April 9, 2026 • 13 mins
Emre Tuna is redefining what modern leadership looks like in global beauty and wellness. As President of FARMASI, he is boldly steering the company into its most ambitious era yet.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to our CEOs you should know series. I'm Eric Rodriguez.
Joining me today is Emorytoona, the president of beauty and
wellness brand Pharmacy. Thank you for joining me today, Emory. So,
first tell me a little bit about Pharmacy and it's
mission statement because this is a longtime family business.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It is a family business for many generations. Well, Pharmacy
was founded in nineteen fifty as a pharmaceutical company. So
we were founded as a pharmaceutical We didn't have cosmetics
back in those days, and we were selling pharmaceuticals all
around Turkey, which the country is where from.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
And then we.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Moved into cosmetics as a contract manufacturer and then we
created our own brand. So the brand Pharmacy was born
in two thousand and three.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
But a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
More in twenty ten, we switched to our business model
and we moved into direct sales or in today's world,
social selling business where people meaning anyone can sign up
with Pharmacy, purchase the products with a discount and sell
it to whomever they want, however they want and wherever
they want, so they can promote it through their social media,
(01:06):
they can promote it in a house event in a
in person event, any anyway they want to do it.
And then it is kind of a mix of current
days affiliate marketing, referral marketing, influencer marketing, but a little
bit more powerful way. So you can invite your friends,
they can do the business. You make a commission out
of them. So basically what you do in pharmacy, what
(01:28):
we do is we empower people. Anyone can be any person,
doesn't matter if they have a degree or anything. We
empower them to become a business personality.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
So we have a lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Very nice stories switching from a housewife that basically they
take her of the house.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And nowadays they earn.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Thousands of dollars and we create purpose in their lives.
So to summarize, Pharmacy is a nutrition, supplement and cosmetics
brand that empower people, mostly women, all around the world
in fifty six countries, to create a purpose in their lives.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
How are you able then to expand from what was
based in Turkey to being as you said, international around
the world and empowering women.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, it was a very very It's not an easy
thing to happen. So after I graduated high school, I
went to study in the United States, here actually in
Los Angeles, and you know, I was checking out all
these massive direct sales and social selling companies and then
(02:35):
I said, you know what, we can do something even
better in pharmacy. We were back in those days. We
were more of a local company that operated in Turkey.
And then you know, I tried to expand the business
in different parts of the world, not directly in the
United States.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Mostly started from.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Europe, and you know, it was a big, big mentality
change in the company was very different, even like people
of Turkey is very different than Europeans than Americans.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
So basically what we did is we tried to make
a lot of things local in the places that we operated.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So for instance, here in America, we are serving mostly
to the Hispanic community, So our communication are our vision
and everything we change it towards the Latin community to
fit what their needs are. And we do the same
in for instance, Russian speaking countries. They have a very
different culture.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Than we have.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
They have different standards in life and Europeans do in
Africa does in Asia, that's a completely different thing.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So what we usually do is we have a global.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Set of rules and a vision in pharmacy, but whenever
we launch in a different territory. We try to be
we try to act like a local company. So that
is how we became so successful.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
What inspired you to take on the role of president
and what's been the most rewarding journey so far?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, again, a great question. So you know, actually my
story is a little bit different. I was raised since
a very young age. I was raised to become the
CEO of this company. Yes it was not a multinational
company back in those days, but I was raised kind
of like my education was how to become a CEO.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So I was raised towards that goal.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And you know, when you see a family that works
almost twenty four to seven, they inspire you. All these
things happening inside, they inspire you and you really want to.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Become a part of this.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So since I was very young, I always wanted to
become a CEO, and then I became.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Of course, this wasn't in a day change like. It
took some time.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I worked a lot together with my parents and still
I am actually working. My parents are full time working
for the company, and so that's actually how it happened.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You personally then define success as a leader in this
business environment. That's constantly changing. We're talking about the evolution over.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
The decades definitely, Well, everything is changing every day. And
so how do I define success? I think for any company.
By the way, I pharmacy is one of our family business,
I have many many different stuff. I think any company,
if you have a combination of a few different success points,
(05:28):
you make it successful.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
So if you're.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Happy as the top management, if your employees are happy,
and your customers are happy, and customers in pharmacy case,
there are influencers the people who sell the products, well,
of course the people who use the.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Products as well.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
But if everyone in this circle is happy and the
company is making a profit, because the reason why a
company is a company is to make profits, that is
called the success in business.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
You travel between Turkey and Miami all throughout the United States,
being going to college in California. So what role does
South Florida. You're talking about the Hispanic woman kind of
changing your dynamic. So how does South Florida impact pharmacy.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, South Florida has a very big part in pharmacy.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It has one of our largest headquarters.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So in Doral, we have a huge headquarters that serve
mostly for the North America and you know, we have
a lot of investments here. Pharmacy is doing a lot
of investments all around Miami. But more importantly, this is
a place where actually we met with the Latin culture
(06:49):
for the first time, which probably is now accounting more
than fifty percent of Pharmacy's business all around the world.
