Business Coaching Profile: Donald Via
By Good Neighbor Pharmacy
“What continues to light my fire is when I’m working with an owner who is feeling overwhelmed, especially by financial and operational complexities. If I can help them gain some financial clarity, confidence, and guidance, and that shows in their business it really makes my day.”
– Donald Via, Business Coach, Good Neighbor Pharmacy
“I started my career as a pharmacy technician,” Via said. “And then I became a store manager at Walgreens.”
Donald moved into the operational side of the business, running stores, pharmacies, and eventually multiple locations. He said he loved that work, but like many pharmacy professionals, he also saw the industry shift dramatically as reimbursement pressures intensified and financial complexities mounted.
For Donald, that shift became a turning point. He realized he wanted to stay connected to pharmacy in a way that was more relationship-driven and more directly supportive of pharmacy owners and teams.
“I don’t want to become the person that is just enforcing rules,” Via said. “I want to be somebody who is relationship based with the pharmacies and can close the gaps between the operational and the pharmacy side.”
That desire led him to his current role. Since joining the Good Neighbor Pharmacy business coaching team in 2019, Via has focused on helping independent pharmacies solve business challenges while preserving what makes community pharmacy so important: trusted relationships, local access to care, and the ability to respond to community needs in real time.
From Donald’s perspective, business coaching is not just about reviewing reports or recommending process changes. It is about helping pharmacy owners move from uncertainty to confidence.
“What continues to light my fire is when I’m working with an owner who is feeling overwhelmed, especially by financial and operational complexities,” Via said. “If I can help them gain some financial clarity, confidence, and guidance, and that shows in their business it really makes my day.”
He knows independent owners often carry more than most people realize. In addition to serving patients, they are managing inventory, staffing, margins, workflow, reimbursement challenges, and growth decisions — often all at once.
That is where Via believes coaching makes a difference. He works alongside pharmacy owners to simplify complexity, identify the next practical steps, and help them make informed decisions that fit their business and community.
He also sees the role of pharmacy evolving rapidly. In his view, the future belongs to pharmacies that can build dispensing services while expanding their clinical role in care delivery.
“The future is fitting the dispensing model into that clinical model,” Via said.
Via believes that as states continue to expand pharmacists’ ability to provide clinical care, independent pharmacies have an opportunity to strengthen both patient access and business sustainability. He points to growing awareness around pharmacy deserts, provider shortages, and the critical role pharmacists can play as accessible care destinations.
That perspective makes him a valuable partner to the pharmacies he coaches. His credibility comes not only from his years in the profession, but also from his ability to connect strategy with real-world pharmacy operations.
Learn more about how Good Neighbor Pharmacy supports independent pharmacies today.
