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From Pharmacist to Diabetes Coach: How Improv Changed Everything with Cory Jenks · Better Together

• Shawn Sundsvold: Welcome back to the Better Together Podcast. I'm Sean Sunsvold along with Kelly Sunsvold, my wife, my co-host, and my business partner. Today's guest checked every box: perfect grades, a pharmacy residency, board certifications, the whole script that society hands you for making it. Two years into his career as a licensed pharmacist, he woke up one day and realized he was miserable. So Corey Jenks did something a pharmacist doesn't usually do. He signed up for an improv comedy class. And there's two words that now changed everything for him. Yes and. That class turned into a second career speaking and teaching improv to healthcare professionals, two published books, and a completely different way of seeing his own profession. And last October, Corey left his pharmacy practice for good. He and a business partner started a diabetes coaching business, helping people get healthier and off their medications using everything he learned about connection adaptability and breaking out of what he calls the walls of convention. So this is going to be exciting conversation. Corey, welcome to the show. Cory Jenks: Thanks for having me. My ego is huge. I feel really good about myself with that intro. Let's hop in. Shawn Sundsvold: That'll be fun. I'm glad to give you a moment to let that that head swell just a little bit. So for our audience and those just meeting you, how do you actually describe what you do these days? Cory Jenks: So what I would describe myself these days is I I'm a diabetes coach and and podcast host. So I have up my own podcast along with my my partner and co-host, the Diabetes Enriched and Roadmap. And what we do is we provide education to people with type two diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, maybe overweight, on how they can take steps that are simple and actionable to lower their blood sugar, reduce their need for medications, and just overall live a stronger, healthier life. So that's the education we provide on our podcast, on our YouTube channel, on our social medias. And then the coaching side of it is what I mean, the education actually of the two of us, I love the education piece the most and getting on a podcast because I'm the professional speaker. So I actually like that part a lot. And Brian likes it too. But the coaching side of it's really fun too, because it's where we get in the trenches with our clients, help them shift the identity from someone who's sick and dependent on the healthcare system, who've been told that I'll call it the lie that they are going to be on medications for life, that they're going to be sick for life, and over the course of several months, shift them to a stronger, healthier version of themselves that has better blood sugar, needs less medications, and doing it in a way that is conducive with real life and sustainable versus some, you know, crazy like, here's your 30-day challenge. Like, okay, and then life will happen and you'll get off your challenge. Like this is a program we developed based on our years of experience, seeing what works, seeing what doesn't, and really Beyond the nuts and bolts of how you eat and move your body, which I think is outside the conventions of what you're being taught in the regular healthcare system, it's that ident the identity shift, to to get there. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, and right now with all the the new GLP ones and just the this the growth in di people getting diagnosed with diabetes over the last f you know, number of years, this is a really big topic right now. Cory Jenks: Yeah, and it's unfortunately it's a big topic. And we could talk to GLP ones are very popular. med if you're unfamiliar with the GLP one, it's a peptide medication like Ozempic or Monjaro. there's more coming down the way. And I want to just kind of like say that of the tools, medication tools we've had, one of the best tools we've up we've ever had. So if you're listening, you're like, Corey thinks I'm a bad person because I take a medicine. I do not. they're they're useful. But the reality is I and I Think the statistic is close to right, but half of Americans adults have either prediabetes or diabetes. So this affects one in two people walk down the street, look in a look in a store, drive your car around. Half of everyone is, for lack of a better word, sick. And it's diabetes, it's unfortunately or fortunately, it doesn't hurt until it hurts. So you go to the doctor, you see some labs that are like bad, you're like, well, I don't really feel. anything hurts, maybe I'm tired, I'm run down, I don't have the energy I used to have. I have some weight I want to lose. And then it it hurts because now you have diabetes, you have neuropathy, you literally hurt, you have heart heart complications, kidney complications. And now it's a lifetime of slow, miserable decline. because