26-07-20 - CEOBTS - Nathan Hill - AudioEpisodev2
Fri, Jul 24, 2026 11:16AM 45:47
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Compound pharmacies, personalized treatment, GLP-1s, hormone replacement therapy,
thyroid medication, dermatology, patient needs, healthcare goals, regulatory challenges,
quality and access, peptides, healthcare innovation, patient experience, collaborative approach,
industry growth.
SPEAKERS
Speaker 1, Speaker 2
Speaker 1 00:00
We have gotten away from the personalized approach. People kind of accepted that, hey, these
are FDA approved. These big pharmaceutical companies are spending all this money on
research and development. But then, as things started coming to light, that coupled with
advancements in data and AI, were discovering very personalized treatment plans for patients.
These medications off the shelf don't always treat the patient for what their needs are.
Everyone has unique needs, and so you can see the need for compound pharmacies. There
never is not going to be a need for compound pharmacies, and so the argument that maybe we
see in the media around whether compound pharmacies should be around, it's like it would be
detrimental to the healthcare system if they weren't. The motivation for me was I knew that it
would be beneficial to my own life to learn about these products and how they benefit the body
and benefit our health. It was something that I knew I could believe in. It's all about optimizing
your health. You may feel good, but could you feel great? Could you feel better? I'm Fred Fuller,
and this is CEO behind the scenes. Nathan, how are you, and welcome to the show. Doing
great. Thanks for having me, Fred. So, look, this is a obviously an incredibly hot topic. GLP ones
have put compounding into the national conversation, what seemingly overnight, and so what
do you think that most people misunderstand about the bigger story behind the surge in
interest there? Yeah, that's a good question. You know, we started this company I think just last
week on Friday. About we completed our eight year anniversary from the inception of Strive,
and when we started it, there was no talk about GLP ones. We didn't expect to be in this
spotlight that we're at and up against some of the biggest giants in the pharmaceutical
industry. From the beginning, this was about offering personalized options, and it still is to
patients for what their needs are, and in between doses that weren't commercially available,
and so that's what it was from the beginning. Is you know we focused on hormone replacement
therapy, focused on thyroid medication, dermatology, all different medications that fit in
between what's commercially available, and so there's a lot of educating from the beginning of
starting Strive that needed to take place to go and tell doctors what other options they had for
their patients. You know, it's been all about the patient and what the providers are need and
helping them solve problems. So very much a collaborative approach to what the patient's
needs are and what their healthcare goals are.
Speaker 2 02:40
Well, how dare you focus on the patient and their goals? Like, you know, what a novel concept!
Yeah, right. But well, let me ask you this: you know, healthcare clearly is is moving away from
one size fits all, as discussed or mentioned at the beginning. Can you talk a little bit about like
what's driving that? Clearly, that is the the momentum and the and the sort of focus and
direction, but is there something underneath?
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Speaker 1 03:05
Yeah, I mean, we always talk about how this is how it was in the beginning. There was a
druggist that would make medications specific to the doctor's orders, and a doctor would work
specifically with a patient to try to solve for what their symptoms were or what they were
experiencing, and somehow we we got away with that with the commercialization of you know
pharmaceuticals, and of course there's still a need for that, and you know just because of you
know what patients needs are, and there's so many different illnesses that have been
discovered, and there's a lot of medications that are off the shelf that can help treat those, but
every person is different. We are made up of different genetics. We metabolize medications
differently. We're going to have different side effects than the next person on the same exact
medication. I mean, our you know it all comes down to you know what the body is made up of,
and so there's there's you know different needs that patients have, and so our focus has always
been you know how do we work with the doctors to treat those specific needs of the patient. It
Speaker 2 04:14
really is what's moving away from the one size fits all thinking. You know, so it's we've gotten
smarter, right? I think that's what I kind of heard you communicate. Like we've gotten more
educated, we now understand more about our bodies and about medicine and about what the
capabilities are, right?
