Ellen Yankellow did not want to be a teacher or a nurse.
She had skills in math and science and decided a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Maryland would be a good option.
“It wasn?t actually a calling,” she said. “It just seemed logical.”
Thirty years and a doctorate from U.Md. School of Pharmacy later, Yankellow arguably found her calling as an entrepreneur. She co-founded Correct Rx Pharmacy in 2003, a Maryland-based company that provides pharmacy services to large institutions like correctional facilities and elder care facilities.
“We are what you call a small giant,” she said of her about 100-person company. “We believe that what we do and how well we do it actually matters.”
Correct Rx helps its clients manage the drug therapy process with a focus on accuracy and customer service, Yankellow said.
“She has become quite the entrepreneur and has turned into a real success as far as aiming to improve the way that patients access drug therapy,” said Dean David Knapp at U.Md.?s School of Pharmacy.
Yankellow says helping other women in the field is the most rewarding element of being a Chief Executive Officer.
“As a woman CEO, my ability to mentor and bring along other young women and provide opportunities to them for growth has been valuable,” she said.
Did Yankellow see herself as a successful and accomplished CEO and business owner?
“I have always treated every company I ever worked for as though I owned it,” she said. “Now I realize I didn?t really understand the obligation and the great honor it is to be a CEO,” she said.
Like other CEOs, Yankellow has those 2 a.m. wake-up calls that remind her of the responsibility she has to her employees and clients.
“My largest fear is, of course, that it all disappears and I?ll have to start all over again,” she said. “But if you don?t have that fear, then you probably aren?t on top of your business.”
