Podcasts about Dent

Kiera compares the stages of a business to the stages of the human life cycle, from the infancy of a startup, to the chaos of money flow without systems, to the growing profitability of early adulthood, and so on. The goal is, of course, to reach maturity, where the business can run on its own, there's work-life balance, money flow, and more. Kiera gives listeners the common factors for each "age group," and what needs to be done for practices to reach their prime. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I hope you are having an amazing day. I hope it's an epic day. I hope you're loving your life. I hope you're having just so much fun. ⁓ I love dentistry. I love podcasting. I love connecting with so many of you. I just met people this week that are Dental A Team fanatics and it's always fun. And it's funny on calls when I get to chat with you in real life, people are like, Kiera, you sound just like you do on the podcast. And I'm like, that's great because guess what? It is me.   So I am so excited to podcast with you guys today. Welcome. If you're new to Dental A Team podcast. Hello, I'm Kiera Dent. Dent really is my last name. And it's because I love all things dental. ⁓ I love my husband, even though he's not a dentist. ⁓ I love, I just love life. I love helping people. We had a, in our consulting, we have what we call our doctor mastermind. It's a doctor only mastermind and it's on ⁓ Tuesday, the first Tuesday of the month. And we call it Think Tank Tuesday for our doctor mastermind.   We had all of our doctors there this week and we had several doctors come. It was just a really, really fun time. And as I was sitting there, I tell everybody that this think tank is supposed to feel like you're sitting in my living room, hanging out with me. We're all just here having like a good time. I love to see there's one doctor pushing her daughter on a swing. There was another doctor making dinner. There's another doctor sitting at the office, another doctor driving home.   It truly is a like, let your hair down, come be, let's come hang out, let's all be together, let's all work together. Cause honestly, dentistry can be super hard and challenging. And ⁓ as I walked away from that, we were talking about the life cycle of a business and people were just talking about where they were and here's where I am and how do I get to the next phase of my business? What are some easy moves? And it was crazy because it's actually not that hard to move from one part of the business to the next part. ⁓ A lot of times it's just having somebody pointed out to you.   ⁓ giving you the confidence that you can do that. ⁓ And then having a group of people around you that are just like you. And as I walked out of that meeting and that just fun hangout time, there's always Kiera's after party, which is not recorded. It is Kiera unfiltered. I just thought, I'm so blessed to get to know these human beings, these people that we get to work alongside with, that we get to collaborate with. I get to see them go through all the phases of business from where they were to where they are.   working with us, get to see their production increase, I get to see their ROI ⁓ tenfold, I get to see how happy they are in life, I get to see when they were once stressed to where now they're exuberant and happy and fulfilled and that is why Dental A Team exists. That is why the podcast exists is because I want all of you to feel like you have ⁓ someone in your corner, someone who is rooting for you, someone who has answers where you feel like there are none, someone who sees the path more clearly than you can.   someone who's created a community of like-minded doctors that are either where you are or have been where you are and can help you get to the next step. We have doctors who mentor each other. have ⁓ masterminds in person. have where we come to your practice. So if you're listening to this podcast and you're feeling like, gosh, I just don't even know what to do. The answer is there's actually always the what's next to do. There's always somebody who can help you. It's just you having the courage to book the call to   ⁓ invest in your practice in yourself and decide that you're worth having the life and the practice that you know, you're capable of having. And so if that resonates with you, reach out, come join our doctor mastermind, come meet us in person, come hang out with me in real life. I would love to have you be a part of it. ⁓ my mission truly is to change people's lives. and that's luckily I get this amazing platform of dentistry. So, reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com because honestly, I believe that it is so fun and so powerful. ⁓   to go from that. And so I teased out a little bit of a life cycle of a business. This came from Tony Robbins. I really love Tony. I love a lot of things that he teaches and ⁓ there's a lot of wisdom. so just to kind of to take this on for the podcast today, I feel like, hey, we talked about this in our Dr. Mastermind, but I think it'd be very beneficial for all of you to hear. And this is my adaptation of it to take it to dental offices and kind of then giving you some of the things that I see in a practice so you can kind of understand.   But basically we have kind of like think about the life cycle of human beings. It's where we start out as infancy. We're born into this world and then we're infants and then we're toddlers. And then we go into this like middle life, like middle school. And then we go into high school and then we go into young adults. So college or young adult. Then we go into maturity or our prime of our life. Then we go into this kind of midlife evaluation. That's right before we retire. Then we go into aging. Then we go into institutionalization and then we go to death.   