Speaker 1 04:31
Yeah. So to add on to that, I think also you know as it's kind of gone away to more of a mass
production and try to fulfill these medications and supply to the masses, we have gotten away
from the personalized approach, and so I think you know people kind of accepted that hey,
these are FDA approved. This is you know the these big pharmaceutical companies are
spending all this money on research and development to try to meet the needs of what
everyone's experiencing, but then. As things started coming to light, whether it's around the
opioid epidemic, around COVID 19, I think a lot of things were brought to light on what are
these incentives for the big pharmaceutical companies. So I think people just started asking
questions, which I don't think anyone should be silenced for asking questions around their
personal health, right? And I think a lot of things came to light, and so that coupled with
advancements in data and AI, we're discovering you know very personalized treatment plans
for patients, and we're finding out that you know these medications off the shelf don't always
treat the patient for for what their needs are, and I think it's important to point out that not only
are individuals and patients made up of different things, we all have different goals as well. So
someone may have the goal to you know just be able to walk around the block. Another
person's like, I want to ride my bike with my kids, and then you have someone who wants to be
a triathlete? All of those individuals have different goals, and they're going to have different
needs. And it's not going to be something that's always off of the shelf or produced by big
pharmaceutical companies. There's in between doses and needs that are tailored with these
doctors and advancements in data and AI as well. Is
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Speaker 2 06:19
there anything in particular that people are asking for today that they weren't asking for 10
years ago? Is there an example that jumps out for you?
Speaker 1 06:27
Peptides is one of the biggest thing. That's what everyone's asking about our peptides and how
they work, and you know how do you know where to get them from and if they're safe? So
that's probably one of the biggest things that we get asked constantly, but there's a lot of
regulations and uncertainty around it, and so as a regulated industry, we we have to you know
we have to follow those guidelines, we have to follow those regulations, but still provide
answers and direction to those patients and providers that are looking for
Speaker 2 06:58
it. I'm I'm so behind the times. We probably I could take us into a rabbit hole on peptides and
peptides 101 but that wouldn't be a good use of your time or mine. So I love this personalized
approach. I think you know certainly been my experience through time that the the doctors
knew what was best, and that was based on the research, and and we were all kind of one
versus now being treated individually, and it's wonderful to see the the industry move in that
direction. You spent years in pharmaceutical sales. What made you start questioning the
system that you were working in?
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Speaker 1 07:36
I think it's always come down to you know how my lifestyle and how I live my life. I think I've
always understood that you know you can't just expect someone else to take care of your
health. You have to take that into your own hands, no matter who it is. Obviously, you want to
find trusted sources, whether it's providers or research that you've done on your own, or just
how you feel when you're going through a healthcare plan. But it's always been an importance
for me is to be able to like longevity is important, being able to live a healthy lifestyle and
understand that I've got to put in the work to be you know to be able to continue to do the
things that I love to do for as long as I can, and especially as I've aged, notice that my body it
needs those things, and even more so than when I when we started Strive. But when I was in
the pharmaceutical industry as a as a rep, I saw things that there you could you could tell that
the pharmaceutical industry, although they do provide great medications that are beneficial,
there's also you see that they're they're just trying to make money where they can, where
they're developing drugs that treat the side effect of another drug, you know, with with the
goal that they stay on all these medications, right? And obviously, they make more money from
that. But are they really focused on the root cause of the problem? And as I started doing more
research on my own and talking to individuals that maybe look from a more holistic way,
understanding that you know the the doctors that we've trusted for years, although they have a
lot of knowledge, they don't have all the answers.
Speaker 2 09:14
Can I repeat that back to you and say that that you're this is years of observation, right? This
wasn't a a moment in time where you there was some epiphany or a lightning bolt. It was day
after day of watching people kind of looking for answers in potentially kind of the wrong way or
wrong places. Is that fair?
Speaker 1 09:32
Yeah, for sure. And my business partner, he is a pharmacist, and so he comes with that
background and in schooling getting introduced to compounding, and so we've known each
other since we were in middle school, and so having conversations with him about what
compounding was-that's where I initially learned about it. But then, as we were talking about,
you know, both of us are entrepreneurial, and we've always had the idea of starting a business.
And he was involved in a compound pharmacy, and I was doing pharmaceutical sales, you
know. It made sense for us to partner together, but we even talked about doing you know a
different type of therapeutics, but within compounding more in the vet space. We still do a little
bit of that, but highly focus on on the human side. And the motivation for me was was I knew
that it would be beneficial to my to my own life to learn about these products and how how
they benefit the body and benefit our our health, and so that was the motivation for me was it
was something that I knew I could believe in. Where before I was selling a drug in
pharmaceuticals that treated opioid induced constipation, so it just helped people be able to
poop. So
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Speaker 2 10:41
hey, do not underestimate the value. A lot of people take
Speaker 1 10:46
that for granted, but you know, also allowed allowed them to stay on their chronic chronic
opioids as well. But when I looked at these medications, you know, it's all about optimizing your
health. It's a more proactive approach. It's like you may feel good, but could you feel great?
Could you feel better? And so that's always been the approach with Strive, and why why it's
motivated us continue moving forward is because we're truly helping people make good
decisions that are motivated to get ahead of their health, instead of just putting a bandaid on a
problem or taking a more reactive approach to their health.
