CPhT Connect The Podcast with Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv

In this special episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, brings you the first-ever NPTA Pharmacy Technician I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards, held on World Pharmacy Technician Day. I.M.P.A.C.T. stands for Inspiring Meaningful Progress and Celebrating Technicians, and this full audio recording of the ceremony brings you every category, finalist story, and winner reveal.

Mike opens with the story of how one idea from Peter Fazon, NPTA's chief of staff, turned into a year-long campaign that reached more than one million people. He explains how the awards were designed to be profession-wide, with no NPTA membership required, self-nominations welcome, and public voting. From there, each category begins with a look at the work technicians do and why it matters. You'll meet three finalists per category, hear a bit of each of their stories, and then hear the winners' pre-recorded acceptance speeches as they find out the results right along with the audience.

In this episode, we discuss:

• One Idea, One Meeting: How a single suggestion in a planning meeting became the first annual I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards, and why Mike says impact doesn't wait for a title, a committee, or permission.
• A Profession-Wide Celebration: How hundreds of nominations from technicians around the globe led to three finalists in each category, and how future finalists will be chosen by the previous year's winners.
• Seven Categories, Seven Stories of Impact: The work behind patient care and medication access, education and training, compounding, innovation and technology, community pharmacy, health-system pharmacy, and leadership.
• Finalists From Across the Globe: Technicians from the US, Canada, and the UK, working everywhere from cancer centers and military bases to rural community pharmacies and health systems.
• Mike's Closing Challenge: Why technicians should name their impact, track it, advocate for themselves, and celebrate it with quiet confidence, because as Mike puts it, you are more than just a tech.

Your 2026 I.M.P.A.C.T. Award Winners:

• Patient Care & Medication Access: Chelsea Palmer, CPhT-Adv, CSPT, Pharmacy Technician Coordinator, Munson Healthcare, Cowell Family Cancer Center (Michigan)
• Education & Training: Verender Brown, BS, CPhT, RPhT, cMTM, Pharmacy Technician Educator and ASHP Program Director, Osceola Technical College (Florida)
• Compounding: Erika Anderson, CPhT, CSPT, BCSCPT, System Manager of Compounding, CommonSpirit Health (Washington)
• Innovation & Technology: Tricia Britton, CPhT, Central Pharmacy Services Manager, Paul's Pharmacy
• Community Pharmacy: James Barnes, CPhT, Pharmacy Technician, Avita Pharmacy (Texas)
• Health-System Pharmacy: Diana Broome, MEd, CPhT, PhTR, Program Director of Pharmacy Technician Advancement, Harris Health System (Houston, Texas)
• Leadership: DeFabian Johnson, CPhT, Kadena Pharmacy Flight Chief, U.S. Air Force (Kadena Air Base)

About the Awards: The Pharmacy Technician I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards are presented by the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA) to recognize the real impact technicians make every day, in every corner of pharmacy and healthcare. The 2026 awards were made possible by founding sponsors Ed2go, PCCA, PowerPak, and BPTS, with Drug Topics and the Pharmacy Podcast Network as official media partners.

Listen now to celebrate this year's finalists and winners, and start thinking about who you'll nominate. Nominations for the 2027 I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards open in March, and self-nominations are welcome. Then join us for CPhT LIVE, NPTA's virtual conference, where this year's focus is increasing your impact. Learn more at cpht.org.

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, spotlights 8 out of the 21 finalists from NPTA's first-ever Pharmacy Technician I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards, an international program honoring pharmacy technicians across seven categories for the measurable impact they make in their organizations, communities, and the profession. Melissa Olson, DeFabian Johnson, Briana Wukovich, Sharon Lucas, Chelsea Palmer, Dr. Abel Guevara III, Erika Anderson, and Kathy Hrncir share their stories in their own words, from how they first landed in pharmacy to the work behind their nominations and the advice they'd give any technician who wants to make a bigger impact. In this episode, we discuss:

• Falling Into Pharmacy: How a grocery store job application, a high school career questionnaire, an Air Force job assignment, and a family member's suggestion each led to long and meaningful careers in pharmacy.
• The Work Behind the Nominations: A statewide cancer drug repository, a dashboard that saved a health system $100,000, compounding standards across more than 140 hospitals, the first technician membership and leadership roles at the Ohio Pharmacists Association, and a Pacific region pharmacy run with just five technicians and two pharmacists.
• Putting the Patient First: How expanded clinical services, including a routine blood pressure check that caught stage 2 hypertension in a patient who hadn't seen a doctor in more than five years, show what a caring technician can do.
• What the Recognition Means: Why many of our finalists see their nomination as a win for their teams and a chance to represent every pharmacy technician.
• Advice for Making an Impact: Don't wait for permission or a title, speak up even when you think no one is listening, never stop learning, and if the door doesn't open, build your own.

