Erica Dupree

Patient-focused. Professional. Composed.

Current Employer & Job Title: Kinney Drugs, Pharmacist

Age: 41

Hometown: Cadyville, NY

Education: Albany College of Pharmacy

Erica is all about small town life and neighbors helping neighbors, viewing her time behind the counter as a chance to make life a little easier for her community. Whether it’s on the sports fields with her kids or in the pharmacy, all Erica wants to know is how she can help.

In three words, how would others describe your personal brand—and where do those traits show up most in your work?

Patient-focused, Professional, Composed

I’d like to think that those traits show up in every facet of my work. I strive to treat each patient that comes to the pharmacy with dignity, respect, and individualized attention. I try to maintain a friendly, yet professional demeanor, and always maintain my composure in what can be an extremely high paced, hectic field of work.

What aspect of your organization’s culture do you protect or promote most fiercely—and how have you influenced it?

My focus is to promote and protect the professional practice of pharmacy.  I am doing this by emphasizing a community-centric approach in which I prioritize developing relationships with my patients. I also encourage my staff to come to work each day with a similar attitude. I find it extremely rewarding to leave work each day knowing I have made a positive impact on someone’s life and well-being.

Where do you invest your time outside of work, and what motivates your commitment to those efforts?

I am currently investing my time outside of work on raising my family.  I have also started giving back to our community by coaching youth sports. I find it truly rewarding watching my children as well as the players I coach, grow and flourish in their own endeavors.

Who has most influenced your leadership style—and what specific lesson from them still shapes how you lead today?

My leadership style was most influenced by seeing how I did not want to lead.  I lead by example, where I will never ask my staff to do any task I will not complete myself.  I also encourage my staff to be empathetic and caring.

Where are you making your greatest impact right now—in your organization, industry, or community—and how do you measure it?

I believe my greatest impact currently is on our community. I prefer to call myself a community pharmacist, rather than retail pharmacist.  Community pharmacists are accessible to the public when their doctor’s offices are closed and they need advice on medications and health issues, to give vaccines as a walk in and help with chronic disease management. I thoroughly enjoy making relationships with patients,  helping pick out over the counter medications as well as help find cost saving alternatives, both prescription and over the counter. 

What’s something about you that would surprise people—and what does it reveal about how you think or operate?

A surprising thing about me is that when I have my white coat on I am very outgoing, but outside of work I am more reserved and introverted.

What is the biggest professional or personal risk you’ve taken—and would you make the same decision again? Why or why not?

Stepping down from being a supervising pharmacist to a staff pharmacist in order to make more time to be with my family.

The North Country’s “Gen IQ” reflects how well we lead, market to, and innovate across generations. Where are we getting it right—and where do we need to evolve?

I would like to see more career days in schools and local colleges. The North Country has a lot of unique employment opportunities that many students may not know about.  I also would like to see more internship opportunities with local professions and vocations.

What’s one idea, belief, or change you hope to see shape the future of leadership in our region?

In a time of great division nationally, I’d like to see local leaders step forward and seek to compromise and collaborate with one another for the common good of our community.