Speaker 2 11:23
Yeah, I think we should trade numbers and follow up offline because I have a million questions
for you with with starting with old age. Yeah, actually, Nathan. Yeah, there's no shortage of
issues and things. But so interesting, you and and your partner Michael Walker is that correct?
Correct. Yeah, yeah. So you and Michael, you guys have slightly different angles or purviews on
this out in the market. Does that influence or change the way that you kind of go to market or
the way that you think about the organization?
Speaker 1 11:56
I think for the most part, we've been aligned. Of course, we've had our challenges just like any
business partners, but you know the things that we've worked through has brought us closer
together, and the individuals that we've been able to bring in and build trust around. It's
allowed us to, you know, have have the right conversations. That sometimes there's generative
tension between our executive team or between myself and and Mike, but you know we
challenge each other, and he definitely has his lane that he focuses on that he's an expert in
being a pharmacist. And so you know, overall, it's been a great partnership to be able to work
collaboratively and be able to execute on all the challenges that we've faced as we've scaled
this company.
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Speaker 2 12:38
Well, as a 25 year veteran in the corporate landscape, I can say with with absolute conviction
that if you have a leadership team that always agrees, you're in trouble. Yeah, right. So I think
having somebody that has a counterbalance and then being able to work through those
problems and have a relationship that withstands that, professional, personal, or otherwise,
that's that's a recipe for success. So I'm I'm really glad to hear that. Is there a single challenge
within the healthcare industry, or like if you were to put it into a sentence, like I wanted to
challenge X within this industry? Do you have a view on that, or a thought on like what what's
the thing?
Speaker 1 13:18
I mean, yeah, I can't help but think of just the compound pharmacy industry, and you know the
purpose of you know the FDA and these regulators isn't to tell a doctor what to prescribe, but
it's to provide access to medications that they feel are going to benefit their patients, right?
And so a lot of times we see a little bit of a conflict on the influence of regulators and big
pharmaceutical companies, and here we are a compound pharmacy kind of sitting here in
between, and there's a shift to more people coming to compound pharmacies because they can
get something very specific and tailored to what their needs are, but still there's constantly
we're we're receiving questions and skepticism around how we operate as a pharmacy, where
we don't do anything, you know, just by you know we're not shooting from the hip here. We
seek you know the the best legal counsel on the decisions that we make. We ensure that what
we're doing is defensible, and so the thing that I would say is just you know in the industry that
I could change is to and which is what we're doing. We've seen a huge shift is to you know
highlight the importance and the need for compound pharmacies, and that it's all there's
always going to be a need. It's played a huge part in the healthcare industry, especially during
shortages or specific needs during emergencies. There's a lot of lot of compound pharmacies
that supply to hospitals as well, and no one's no one's ever questioned a lot of those
medications. They've just known that they've needed them until it's been around the GLP ones,
and now we're. Facing all this scrutiny, whether whether we should be a even a even an
industry that exists.
Speaker 2 15:06
Let's take a quick step back because we will have a lot of listeners that aren't in the healthcare
or pharmaceutical industry, and so when you talk about compound pharmacy, can you
elaborate on on what that
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Speaker 1 15:21
is, yeah. Try not to get too long winded here, but I think something important for everyone to
understand is that there are two different types of compound pharmacies. There's the 503A
compound pharmacy, and then there's the 503b compound pharmacy. And 503A is what Strive
from the beginning has that. That's what we our infrastructure that we've built out is a network
of 503 A pharmacies, and those are pharmacies that have to fulfill medications with a specific
prescription from a doctor, and so that doctor writes a prescription for an individual patient. We
receive that and we fill that medication with a patient's name attached to it, and that's how it
has to go out. So, if there's a clinic that comes to us and says, "Hey, I'd like to order 50 vials of
B 12, or I'd like to order this many capsules of progesterone, then you know we can't do that
unless it's tied to a specific patient and that they have a monthly a prescription that's with
directions on on what the patient's needs are to take that medication, and then the 500 3b
pharmacy is more of a outsourcing facility, is what they are, and so they can fulfill larger
quantities, do bigger batch sizes, and they're regulated by the FDA, whereas we're regulated by
the state boards of pharmacy that follow FDA guidelines, so 503bs though they can supply to
other pharmacies, they can supply to wholesalers, and they can supply to clinics that can order
those 50 vials and then dispense out of their clinic. And so they're different business models
and regulated a little bit differently, but Strive has acquired a facility out of Florida as of the
beginning of the year that will will bring a 503b pharmacy into our network, so it'll allow us to
be more fully integrated with our processes instead of because we can order certain
medications from 503bs and stock them in our 503a pharmacies. I think one thing to add to
that, just just because you know, especially around the GLP ones, the GLP ones were on
shortage, and then all of a sudden they weren't, and then there was all this confusion in the
media about hey, pharmacies need to stop because the shortage is over, and that really just
applies to the 503bs because they can only make the exact copy of the FDA-approved product,
and so they can only make that, you know, say it's semaglutide. They can only make
semaglutide without any additives. It's got to be the same dose and everything. But when the
shortage ended, then they had to stop. But 503 a compound pharmacies. I think that's where
they were trying to, you know, the media and everything was trying to confuse people that hey,
don't go to a you know counterfeit knockoff compound pharmacy because because the
shortage is over. But we are able to continue to make it with different doses that aren't
commercially available, or different additives that are included to meet the patient-specific
needs that are in between what's commercially available.
