Can you HELP a One-Trick Pony?

By Michael J. Ilardo AKA Mike-the-Pharmacist

I will save you hours of reading. I am a one-trick pony – I know how to write. Need long winded material? That’s me. Need endless rabbit trails? ME. I have been a writer since 1st grade, when I wrote my first political poem – the famous “Ronnie Rap.” ‘Ronnie was in Hollywood, he worked with monkeys then. Now he is the President and works with them again.’ It is ironic that I wrote that before I knew that a gathering of baboons is called a Congress. And I can’t imagine the quality of 1st grade poems just after the first Presidential debate of 2020.

Here’s my quick story squashed down into a 2 minute version. I won’t rap it, but it might inspire someone to write a country song. It’s almost comical – especially because I wanted to go to school to be a writer and my Grandfather told me to go be a pharmacist because I’d always have a job. I was working in the Prison in 2006 after I got married, and after a change of management I was forced out in 2009. Found a job up the road at a Rite Aid as Pharmacist Manager because the manager there had to take a transfer after her mom got very sick, and after a change of management they fired me because I had my mom drop off a case of prescription labels from a Rite Aid by her because THEY forgot to send an emergency order. Yes, fired because my mom dropped off paper.

Then I found a job with CVS in early 2012 – but I had to wait for them to open and of course it took months longer than promised. It was 7 12 hour overnights in a row (and a week to recover and you almost felt normal just before starting your next week of overnights!) and we had young kids and one on the way and I couldn’t sleep when I was home and my wife couldn’t sleep when I was gone – and after my doctor wrote a note because I had double pneumonia and the shift was killing me, CVS banned me to part time and gave me 2 shifts in February and March.

The next October I was hired to help open an Independent pharmacy called Sav-Rite. They planned to open by February, which was fine because I was already broke at this point. Well, February turned into spring, and then summer, and finally they opened in November with a clear, bold vision to be highly successful – if had opened in the city of Buffalo. Instead we opened in the small town of Lackawanna in a dying plaza the week of Snowvember and had to close the rest of the week due to the storm. After a year of very low growth, we moved to…the small town of West Seneca in a dying plaza. It was growing slow but steady, had a great reputation, and after 2 years of me working 45 hours a week, my wife and I had our dream home built in Hamburg NY. A month after we moved in, the Pharmacy suddenly closed after 2 doctor clinics in the plaza we were in decided to pull out. They sold it to….RITE AID, which I was banned from working from.

It’s been 3 years since. I went the next week to a new Independent because the week Sav-Rite closed, our mutual drug distributors accidentally faxed their invoices to me and I learned there was a brand new pharmacy in town – (one neat thing is I see the hand of God leading me one step at a time – but ok, LORD, can we now just get to where you want me!!?) and brought 80% of their scripts to them, yet still after a few months they laid most of us off as they were low on funds. I saw a job post for K-Mart and contacted a friend from school and he connected me to the District manager, and soon I was working for 3 K-Marts part-time, but they all closed a few months after I was there. I called another friend from school and his intern was working and he just happened that at the other place he works they needed temporary help doing Medication Management Consult calls with Medicare patients at a call center. When that ended, I worked with a doctor friend I knew from Sav Rite doing addiction counseling and patient assessments but the Doctor had to take a medical leave and after 3 months I was done. I partnered with a guy making his own line of CBD cream and we were hammering out a deal for me to market it to the area physicians. He was 5 years younger than me, but tragically passed away from a Non-Covid illness just as COVID was hitting.

It’s not laugh or cry, exactly. But these circumstances have given me a story to hopefully one day inspire others. Maybe it will at the very least inspire new college students to never, ever go into Pharmacy school. Seriously though, the fire for writing as well as helping people with addictions has been what I can carry away. And all that at least gave me a direct opportunity to lead an addiction program and it was there I developed some core principals I can now teach others with.

And over the 3 years, I found a few small side businesses along the way that can fund this endeavor, and this is where you can come in. I have some that won’t cost you a dime. Some that you can make money on. Some where I need your referrals. I need help, and I don’t like asking for help, and I am not good at asking for help, and when I ask for help it doesn’t seem to be clear enough or loud enough – like when I write a blog asking for help but I put in 3 pages of filler before I even jump into the questions.

I told you, I am a one trick pony.

