Senior Advisor, Sycamore Partners
People & Perspectives
Every day is Mother's Day when you work with your mom
Walgreens team members include plenty of moms and their children. In honor of Mother’s Day, we celebrate the generations of families working together under the W.
Steve Rausch, Walgreens Stories
With more than 245,000 team members at Walgreens, it’s no surprise some of them are related. In honor of Mother’s Day, meet a few team members who work with their moms, and learn how it has positively affected their personal and professional relationships.
One of the many ways WBA supports moms is through it’s Working Parents & Caregivers business resource group (BRG). This employee-led group provides resources and community for team members who are caring for others in their personal lives to connect, network and support each other in navigating the unique dynamics of being a working caregiver.
“I am proud to foster a workplace that truly supports working caregivers. Our Working Parents & Caregivers BRG has created an incredible support network for this group, complementing the benefits and resources we have invested in to support our team members on their personal journeys,” says Holly May, EVP & chief human resources officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance and executive sponsor of the Working Parents & Caregivers BRG.
Here are some of the moms and their children who work together at Walgreens and share their stories:
MOTHER: Rhonda Skinner, Walgreens pharmacy manager, Deerfield Beach, Florida
I’ve been with Walgreens for 35 years now, with the last 25 years as a pharmacy manager. I’m so proud that my son Byron decided to also become a pharmacy manager for Walgreens, but I’m most proud of the person he is: a good man and a good pharmacist who’s always willing to help. Ask any parent and they’ll tell you they want to raise kids who are good people. I can definitely say that about Byron. When he was in college I was not-so-subtly encouraging him to go to medical school, but he wanted to take a different path with pharmacy, which has turned out to be a really good choice for him. Now, he has the best of both worlds: he can help people day-to-day and still enjoy a good family life with his wife and baby. I was just telling Byron the other day that it’s funny we ended up at the stores we did, because the people who had the pharmacy manager jobs before us were a husband and wife who retired together. And they were replaced by a mother and son.
SON: Byron Skinner, Walgreens pharmacy manager, Boca Raton, Florida
My mom has worked at Walgreens for 35 years, so I’ve never known anything other than that culture. I would play in the toy aisle when I was a kid waiting for her to finish work, so once I decided to pursue a career in pharmacy, I knew that’s where I wanted to build my career, and have now for 11 years. My mom never pressured me to get into this business or work at Walgreens, but I guess you could say I wanted to follow in her footsteps. Except for a few months when I was doing my internship, we’ve never worked together in the same store, but whenever I have a question, she's the first person I ask because, aside from being my mom, she has the most experience and has pretty much seen everything. A pharmacy can be a fast-paced place. My mom has a certain calmness that positively affects everybody in the pharmacy, and that keeps team members around and customers coming back because it’s a positive experience for them.
MOTHER: Jana Gouge, Walgreens pharmacy operations manager, Wartburg, Tennessee
I’ve worked in retail pharmacy for more than 24 years. My sister and I owned an independent pharmacy that was purchased by Walgreens in 2020, and currently I’m the pharmacy operations manager of the store in Wartburg. My daughter Jacey and I have worked together for 18 months, and while we’ve always been close, working together in the same store has allowed us to see different sides of each other I don’t think either of us knew existed. I get to watch her deal with customers and co-workers in a work environment, which has allowed me to see the kind of adult she’s become, and that makes me very proud. There are so many other things that impress me about Jacey, but the things I appreciate most are her ambition, her work ethic and staying true to herself. She’s wanted to be a nurse since she was little, and she currently goes to school full-time at Tennessee Tech working toward her bachelor's degree in nursing, while working more than 20 hours a week at Walgreens in a management position. In summer and over holidays she carries nearly a full-time workload at the store, and she does all that because she doesn't want her parents to have to pay for everything.
DAUGHTER: Jacey Gouge, Walgreens shift lead, Wartburg, Tennessee
I grew up being around my mom at her pharmacy, and now working together at Walgreens as an adult has allowed me to see how she handles certain situations as a manager. Some people my age might not find working with their mom to be ideal, but she’s always been someone I really enjoy talking to, so the best part of working with her is that she’s right there if I have a question or need advice. Between school and work my schedule is crazy, so I started using a planner to manage my days. The funny thing is, I used to make fun of my mom for using one to keep track of all my activities when I was younger. I even color code things like she did. When she noticed I was using one she looked at me with a smile and said ‘A planner? Oh, really!’ I guess mom really does know best.