Speaker 2 18:28
And so, just to to come back to it, a compound pharmacy for somebody like myself is a
pharmacy that I would go into to get a prescription filled.
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Speaker 1 18:38
Correct. Yeah, and so it's basically just specific needs that a patient has that aren't
commercially available. So, if you have an allergic reaction to a certain product, or you're
taking a product and you're noticing that the available doses that you have to titrate up on are
causing different side effects, but you still need to stay on that medication, then a compound
pharmacy can also make the in-between dose that isn't commercially available, that doesn't
work for you know they they produce for the masses and but like we've talked about everyone
is has unique needs and so a compound pharmacy comes in between and sometimes big
pharmaceutical companies don't produce medications because there's just not enough volume
and it it doesn't make sense for them, or the patent has come off, or the generic manufacturers
don't see the value in doing it. But there's still patients that need certain medications, and so
compound pharmacies will come in, and they'll be able to make those medications that aren't
being commercially available as well. So you can see, you know, and when there's a shortage,
we 503A's can step in and do the same thing that B's are, but we're just limited to the
quantities that we can do. And so you can see the need for compound pharmacies. There never
is not going to be a need for compound pharmacies. And so the argument, you know, that
maybe we see in the media around whether compound pharmacies should be around, it's like it
would be detrimental to the healthcare system. If they weren't, because there's always going to
be a need for it, so that's why it's important with what we're doing around regulator regulations
and advocacy is how do we clarify these regulations and ensure that different pharmaceutical
groups can you know can coexist
Speaker 2 20:15
and and that kind of lends itself. It's a nice segue into to the next question, which is in any
industry, there's always some elements that seem to be diametrically opposed. Right, they are
mutually exclusive to one another, and just you can't have both in this industry. Quality and
access feel like they're two that that may or may not always be in harmony, and and you don't
think that should be the case? Like you believe like these things can live together very
peacefully. Why don't they? Would you mind elaborating on that?
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Speaker 1 20:49
Yeah, for sure. Quality and access should be you know one and the same as we're scaling. And I
I think reason for for us to be so focused on quality, you know. While obviously, as we're
making these products, that it's providing access to those medications. It's you just can't cut
corners. I think because of the scrutiny that we face as a compound pharmacy, we have to
ensure that we're going above and beyond. There's a lot of uncertain regulations right now with
compounding and the different medications that we're we're producing, but like I said, we seek
the best legal advice. We work with third party consultants that are veterans in the industry
that work with big pharmaceutical companies that you know work with the biggest players, and
we try to do it on the highest level that we can because we know that even if we can defend a
certain point that we have on products that we're producing, there's regulators that may
somewhat disagree with it, but still have to accept you know us continuing because we have a
we have a strong case with the regulations that exist today, and so we can we see that they
could try to ding us or give us an infraction on other areas of the business that maybe we're not
as buttoned up on, and so that's why across the board we have to run a tight ship, and we have
to we have to ensure that we offer the highest quality medications that we can. But it also like
comes down to customer experience for our patients and our providers. Like providers aren't
going to keep prescribing to our pharmacy, they're not required to go to us. They could go to
any other compound pharmacy or go to the commercial products if it makes sense for their
patients. But we want them, you know, to utilize us when those commercial products aren't
suitable for their patients. But we want them to come to us because their patients have had a
good experience with the products, and so that's why it's important for us to continue to offer,
you know, source the best high quality products that we've tested before we even bring them
in. We're testing them. We're we're getting all the certificates that we need to to ensure that
it's a good product. But then also after we make the product, we're sending them out for third
party testing to ensure anything that goes out is going to be something that's of high standards
for their patients.