So we think about how people go around and it's interesting because there could be say a 25 year old, 30 year old, 40 year old who actually could be on the aging path even though their age is not where you would think that they would be. And so the idea of this is to kind of look to see based on like a life cycle of us where your business is and what maybe is like the pain point. So when we look at a business and we look at like children, so an infant,   They're screaming, right? They're screaming all the time. Yes, they're alive. Yes, they're there, but they're screaming and they're hungry and they don't know how to make money and they always have all these problems and it just feels like it's problem after problem after problem. That's like when you first start a business and it is chaos and it is exuberant and it is blissful and it is terrifying. Like Tiff and I were actually joking about it when we were on our doctor mastermind and we were talking about how like Dental A Team when it was in its infancy stage.   I literally was paying Tiffanie via Venmo. I did not have any payroll set up. I don't know why Tiff stayed with me. So Spiffy Tiffy shout out to her today. ⁓ But I really truly was such a naive business owner. I did not have protocols. I did not have a lawyer. I didn't have HR. I just said, I want to be here in this world and put something together, but no processes, no systems. It was screaming mayhem all the time. And then you go from that infancy stage to toddler, right? Toddlers, they can sleep through the night.   They're more independent. They can reason on certain things, but they're not this middle schooler, right? ⁓ And so when we look at that toddler that like they're going to elementary school, they're kind of in that middle stage. This is now where a business has elevated. It's not like paying people via Venmo, ⁓ but you still don't have the cash flow to be able to hire great people. It's still this like very new. You probably have one or two people. Practices that are in this realm are more the   the startup phase. So startup is like your very infancy, whether you're buying it or if it's a scratch start or you already have it. But it's kind of that screaming and then you move into toddler where like we can afford like one or two people on our team. but maybe we're moonlighting at another practice. cash flow is not consistent. ⁓ Systems and processes are not in place. And it's really just in this like delicate, but more stable, like we're like, okay, we're not we're not gonna go broke.   We know we can kind of handle, but at the same time, cashflow is not there. Then you move into middle school and you think about a middle schooler. This is where like we're starting to hit production. We can kind of have a few team members in there. We kind of maybe have a little bit of money, but not quite. ⁓ And we're starting to get a little more established, but we're like very gangly. We're very awkward. ⁓ We're doing the dentistry, but we're still, we're still not quite making it. And so from there, when we move from there,   You didn't go into a teenager and you think about a teenager, they think they know what they're doing. They've got the keys to the car. And this is where you've got money, but you're blowing through it because you have no systems, no processes. Like you are mayhem. Like you're making the money, but you're not keeping the money. And you're running on all four cylinders. But it's just chaos. It's wild. There's a frenzy. There's an excitement. And I think when Dental A Team was in that phase,   We had a little bit of money and so we were hiring people, but we didn't have quite enough money so we're not hiring experts quite yet. And you can just feel there's like this teenage energy and ⁓ then you move into like young adult and young adults were like perfect. The company is making money. We're able to hire more experienced people. So like we can bring on an office manager. We can bring on a better hygienist. We can have more things in place. And then we go into this like maturity and maturity and prime are where we're.   Profitable, we've got the production, we've got the systems in place. have a leadership team that's running the practice. It's not all dependent upon the dentist or one or two people. We've got the systems in place, we've got the profit in place, we've got the production in place. And a lot of times that happens when people are in this maturity or this prime, they're hanging out right there. What they often do is this is when they wanna buy another practice. Sometimes they even wanna buy a practice when they're in toddler, teenager, or like that college mid-year. But they're really just...   this is when they do it. And what happens is when you buy a practice or you expand your practice or you any of the phases, then you actually like usually kick yourself down and you go back to either toddler or maybe middle schooler or high schooler and your business like re re fumbles. There was a practice that I was working with and they're like, Kiera, we have this great opportunity. I worked with them for a year and we got everything set. The doctor was like, I'm tired of having to run it all. So they were like kind of in that   probably more at that mid year, they were probably college age. So the practice was great. They were profitable, but the doctor was still doing everything. And the doctor was just like, I don't want to do this anymore. I need you to train my team. I need you to train all the people so that way I can just come be a dentist and truly own my business, which kicks you into that maturity and prime. So we worked together. We were able to train the team. We were able to train the doctor. We did leadership training. We trained the whole team. We put systems into place that they didn't realize. And the doctor like literally we got them into prime like   It was incredible. It took us about a year to get them there. And they're like, Kiera, it's great. Cause I was thinking like, we're wrapped up. put a bow on this. I'm super excited for you guys. And the doctor was like, Kiera, guess what? There's this awesome opportunity for another practice. Do you think we should buy it? And I tell you, when people get into this like prime, like they're in it, they've, they've, they reached the mountain. They're like, we should buy another practice. And I was like, well, so here's the deal.   your kids have gone off to college. That's where your practice is right now. Like you're sitting here, you're very happy, you're very comfortable. Life is very easy for you. And buying another practice is going to be literally bringing on a screaming brand new, like brand brand new infant baby. Do you want to do that? And the doctor was like, that's a good point. ⁓ Let me think about that. And they're like, here, the deal is just too good of a deal. And honestly, if I was in their shoes, I would have done the same thing. The practice was truly a, you should take it and do it.   