It's coming from the Latin or the Spanish speaking markets.
So this really helped us to understand what the Spanish
speaking and the Latin culture is and we just learned
a lot from them.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
So that's why.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And you know, Miami is full of this mix of cultures,
so it's a great place to learn about this culture here,
So that's why it's very important for us.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
What's the biggest challenge you have faced as president of
pharmacy and how are you able to overcome it well?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
As a president, you know, challenge is every day, multiple
times a day. I've never seen a day without any challenge.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
But probably the.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Biggest challenge is the changing the culture of your company.
So imagine you're you came into a company that has
been there for decades and has been run by your
parents or seniors, and now you're coming in as a
younger individual. Trying to change what has been known and
(08:00):
leaved as correct for decades. So that change was the
most challenging one that I had. But you know, I
think for any any top executive or management, if you
are if you decided what to do, and if you
create the feeling towards everyone in the company that there
is no way back, this is the only way to go,
(08:22):
then the change happens.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
What innovative strategies have you been able to implement to
keep pharmacy thriving as a global as a enterprise.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, well we have, We have so many things.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
As you know, Well, we make every decision in the
belief that we think it is an innovative decision. So
probably anything we do we feel it's innovative.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
But we have a lot of innovative things.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
We do a lot of, especially these days, it's very
popular the AI topic, you know, artificial intelligence. We have
a lot of AI things going on in pharmacy, and
we actually do own our own tech company. We have
a tech company called pharmacy X. That sole goal we
have about fifty engineers. That sole goal is to support
(09:10):
pharmacy anything, not just a specific case, any kind of
tech related issue, but innovative wise, we do a lot
of AI things. Especially we have like this new makeup
app that you can put your makeup on your face
and you can see how it looks. But not only that,
Now we're developing another app that will suggest to you
(09:32):
specific makeup concepts for whatever you're doing. We have a
skin care analysis that you know, really looks into your
face and sees how hydrated and all these different things.
They analyze and give you a personalized treatment. So, for instance,
you don't know which makeup color or shade you want
you need to purchase, you can take a picture and
(09:53):
ask what shade fits me, Well, we will give you
which shade is good for you.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And then I mean a lot of different things.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Now we're creating a very nice customer service AI receptionist
that would handle most of the problems our customers or influencers.
Having so a lot of AI going on, I would
say that is the most innovative part of these days.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Why is philanthropy and community engagement so important to you
as a.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Leader, Well, it is very important to me as a leader,
but also it is unique in our company because pharmacy
is a people's company.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So Pharmacy the biggest.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Asset we have in pharmacy is those a million plus
influencers that work for pharmacy. You know, these people with
different degrees, different cultures, ethnicities, religion, everything. So we are
a people company that we change people's lives, you know,
creating from housewives or people with less intention, creating people
(10:57):
with more intention, with more purpose. Just in the heart
of pharmacy. Pharmacy is a company that is about philanthropy
and helping people. So and I think this is very
important because you know, as a company, not everything is
about monetary values or money. You need to support people,
(11:19):
you need to help the community. That's why we believe
it's very very important.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
What advice would you give to somebody who aspires to
be a president of a corporation or CEO?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Don't it's great?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
But not really?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, no, well they should understand that it is a
very challenging and demanding position.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Basically, think twice.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If you really want to do this, make sure you're
doing it in an environment that you love to deal with.
You know, if you go to the work as oh
my god, it's work, and you know, pushing yourself, it's
not gonna last long. So definitely, whatever you're doing. Doesn't
necessarily mean about president or CEO of a company, but
please decide wisely and make sure decide what you do
(12:11):
is what you really like to do. It's not you're
not pretending. You really need to love it and like
it in order to be happy in that business.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
What's your vision for Pharmacy over the next five years.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, my vision is to expand all the continents around
the world.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And an article.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well why not? Why not?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
You know, yeah, probably you've seen these penguins, yes, going
on the conflicts, so why not maybe one day we
have some penguins. But so our vision is we want
to definitely create a very global business that changes lives
and empowers people all around the world. We are in
(12:57):
a solid direction, but my vision is to expand this
to every single human in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think that's the perfect place to wrap this up.