it'll shorten your life, but it'll shorten your health span as well. And this is, I think, really the impetus for leaving my practice last year was what can I do to to stop this really like It's like this slow motion tragedy. And we just throw our hands up, like, I guess there's nothing we could do about it. We guys just gotta take medicines and hope for the best. Like, no, there's ways to do it. It's not always easy. But and when you have seven minutes with your doctor, what are you gonna do? Like, there there's only so much that your doctor can do. It's not like your doctor went to med school to say Sunday, I will not help people. Like, no, we're we're all sort of trapped in this hamster wheel of the of the of the regular healthcare system. So What can we do? And what we decided to do was to create the education from our podcast and to create a program where people can come into it and come out of it stronger, healthier, and better than what they've had experience with their doctors. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, that's that's a that's I mean, I think raising awareness and I something that stood out to me that you just said was like one and two. You know, Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Kelly Sundsvold: both of our fathers both had di type two diabetes and you know, like I know it's just super prevalent and I'm glad that you're raising awareness for that. so in our intro we talked about how you checked every box earlier in your career, your grades, your residency, your board certifications, and you still ended up with some job dissatisfaction. what was that like what was that like realizing that success on paper wasn't actually working? Cory Jenks: I'm not gonna say it was the greatest disappointment of my life. It might be that my parent my grandfather made me a Cubs fan. That might be the biggest disappointment of my life. But it w it's like you spend, I mean, I in junior year of high school, I chose the path of pharmacy. At 16 years old, I'm gonna be a pharmacist. And eight years later, I graduated with my pharma D, had a great year of residency, I which is an intensive year of training, and most people don't know pharmacists can do residency. So you learn something. but it was actually a lot of fun. I had a great classic of people with me, and then you start practicing for real, and you're like, This is what the real life is like. This is being an adult. It's being told where to go and what to do. And sometimes you're told the job will be this and it's that. And sometimes you start a job and three people go out on maternity leave and you're doing the job of four people. And the reality is when you're still new to something, you're still trying to learn it and now you're overwhelmed with something. And so it was I don't know, disappointing, terrifying. I remember Googling like, Physician assistant school. Maybe I should go to school to so I could prescribe. Maybe I sh to be a pr like a like a to be able to do more. I I was already looking to escape within months of starting my practice. And s to to like have that identity shattered. Like from sixteen years old, hey world, I'm gonna be a pharmacist. I'm getting good grades. I'm doing the residency. I'm at the top of my class. I'm doing all the clubs. I'm Mr. Pharmacy. And now I've graduated. I'm Doctor Pharmacy. I don't like this that much. was was a huge reality check. so like the and I we might get into like you mentioned in the intro, like I a big piece of it was I had this clinical knowledge and I didn't have the great disability to adapt and communicate. pharmacists aren't known for that. So when I started actually taking an improv class, and we can talk more about that is I learned to communicate, to be comfortable with uncertainty. And that shifted a lot of the a lot of the dissatisfaction I had at the time. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, and I I'm curious to hear a little bit more on that because, you mentioned it there, you you've got all the things, you've spent your a significant portion of your life, doing the pharmacy thing and all of a sudden you're there going, I really don't like this. Like what was that moment like and what did you try to do bef to fix it before you got into the the improv side of things? Cory Jenks: I I I said, you know what worked in the past was going to school and learning stuff. So I got a board certification. So I was like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna throw myself into studying stuff. That's what I'm lacking. I don't know enough stuff. I need to know more stuff. So I got a a board certification, which was cool. it really like, I mean, it in pharmacy like it they're really ubiquitous now, but it was cool at the time, which ironically turned to another layer of dissatisfaction when you realize you have to do tons of hours of be Continue my education to keep it, which is like a lot of money and time. which was before kids, I had more of both of those things. But so