And then what happened, we flew all the way back down into toddler. Like we didn't go quite back to infancy, but oh my gosh, like the practices started screaming and both practices started struggling. And all these little pieces came up because we went from having this mature, we're in prime, our life is really easy to bringing on this screaming baby. And all of a sudden everything started jostling, the leadership team got jostly. We were bringing in different partners and lo and behold, two, three years later, we finally now gotten the practices.   they're right around teenager, maybe young adult for both locations and guess what they want to do? You guess it, they want to buy another practice. And this tends to be the cycle of dentistry. ⁓ Or what actually can happen is we go from prime and then we actually can go into midlife evaluation. And what happens here is when doctors are considering like, do I want to sell? Do I want to keep sitting in the chair? Maybe we're ⁓ not, not purposely, but maybe we are not diagnosing as much as we used to. Maybe we don't want to go to the CEs. Maybe we don't want to do all these other pieces. And you start to get into this midlife. And if you're not careful and you don't   get the CE or get a younger associate or whatever it is to kick you back over or bring in different team members, you can actually then fall into aging and become this aging practice that ⁓ if you're not careful, will actually die off. ⁓ And that's what we call sleeping practices. New grads love to buy aging practices, but then what can also happen is your team members might also be at a different space on the life cycle than you are. So sometimes when you inherit this sleeping practice as a new owner, well, you might.   inherit a team that also is maybe a little bit sleepy too where they're like I'm on my way to retirement, I don't want to be putting in all this new technology, I don't want to do all this software, I don't want to do all these changes or that team might be like sweet and they got kicked back just like someone in their 50s can be like you know I'm gonna go run a marathon and they kick them back into that maturity, that prime or they're in their 60s or they're 65 like my mom she went back to college, my mom was on her path to aging and she went back to college later on in life, she became   She got her master's degree and she started working a job. You better believe that pushed her all the way back over into like teenager. Like she had no clue what she was doing, but she flipped herself back over and, and added more of that energy back into her life. And so all of us, what I was trying to explain through all this is just because you're at one space in the life cycle does not mean that you're forever on the trajectory up and over the curve. It's like a bell curve. ⁓ what we're trying to aim for on whichever side of the bell curve, whether we're on the young toddler or we're on the more aging headed towards institutional.   is our goal is to keep our businesses keep pivoting towards that prime, that maturity, that middle spot where the business is running without us, it's profitable, we're able to have all the time, the work-life balance that we wanna have. And so when you're looking at this, the questions are one, where are you personally on the life cycle of the business and yourself? Are you a new owner? Are you a seasoned owner? Where do you fall on that? Where is your practice through all this?   And then where is your team through all of this? And then assessing based on all those factors, what needs to happen to get you closer to that like middle section where we were striving for that's the prime and where is it? And what do you need to do to get back there? So a couple of scenarios were like a doctor is struggling, they're exhausted, they're burnt out, they're doing all the work and like, what should they be doing? They're producing well, they've got hygienists there, but they're exhausted. They're working like five days a week, just exhausted.   Like what can this person do? And so the questions are, where is this person on the life cycle? This person could be in teenager where they're just exhausted because they're doing it all. They also could be over on midlife evaluation where they're doing it all. Both can actually be true, depending upon the practice and where they're at. And there is no science to this. like, okay, if you have XYZ, then you fall here. Like this is more for you to assess. ⁓ And when I look at this and I think about it, ⁓ options for this practice are hiring an associate would be amazing. That would kick them into prime.   It will also kick them down into the screaming if they don't have the systems in place. But what it will do is it will add some energy. You could also add in team members and no more than you do because you've got the money, you've got the flow. You could bring on a consultant that can help you get to the next level. You could actually add on extra days. You don't have to necessarily work it, but it's what can I do to get myself to this prime where I'm profitable? I'm producing what I want. I'm working the hours that I want. I'm innovating the practice. My team is aligned. My team is running the practice. I'm not staying here.   till super, super late every single night. I have my family life that's ideal for me. That's what we're aiming for. That's what we're striving for in consulting and working with our clients. This is what I obsessed about is how can we get more clients to their sweet spot? That's when I say like living their dream life when I walk it and I see people that have gotten there. That's what I mean by this, like maturity, this prime. Like I remember my CPA told me ⁓ once he said, Kiera, it actually gets a lot easier later on in life. He's like, because   then like you bought the house, you bought the cars, like whatever it is that you were striving for, and then money becomes easier. And I was like, you are a liar. There's no way this is gonna happen. And then you meet people and they really are there and they're comfortable and they walk with ease. And there's just this like, I don't know this calm about them, but they're still very energetic. They still have a lot of things that they wanted to, but I think the frantic energy of the young or the exhausted energy of the aging doesn't exist.   