Podcasts about virtual summits

Listen in to the closing session of Petrus's Virtual Summit on AI in Fundraising as Andrew Robison, Sarah Rose, Matt Bond, and Rhen Hoehn answer live questions from attendees, including:→ How do you respond to employees who refuse to use AI?→ Are data centers and AI harmful to the environment?→ Will offloading tedious tasks to AI cause burnout by leaving staff only with emotionally taxing work?→ Is there a way to encourage AI adoption without undermining the dignity of workers doing replaceable tasks?

Our first-ever 6-figure launch started with a cold email I didn't respond to. Twice. The third time, I wrote back. A few months later, we ran a 3-day free virtual summit that drove $101,666 in revenue — with a $78,400 margin. This is the full breakdown of how it happened, what we'd do the same way again, and what we'd change. Joining me for this behind-the-scenes recap is Anna Reich, the integrator here on the Creator Science team. This was Anna's first launch — 3 and a half months into the job — and she was right in the middle of all of it. We ran this summit in partnership with a third-party team called After Harvest, who pitched us on the whole concept via cold email and worked on a 15% performance-based fee. In this episode, we talk about: The full mechanics: $101,666 in revenue, $23,300 in costs, and the exact offer stack that got us there What we'd absolutely do the same — the VIP ticket, aggressive email volume, and the live pitch with a day-2 bonus What we'd do differently — a simpler structure, a new webinar platform, and building the presentations before everything else The 80/20 version: what a stripped-down, repeatable launch playbook actually looks like By the end of this episode, you will have a clear-eyed view of how a virtual summit launch actually works from the inside — with all the numbers, the chaos, and the lessons on the table. Work with Sean and the After Harvest team Build a Beloved Membership — 50% off the self-paced version Full transcript and show notes *** TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Introduction: the first-ever 6-figure launch and what this episode covers (03:44) Registration and attendance numbers: 3,145 registered, 1,000+ live on day 1 (04:34) Revenue breakdown: $63K cohort, $9K upsell, $17K downsell, $11K VIP tickets (08:29) Cost breakdown: After Harvest's 15% deal, $1,800 in affiliates, $7,800 domain (10:01) Timeline: cold email in February to contract in April to summit in June (13:56) Things we'd do the same: VIP ticket, compelling web work, full offer stack (16:12) Why the $47 VIP ticket was the biggest surprise of the whole launch (20:54) The live day-2 pitch — 30 minutes, almost no drop-off, and why the bonus mattered (24:30) Things we'd do differently: simpler structure, drop WebinarJam, build launch capability in-house (36:24) The core mistake: building all the assets before locking the presentation content (42:10) The 80/20 version: what to lock in before you open registration (52:28) Skipping affiliates for high-ticket offers, and why one-click opt-ins backfired *** RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE #144: Bari Baumgardner – How to create the perfect 3-day event (IRL or virtually)#191: Breaking down my $60,723 product launch *** ASK CREATOR SCIENCE Submit your question here *** WHEN YOU'RE READY

Once again, this week's episode is a recording of Petrus Development's recent Virtual Summit on AI In Fundraising.  This live discussion with our fundraising experts demonstrates practical uses of AI tools for common fundraising tasks.Specific examples of AI in fundraising include the following:Annual Fund demonstrations included efforts like planning a communications calendar, searching through testimonials, drafting a newsletter article, and repurposing newsletter content for social media channels.Major Gifts demonstrations included developing a meeting prep brief for a donor visit, determining an ask amount for a donor, and organization donor notes after a visit.Project management demonstrations included developing a gala plan, drafting event communications, and creating committee agendas.

4X Growth While Everyone Watched Their Inbox Die. Want to actually make money with AI instead of just talking about it? Join me and Seb Sharp for The Recruiting Agents Workshop, August 25th and 26th. Two live build-along sessions where you will create your own autonomous lead agent and placement agent, connect your entire tech stack, and walk away with recordings, templates, and a week of Slack access to Seb. Grab your spot: https://the-recruiting-agents-workshop.heysummit.com/ And mark your calendar for the Finish The Year Strong 2026 Virtual Summit, September 28th through October 5th. The best in the industry sharing exactly how they plan to close out the year on top so you can do the same. Register free: https://recruiters-finish-the-year-strong.heysummit.com/ This episode is brought to you by Atlas, the CRM that actually understands context. Atlas captures every interview, client call, LinkedIn message, email, and WhatsApp automatically, then tells you the next action to take. Atlas customers are reporting 50 percent higher candidate response rates, 35 percent more new clients won, and 15 hours saved every week. Check it out at https://recruitwithatlas.com/ Everyone watched their inbox die. The cold emails that used to land now get deleted in half a second because hiring managers can smell AI from a mile away. While most agencies doubled down on the very channel that was failing them, Brian Abrams took his boutique project management staffing firm in the completely opposite direction. He went old school. Real handshakes, real conversations, real presence. The result? He 4Xd his revenue over the last few years, and he now attributes 30 to 40 percent of his gross profit to one channel almost no staffing firm takes seriously: industry conferences. In this episode Brian lays out his entire conference playbook with zero secrets held back. You will hear the four part system he has refined over a decade: how he builds his year long conference slate and decides which events actually deserve his marketing dollars, the pre work almost nobody does including the exact no pressure LinkedIn message he sends 30 days out, how he works the floor and captures every quality conversation before it evaporates, and the follow up cadence that turned a thirty second booth chat into one of his biggest clients ever. You will also hear the story behind the legendary Run PMO shirts, why 1,500 of them disappear by day two of every conference, the moment a flight attendant asked Brian if he had just come from a concert, and the sneak peek at what his team is bringing to Detroit this fall. Plus the honest stuff: the mistakes that cost him money, the booth tactics that flopped, why being memorable beats being everywhere, and his advice for any recruiter thinking about going out on their own. If your BD strategy is drowning in an ocean of ignored AI messages, this is the episode that shows you the door everyone else forgot exists. Because while your competitors fight for inbox attention, the decision makers are standing right there at the conference in your niche, waiting to meet someone real. Finish The Year Strong 2026 Virtual Summit: https://recruiters-finish-the-year-strong.heysummit.com/ The Recruiting Agents Workshop: https://the-recruiting-agents-workshop.heysummit.com/

Sal the Agorist is joining us at the Exit and Build Virtual Summit 2 on August 8th... so we're replaying one of our best conversations with him to get you ready. In this episode we get into what agorism actually means and why Sal thinks politics can't ever produce freedom, no matter who wins the next election. He breaks down the counter-economy... entrepreneurial noncompliance... and why every regulation they pass just creates ten new ways around it. Sal will be one of our speakers at the Exit and Build Virtual Summit 2 — Strategy Edition, happening online August 8th. Register free below.

Al #009 If you've tuned in to last week's AskLiz session, you know I'm big on partnerships as the number one way to grow your email list and brand. Today's episode is very much meant to drive that point home with an interesting collaboration idea coming from Allan Ngo of DigitalSolopreneur.com! If you have a talk lined up at a virtual summit, can you partner up with some of the other speakers for win-win cross-promotion? I absolutely love this line of thought! But how do you pull it off without appearing self-interested or sleazy? Listen in on this quick session for my thoughts on how I would approach a virtual summit opportunity like this! I'll share the exact DM I'd send out proposing no-brainer partnerships and the top ways to leverage this kind of networking for targeted growth. Enjoy, and please keep sending your questions in at SpeakPipe.com/LizWilcox! Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/al009.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're back with something different this week!  We just hosted our first Virtual AI Summit at Petrus, and we're excited to share the panel discussion with you on the Petrus Development Show. As AI becomes more prevelant in our lives, Andrew and Petrus leaders a lot of time discussing the role of AI in Catholic fundraising.  Specifically, how can we, as faithful Catholics, use AI for good?  This panel discussion unpacks how Catholic fundraisers can approach AI responsibly in light of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Panelists discuss:- Their own journey of learning and using AI - Their biggest takeaway is from Magnifica Humanitas - Whether the Catholic church is ready to embrace AI - Predications about where AI is heading in coming months and years

Have a membership and wondering if a summit will actually work for your specific situation? In this episode, I'm going a layer deeper than just "yes, summits work for memberships" and breaking down the specific types of memberships where results are just... on another level. If you've been on the fence about whether your membership is the right fit for a summit strategy, this episode will give you your answer. For show notes, head to https://summithosthangout.com/327

Have a membership and wondering if a summit will actually work for your specific situation? In this episode, I'm going a layer deeper than just "yes, summits work for memberships" and breaking down the specific types of memberships where results are just... on another level. If you've been on the fence about whether your membership is the right fit for a summit strategy, this episode will give you your answer. For show notes, head to https://summithosthangout.com/327

Trying to pick the perfect tech platform for your summit is a big source of stress and decision paralysis for hosts. Should you use Kajabi? Thrivecart? HeySummit? Something else entirely? In this episode, Sharee Collier (who's hosted summits on ALL three platforms) breaks down exactly when each platform makes sense. You'll discover the unique advantage of HeySummit that you won't find anywhere else, why Thrivecart might be your best starting point, and the simple framework for choosing your tech without the overwhelm. For show notes, head to https://summithosthangout.com/326

This week on "Off The Cuff," Melanie is joined by Karen and Nalia to discuss the two active lawsuits against the Department of Education's (ED) final rule on loan programs. Karen explains what the lawsuits entail, where states, nursing and physician assistant organizations argue against ED's definition of "professional" degree programs, which will be subject to higher loan limits compared to graduate degree programs. Nalia then walks listeners through the House's fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget proposal, along with other details from the House Appropriations Committee's recent markup. From there, Karen gives a quick update from ED regarding the FPS C Flag associated with Comment Code 352. Melanie closes the episode by highlighting and detailing sessions of NASFAA's National Conference, which is nearly two weeks away, and NASFAA's Virtual Summit, which is set for July. 

If you have been sensing a new season in your spirit but cannot quite step into it yet — this episode is for you.I am pulling back the curtain on the Women Who Arise Summit happening Tuesday, June 9th and giving you a sneak peek at everything we have planned for this FREE one-day live virtual experience. We are talking identity breakthroughs, tactical business strategy, real stories from women who are actually building online, and a full day designed to fill you from the inside out.If you are a Holy Spirit-led woman coach, course creator or ministry leader who is ready to stop waiting for confirmation and finally arise into what God called you to build — you do not want to miss this.Register for free at https://www.wildandradiant.com/womenwhoarise — no replays, live only!

Chris Holman welcomes Brad Zaun, Acting Regional Administrator, US SBA - Small Business Administration, headquartered in Chicago, IL. Who was traveling in Iowa that day. Welcome, Brad. Bring us up to speed on your business, political, and SBA career? SBA's National Small Business Week has been around for more than 60 years. Why does this recognition still matter, and what message does it send to entrepreneurs today? This year includes a free Virtual Summit with business tips and strategies. What practical value can small business owners expect to gain by participating? Small businesses continue to face challenges around capital, workforce, and growth. What themes are you hearing most from entrepreneurs right now during this year's observance? The SBA highlights award winners during National Small Business Week. What do those success stories tell us about innovation and resilience in today's small business economy? Tell us about the Michigan Matchmaker event set for June 5th in Warren, Michigan? » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Watch MBN's YouTube: www.youtube.com/@MichiganbusinessnetworkMBN » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/

Recorded at the EMARKETER Creator Trends 2026 Virtual Summit, this panel explores how creator video is opening new territory for brands on CTV.  EMARKETER Analyst, Emmy Liederman along with Nicole Marcus, Manager of Influencer Strategy at Dick's Sporting Goods and Allison O'Keefe, Senior Manager, Influencer and Creator Marketing at Best Buy, discuss how to shape programming cadence, package content for bigger screens, measure ROI, ensure brand safety and suitability, and build partnerships that make the most of this expanding format. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.   Subscribe to EMARKETER's newsletters. Go to https://www.emarketer.com/newsletters   Follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/   For sponsorship opportunities, contact us: advertising@emarketer.com   For more information, visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/   Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com    For a transcript of this episode, click here: https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-new-creator-video-play-moving-shorts-ctv-behind-numbers-special-edition   © 2026 EMARKETER

In this special edition episode recorded at the EMARKETER Creator Trends 2026 Virtual Summit, you will learn how shoppable video, retail media integrations, storefronts, and affiliate programs are reshaping the journey, and the metrics and org models needed to make always-on creator commerce truly work. Minda Smiley, Senior Analyst at EMARKETER hosts a panel with Cory Weaver, Head of Influence at Gap, Inc. and Alexis Call, Director of Digital Merchandising and Site Experience at Stanley 1913. Listen everywhere you find podcasts and watch on YouTube and Spotify.   Subscribe to EMARKETER's newsletters. Go to https://www.emarketer.com/newsletters   Follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emarketer/   For sponsorship opportunities, contact us: advertising@emarketer.com   For more information, visit: https://www.emarketer.com/advertise/   Have questions or just want to say hi? Drop us a line at podcast@emarketer.com    For a transcript of this episode, click here: https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcast-creators-meet-commerce-how-they-guide-customers-inspiration-checkout-behind-numbers-special-edition   © 2026 EMARKETER