Speaker 2 23:04
Belts and suspenders is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 1 23:07
Yes, correct.
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Speaker 2 23:08
Right. Yeah. I mean, you can't be. It's healthcare. You can't be too careful. So let me ask you
this: How do you maintain a human centered culture as your organization has grown, as you've
grown nationally, as you've expanded into other organizations, it expands your footprint within
the pharmacy framework. How do you maintain the ethos and the culture that's so important to
you?
Speaker 1 23:33
Not that it's easy by any means, but it helps when you're offering products that are true, truly
changing people's lives. I mean, that's a that's a huge way, and and and I think it's on us as a
you know an executive team and the departments that we build out to communicate that to
the rest of our company on how we are changing people's lives and how these products are
necessary for for individuals to obtain their healthcare goals, and so we've done an incredible
job with partnering with providers, different organizations that send us, you know, the
prescriptions. But also, we have a team that creates content that tells stories, and I think that's
a huge responsibility, at least for me, that I feel as a founder, is to be able to tell these stories
because you know we could just produce the medications that come into us or the prescriptions
that come into us and send them out to the patients and then you know hope for the best. But I
think while we are advocating for compound pharmacy to have you know a pivotal role in our
healthcare system. It's important for us to go and tell those stories, you know. And we have
huge plans to be able to continue to do that on a bigger level. But for our, I think for our
employees to see that that we're going and telling the story. So, you know, what they're doing
on a daily basis is benefiting the patient, but also it's important for. Us to, you know, give credit
where credits due. Like our people are amazing. Like we we've gone through some tough times
and challenges because we feel like we're doing something that's never been done before. You
know, being this national compound pharmacy at the scale that we're at, partnering with some
pretty big players, and you know, providing more access throughout the country, that everyone
is a part of that. And my, you know, Mike, my business partner, and I, we always say that we
started this company, but it's been everyone that's got us to this point and helped us build it.
And so I think just constantly, you know, I feel like we never do enough to recognize, you know,
the the value and the you know everything that has gone into getting us to this point, and so
that's something that like always weighs heavy on my mind is to you know how do we show
more appreciation to everyone within the company that has helped us get here. So hopefully
this podcast helps.
Speaker 2 25:57
Well, I will I will guarantee it. No, I can't guarantee it, but I would love to.
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Speaker 1 26:02
Doesn't hurt. I don't think it hurts.
Speaker 2 26:04
It won't hurt. That I can promise you. Let me ask you this. Well, let me say. Let me say this. When I asked that question, I actually loved the very first sentence you gave me, which was
like, "We're we're doing something that matters. Essentially, yeah, right. Like that. That starts
there. It starts with waking up every day and and looking yourself in the mirror and saying, "Am
I am I trying to make something better in the world? And if you can answer that question, you
know, in the affirmative, then then the rest of that stuff starts to fall into place for you. Let me
ask you this though: the public conversation around healthcare innovation often, very often, moves faster than than regulation. What's it like leading through an environment of that
nature? I would imagine you you have patients and counterparts and associates that hear
something, but they're only hearing part of the story, right? A lot of lot of complexity and
confusion, perhaps.
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Speaker 1 26:57
Yeah, I assume that you're referring to just like things in the media that are happening,
regulation changes, and we're we're constantly, yeah, that's the reality. We're constantly
having to communicate to everyone where what our stance is, and sometimes we have to be
very careful about what we say. Like we're actually in, you know, certain lawsuits, and we just
have to be careful on how we communicate things. So sometimes it takes time to be able to
develop a communication that goes out to all of our providers, all of our employees on what our
stance is. But we we we know how important that is to be able to say, hey, this is where where
our stance is. This is why we're doing this. This is why you know you're hearing this about
Strive in the media, or you're hearing this about GLP ones and what's what's going to happen to
compound pharmacies, and so yeah, it's just a constant communication and trying to be as
transparent as we can to our people, whether that's on the employees that are involved in the
company or the providers that we work with, and I think we've seen our providers come to
strive for kind of a source of truth. We work with a lot of brick and mortar wellness clinics
throughout the country, and because of us being on a national level and partnering with clinics
all over the entire country, they rely on Strive to be able to offer these products. And you know,
I I believe that Strive is at in the at the forefront of gathering the information from you know
our legal team and from consultants on what our what the stance is and where we can play, but
they also know that Strive is not going to do anything unless we are we are confident that we
can move forward. We're not just going to do something that's reckless or juvenile. When we
make a decision, we're confident that we there's a path to move forward. And so, when we do
make a communication out, people know that we've done our research, we've done our
homework, and and this is what our stance is. And so, we see a lot of providers that when
something happens in the media, they'll come to us and be like, you know, hey, what is Strive
going to do about this? Like, what is your stance? We need to know, like, how to what's the
pathway for our patients? Are we going to lose access to these medications? We say, hey, we
need a little time to kind of work with our legal team, and then we'll communicate that out. And
so it gives them confidence to move forward as well. So, and I think that's why one of the
reasons that Strive can add a lot of value is because the thoughtful approach that we have on
providing access to these medications.