It's more this centered calm, knowing, doing things on purpose and intentional rather than reactionary. It's a very, very different space. And so like that's our obsession is getting offices to that space. And so for you to assess and to diagnose, where are you? And what's fascinating to me that I often find is sometimes the dentist is actually the problem. There was a dentist that I was chatting with and this doctor refuses to delegate. And I'm like, so great. You've actually accidentally pushed your practice into almost aging.   because you're not willing to delegate. And then also you're not willing to hire people that are smarter and more equipped. You're sitting here having very inexperienced team members that don't know what they're doing, making lots of mistakes. So therefore you don't trust anybody because you haven't spent the money to hire the people that you need to hire to bring in that energy and that structure and that leadership. Instead, you're trying to do it all yourself plus be the dentist. Like you have actually not like kept yourself younger. You've actually   aged your practice accidentally to where if you're not careful, it will actually age and deteriorate into death. And so I think also being self-aware of where you are, ⁓ I think being cognitive and what's really awesome is once you know where you are, once you know where your team is, once you know where your business is, then instantly the diagnosis becomes very easy of what you need to do and what the next step is. But I think oftentimes easy and doing are not the same thing.   I think oftentimes we say, my gosh, this is so easy, but that doesn't mean that I want to do it or that I'm going to do it or that I'm going to follow through on it. I think so many times people get stuck and they're just like, either A, I'm not willing to accept what I need to do or B, I don't know what I need to do or C, I'm not willing to acknowledge what I know I need to do and actually do it. And so if I look at all of this, I think this is a fun assessment for you to look to see like what, where am I on the life cycle of the business? What do I need to do to progress to the next level?   And am I willing to do that? Or do I need somebody to push me along? I will say sitting in a business myself, I have hired different people. I have realized when the business has outgrown me, we just had a meeting with our team and I said, guys, like the great news is we have grown, we've evolved and our mission is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible and to serve more offices. And I can't do that with the knowledge that I have today. I need someone smarter than me that knows how to run systems on a different level.   I can do it for dental offices all day long, but a corporate business that's evolving, I don't know how to do that. Do I know how to like program HubSpot? The answer is a hard pass. No, I do not even know what that thing should do. I've never worked in an industry that's done that. I need someone smarter than me. And so we bring those people in and what's beautiful is it's scary and it's daunting, but it is magical because I know that this is the next phase to get us to where we actually want to go and to be in those optimal spaces.   Again, you're not always on the upward path we're always working towards and certain decisions will actually push us back down. Sometimes personal decisions, sometimes business decisions, sometimes things outside of our control, like we lose key team members or we have unexpected life events. Those can move us in this space a lot differently. So really it's a matter of where are we today and where do we want to be and how can we get closer to that destination today? And that's something I love. And hopefully today you took an assessment on yourself. Hopefully you diagnosed where you were.   And hopefully you realize that the answer is not too far away from where you want it to be. Or maybe you're like, Kiera, I absolutely don't know. Well, great. Reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or go to our website, TheDentalATeam.com. Click on the book of call. And I will definitely happily chat with you and help you see where are you at and what's your next step and how we, or you can do it on your own can help you. But the answer is you're worth it. You deserve it. You deserve to be in that maturity prime optimized space of your life where there's calm, not chaos, where there's fun and joy rather than.   ⁓ the worry all the time. And again, no stage is permanent. None of them are. Everything is temporary. Everything only lasts for so long, but it's how can we make it last longer in the space we want to be rather than it deteriorating or not accelerating or crushing us before it even has a chance to begin. And that's something that I really love doing. So if we can help you at all, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. ⁓   Definitely so obsessed with making sure that you as a human being are taken care of, that you feel like there's someone championing for you and helping you out and making sure that you are taken care of. So reach out. ⁓ And if not, make sure you assess where you are and be committed to taking the next step. Great things truly never come from comfort zones. So get off that comfort zone, push yourself to the next level and know that ⁓ patience, teams, your life, your family, all of that's worth it. And you.   especially are worth it. And as always guys, I just adore you. I hope you have an amazing day today. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Wendy Davis joins to show to review the information surrounding the disappearance of her father, Dan Davis, on November 25th. Click for Instagram video. Click for more from Block Club Chicago.