In this eye-opening episode, host Ashish Kothari sits down with positive psychology expert Llewellyn van Zyl to confront the double-edged sword of Artificial Intelligence. As AI shifts from a productivity tool to a source of "psychological support," we explore the thin line between technology that empowers us and technology that erodes our core human faculties. Whether you are a business leader, a mental health professional, or a curious tech user, this conversation matters because it defines the exact moment we must choose to remain the architects of our own flourishing before the algorithms do it for us.Main Topics CoveredHyperpersonalization vs. Scaling: How AI can provide granular, 1:1 care at a global scale.The "Friendship" Trap: A look at the ethical fallout when users become emotionally addicted to empathic AI models.Substitution vs. Support: The critical distinction between tools that help us grow and those that make our cognitive "muscles" atrophy.The Erosion of Agency: Why outsourcing our reasoning to AI might lead to a loss of autonomy and critical thinking.The AI-IARA Framework: An introduction to Llewellyn's model for psychologically safe AI design (Awareness, Interpretation, Intention, Action, Relational Agency, and Autonomy).The Future of the Psychology Profession: Why practitioners must learn the language of engineers to remain relevant.The AI and Future of Well-being Summit: A preview of the upcoming global gathering of experts.Key TakeawaysSkills are Muscles: When we outsource basic tasks like writing, spelling, or reasoning to AI, we don't just save time—we physically lose the cognitive capacity to perform those skills through "frictionless" living.Guard Against Engagement-Only Models: Much like social media, AI systems optimized for "eyeballs" rather than "impact" risk creating dependency and addiction rather than genuine flourishing.Demand Technological Humility: It is vital for professionals to admit what they don't know about AI to prevent harm and ensure that human-centric values are built into the "behavioral architecture" of new tools.Prioritize Agency: True well-being is the ability to write your own life story. We must ensure AI remains a partner in that process, not the author.Episode Chapters00:00 - 00:52 Introduction to Flourishing Edge00:53 - 02:04 Hyperpersonalization: The Future of Well-being02:05 - 06:02 The Ethics of AI Friendship and Emotional Dependency06:03 - 09:05 Moving Beyond the "Engagement" Business Model09:06 - 15:06 The Continuum: Substitution vs. Support15:07 - 18:03 Cognitive Atrophy and Technological Humility18:04 - 24:14 Llewellyn's Journey: From Clinical Burnout to Precision Well-being24:15 - 31:42 Why Tech Needs Psychologists (and Vice-Versa)31:43 - 40:20 Preview: AI and the Future of Well-being Summit40:21 - 46:22 Deep Dive into the AIR Framework46:23 - 50:25 Three Actionable Tips for Using AI Mindfully50:26 - 54:19 Rapid Fire Questions and Closing RemarksConnect with the GuestLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/llewellynvanzyl/IPPA's Virtual Summit on AI and the Future of Wellbeing (Late March): http://aisummit.ippanetwork.org/ (Use code for 10% discount)Connect with the HostWebsite: https://happinesssquad.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishkothari1/Book: https://happinesssquad.com/book/If this episode challenged the way you look at your smartphone, don't keep it to yourself! Follow The Flourishing Edge, like this episode, and share it with a friend who is navigating the world of AI.Happiness Squad Website: https://happinesssquad.com/Ashish Kothari: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishkothari1/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/happiness-squadFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/myhappinesssquad/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhappinesssquad

UNLOCK THE 13 SYSTEMS EVERY AGENCY OWNER NEEDS TO REACH 8 FIGURES:https://bit.ly/41Sm05NIn this episode, Jordan Ross sits down with Kevin Sanderson, founder of LGN Marketing, to break down how agency owners can generate thousands of qualified leads by hosting virtual summits — without paid ads.Kevin shares the exact playbook he used to help build an 8-figure Amazon agency and how he leveraged 15–20 influential speakers to “borrow” their email lists and audiences. The result? Nearly 1,100 targeted agency owners registered for a single event.They walk through the full strategy step-by-step — from identifying your ideal audience and recruiting high-leverage speakers, to building a follow-up funnel that converts summit attendees into long-term clients.The conversation also covers how to structure your summit for maximum list growth, how to use social proof and leaderboards to increase speaker promotion, and why the real money is made in the backend nurturing sequence.This episode is a must-listen for:Digital marketing agency owners looking to grow their email list fastFounders who want to generate qualified leads without relying on paid adsOperators exploring webinars, virtual summits, or audience partnershipsAgencies focused on building long-term list equity⏱️ Podcast Chapters– Why Virtual Summits Are a Million-Dollar Growth Lever– Choosing the Right ICP for Your Event– How to Recruit Influential Speakers– Building the Funnel, Swipe Copy & Tracking Links– Using Social Proof & Leaderboards to Drive Promotion– The Backend Strategy: VIP Offers & List Nurture– Turning Summit Attendees into Long-Term ClientsKevin's Workbook – https://lgnmarketing.com/workbookKevin's LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-sanderson-profile/To learn more go to 8figureagency.co

“You deserve it.”In this episode of Inside the Vault with Ash Cash, 7-figure speaker Jeremy Anderson delivers one of the most raw and spiritually charged conversations we've ever had.From selling drugs and running nightclubs… To losing everything… To becoming a man of faith… To generating seven figures in a single year as a speaker…Jeremy shares how your pain, your story, your obedience, and your faith are directly connected to your abundance.This episode dives deep into:Why faith and finance are under spiritual attackWhy so many people are afraid to monetize their giftsHow communication creates currencyThe “Donut Run” strategy that helped speakers land $4K–$5K checksHow AI is transforming the speaking industryWhy abundance is your birthrightHow Jeremy's nonprofit feeds 1,000 children weekly and has put 60+ students through collegeIf you've been doubting your future… If you've been questioning your assignment… If you know you have something inside you but haven't monetized it yet…This episode is your confirmation.Register for the FREE 3-Day Communicate & Captivate Virtual Summit: TheVaultSpeakers.comFollow Jeremy Anderson: @onejeremyanderson Follow Ash Cash: @iamashcash Follow Inside the Vault: @insidethevaultInside the Vault — The Greatest Money Mindset Show on the Planet.⏱ TIMESTAMPS00:00 – You've Got Something Inside You 00:33 – From the Streets to Purpose 02:33 – Communication Creates Currency 04:38 – The Spiritual War: Faith & Finance 07:46 – Why God's People Fear Charging 10:27 – Eric Thomas & High-Level Speaking Fees 12:23 – Why the 3-Day Summit Is Free 15:13 – First Step to Monetizing Your Pain 18:15 – Losing Everything & Hitting Reset 19:48 – Becoming a 7-Figure Speaker 20:52 – Feeding 1,000 Kids Every Week 23:01 – Stop Playing Small — It's Bigger Than You 25:00 – Real Students Making Six & Seven Figures 28:19 – If the Enemy Makes You Doubt, He Wins 30:16 – Character, Obedience & Alignment 34:18 – What You'll Learn at the Virtual Summit 39:09 – 97 Years of Speaking Game 40:38 – The “Donut Run” Strategy Explained 45:12 – Using AI to Build a Client Avatar 47:03 – VIP Access & Live Q&A Sessions 50:05 – Hold On Just a Little While Longer 53:32 – Obedience Unlocks Abundance 56:13 – Register Now 57:53 – Where to Follow JeremyAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Most virtual summits generate attention. Very few generate real revenue. In this episode of Productive & Paid, I sit down with Gemma Bonham Carter to break down exactly how she built a virtual summit that generated $90,000 in year one — without using it as a back-end launch. We talk real numbers. Real pricing decisions. Real strategy. If you've ever considered hosting a summit to grow your email list, increase revenue, or build authority, this episode walks through what works and what doesn't. You'll learn: The pricing change that reduced revenue — and what she's doing differently next time What she did to increase her average cart value without raising the main ticket price The timeline and preparation required to launch a profitable virtual summit We also touch on how Gemma is building AI assistants to streamline her backend systems and how she structured her digital offers to support a year living in Paris with her family. This is a tactical conversation about monetizing a virtual summit the smart way. Topics Covered Virtual summit pricing strategy Early bird pricing vs live event pricing Increasing average cart value in digital events Sponsorship revenue for online events Building email list growth through summits Using ads to scale digital product revenue Leveraging evergreen funnels alongside live launches AI assistants for business automation Structuring a lifestyle-first digital business   Listen to The Course Creator Show Visit: https://gemmabonhamcarter.com Follow on Instagram: @gemma.bonhamcarter  

RECORDED FEBRUARY 12, 2026How does AAPC keep exams aligned with new code sets each year? And why is exam integrity so critical to protecting the reputation of CPC credential holders? In this episode of Social Hour, AAPC Senior Director of Content Katherine Abel joins us to discuss:• How exams and curriculum are updated annually with new code sets• Why maintaining exam integrity matters for every credential holder• Physical books vs. eBooks — what members should considerWe're also joined by National Advisory Board members Ellen Hinkle and Missy Kirshner, who share the latest on AAPC's Virtual Summits — free to members and a great opportunity to earn CEUs.If you value the strength and credibility of your credential, this is a conversation worth watching.AAPC Virtual Summit: https://aapc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jKwVlKcdQT6bq32qgTOfoQ#aapcsocialhour #medicalcoding #aapc #cpc

In The EA Campus Ep87, we're talking about something that sits at the heart of the EA–Executive relationship. Decision-making, and knowing when to act without constantly checking in.As Executive Assistants, we're expected to move work forward, protect priorities, and reduce pressure on our executive. In The EA Campus Ep87, Nicky Christmas explores how judgement, problem-solving, and clear processes help EAs build trust through everyday decisions.This conversation is grounded in real EA work. Inbox management. Calendar decisions. Priorities. Access. The moments where you pause and wonder whether to decide or check in.You'll hear why over-checking often creeps in, even for experienced EAs, and how executives actually experience repeated confirmation requests. In The EA Campus Ep87, we look at how trust is built through consistency rather than big moments.Nicky shares practical ways to strengthen your decision-making using context, past experience, and an understanding of what genuinely moves work forward. This includes what to do when a decision doesn't land as expected, and how to recover without retreating into over-checking.One of the key themes in the episode is what changes once your Executive fully trusts how you think and work. Autonomy increases. Your role becomes clearer. You're managing work end-to-end rather than relaying decisions.We also explore how this level of trust affects influence. You're involved earlier. Your recommendations carry more weight. Others begin to see your role differently because of how consistently you operate.Beyond the relationship itself, The EA Campus Ep87 looks at how confident decision-making shapes your day-to-day work. Fewer check-ins. Clearer ownership. Less second-guessing. More focus on solving problems that matter.If you're an EA who wants to feel more confident making decisions, especially in fast-moving or high-pressure environments, The EA Campus Ep87 will feel very familiar.We also reference current EA Campus training throughout the episode, including our Virtual Summit on 27 January and upcoming AI masterclasses in January and February, all designed to support better decision-making in real EA workflows. The EA Campus

Send us a textIn this enlightening episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we sit down with the multi-talented Angie Dixon, an author, summit host, artist, and proud neurospicy individual. Angie shares her journey through creativity and neurodivergence, discussing her upcoming book, "The Leonardo Trait," set to release on January 27th, which explores profound creativity in a chaotic world. She delves into her unique approach to hosting an email-based summit, making it accessible for everyone, especially those who may struggle with traditional formats. Angie explains the concept of the "Leonardo Trait," a term she coined to describe the multifaceted nature of creative individuals who may feel overwhelmed by their own brilliance. We also tackle important topics such as autistic masking, burnout, and the challenges faced by multi-passionate creatives in conventional work environments. Angie's insights offer valuable advice for those navigating their own creative paths and seeking to embrace their authentic selves. Don't miss this inspiring conversation that champions the beauty of being different and the power of self-acceptance. Learn more about Angie and her work at profoundcreativity.com.Support the show

“I woke up one day and my whole world was spinning—and it hasn't stopped since.” I'd love to introduce you to Juli, a Vestibular Group Fit member! She's here to tell you her story—including:How she waited over 3 years to be seen by a neurologist.What she got out of last year's Vestibular Virtual Summit.And how she flew to Vegas for a trip this year! I know it can be so supportive to hear other peoples' success stories of being able to successfully live—and thrive—with a vestibular disorder. These are some of my favorite conversations to have! In this episode, we'll dig into: Juli's backstory & her experience with chronic dizziness Her very recent vestibular disorder diagnosis How Juli knew something was wrong What type of treatment Juli has had since her diagnosis What Juli wants others to know about the VNG balance test What led Juli to Dr Madison & VGF The importance of identifying your triggers How VGF has positively impacted Juli's life What Juli does regularly to build a bigger bucket How Juli started to ask for help & build a support system “I'm not alone, there's a community in Vestibular Group Fit.” You're likely already doing some things right, just like Juli with her toolkit (before she knew they were a real thing). In VGF, you get to build on that!  In group, you discover new tools to add to that toolkit, better advice for your unique situation, and you're able to rebuild that self-trust that's been eroded by time and healthcare providers telling you “nothing is wrong” when clearly—there is. Hope to see you in there! Links Mentioned: Join Vestibular Group Fit (code GROUNDED at checkout for 15% off!): https://thevertigodoctor.com/vestibular-group-fit Join Vestibular Virtual Summit Waitlist (alumni can get tickets for a discount until the 31st or when they run out): https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/vvs-2026 Marina, @parentingwithmigraine: https://www.instagram.com/parentingwithmigraine/ Juli, @mind.over.migraine_: https://www.instagram.com/mind.over.migraine_ Related Episodes: When to use the Epley Maneuver: https://thevertigodoctor.com/podcast/107-epley-maneuver-to-treat-bppv-vertigo/ Free Resources: ⁠The 4 Steps to Managing Vestibular Migraine: https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/cb5js0y78n ⁠The PPPD Management Masterclass⁠: https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/new-pppd ⁠What your Partner Should Know About Living with Dizziness⁠: https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/partnership ⁠The FREE Mini VGFit Workout⁠: https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/minifit ⁠The FREE POTS – safe Workouts⁠: https://thevertigodoctor.myflodesk.com/pots Connect with Dr. Madison (@TheVertigoDoctor): https://instagram.com/thevertigodoctor Work with Dr. Madison: For 1:1 Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy, email madison@thevertigodoctor.com Otherwise, I'll see ya in Vestibular Group Fit! Connect with Dr. Jenna (@dizzy.rehab.therapist): https://www.instagram.com/dizzy.rehab.therapist/ Learn about the Oak Method: http://thevertigodoctor.com/why-vestibular-group-fit Love what you heard?Consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform to help us reach more vestibular warriors like you! This podcast is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here. ————————————— client success story, chronic dizziness, living with a vestibular disorder, VGF, vestibular group fit, neurologist, vestibular migraine, PPPD, anxiety and dizziness, vertigo, Epley maneuver, vng balance test, drugs for vestibular migraine, natural treatment options for vestibular migraine, migraine triggers, the bucket theory, migraine brain

