Pharmacist Brandi Johnson runs a family-owned business, but the word family extends far beyond her husband, children and parents.
It includes all of her employees at the aptly named Family Pharmacy on Price Avenue in Aiken and their families, too.
“One of the things we focus on as a benefit to work here is that family is first,” said Johnson, who is the pharmacist in charge and one of the owners of the business. “All of our employees are family in a sense. I love that we’re able to give them the flexibility to take care of family emergencies or go to a child’s recital.
The business, which opened in 2009, has about 22 employees from a full-time delivery driver to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to customer service representatives, or CSRs, many of whom are high school students working their first jobs or are students in college.
Johnson was selected as a member of the 2022 class of the Aiken Standard's Young Professionals 2 Follow.
An Aiken native, Johnson, 37, started working with her dad, James Watts, who opened Aiken’s first Family Pharmacy business on Newberry Street more than 35 years ago, when she was 14 or 15.
When she got to college, she didn’t plan to study pharmacy, opting for biology with plans to focus on community medicine or some field of health care. Her plans changed, however, when she came home during her first Christmas break.
“I had that a-ha, epiphany moment. Angels were singing; patients were happy; we were crazy busy; and I could just thrive on the controlled chaos forever. I changed my major and never looked back,” said Johnson, who received her doctorate in the Pharm.D. program in the College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
About five years ago, her husband, Stuart Johnson, who previously had been in law enforcement and practiced law, came into the family business as vice president of operations. His position allows Johnson more time to spend with their daughters, Alexandria, who will be 12 in July, and Charlotte, 5.
“He’s behind the scenes,” Johnson said. “ I’m very thankful to have him on my team.”
Johnson said the favorite part of her job is helping her customers find solutions to what sometimes can be complicated health care issues.
“In the last five to six years, the profession itself has changed from more of a production business to focusing on trying to improve outcomes so we can improve overall health,” Johnson said. “The challenge is to take situations that might not be as positive as we’d like them to be or a prescription is too expensive or it’s really causing someone stress, or they’re having negative effects from their prescription – whatever that problem might be – and coming up with a way that makes it better.
“I’m a puzzle person. I’m very, very satisfied when someone comes in, and they’re expecting not the best situation, and we can help with that. That’s what I love. I’m people focused, and I know the people. I love that part of it.”
In addition to emphasizing family, Johnson said she and her husband stress the importance of community service to their employees.
The couple is passionate about law enforcement, and they participate in the annual Celebrity Waiter Night to benefit the Children’s Place Inc.
Johnson said being named a Young Professional 2 Follow inspires her to “improve and be better.”
“It leads me to want to get better so that I’m deserving of the recognition,” she said. “It’s not something I would ever search for. That’s just not my personality. It makes me want to work harder. It makes me feel like I have a responsibility to improve and be better.”