Pat Brady, SVP of Mercury Public Affairs, former chairman for the Illinois Republican Party, and former federal and state prosecutor, joins Lisa Dent to discuss the death of Rob Reiner and President Trump’s public response to it on Truth Social. Then, Brady shares the results of the Georgia run-off election, indicating that Democrats have won […]

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Terry Savage, nationally syndicated money columnist, joins Lisa Dent to discuss her latest column addressing identity theft. She breaks down the steps people should take when they discover their accounts have been compromised and are at risk of identity theft. And, as always, she answers questions from listeners.

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Dr. Jim Adams, Chief Medical Officer of Northwestern Medicine, joins Lisa Dent to discuss several health topics. Dr. Adams addresses the medication used in the newly-passed ‘medical aid in dying’ bill. He shares the latest information about medical cannabis, and how 2025 has been a year of unraveling progress in health.

MaryGrace Sharp, Program Manager, Alzheimer’s Association, Illinois Chapter, joins Lisa Dent to share the five things we have learned about Alzheimer’s in 2025. Sharp reviews lifestyle changes that promote brain health, the first blood test for Alzheimer’s, a newly approved at-home option, and more.

Deborah Witzburg, Chicago Inspector General, joins Lisa Dent to discuss investigations into CPD misconduct. Witzburg calls the for the city of Chicago to have a “robust and transparent and predictable” police disciplinary system that instills trust in both the public and the police department. The “staggeringly complex disciplinary system” Witzburg explains, renders it opaque, both […]

Howard Tullman, American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, educator, writer, lecturer, and art collector, joins Lisa Dent to discuss his latest article, “Saving Your Way to Success: Why You Can’t Do It.”

Pendant l'Avent, Prie en Chemin nous propose de faire le travail intérieur qui nous permet d'accueillir la paix qui vient de Dieu. Aujourd'hui, nous sommes le mardi 16 décembre, de la 3ème semaine de l'Avent.Au début de ce temps de prière, je prends le temps de m'arrêter et de faire taire mes préoccupations pour me tourner vers Dieu. Je lui demande sa grâce, son aide, pour me rendre vraiment disponible à sa Parole durant le temps de prière que j'ai choisi de vivre avec... Chaque jour, retrouvez 12 minutes une méditation guidée pour prier avec un texte de la messe ! A retrouver sur l'application et le site www.prieenchemin.org. Musiques : Hosanna al Hijo de David de Lourdes C. Montgomery interprété par Lourdes C. Montgomery - Flor y canto © Creative Commons Youtube Audio Library.

Dr. Stephen Jumic, Hospital Medicine Specialist at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital, joins Lisa Dent to share the differences between the common cold, the flu, and COVID-19. Dr. Jumic explains the symptoms, and how they differ, of the common cold, influenza, and COVID-19. He details when people should take lingering symptoms seriously, urging vigilance to avoid […]

WGN Radio listener Wendy Nicholson joins Lisa Dent to share her own experiences with chronic illness and support for Illinois’ newly-passed ‘Right to Die’ bill. She answers questions from listeners concerning her condition and perspective.

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Hilary Jacobs Hendel, clinical social worker and author, joins Lisa Dent to share why some people cant say “I love you.”