Most summit hosts worry they're not enough of an expert to host an event in their niche. But what if I told you that you could build an entire business around summits in topics where you have zero personal experience? Dr. Destini Copp is doing exactly that with Hobby Scool. She's hosting monthly summits on knitting, painting, quilting, and holiday crafts (hobbies she's never actually done) and building it into a business she plans to sell for over $1 million by the end of 2027. In this episode, you'll hear how she went from a vacation domain purchase to a systematized summit business, why being the "connector" matters more than being the expert, and what to consider from day one if you want to build something you can eventually sell. For show notes, head to https://summithosthangout.com/314

January often starts with good intentions. New plans, new priorities, and a quiet expectation that you'll somehow be more organised, more productive, and more on top of everything than ever before.In this episode, Nicky Christmas kicks off the 2026 season of The EA Campus Podcast by tackling something foundational for Executive Assistants. Clarity around responsibility.This episode is about the day-to-day reality of the EA role. The tasks that quietly creep in. The decisions you're expected to make without authority. The mental load of holding context, chasing actions, and keeping everything moving. And how all of that shapes how productive, effective, and confident you feel in your role.You'll hear:Why responsibility often expands without anyone deliberately deciding it shouldThe three types of responsibility most EAs carry, whether they realise it or notHow unclear responsibility affects productivity, expectation setting, and your day-to-day workloadWhat an alignment conversation with your executive actually looks like, and how to structure it using real examples rather than vague feelingsA simple responsibility reset exercise you can do this week to get clearer on what you own, what's shared, and what needs a conversationNicky also references several EA Campus resources during the episode, which you can explore here:Job description and role clarity resources: https://theeacampus.com/tag/career-development/ https://theeacampus.com/resources/job-description/EA task and competency lists: https://theeacampus.com/resources/task-list/Tools and tech masterclasses: https://theeacampus.com/masterclass/Virtual Summit taking place on 27 January: https://theeacampus.com/virtual-summit/This episode sets the tone for the year ahead. Before new tools, new systems, or new productivity frameworks, it starts with clarity. Because knowing what you're responsible for is the foundation for how you work, how you partner with your executive, and what a good day actually looks like.If this episode resonates, share it with another EA who might need it right now, and make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss what's coming next. The EA Campus

