Mickey O’Connor has been part of the Stokes and Epicur story from the beginning. With his background as a pharmacist, Mickey brings a unique perspective and advantage to his role as Director of Business Development—both to customers and the company.
Read our interview with Mickey to learn more about his role and his insights into all that’s happening at Epicur and in the veterinary field!
Mickey, thanks for sharing more about your role on the team. Can you start by telling readers about how you got started with Stokes Healthcare and your current role?
I’ve been with the company since the early 2000s. I worked with Emmett and Michael in retail pharmacy in the 90s before they purchased Stokes Pharmacy. My first job here with Stokes was as a sales rep selling human compounded medication. I worked as a pharmacist and as a sales rep for several years, and then, as we grew, I took on several different roles and grew into the role of business development.
I’ve done everything from being a sales rep and a pharmacist to working in business development with individual veterinarians, practice managers, and purchasers for veterinary hospitals. Currently, I work with corporate groups to help them better manage their inventory and understand why it’s a benefit to utilize Epicur and Stokes Pharmacy.
Can you tell us more about those specific benefits and the work you’re doing with corporate groups?
A lot of times, the people who are involved from the corporate groups, whether it’s purchasing or management, are unfamiliar with the medication part. In years past, individual purchasers for the hospitals did a lot of the work as far as ordering medication.
But, as the veterinary industry has grown, medication has become more important in the sense that there’s a lot more of it and a lot more options. The purchasing groups started to realize that they needed to look at how their individual locations were getting medication for their hospitals, and how to coordinate it so that there’s consistency throughout each hospital to ensure better medication management and purchasing. So, that’s a lot of the conversations I have with them.
There’s still a lack of understanding of the difference between a 503A traditional compounding pharmacy versus a 503B outsourcing facility. When I bring up that topic, most of the time they either know very little about those two or nothing at all about 503B. When I explain it, they start to get a better understanding of the differences and can see how Epicur products can help their overall process of managing medication for the hospitals.
A Partner for Better Quality
At Stokes Healthcare, our mission is to advance the quality of care in veterinary medicine. We support all clinics, whether independent or part of a corporation, with the highest quality medications that your patients deserve. No matter your practice type, we will make sure your practice needs are our priority!
The differences in 503A and 503B can be confusing and there’s still a learning curve to it. Why do you think that is?
I think it’s because there’s been a lot of change in the veterinary space over the last 20 years, but more recently, over the last five years. Some veterinarians still want to do things the old way, it’s comfortable and what they are used to. Previously we heard vets and their staff say they used to be able to get whatever they wanted when they wanted it, and there was no problem. There was longer dating on compounded products, and individual pharmacists could kind of do things without certain checks and balances, meaning they were able to put a beyond-use date of six months when the product really wasn’t good for six months. So, really, the industry needed some more regulation. Even though that’s frustrating, we did need that and it’s taking time to educate everyone in the field.
Jumping back to your previous experience, it is interesting that you started as a pharmacist. What kind of advantage does your background as a pharmacist give you in Business Development?
When we talk about medication, it does give me some more credibility as a pharmacist when I explain why our products are more advantageous. For example, the buprenorphine 0.5 mg/ml injection specifically. I talk about the concentration being different, but it’s an easy calculation for a veterinarian or vet tech to make. And if you’re able to get everyone on board using the buprenorphine injection that Epicur makes, then you have more consistency across all of your facilities. You can put out memos on how to use it, train, and teach. Using that medication is going to help your clinic or corporation as a whole. Plus, there’s the fact that the buprenorphine that Epicur makes has never been out of stock.
So, when I share this message, coming from a pharmacist, it does carry more weight. They know I understand the medication, how it works, different concentrations, and they feel like, ‘okay, this is a professional who knows both the business side and the medicine side.’
What was it like switching from human to veterinary medications?
It was challenging. Going into compounding was challenging because compounding is different than traditional retail. But the veterinary side was even more challenging because you’re dealing with different strengths and concentrations. A medication that may be good for a human may not be good for a cat or a dog. The hardest part about the compounding side was working as a sales rep. Back when I started with Stokes, around 2002, when you talked to a human medicine doctor about compounding, they didn’t really know what compounding was. So, before I could sell them on who we were and why they should use us, I had to explain to them what compounding was and why compounding, in general, could benefit them and their practice.
Mickey and his dog, Cooper! Keep reading to learn more about Cooper.
Sounds like the educational curve you mentioned for 503B! Other than the company’s growth, was there anything specific that made you have an interest in moving from the pharmacy side to the business development side?
I worked in retail in the 90s for Emmett and Michael, and I left for a year and became a sales rep for Merck Pharmaceuticals. When I moved back, the first person I contacted was Mike Tursi, since he had worked as a sales rep for GSK for about 10 years. Mike said, “If you’re coming back, talk to me and Emmett because we may have an opportunity for you.” It was an easy transition for me because I was already doing sales and had learned a lot of sales techniques through Merck. It was challenging because we didn’t have any marketing material or marketing department at that time, so I was creating material on the fly. But that was part of the growth of the company. We all had to do it together and figure it out.
