Announcer: 0:00

The following programming is sponsored by Marc J Bernstein. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of this station, its management or Peasley Media Group. Entrepreneur, founder, author and financial advisor, Marc Bernstein helps high-performing business owners turn their visions into reality. Through his innovative work and the Forward Focus. Forums, Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Forums Marc connects entrepreneurs to resources that fuel their success. Founders Forum is a radio show and podcast where entrepreneurs share their journeys, revealing the lessons they've learned and the stories behind their success. Join Marc and his guests for a mix of inspiration, valuable insights and a little fun. Now let's dive in.

Marc Bernstein: 0:44

Good morning America. How are you? Good morning Roger Marley. Thanks for being in the studio with us this morning. Good morning to all of you. Good morning Arlo. I always have to say good morning, arlo. It's my dog. I'm not sure he's listening to the show, but good morning anyway. We have some great guests. In fact, we had them for our last show. It's just in reverse. So our guest today is Sam Maddula I'll formally introduce him in a minute and with him is David Lopez, who's been on a previous podcast.

Marc Bernstein: 1:13

And to start the show, I've been thinking a little bit. The last show that we did together, the three of us, was about lack of abundance. It was really about tariffs and the constraints that that can put on people and thinking about it. I want to go specifically deeper into this idea of scarcity and abundance with a quote from Stephen Covey. I'm sorry, Stephen Covey, he's actually a fraternity brother of mine. I never met him, but he's in fraternity and um or was um, and get your guys input on this, on this uh quote.

Marc Bernstein: 1:50

Most people are deeply scripted in what I call the scarcity mentality. They see life as having only as much, as the only, so much, as though there were only one pie out there and if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else. Instead, I have an abundance mentality, when people are genuinely happy at the successes of others and the pie gets larger. Actually, I'm going to add one other quote happens to be by Oprah Winfrey on abundance when you focus on what you have, your abundance increases. I started with my breath, noticing being alive is a good start. So a couple different takes on abundance. What do you think about it, Sam? We've talked about this subject before.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 2:34

It's an intense way to start the show.

Marc Bernstein: 2:38

That's right, let's get right into it. Let's get right into it.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 2:40

I think you're talking about basically what most other people would say is a zero-sum game, where it's only one person wins and the other one loses. I think I'm probably a good example of you could do good and have more than one person win, and when you help others or if you give back, it actually feels pretty good. So instead of just taking and assuming someone else is not going to have, you can have and give to others too.

Marc Bernstein: 3:03

You are a good example, so we'll touch on that as we go through your story, David, your thoughts.

David Lopez: 3:09

I mean, I think a lot of the same way Sam does. You know, you know, I like to always say you know I'm not greedy. As my company becomes successful, I like to make everybody around me successful. That got me there. I'm not the only person that makes us successful, so I like to reinvest that into the employees and into the community. And you know, realistically, when you do do that, it makes everything bigger, right.

Marc Bernstein: 3:33

Give and it comes back to you. You don't, you don't give to get, but it comes back to you when you, when you do that. So Sam Medulla is a doctor in pharmacy, I guess, doctor of pharmacy, yeah, doctor of pharmacy and is founder and CEO of Workshop Strategy and also founder of Banks Apothecary, which is now named Altruix, and he's a healthcare leader and transformative entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience delivering exceptional operational and financial outcomes in the healthcare and specialty pharmacy sectors. He founded and scaled Banks Apothecary Specialty Pharmacy to $300 million in annual revenue, one pharmacy achieving an industry-leading valuation upon sale to a private equity firm. He has deep expertise in value creation, innovation, patient-centric strategies, with a track record of successful partnerships and M&A, and also he's been in M&A advisory roles Experienced board member and advisor, passionate about driving transformative impact in healthcare and private equity, about driving transformative impact in health care and private equity. And he's an advocate of philanthropy. He founded the Medulla Foundation, contributing millions to health care and education initiatives. And welcome, Sam, thank you for having me.

