EPISODE 121: INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE FRITSCH, PHARMD, BCGP - PHARMACIST, ENTREPRENEUR, AND MENTOR

Michelle is a board certified geriatric clinical pharmacist with a passion for healthy aging and education. She is a specialist in medication use in people over 60. She is founder of Retirement Wellness Strategies, LLC supporting a transition to health in retirement and beyond. She cares for patients so they can live a long healthy and purpose-filled life so they can be a hero to their family and others. She works with a broad definition of health – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social.

Links and items mentioned in this episode

Retirement Wellness Strategies https://www.retirewellness.com

Meds MASH https://www.retirewellness.com/mash/

Medipreneurs https://www.medipreneurs.com

Propel Comprehensive Wellness (website in development as of October 2021)

Preventive Maintenance for a High Mileage Life (Kindle Version)

Sue Paul, RPh

Anna Garrett, PharmD

Michelle Fritsch’s links https://linktr.ee/MichelleFritsch

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Highlights from the interview

Dr. Michelle Fritsch’s Businesses:

1. Retirement Wellness Strategies. Meds MASH has been wrapped into that.
2. Medipreneurs
3. PROPEL Comprehensive Wellness (coming soon!)

Retirement Wellness Strategies came out of an identified need after years of practice. Michelle’s background is geriatrics and academia. She wanted to work with patients in “early geriatrics:” age 55-70. She wants to help them define a plan for long-term health so that when they retire, those are fulfilled, active, vital years instead of having a big health decline and surviving. The health decline that occurs at retirement/upon reaching geriatrics is preventable.

Why the name Meds MASH? “Meds” because she’s a pharmacist. MASH stands for “Mature Adults Safe at Home.” Baby Boomers don’t like labels, like “Mature” or “Geriatric,” but the literature says “geriatric” is >65 years old.

Retirement Wellness Solutions is a planning process. Financial Planners and Estate Planning attorneys serve the same population.

Don’t call Michelle the day you retire. Call her years in advance to develop a strategy! A strategic plan includes the patient’s long-term health in 4 key areas: purpose, activity, prevention, and health information.

During our interview, Michelle told several success stories, including one about a client who was resistant to even the first 15-minute consultation. By the 5th visit, the length of the visit was 60 minutes, and the client looked forward to the discussions. Some clients have moved up their retirement because they are excited about how clear they can picture it and how it will be. They can’t wait to get started!

What are some challenges Michelle’s clients face?

1. Licensed professionals find it difficult to walk away from their credentials at retirement.
2. Selling a business and walking away from it can be a big life event for business founders.
3. Mental health is fragile for some executives who experience loneliness, despair, and anger when they retire.
4. The suicide rate in the 55-75 age-range is rising. That may be preventable. More men than women in the 55-75 year-old age group commit suicide.
5. The divorce rate among 55-75 year-olds is also going up. When couples talk before retirement about their differences and how they may have grown apart during their working years, it helps plan for the future.

Who does Michelle work with? Michelle helps men and women. She loves helping couples who plan together. Her “why” comes from the experience of knowing that skilled executives retire to binge Netflix. If Michelle can instead influence them to use their passion, skills, knowledge, and influence for whatever excites them in what comes next, she has exponentially multiplied the impact that enhancing their health can have.

Michelle wrote a book titled, “Preventive Maintenance for a High Mileage Life.” It’s about strategically thinking about and managing your mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, and social health. You can find it on amazon.com.

Medipreneurs was co-founded by Sue Paul, RPh; Anna Garrett, PharmD; and Michelle Fritsch, PharmD. They helped one another develop their businesses. Medipreneurs supports healthcare entrepreneurs who are pursuing their entrepreneurial passions.

I have been to the 2018, 2019, and 2021 Medipreneurs Summits. I loved them all. The Founders and Summit participants helped me funnel my business ideas down to one. This year (2021), I got the idea for a side business.

Entrepreneurs need coaches. Michelle started working with coaches when she worked in academia. As she has matured as an entrepreneur, her coaching needs have changed. She says, “You learn as you go.” Entrepreneurs are continuous learners.

A challenge Michelle faces is that she can only help so many people one-on-one. 15,000 people turn 65 every day. There is a market filled with people who need to plan for the future!

What’s next for Michelle? PROPEL Comprehensive Wellness! Retirement Wellness Solutions has a one-on-one business model. Propel Comprehensive Wellness will be a “one-to-many” business model. Michelle’s friend is an Aging Life Care Manager. She and Michelle created PROPEL Comprehensive Wellness together. Videos and workbooks will be launched in the next few months. PROPEL stands for Powerful Retirement Options for a Purpose-filled, Engaged Life. As of October 2021, Propel is not on the market yet.

Thank you for listening to The Pharmacist’s Voice ® Podcast Episode 121!

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