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! The Dental A-Team is joined by Dr. Nate Tilman! Fascinating history aside (read his bio below), Dr. Tilman talks with Kiera about his unique dental practice situation, how he's managed to merge five different practices into his own, and a strategy for doing so. He also speaks to the shifting of culture in his practice, what it took for him to recognize, and the success it's brought. More on Dr. Tilman: Originally from Salisbury, Maryland, Dr. Tilman attended Wake Forest University for his undergraduate degree. He was awarded his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Maryland where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2001. Dr. Tilman served in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps for four years, including two years forward deployed aboard USS Ashland (LSD 48). Following his military service, Dr. Tilman moved to Newport, Rhode Island, in 2007 and opened Newport Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. He has had the pleasure to work with an amazing team and amazing patients in creating a state-of-the art, caring, and comfortable dental practice. His commitment to incorporating advanced technologies and techniques allows Dr. Tilman and his team to provide dental treatment in fewer visits and more comfortably than with traditional techniques. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: speaker-0 (00:05) Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you.   Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A-Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.   Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys. I love podcasts where I get to bring on offices that I just think are fantastic. So this is an office that we have worked with in the Dental A Team. Also fun fact, he is in the smallest state in the entire United States. So you all know me and my state traveling. His state is one of my hardest states to get to every year, because it's so tiny and it's so far away from me. But he's just one of the best people I've ever met. He's an incredible leader, incredible dentist, incredible just   good human. So I'm so glad and so excited to welcome Dr. Nate Tilman to the show. How are you today, Nate?   speaker-1 (01:27) I am great. Thank you. Thank you. I'm super excited to be here. ⁓ as you know, I've been a fan of the podcast for, know, pretty much since you started. And it's kind of like, it's kind of surreal being, you know, being on, being on the podcast. So I appreciate, appreciate the offer.   speaker-0 (01:44) Well, I love it. love to one it's fun. Thank you for being a podcast fan I mean it's almost coming up on three years of the podcast since we created it and I never would have thought that the podcast could connect me with such cool people so one thank you for being a podcast listener and two things are just being a rad person I I liked the podcast has become a fun passion project for me to meet people to hear their stories   So I kind of alluded to it. You're also doing something similar to Dr. Dave Mogadon, who was on the podcast about those chart ⁓ mergers and buyouts that's kind of helped with your growth, but kind of just tell the listeners like how you even got into dentistry and kind of what your growth trajectory has been, just so they kind of know as a background to today's podcast.   speaker-1 (02:28) Yeah, I'll try not to ramble too much about it. yeah, I went to always wanted to do something in healthcare. My grandfather was a public health physician is a big inspiration for me. So kind of I think it's midway through college decided dentistry is gonna be a really good fit, you know, for a number of reasons. Went to University of Maryland for dental school, loved it decided to stay in general dentistry for   you know, all the variety of what we do. was on a Navy scholarship, so I was able to spend the first four years as a practicing dentist in the Navy. ⁓ Two years I was on a ship as the only dentist. So it was a really good, didn't realize like how helpful an experience that was for like running us an organization, even though it was an organization of three.   speaker-0 (03:14) Yeah, but I also feel like let's just talk about the Navy real fast because I didn't know this about you and my husband and I were literally talking probably two days ago and he said I don't think I ever could do the Navy like put me on a ship with these people for so long and dump me in the middle of the ocean like nowhere to go no hiking like what do you even do? How how was that? feel like more than anything it would teach you mental stamina is what I think I would learn from being on the Navy. But how was it for you? Maybe maybe you guys go swimming every day. I don't know like what do you do all day?   speaker-1 (03:43) Definitely not at all. it was, the two years on the ship was very, it's a super unique experience. And we were a small ship, 400 sailors. We transported Marines. So I was responsible for pretty much 400 patients. had, it was me, I had an administrative assistant and I had two dental technicians that could do some basic hygiene, not a hygienist, but it was me. ⁓   So having to learn like managing supplies and, know, managing appointments and all of that stuff. But the unique thing as a, as a dentist, and mean, this is one year out of a, you know, my GPR. still I was safe, but didn't really know necessarily all what I was doing, but I love to get myself out of jams because middle of the ocean, like. Mid procedure. I'm not going to be the guy calling a helicopter, you know, you got to work through it. So.   speaker-0 (04:40) They're like awesome because it's gonna push your limits and you've got to just figure it out Which I think so many dentists when they do own they don't learn that stamina that stress like hey, it's you figure it out But you're like the odds are even stacked more you're in the middle of the ocean and I mean it would been a pretty cool story for me maybe not for you to hear like a helicopter to come get a patient because you botched a root canal or something like you'd have to figure that out, but that that doesn't definitely up your odds of intensity   for sure being out there and nobody else is there to help you. You're the man. You got to figure it all out.   speaker-1 (05:13) Yeah. And I think it's, while it would have been nice to, you know, if I'd had a situation like, know, where I had a mentor, another dentist I was working with, you know, to be able to bail out, like it have been helpful, but it really, it did, it gave me a lot of, a lot of confidence, um, you know, early on for like, can work my way through this. And then also like what things I don't want to do. Cause I don't want to get stuck in that position again. Yeah. And it was, and yeah, while I didn't have to helicopter anybody out, one of the things I did do, and I don't think at the time, nobody had ever really.   speaker-0 (05:34) True.   speaker-1 (05:42) done it from a small ship or the even smaller ships around us that there were two times where people had some dental emergencies that I was able to fly out to their ship and take care of them.   speaker-0 (05:52) No way. Well, you do have like built in planes. You travel anywhere. So it's like quick, like fly you in, but that's crazy. Cause you ma I can't even imagine the stress that those poor other dentists were feeling of like we're in the middle of here. Like what am I supposed to do? ⁓ I guess call someone else. So, I mean, we talk about dentistry and I've said this so many times, like, feel like dental practices are like these solo islands out there. All y'all just kind of hang in your own area. You literally were in the middle of the ocean flying solo.   speaker-1 (06:22) Yeah. That's crazy. It was fun. There wasn't a ton of dentistry to do. I, know, cool thing with the Navy, they give you other jobs. So I became an air traffic controller. So I was in charge of, you know, all of the flight operations on the ship. so between that and dentistry, it me pretty busy. And then I played a of video games, you know,   speaker-0 (06:41) I'm like, I would be pulling pranks. mean, just throughout COVID, my husband, he makes fun of me. I feel like a roaming tiger in these four walls of our house. Like sometimes I'm like, just let me out of here. Like I can't even handle it. I'm like, I gotta go for a run. I gotta go for a hike that I can't even imagine being on a ship. would be like, I know I'd be pulling pranks on every single person on that ship and just like running for my life. Cause I probably would torment everybody, but air traffic control that like you really went for all the things, Nate, dentistry and air traffic controller.   What don't they say those are the top two suicide jobs? Like you really went for the whole extreme there. Nice job.   speaker-1 (07:15) Well, that's that's like when they selected me to go to the school for our traffic control. What are you guys trying to tell me? You already know I'm a dentist.   speaker-0 (07:23) Gosh, that's crazy. So you were in the Navy and then you went, got out of the Navy. Did you go straight to private practice? Did you go in and be an associate?   speaker-1 (07:32) So I was an associate for a year, still in the Virginia Beach area and then moved to Rhode Island. My wife is, we met in college, I'm two years older, so she was awesome for following me around. then, ⁓ so when she was done with her residency, she's from New England, so we kinda, that's where we looked up here. And I'll tell you, Virginia Beach area, super easy to get a job as an associate, tons of positions around, I figured it'd be the same thing coming up here and there was nothing.   speaker-0 (08:00) mean,   Rhode Island is like the size of a dot on a map. I mean, it's itty bitty, which I makes you a celebrity just because you live there. Like, not many people even live there, so.   speaker-1 (08:11) Yeah, it's in and it's there's there's a number of dentists, but it's it's all solo guys and it's tough like restricted covenants. You know you get a two mile radius. That's the whole state.   speaker-0 (08:21) Exactly   exactly that is you definitely have to look at your associate ships of their contracts really closely Otherwise, you might be booting out of that state just because like you said two mile radius is not far in Rhode Island   speaker-1 (08:34) Not at all. So I ended up having an opportunity to a it's like a four operatory practice, like three, I think two and a half, three days a week. The guy was definitely like on the decline of practice. So jumped into that, had no idea what I was doing. And then six months later, was approached by another dentist who was moving from the area. I think it was a family thing too. And he was having trouble getting somebody to buy   his practice Rhode Island. It's not many dentists moved to the state for a number of reasons. So again, I was still trying to figure out how I was paying my initial loan and how I was running this practice or whatever. the opportunity to buy, to merge this, the patient base. So I did that and it was definitely the best thing I did because it brought in a whole new group of patients. I was able to go from like two and a half days a week to four days a week.   I was able to add another hygienist at the time. so it wasn't super intentional, but the growth was happening. just kind of fell in my lap. I'm like, I'll do this. And looking back, it is where I realized what a good thing it was.   speaker-0 (09:48) For sure. And I hope people listening, ⁓ I am a firm believer that opportunity doesn't always knock on the door and say, I'm opportunity. Sometimes it looks like pure chaos. Sometimes it's stretching you beyond. Sometimes it's really just showing up. I remember the day that I was asked to work with DSI as a consultant. Guys, I had one consulting client before Mark asked me to be a consultant. And overnight, I had 45 clients in my lab. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. But I people listening realize like,   For you, you're struggling. just bought your practice. Don't know what you're doing. Yes, you've had quite a bit of experience, but at the same time, running a practice is very different than being an associate or I'm sure even in the Navy. And so now, and then, hey, by the way, there's all this other patient base wanting to come in. And I love that you just, jumped, you took that opportunity. And I think again, so many times in life, opportunities show up. It's just a matter of, we willing to take them and figure it out or are we too scared and just let them pass by? ⁓   You brought those patients in and you were mentioning pre record that adding in patients from other practices has really been a great way for you to get new patients. ⁓ which people are constantly looking for new patients. was just talking to, there's a guy out here. He's a pathiatrist guys. I'm like, I don't know. I just can't help myself, but help business owners. Like I love it. Podiatry is not that much different than dentistry. Y'all see patients like dentistry, we work on the mouth, but I treat work on the foot. Like   Basically, it's kind of like pediatric. You go to your surgery centers, they come in, you see these patients for their adjustments. But I was talking to him and he's a solo podiatrist and there are two podiatry offices around him that have just shut down doors. So he's like, yeah, it's just great. Like people are finding us and I'm like, did you call those people and ask them for their charts, buy those charts? that is two practices worth of patients that you're just hoping maybe one day will Google you when they're seriously sitting right in front of you. So   I'm super curious. I love this topic. know Dave's talked about it as well, but Nate, how do you buy charts successfully? How do you make that transition? Like Dave was talking about buying so many charts, but kind of from your experience, how do you buy these charts? How do you merge these patients in successfully? And other than just good luck and being in the right place at the right time, finding more of these opportunities. I'm super curious.   speaker-1 (12:04) Yeah, yeah. So for this one, know, having no idea what I was doing, I did have some, think, good advice from a transition attorney that I worked with. initially, the guy that was selling his charts, wanted X number of dollars for his, I think he said, 1,000 active records.   speaker-0 (12:26) And what's like X number of dollars like just give me a ballpark you don't have to say the exact amount but I'm like is it five dollars a chart ten dollars a chart thirty dollars a chart like what   speaker-1 (12:35) If I remember, this was probably 10 years ago, so I believe it was 60 a chart is what he wanted. So I think he wanted 60 million, right? And, you know, I, again, not knowing too much, I definitely knew that those 1,000 people were not gonna come over, right? So I was worried about like, what's the risk? Like, are 10 people gonna come or are 800 gonna come? I have no idea.   Yeah. So the attorney I was talking to, he said, he'd never done it this way. said, but maybe what you want to do is offer a little bit more per record, but only for like a small percentage at first. And then keep track of it over time. And that's what I think I did. It was either a hundred or 120 a chart. And I prepaid for like 300. But then for the next year, I kept track of all the, like once I got above that 300, I kept track of it.   So the nice thing is it limited my, it limited my risk. It put more, I guess, importance or motivation on the seller to really like push his patients to come. Cause the more you make more, the more people that came to see me. So it was a win-win that way. And it also, it let me kind of control that the influx too, because I think if all of sudden I was getting, you know, 800 patients calling all at once, it'd be a little bit trickier to merge this all in.   So that worked out really well.   speaker-0 (14:00) And I'm just curious on that, because this is something else I've been really wondering. After talking to Dave, now meeting this podiatrist, guys, I just love this type of stuff. This is cool business stuff that I feel a lot of people don't talk about. I'm curious, how long was the arrangement? Was it for a year that you would pay him? Was it for five years you'd pay the selling doctor? Because I'm curious, how is the motivation? for me as a business owner, I wouldn't want this to go on forever. I'd want an end date of when I don't have to pay you $120 per patient.   So how is that kind of arrangement set up?   speaker-1 (14:32) It actually, was nine months is what we had set. And I think it could work either, but I certainly wouldn't go more than a year, because it is, it becomes a major pain. And then, honestly for me, as I got close to that nine months, we sort of started slowing down. We strategically scheduled those last few patients in the nine months, but I still had all the records.   speaker-0 (14:54) That's what curious. So did you get all the records? So like you paid this, all the charts come to you, and then the other dentist has good faith that you're going to be honest? Or do they get access to it? Was that what it was?   speaker-1 (15:04) He could have like, had it written. If you wanted to send somebody to audit it, like absolutely. He had access to do that. He just never did. and yeah, we had an initial wave of a lot of people and then it slowed down a bit. And you know, it's, um, I think, I think it ended up, maybe we got 450 out of that thousand. Um, and it and it was close and it was close to that nine months. You know, we were getting close to like 400 and again, I just.   We slowed down a little bit, ⁓ just whatever. But as soon as that nine months hit, then we started re-marketing to the people we hadn't seen.   speaker-0 (15:43) 100   % because then it's like you've got basically 400 patients on recall that haven't been in and so did you guys win it happened and of course you might say things you'd do differently or whatnot but did you have that selling doctor send a letter to all of his patients like hey I'm no longer seeing it come see Nate like he's fantastic or did you guys just pick up the phone and start calling these people what was kind of the strategy of the how-to for you?   speaker-1 (16:07) So he, so he wrote, we both wrote a joint letter, which was good. And then I was able, I actually brought on his, he didn't have an office manager, but it was like his lead front desk and scheduler. So we brought her on. She wasn't a, she wasn't a great, perfect culture fit, but she knew the patients. So that worked. I think she was with us for probably about the nine months.   speaker-0 (16:26) Exactly.   Cause in my mind I was thinking like, that's genius. Maybe you can do like a little like sweetheart deal where it's like, Hey, I'm buying your charts and also your scheduler upfront. Can I just have them like help me call these patients? I'll pay them for a couple of months or whatnot. I don't know. Like there's a piece of me that's like, I could see the pros and the cons of that, but you're right. It's me calling that person who's known these patients for years calling to get them scheduled and help out with that. That's probably again, even if it wasn't a great culture fit, it probably did get more patients in your door.   speaker-1 (16:59) For that initial, yeah, absolutely for the initial. Because they already had the patients pre-scheduled, so they were able, and they know them, it was really helpful having that familiar voice.   speaker-0 (17:09) Totally. Yeah. Clever. Okay. So you went higher than what they're doing, ⁓ which I tell everybody, I'm like these people who are shutting their doors, pretty much any offer you give them is, mean, don't be like a low ball and completely have it feel ridiculous, but they, have no option to sell. There are no options for them to sell. They're not going to make any money. Like that's gotta be a hard reality for that selling doctor to realize like, Hey, I built this business up, but it's not even a sellable product.   So I have no asset anymore. So I'm like, honestly, any money that they can get for these charts, I do think is a good deal and something great for the selling doctor as well. So I don't think it's a ⁓ vicious, like you're taking advantage. I just think again, opportunity shows up in different ways. And I think for the selling doctor, it also was an opportunity that they got probably way more than they were expecting to get when they closed the doors of their practice.   speaker-1 (18:02) Yeah. Cause honestly, it hadn't been for new, he'd been trying actively to sell it somewhere. And I was like, I think I was like the last person, you know, had I not been able to step up and, and, work something out, it would have just been all those patients out into the ether. And, know, probably who knows how many of those, you know, 450 would have shown up with us anyway. But it's, it's, know, again, being younger, not knowing what I was doing, like it was intimidating for me. But as I look back, like he'd never done that either.   speaker-0 (18:22) Yeah   speaker-1 (18:30) You know, so was all, it was new for both of   speaker-0 (18:33) Well, and also thinking about, I'm sure some listeners might think like, Nate, that's a bad deal, though, spending $120 per patient chart. And if you are a wise business owner and you know the cost of acquisition of a new patient, yes, I would say that that probably is on the higher end of a patient. However, I think the perk of this is these are most likely patients who have been active patients in a dental practice that are going to be good patients that are coming. And odds are they also might be, I call them sleeping.   patients in the fact that this dentist was on the retiring side, odds are that dentist was just slowing down with dentistry. Every dentist will have this happen to where odds are these patients actually have a lot more treatment available since their selling doctor was slowing down in their career. while it might be more expensive, you're probably also paying for it with the dentistry available with an older doctor selling. So got it. Okay.   speaker-1 (19:22) Yeah. Yeah.   And then yeah, like, and then fast forward, you know, another five years or so from then, it's not five, about five years ago. I had a dentist moonlighting with me who was in the Navy. It was getting out, wanted to stay in the area. Awesome, awesome dentist, really good friend of mine now. And he wanted to stay, but again, at that point I wasn't busy enough to really support another.   