FAMU graduate Martez Prince’s long-time dedication to educating and caring for patients paid off as he became the CEO of African American owned and staffed growing pharmacy, Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center, in October of 2015 located in Charlotte.
The Wellness Center is dedicated to guiding patients around the world to great health. The center is an independent pharmacy that specializes in improving patient outcomes. They achieve this goal by using proper medication utilization, monitoring, educational seminars, and coaching.
Prince explained that the Well Center is different from any other pharmacy nationally because they always put passion before profits.
The pharmacist told he2magazine.com in an interview that “Our true and sole purpose is wellness. Wellness is important to us; we search for resources to help patients obtain their goals. Our work goes beyond the pharmacy; we bring wellness to the community through our foundation (The Premier Foundation).”
The Premier Foundation defines wellness in a holistic way. Prince and his staff believe wellness goes beyond the physical being.
“Our definition of wellness includes, physical, mental, financial and more,” he said.
“The foundation believes everyone is equal and should have access to the same resources.”
The Premier Foundation was created as a mean to serve the community by providing resources to the communities in need. Our resources are provided in the form of materials, services, and education.
The creation of the Wellness Center nor the foundation was an overnight job or success for Prince and his team, he began his pharmacy career as a cashier for The Medicine Shoppe when he was just 16 before attending Florida A&M University, where he received his Doctorate of Pharmacy degree.
He explained to Official Black Wall Street that he transitioned from working at a Rite Aid corporation to opening his own business because the corporation he was working for at that time was, unfortunately, changing their platform. Prince felt like they didn’t really serve the patients the way they needed to be serviced anymore and it became more financial-driven versus healthcare-driven.
“I felt like it drained my creativity and I didn’t have any control or power even though I was the pharmacy manager for four of the five years I worked for them,” he said.
“I didn’t feel fulfilled or connected to the Charlotte community where I relocated after graduation.”
The fairly new business owner said he would talk to the patients when they would come into the pharmacy and really try to educate them on the medications they were taking.
“Those were the only moments I felt like I was really being a pharmacist,” he told OBWS.
“Doing what I went to school for.”
The process wasn’t always easy, he was falling out of love with Rite Aid’s platform, so he decided to create his own. Prince knew that this was something that he really wanted. He knew he would need some finances to get the wellness center off the ground, so he saved. He eventually had enough to finance the pharmacy from his personal savings and with the help of friends.
“I think a lot of times as African Americans we don’t realize the power we have in our own personal network,” he said.
“Everyone is born with a dream already inside of them,” he told he2magazine.com.
“It’s up to each of us to make that dream a reality; it’s our sole purpose for existing. If you don’t follow your dream, you are destined to leave this earth without fulfilling your one and only true mission.”
In the future, he plans to create an operations manual that he hopes will allow other Black people to “franchise from the blueprint of the pharmacy.”
In addition to that, in 10 years Prince envisions his company being a blueprint for pharmacy practices around the world, where wellness is once again the first priority. Prince hasn’t done this alone, he could not have done it without his family and his amazing staff.
Solely he has been recognized and awarded as a 2016 CMBCC 30 Under 30 Honoree, 2016 Award of Heroes in Health Care, Emerging Leaders Award, and 2009 Presidential Award from the Florida Pharmacy Association.
The accomplishments keep rolling in for Prince, but many of these included help and work from his staff members and teammates. He posted on social media that with only 10 months in business Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center, and The Premier Foundation returned over 17K back into the community in the form of scholarships, charitable contributions, and resources. #YouAreThePeople that made this possible. He went on to say that their efforts are far from over!
The Wellness Center staff includes Dr. Brittney Cobb Dayne, a native of Memphis, TN and earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy with honors from Florida A&M University, Jason Glenn, who grew up in the Charlotte area and earned his degree from UNC Charlotte, and Racquel Williams, a native of Philadelphia with 8 years’ experience as a pharmacy technician.
“I think every community deserves to have a pharmacy that offers the resources that Premier Pharmacy and Wellness Center offers.”
You can find Dr. Martez Prince: Facebook: @Dr. Martez