Marc Bernstein: 4:56

Yeah, we've been talking about this for a long time, so glad to finally get you here.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 4:59

Yeah, it's been like a year. Yep, we can't complain.

Marc Bernstein: 5:03

We got it together in Philly, where we both live, but we got it together in Florida. No complaints about that. Nice, right, right, and welcome again, David as well.

David Lopez: 5:09

Thank you.

Marc Bernstein: 5:11

So let's start. You have a really interesting story that starts in childhood, almost after you were born. Which kind of was what brought you here? So let's start with that.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 5:21

Yeah, simply put, I was born blind for all measures. I was born legally blind. I was born in a dirt, poor village in India Literally can't find it on Google Maps and my parents had no idea. Eventually, my mother found out that there was something off with me, because when she would talk to me I wouldn't make eye contact, et cetera. Eventually we stumbled upon a camp for the poor that was set up by again, we're talking about abundance by a charitable organization, by a physician here in america, and the doctor basically told my parents when I was about a year old if we don't do surgery on your son, he will end up blind forever and that's basically like a death sentence in india. And so we need you to come to america and have to do surgery.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 6:08

And it was a guy named by the name of dr raju and he founded the eye foundation of america. So my parents pretty much picked up nothing and left everything they had and they were pretty poor. They were laborers in india and kind of came to this new world called America that they've never even heard of. They're not educated folks. We came here, we went to a small town in West Virginia Morgantown, west Virginia and the doctor did a surgery on my eyes, a corneal transplant on both eyes, and I could magically see. And you know, I went from literally from darkness to the gift I was given, the gift of light by Dr Raju, and so once we got here, I just have to tell you.

Marc Bernstein: 6:50

So you heard Raju go. Wow, he never talks, but this is some story and this is an incredible story. Well, if I impress Raju, I'm pretty good, huh.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 6:58

Let's go continue. So we got here and the doctor said hey, we did surgery on both eyes, everything's good, but you know, we need you to stay here for post-op care and all that. And my parents, like I said, they don't speak the language, they're not educated, they know nothing. So we ended up staying here on his advice and my parents moved up to New York City to work at a pharmacy, because my uncle owns a pharmacy. And, lo and behold, we were trying to get our paperwork in order and it didn't work out the way we wanted it to be and my parents lost their legal status. So we ended up as illegal immigrants, the kind of folks who live in the shadows of society. Eventually they got their stuff together.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 7:45

The way immigration works is you have to go back to your home country. We went back to India just to do the paperwork. Once in India we were stuck again. So when we got there they told us you're stuck, you can't go back to America. I don't know anything besides America. I came here, like I said, when I was a couple months old In India. I went back to the same village that I came from. I went to school literally in a shack with like 120 degree weather.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 8:14

Spent about a year there until my dad managed to get our visa straightened out and came back to America. And once here, you know, I lost about a year and a half of education. Did you speak any?

Marc Bernstein: 8:26

Indian at that point?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 8:28

Yeah, my parents always only spoke a language called Telugu and they didn't speak English, so my native language I always spoke pretty fluently, so we were stuck in India, came back here and then, once here, I was pretty behind on education. I didn't really fit in, kind of struggled my way up. Eventually I got to college and I'm trying to figure out what to do. And, like I said, my parents worked in a pharmacy, so that's all I knew. So I figured, hey, I'll give it a shot. So I went to pharmacy school. As luck would have it again, I graduated in the great financial crisis of 09.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 9:09

So I wasn't, I was, I was without a job. I was kind of just trying to work odds and ends at like local pharmacies, trying to pick up hours. Well, my current partner found me at a random pharmacy and he said hey, I got an opportunity for you in Philadelphia. I didn't even know where Philly was on a map because I was that guy from New York City, you know.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 9:28

And so I came to Philly, I had a opportunity to work in a very rundown pharmacy in a very rundown neighborhood, and I was a 24 year old kid, I didn't really know much and I was like, hey, I don't have any any other opportunities, I'll take it, let's just give it a shot. And I kind of worked in that neighborhood and those folks that I served were having the same kind of issues that I did, you know, like lack of education, lack of good access to healthcare, et cetera, et cetera. And so eventually I figured, hey, let's give me, let me, let me give this a shot. We grew the company, we made it larger and larger. But this is what I mean you can do good and help others and be financially successful. So the more my company grew, that meant the greater we were helping folks and we were helping. You were spreading abundance, yeah.

