At the very start I was impressed by the friendliness of colleagues and the good atmosphere in the company, which consisted of very talented people. I still feel that this common proactive approach in the company is one of the major success drivers for us.

I started as a category manager and felt the need to commit myself to the job as much as possible. I was not only trying to accomplish my regular tasks in the best manner, I felt encouraged to participate in projects that were important for the company, but were much broader than my direct responsibilities. This gave me a good understanding of what was happening in other departments and across the Baltics. After several years I became the category manager for the Baltics which broadened my work scope and gave me the ability to understand the Baltic countries better. I was then able to apply my best practices across countries. During that same time I also enrolled in a PhD programme in strategy and marketing to broaden my understanding of the pharmaceutical business, at the same time as contributing more to the success of my company. I believe that an ongoing learning process is crucial to personal as well as company development. I felt that my colleagues supported me a lot and they continue to help me in this journey.

At the end of 2015 I was promoted to an even more challenging position – Head of Sales Lithuania. Now I feel my contribution to the company even more, as well as what it means for my personal development.

SIA “Tamro” has been my first and only employer since 1996. I have worked for the company for more than 20 years now. And there is still so much to do here for many years to come!

After obtaining a degree in pharmaceutics, I started my work at a pharmacy owned by the company in Riga. Serving clients was my main duty. But what was also important for me was to improve communication skills with clients and, besides working, to start studying trade, by applying the acquired knowledge in practice. The results were immediate — clients were attracted and interested, along with a higher income. The employer noticed my initiative and appreciated it by offering me the position of pharmaceutical procurement manager and beauty care manager in wholesale.

When, 10 years ago, a new position was formed at the company — a regional manager of pharmacies — I applied. I earned the position, because my experience, knowledge, and skills gained in the pharmaceutical environment was exactly what convinced the employer that I was just what they needed. Owing to the support of the company’s management, I was able to combine my work with studies, to have a child with flexible working hours as a new mother, and, when I lived for a couple of years in a remote city far from Riga, they found a possibility to compensate my travel expenses."

Today Tanel works in the company as Country Manager for Tamro Estonia, and his previous very diverse work background is of great help. After finishing his studies with a specialisation as a pharmacist, Tanel spent 6 years working in a pharmacy, where one of many challenges for the young pharmacist was night watch shifts. Before starting to work in Tamro, Tanel also worked as a pharmacy manager. During his time in Tamro, Tanel has performed various work duties: customer communication and administrative sales department, marketing campaigns, communication with suppliers and sales procedures.

Tanel appreciates the fact that he was a part of many new initiatives and projects, including those related to marketing activities and campaigns, management of categories and first planograms, Private Label and first own products, arrival of BENU in Estonia and structure of BENU website, formation of a commercial unit in the Baltics, participation in various PHOENIX projects, updates of sales processes and much more.

Tanel still feels motivated to contribute to the company due to the fact that things are happening all the time. Another aspect that makes his job more interesting is the need to make operative decisions and resolve emerging problems: "The need for speedy actions often results from situations where our customer (a pharmacy, hospital or producer) is waiting for our solution, there will also be a customer in the pharmacy or at the hospital who is waiting for that same solution. This means that during our daily work we must remember that we do this because of those people who came to the pharmacists for help.”

For people who are considering wholesale sale of medicine as a potential filed of work, Tanel can confirm that wholesale sale is the most interesting part of the supply chain: “as we are positioned between the producer and the customer, we are aware of news and the most recent developments of both parties. By communicating with our partner producers, pharmacies and hospitals we get the best overview of the medicine market."