like I I I tried to do the conventional thing. Like, if I'm not liking this and I'm not feeling good at this, I need to learn more about the the science behind it. Because clearly, six years of school and a year of intensive training, that wasn't enough. I need to learn more from this book. So I dove into that. And it was like I I passed the test, so that was another one of those moments of. I checked the box, right? I passed the test. I got an A in that game of life. And the truth was there was clearly something that I was skills that I was lacking, like soft skills that I needed to learn. and then once I learned those, like I want to get ahead of it, but like things got much better. And then you start doing this for a while, and you go from just trying to like make it to tolerate it to being good at it, to then, this layer of what I'm doing with my work is it actually helped? Shawn Sundsvold: Hmm. Yeah, so let's talk that kind of that next step then of the improv class. You know, you've said Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Shawn Sundsvold: it before, like, you know, how it really did change your life and it it ch gave you a whole different different perspective. What was the moment you said, I'm just gonna do this and talk about what it how it changed you? Cory Jenks: Yeah, so I'll take it back to to college. the first couple of weeks we were you're orient going through orientation and there's all these clubs and things. And there was an improv group there. And I I'd always loved comedy. I memorized like every Simpsons episode, every SNL episode. You know, I loved laughing, I loved that side of it. When saw this improv group, I like, This is amazing. That would be so much fun. Too bad I don't have time for it because I have to be a good student. So I just ignored that little little piece of me that wanted to do it. And so when I finished residency and started working and finished my board certification. I had time and my now wife, then girlfriend, first birthday as a couple, like, what do you want? It's like, you know, I've always liked improv, but I've also kind of wanted to learn to play guitar. And so clearly I'm here because I am still bad at guitar and took the the improv class because it was just it was something to try, something new, something, dare I say fun. I finally allowed myself to try something fun. And it just like immediately spoke to me. and it Clearly awoken a piece of my right brain that had been just dormant and collecting cobwebs and allowed me to, and what I tell people when I'm teaching this to other healthcare professionals is it allows you to go to a space to try and fail at stuff and have no consequences other than someone doesn't laugh. Like for from you know 16 on, everything I did was it's judged, it's a grade, I'm aiming for this this thing. And obviously you're practicing, you want to be perfect with what you're doing. So the stakes are always high. You're afraid to take chances. You're afraid to look foolish or silly, do anything outside the the confines of what a professional is supposed to do. So improv the moment where I could go there and just I'm gonna go play for two and a half hours. And there's and if if I mess up, there you just don't mess up. You just keep going until you find something that doesn't mess up. so that was like a huge freeing moment. And then I took a class and another class and it was a new theater here in Tucson. So the guy that had started was like, Hey, you've been through a couple of classes, you wanna perform? I was like, This is a amazing. I'll do that. And the more I performed and I started teaching it, I always loved teaching, so I got to teach it. I started realizing like improv became a part of my personality. It helped to relax me in patient situations. And so what used to like scare me in pharmacy became a fun game of it's an improv scene. And I know the knowledge. And now I'm just playing with this person in front of me. They don't know they're in an improv scene. and so it just allows you to create that connection. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, and I'm sure there's a lot of roll with things instead of freaking out. but you also describe yourself as like a deeply left brained someone who loves rules and structure and I would imagine in pharmacy it can't be like, it's about 20 pills, you know. So it's a real contradiction. or is it not? Is did improv actually give your left brain like kind of a different set rules to hold on to? Cory Jenks: This is something that surprises a lot of people, but improv has rules. And so w improv is like to be good at it, you don't have to be funny inherently. I'm living proof of that. it really is about getting some certain rules. Like this idea of yes and is basic. We agree, we build together. Okay. You say a line, yeah. And one, two, three, we f we go along with that. We don't ask questions. Cause if I ask you a question, what are you wearing today? You must create everything on the spot. But if I