This pharmacist's career is an example, above all, of how to seize the opportunities life offers, because her career changed a great deal when she was willing to take risks, taking different actions from the most usual path. One of them was the decision to specialize in aesthetic pharmacy.
Dr. Graziely Zucolin graduated in Biochemical Pharmacy in 2011, which led her to work in drugstores for several years, in experiences full of importance but that ended up wearing her down a lot, as is common among health professionals.
In this reality, one of the standout actions responsible for an important advance she identifies in her own career happened while she was still working at a drugstore, resulted in the development of a skill that has been very important in her work as an aesthetic pharmacist, and it is a funny story.
It turns out that Dr. Graziely did not like injections at all, and as a teenager she even ran away from several of them. So you can imagine that during her degree this was a big problem: she panicked when she had to practice injectables in college, and she graduated still with that quirk, managing to learn the basics of these practices.
But it was working in drugstores that she really practiced and developed her skills in this area, although she always shied away from that responsibility.
She finally decided to change that, and took the most “fake it until you make it” approach possible: at the last pharmacy where she worked, she told all her colleagues the opposite of her reality, saying she loved giving injectables, and asking everyone to hand that task over to her whenever possible.
That way, Dr. Graziely overcame her difficulties with this practice and, before she knew it, she was enjoying it, keeping up with all the new products arriving at the pharmacy and passing them on to her fellow pharmacists.
She also says she found fulfillment in her own work at the drugstores she passed through, having worked in both a neighborhood store and a chain pharmacy, and at the latter she even reached her goal of becoming the RT (pharmacist in charge). After a while, however, came work overload, which caused the beginnings of burnout, and so a new urgency for change in her life.
The decision to specialize in aesthetic pharmacy
At this moment when things were out of balance, an ad appeared on Facebook that caught her husband's attention: it was an opportunity to work with injectables at a clinic in the neighboring city, Itu (SP), which she did not pay much attention to at first, because she did not identify with aesthetics and would probably have to do a postgraduate program in the field, which she was also unwilling to do, so at first it did not seem like a good alternative.
Here it is worth mentioning another aspect of this pharmacist's life, because she had earlier contact with aesthetic procedures, not as a health professional but as a patient, which is very common in the paths of professionals who specialize to work in aesthetic health, and often a motivator for career direction, since you gain another perspective on aesthetic procedures once you see the results in the mirror, on your own skin.
In Dr. Graziely's case, she was always dedicated to weight training. She got to the point of competing in bodybuilding championships, winning several of them. And, as part of her training routine and preparation for the championships, her coach asked her to undergo some procedures. Putting all this together, she realized how much the procedures delivered results and helped her reach her bodybuilding goals.
But this was not a lightbulb moment to specialize in aesthetics; the pharmacist really did not identify with it, and did not see it as something that could be part of her scope of practice.
That Facebook ad, at a time that demanded change, made her rethink. And it was from there that she decided, once again, to take an unusual path: she got in touch to learn more about the position and found a more optimistic possibility than she had imagined, the chance to take short courses and see in practice whether or not she would identify with performing aesthetic procedures.
The first course was Intradermotherapy. She took the course and began seeing patients at that clinic in Itu, still with the mindset of earning just extra income.
Her friends began to get interested, and the people at the gym also got excited and showed a desire to have the procedures done.
In this context, her work at the drugstore became unsustainable and she ended up being let go. And then she decided, now for real, to take a more complete course, a postgraduate program to make her an aesthetic pharmacist.
She began the specialization course in September of last year and, since then, has been studying and advancing a lot in the field, taking several specific courses alongside the postgraduate program. Today, Graziely finds herself enjoying this process and everything it has to offer. In particular, she says the postgraduate program has been a dream in her life:
“And I always tell people that this postgraduate program has been a dream for me, a dream I didn't even know I had, because everything I'm going to study, all the subjects, I am completely in love with all of it, and I want to know everything, I want to study,” she says.
The career change
Besides enjoying the process, what she can offer her patients is what has fulfilled her most professionally. Carrying the motto “if I made it, you can too, it's a matter of aligning body, mind and spirit,” she brings all her training and experience to help transform her patients, also referring other professionals who can help with more integrated care.
Along with that comes the change in her personal quality of life, since she has found much more flexibility to enjoy life beyond work: she can have a social life, sleep well, no longer work on special occasions, and plan short trips.
It is by embracing opportunities, studying and dedicating herself with everything she has that Dr. Graziely is building a very special career in aesthetic pharmacy. The next big step now is to open her own space and put into practice everything she has built in her training, with more autonomy and in her own way. A true career revolution.
Success Stories>Aesthetic PharmacyLaís Bianquini
NEPUGA content team — Núcleo de Especializações Ana Carolina Puga.