Marc Bernstein: 10:25

That's amazing.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 10:27

So it grew and it grew.

Marc Bernstein: 10:28

Then what?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 10:29

happened. It grew and we became pretty large and eventually I met my wife in 2017. We had two beautiful daughters and in 2022, we decided to exit to a private equity company. We decided to do that because, I said, life is not just all about money, but it's also about family, and my wife went through a lot of hardship to have a baby. She almost passed away, so it was kind of my wake-up call to take a step back, and so I ended up with a sale of the company in 2022.

Marc Bernstein: 11:12

And your life?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 11:13

has not been without trials, and tribulations, that's for sure.

Marc Bernstein: 11:17

It's been interesting. What you know word resilience comes to mind. But I'd rather have you describe what do you learn from all those difficulties that you had? What you know? What's the? What would you say is the best lesson that you learned from the hardships you know?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 11:30

this might sound cliched, but the best lesson that you learned from the hardships. You know this might sound cliched, but the best thing that I learned is never to give up. Just keep going, because I think if you just don't give up in the hardest points of life, it'll really allow you to get through that part, and then everything else just becomes easier.

Marc Bernstein: 11:50

Yep, so how about in business? Because it sounds like hey we just started this business serving the community. We grew, we grew, we grew and I'm sure there are some challenges along the way with that. Can you speak to that? And I'm sure you didn't do it alone. Businesses are never built alone. I'm sure you had leaders within your business that helped and there's a culture. So maybe address some of those issues before we take a break.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 12:13

Yeah, in business, you know, it's never a straight road. It almost feels like every other day would be a hiccup. My mentors and my partners were actually my uncles, who have tremendous history in pharmacy, so they were kind of my advisors. They would kind of guide me. Tremendous history in pharmacy, so they were kind of my advisors, they would kind of guide me. And then I surrounded myself with people who basically were kind of like the salt of the earth, people who might not have the best resume but we're just going to go out and kill it and just do a really good job. So you know, I had folks Because you knew where you came from. I knew where I came from Exactly and I knew that some of these guys would never get a chance. I knew where you came from.

Marc Bernstein: 12:51

I knew where I came from Exactly and I knew that some of these guys would never get a chance Right, but you could see it in their heart. Yeah and tell, give a success story or you know, just a general description of how they developed within the company.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 13:00

Yeah, you know there were folks that I had. One of them was like a single mom and you know she just had a tough time and tough life and she was like, just give me a chance and I'll work my butt off. Gave her a chance. She did amazingly well. I think other folks didn't take a chance on her. We had an older gentleman.

Marc Bernstein: 13:18

What was her role in the company?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 13:20

She was part of our substance use disorder program so she basically her role was to kind of spread the word about the company, the changes that we could help affect people positively, and it turned out, like some of the folks, that we worked with Almost like a PR person for the Business development and helping clinically too. So she did both Interesting and, just add, like one of the folks, some of the people that we worked with were her high school classmates or college classmates, right, wow.

Marc Bernstein: 13:51

This is, I think, a good jumping off point. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back with Sam Medulla on Founders Forum.

Announcer: 13:58

What's holding you back from your next big move? At Workshop Strategy, we're more than just advisors. We're partners in your success. We roll up our sleeves and work alongside you to build a strategy that drives growth, strengthens leadership and makes operations more efficient. If you run a medical practice, pharmacy, healthcare organization or any healthcare business, we create solutions tailored to your needs and goals. We are here to help you take your business to the next level. Let's set bold goals and let's achieve them together.

Marc Bernstein: 14:34

We are back on Founders Forum Interesting business story, Sam, and we're going to talk about your exit strategy in a minute, but David Lopez has a question for you first, so go ahead, David.