About Our Guests:

• Melissa Olson is a pharmacy technician consultant with Indigenous Services Canada in Alberta, and a Leadership finalist.
• DeFabian Johnson is a pharmacy flight chief with the U.S. Air Force, and a Leadership finalist.
• Briana Wukovich is the Professional Development and Continuing Education Coordinator at the Ohio Pharmacists Association, and a Leadership finalist.
• Sharon Lucas is a medicine management technician at Rainbow Pharmacy in Ipswich, England, and a Community Pharmacy finalist.
• Chelsea Palmer is the pharmacy technician coordinator at the Cowell Family Cancer Center, part of Munson Healthcare, and a Patient Care and Medication Access finalist.
• Dr. Abel Guevara III is the head of operations and student success at RxTechExam and adjunct faculty at Texas State University, and an Education and Training finalist.
• Erika Anderson is the system manager of pharmacy compounding at CommonSpirit Health, and a Compounding finalist.
• Kathy Hrncir is a business intelligence developer associate at The University of Kansas Health System, and an Innovation and Technology finalist.

Listen now to hear these finalists in their own words. Winners will be announced live at the virtual I.M.P.A.C.T. Awards ceremony on October 20th, World Pharmacy Technician Day. Visit cpht.org/awards for details on how to attend.

In this special "Off Script" episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, goes solo to speak directly to pharmacists, owners, managers, and anyone who builds the schedule. With World Pharmacy Technician Day coming up on Tuesday, October 20th, Mike shares what technicians told NPTA when asked one question: what would make you feel seen? Last year, 47% of technicians said no one recognized Pharmacy Technician Day at all, and Mike argues that recognition matters for retention, not just for being nice.

Drawing on real responses from NPTA members, Mike explains why technicians aren't asking for a party. They're asking their employers to notice. He breaks their answers into two buckets: free recognition that costs only attention and recognition that costs something real, like pay that tracks the credentials, training, and responsibility they carry. Mike also speaks candidly to independent pharmacy owners working with thin margins, and closes with a simple three-step plan to use before October 20th.

In this episode, we discuss:

• It's a Noticing Problem, Not a Pizza Problem: Why the typical Tech Day pizza party is too generic to feel personal and too small to change anything, and why food showed up last on technicians' wish lists.
• Bucket One: Recognition That Costs Nothing: What technicians said noticing looks like in their own words: don't cookie-cutter the appreciation, be fair, celebrate when they hit the goal, and see the work nobody sees.
• Bucket Two: Recognition That Costs Something: Why technicians want pay that reflects their credentials, training, and responsibilities, and why keeping a tech is almost always cheaper than replacing one.
• The Hidden Cost of Unused Skills: How training that sits on a shelf creates a morale problem, a retention problem, and a skill you paid for and never used, and why letting techs use what they learn may be the loudest recognition there is.
• A Three-Step Plan Before October 20th: Write a specific sticky note for every technician, ask each one what would make them feel seen, and say it out loud to the whole team on Tech Day, then keep going on the 21st with one specific sentence to one tech every week.

About Our Host: Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, is the founder and CEO of NPTA and founder of BPTS. He has owned his own company since 1999 and has spent more than 25 years helping thousands of pharmacy technicians grow their careers. This episode is part of CPhT Connect's partnership with the Pharmacy Podcast Network.

Listen now to hear why one sentence is all it takes to show a technician you notice them. For free planning resources, visit RxTechDay.org, and to learn more about making recognition a year-round habit, explore the new Rx Team Builder program at cpht.org/employers

In this launch episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston introduces NPTA's brand-new member communities: Specialty Interest Groups (SIGs).

NPTA Specialty Interest Groups (SIGs) are new member-based communities for technicians who work in — or want to grow into — a specialty. A place to find your people, trade what actually works, learn from someone a few steps ahead, and stop feeling like you're figuring it out alone. Because here's the truth: your path forward gets a lot clearer when you're standing next to people walking the same one.