One of the many ways WBA supports moms is through it’s Working Parents & Caregivers business resource group (BRG). This employee-led group provides resources and community for team members who are caring for others in their personal lives to connect, network and support each other in navigating the unique dynamics of being a working caregiver.
“I am proud to foster a workplace that truly supports working caregivers. Our Working Parents & Caregivers BRG has created an incredible support network for this group, complementing the benefits and resources we have invested in to support our team members on their personal journeys,” says Holly May, EVP & chief human resources officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance and executive sponsor of the Working Parents & Caregivers BRG.
Here are some of the moms and their children who work together at Walgreens and share their stories:
I’ve been with Walgreens for 35 years now, with the last 25 years as a pharmacy manager. I’m so proud that my son Byron decided to also become a pharmacy manager for Walgreens, but I’m most proud of the person he is: a good man and a good pharmacist who’s always willing to help. Ask any parent and they’ll tell you they want to raise kids who are good people. I can definitely say that about Byron. When he was in college I was not-so-subtly encouraging him to go to medical school, but he wanted to take a different path with pharmacy, which has turned out to be a really good choice for him. Now, he has the best of both worlds: he can help people day-to-day and still enjoy a good family life with his wife and baby. I was just telling Byron the other day that it’s funny we ended up at the stores we did, because the people who had the pharmacy manager jobs before us were a husband and wife who retired together. And they were replaced by a mother and son.
SON: Byron Skinner, Walgreens pharmacy manager, Boca Raton, Florida
My mom has worked at Walgreens for 35 years, so I’ve never known anything other than that culture. I would play in the toy aisle when I was a kid waiting for her to finish work, so once I decided to pursue a career in pharmacy, I knew that’s where I wanted to build my career, and have now for 11 years. My mom never pressured me to get into this business or work at Walgreens, but I guess you could say I wanted to follow in her footsteps. Except for a few months when I was doing my internship, we’ve never worked together in the same store, but whenever I have a question, she's the first person I ask because, aside from being my mom, she has the most experience and has pretty much seen everything. A pharmacy can be a fast-paced place. My mom has a certain calmness that positively affects everybody in the pharmacy, and that keeps team members around and customers coming back because it’s a positive experience for them.
I’ve worked in retail pharmacy for more than 24 years. My sister and I owned an independent pharmacy that was purchased by Walgreens in 2020, and currently I’m the pharmacy operations manager of the store in Wartburg. My daughter Jacey and I have worked together for 18 months, and while we’ve always been close, working together in the same store has allowed us to see different sides of each other I don’t think either of us knew existed. I get to watch her deal with customers and co-workers in a work environment, which has allowed me to see the kind of adult she’s become, and that makes me very proud. There are so many other things that impress me about Jacey, but the things I appreciate most are her ambition, her work ethic and staying true to herself. She’s wanted to be a nurse since she was little, and she currently goes to school full-time at Tennessee Tech working toward her bachelor's degree in nursing, while working more than 20 hours a week at Walgreens in a management position. In summer and over holidays she carries nearly a full-time workload at the store, and she does all that because she doesn't want her parents to have to pay for everything.
DAUGHTER: Jacey Gouge, Walgreens shift lead, Wartburg, Tennessee
I grew up being around my mom at her pharmacy, and now working together at Walgreens as an adult has allowed me to see how she handles certain situations as a manager. Some people my age might not find working with their mom to be ideal, but she’s always been someone I really enjoy talking to, so the best part of working with her is that she’s right there if I have a question or need advice. Between school and work my schedule is crazy, so I started using a planner to manage my days. The funny thing is, I used to make fun of my mom for using one to keep track of all my activities when I was younger. I even color code things like she did. When she noticed I was using one she looked at me with a smile and said ‘A planner? Oh, really!’ I guess mom really does know best.