Satish – Owner of TerryWhite Chemmart South Bank

Satish Maganlal, is the Owner of TerryWhite Chemmart South Bank, and his story is truly inspiring.

We sat down with Satish recently to learn about his background and find out his story. Here’s what he shared with us….

Growing up on the paradise islands of Fiji, Satish moved to India as a young, 5 year old boy. What was supposed to be a short trip with his family to visit his grandparents, turned into staying and living there for 5 years. Satish reminisces about this time as the best time of his life. A simpler, more innocent time with streets filled families and children playing, and communities coming together.

Fast forward over ten years later, Satish made the leap to move to Australia on his own as a 17 year old to further his education at Brisbane Boys Grammar. In 1974 (the same year as the Brisbane floods) he found himself alone in a foreign country. Brisbane was a different place back then, there were very few faces that looked like his on TV or as he walked down Queen Street Mall and racism was not uncommon. Not one to turn inward, Satish forced himself out of his comfort zone, focussed his energy on his education, making new friends and embracing his new Australian culture and community.

Following high school Satish went on to study Pharmacy at UQ before continuing his training at Cairns Base Hospital. Eager to further his education and experience, Satish was keen to go anywhere and everywhere. His career saw him work in Pharmacies in Cairns and Gympie before owning his first Pharmacy in Logan City for 18 years.

Through managing and running Pharmacies for many years Satish decided to broaden his knowledge by attending an Education Seminar, where a chance encounter saw him introduced to the Head of Pharmacy at Griffith University. Weeks later, Satish received a call offering him a teaching opportunity. Never having taught before, Satish was surprised by the offer, however eager for the opportunity to expand his experience and inspire others.

This led Satish to a teaching career at the University for 9 years. Satish has always been passionate about helping people; and during this time, he channelled his experience growing up as an international student to help other international students studying, by developing specialised courses and modules.

After 9 years of educating, Satish was keen to get back into practicing Pharmacy and started his own Pharmacy business once again. In 2010 he took over the ownership of a Pharmacy on Grey Street, South Bank (just down the road) but in 2011 Satish experienced for the second time in his life a major, once in a generation, weather event – the 2011 Floods. The South Bank precinct was hit particularly hard by the floods with dangerous and fast rising water wiping out businesses and filling up underground carparks. The Pharmacy was forced to close for a period with the floods impacting many local businesses. But Satish, always the optimist, persevered and later reopened his Pharmacy.

Now, Satish is the proud owner of TerryWhite Chemmart at Southpoint. It is a family business with his son Dylan working alongside him as a Pharmacist too. After all these years, Satish still gets excited about healing people and making a real difference in their lives and seeing their health outcomes. He’s also particularly passionate about educating and nurturing the careers of young Pharmacists by sharing his knowledge and experience with the next generation of Pharmacists – where he regularly accepts placement students doing their practical education as well as work experience students from local schools. Satish is a firm believer that theory while is important, the practical application is even better.

Satish prides himself for being an active member of the local community, regularly donating to the Mater Children’s Hospital Foundation through the Pharmacy as well as being a trailblazer of first-in-Australia Pharmacy trials such as in-Pharmacy vaccinations and volunteering for an upcoming trial giving Pharmacists the education and training to prescribe certain antibiotics – initiatives helping the community get easier access to healthcare. Most recently, Satish also answered the call from Queensland Health to be a pharmacy partner in delivering medicines to members of the public quarantined in local hotels due to COVID-19.

Life has thrown many challenges and obstacles at Satish over the years, but a recent challenging medical health journey is one that has really put things into perspective for him. Satish is now well and in good health, but the experience has given him a new perspective and view on life and the world around him. Not traditionally a religious man, Satish firmly believes that the journey impacted him not only physically but also spiritually. Satish now feels a deeper connection with those around him, enabling him to feel greater compassion and empathy for others which has in turn, made him better Pharmacist, more equipped to treat his patients. Satish is grateful for every day and knows how truly fortunate he is to be alive, crediting much of his strength to his wife who he says is his “rock”, always there for him, giving true meaning to the word ‘soulmate’.

A true inspiration, Satish is a wealth of knowledge and his story is testament to how passion, perseverance and optimism can overcome any challenge. His commitment to treating and healing the community is at the heart of all that he and his team does at TerryWhite Chemmart South Bank.

Make sure you take some time to say hello to Satish next time you’re in store at TerryWhite Chemmart, you never know what you might learn!