BY J.M. LEE
Elizabeth Lesztak’s journey has been driven by a passion for discovering the integrative approach to health and wellness, believing it serves as the “Medicine of the Future.”
As the General Manager of Pure Integrative Pharmacy, Elizabeth is deeply inspired by the positive impact of varied and tailored health approaches on achieving the best patient outcomes.
Integration, along with the latest innovations, provides unique modalities, skilled practitioners, quality products, and customized services, all working together to serve and empower patients to experience the best of pharmaceutical and holistic health care in an inclusive and unifying manner.
Education and empowerment are key to providing patients and customers the resources, guidance, and choices they need to live their best health outcomes. The reward of working to facilitate this empowerment is one of Elizabeth’s deepest inspirations.
Challenging the status quo by offering a unique approach to diversity brings the challenges and vulnerability of maintaining an environment of mutual respect that sees beyond differences and opposing opinions but harmonizes with the common goal of positive patient outcomes. There is no place for egoism in this space, and division and judgment are left behind.
Elizabeth feels that female leadership has excellent potential to bring value to all future workplaces. She feels that there is an excellent opportunity in health care to apply women’s voices, perspectives, insights, needs, and contributions. She shares, “Prioritization of women’s health is vital as many struggle to be heard and understood by a strained and overburdened health care system. The growing role of pharmacy being transformational in the face of these challenges cannot be overstated as an essential resource within our communities. This is a key opportunity and inspiration for Pure Pharmacy’s integrative model.”
When mentoring other women, Elizabeth seeks to recognize each woman’s early potential in leadership. She also looks for ways for each woman she mentors to embody the core values that sustain the company culture. These values include compassion, a love of innovation and integration, professionalism, a positive outlook, and a desire for continuous education and self-development.
Elizabeth feels a confident leadership voice is deeply rooted in remaining truthful to one’s authenticity and integrity. She believes challenge helps to build strength, and experience enhances the ability to take strategic risks that lead to more significant gains within the workplace. The key to women achieving prominence in their roles is an unwavering commitment to and awareness of their innate value. Women have a valued role where they can influence, make decisions, drive progress, and inspire others.
Valuing how key aspects of female leadership include emphasizing emotional intelligence, she collaborates through positive relationships, and a focus on empathy and support within the team that encourages open communication. Setting the tone for her team with this in mind helps her gain the benefits and results of increased engagement and trust among the team, and enhanced collaboration and creativity among each team member as they are encouraged to focus on problem-solving that is motivated in a spirit of empathy and care.
Cultivating work-life balance is also very important to Elizabeth as she finds in her experience that women often tend to fulfill and prioritize the needs of others over themselves, leading to burnout and negative health imbalances. Elizabeth shares, “By taking the time for a woman to prioritize her self-care of mind, body, and spirit, she secures what is essential to optimize both her work performance and the quality of her lifestyle.”
Elizabeth feels that when passion is found within one’s work, there is the added reward of no separation in aspirations and a deep sense of devotion and purpose. When harnessed mindfully, this leads to natural fulfillment and balance, where well-being and work-life balance can thrive together. She advises the next generation of younger women to recognize the “wealth of their health.”
“My mother always held a deep spirit of integrity and love in all that she inspired in us as her children. She taught that true independence is deeply interconnected through social responsibility and that we should offer our fullest potential to the world by seeking to make it a better place.”