say, that's a crazy Polka dot dress, all right, yeah, I have a polka dot dress and I have, bubblegum hat, whatever. That's a crit that's a wild thing to go to go to. But so it gave there there is structure to improv. There are rules, and I think that really spoke to the logical side of my brain. But within those rules, you can play and anything can happen. It's it's the same reason we watch football. we were recording this right after the first full Sunday of NFL football or baseball or anything. there's four quarters, there's 15 minutes in a quarter, there's four downs, and every game is different. Because within those Shawn Sundsvold: Mm-hmm. Cory Jenks: rules, anything can happen. And that's an improv scene. It's within these rules that you're trying to follow, the whole world can open up. But it is for for a pharmacist, there's lots of rules. I work for the federal government. There's like double rules working for them. So within these rules, anything can happen in a patient interaction. I get 15 minutes. Okay, I have to do these things. I have to follow these rules, but no two interactions were ever the same. And so learning to roll with with the the unknown, but also having the structure within it, it it meshed those two worlds together and has allowed me to practice more effectively. And now today as I coach clients or get on stage and speak or do a workshop of for a an improv workshop, like I have these rules, I have this time I have to to do things, but the world is like, it's unknown and we can just step into that. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, I'm curious, you know, as you're as you do your speaking engagements and you know, you're you do it a lot for healthcare professionals, how do you bring that into that for them and kinda and and teach them how to have some of that open framework a little bit or that ability to roll with things that they may not be used to in their current field? Cory Jenks: He is making them feel really safe and comfortable. Especially so pharmacists, especially nurses, my I'm married to a nurse. I can this. Nurses are crazy and fun. They're like, we're up for anything. Let's park. Like they're they're the ones with the bedside manner. So they inherently are kind of like used to being at the bedside, what's going on. So, you know, crazy stuff happens. Like crazy stuff happens with pharmacists too, but we're a lot more rigid and introverted as a as a profession. So it really is emphasizing that we're gonna do this in a place. Remember, there's no wrong answers. Nothing bad can happen. the worst thing that happens is we don't laugh. All right. No one's gonna no, no one's gonna get sick or die if we air quote mess up. And our goal here is to push our limits a little bit so that we learn because we've been so conditioned out of learning and trying new things and getting things wrong that it's like who wants to volunteer? no hands go up. It's like, all right, well, I will go and do this with you. So I'll demonstrate, I'll show, I'll and part of the fun is sort of buttoning every little activity that we do, like say a little thing. Funny thing at the end. So even if what they did was mediocre for from a experienced person's perspective, like we all get a laugh at the end. We feel good. it feels good. release. All right. The next person's willing to do that. So making people feel comfortable, safe, and then explaining the why. Like pharmacists want to know the logic behind it. Like there's science behind play. It helps neuroplasticity. It's gonna help you be less anxious. Do you wanna be better at your job? Good. It's gonna help you be better at your job. Okay, there's an outcome to this. And that's just the language that we speak. So that's how I kinda get people more relaxed and involved and and bought into the concept. Which is it admittedly, when I pitched the idea to to organizations, they're just like, improv, why? What you're a pharmacist, huh? and that's the nicest way people react. So Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, I can imagine. so last October, so we're almost at a year, you actually left your practice. Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Kelly Sundsvold: you know, we have a lot of entrepreneurs that listen to this podcast. What did Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Kelly Sundsvold: the first month actually feel like? And like tell us the nitty gritty, the good, the bad, the terrifying. What was going through your brain? Cory Jenks: so for f it was like, what am I doing? like it actually felt because I had I had gone I had I'd been working part-time. So I sort of like stepped and like think of you know, I do I do smoking cessation, step down on the nicotine patches. I kind of stepped down on the full-time work. So I'd been part-time for three years and had realized like where I was was kind of like, that's this this is what it's gonna be. So stepping away, I think the hardest part was the structure was gone. Yeah, I was going two to three