NPTA's first three SIGs focus on Health-System Pharmacy, Independent Pharmacy, and Sterile Compounding — and today Mike sits down with the three founding mentors leading them: Erika Anderson (Sterile Compounding), Nicki Fairbanks (Health-System Pharmacy), and Meredy Ayers (Independent Pharmacy). Each mentor shares her own path into pharmacy, why she said yes to leading a SIG, and who she hopes to reach. In this episode, we discuss:

• Three Different Worlds: How a day in independent pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, and a compounding lab can look nothing alike — and why technicians need spaces built for their specific setting, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Unplanned Paths, Real Careers: From a senior-year career questionnaire to 26 years behind the counter, each mentor's journey into pharmacy was different — and none of them had it mapped out from day one.
• A Space for Technicians, By Technicians: Why Erika believes compounding techs need a place of their own to talk compliance, share frustrations, and connect — since so many existing groups are led by pharmacists, not technicians.
• Say Yes Before You're Ready: Practical, hard-won advice from all three mentors on getting involved even without the fanciest title, the most experience, or full confidence — because showing up is the first step.
• What Success Looks Like: Each mentor's vision for her SIG a year from now, from technicians speaking up and trying something new, to those "watching from the sidelines" becoming the ones answering questions themselves.

About Our Guests: Erika Anderson, CPhT, CSPT, is the System Manager of Pharmacy Compounding at CommonSpirit Health, overseeing compounding practices and 503B outsourcing quality assurance across 142 hospitals. Nicki Fairbanks, CPhT-Adv, CSPT, BCNCPT, is a Pharmacy Technician Supervisor at UC Davis Health with 15+ years of hospital pharmacy experience. Meredy Ayers, CPhT-Adv, CHW, spent 26 years in independent community pharmacy and now serves as the Events and Engagement Manager at the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding.

The first live SIGs events kick off in October. Each mentor is planning a live, interactive session built for your setting — the kind of practical, tech-to-tech conversation you won't find anywhere else. But you've got to be signed up to get the invite. Sign up for one, or all three — it takes about a minute, and when you join, we'll ask what you want your mentor to cover first, so the content is built around what you actually need.

SIGN UP for NPTA's SIGs

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, sits down with returning guest Denetra Wiggins, a certified pharmacy technician of 16 years, to trace a winding career journey across retail, compounding, laboratory testing, and now specialty medication access in a major North Carolina health system.

Denetra shares how she originally pursued a pre-pharmacy track in college before deciding to test the waters as a technician first—only to fall in love with the role and never look back. We dive into her detour into laboratory testing, the family reasons that brought her home to Durham, and how staying close with a former compounding pharmacy owner and coworkers led directly to her next opportunity, proving that up to half of job openings are filled through relationships rather than job boards. Denetra also opens up about accepting her current role just weeks before the pandemic hit, and how she's learned to treat feelings of being "stuck" as a sign that it's time for her next assignment.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Testing the Waters First: Why Denetra became a pharmacy technician before committing to pharmacy school—and how that decision shaped 16 years of career fulfillment.
• A Career That Zig-Zags: Her path from retail to compounding, to laboratory testing, and back into pharmacy—proving career journeys rarely move in a straight line.
• Relationships Over Job Boards: How staying connected with a former employer and coworkers, even after leaving, led to her current role through a personal referral rather than a public posting.
• Starting a New Job Mid-Pandemic: Denetra's experience onboarding into a brand-new specialty medication access role just as the world shut down in March 2020.
• "Your Assignment Is Up": Denetra's mindset for recognizing burnout and feeling stuck as a signal to move toward something bigger, not a reason to settle or leave the field.

About Our Guest: Denetra Wiggins has been a Certified Pharmacy Technician for 16 years, with experience spanning retail, compounding, hospital pharmacy, and laboratory testing. She currently works with a major healthcare system in North Carolina, where she's part of "One Great Team" of CPhTs, an RN, and a Clinical Pharmacist Manager optimizing patients' access to and utilization of high-dollar specialty medications. Beyond her clinical expertise, Denetra has a true niche for healthcare and a gift for bringing encouragement and joy to everyone she encounters along her journey.

Listen now to hear Denetra's advice for anyone feeling stuck: "It doesn't mean you've reached your final destination—it means it's time to go be a blessing somewhere else."

Check out this episode and previous episodes at cphtconnect.com

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, sits down with Frederick Shakeshaft, CPhT, an on-site pharmacy consultant for Liberty Software, to trace a career that started as pure necessity and turned into two decades of hands-on expertise in retail pharmacy, compounding, and pharmacy technology.