David Lopez: 14:45

So, Sam, you know, as a business owner as well, scaling and doing different things to figure out. You know how I had to do that. I went you know as a business owner as well, scaling and doing different things to figure out you know how I had to do that. I went through a program which I guess for the first time in my life, I figured out that. You know, it wasn't the steel industry that I was excited about, that I was really. My passion was building businesses and teams. So through your process of scaling that and selling, you know, was your passion pharmacy, or have you found that and what really created that drive to do that?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 15:13

If I want to be really honest, my passion is not pharmacy. I don't even think I'm a great pharmacist, but I think I'm a really good business person and I think of it like building a sandcastle and I just like to build and build and build and I, the bigger something grows. It's almost like an existential version of me and the idea of size and growth just makes me feel really good.

David Lopez: 15:34

Yes, I feel the same way and it was interesting how it took me a long time to figure out that building businesses was really my passion and what I was good at, not necessarily the business I was in.

Marc Bernstein: 15:44

So that's a great lead-in too. So you built and built, and built and then you sold the business. You had an exit strategy, a. It was a very profitable exit and you decided you could have just like retired and said that's it. But you're doing two things today that, I think, was your way of sort of giving back as a result of, of um you know, the great success you had in building the business.

Marc Bernstein: 16:07

One of those is that you founded workshop. One of those is that you founded Workshop Strategy, and the other is that you founded the Medulla Foundation. So let's take them one at a time. Let's talk about Workshop Strategy and what you're doing there.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 16:18

Well, one of the things I just want to take a step back is when we sold the company, it was very important to me that we find the right partner that my employees were taking care of, because, yes, I made a good dollar but you know care of. Because, yes, I made a good dollar but you know, the people that I brought alongside with me had to be taken care of. So I made sure that that was built in and some of those folks got equity because, like you said, it's not just me that makes it and they and I assume they're still happy in their roles with the new company.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 16:41

They're very happy, Um, and we keep in touch all the time. Nice, Excellent, Okay, and so, yeah, after the sale, I created first I did the Medulla Foundation. So a lot of the sale proceeds of the Medulla, the sale proceeds, we put into the Medulla Foundation and the idea of that is to basically help people at the bottom rung of that ladder. So part of that goes to folks who have ocular issues, like myself. Part of that goes to folks who want to go to pharmacy school but can't afford it but have the grades to do it. Part of that goes to folks in, you know, sex trafficking and other things, where we basically the idea is and my wife's a phenomenal supporter of this is to help people who have a will but they need the financial access to it. Um, so that's the Medulla Foundation.

Marc Bernstein: 17:31

I thought it was pretty much healthcare, but it really goes beyond that as well it does.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 17:34

It does, it goes out, it goes to a wide variety Um and the other. The next thing I did cause, like most entrepreneurs, you can't sit still Right, uh. So I created, uh, something called workshop strategy and the idea is literally, we're going to workshop an idea for you and then strategize how to make it come to life. And what I do now is I work with other entrepreneurs who either want to scale up in the pharmacy and healthcare world and or other folks who are having a rough time in business. So you know, right now is a rough economic situation in the country. So I work with certain founders who are really good people but might not have the best execution to do to get where they want to be. So my goal is to use all of my expertise and my life's work to give back, in a entrepreneurial and business way, the acumen that I've learned to help them succeed.

Marc Bernstein: 18:32

And they're. If they're struggling, how do they pay you? That's one of my questions. If they're having a hard time, this is a for-profit, I would assume.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 18:42

It is a for-profit. I'll be very honest. What I charge is very minimal and the reason is I'm not doing this to make money. I've made money and I'm okay with it. This is more. It's not charity. Obviously, my time is money, but I try to keep it as low as possible just to cover expenses and certain things. And the rest, honestly, it just feels good to help people out.