days of work, but that was gone. Yeah, the work people wouldn't show up, or I had no shows, or this they wouldn't get they would I would try to get them better. You deal with the same kind of gr frustrations with any company that anyone that works for anyone deals with. And that even though it was uncomfortable and I didn't like it, it was gone. It's like, it's it's it's Monday and I'm just home. And I Think I know what to work on, but is this what I'm supposed to be working on? So the la the loss of structure for me, it like when I tell people how my brain works and what I was pharmacist and what I do now, they're like, I don't know if that's really your personality. I'm like, it's not. It's very uncomfortable. I think a lack of identity and purpose kind of went along with it. Like this identity I'd wrapped up with for I graduated in 2011, so 14 years of, you know. You can't pharmacy school 17, 18 years of this thing that I was working on or towards was sort of gone. and that's right, then you're wrapped into like, I was helping provide for my family, and now I'm building a business that has an income of zero at this point. So I'm not providing from a financial standpoint. And I think that was really hard for me when I was like, Hey hun, I'm gonna go to the store. I need a new pair of running shoes. You cool with that? Like, because she my wife continues to work full-time, she's in a job she enjoys and we planned for this, probably nine months in advance. We sat down, talked through the finances. this wasn't a rash decision. She's on board, she's got my back. we're not it wasn't like if you don't figure this out in the first month, we're on the street. no, no, we we didn't like I think you can take a risk without being reckless, which is what we did. It was pharmacist making a calculated risk shocker. But yeah, it was nebulous and unknown, and I felt obligated to be working on something when in reality, like I probably should have just like done nothing for. Weeks. I've been doing something between kids and work, and but I just wanted to throw myself into doing something. So I've always found myself trying to be like, I'm on my computer, am I being productive? Am I doing something? And if I could go back and tell myself anything, it would be, it's gonna take some time to figure out what you need to work on. So have grace with yourself. Know that like the normal root of this is going to be frustration, sort of like grasping in the dark. Working with my business partner, trying to figure out what what I'm doing. but yeah, it was like the structure was the lack of structure was probably is still the hardest thing of, what's what's the lever I'm supposed to pull today. So Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, I think I think too, like, we get caught up in do do do, you know, like if you're not if you're at your job and someone's paying your salary and you're just sitting on your hands, like you could be perceived as lazy or not doing your job or something like that, you know? And I think in that hustle mentality, it is really hard when you're making that shift. And it is an important thing to think underscore what you just said. Like it's okay to take a break. It's okay to take some time to think or to To deprogram yourself. Entrepreneurship is isn't obviously not for everyone. And, you know, it's a whole meme where, I quit my 95 job so I could work 247. You know, and like Sean and I have definitely gone through periods of it. But like what I find too is, you know, I had a ton of client work to do, design work, and my son on Sunday wanted to watch a movie. And I was like, you know what? Designing t-shirts and watching a movie is two great things that go together. So I was able to watch that movie be there for them, but also kind of art in the background. And Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Kelly Sundsvold: those are things that, like, you know, yeah, I'm not working a nine to five, but I am still doing that work too. And so what are other ways that entrepreneurship has really changed your mindset, changed your life? and where you're thinking about things just really different from that nine to five. grind. Cory Jenks: I'm really selfish with my time now. I I like I have time for to do things that I want to do. And of course when our kids are up at 5 30 in the morning and up till nine at night, that that's irrelevant. But like during the day, like if someone wants to have a meeting or like even like my parents got went through moving, they're like, What can you help us out with? I'm like, Can I buy, can I pay for a mover or can I pay for someone to do that? Like, I will help you in as many ways as I can, but once you start getting a taste of owning your time, man, it's hard to give up. and understanding that with with that time you you wanna do the best you can with it. And for me, like when I see my wife working, if I'm home on a day she's working and I'm my kids are all the kids are at school, like if if I want to engage