You’ve been with the company during some of its biggest growth moments. What were some of the most exciting ones?
There are two I would pick: one was the physical moving from one building to the next as we grew and moved from Stokes Road to the new facility. We thought we were going to be at the new facility, Horizon Way, for the next 20 years, and within two years we had to totally revamp that building because we needed more space! When that happens you know you’re doing the right things and people are excited about your company and the work you’re doing.
And then the other part is when sales went from getting our foot in the door to getting an entire practices’ business overnight. I experienced this firsthand when I was in sales on the human medicine side. There was an office I’d visited that said they already had a compounding pharmacy and weren’t interested in switching. I was persistent and made small steps, eventually they let me do a lunch but still didn’t switch. I kept stopping in to say hi and then one day I got a call saying they wanted to switch… and they wanted to do it tomorrow! Obviously, I said we could make that happen. They were our biggest prescriber for probably five years or more. It changed the trajectory of what we do and how we do it, and we learned a lot from working with them. Those kinds of moments are really neat. And we have those stories on the on the vet side too. Those conversations are very exciting.
Besides moments like those, what are your favorite aspects of your job?
My favorite aspect is dealing with people who are still learning the difference between 503A and 503B, and don’t know the difference between Stokes and other companies yet. We’ve been screaming this message for years, but now it’s really starting to resonate. When I talk to people and they start to understand the message, it really does make me feel good about what we do. We just had a meeting with a large veterinary group, and they talked about how much they like working with us, how good the customer service is, how good our products are, and how easy it is to work with us. When I can do that for one of our customers, it really does give me a lot of satisfaction.
Last year was an exciting year with the release of FIP treatment from Stokes Pharmacy and vets seem really excited you’ve brought this medication to the US. Tell us about your involvement with the FIP rollout.
The FIP release was a big deal. I am the lead pharmacist at Stokes Pharmacy when it comes to FIP treatment. That means if a veterinarian calls and asks questions, they’ll usually send them to me, and I will work with them as much as I can to get the answers they need to treat the cats. It’s been kind of neat because it’s not something we were really even aware of until we got the drug. Now, we can help veterinarians and cat owners. Being a pet owner myself, having a dog, you would do anything to get them better. These people really had to suffer because their cats had to suffer. There was no real treatment for it before. Now that we’ve made this option available that can save cats’ lives, it’s been pretty amazing to see the response.
What kind of questions do you get the most from veterinarians specifically about FIP?
They vary from “How do I diagnose FIP?” because it is a very difficult disease to diagnose, to “How do I dose the cat?” Diagnosing is a little bit more challenging. Everything from “Can we spay and neuter the cat while they’re being treated?” to “Can we give them a vaccine while they’re being treated?” It’s really interesting. Some questions I can’t answer, so I forward those to some feline key opinion leaders. I try to stay involved in that part, saving those answers so that we have some kind of reference material to go to.
Looking to learn more about FIP?
Check out our resources about the disease and how it can be treated with Stokes Pharmacy’s Bova GS-441524. To start an order, head over to Stokes Pharmacy!
What is it that sets the Stokes Healthcare family of brands apart as a pharmacy partner for veterinary hospitals, practices, corporations, and pet owners?
First, it’s our customer service. We’ve always put a lot of attention into our customers from the service side, and it shows because people who start using us really don’t go away. Whether it’s a pet owner or a veterinary practice, once they start dealing with us, they find that our customer service is better than anybody that’s out there. The fact that we answer the phone when they call, if they leave a message, we call back. If they need a medication, we find a way to get it there as fast as we can. In general, our medications get to the location in one to two days. For people and vet offices that have used other providers, they’re used to getting medication in two weeks. They’re not used to getting callbacks either. I think that’s the biggest thing that sets us apart.
The other part is our attention to detail. If you ask us a question, we don’t just give you a flippant answer. We will do the research and find out what we need to tell you if we don’t already know it. I think that’s really important to people, and they notice that. We’re focused on education and that shows in our marketing. Not only do our websites and marketing pieces help people outside of Stokes and Epicur, but they help our internal team too.
You mentioned you have a dog, and you know the readers are animal lovers! Tell us more about your dog and what you’re doing when you’re not at work.
We got a rescue dog about three or four years ago. He’s a Shepherd Husky mix. He’s got a big personality and likes to talk. He’s always making noise, like when he wants to go out, he’s telling you. He’s very interactive and just loves being around me and my wife. As for me personally, I usually spend time with family. I have a big family. I’m one of five siblings, and my wife is one of six. We have a bunch of kids, so we’re always doing family stuff. We like to exercise and be outdoors. When we go on vacation, it’s usually someplace where we’re going to be outside. We’re big family people, and that’s what we do pretty much every time we have free time.
Thanks, Mickey! We appreciate you sharing your background with the team and insights on all that is happening in veterinary medicine!
Check out more of our blogs or on-demand webinars to keep learning!