Speaker 2 29:28
So I love that because you're you're you're you're in an advisory role of sorts, right? Yeah, kind
of consistent. We always give it the ramer
Speaker 1 29:36
that we're not you know we're not their legal team, but this is what our stance is, and to you
know sign that off with your legal team, of course.
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Speaker 2 29:43
Because as we started this conversation, when you talk about a compounding pharmacy, like
you know, I think a lot of people really don't understand what that is or how they would go
about. How do I know that I need to go to a compound pharmacy versus you know versus going
into a big box, right? Like you know, what are the clues that I should be looking? For and so I
think that you know this podcast part of that education. Do you get that question? Do you get
people that come to you and say, you know, tell me more about this, and how do I get my
doctor to get me referred in here? Do you or is it?
Speaker 1 30:14
Yeah, all the time. Yeah, all the time we get people. You know, when we're traveling, when
we're advocating, we go to a lot of trade shows and conferences where we have a clinical team
that will go and speak and educate on compounding, and they're they're even going to
different specialties that maybe aren't familiar still within the healthcare space, but maybe
maybe like primary care physicians that haven't utilized compound pharmacies as much in the
past, and now that's like one of the the biggest growing specialties within our organization are
those primary care physicians that are asking questions. They're like, how do I how do I treat
my patients differently than maybe I was educated to, or how do I do things that are a little bit
more outside the box? That's why they sought after going to medical school. A lot of them is to,
you know, to help people, to help patients, and so sometimes, and now a lot of people are
recognizing, a lot of providers are recognizing that the solution isn't a one size fits all approach
through these big box pharmacies providing medications to them. Sometimes it's more of a
collaborative approach, and so that's why we built out a clinical team that helps educate
providers that maybe are unfamiliar with the ways of a compound pharmacy and what
medications they can offer their patients. And so we provide a lot of webinars that we do,
conferences that we go out to. So we're investing heavily in educating people because we
obviously see the the the demand for education and understanding what compound
pharmacies you know the impact that they can play in their patients' healthcare
Speaker 2 31:49
and do you have and I know we're again under close restrictions under what we say and don't
say and all that good stuff but I mean in my guess is in five to 10 years this industry is the total
addressable market, and everything else. We're talking about something that is going to be
exponentially larger in three to five years than it is today. Is that a safe assumption?
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S
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Speaker 1 32:11
I mean, looking back the last eight years since we started Strive, we've seen it grow
immensely. We're obviously on on a bigger national level, the recognition, like one thing that
we've done is we, you know, if you search like the Google search terms for compound
pharmacy or for compounded medications, those search terms have gone up, and that's a, you
know, evidence that there's a lot, lot of questions around it and interest around the industry
and how do they get access to these medications? Peptides, obviously, is another huge one.
Hormone replacement therapy. There's been changes with information on estrogen as well, and
so now you're you're seeing more of an adoption to this hormone replacement therapy. And
we're definitely seeing a shift shift towards compounding and more of a personalized approach
to healthcare. We'll see what that total addressable market is in the next three to five years.
But you know, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing, investing in the infrastructure and the
you know all the capital expenditure that we're putting into this business if we didn't believe
that it's going to continue to grow. And so you know, and our our focus has always been, you
know, solving problems because of what the needs are of the patients and providers. The
business will continue to grow for sure, but you know, it grows, you know, at the expense of of
solving these problems that you know providers and patients are asking for. I
Speaker 2 33:37
love this job because everybody I talk to is is doing something really interesting, really
innovating, and really pushing the boundaries. A great deal of my experience has been in
banking, and if you could find one field that is more highly regulated than banking, you found it.
Yeah, right. And so I think I'm like, man, did you just look for the tallest mountain in the world
and say that's the one.