in a hobby, I feel really guilty. I I feel like I look through the lens of like, you're working, and I'm kinda like, but like to to your point, like one of the best days I've had since I left my job was back in May. I went and like I volunteer at my kids' school a lot, I coach all their sports teams. And the parents are like, Well, how do you go to like I go to before school, I go help with my kids flag football team. They're like, How do you do that? I'm like, Well, I work for myself. So when I want to work, I work. And when I wanna plan and organize, and it allows me to contribute, we talk about financially, I'm not there where I wanna be, but I'm helping all of these kids. I'm being a part of my community. it there's all these other benefits that are non-monetary that I I hope someday my kids look back and be wow, dad did a lot. And If they don't, it's Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. Cory Jenks: fine, it's beyond my control. But I get a lot of value out of being able to contribute my other talents and experiences. which I was talking to my wife the other day, at the point where our business is where we want it to be, like, I'll be doing that without having to work 40 hours a week. Like I'm building this like this summer. I took a trip with just my sons to go visit my business partner and his kids because we had to do something in person. It was just like when it's like four days, like, okay, like I didn't have to take PTO, I didn't have to get it clear with the boss, like. I just took them with me, had a great experience, did work while I was there. it's like working for the federal government and in in like professional pharmacy for so long, like you and and I'm still like baby eyes to entrepreneurship, like you can just choose not to work, or you can choose to work more, and that's Shawn Sundsvold: Mm-hmm. Cory Jenks: okay, versus like this box you're kind of put in of like, well, you go to work 40 hours a week, you clock in, you clock out, and that's what you do. Like, or you don't have to. And Like you say, entrepreneurship is not for everyone. I've certainly questioned if it's for me, but for now, like the season of life we're in, we have the opportunity to let me try this. And it's allowed me to be more present with my kids. I'm happier. Like the when I went from full to part-time, my wife was like, You're a lot happier and more patient with the kids. Like, well, that's worth it. And now I, you know, as parents, you tell your kids, have a dream, follow it. You don't tell them, have a dream, follow it. And if you hate it, you have to keep following. I wanna show my kids, if you wanna go do something, go do it. I'm trying it. And it's not gonna be perfect along the way. And that's as a perfectionist pharmacist, that's been probably a really hard piece too. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah, I And I thank you for sharing all of that and as you're as you're doing that I'm just thinking about like our last four years. 'Cause I I spent twenty plus years in corporate, you know, Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Shawn Sundsvold: and doing all of that. And, you know, the the last four years as we've you know, we've both been full time in this business, the amount of time that I've gotten to spend, you know, more time with my kids, more being able to be at more of their events and you know, being able to like last year or two years ago, my son was in re one of my sons was in wrestling and And he I was able to go to almost every event that, and and meet that he had and be there to support. So so many things there and, you know, just kind of resonating in that it making that jump and being able to get more time and being happier while doing it. you know, one of the things that you did as as part of your journey here is you wrote a book, you know, and and and in that book you you s you somehow tied together parenting and pharmacy. So tell us more about that. Cory Jenks: Yeah, so yeah, it's a c a couple of books. So I I have a book that's permission to care, building a healthcare culture that thrives in chaos. And that's healthcare related and improv mashed together. So how can it it's designed for practitioners and leaders in healthcare to build a culture that helps helps you thrive in chaos because healthcare is pure chaos. And speaking of pure chaos, so is parenting. So it's it was like I don't know, like the you you make these choices. I was at the park on a Thursday with my kids, which I would not normally have been able to do. I was part-time. So I was the only dad there at the park with with their kids ever in which is fine, it doesn't always work out that way. And I saw these parents on their phones and I was like, golly, you're at the park with your kids and you're just on your phone? And it's like, I gotta get my phone out and write this observation down. So I ironically, like I had a joke about it, like, well, if I'm doing this and I make an observation and someday someone reads this