way to bring brilliant minds together with her one of a kind online pharmacy summit.  We chatted a few weeks ago, and I could feel her passion through the phone.  She’s an incredible inspiration and without a doubt an outside the box thinker.
3. Tony Guerra is an educator at heart and has his own Podcast. It was great to meet Tony at ASHP in 2017.  From meeting him in person I could tell that he loves what he does and truly cares about the profession.  In addition, he’s written one of the most popular pharmacology books on Amazon.
4. Brandon Dyson is the creator of TLDRpharmacy.com – I enjoy the entertainment value of his posts as well as the excellent educational content that is provided within those posts. Being a basketball fan, I especially appreciate the NBA references which may be lost on some! He is definitely raising the bar as far as what it means to be a pharmacist!
5. Tim Ulbrich is over at Your Financial Pharmacist and doing meaningful work to educate young pharmacists and students about the challenges of debt and money management.  This is a wonderful resource for students and one that I wish I had before I took out 145K in loans.  Thanks Tim for your services.
6. While Todd Eury isn’t a pharmacist, he’s the mastermind behind the Pharmacy Podcast and does belong on this list.  Hearing podcasts on topics of interest is a great way to learn and stay engaged in pharmacy practice.  I use this podcast to get a sense of what is going on in areas of pharmacy that I routinely don’t practice in.
7. Pharmacy Joe has a podcast that I pay attention to.  Not being in the day to day events of critical care, its refreshing to hear the pearls that he has to share.  I would highly recommend this podcast to anyone passionate about critical care!
8. Alex Barker – Alex is an entrepreneur at heart with lots of ideas and creativity.  He and I  occasionally cross paths and his energy for working with people is never ending.  His latest project is working to help pharmacists create enjoyable careers.
9. Last, but certainly not least is Tim Gauthier.  He’s a clinical pharmacist who’s heavily involved in infectious disease topics.  It’s great to have a pharmacist leading the charge on antibiotic related issues.  I know I’ve read several of his articles, and I really appreciated this refresher on antibiograms.

Well, there you have it.  These are definitely pharmacy leaders in my book and I’d accept nominations for anyone else I should keep tabs on!