In which Elle says "yeah" approximately two thousand times

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Dan Hampton, NFL Hall of Famer and host of the Hamp and O'B show, joins Lisa Dent to preview the Bears Week 14 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.

Dr. Trevor Lewis, Medical Director of Emergency Medicine of Cook County Health, joins Lisa Dent to discuss how people can take care of themselves during extreme cold weather. Dr. Lewis reviews the symptoms and warning signs of hypothermia and frost bite.

Patrick Chess, Director of Natural Resources for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, joins Lisa Dent to highlight the success of the three-year process of American Bison returning to Kane County for the first time in over 200 years. Chess shares the unique partnership that made the return possible to Kane County and features the […]

Karen Conti, Partner at Conti & Dolan, LLC, joins Lisa Dent to discuss the family of Krystal Rivera, killed in the line of duty last June, filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Rivera’s family claims that Rivera and Carlos Baker, her partner, were dating on and off again over the course of two years before Rivera […]

Ron Brown, news anchor for WGN Radio, joins Lisa Dent to share his weekly movie reviews. Brown shares his thoughts on Sorry Baby and The Mastermind. Then he reviews Golden Globe nominations.

Cathy and Tom Koch, Owners of Spice & Tea Exchange, joined Lisa Dent to share the importance of shopping at small businesses. The Kochs reflect on their experience as businesses owners over the first year in business. Located in Crystal Lake, Spice & Tea Exchange gives customers a chance to get the highest quality teas […]

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Julian Runge, Assistant Professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, joins Lisa Dent to discuss how negative ratings correlate to behavior.

Katie May, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer for PAWS Chicago, joins Lisa Dent to feature PAWS’ annual Holiday Adopt-a-Thon. May shares that along with walk-ins, families can fill out an adoption application to find the perfect fit. the PAWS’ Holiday Adopt-A-Thon begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday, December 14

Lou Manfredini joins Lisa Dent for Lou's To Do List, sponsored by Perma-Seal. Lou answers any questions you have about projects on your to-do lists.

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Philip Willink, Chair of the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board, joins Lisa Dent to discuss endangered species in Illinois. Willink shares the various species that are on the endangered list in Illinois ranging from plants to animals and even fish.

Senator Dick Durbin joins Lisa Dent to discuss his career and decision to not seek reelection. Sen. Durbin explains why he has not yet chosen to endorse a candidate in the Senate race. He says that his role in passing legislation prohibiting smoking on airplanes was one of the most influential accomplishments of his career […]

Pat Brady, former chairman for the Illinois Republican Party and a former federal and state prosecutor, joins Lisa Dent to talk about Michael Madigan filing for a pardon from President Trump.

Terry Savage, nationally syndicated money columnist, joins Lisa Dent to discuss her latest column discussing the cost of Medicare premiums. And, as always, she answers questions from listeners.

Caren Gertner, President & Managing Partner at the Law Office of Gertner & Gertner, joins Jon Hansen filling in for Lisa Dent to discuss property taxes. Gertner shares the process that Cook County uses to assess property taxes. She shares how people can appeal their property tax bills for 2026.

Rae Kaplan, Kaplan Law Firm LLC, joins Lisa Dent to discuss the latest announcement from the Department of Education stating that FAFSA would notify students of a school’s low earnings outcome. Kaplan shares that parents and students should be careful and strategic when picking potential colleges after high school.

Howard Tullman, American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, educator, writer, lecturer, and art collector, joins Lisa Dent to discuss his latest article, “If Your Customers Aren't Brand Ambassadors, You're Doing It Wrong“

WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Demetrius Ivory joins Lisa Dent to discuss the latest weather updates. He shares that the upcoming rain could leave the Chicagoland area with ice. Ivory talks about our snowfall totals so far this winter and gives the upcoming forecast.

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Ce mardi 9 décembre, le record d'excédent commercial de la Chine de janvier à novembre, Paris qui pousse l'UE à taxer Pékin sur le commerce, et la place de l'Europe dans la compétitivité internationale en matière d'IA, ont été abordés par Erwann Tison, chargé d'enseignement à l'université de Strasbourg, Olivier Babeau, président de l'Institut Sapiens, et Rafik Smati, fondateur de Louxor.ai et président du groupe Aventers, dans l'émission Les Experts, présentée par Raphaël Legendre sur BFM Business. Retrouvez l'émission du lundi au vendredi et réécoutez la en podcast.