an associate and I'd never really never had an associate either. And again, opportunity I had, was having, it was like a county dental society meeting. I was talking to a friend of mine as well, who was a little bit older dentist and she was like, I'm thinking about slowing down. maybe this guy could work for you for a couple of days a week and me a couple of days a week. And kind of light bulb went off my head. I was like, or I could buy your practice if you're open to it. And then you can slow down whatever you want. ⁓   be an associate with me and he could work at the two. I kind of saw the writing, like the potential if he did that, what happens if now he wants to buy that practice and then it's, you know, so that actually.   speaker-0 (20:29) You would be training up your competition. So good job on seeing that and not letting that happen.   speaker-1 (20:35) Yeah. And, uh, and it worked and that worked out great around the, again, just weird timing around the same as I was closing on that deal. One town over those, dentist who unfortunately had a terminal, uh, terminal cancer and was looking for somebody to help take over his practice. So I was able to take over his patient base, which another bonus of being able to help, you know, get this new associate, you know, even busier.   speaker-0 (21:01) So really your practice is a makeup of four practices. Did I count my?   speaker-1 (21:06) And then I had one more a little bit later. There's like five, five, nine into two locations now. So yeah. Yeah. And with that one, was the, um, I was able to bring one of the hygienists on board. Um, which again, that familiar, familiar face, familiar voice, um, was a big, was big and she's still with us and she's awesome. So, um, so that's been, that's been really good.   speaker-0 (21:07) Okay, so   Clever. love it.   awesome.   Have you guys heard? But like really have you heard? And are you the type of person that loves to take massive action? Well, if you are, I would love to invite you to Dental A Team's Virtual Summit, April 22nd through 23rd. And yes, right now guys, it's early bird. That means it's $200 off the normal ticket price. You guys are going to learn how to optimize your practice this year. We know it's been a rough year. People have quit. We've had COVID, we've had changes. So we want to teach you guys how to optimize within your practice now and execute.   Friday is full team, Saturday is all things leadership. So bring your team, get some CE, take massive action, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com. Coupon code is summit early bird, and it's valid until March 31st. That's summit early bird, all one word, and it's valid until March 31st. So guys, head on over. I can't wait to have you take massive action, optimize your practice, and execute. Let's make 2022 your best year. I love it.   I love how much you have, ⁓ I think if anything I'm taking is don't be afraid to take those risks, don't be afraid to look at opportunities and also I think you just kind of have also positioned yourself to be well known within your community and I feel like so many dentists, like yes even within big cities like New York, Denver, guess what? People are always retiring. I just had a student from Midwestern reach out to me and was mentioning how like.   Hey, care, do you know of anybody to buy a practice? And I'm like, what is going on? I don't know all the details, but I'm like, this is somebody who's been graduating for maybe a couple of years looking to sell a practice. so I think it's just important to get to know the doctors around you to build those friendships. Because when I think it's often like you're putting yourself in a position to be ready for that opportunity, it's kind of like right now they say have a lot of cash on hand. We know something's going to be shifting in the economy.   So just be ready for when opportunities there. And I think getting to know your neighbors, getting to know those dentists, hey, great, you also as a dentist might need them as a resource in the future as well. So I think it can go both ways, but I love that you've done that. So now I'm curious, Nate, because I selfishly want to talk to you about this. You've got these two practices, you've got these dentists.   Who knows, you're gonna like probably add on like four more practices of charts in the next five years. I mean, based on your record, like let's just start piling them all on. You'll be the only dentist in Rhode Island. You're just gonna last. But I know culture is something you and I off air. Nate is one of my favorite clients. I don't even come to your practice, Nate, and you and I will just chat business, talk shop. You are somebody that I will say publicly is someone who's just been.   a really great influence in my life. Periodically, you will just send me a random text of like, just tell me that we're doing a good thing. And I will say, and you know, as an owner, those kudos and those like good vibes, they don't happen as often because you're the one who's giving all that out to your team and to your clients and to your patients. And so Nate, I will say publicly, like how much you've just been an influence in my life as well. Something I just have appreciated with you as a client, as a friend, as a mentor. So I'm excited to chat. You've got all these things going.   I know culture has been a piece that you and I both have been talking about of developing this culture. So kind of what spurred you into realizing you wanted to shift your culture of your practice. And then let's talk about the nitty gritty, but like how did you as a business owner know you needed to do a shift within your culture? Because I think that that's humility. And I'm just curious, like what tipped you off? How are you able as a dentist to own that, that you wanted to shift that?   speaker-1 (25:03) Yeah, I mean, I think for me it was noticing, you know, sort of the patterns over the years of the just the ups and downs of culture, you know, and it's, you know, whether you call it the vibe or how everybody's getting along. ⁓ And there, I mean, it's over the years, like we've had some pretty painful, painful times and times where it's like, nobody likes being here. That's way better, you know, in the last few years and it had been in the past, but.   It's, I was realizing I didn't really know how to, I didn't realize I had, that I could have influence on, on how to change that. It's, you know, some of it, I'm not a confrontational person. I'm pretty laid back and I want every, you know, I want to be the one that's liked. I want to be everybody's friend. And it's hard. It's, mean, whatever 13 years into practice ownership. And I still, you know, struggle with that.   kind of not being able to be everybody's best friend. Like I actually own the boss and like I have to own that. So it's, know, again, I finally got like just really got so exhausting of the ups and downs of like, is this going to be a good month or is this going to be a good week or who's going to be upset and all that. that it's like, you know, it's not just on me, but it's like, creating that environment that people, you know, that people want to be here. You know, people are happy people.   playing well together and trying to manage all that. it's, you know, it's certainly I haven't figured it out completely, but it's, you know, just trying to work on little things.   speaker-0 (26:41) Yeah, well and I love that you said that because incidentally I'm like, ⁓ Nate, why didn't I even think about this? I know why you and I are good friends. We're eyes on the disc profile. We both love to be liked. We're both very outgoing. We're like, you know life at the party have a good time. We're also okay to like let other people be the life of the party, but just really that and I do think a lot of dentists have that personality. ⁓ I was thinking about dentists last night actually while I was falling asleep and I'm like gosh you guys have to charm and dazzle and wow all day long.   Like you walk in and you have to make friends quickly and it's in an uncomfortable like, hey, let me like get real up and close and personal, like look in your mouth. And I got to like win you over and make you like me. I want to say yes to treat Mike. That's a lot of output of energy all day long for you guys. And so for you to realize that you also have to be a boss, I think one takes humility and two, also is ownership. And I would agree. I think it's like you get to a spot where I'm like, all right, being friends is fun.   But we got to have this like even kill because this up and down is just causing me to feel like I'm in whiplash all day long. So what were some of the things that you started to shift again? You and I chatted in December and I know we both like I've taken this from our conversation of culture is a slow burn. It is not something that happens overnight. It is not something that is instantaneous and I am an instantaneous person. Like I will figure it out. I will come up with it like we will find the solution and culture is like, all right.   Cool, I'm here for the journey. So what were some of the things you started to shift that you've been able to see? know Tiffanie's been helping you guys in your practice quite a bit as well, but I think ultimately at the end of the day, consultants can only help as far as the leaders are willing to go. And so for you to be willing to shift and change is why your team's been shifting and changing too. So what were some of those specifics?   speaker-1 (28:26) One of the, I would say the hardest thing for me and I still like, it still gives me anxiety and trouble is having difficult conversations. And while, you know, it's   you wouldn't think it would necessarily play toward helping with culture, having difficult conversations. I think it really does because I think it resets some of that, ⁓ like where the expectations are, what kind of the clarity on what needs to be done. But I think that's part of, on my ups and downs, I, again, wanting to be agreeable and being pretty laid back, if there was some...   trouble happening or there's some conflict between the team. Like a lot of my default for years was, it'll just blow over. Like, let's it work itself out. And it would work itself out by exploding after a drink or two. And then everybody would hug it out after a drink or two, and then we're fine for a while. But like, was no way to operate, right? So for me, getting over my fear and my anxiety of having those hard conversations, you know, and that's actually, that's one of the things that Tiffanie has been super helpful.   with on helping me through some of those. And I think one of the biggest skills that I've gotten with working with the Dental A Team is that, to have those conversations. They're not fun. People don't like them. I don't like them. But I think it makes a big difference and means a lot once people, like once you get through that.   speaker-0 (30:02) For sure. And you're lucky to have Tiff. think Tiff is one of the best at it. Tiffanie is very masterful on being able to, I say word ninja it. She's also just very direct, which is odd because she's so lovable and so nice. But something her and I have chatted a lot. And to your exact point, when team members have those uncomfortable conversations and they know their employer is willing to do it, everybody actually feels safe.   and that safety can create stability, which also creates like easiness. So my husband and I felt like I used to be a people pleaser with him. And just this week, he and I had a really big decision, a really awesome opportunity, and we ended up turning it down. And I was so frustrated. Like, I'm such a like driver and doer and like, this is an opportunity. We've been working for five years for this and we're just gonna like walk away from it. And I was not my most polished Kiera. ⁓   Thankfully, I would never do this with my team, but my husband, was just like full on expressive on like, and not anger at him, just the frustration of the situation. Like we've worked for this for five years and we're still not going to go through with it. And he made a comment to me, said, Kiera, I love that we've worked on our relationship so much to where you can feel comfortable and confident to have this conversation, to express your true feelings and we can work through it and find a solution. And I use that example because I feel like it's very similar with teams with   bosses that are willing to have these uncomfortable conversations because there's a there's a trust and a confidence that I can come to you. I know we can go toe to toe. I know we can work through this even though it's not fun in the moment per se. There's so much beauty and ease and flow that happens because we're not just always like holding it inside trying to like charm everybody else around us.   speaker-1 (31:47) Yeah. And what I have sort of seen ⁓ as I'm doing that more often and as I'm getting more comfortable with it, I'm seeing my team do the same thing with each other, in a, you know, in a respectful way. And they're confronting things before they become like these underlying deep seated issues. So yeah. So that's been good. ⁓ Working on gratitude is another, is another big one. Yeah. It's funny. It's, it's, ⁓   That's been, that's taken me a little bit to get used to and kind of coming up with a pattern of how to do it because it doesn't necessarily come naturally to me. You know, I think it all the time in my head, you know, how appreciative I am, but it's expressing it is what's hard and finding the way that resonates because everybody's different. What, you know, what lights everybody up is different. So it's trying to, I'm still trying to figure that out for everybody individually.   speaker-0 (32:42) But I think it's awesome that you're taking that on and like you said and I will say kudos to male doctors that are willing to share their appreciation because I'm not a male, but I have heard from several male colleagues that it's very uncomfortable. They're like, I'm just not somebody like you said, I think it, but I don't necessarily say it I don't know how to say it and sometimes it's an awkward thing. But I will say as a team member, I worked only with male doctors, except for one time I had a female doctor. But most of the time males were the doctors I would work with.   And as a team member, especially a female team member, it meant the world to me when they would share that appreciation. it just would, most women are very much ⁓ people who love those words of affirmation that are genuine and sincere. And so I think that that's a great thing that you've taken on. And I know that that's shifting because you shifting that way is shifting your entire team as well. Very cool. Okay. I just want like a quick highlight list as we wrap up, Nate, I appreciate you so much. What are some of the things working with Tiffanie that you've   that you guys have implemented in your practice or some things that you've seen, like we've talked about chart mergers, which gosh, it's just so fun. And we talked about culture shifts, but what are some of the things over the last year? I think you guys are just wrapping up your heading into year two. What are some of the things you guys have implemented with her this last year that were really just impactful for you?   speaker-1 (33:59) Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's a, we've done a bunch of like small things, you know, and, and, that's what I think has been great is like they, they're easy concepts, but communicating ⁓ better handoffs from front to back and committing to that. ⁓ It's, one of the first things that she introduced with us. And, you know, it seemed like such a simple thing, but it's made a huge difference in. ⁓   and just having consistency of communication and then also it helps the teamwork. ⁓ That's been really good. She's helped a lot with trying to ⁓ have us have a better of sense and strategy around our revenue cycle. Just little things that we didn't necessarily know that we weren't doing, you know, as efficiently as we could. But what I love the most is the process and the accountability part that's put in. ⁓   there, you know, I, in previous years, you know, I've worked with other coaches and consultants and things. Um, and it's always been like a kind of a cookie cutter type thing. And it's, you know, it has been helpful, but what I really love about Dental A Team is how. Yeah. She's able to look and see exactly what it is that we do and how we do it and tailor those systems to us. Um, uh, but also that holding us like holding us accountable to do it. Like we had a, we had a call.   this week, I think it was. we've been looking at outsourcing things for, and I think we've probably been talking about it for a month, two months or so. And it was kind of funny because she has, she's like the sweetest person in world, but she was like, all right guys, I'm tired of talking about this. You're going to buy the end of it. And we're going to, we're going to make a decision on this in my head. This is on Tuesday. I was like, all right, by the end of Thursday, we'll have this done. She's like today, like today that you've done this and tell me who you're going with. And I was like, all right.   But sometimes that's what we need, know, cause we were stuck in this little cycle. So she, you she's good with that. And then sort of same thing with, you know, those are one of the difficult kinds of conversations I needed to have, but was Tuesday was funny. She was, she like really lit a fire under us. Cause like three or four things are like, you're getting this stuff done today and it's happening. that's the push we need, but there's other, know, there's, it's not always that intense. You know, there's also, ⁓ you know, if we need a little help with, you know, with things and,   It's process. She's there each step of the way.   speaker-0 (36:25) awesome. I love it. Well, I think that other no, go ahead.   speaker-1 (36:28) Sorry, it's   been really, it's been really good that I haven't seen with anybody else I've worked with before is she's totally accessible to my team. And I have a couple of the people on my team who are like very growth mindset, growth oriented with us. And, know, they, I think they talked to her more than I realized. And it's, it's one of like, felt initially like when she, you know, gave everybody her contact information, she like, I don't know, I hope that doesn't get abused. And she's like, I love it. That's what I'm here for.   and not knowing the specifics of what she's helping some people with. Like I've had a couple of people on my team, they're like, is so great to be able to reach out to Tiffanie and get this advice on this. And she's helping them just as much as she's helping me. That's awesome.   speaker-0 (37:09) That's huge and I appreciate that Nate because one it's fun to hear how our consultants are doing and I love like a few pieces you said which makes me happy because like as an owner and I'm sure as dentists we have this great vision of what we want our company to be what we want our practice to be and then to hear a patient experience to hear a client experience I'm like we will never be cookie cutter I refuse like forever because no practice is cookie cutter so to hear that it's systems that are customized to you guys where it's what's gonna work with you and also like you said   that accountability. Tiff and I, will say kudos to Tiff because at first, you know, we were like, how do you consult offices? And most of time we'll just kind of go through with you holding you accountable. But there are times when we will need to like laser in, lay it down and be like, guys, here's the reality. Just like a coach at the gym. I'm like, I don't want you like high five. I mean, that was a great workout when my squats look terrible. Like tell me to get my booty down, get my back out. Like   make sure I'm actually doing the work if I'm going to put in the work. And so I love that she did that. And like you said, that is something that we are so pro having those team members elevate rising them around you. That's something like we have kind of, I have a three prong approach and it's making sure you are profitable as a business. Cause if we're not profitable, fantastic. And to hear that TIF is helping you guys with that revenue cycle, making sure that's there at the handoffs, but then also growing people themselves.   You with those hard conversations, you making sure, I mean, we were just talking, you're having time off and your whole team is like killing it and you're not even there, which is awesome. ⁓ Also elevating team members. So it's not just the dentists themselves, but the team and then putting in those systems and team development top to bottom. So to hear it from a client experience, and we didn't even rehearse this prior to it, but to really hear the, and I didn't even prep you Nate. I didn't tell you to like, Hey, think of the last year and the highlights before we get on it. And I purposely did that because I wanted to hear.   what really stood out to you over this last year? What were the things that, because sure, you could go back and reread the emails and prep for it, but I'm like, that doesn't actually matter. What matters is what sticks in the moment. And so I just appreciate that. I love you as a client. know Tiff loves you as a client. You're just a, you're a great example of execution, of humility, of seeing opportunities and executing on them. And I hope people realize that success in my opinion doesn't just happen by chance. It is methodical. is...   Executed on sometimes you get sprinkled with that good luck charm But I also think that good luck charm is only good luck if you actually execute on it So Nate, you're just a dream. I love it. I love what you've done. I appreciate you being on the podcast you're just such a happy human and You're you're a great person who's doing great things in this world and your team's super lucky to get to work with you and learn from you as well   speaker-1 (39:48) Oh, thank you so much. And I feel so, you know, so lucky to have come to come across the Dental A Team, you know, three years ago and, and, and gotten to know you, gotten to know your team and all of you thought, you know, to me, my team and my life, it's awesome.   speaker-0 (40:00) Totally.   Well, it's, you know, we said yes, because you're in Rhode Island first. That was the first like initial yes. then you know, so but no, I appreciate it, Nate. So guys, if you if you have questions on mergers, or how to buy these charts, like please reach out, we'll connect you in with Nate. And if his story and the successes he's had resonate with you, email us, we'd love to chat with you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And Nate, thanks for being here today. Thanks for just being a good human in this world that we need more people like you. So thanks for being here today.   Thank you. Awesome, guys. All right. As always, thank you all for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.   wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team Podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.  