Thank you so much for joining me, Emory. That was
Emory Tuna, the president of beauty and wellness brand Pharmacy
Welcome to our CEOs you should know series. I'm Eric Rodriguez.
Joining me today is Emorytoona, the president of beauty and
wellness brand Pharmacy. Thank you for joining me today, Emory. So,
first tell me a little bit about Pharmacy and it's
mission statement because this is a longtime family business.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
It is a family business for many generations. Well, Pharmacy
was founded in nineteen fifty as a pharmaceutical company. So
we were founded as a pharmaceutical We didn't have cosmetics
back in those days, and we were selling pharmaceuticals all
around Turkey, which the country is where from.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
And then we.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Moved into cosmetics as a contract manufacturer and then we
created our own brand. So the brand Pharmacy was born
in two thousand and three.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
But a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
More in twenty ten, we switched to our business model
and we moved into direct sales or in today's world,
social selling business where people meaning anyone can sign up
with Pharmacy, purchase the products with a discount and sell
it to whomever they want, however they want and wherever
they want, so they can promote it through their social media,
(01:06):
they can promote it in a house event in a
in person event, any anyway they want to do it.
And then it is kind of a mix of current
days affiliate marketing, referral marketing, influencer marketing, but a little
bit more powerful way. So you can invite your friends,
they can do the business. You make a commission out
of them. So basically what you do in pharmacy, what
(01:28):
we do is we empower people. Anyone can be any person,
doesn't matter if they have a degree or anything. We
empower them to become a business personality.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
So we have a lot of.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Very nice stories switching from a housewife that basically they
take her of the house.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And nowadays they earn.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Thousands of dollars and we create purpose in their lives.
So to summarize, Pharmacy is a nutrition, supplement and cosmetics
brand that empower people, mostly women, all around the world
in fifty six countries, to create a purpose in their lives.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
How are you able then to expand from what was
based in Turkey to being as you said, international around
the world and empowering women.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, it was a very very It's not an easy
thing to happen. So after I graduated high school, I
went to study in the United States, here actually in
Los Angeles, and you know, I was checking out all
these massive direct sales and social selling companies and then
(02:35):
I said, you know what, we can do something even
better in pharmacy. We were back in those days. We
were more of a local company that operated in Turkey.
And then you know, I tried to expand the business
in different parts of the world, not directly in the
United States.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Mostly started from.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Europe, and you know, it was a big, big mentality
change in the company was very different, even like people
of Turkey is very different than Europeans than Americans.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
So basically what we did is we tried to make
a lot of things local in the places that we operated.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So for instance, here in America, we are serving mostly
to the Hispanic community, So our communication are our vision
and everything we change it towards the Latin community to
fit what their needs are. And we do the same
in for instance, Russian speaking countries. They have a very
different culture.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Than we have.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
They have different standards in life and Europeans do in
Africa does in Asia, that's a completely different thing.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
So what we usually do is we have a global.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Set of rules and a vision in pharmacy, but whenever
we launch in a different territory. We try to be
we try to act like a local company. So that
is how we became so successful.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
What inspired you to take on the role of president
and what's been the most rewarding journey so far?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, again, a great question. So you know, actually my
story is a little bit different. I was raised since
a very young age. I was raised to become the
CEO of this company. Yes it was not a multinational
company back in those days, but I was raised kind
of like my education was how to become a CEO.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So I was raised towards that goal.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
And you know, when you see a family that works
almost twenty four to seven, they inspire you. All these
things happening inside, they inspire you and you really want to.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Become a part of this.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So since I was very young, I always wanted to
become a CEO, and then I became.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Of course, this wasn't in a day change like. It
took some time.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I worked a lot together with my parents and still
I am actually working. My parents are full time working
for the company, and so that's actually how it happened.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
You personally then define success as a leader in this
business environment. That's constantly changing. We're talking about the evolution over.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
The decades definitely, Well, everything is changing every day. And
so how do I define success? I think for any company.
By the way, I pharmacy is one of our family business,
I have many many different stuff. I think any company,
if you have a combination of a few different success points,
(05:28):
you make it successful.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
So if you're.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Happy as the top management, if your employees are happy,
and your customers are happy, and customers in pharmacy case,
there are influencers the people who sell the products, well,
of course the people who use the.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Products as well.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
But if everyone in this circle is happy and the
company is making a profit, because the reason why a
company is a company is to make profits, that is
called the success in business.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
You travel between Turkey and Miami all throughout the United States,
being going to college in California. So what role does
South Florida. You're talking about the Hispanic woman kind of
changing your dynamic. So how does South Florida impact pharmacy.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, South Florida has a very big part in pharmacy.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It has one of our largest headquarters.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So in Doral, we have a huge headquarters that serve
mostly for the North America and you know, we have
a lot of investments here. Pharmacy is doing a lot
of investments all around Miami. But more importantly, this is
a place where actually we met with the Latin culture
(06:49):
for the first time, which probably is now accounting more
than fifty percent of Pharmacy's business all around the world.