From the BBC World Service: The latest economic data from China shows that while exports to the U.S. crashed over the past year, China's towering annual trade surplus surpassed $1 trillion for the first time last month. The data reveals what economists and Chinese officials have said for a while now: Chinese manufacturers can find other buyers. Then, lawmakers in France's divided parliament have been at odds for weeks over the country's budget.

From the BBC World Service: The latest economic data from China shows that while exports to the U.S. crashed over the past year, China's towering annual trade surplus surpassed $1 trillion for the first time last month. The data reveals what economists and Chinese officials have said for a while now: Chinese manufacturers can find other buyers. Then, lawmakers in France's divided parliament have been at odds for weeks over the country's budget.

Lou Manfredini joins Lisa Dent for Lou's To Do List, sponsored by Perma-Seal. Lou answers any questions you have about projects on your to-do lists.

David Hochberg, Vice President of Lending for Team Hochberg at Homeside Financial and host Home Sweet Home Chicago on WGN Radio, joins Lisa Dent discuss job numbers. Hochberg shares numbers made public by private payroll companies amid the Trump administration no longer releasing monthly statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistic. He reports that tariffs […]

Blake Montgomery, the star of the one man show Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs A Christmas Carol Again. He dips into character and gives a preview of what the audience can expect at Theater Wit.

Cecily Federighi, Owner of Pizz'Amici, joins Lisa Dent to discuss Pizz’Amici being one of the two Chicago restaurants named in Esquire’s Best New Restaurants list. Federighi shares the highs and lows of Pizz’Amici faced in its first year in business. You can visit Pizz’Amici at 1215 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60642.

Dan Hampton, NFL Hall of Famer and host of the Hamp and O'B show, joins Lisa Dent to preview the Bears Week 14 matchup against the Green Bay Packers.

Dr. Dana Varble, chief veterinary officer for the North American Veterinary Community, joins Lisa Dent to talk all things pets. Dr. Varble weighs in on why cats change the pitch or their meow based on the gender of their person. She answers questions about all things cats, and as always, any and all pet questions.

Lisa Dent checks in with the newsroom to hear their stories.

Ald. William Hall, 6th Ward, joins Lisa Dent to discuss his proposal to hold social media companies accountable for their role in ‘teen takeovers.’ He proposes an ordinance to fine social media companies for not following their own ‘community guidelines.’ Ald. Hall expresses that social media companies are not properly policing their platform, and they […]

Can you listen to a picture of the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice welcome back Chandra X-ray Observatory data-sonification expert Kim Arcand of the to explore how translating cosmic data into sound lets us sense the universe in entirely new ways. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/sounds-of-the-cosmos-with-kim-arcand/Thanks to our Patrons William Ash, Jonathan Bond, Frank Clowes, Aureus Griffith, Steven Tull, Jane, Rachel Banks, Dave, Colin Segovis, Danilo Alcantara, Nick Poulos, Val Teal, jr242, Kenny MacFarlane, LT From DC, A.J. Gonzalez, Aria Vaughn, Damion King, Aluarua Borealis, Thom Sturgill, Justin Perleoni, Elizabeth Fortier, Jagger Carter, FutureFear, AI, Aaron Hardy, GillaBreed42, Leah Stoker, Shayba Muhammad, Micheal Shepard, Jyri Körmöläinen, Christopher Boggs, Robert, Alwaleed Althani, sonja, Stephen Vyskocil, Luc Sr, Gina Boyd, Nathaniel Toups, Pam Floyd, Dent, Arthur Dent, Judie Stanley, Corey Therrien, Jay Lo, Bret, Matthias Beckmann, Girlgeek101, Alek Pyers, Wingo, Ricky G, Austin, Ian Simonson, Jennifer A Ford, Mark Shaefer, Stephen Karlson, Tyler Evans, Gabriel Najul, Evan F, Jeff Soner, Stiven Miranda, Joey Ostos, Lian, Deontae R, Brian Isaman, Chris Kempel, Mike Burns, Alicia Mendez, Dan Dial, Trey Hopkins, Nater Tater, Nata, Lynn Wladen, Allison T, Daniel Hall, Mick JB, Dick Cox, Yonatan Broder, Clayton Smith, DBP19, Justin Cooke, Braulio A Rivera, TurboShark, Tmac, Cory Hack, Nick Haner, Stephy B, Sophie, Will Atwood, Julie Bradley, Greg, Davey Qasem, Jeff, Malerie Corniea, Micki Thomas, and Will P. for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.