Hisla Bates reflects on Art and Medicine, a Virtual Summit in 2020 that inspired this podcast and a blog interview by Lisa Tener, Author and Writing Coach, on Art, Creativity, and Medicine. Recorded in 2025JOIN the Doctor's Art School at www.skool.com/thedoctorsartschool Mentions:Lisa Tener, Author and Book Coach - Here is the Blog that includes some of Dr. Hisla Bates' artwork. https://lnkd.in/e3B5D6BKLissa Rankin, MD Book - Mind Over MedicineTal Ben Shahar, PhD -

Send us a textClaudiu Murgan, the host of the Spiritually Inspired & Chief Consciousness Officer shows, will speak at the Visionaries 2026 Summit.His theme: How the next generation of leaders must evolve beyond traditional executive roles by integrating consciousness, emotional intelligence, and spiritual awareness into corporate strategy.Visionaries 2026 is a summit created to unite pioneers, thought leaders, healers, creators, and innovators who are actively shaping the future of human consciousness, technology, wellness, and planetary stewardship. The purpose of the summit is to spark collaboration, elevate new paradigms of leadership, and showcase practical pathways toward a more awakened and harmonious world.2. Why Visionaries Matter NowHumanity is entering a period of accelerated transformation. Old systems are breaking down while new models of health, governance, education, and spiritual evolution are emerging. Visionaries are essential at this time because they hold the blueprint for what comes next — not just intellectually, but energetically and practically. Their voices guide us toward higher awareness, resilience, and unity. We use the word visionaries only because these individuals hold a vibration that allows them to perceive emerging trends3. The Role of Conscious LeadershipA new kind of leader is being called forth—one who operates from presence, compassion, intuition, and integrity. Conscious leadership is not about power over, but power with. It integrates emotional intelligence, spiritual awareness, and grounded action. The summit highlights frameworks like the Chief Consciousness Officer model that elevate leaders into stewards of culture, well-being, and collective evolution.4. The Future of Healing & Human PotentialThe world is witnessing an integration of science and spirituality. Modality blending, ancestral wisdom, energy healing, plant medicine, somatic therapies, and new advances in neuroscience are reshaping how we understand the human body, trauma, and awakening. The summit presents voices who demonstrate that healing is not only possible—it is inevitable when we align with truth and consciousness.5. Conscious PhilanthropyClaudiu talks about the required evolution of the philanthropy process. It has to move from transactional to transformational to transcendent giving. Moving forward, donations from big corporations should target grassroots organizations run by volunteers. Usually, the projects on these organizations' list are small and achievable, requiring amounts between $50,000 to $100,000. We refer to building schools or providing communities with clean water in African countries. In North America, homeless people receive warm meals, clothing, and in some instances, the chance to get a job.The overhead is small, and no salaries are paid. It builds a spirit of community and generates self-motivation.6. The Role of Community & Collective EvolutionNo visionary walks alone. Community is the container in which transformation becomes sustainable. The summit emphasizes collaboration over competition, collective awakening over individual gain, and shared wisdom over isolated expertise. Participants come together to weave a global fabric of support, insight, and purpose.7. The InvitationVisionaries 2026 is more than an event — it is a movement. It invites individuals to step into their highest expression, organizations to adopt conscious frameworks, and communities to rise into a new level of coherence. The summit is a catalyst for those ready to embody a Support the show

