Adrian Lee is the pharmacist and owner of the award-winning Priceline Pharmacy Macquarie Centre, NSW. We talk to him about what it means to be the People’s Choice winner and what makes a healthy business.

Q. Why did you enter the Pharmacy Guild Awards?

A. We thought it was a good opportunity to see how much our customers liked our store and the response from them was overwhelming!

Q. Why do you think customers voted for your pharmacy?

A. We pride ourselves on our customer service, and being able to cater fortheir healthcare and beauty needs in one store.

Q. How long have you been a pharmacist?

A. 13 years

Q. Why did you become a pharmacist?

A. I always wanted to do something in the medical field as I felt I could make a difference in people’s health.I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a doctor or a pharmacist so after I finished my pharmacy degree I applied for medicine and sat the GAMSAT exams. I eventually got offered a position to study medicine at the University of Queensland, but by that stage I was committed to being a pharmacist and declined that offer.

Q. What’s the secret to running a successful pharmacy?

A. Having a great team who are committed to giving their customers the best possible service they can.

Q. What kind of relationships have you built with your customer over the years?

A. Even though we are in a major shopping centre, we are still able to build relationships with our regular customers. We go out of our way to help them, whether it be dropping medications off to them at home, or helping them find an unusual item. We are on first name terms with many of them and we share aspects of our personal lives, so it’s not just about  health and pharmacy the whole time.

Q. What aspects of pharmacy life are you most passionate about?

A. Having good relationships with our customers and seeing that we can make a difference in their healthcare outcomes for the better.