Fred shares how he stumbled into pharmacy while doing freelance web development as a new dad who just needed a steady paycheck and health insurance—and how the on-your-feet problem solving of the job unexpectedly activated the same part of his brain as his tech background. We dive into his 15 years at the same independent pharmacy group, how he built an intranet portal connecting multiple store locations without ever being asked to, and how that self-driven initiative eventually opened the door to his current role helping independent pharmacies nationwide install new software, optimize workflow, and get back on their feet.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Necessity to Passion: How Fred entered pharmacy purely to support his family, and unexpectedly discovered it fulfilled the same problem-solving itch as his original tech career.
• Be Indispensable: Fred's philosophy of volunteering skills outside your job description—and how that mindset, not a formal promotion path, is what actually opens doors at smaller organizations.
• From the Bench to the Software Side: How years of living through software conversions as a tech planted the seed for his eventual move into pharmacy consulting.
• You're Not "Just a Tech": Fred's take on the transferable skills techs build every day, and how to identify the parts of your job you love as a starting point for finding a niche career.
• Never Burn Bridges: Why pharmacy—like any small industry—rewards long-term relationships, and why timing a career move means deciding to go for it instead of waiting for the "right" moment.

About Our Guest: Frederick Shakeshaft, CPhT, brings over 20 years of experience in retail pharmacy, compounding, and management. He now serves as an OnSite Pharmacy Consultant for Liberty Software, a pharmacy management software company, where he leads software installs, staff training, and workflow optimization projects that help independent pharmacies improve efficiency, streamline operations, and position themselves for long-term success.

Listen now to hear Fred's take on why every pharmacy technician has a hidden skill set worth discovering—and his advice for anyone waiting for the "right time" to make a move: decide, and go for it.

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, sits down with Eve Preciado, CPhT-Adv, a pharmacy technician educator and supervisor at University Health, to trace a career that started in a high school cafeteria and eventually came full circle into a role built around mentoring the next generation.

Eve shares the winding path from getting certified in high school, to a heartbreaking stretch of job rejections right out of school, to over a decade rising through the ranks at Walgreens—including being one of the first techs put on a manager career track. She opens up about the culture shock of transitioning into hospital pharmacy at University Health, what it meant to "start over" on a new career ladder, and how she turned her own chaotic, sink-or-swim onboarding experience into the foundation for a training program that now gives new hires the structured, supported start she never had.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Full Circle Beginnings: How a passionate high school teacher inspired Eve into pharmacy—and how she now plays that same role for the next generation of technicians at University Health.
• Persistence Pays Off: Eve's story of relentless follow-up after repeated rejections early in her career, and the tattoo that reminds her to never give up.
• The "Shoots and Ladders" of Career Growth: Why starting over at a new organization isn't a step backward, and how to reframe lateral moves as part of a longer career journey.
• Turning Chaos Into a System: How Eve transformed her own rough onboarding experience into a full week of structured training for new hires—and why proper orientation is critical to technician retention.
• Building a Pipeline: Eve's work co-founding University Health's paid pharmacy technician training program and developing 25+ SOPs to improve consistency and staff development.

About Our Guest: Evonne "Eve" Preciado, CPhT-Adv, is an advanced certified pharmacy technician with a passion for leadership, education, and professional development within the pharmacy field. She holds advanced certifications through both PTCB and BPTS, and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Business Management. After a decade in community pharmacy at Walgreens, Eve moved into hospital pharmacy at University Health, where she has helped pilot a pharmacy data entry role, co-founded the pharmacy technician training program, and created more than 25 standard operating procedures to strengthen consistency and training across ambulatory pharmacy locations.

Listen now to hear Eve's advice for anyone who feels stuck or worried they don't have enough experience to get started: never give up.

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, talks with Tonique Hendrix, CPhT, TSBP, IV Cert, a healthcare sales professional who has successfully transitioned from the clean room to the boardroom, going from a 15-year career as an IV-certified home infusion technician to a high-performing Account Executive in the DFW market.

Tonique walks us through her unconventional entry into pharmacy through a 10-month trade school program, and the six-week internship where she treated the role like a real job from day one—asking endless questions, taking notes, and mixing medications early. That work ethic led to a job offer before she'd even finished the internship, and set the tone for a career built on proactively seeking the next opportunity rather than waiting for burnout to force a change. We dig into what actually pushed her from the pharmacy into sales, why clinical experience gives former technicians a real edge with gatekeepers and prescribers, and the relationship-building mindset she now teaches through her platform, "Pharm Tech to Sales Rep."

In this episode, we discuss:

• Treat Every Rotation Like the Job: How taking a six-week internship seriously—asking questions, taking notes, and going above and beyond—turned into a direct job offer with no formal interview required.
• Pivot Before It Gets Bad: Tonique's philosophy of proactively seeking new opportunities rather than waiting until she's burnt out, stuck, or underpaid to make a move.
• From Clean Room to Boardroom: Why her clinical, hands-on experience with therapies and drugs gives her an edge in medical sales that colleagues from outside pharmacy don't have.
• Building a Book of Business from Day One: Her long-time habit of collecting names, emails, and connections from every pharmacist, rep, and colleague she's ever worked with—long before she knew it would become her career.
• Certification Stacking: Her advice to techs who don't want to go back to school—stack IV certification, compounding certification, and other credentials to build leverage and open doors.