I now want to make a list of ways you can partner with me – my goal is to have 10 items to choose from. If you can help with one or more, that would be great. If you want to just send over your credit card or a blank check, operators are standing by. Don’t forget your 3 digit security code on the back or to sign the check. Thank you for your support.

Email me at MikethePharmacistCo@gmail.com or send me a message on Facebook Messenger if you want to help. THANKS!

1. Pre-order an E-book I will send. I have various titles and the material is written and just needs to be organized. Titles include, “HEALTH AND HUMOR”, “A Nation of Coke Addicts (and Pepsi)”, “Perilous Times”, “Repair your Roof when it’s sunny”, and the children’s book, “Lobster Tales.” This would be “Seed money” so how much you want to offer is up to you.

2. Purchase a shirt with the Ilardo Health Care logo or Mike-the-Pharmacist logo on it. You can order a custom shirt at Bonfire.com which I will supply the specific link once the design is complete.

3. If you live in an energy deregulated state (NY, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia) , I can provide you with a free review of your energy bill and if I can match or SAVE what you are paying now, would you be my customer? Who do you know in the energy business? I can manage your account and it will go to a good cause. That is a FREE way you can help. You can also take advantage of getting free energy yourself that would pay your bill month after month if you want to gather a handful of customers yourself. Check out https://iec.wekynect.com/ for info and to shop services where you can see rates – or send me a copy of your bill and I can do the heavy lifting for you. See https://iec.wekynect.com/ – And please send me your referrals!

4. Do you own a business that has a business energy or gas account? Do you know anyone who owns commercial properties, a warehouse, a factory, etc? I can save at times any commercial user 10-30% in DEREGULATED states like NY, OHIO, TEXAS, or PA. If it’s a business, just get in touch with me as I have to submit it for a review, and send me a copy of your gas and electric bills to MikethePharmacist@gmail.com. In a week or so I can let you know what I can do.

5. I have other services that are available in the US – Sprint cellular services ($35/ a line w/ 4 lines or $50/ line for one line) and soon will have Brinks Home Security. Check out my website at: https://iec.wekynect.com/

6. Would you download, use, and share a FREE App called TRUVVI that gives you cash back for using it at chain restaurants and chain stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and most of the stores you would find at a mall???? IF you want the app, send your cell number and I will send a link to you. The App is free, and you can earn referral money too by sharing it with friends, etc. You can always upgrade to for below advertised pricing on hotels, car rentals, etc. If you are planning a vacation or a family dinner out at Red Robin or Longhorn, or have to buy a new fridge at Lowe’s or Home Depot, Check out Truvvi at https://iec.wekynect.com/services – This app even let’s you DOUBLE-Dip with your reward cash back credit cards and store loyalty programs.

7. I am an affiliate for offering discount essential oils that are on par with the quality oils you can buy online – check out the site and use my coupon code so I get a small commission and you get a 10% savings. They offer HUGE savings compared to companies like Duterra and Youngliving. COUPON CODE MIKERPH10 and check out the link at https://www.revive-eo.com/shop/

8. I am also an affiliate with a local DME and CBD company – they have PPE from head to toe, personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, disinfectant wipes, goggles, surgical gowns, rapid COVID antibody tests, and more. If you can share this link with medical people that would be great — https://www.doctorsotc.com/#MJI – and I can email anyone their 30 page + PPE catelog. Their CBD is medical grade and they offer a free affiliate so a doctor’s office etc can earn some commission to sign up under my affiliate link. https://www.doctorsotc.com/#MJI

9. Have any contacts with any medical offices, automotive, dentists, Pharmacies, repair services, or vets? I have contact-less credit card processing machines I can get you usually for free and cloud based payment processing and more. See www.PayJunction.com — if interested in seeing if I can help, get a hold of me and I can schedule a Demo.

10. Do you know anyone who plans on going on a vacation cruise? I have a friend in Utah who helps people earn cruise dollars for vacations. You pay $100/ month as a member and they give you $100/ month. And you can save up Cruise dollars and buy real cruises on any major cruise line and if the cruise is running a deal, you get to use the money they gave you. You can also upgrade and with 5 referrals you get $200 a month in Cruise dollars every month and you pay nothing after your initial fee. Know someone that cruises every year? Let me know and I can help them.

Thank you for your support!!!!!!

Mike-the-Pharmacist