and doesn't put their phone down and they'll I have failed. Like, so I ceded the idea of a book, Called I Guess I'm a Dad now, a humorous handbook for newish dads who don't want to suck. So that's more like the humor, the comedy side and the and the fatherhood side mashed together. And it's really designed as a handbook for new dads. And I wrote it when my kid was the oldest was five, so five and under. If you have a seven-year-old, this might not be relevant, but five year five and under of sort of looking back, it was almost like a journal of my experiences being a new dad, what worked, what didn't, what I wish I did differently. And it's wrapped up in a comedy. shell so that dads that don't want to read and don't like reading will actually want to read it 'cause it's funny and I make fun of myself a lot in it. So it's it's designed to just I don't know, it's the book I wish I would have had to have like some basic big picture ideas of what fatherhood can be like to help me have better expectations of what it is. And then like when I go on a road trip, what do really need to bring? if I'm playing on a plane, don't forget to bring like gallon Ziploc bags so when your kid pukes, you have somewhere to put it. lesson learned. the hard way. So Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, that's a that's a good idea. yeah, and that and it's a fun collab too. I think it pulls from both sides of, you know, what you've experienced in your job. and you know, our kids are adults now and well mostly they're seventeen through twenty five. and it's you know, we just always encourage we're like, try all the things 'cause you're you're you're going to y you were just starting in life and you haven't had a lot of experiences. just go try all the things and see what what happens. Try improv, try, you know, college, whatever you want to do. so on the entrepreneur side, so like you're none of your family were entrepreneurs necessarily on paper. So like your parents were teachers, your grandfather tinkered and sold things during the depression. So looking back, do you think that Those experiences shaped you more than you realized. Cory Jenks: Yeah, I saw my my parents were teachers, so very standard jobs. And then my my father would teach swim lessons. So he kinda had before side hustles were a side hustle, he would teach swim lessons and my grandfather was a tinkerer. He would literally come out he'd lived in upstate New York and then s and the winters would come out to escape it, stayed in an apartment complex and we'd go for walks and he would pull out vacuum cleaners and fix them and sell them in the newspaper. So like not a typical like I'm starting my own business and my dad would like he did swim lessons through like another Like a another pool. So he would, they would advertise and everything for him. But the idea of, he would say things like, we're taking our vacation this year because I did swim lessons. Or grandpa would say, Well, we're going out to dinner because I sold that vacuum. these little things were the Jenks men just like to stay active and busy. And so for me, it was I also saw my other grandfather, my mom's dad, was a lawyer and hated it. But it was a the lifestyle that the family wanted. So we just did it. And he was like, Literally from as soon as I went to college to like his deathbed was like, Corey, just be happy. Choose something that makes you happy. If it means being a mailman. And I was like, I don't know what you have against the postal service, but whatever. Like nothing against the our male carriers. That was just what he used. But so he was very into like, just pick something that you'll enjoy. And I was I picked pharmacy 'cause it was practical, quite honestly. And so I got to we got to a point where like, I can take some chances. And it would be sort of an insult to To him and to anyone else who is in a job that they wish they weren't in, to not take that leap. And so and I also think working personally working for the federal system and seeing people hang on to their jobs to get the pension, to get the healthcare, which is are perfectly reasonable, sound choices. Like I don't want to take away from anyone who, you know, maybe life circumstances were such, like they had to do this. But there are certainly people I worked with that were like, you know, I could retire, but you know, I want to have that pension be even bigger by three more years. I'm like, I don't know, you're you're getting older. how many people work to that point and then get sick and something happens? So to me it was seeing people stuck in a job, miserable, unhappy, but not leaving because it was the golden handcuffs and then the pensions, the golden parachute. And I just didn't want to be that. And I couldn't keep lying to myself. So that is what kind of pushed me to to fr and and also waiting around for them to create the perfect pharmacist job for me. I realized it wasn't gonna happen. So I had to Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. Cory