About Our Guest:

Tonique Hendrix, CPhT, TSBP, IV Cert, is a healthcare sales professional and former IV-certified pharmacy technician with 15 years of clinical experience in home infusion. She successfully transitioned from compounding life-saving medications to driving business growth as an Account Executive in the DFW market. Through her platform "Pharm Tech to Sales Rep," Tonique teaches pharmacy technicians how to leverage their clinical expertise to break into pharmaceutical and medical sales. Her mission is to empower healthcare professionals to elevate their income, confidence, and career trajectory.

Listen now to hear Tonique's take on relationship-building as the real currency of sales, and her encouragement for any technician who feels stuck: everyone has a genius-level talent, and opportunity is usually connected to the next person you meet.

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, sits down with Tameka Griffin Black, a Certified Pharmacy Technician with over 20 years of experience and a Bachelor of Business Administration, to explore her inspiring journey through various sectors of the pharmacy world.

Tameka shares her wealth of experience, moving from her humble beginnings as a teenage cashier to navigating the complexities of hospital IV room operations and the highly specialized field of 340B program auditing and compliance. We dive into her unique path as a dedicated healthcare advocate, discussing how her diverse background, relentless drive, and focus on education have led her to a career committed to supporting excellence in healthcare and improving patient outcomes.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Starting from the Ground Up: Lessons learned from a two-decade career, beginning in retail and evolving into specialized pharmacy roles.

• The Power of Mentorship: Why supportive leadership is vital for pharmacy technicians and how managers can best advocate for their team's growth.

• Mastering 340B: An inside look at the challenging and rapidly evolving world of 340B program auditing and compliance.

• Patient-Centered Care: The fulfillment found in clinical community pharmacy settings, including direct patient interaction and immunization advocacy.

• Continuous Growth: The importance of pursuing further education, certifications, and always looking ahead in your professional career.

About Our Guest: Tameka Griffin Black is a Certified Pharmacy Technician with over 20 years of experience and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Her career spans retail, community pharmacy, and specialized 340B program auditing and compliance. Passionate about advancing pharmacy practice, Tameka is dedicated to education, community engagement, and supporting excellence in healthcare for patients and fellow technicians alike.

Listen now to hear Tameka's perspective on the evolving role of the technician and the importance of perseverance and continuous learning in your own career journey. Connect with Tameka! LinkedIn For more episodes, visit CPhTConnect.com

We'd love to hear from you - so send us your feedback, questions, stories, or show ideas to [email protected]

In this episode of CPhT Connect, host Mike Johnston, CPhT-Adv, sits down with Nicole Duggins, the Supply Chain Director of Pharmacy Distribution Services at Bon Secours Mercy Health, to explore her 15-year career journey and her deep passion for pharmacy operations.

Nicole shares her unconventional path into healthcare, which began with operations experience in the fast-food industry—a background she notes provided surprisingly applicable skill sets, including the importance of food safety and maintaining cleanliness in invisible areas. We dive into her transition from retail and compounding pharmacy to hospital operations, discussing how she leverages her "restaurant-honed" patience and collaborative skills to lead teams and navigate complex logistics.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The "Invisible Engine": The critical role of pharmacy supply chain management in ensuring medications move efficiently and patient care systems run smoothly.

• From Restaurant to Pharmacy: How Nicole translated her operational background and hospitality mindset into a successful 15-year career in pharmacy.

• Action-Oriented Career Growth: Practical advice on how to handle dissatisfaction in a role by taking small, proactive steps—like updating your resume—to build momentum toward a better opportunity.

• The Power of Networking: Why knowing the right people and building strong, supportive relationships was instrumental in securing internships and career advancements.

• Pharmacy Stewardship: Nicole's dedication to developing SOPs, launching central services, and building pipelines that elevate the next generation of pharmacy professionals.

About Our Guest:

Nicole Duggins is the Supply Chain Director of Pharmacy Distribution Services at Bon Secours Mercy Health, bringing 15 years of experience to the pharmacy industry. Beyond her technical expertise in supply chain management and pharmacy operations, she is a passionate mentor dedicated to stewardship and empowering technicians to find their niche and advance in their careers.

Listen now to hear Nicole's unique perspective on the evolving role of the pharmacy technician and her wisdom on finding your path through the complex world of healthcare.

For links, show notes, and resources from today's episode, visit CPhTConnect.com.