Behind the Scenes at the Global CRE Broker Virtual Summit In this episode, industrial advisors Bill Condon and Matt McGregor discuss Matt's recent appearance at the Global CRE Broker Summit hosted by renowned business coach Rod Santomassimo. Held in a highly advanced virtual tech room, this event featured a slew of top brokers and speakers. Matt shares insights into the venue, the sessions, and the high-energy atmosphere. The discussion also covers the adaptability of top brokers in challenging markets and the value of deep involvement in professional organizations like SIOR and CCIM. The episode concludes with a reflection on the event's success and anticipation for future gatherings. 00:00 Entering the High-Tech Venue 00:46 Introduction to the Event and Hosts 01:26 Overview of the Virtual Summit 02:26 Details of the Advanced Virtual Stage 03:04 Keynote Speakers and Their Insights 03:39 Audience Interaction and Q&A 05:37 Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Send us a textIn this episode of Quilting on the Side, Tori interviews her co-host Andi about her experiences participating in four virtual quilting summits this year (2025). They discuss the rise of virtual summits in the quilting community, the benefits of collaboration, and the importance of audience engagement. Andi shares insights on preparing for a summit, the importance of follow-up strategies, and the role of lead magnets in building an email list. The conversation emphasizes the value of data collection and marketing strategies to maximize the impact of summits on business growth.Don't miss an episode! Like, comment, and subscribe for more quilting stories, tips, and industry insights.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Virtual Summits in Quilting04:15 The Benefits of Collaboration and Community07:03 Choosing to Participate in Summits10:01 Testing Ideas Through Summits12:48 Engagement and Audience Building15:38 Impact on Business and Sales18:20 Follow-Up Strategies After Summits21:24 Preparing for a Summit24:10 Marketing and Promotion Strategies27:02 Interacting with Summit Organizers30:16 Final Thoughts on Summit ParticipationSee previous Episodes on summits:"My Summit Story" Listen to Tabatha's Interview Here! (Mentioned in this podcast)Subscribe to Andi's YouTube! CLICK HEREWant More Quilting Business Content?

After analyzing hundreds of client summits, I had a HUGE aha moment about revenue patterns. I realized that there are two distinct business categories that crush it with summits - but they make their money in completely different ways. In this video, I'm breaking down these two categories so you can see where YOUR summit revenue is most likely to come from - whether that's your all-access pass, your backend offer, or a mix of both. This short training is designed to help you understand what will actually work for YOUR specific business model so you can plan strategically. DM me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/summitinabox/

We're joined with Danny Fitzpatrick with the SL9 Art Society as he talks about the Joie De Vivre Louisiana Arts and Culture Festival. Brandon Duncan, Marketing Evangelist with eCatholic will talk about The ENGAGE Virtual Summit, and Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, author of Praying with the Saints: An Inspired Collection of Holy Wisdom joins us.

Hosting a virtual summit can sound like a massive project—but what if it's actually the smartest way to grow your audience, build authority, and deepen community in your business? In this episode, Brittni sits down with Rachel Starr, a Summit and Community Strategist and founder of the CoCreator Society, to talk about how summits can become powerful lead generators and long-term community builders. Rachel shares her best tips for planning, promoting, and hosting a summit that creates impact (and revenue) while strengthening relationships with your audience. If you've ever thought about hosting a summit but didn't know where to start, this episode will give you the confidence and clarity to make it happen. Listen now to learn how to turn your next event into a lasting growth strategy! Connect with Rachel: Website: https://cocreatorsociety.com Instagram: @rachelstarrdesign   Resources: The Meeting Place Membership Rock The Reels 1:1 Coaching Free Client Welcome Guide Additional Trainings and Resources Connect with Brittni: Follow me on the Gram - @brittni.schroeder Join my Facebook Group  Visit my website Subscribe to my Youtube You can find the complete show notes here: https://brittnischroeder.com/podcast/summit-strategist-rachel-staar  

Have you noticed that your audience needs a higher level of trust before buying? You're not alone. In today's "trust economy," consumers are more cautious than ever about who they follow and buy from. This week, I'm chatting with the "Million-Dollar Copywriter", Anthony Obey, about how virtual summits can be your secret weapon for building instant trust and authority - even in this skeptical market. Anthony breaks down what it really means to operate in a trust economy and shares specific strategies for using summits to create genuine connections with your audience. For show notes, head to https://summithosthangout.com/306

Your post-summit funnel game plan creates opportunities to take advantage of the momentum and excitement attendees experience during your virtual summit.  That's why it's essential to plan what will happen after your summit to capitalize on the new relationships you've built through speaker promotions and advertising.__________________Find me on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/heyitsjenzaia/Email Me → support@jenzaiadimartile.com

Listening to someone's story can uplift and give us strength. If you are in need of any of that, join me for this powerful event!In this episode, I speak with Nancy and Amy Harrington, creators of the Passionistas Project Virtual Summit 2025 Awakening Your Power event and the ones who spearheaded the writing of an anthology that can transform mindsets in powerful ways. The Harrington sisters discuss how they came about creating the Passionistas Project, the purpose of the summit, what you can expect from it and they invite you to join the Passionistas Sisterhood. The summit kicked off August 26th and runs through the 28th. So, if you are watching and it has already kicked off, it's not too late to join before it ends. #sisterhood #author #awakeningyourpower

In episode 197, Dolly sits down with Mara and Bekah to share the behind-the-scenes story of why the three of us have teamed up to host the Black Friday 2025 Virtual Summit and how it can help your business prepare with actionable strategies for the busiest sales season of the year. To read the blog post that goes with this podcast episode, click HERE

Virtual summits are one of the easiest, highest-converting affiliate promos out there. They're free for your audience, packed with value, and loaded with backend commission potential. And the best part? You don't even have to be a speaker to win big. In this episode, I'll show you exactly how to promote virtual summits as an affiliate, even if your name isn't on the agenda, and turn them into serious revenue for your business. Links Mentioned in this Episode Virtual Summit Swipe File Affiliate Swipe Files Your Affiliate Launch Coach  

Do you want to run a virtual summit? In this episode, Samantha Riley discusses the importance of virtual summits, and how you can structure and run a successful one! What You'll Hear In This Episode: -The challenges and benefits of running a summit, nurturing both the audience and the backstage crew, and the need for more assistance to clients to achieve results. -Advice for how long your summit shoujld be, and how you should decide on speakers to invite to it.  -Choosing a subject and title for the virtual summit that specifically addresses a major challenge for the target audience. -How to create a summit VIP upgrade. -The Diamond Factor, a methodology Samantha uses with her clients, which includes clarity of message, business model, branding, and the value of their intellectual property! 