Marc Bernstein: 19:04

Can you have without names or anything? Do you have an example of a company you've been able to help that's benefited from Workshop's strategy?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 19:12

Yeah, yeah, there's a pharmacy I was working with. It was actually 15 years old, it was doing okay and it's served a lot of patients, but unfortunately, for a long time it didn't have any profits and the owners were thinking about selling the company. But when you sell the company, you let go of all the people that work and 20 people and 20 families are gone. So I went in. We completely redid the CEO structures. We incentivize all the employees, like we did with Banks Apothecary, to make sure that they have skin in the game. And you know, we got rid of like the bad actors. We made the company profitable and let's just you know it went from making no profit to now over a million dollars a year Wow. So they're very happy and it's not just about the million a year that the partners and employees are making, but it's about the 20 lives that are now still employed.

Marc Bernstein: 20:09

How long did it take you to do that with this company?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 20:12

I started that project in April of 2023, and I finished it in December of 2023. So it took about eight months.

Marc Bernstein: 20:20

Wow, that says something. We have a little commercial for Workshop Strategy. That was just played on the show, so people will know how to get in touch with you if they're interested. I'm here to help.

Marc Bernstein: 20:32

Yeah it's great. So let's talk about your future, because you're obviously a future-looking guy. And if this were three years from today, Sam? So we're talking about the end of March of 2028, and you and I are together and you're telling me about your life. What would that conversation look like for that to have been a successful period of time in your life and or your business and or your foundation?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 20:59

I think we both can separate that, professionally and personally. I have a three-year-old and a three-month-old, so hopefully in three years they're both going to be sleeping properly through the night and they'll be healthy happy children.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 21:13

I just want to have healthy, happy kids, because I've faced a lot of medical adversity in my life. So for them to just be healthy is a big deal to me. Professionally in three years and my wife's happy with me to be home enough I want to start my next company and just get on the road and maybe redo the same thing, but healthcare is what I know. So hopefully in three years from now I'll be starting my next healthcare company.

Marc Bernstein: 21:39

Why three years? Just let the kids grow up a little bit first. Is that the idea? The idea is well, there's a couple of things.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 21:45

You know I have a non-compete right now, so I'm not going to. I'm going to honor that. That's a good reason. Yeah, I want to respect that. I also want to spend time with my kids and I know that this time, as everybody says, we'll never come back. So I get my fulfillment right now from the children when they're not crying, and from my non-profit and from workshop strategy. So I think I have more gas in that engine before I move on.

Marc Bernstein: 22:14

And what do you see happening with the foundation over the next three years?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 22:19

The idea of the foundation. You know right now it's a self-funded foundation, so everything, every dollar that's been given, is from me. The idea is to expand it and hopefully get other entrepreneurs or philanthropists to buy in. But regardless of anything, the idea is to continuously grow that foundation and help more people that are in need. So it's not about a company like where I want to double in size or triple in size. But as long as we are still constantly helping people with the finances that we have to make a difference, then I'm happy. There's no end goal to that. That's great.

Marc Bernstein: 22:53

I'm going to give a little plug right now for the Sattel Institute. You and I spoke about it last night and so I'm going to get you there at our next CEO conference to help you introduce your foundation. Other CEOs and that kind of thing. David, I'll mention that to you as well. Yes, because I know you're community oriented.

Marc Bernstein: 23:10

This is an organization in Philadelphia that was created by a guy named Ed Sattel, a successful entrepreneur that I've known actually for 50 years now, and he decided to put a lot of his resources into this thing. So there's no dues to join. You just have to make a commitment to support one charity over a four year period and you're a member. And then they have these things where you get together and discuss a lot of thoughtful sessions on how to best do philanthropy from the organization's point of view, the nonprofit, and then how businesses can create corporate social responsibility within their businesses and that kind of thing. So it's a very and they generally get about 400 people to these things and it's not really publicized.

Marc Bernstein: 23:52

Now I'm doing it on the radio. I probably shouldn't even be, it's all word of mouth, but people can contact me from from the podcast that they like if they're interested in it, but I see it's a great place to really, you know, connect with others and and figure out the best ways to achieve what you're trying to do in that area I think that's really great because you know, as a philanthropist and as having a foundation, it's hard to find like-minded people and learn and see what other folks are doing correctly or incorrectly and you know, keep kind of going.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 24:22

So there's a lot of entrepreneur groups, but I don't know a lot of philanthropy groups and there might be, but I just don't know.

