(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Cook & Fortenberry Owner and Pharmacist Kayla Thomas.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in McComb, Nov. 12, 1983.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to elementary and high school at Tylertown, then I went to Southwest Mississippi Community College and to Ole Miss for pharmacy school.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m the pharmacist and owner of Cook & Fortenberry Pharmacy & Gifts. I fill prescriptions, check them for accuracy and typical pharmacist duties. Being the owner I have to do all of the ordering, keep up with the inventory and keep up with all of the laws of pharmacy. I do all of the ordering for the gift shop, payroll, everything.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, and I really didn’t want to be in school forever. I knew if I went to medical school, I’d want to specialize and be in my 30s before I’d be done. That’s when I looked at pharmacy, and it worked out.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: The interaction with the customers, getting to know the people and feeling like I’m making a difference sometimes. Also, I like having the gift shop to break up the monotony to where I’m not just looking at drugs all day.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: Being an owner with all of the business related stuff because I don’t have a business degree. That’s been a learning experience. It can also be difficult getting customers to understand we don’t have any control over their insurance.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: The most important thing was learning how to multitask constantly and juggle all of the hats. And that I can’t get frustrated with it. I try to leave my problems here as much as I can and not take them home or worry about things too much at home, which I still do sometimes. It’s hard not to when you’re the owner, but I try to get all my work done while I’m here so that when I go home I can spend time with my family.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be a doctor.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I worked at the Tylertown Times for five years. When I first went to work there, I typed all of the stories people brought in for the newspaper and all of the county expenditures, which was before they emailed it. Then I started designing ads, and that’s what I ended up doing when I left.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: My grandparents, Chester and Lois Cooper, because I stayed with them a lot in the summers, and they just taught me a lot about life in general. Professionally, it’s probably Miss Gwen Langhart, who used to own Brumfield’s Drug Store in Tylertown. I worked there while I was in pharmacy school, and I looked up to her. Her being a woman pharmacy owner, I got to see that aspect of it, too.
Q: What is your spouse’s name?
A: Eric. He’s a co-owner here and is an agent for Farm Bureau in Walthall County.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have three stepdaughters and a little boy. Monica is 24; Haley is 23; Kayla is 22; and Preston is 16 months old.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Boiled shrimp with potatoes and corn.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I like anywhere tropical and have traveled a lot, but I would like to go to Bora Bora.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I like to read, but I haven’t been able to do much of that lately with the little one. I like to shop, and I love to travel.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I enjoy the small-town atmosphere. I like how the Main Street community works together. I like being able to know all of the customers. We’re not such a big area that you can’t remember who people are because you see so many people.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: My biological grandfather, Arwid Sandifer. The one I listed earlier was actually my step grandfather, but he was married to my grandmother before I was even born. My biological grandfather died before I was born so I never got to meet him. If it was a person currently living, it would be Donald Trump.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: Becoming a mother because that just kind of brought it all together.
Q: What is one thing you want to do that you’ve never tried?
A: I’d like to ride in a hot air balloon.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I’d like to be remembered as a good wife and mother.
—Joshua Campbell
