My husband and I would like to find a great pharmacist for our downtown store. A pharmacist who values community involvement, optimism, friendly service, communication, and personal/family time would be ideal for our locations.

I grew up in a small town of 400 people in South Dakota. In a town that small you find that access to clinics, pharmacies, E.R.'s, and other health facilities is often limited and located far away. I appreciate how difficult it is for the elderly and those with no transportation to access health care. I also understand how valuable it is for people to have a personal relationship with their pharmacist, as opposed to feeing like just another customer in a big box store or mail-order telephone queue.

I earned my pharmacy degree from South Dakota State University.

My earliest jobs were spent in a large metro area working for Kmart pharmacies, then floating for HealthPartners (HMO) pharmacies, then taking a permanent location in downtown St. Paul with HealthPartners for a number of years. This variety of job sites taught me different ways of doing the same job, and tips from many different pharmacists with many different styles. After having kids, working part-time for a small retail pharmacy fit my lifestyle better.

My husband represents the third generation of pharmacists in his family. We purchased his family's business in 2000. The downtown pharmacy has been a strong presence in our city for over 75 years. We opened a small retail pharmacy in the city's newly-remodeled medical center in 2000 also, and I work there as the pharmacy's manager. Wishing to re-create the small-town friendliness of the old soda fountains from pharmacy's past, we opened an ice cream and coffee shop connected to our downtown store in 2006.