Jenks: go out and and make my own perfect pharmacist job that fits what I like to do and what I wanna do. Shawn Sundsvold: Yeah. I again I just as you're talking and I'm I'm just thinking about so much in, you know, my own life and how tomorrow's never promised. Right? And so when you stay at those jobs two or three extra years, you never know what could happen. Health conditions, anything like that, you that you may not get the tomorrows that you're dreaming of, right? And I think that's the the benefit and the joy of entrepreneurship sometimes is you get to grab a hold of those things and go after it because it's important to you. you know, and w it's it's risky, yes, but, you know, I I think it's it's it's an idea of taking control of your own life. Cory Jenks: Yeah, and we joked before we started recording when you the the intro was, you know, leftist pharmacy practice for good. I was like, well, you know, for now, probab I mean, but I think, you know, I have my active pharmacist license if I ever want to go back. But you you made a great point that when you take the leap and you take this different path, you're gonna learn different skills. And those skills might mean that someday you get a job that isn't what you started with. Like I'm learning coaching, I'm learning sales skills, I'm learning marketing skills, I'm learning copywriting skills, I'm learning all these things that pharmacy school did not teach me and my practice did not teach me. And so, you know, if I think of like what job would I want to do, like I don't I it would not be a traditional pharmacist job probably. It would be something else utilizing what I've already been doing because you know why? It's more fun. Like I and we we can't always pick the funnest job. And with kids sometimes you gotta pay the bills and that is totally fine. And if I someday have to go and do a job I don't want to, then you do that and you do it the best you can. But as you say, you you learn all of these different things along the way. And if you choose to have the perspective that I'm learning versus this is terrible, what have I done? It it makes the process much more enjoyable. Shawn Sundsvold: Definitely, definitely. So kind of you know, as we wrap this up and you know, we've talked a lot of things, you know, and you've got a lot going, the book, you've got the the comedy stuff and the the teaching there, you've got the business. Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Shawn Sundsvold: Where do you see everything in the next, you know, five years? What's the big dream? Cory Jenks: I think the big dream, the my partner I talk about reverse 100,000 cases of type 2 diabetes. That is the the overarching big mission goal. with that, I think I'd love to be the the the podcast source for diabetes education. there's other pharmacists that do great podcasts, other healthcare professionals, but we'd love to be the premier pharmacist diabetes education platform. So whether you work for with us or you listen to our podcast or watch our videos. You can and we've had listeners who haven't worked with us as clients who email us and say, I've listened to your stuff and my blood sugar's better, I'm off my medicines. Awesome. We just want people really to get their lives back. And so five years from now, I don't know if we'll get to a hundred thousand cases reversed by then, but we we wanna see us having a greater impact. I think that's that's where I would like to be. Kelly Sundsvold: Well Corey, this has been a really great conversation. I appreciate you you know, bringing to light obviously like diabetes awareness, what you're doing as a business, plus the funny side of you and the real story about entrepreneurship for your experience. And so I just want to thank you so much. how do people find out about your business and Cory Jenks: Mm-hmm. Kelly Sundsvold: how can they get in touch with you? Cory Jenks: Yeah, so you can find find me at my website, Coryjanks.com. And that's C O R Y J E N K S. I joke my parents did not buy the vowel. no Ian Cory there. from there and or from there or like LinkedIn. I from the what from my website you can find my books, you can find more about my speaking. For our our business and podcasts, if you go to diabetes remission partners dot com, you can find everything you need to from there. You can find the podcast, you can find our social media, you can find more about what working together with us looks like. but yeah, we would love to if you have and if you're listening, you're like I don't have any diabetes problems, but I have many friends and family that do, then the the greatest thing that we we hear when people refer others to to the podcast and and really get a lot out of it. So that's where I would say go to. Yeah. Kelly Sundsvold: Yeah, yeah. Perfect. That's great. That's great. All right, Corey. Well thank you so much for your time. Appreciate you and looking forward to seeing where where life leads you. Cory Jenks: Thanks so much. This has been a pleasure.