Nancy McFarlane exudes confidence. And she should. Within the past year alone, she won a seat on the Raleigh City Council, relocated her successful pharmacy, MedPro Rx, Inc., to a new location without disrupting service for her clients and sent her last child off to college.

She sees her future as bright. "There are a lot of opportunities available that I didn’t even know existed before," Nancy said. These include:

A Prosperous Business
Nancy has never been one to wait for opportunities to come to her. After 22 years as a retail and hospital pharmacist, Nancy saw the need to provide high-touch, in-home care for people with certain types of chronic diseases. "I wanted to provide more than medicine," she said. "I wanted to offer the support and services that are often lost in bigger companies."

Nancy worked with neighbors to ensure that the city heard their concerns about the construction upstream from Greystone.

So in 2002, she created MedPro Rx, a specialty infusion pharmacy that provides infused and injectable medications and services to clients with chronic illnesses. As president, Nancy has led a business launched on just $90,000 into a firm with more than $40 million in projected annual revenue in 2008.

She has developed several community outreach programs as well. MedPro Rx’s "Education is Power" scholarship program is designed to ensure that students living with hemophilia or von Willebrand disease have the opportunity to receive the education necessary to obtain a job with the health insurance benefits needed by those who have bleeding disorders. Since it began in 2006, MedPro Rx has distributed more than $135,000 in scholarships to students nationwide.

2) City Council Service
A Raleigh resident for more than 25 years, Nancy’s community involvement began with 20 years in the Wake County PTA while raising three children. She became the Greystone Homeowners Association’s president in 2003 when the city did not properly monitor stormwater runoff from nearby construction that contaminated her neighborhood’s lakes. Nancy organized friends and neighbors in response and eventually spearheaded other campaigns against poorly regulated developments.

When the opportunity to run for City Council opened up, Nancy knew it was perfect timing for her to campaign. "I ran because I was a community advocate," she said. "My neighbors had seen the fallout from all of the construction, and they knew I was working on it. I had an issue that was ringing with people."

Capitalizing on her recognition for efforts to change construction practices that were concerning many Raleigh residents, Nancy was elected in 2007. As a councilor, she works on several committees dedicated to improving her community’s quality of life. "I’m enjoying my time on the City Council," Nancy said.

3) Water Conservation
When Nancy was elected to the council, North Carolina was in a severe drought, with daily reports of how many days of water were remaining. As a member of the Sierra Club and the Conservation Council of North Carolina, she became a key player in developing the Water Conservation Council, a group of community representatives working to create an educational campaign to inform the public of the importance of water conservation. She now serves as the organization’s co-chair.

The focus of the council is to recognize the importance of water conservation no matter the current drought circumstances. Nancy worked with other volunteers to develop the council’s public education campaign and slogan, "Slow The Flow, Save Some For Later."

What about her other future activities? "I certainly have more time for traveling, hope to see more of the world," she said. "Being on the City Council, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to meet a lot of people I may not have met before."

Regarding what she has discovered since turning 50, she noted that for her, the key is "Learning to enjoy what you have. I really enjoy giving back to the community, whether it’s through the City Council or the scholarship program. I find that to be a very fulfilling part of life."