It's coming from the Latin or the Spanish speaking markets.
So this really helped us to understand what the Spanish
speaking and the Latin culture is and we just learned
a lot from them.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
So that's why.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
And you know, Miami is full of this mix of cultures,
so it's a great place to learn about this culture here,
So that's why it's very important for us.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
What's the biggest challenge you have faced as president of
pharmacy and how are you able to overcome it well?
Speaker 2 (07:25):
As a president, you know, challenge is every day, multiple
times a day. I've never seen a day without any challenge.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
But probably the.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Biggest challenge is the changing the culture of your company.
So imagine you're you came into a company that has
been there for decades and has been run by your
parents or seniors, and now you're coming in as a
younger individual. Trying to change what has been known and
(08:00):
leaved as correct for decades. So that change was the
most challenging one that I had. But you know, I
think for any any top executive or management, if you
are if you decided what to do, and if you
create the feeling towards everyone in the company that there
is no way back, this is the only way to go,
(08:22):
then the change happens.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
What innovative strategies have you been able to implement to
keep pharmacy thriving as a global as a enterprise.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah, well we have, We have so many things.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
As you know, Well, we make every decision in the
belief that we think it is an innovative decision. So
probably anything we do we feel it's innovative.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
But we have a lot of innovative things.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
We do a lot of, especially these days, it's very
popular the AI topic, you know, artificial intelligence. We have
a lot of AI things going on in pharmacy, and
we actually do own our own tech company. We have
a tech company called pharmacy X. That sole goal we
have about fifty engineers. That sole goal is to support
(09:10):
pharmacy anything, not just a specific case, any kind of
tech related issue, but innovative wise, we do a lot
of AI things. Especially we have like this new makeup
app that you can put your makeup on your face
and you can see how it looks. But not only that,
Now we're developing another app that will suggest to you
(09:32):
specific makeup concepts for whatever you're doing. We have a
skin care analysis that you know, really looks into your
face and sees how hydrated and all these different things.
They analyze and give you a personalized treatment. So, for instance,
you don't know which makeup color or shade you want
you need to purchase, you can take a picture and
(09:53):
ask what shade fits me, Well, we will give you
which shade is good for you.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
And then I mean a lot of different things.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Now we're creating a very nice customer service AI receptionist
that would handle most of the problems our customers or influencers.
Having so a lot of AI going on, I would
say that is the most innovative part of these days.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Why is philanthropy and community engagement so important to you
as a.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Leader, Well, it is very important to me as a leader,
but also it is unique in our company because pharmacy
is a people's company.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So Pharmacy the biggest.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Asset we have in pharmacy is those a million plus
influencers that work for pharmacy. You know, these people with
different degrees, different cultures, ethnicities, religion, everything. So we are
a people company that we change people's lives, you know,
creating from housewives or people with less intention, creating people
(10:57):
with more intention, with more purpose. Just in the heart
of pharmacy. Pharmacy is a company that is about philanthropy
and helping people. So and I think this is very
important because you know, as a company, not everything is
about monetary values or money. You need to support people,
(11:19):
you need to help the community. That's why we believe
it's very very important.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
What advice would you give to somebody who aspires to
be a president of a corporation or CEO?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Don't it's great?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
But not really?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, no, well they should understand that it is a
very challenging and demanding position.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Basically, think twice.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
If you really want to do this, make sure you're
doing it in an environment that you love to deal with.
You know, if you go to the work as oh
my god, it's work, and you know, pushing yourself, it's
not gonna last long. So definitely, whatever you're doing. Doesn't
necessarily mean about president or CEO of a company, but
please decide wisely and make sure decide what you do
(12:11):
is what you really like to do. It's not you're
not pretending. You really need to love it and like
it in order to be happy in that business.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
What's your vision for Pharmacy over the next five years.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, my vision is to expand all the continents around
the world.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And an article.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Well why not? Why not?
Speaker 2 (12:34):
You know, yeah, probably you've seen these penguins, yes, going
on the conflicts, so why not maybe one day we
have some penguins. But so our vision is we want
to definitely create a very global business that changes lives
and empowers people all around the world. We are in
(12:57):
a solid direction, but my vision is to expand this
to every single human in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And I think that's the perfect place to wrap this up.
Thank you so much for joining me, Emory. That was
Emory Tuna, the president of beauty and wellness brand Pharmacy
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