Marc Bernstein: 24:27

And you have my word, I'll be there there's a Ed Sattel's expression is think we not just me which you know means that you know it's all about the communities that we live in and what we can give back and all that kind of thing, and it's so prevalent there. It's just nice to be around. You know hundreds of people that think the same way. It's pretty amazing. So you've created already a legacy, but what are your thoughts about your legacy, Sam?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 24:58

Again, that's a very loaded question.

Marc Bernstein: 25:00

I like loaded questions I can see that.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 25:04

My legacy. What I want is again the first and most important part is to raise good, honorable and healthy children that will hopefully give me grandkids one day. I hope they'll listen to this right now, in a couple of years, and say, hey, I want grandkids eventually.

Marc Bernstein: 25:20

Me too Put my plug in.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 25:23

But my legacy is hope to be again it might sound a little cliched, but to a role model, to not just my community but to folks around the country and say, hey if I could do it, other people can do it, and that's all I want. I don't need any name recognition or anything like that. I just want people to know right now, who are listening, who are stuck in the gutter, that I've been there and if I could do it, you could do it.

Marc Bernstein: 25:46

Are you open to public speaking in that regard? I know you're not seeking it, but are you open to that if it comes along?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 25:52

If it can help a hundred percent.

Marc Bernstein: 25:54

Great. And if you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 26:01

yourself. I think that's an easy question, because growing up I was actually very self-conscious and I was probably pretty insecure and I would literally tell my younger self you know, don't worry about what anybody else thinks and just keep doing what you think is right and what feels right in your gut. And that's a big thing that my wife has taught me and I think it's helped me really succeed. And so I would tell myself don't worry about what anyone else thinks, just do what feels right in your gut.

Marc Bernstein: 26:32

So I have to tell you that I I really that really resonates with me. That's one of the reasons I think you and I are connecting so well, because a lot of things you say it's like I'm speaking because I had I was, as a child, pretty introverted not a lot of self-confidence, that same kind of thing and and um and um. You know I think that's completely flipped on its head over time, but, um, my wife was also a big influence in regard to that as well, in terms of following your gut and following your instincts and just do it, you know, as which. I think you know you're lucky if you have that kind of support system in your life.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 27:09

I think you know that's. One of the beauties of marriage is if you find a good wife system in your life.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 27:13

I think you know that's one of the beauties of marriage is if you find a good wife, obviously don't let her go. And but also is she is like my rock. I know these things sound cliched, but I wouldn't be here without her because she understand understood and understands my struggle and she's very confident and she makes sure that, like that confidence oozes off to me and she'll make sure that I always hold my you know head high up.

Marc Bernstein: 27:35

We married to the same woman.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 27:39

I hope not.

Marc Bernstein: 27:40

Anyway, listen, this has really been great. Do you have any closing thoughts before we? We have about 30 seconds left. Anything left?

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 27:48

you want to say. I just want to say, you know, like I said, we were talking about workshop strategy. If anybody there is looking for help, I'm here to help. If anybody wants to make a difference, a real philanthropic difference, where every dollar would go to an actual literal cause without any administration, feel free to reach out to me. Regarding the Medulla Foundation, and if someone just needs advice or just a mentor, you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm always here.

Marc Bernstein: 28:14

And usually I don't let people make plugs like that but because I know yours is all about doing good and helping others, I wanted to you have the opportunity to do that.

Sam Maddula Pharm.D: 28:23

So it's not a plug. I genuinely mean it.

Marc Bernstein: 28:27

So thanks for being here, Sam, it's been great. David Lopez, thanks for being in the studio again participating in the show, and thank you all for listening and we'll see you again next week on Founders Forum. Thank you.

Announcer: 28:47

Thanks. We hope you enjoyed your time with Founders Forum and that you found value to take with you throughout your day. Join us again next week for another episode of Founders Forum on WXKB 1039 HD2.