In just seven short years, Ndidiamaka Okpareke has gone from having $80 in her account when she started Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy in Rio Rancho to opening her own, 6,000-square-foot building.
The new site on Wellspring Avenue near Unser Boulevard is set to open at the end of March, Okpareke said, just down the street from the original location. Not only will it contain the company’s pharmacy, as well its compounding lab area, but it also will house the off-shoot OliveTree.Skin, a skin-care line that Okpareke designed and markets primarily to international customers.
The remaining space will be used for lessees, she said.
“Olive Tree Compounding is a one-stop shop and center for optimizing health,” Okpareke said. “The focus here is to care for you, provide the best clinical service, the best pharmaceuticals possible. The goal is to optimize health for you and your pet friends.”
That’s right, there are even specialty compounds for better pet health.
A compounding pharmacy differs from traditional pharmacies by matching medications designed specifically for each person.
This is done by “maximizing therapeutic success with creative and individualized compound medications,” according to the company’s website. “Our knowledgeable pharmacy team is continually applying the newest compounding technology to ensure our patients are getting the most advanced pharmaceutical care possible. Every ailment is unique, that’s why we tailor prescriptions to meet the needs of every patient.”
This eliminates elements that might not be in tune with a person’s specific body chemistry, Okpareke said. This allows the medication to work more efficiently and effectively.
“It really does start with the client being sensitive and in tune with who they are and how they’re feeling,” she said. “If you take medication and it gives you issues. Or you break out in hives, there’s something in there that your body is allergic to or not responding well to. We do allergy testing, GI mapping, look at genetic makeup so we have an inclination of what the body can handle and what it cannot handle.”
Among some of the specialty compounds Olive Tree provides are women’s and men’s hormone replacement therapy, pain treatments, sports medicine treatment, pediatric and neonatal innovations, dental formulations, dermatology formulations and hospice treatments.
Okpareke said she chose Rio Rancho because there were no other options in the city and local officials worked closely with her as she was beginning the journey.
“Honestly, opportunity met at the right time with the drive and perseverance to succeed and do business,” she said. “Rio Rancho presented a really good opportunity and there was nothing like that over here. All of the clients in the state of New Mexico had to use Highland Pharmacy or Menaul Pharmacy. These pharmacies couldn’t meet all the demand for customized medication. And when I was opening in Rio Rancho, I got a lot of support from the city economic development department, Mayor (Gregg) Hull, the City Council,”
Okpareke got her pharmaceutical degree in 2008 from the University of New Mexico and worked through many different sides of the business, but found it unrewarding.
“Then I just decided I really enjoy business, but not so much pharmacy, which is interesting,” she said. “But I didn’t want to throw away my entire career and I thought the best way to merge business and pharmacy was to go into entrepreneurship.”
She began planning in 2016 and opened up in February 2017.
And by 2019, after meeting with her mentor, Dar Johnson of SCORE, he advised me to begin looking to build.
While Covid delayed plans a little bit, Okpareke still made progress toward that next step and now she is looking forward to moving into a new, state-of-the-art site.
“I invested everything I had. I was so determined. To walk this journey these years, it’s like a miracle. But then, it’s also, I know every single bit of grit, every single bit of tenacity, every single ounce of dedication and every single night of sleeplessness that it took to get here. I’m a walking testimony for a lot of people who look like me and a lot of people who have dreams and a desire to achieve their greatest opportunities.”