She’s an exceptional leader, a connoisseur in team culture and the person to turn to when you need a helping hand.
Stephanie Brown, our 2023 Iconic Award On-Purpose value winner, leads operations at Slade Pharmacy, Mt Kuring-gai, New South Wales shares her career highlights and what makes her tick.
From early on, Stephanie wanted to work in healthcare. With a desire to help people, Stephanie completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy and went on to pursue a career in community pharmacy.
Stephanie explains that for her, joy comes from connecting with people and helping in many different ways.
“I started in community pharmacy and enjoyed the instant reward of helping people – even just spending five minutes with them,” said Stephanie.
“As a pharmacist, you can make a difference in a short time, and people are grateful to have access to health advice where they don’t have to make an appointment.”
After years of working in community pharmacy, Stephanie was ready for a change, and that’s when she came across an oncology pharmacy.
She has been with the Slade Pharmacy Mount Kuring-gai team since its establishment in October 2015. She began her career with Slade as Clinical Services Manager before becoming Operations Manager in 2018.
Stephanie said her connection to cancer drew her to the field and Icon Group.
“Like a lot of us at Icon, I have family who have gone through cancer – so now getting to help patients receive treatment makes it extra meaningful,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie is also passionate about building connections with her colleagues and has built many friendships over her years with Slade.
As a leader and mentor, she is always looking for ways to keep morale high, working with her teams to organise educational and fun events monthly – most of which involve dressing up and decorating the office.
“We are a relatively remote site, so our team love organising events and making it a fun and welcoming work environment,” she said.
“There’s not much around our office, and many of our employees travel far to get to work every day, so we bring the fun and food to them to help keep spirits high.”
Stephanie said as a leader, she has learned leadership is all about listening and championing the team around her.
“I’m no longer in a patient-facing role, so I find joy in helping my employees thrive and achieve their goals,” Stephanie said.
“I’m always trying to recognise their incredible work and try and encourage them to utilise Icon’s professional development programs.
“It’s so nice to see them learn and get excited about healthcare – it’s a really rewarding part of my job.”
She attests her long tenure with Icon to the constant opportunity for growth and professional development, especially for pharmacists.
“Some of my pharmacists travel a long distance for work because they want to work in the oncology field, and they know being part of Icon’s global network will open them up to an array of opportunities,” Stephanie said.
“So, I want to guide them on the right path so their careers can flourish.”
Stephanie feels she would not be where she is today or be Icon’s 2023 On-Purpose winner without her team backing her.
“There is no role without my team – they are the ones doing the work – they are extremely dedicated, focused and show great care for their patients,” she said.
“The team is consistently rolling up their sleeves, especially when we experience heavy workloads – pumping out the work in shorter period all for the patients because they know cancer patients “don’t take a break from treatment”.
Stephanie said she is in awe of her team for always being able to bounce back and solve any issue.
“Sometimes things go wrong, but the team always pull together and always manage to come up with a fantastic result in a difficult situation.”
Stephanie exemplifies Icon’s values and has an unwavering commitment to the delivery of exceptional patient care.
Through her strong leadership and focus on connections, Stephanie allows Slade Pharmacy Mount Kuring-gai to seamlessly integrate with the wider Icon network, particularly the Slade Health compounding facilities to ensure seamless patient care.
“We work very closely with our Slade Health colleagues to ensure we are providing safe medications and a quality service for our customers and patients, making sure they have access to the medications in a timely manner,” Stephanie said.
“It’s really rewarding knowing that your work is directly helping people not just here in Sydney, but all across Australia.”
Learn more about a career at Icon here.
