"FROM PHARMACY TO A PROJECT OF PETALS."

The story of ALESSANDRO GOSO - Pharmacist | Farmacia Goso

Alessandro I've been in Private Community for more than two years. I'm a pharmacist by trade, but for some time I'd been feeling that the ‘simple’ pharmacy wasn't enough for me any more. I had a half-formed idea in my head: to turn the pharmacy into something different, broader, more evolved. But it was only an intuition, unstructured, sketched out on paper without a real method to make it concrete.

Once I joined Private, that idea began to take shape. There was no great flash of insight, no single moment when I suddenly understood everything. It was more a case of constant evolution. Working with a method, stopping to think, using the tools, comparing notes with other people — all of this allowed me to see problems and solutions more clearly and to give sharp outlines to what had previously only been sketched.

Today I see the pharmacy as one of the petals of a flower, or one of the rays of a sun. It's an important tool, but not the only one. Around it there's the laboratory, which already exists but could be developed much further, new services to be created, a different way of managing staff, a better way of being in the market and experiencing work. Many of these things already existed on a small scale; Private helped me take them from micro to macro and bring them together into a cohesive project.

One point this journey has really strengthened in me is the role of staff. If you treat them purely in terms of ‘employer and employee’, the situation stays rigid and closed. But if you widen your view, you realise everyone can gain: in quality of life, in service, in internal atmosphere. I already had some convictions about this, but Private made them clearer and more solid.

At first, the topic of Mindset almost scared me. It was a world I'd never seriously engaged with. I feel more like an ‘evolution’ person than an ‘illumination’ one: I don't believe in the plot twist that changes your life in a day, but in the many small steps that take you further forward. Over time, by linking Mindset, method, work sessions and discussion, I began to see how important that part was too. Today I'd say Mindset accounts for a real share of the journey: it's not everything, but without it an essential piece would be missing.

I've experienced Combine® intensely, at times demandingly. At the time, working with AI wasn't easy, but looking back I recognise it was valuable: it put me in front of questions and answers that, on my own, I would probably have taken many months to reach. After forty years of work, it's natural to have deeply ingrained mental patterns; a tool like this forces you to question them and to really change.

Another realisation I've come to is that the type of business matters less than you'd think. Whether you sell medicines, shoes or services, the main lever is the person, not the sector. The limits, in most cases, are in your head, not in the trade.

I've always had a drawer full of half-formed ideas. The difference is that today they're no longer just ideas piled on top of one another. Thanks to the work I've done, I now have a map: I know what's a priority now, what can be postponed, and what's perhaps best let go. I've learned to bring order, not to waste time and energy, and to accept that every change takes time. There are no real shortcuts: if you want to build something that lasts, you have to think in the long term, not in a matter of months.

For me, Private has been, and still is, a huge advantage. It helps me focus my choices, put my thoughts in order, shorten decision-making time and turn half-formed ideas into concrete paths. But one thing doesn't change: if I don't put my own mind to it, it doesn't work.

"FROM PHARMACY TO A PROJECT OF PETALS."

The story of GIORGIO - Program Manager | Farmacia Goso

Giorgio I've been in Private Community for about a year and a half. I joined after Alessandro, my father-in-law, who invited me to take part in the journey. I'm a pharmacist too, but from the very beginning I shared his sense that the pharmacy, as traditionally understood, couldn't be the only horizon.

When I arrived at Private, we already had a half-formed idea of going beyond the pharmacy, but it was something vague, more instinctive than planned. The work done here, together with using Combine®, helped me see the complete picture: the pharmacy, the laboratory, the services, people management — all parts of a single, bigger project.

In some ways, I feel like a ‘blank slate in evolution’. I have fewer deeply rooted habits than people with many years of experience behind them, and this makes it easier for me to embrace new tools and new ways of organising work. At the same time, I realise that the experience of those further ahead than me is essential for giving substance to ideas and for avoiding mistakes others have already made.

One of the things I appreciate most is comparing notes with others. The same Focus Sessions, the same tools, generate different responses in each of us. For me, that's the added value: seeing how other people read a situation helps you understand both where you can improve and where you're already on the right track. Sometimes you get a fresh idea, other times a confirmation. Either way, you grow.

I'm more and more convinced that it's not the sector that determines results, but the mindset you bring to your work. Whether you run a pharmacy or any other business, the real risk is standing still while the world around you changes. The journey I'm on is helping me avoid exactly that trap: questioning routine, looking for new paths, and building a future that isn't limited to ‘day by day’.

I too have lots of ideas, perhaps too many, and the danger is always spreading yourself too thin. For me, Private's contribution lies above all in the ability to bring order: understanding which ideas deserve to be pursued right away, which need time, and which aren't a priority. Instead of trying to do everything at once, I've learned to work step by step, in stages.

This journey has also made me understand the importance of the timing of change. We live in an age where many people promise quick transformations; I'm discovering how much healthier, and more effective, it is to accept that gradualness is needed. It's like building a house: if you don't take care of the foundations, it risks collapsing at the first shock.

Today I no longer see just the day-to-day work in the pharmacy, but a broader project, made up of many ‘petals’ that can grow over time. Knowing that I'm not facing this path alone, but within a community that listens to you, challenges you and supports you, makes a huge difference to me.