S
S
Speaker 1 34:02
I mean, I don't know how we landed here. I think we saw it. We saw an opportunity in the
beginning. We didn't. We knew there was you know regulations, but we didn't expect to be
under as much scrutiny as as we are. But it's also you know it's also been a wild ride. It's been
exciting. It gives us a purpose for solving problems. Like solving these problems is, it's very
rewarding. It's challenging, and we're making change. Like I said in the you know earlier on,
we're we're helping patients. We're providing access to these medications, and I I can't imagine
doing anything else and being as rewarding as this is, because of what what we've achieved
over over these eight years, we're seeing things shift in the industry. We feel like we've played
a big part in that. We see the opportunity ahead of us as well. You know, we had this slogan in
the beginning. You know, we still use it today, but we always said, "Why settle when you can
struggle?" And you know that's how we've approached everything. It's like I'm couldn't be more
grateful to like where we've gotten today, but I also am like I'm not satisfied with where we're
at as far as like the experience for the patients and the providers, the access to these
medications, the clarity around the regulations. Like there's still so much work to do, and we're
not done yet. Like no matter how much success the company has had, we we haven't achieved
what we want to achieve. We have so many things in our pipeline that we want to accomplish
that will provide such a better experience for the patients. But these things take time, and
we're doing it all with the you know all the demand that we're that's coming to us, the scrutiny,
all the regulations, all the challenges on the legal side that we have to face, all while trying to
just operate a business and provide the best experience to these patients. But you know, I
wouldn't I wouldn't have it any other way. It tells a good story.
Speaker 2 36:00
I think it's absolutely beautiful, and I really do. I love, I love challenging convention. I think it's
important, right? We we accept those things, and they probably served us quite well for a large
period of time. But they may not serve us in the same way going forward. And if we don't
challenge these assumptions that we've inherited through time, then you know, do we get
smarter and better and stronger, whatever, right? And so I love having the Nathan Hills in the
universe looking at things and saying it can be different, it can be better, and and I'm going to
show you how. So thank you for for all that you do. We have a closing tradition here. Two quick
questions for you. The first is, what's one thing related or unrelated to your industry and to the
conversation? What's one thing you've changed your mind about recently, and why?
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Speaker 1 36:49
One thing, yeah, I think when we started Strive, like it was our goal to be the best compound
pharmacy. I don't even know if we were had our eyes set on being the biggest, but we wanted
to be the best in the in the sense that we want to provide the best experience out of any of our
competitors, and provide the best access to these medications, like that was always the goal.
You know, that still is one of our goals: is you know to be the best in our industry. But it's not
it's not about being competitive with you know other compound pharmacies, like I said, I think
that's shifted to where we're the the goal is much bigger than just this one industry and being
the best in this industry. The goal is about providing you know working collaboratively with
these other organizations because we can accomplish so much more together. And I've seen
made some great relationships with individuals that you know have been in the industry longer
than me, and so it's been awesome that you know we've done some acquisitions, and we've
learned so much from the teams that that merged with Strive. Like we didn't come into this,
you know, even though we've been successful, we didn't come into it thinking like, hey, we're
this is, you know, this is a strive show now. This is how things work here. It's, you know, been
very open minded about what we can learn from them and what they bring to the table. We
have some acquisitions where we brought individuals that have been, you know, been in the
space decades longer than me. So it's not like I can, you know, tell them that I know
everything. And so I think we've been willing to learn from others, not just within our own
company, and you know, not even just acquisitions, but pharmacists with tons of experience
that are coming in, individuals that are coming from the tech space that are coming onto our
teams, and cumulatively, like we're so much stronger together. And I believe that in in a
broader industry as well, and what we're accomplishing together to provide access to these
medications and really make a statement around compound pharmacies and personalized
medicine and how it can play an important role in the healthcare system.
Speaker 2 38:56
And the other side of that question is, what's something that you've not changed your mind
about, and you believe that everybody should come to you?
S
S
Speaker 1 39:06
I'd say there's two things. One of them I I briefly touched on. One thing that hasn't changed is
you know if you take care of the patients and providers and solve for those problems, the
company will continue to have success, and I don't think we've made decisions. I mean,
obviously, we see opportunities, and we have to do acquisitions based on something that
makes sense from a financial perspective. But as you know, the majority of our decisions are all
based on we're solving a problem to provide better access, to create a better experience, to
differentiate ourselves in the industry to have unique products that are only available through
Strive because it offers something unique that's going to benefit the patient and impact their
lives, and so that's something that hasn't changed. And I'm I'm proud of that. I'm proud that
you know our ethos have. The same on like what what motivates us and what motivates us is
solving problems for this industry and providing access to these medications and seeing it
change people's lives and and then go and tell those stories and so that's something that
hasn't changed for me.
Speaker 2 40:15
Actually, I I do have one more follow up question and we talked earlier about like what has
motivated you to to start strive and and to to challenge the industry norms? the the The
question behind that is where does that come from? Did you have an experience in childhood?
Did you have some sort of a mentor, a leader along the way that said, you know, challenge and
don't settle and go be you know be aggressive and be assertive and blaze a trail, or is that just
something born deep in you and just you knew that one day you would start it, or are you like, man, I have no idea how I got here?
Speaker 1 40:50
Part of it is I have no idea how this happened or what motivates me. You know, I believe I don't
just believe. I know I was raised well to do right by other people, right? And so, to have good
business ethics, to to be authentic, to be true to yourself, true to your values, and you know, I
can say that about my business partner too-that he's got those same business ethics-and I
think that is, you know, disseminated throughout the company to where, you know, we
wouldn't have been able to scale like we have if we didn't have the right leadership in place,
and so I don't think that's just just credit to me and my business partner. But it's our executive
team, it's the people that they've hired, our our layer of VPs. It goes all the way down to just
the every individual that we have we've hired based off of core values. That wasn't something
that we had in the beginning, even though we had ethics, right? We we didn't want to we
weren't cutting corners in the beginning. We weren't trying to manipulate anyone. We were
trying to do right by everyone, but it got to a point that the company was was scaling rapidly. We needed individuals that would be able to you know get in those trenches with us and roll up
their sleeves and solve problems. And so we went through a whole brand identity exercise with
an agency.
S
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Speaker 2 42:05
Oh yeah,
Speaker 1 42:06
you know, and that's when we rebranded, and we were able to kind of pinpoint like who are we,
and we we went through a lot of challenges during that time to where we could speak very
clearly on what type of individual fit into our our business ethos as a company and what what it
was going to take to be successful and and then you hire and you fire to those core values and
so I think that's where you know what I attribute you know a lot of this success to is is bringing
in individuals like that but I you know I believe I was I was raised well but I also attribute it to
going back to you know I used to do door to door sales prior to pharmaceutical sales, and it was
you know dealing with rejection, but also like just having that mentality of never quitting, and
like I said, like we have that never settle mentality, always trying to accomplish the next
problem in front of us, and one of my hobbies, like that, I did was skateboarding. And so we
have a little bit of influence about with skateboarding, where you do a trick and you do
something, but it doesn't have style. You got to do it again, right? And so I think that's what
Strive's mentality has been: is like we want to do this, like we've accomplished a lot, but how
do we do it with even more style? And so that's why it's so important for us to tell stories, to
have a good brand, but also to have a really good experience where people are getting their
medications. But we want it to be a smooth process. We want to do it with style. A lot of those
areas have kind of shaped how we operate our business. But I think it just comes down to being
true to yourself and being authentic.
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S
Speaker 2 43:40
Thank you very much for that, Nathan. We're going to plan a second episode, and that second
episode, we're going to talk about your door-to-door sales activity and my geriatric condition. If
we can, if we can get that on the books, okay, cool. Come with solutions, man. I got aches and
pains that are not that are not okay. Thank you so much for your time, Nathan. I love. I mean, I
said this earlier. Absolutely love these conversations because all of these conversations that I
get to have, fortunately, in this chair with people that are that really are challenging norms and
convention and saying let's do it differently. And you are, man, are you an example of that? I
think you know, walking away from what I assume would be a very comfortable, well-paying
pharmaceutical sales position to go out into the world and to start something new and to
challenge. I mean, literally, I said it before. You looked at the biggest hill and you said, "I'm I'm
going to go get that one. And and we need people doing that for us right now out in the world.
Right when it comes to healthcare, when it comes to to mental health, when it comes to
anything and everything, we need people advocating for people for doing the right thing, and
and healthcare should be personalized more so than any other thing that we do on the planet.
And so I thank you very much for what you're doing. I thank you for your time here. Anybody
that's listening, please be sure to subscribe, rate, share it with others, share it with. People that
you think might be interested, whether they're in healthcare or not, everybody needs
healthcare, regardless of the industry that you work in. And this is a an up and coming solution
that's going to expand, I think, wildly in the market. And you need to keep me honest here. And
so I just I'm I'm thankful for the conversation and that we have people doing the stuff that
you're doing and and making sure that we're we're doing what's right for for people. So very
thankfully for Nathan Hill at Strive Pharmacy, I am Fred Fuller, and this concludes another
episode of Behind the Scenes. Thank you for your time. Thanks, Fred. Yeah, thank you.