Kiera guides listeners in an activity that will help each person be more purposeful in how they're going about their lives, and build a path toward ultimate fulfillment at life's end. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.844) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I hope you are just having an incredible day. I hope things are going so well for you. I hope that you just, I don't know. I hope that as you look at your day, as you look at your life, you just remember, man, you are so lucky to be alive. You are so lucky to be here now during this time. I know things can be hard. It was really interesting. We always have a team huddle every single morning. You can tell Dental A Team was created by someone who worked in a dental practice.   and one of our team members said that she was really grateful for trials and challenges. And I just thought how, what a great mindset, that person has to just think of like, no matter what's going on in life, it's a great day. It's a great possibility. And I think that really ties into what I wanted to podcast about today is, living life on purpose rather than on autopilot. And it's something that has been, on my mind. It's something that we just did with our in-person.   event when we met with clients in person, which was super fun. If you weren't a part of it and you want to be a part of something like that, be sure to reach out. Hello at the dentalateam.com. If you are new to this podcast, welcome. I'm so happy you're here. I'm Kiera Dent. I love dentistry so much and I love helping dentists and teams align to have the best team experience, to have the best overall practice experience, to really help you just flourish and thrive and be living life on purpose. And so today,   I'm just really excited. This is something that I've been working on. It's been like a little labor of love because when we're bringing clients in person, I wanted it to be something where it was different. I wanted it to be something where it's not something that they've been privy to a lot. I wanted it to be something where it was getting them out of their norm and working on their life and also working on their business. So the theme of our in-person event was life on purpose and business on purpose.   What I kind of wanted to walk you guys through is just like a little snapshot of what we did in purpose in person and kind of like mapping your life on purpose. And I recently have gotten into Joe Dispenza in meditation. If you haven't gotten into that, rock on. Welcome. Joe Dispenza has been awesome. I feel like I understand meditation on a level that I never have understood. I went to a two day in person retreat and I feel like I started to learn.   Kiera Dent (02:24.736) a lot about meditation and about how to get rid of depression and anxiety. And he talked about how we have depression when we're focused on the past and we have anxiety when we're focused on the future. And a lot of times our mind tends to live in the known, which is the unconscious mind rather than living in the conscious, which is the unknown. So known means that we predict what our patient schedule is going to be, what the patients will say, what our day is going to be. We get in our car, we drive home, we're on autopilot, we don't even remember driving home.   We wake up, we do the same routine and to kind of shake ourselves out of that and start to live life on purpose. And so through meditation and also through some life mapping that I kind of wanted to share with you today, to start to live life and to have fulfillment in business and to figure out how can you just be living your life on purpose. what we found out was like language really, really matters when you build this. And when I started looking at my life, I started realizing like,   When I look at my week, a lot of times my week is just filled with things that I have to do. And I feel like that's again, living my life on autopilot. So all these things get put upon me. I put them in my schedule. You've got patients, you've got work, you've got kids, you've got soccer, you've got dance, you've got making dinner. And how can we see and add the fulfillment or the sprinkle or the sparkles to our world? And so what we did with our clients is we actually took our lives and we put kind of the   the categories of our life. And so what are the categories? What are the things that we're working on? What are the pieces that we would be like in a day and day out?   what I want you to do, I just grabbed a notebook. What I want you to do is I want you to start to look to see how am I going to actually build this out? How am I going to, what are the categories of my life? What, like when I look at my to do and my week to do, what is that going to be? And you kind of just like dump it all out. Like what are those categories? So you've got your health, you've got your work, you've got all these different pieces. And to really just kind of look to see like I've got health, I've got business, I've got   Kiera Dent (04:30.882) growth, I've got relationship, maybe there's some fun sprinkled in there, maybe there's kids, home to do's, what's all on your list? And then looking at that, and then I want you to think about, so you've got your list, so if you wanna do this in real time with me, that'd be great, pause it, build your categories of your life, and then I want you to think about where are you going to be when you're at the end of your life? So I just want you to like, let's go forward. I think of myself in a rocking chair.   I plan to have a really, really, really incredible, like I'm terrified of being in a, I don't know, like a rest home. Like it creeps me out, right? Cause we don't have kids and I'm like, gosh, like who's gonna take care of me? It creeps me out. Okay. So I have planned that I'm gonna have the most incredible rest home life. I'm gonna build this like villa on the beach. I'm gonna have awesome people that are there. I'm gonna have like friends that are there. I plan to have like a jazzy or a drone.   going to be on the water and I can like just jazzy out to my boat, get on the boat, go cruising around. Like I plan to have a jazzy with NOS. I really have like it's gonna be fun. And I'm like thinking like, okay, I'm sitting in my in like, a white rocking chair on my front porch, looking out and reflecting on my life. So whatever your place is, look back and I want you to just kind of think about what do want that life to feel like? What are some of the feelings like?   When you look back, what is the most successful, fulfilled, happy life that you could ever imagine? What does that look like for you? And to really, really think about that end of life. Again, I'm not going to give you an age because I think that's weird. Like, what if you live to like 180? What if you live to 200? What if you like, why are we putting an age on this? But to really think about what you want. And when we did this with our clients, one of the crazy things was that end of life actually didn't have a lot of work. There wasn't a lot of   are to do. So like you just listed those categories. And so then when we look at that, now what I want you to do is once you've kind of gone through that end of life, looking to see like what I want this to be, I've already told you like, I want to be healthy, I want to be strong, I want to have friends, I want to this like sick villa on the beach, like, I want to have like family around with me. That's what I see in like just having this life where I've traveled the world and I've made a huge impact in this world for good like   Kiera Dent (06:42.196) That's the life where I see Kiera Dent with cotton candy, pink hair hanging out, but really feeling like I made this huge impact in this world. So then what you do is you go back and you actually look at the categories that you have and like what maybe needs to be added in. For me, I realized philanthropy, like something of impact needed to be added into my world. Also for me to have this sick villa, wealth had probably better be on my categories of things that aren't, they're on, these things I feel are not put upon you.   And this is where I feel like this is living life on purpose. It's not living life anymore on autopilot, but it's living life on purpose. And I was talking to the girl who I was going to like, hair girl, basically, we'll just explain it that way. And we were talking and she's like, I can't wait for my kids. Like they're about to be out of daycare and then I'm going to have all this money. And I was like, yeah, and with that money, you can like put it into Ally and you can get a higher yield savings. And then you could be looking at investments and building up your wealth. And I think I was even.   thinking in those terms, we don't do that on the day in day out unless we train ourselves to do that. And that's what I mean by living life on purpose and getting sighted for life on purpose. And who do you need to be today to have that life when we're looking back on it? So what categories do you maybe need to add into your world? And then this is where it actually became really fun is to take those categories. Cause like when I look at health and business and growth, like great. And that's kind of like my wheel of life. So,   but those things don't inspire me. And so taking those categories and actually adding some juice and some excitement to them. So for example, for me health, when I look at like working out, hard pass, no, I never wanna show up to that category and I'm not excited about it. So what I actually did is I renamed my health category. My health category is actually called honoring my body. And that to me feels so good.   I love to work out now because I'm honoring this incredible vessel that I get to be a part of. Like it's me and her for my entire life. Like when I wake up in the morning, I'm like, Hey gorgeous, like, Hey girl, like you're so strong. Like I'm here to support you. Like if she's not feeling well, I take care of her. don't push her. Like this is my incredible vessel that I get to have. And for me working out was not the thing that inspired me, but honoring my body. So it's the same category, but it's honoring my body.   Kiera Dent (08:59.534) business, like at the time when I was making my categories, you better believe that business was really freaking hard for me. And I was just tired of it. And I didn't, I never got excited to wake up when I saw business on my schedule. So instead I named it my passion project. And now that is something that is so fun to show up for. Dental A Team is my passion project. And anytime I'm like, all right, we're going to go plan my week. Like what goes in the passion project and home, like home to do. So my gosh, I've got to fix this and I've got that. And I've got to like do the groceries and I've got to do the laundry.   None of that sounds fun, but instead I renamed my house category to creating our love nest for my relationship. Some people just want to put their spouse's name. For me, it's my forever love with Jason. That to me feels so much more exciting to show up to that category of my life. So the way I view my categories are kind of like, I have this like wheel or this box if you want. And like, these are almost like doors or like segments that make up Kiera.   and I don't just call it wealth. I call it wealth genius. Like I want to be a wealth genius. And, we have our philanthropy in there that just like, and that's my making an impact bucket. So for that, what the goal is, is with these categories, you actually start to live life on purpose of things that just get you excited. So when I show up to my life to do board, if you will, it's no longer this just life to do board, but it's actually a life on purpose that gets me excited.   Every week then when you go to plan, I look at my categories and I'm like, all right, what am I doing this week to honor my body? What am I doing this week for my forever love story with Jason? What am I doing this week for a Dental A Team passion project? What am I doing this week to build my love nest? What am I doing this week to build my wealth genius? And not every single week will there be things in there. I have a freaking fun bucket. It's called Add the Sprinkles. That one goes in there all the time. I have a mental health bucket of honoring my mind.   So you can just start to have these different categories. And what you do is when you look at your week and you look at things, one, we chunk those things together. So what can I do together to make more space and more time in my world? But also secondly, let me make sure that I'm well-rounded because if you were to think of all these categories, once you get them built and once you name them, if you were to have like, let's say a circle and you divided it. So let's say you have eight categories, you divide this circle into basically like eight pizza slices, okay? So that way it's like spokes on a wheel.   Kiera Dent (11:18.542) And if I were to ask you of like, how, how are you feeling in your honoring your body bucket? Like that portion. you've colored in and like a full pizza triangle would be like a hundred percent. Like I am crushing like bodybuilders and like my personal trainer. probably killing it on the honoring her body for me. I feel like I'm like at a seven out of 10. So I'd colored into the seven out of 10. How do feel like I'm doing on Dental A Team passion project? I feel like I'm like at an eight right now on that. How do I feel about my relationship with Jason? So my forever love story with Jason, I'd put that to probably like a seven.   Right now, how do I feel like I'm doing on my fun and fulfillment? That one for me right now, fun has not been as much in my life. We've been doing a lot more like work things. So my fun right now is probably sitting at like a five. So great, still there. What about my wealth genius? Wealth genius, I'd probably put that right now at like six. So for you, filling in these categories and some of them when I first started, my wealth genius was like at a one, my philanthropy is like at a one.   And if you were to imagine again, think of that circle with the pizza slices. Once you've filled it in, pretend that's a wheel that would now spin for you. And how bumpy of a ride is that for you? This is where people feel they're out of balance. And this is where people feel they're not living life on purpose because our categories of work and kids are usually so high. But again, kids don't feel so fun. So what if it was like, I think one of our clients, they wrote, dad of the year. And I thought that was like just so stinking cute.   someone for their money section. I loved this. said it was like F you money. And I love that because the intensity behind that, like this, this person wanted it to be where no matter what happened in life, they were financially secure. And I love that. And that like, I was like, how do you feel showing up for that category in your life versus how it used to be? And he was like, I'm freaking pumped. And like dad of the year, like how much more exciting is it to go to the soccer games to be the dad of the year or the mom of the year or   I know Tiffany, she put in there Brody's magical life. And so showing up for things to help create Brody's magical life. And so the goal is that we look to see where is our will maybe a little off kilter, where is it maybe a little bumpy, and then where do we want to show up to our week? So when I start, I go on Sundays and I look at my week and I add in, yes, I've got a bunch of things, but they are now put for colors and I actually have added colors. So like Dental A Team is blue and.   Kiera Dent (13:32.878) My fun is pink and my forever love story with Jason's like a pinkish red and our love nest is yellow So then when I look at my week, I actually start to paint in colors that make me excited and I don't need to have Five hours of Jason five hours of work to feel fulfilled for me. There's different amounts So for me just having one date night with Jason was no matter what we're doing We do that on Thursdays. That is me having this like really intentional connection with Jason for wealth   even if I were to spend like maybe 15 minutes or an hour, maybe listening to a wealth podcast or maybe like bigger pockets or learning about real estate or learning about, gosh, like rep status or learning about 401k versus Roth IRAs. There's a lot of things on Instagram that you can follow and then read deeper on it. There's a lot of wealth books. I've read so many wealth books over like the course of my time. really...   get obsessive about this because it's fun for me to figure out how to create generational wealth, how to help clients with generational wealth. Like I obsess about this. So adding in maybe 15 minutes or an hour where you look at that for me, even just adding in like 30 minutes of philanthropy, like what do I want that to look like? What are the things that I could get involved in? And what's crazy is when we do this, so I look at, we have 24 hours a day and we have seven days a week, which gives us 168 hours total.   Now, this is what's really fun. When I looked at this, I was like, all right, this is freaking wild. Okay? So our work week is 24 hours. We have 24 hours, seven days a week, which is 168 hours. Now, if I give you, and I'm gonna be pretty generous, eight hours of work times five days a week is 40 hours. And then if I have you sleeping eight hours a day, seven days a week, that's 56 hours. Now I know a lot of you aren't even doing that. So I feel like I'm being extra generous. That's 96 hours.   So of our 168 hours that we have in any given week, we take those work and that sleep out, that's 96 hours, you have 72 hours per week available. And my question is, are you living with those 72 hours on purpose? Are you living your work on purpose? You can also do this fun will at work so you can look at like my CEO time, my marketing time, my treatment planning time, my associate doctor time, my dental assistant time, like we can create categories of our business too.   Kiera Dent (15:51.094) and look to see where do we maybe need to sprinkle those in within our eight hours so that way our business is on purpose as well. And what's really amazing is when you actually get into this, where you start to live life on purpose, when you start to prioritize living life on purpose and having business on purpose and thinking about where we need to go to have that incredible looking back on our life and just feeling so dreamy and so fulfilled. And I know when we have kids and we have work and we have stresses of finances and we have   all these different things, like my team members said, challenges are opportunities for us. When we're looking at that, are we truly living our life on purpose? Are you living your life on purpose? Do you maybe want to change to live your life on purpose? And that's what I get excited about within consulting. And we just hired a new team member and we've had a couple of clients join us recently, which love them. And I hope you're our next one to join us. But they said, Keira, I really love that this company is not about just work. It's about life and it's about being.   respectful and it's about having a purpose beyond just work. and that was one of the greatest compliments that I have heard from clients and team members, because I feel like if we're not living life on purpose, we're just on autopilot. don't want to get to my cure being whatever age she is and looking back and saying, gosh, I lived so much of my life on autopilot. I was managing my life. wasn't creating my life. And so today I'm imploring you and inviting you.   to start creating your life on purpose. And if this is something that you're like, gosh, I need a lot of help. need some help. don't even know where to start. Reach out. Hello at thedumbolyteam.com. But really, I hope that you just commit to living life on purpose. I hope that you commit to having your business on purpose, that you get out of the unconscious known and get into the conscious unknown where it's creative, it's playful, it's not stressful, it's magnetizing, it's euphoria.   because you're actually living the life of your dreams, not the life that you feel like you are just living day in and day out. And it takes time, it takes daily effort, it takes planning and it takes prepping it, right? But I believe anything worth doing is worth doing well. And so I just encourage you to do this. And if we can help in any way, reach out, hello at thedeadlineteam.com. If this inspires you, feel free to reach out. You can email us. I'm happy to share some of these tips with you, but really...   Kiera Dent (18:14.434) Let's commit to living life on purpose and business on purpose. We get one life to live and let's make sure it's one that we are dang proud of when we're looking back, reminiscing and knowing that we truly created our life. We didn't just manage it. And with that, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Tiff and Kristy give tips on how to catch up on those collections fast, including a day-ahead assessment and treatment plan presentation. The advice given in this episode isn't only effective for offices concerned about collections, but any office, regardless of what their bank account looks like. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.738) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera, and I hope you are just having an incredible day today. I hope you are so jazzed and you are so excited about dentistry, because I'm excited about dentistry. You don't call us the Dental A Team for nothing. Our job is to help you in your practice become the A Team of dental offices. Honestly, I love this. I love what we do. I love talking to you. I love helping you and your team just become everything and more that you've ever hoped to be. So today, I hope you are ready. I just did a really incredible   team training with an office about case acceptance. And I realized, hey, maybe that's something where I can help you in your practice. I love doing this with teams. I have a couple of practices where I help their treatment coordinators. And we've actually been able to add multiple millions. And that's not an exaggeration, multiple millions to their practice. And the thing that I just love is when we increase our case acceptance from doctors and team members, we're able to help more patients. And that's what I tell everyone. are.   so blessed and so lucky to be able to be treatment coordinator masters and to be able to help more patients and to give patients this incredible life, to be able to give them the confidence, to be able to give them the smile, to be able to help their longevity. And I always enjoy hearing the objections. So it's a fun time. So we'll do a part one, part two of this podcast where I'll kind of break down case acceptance for you of kind of how I get team members into this mindset.   And then what I'll do part two of all the objections and how you can overcome objections and treatment planning. I think one of our greatest wins was when I had an office who literally was able to sell an electronic, like an electric toothbrush, which we all know is better than just a standard one to an Amish family. I was blown away. And it was because this treatment coordinator was able to provide so much value of what this patient actually needed and to help them have the best dental health. And I just...   I love treatment planning and case acceptance so much because to me it's helping more patients have healthier smiles, healthier mouths. And I just think it's one of the greatest gifts that we could ever, ever, ever, ever give our patients and our team. So I hope you're excited. I'll break it down for you in a couple of simple steps. These are some of the things that I do to get treatment coordinators and doctors in the right frame of mind. Because what I found is case acceptance is truly 80 % your psychology and what you're thinking and 20 % skill. So I'll give you both.   Kiera Dent (02:19.79) But really just wanting to break it down for you that so much of case acceptance is about Literally what you're thinking about. if you're new to the Dental A Team podcast, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent I'm your host I love all things dental and so much so that my last name is actually dent I created the Dental A Team consulting years ago when I left Midwestern University's dental college and working with so many of those dental students shout out to all of them and Realizing those students that I loved so much. We're going to go out into this   big bright world of dentistry and they were gonna need an advocate, someone who could vet companies for them, someone who could help guide them, someone who could help them understand what a P &L was, understanding what cashflow was, understanding the business aspect and the team aspect of dentistry, and that's how Dental A Team was born. So my first practice we took from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months and opened our second location. Dental A Team is a miracle grow for practices. We're able to increase.   your production, decrease your overhead and honestly decrease your stress and get a full doctor team experience. So that way doctors, don't just have to do this on your own. So that's a little bit about what Dental A Team is about. If you are part of our actual consulting dental family, welcome. I love you. I'm so grateful for you. It is truly one of the highlights of my entire life is watching offices succeed. Like we shout out office wins every single day in our team huddle. And when I hear offices who have broken a million or hit a hundred thousand for the first time or took home a paycheck for the first time or   got their team on board for the first time, literally, I light up, our team lights up because that's what we do. Our consultants are truly experts at what we do and we truly do love seeing your wins. Our tagline is your success and our passion. So our passion is seeing you successful. Our love of dentistry is being able to make sure you and your team are truly flourishing to help those patients get the best dentistry they can. So with that, setting up case acceptance is what I promise you are gonna come in part one of part two.   And like I said, we do this with teams. It's something really, really, really, I would say fulfilling for me to actually teach your teams how to present cases, how to help them. Like I said, I literally have a practice. We've got five offices and we have added multiple millions of dollars to their practices over the years of just working with their treatment coordinators and doctors. And it's funny, they have another person who watches their business and they said, what's happened?   Kiera Dent (04:39.342) how you guys grown so much and they said it all started when we hired the Dental A Team and just shout out to that practice and that owner and those owners at that, those locations because honestly, they don't just listen but they actually execute and they implement and we work on it and we listen to their treatment plans and we review and what I will tell you, one of my biggest secrets for it is it's usually one or two words that's making or breaking your case acceptance. And I hope you heard that. It's one or two words.   that's actually making or breaking patients saying yes or no to you. So that's where it's so fun. So, okay, step one that I always like to tell people is, like I said, 80 % psychology, 20 % skill. So what you've got to do is you've got to literally be in the right mindset before you go in. So doctors, before you go in and present an exam, team members, before we go and talk about it, before we hand things off, treatment coordinators, before you even think about presenting a treatment plan, I want you to have the right frame of mind. Kiera Dent's frame of mind is...   Everyone says yes to me and there's always a solution. That's my mantra. That's what I say. That's what I think about. And this is when I used to not even be able to close $500 cases. I went from closing $500 cases all the way up to closing 50, 60, 70, $80,000 cases same day. I literally had no idea a credit card could go up to $80,000. I was like, whoa, we're buying a boat today. Like I didn't even know this was reality. But what I learned was it was my psychology. It was me realizing that this was not a big treatment plan. It's just a treatment plan. So that's the second step to this.   We actually cut out the emotion of it's not a big treatment plan. And what I love to do is I love to ask you right now to tell me, and you can say this out loud. I know I'm not actually listening, but hopefully you're playing along with me today. It actually will make this really real for you. But what is the number for you that's your actual high dollar treatment plan? If I were to say, what's a big treatment plan for you? What's your number? Some people's a thousand, some people's 5,000, $10,400. What is your number?   I need you to tell me your number and do not sugarcoat to me. Don't go higher, don't go lower. If you're listening to this as a team, which, hey, that's a great idea. This is a great team training. You're getting it with me for free. But what is the number? And the reason I want to know this number is because no matter what, no matter what you're doing, guess what? That number actually is influencing you. And what I say is there's no judgment on treatment planning. I just need to know and you need to know.   Kiera Dent (06:56.126) what your number is so then we actually figure out where your ceiling is and how to go around it. When I start working with treatment coordinators, I usually say that I can typically tell when I look at a treatment tracker on a treatment coordinator what they're closing and it's usually close to us in their bank account. Dun dun dun dun dun, mic drop right there. The reason why is because we have this familiarity association where we think people are just like us and so I hear all the time of like, but Kiera, couldn't afford that or Kirea, could afford that or Kiera like,   That's like, it would be so hard for me as a parent to do this. And what we do is we try to put ourselves in other people's shoes, AKA empathy. But what we do on that is we actually close down a lot of cases that could be yeses because people are not just like us. Like I said, I didn't even know credit cards at the time could go up to $80,000. I had no idea. And had I assumed or projected or tried to be familiar with these patients, I would never have been able to close those cases. So what we wanna look at in these situations is,   We've got to cut the emotion. We've got to realize this is my ceiling and I'm going to get beyond that ceiling. Doctors, you have the same thing. You might walk into a room and you might think, my gosh, this patient is gonna think I'm buying my boat or they're paying for this. Whatever you're thinking about, patients actually pick up that energy vibe from you. And I know this sounds like woo woo.   but I will tell you I have taught so many people how to close cases and I'm freaking good at closing cases. Like I literally can walk into offices. I still test my skills when I walk into a practice because I really wanna make sure that what I'm teaching you is actually still working and it is. I have done it so many times successfully. So pick this up. We've got to cut the emotion and it's just a treatment plan. So I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to hear you ever again say, my gosh, it's a big treatment plan. Because what you do is you amp yourself up and you get all this energy behind it.   unnecessarily, and then you actually get like skittish and nervous and the patient feels that. I want to remind you, patients are not buying treatment plans, they're buying your confidence and a dream of their future life. So what I like to do is then next, figure out what kind of motivator this patient has. Is it cosmetic, function, cost, or longevity? I also found with treatment planning, sequence matters. So notice I said, is it cosmetic, function, cost, or longevity?   Kiera Dent (09:08.546) I did not start with cost and when I've done this in rooms and I've asked people and you can ask yourself right now, what is the number one motivator for you and your mouth? You're probably not gonna tell me it's cost. Believe it or not, you listen to those four. If you could only choose one, cost could be a portion of it, that's fine. But guess what, I could say, what is most important about your mouth and your smile? Is it cosmetic, function, cost or longevity? What would you tell me?   and I just sampled a room of probably 50 plus people and of those 50 plus people, three people it was cost. And the reason I like to highlight this is because we assume and we project because we wanna be familiar and close to these people that they're just like us and we think, my gosh, it's cost. If I were to sample an entire room of treatment coordinators across the nation, I promise you the number one thing people would tell me as to why they can't close cases is due to you got it cost.   But when I actually sample people and find out what's truly the most important for people, it's usually like 3 % of the room actually cares about cost. So I really, really, really want you to note that. And I want you to see that. With that, the next thing we're going to look at is, OK, now I know.   One, it's my psychology. Everyone says yes to me. There's always a solution and you can have whatever you want. You don't have to say that. But the reason I do that is because guess what? I walk in with pretty strong confidence. This patient is buying my confidence and I'm going forward knowing I'm going to figure out what motivates this person and I'm going to be able to help them say yes to this incredible life that they get to have with these teeth. Our teeth are literally the way we eat, talk, communicate, express our emotions. Like all of it. It's such an incredible thing for us to do.   We've cut the emotion, it's just a treatment plan. And then after that, what we're gonna do is we are going to make sure that we're not accidentally closing cases down before they even begin. And I say, don't create a solution to a problem they don't have. So a lot of times treatment coordinators, what they'll do is they'll start to like want to associate with this person and anticipate what objection they're gonna say so they don't quote unquote get broken up with. You're not about to get broken up with if a patient's silent.   Kiera Dent (11:23.17) They're just thinking through it. So what starts to happen is treatment coordinators and or doctors and team members start to ramble. We start to talk, we start to be like, my gosh, and what you end up doing is talking them out of treatment. So we need to also learn the art of silence. So once we present a treatment plan, once we do it, we want to ask them, what questions do you have? I want you to be rock solid, confident moving forward. Notice I'm teaching you sequence matters, putting things in order. What am I focusing on? Same thing when I do a treatment plan.   What am I focusing on? Am I focusing on insurance first? Am I focusing on how I want them to feel? Am I telling them, hey, what questions do you have for me? I want you rock solid confident. I'm telling them moving forward, this is how I want you to feel. What patients will do is they will actually follow through with you. It's going to be something wild for you. And so making sure that we're using language that's going to get our patients going where we want them to go. We're also making sure we're not planting, I call it weeds in our flower garden. So not.   accidentally creating solutions to problems they didn't say they had. So it's, hey, like, so we have financing options. Well, if they didn't say they have a financing issue, why are we offering financing options? Like, I know, like, it might be a lot of time. Why are you saying that? If they didn't say it, don't bring it up. Because what you do is you plant seeds. And I've talked about this on the podcast, and I think it's just a really good example. I went to PT one time and I had a really bad knee and hip pain.   And the PT was like, I noticed you didn't have insurance. I was like, yeah, I don't. And she's like, this might be really expensive for you. Thank you. I'm in pain. How many times do I need to come? And she's like, well, I don't know. How many times do you think you could afford it or come in? Girl, you just planted weeds in your flower garden. You just gave me all these objections that I was not even thinking about because you didn't stop talking to listen to me of what I actually said.   What I said is I'm in a lot of pain and I want to get out of pain. You then pick up, Kiera's number one motive is to get out of pain. So, hey, Kiera, the way we're going to be able to get you out of pain is we're going to see you three times a month. I'm going to see you for an hour. You're going to do exercises at home and we're going to get you out of pain in the next four months. Fan-freaking-tastic. Now, if I have an objection, I'm like, well, how much is that going to cost? Do you guys do payment plans? Let me bring that up, but pay attention to what your patients want. So,   Kiera Dent (13:42.978) These are just going to be a few little things for you. There's so many more things when I teach offices, like we need to edify our doctor. We need to tell this patient, my gosh, you are so lucky that Dr. Taylor is your doctor. Dr. Taylor is incredible. They're going to take great care of you. They do incredible dentistry. I am so excited for you to get treatment done with them. I have now put this patient on the winning team. They are buying my confidence. They are so excited about it and treatment coordinators. will give you a tip when doctors diagnose our job is to close. Did you hear that?   Doctors, when you diagnose, you should be able to expect and count on your team to close. I feel like when my doctor like diagnosis treatment, my job as a treatment coordinator is to get that patient on the schedule to figure out what their needs are and to be able to close that patient. So I need to figure out one, it's my mindset. Two, I need to make sure that I am not bringing emotion into this treatment plan. Three, I need to make sure that I'm presenting things in a right sequence based on what I'm focusing on to make sure that patient is focusing on the things that I need them to focus on.   Four, I need to make sure that I'm not planting any weeds in my flower garden and presenting solutions to problems they don't even have. And five, I need to make sure that I get this patient on the winning team. Doctors, you can say the same thing. You can present the treatment plan and say, my gosh, Kiera is an incredible treatment coordinator. She's gonna take great care of you. I know you're gonna really love her. I want you to be super confident moving forward. We have told them, we want them confident moving forward. We have told them that they're going to move forward.   Why on earth would we diagnose treatment and why on earth this patient come to the dentist if they don't want to move forward? Riddle me that. Think about that for a second where I was like, oh my gosh, they're gonna be so stressful. Insurance and money and teeth and pain. Well, yes, you're gonna create that. What you think about is what you create. And I will tell you this over and over and over again. So if you're like, oh, the patient can't afford it. Like the patients are saying no to me. You keep creating that. Care is as everyone says yes to me and there's always a solution and we will find it.   We will find it. Not I will find it, but we, me and the patient, we will figure this out. We will find a solution because I will close cases because if I believe in my doctor and I believe in the dentistry that they do, my job is to help this patient get the dentistry that they need done. We can then go in to so many different pieces of how we present this, how we talk about this, how we go into objections. Like I said, there will be a part two to this podcast. but really the reality is you've got to get this podcast. This one's about, you've got to be in the right freaking mindset.   Kiera Dent (16:03.438) before you even think about presenting a treatment plan. And usually we're like, Kara, tell me how to present the treatment plan. And I'm gonna say pause. And I want you to think about the treatment plan you're presenting, but I want you to think about the mindset, the sequence, what you are putting emphasis on because that's what your patients are responding to. You're like, patients aren't saying yes to me. Well, my question is, what is your sequence? What are you focusing on? What are you thinking about that might be influencing and not might that is influencing what your patients are responding to?   So it's wild when I start to get people in this mindset, when I start to help them realize like, okay, when I walk into the room, doctors, patients love you, they say yes to you when you are diagnosing comprehensive care. Whatever you feel is what this patient's going to respond to. Treatment coordinators, when they come up, it's an easy, it's an A plus B equals C. Fantastic, I'm gonna schedule you, present the treatment plan, bada bing, bada boom, we're gonna figure out the solutions. Notice I've cut the emotion. This patient's here, I didn't get them here. I did not brush their teeth, I did not floss for them.   They got themselves here. But the great news is my job is to help you get the great dentistry that's going to really truly make sure that you are taken care of. And that's what my job is to do. My job is to not like woe is you, like make you feel bad about this. My job is to have confidence. My job is to know that no matter what objection this patient gives me, I have a solution for it. And we are going to have a solution together. My job is also to help this patient figure out what their driver is by listening to them, paying attention. Like I said, it's 80 % psychology.   What is this patient's motivator? What is it that's driving them? Doctors, you can pay attention to this too when you go into the room. Look to see how do they talk? What do they tell you? What are the things when you emotionally connect with them? When you ask them about their life, what are they telling you? Link your treatment plans back to that. They tell you you've got kids and it's a mom. Reminder, she's worth it. She truly is worth it. If it's an elderly patient, remind them that your body deserves this nutrition. Like it's so great for you and it does so many things for you and it deserves that nutrition.   to truly make sure that you have the best quality of life you can. We can remind our patients of these things. It is an emotional purchase. They are not buying a filling. They're not buying a crown. They are buying the ability to eat. They are buying the ability to smile. They're buying the ability to make memories. They're buying the ability to communicate with confidence. That's what they're buying. And so when you walk into a treatment plan, this is how you become a treatment planning master, a case acceptance like guru. This is how you do it is it's.   Kiera Dent (18:26.196) start out with the right mindset. And this is what I get obsessed with because a lot of times we think we're doing all these pieces and we're not. And so what I want you to realize is the next podcast will be the tactical and you're like, okay, I'm going to like hurry up and listen to that high five. Thank you for being an avid listener. But number one, get this podcast dialed in first before you listen to the tactical, because if you don't fix your mindset, no matter what tactical piece I give you, you will always continue to get the same results where your focus goes, your energy flows.   where your energy flows, your focus goes, and it just goes around and around. So if I'm thinking patients will say no to me, that's going to become my reality. You create your reality. So if you've got patients saying no to you, you are creating it. So what paintbrush strokes do we need to remove? What thoughts do we need to remove? What new thoughts do we need to bring into it? What do I need to drop? I know what my number is of a high treatment plan. I need to drop that because there are no high treatment plans. There are just treatment plans. There is just dentistry. These are just people that deserve to have healthy mouths, healthy bodies.   healthy lives. That's what treatment planning's about. So I'm so jazzed. I hope you took a bunch from this. If you want, we do this with teams. And like I said, you want to believe that I can add a pay for our consulting in a couple sessions? Here we go. It's really such a beautiful thing. And to help teams become so confident to do this is truly a huge passion of Dental A Team. So if you're like, my gosh, I don't even know how to do this. I need you to listen to what I'm saying that I don't even realize I'm saying.   That's what we're experts in and I love to do this for teams. love to help you doctors out with this. So reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and be sure to catch part two of this because I'm going to go into tactical on the next one, but promise me you will get your mindset right to help more patients. It is your moral and ethical obligation. And I hope you take that on seriously. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Kiera shares a ton of fun ideas on ways to attract and engage with potential patients in your community. These range from a killer referral program, to considering the locations of where you're advertising, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript:  Kiera Dent (00:01.752) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I am just so excited to be chatting with you. I hope that your day is just going incredible. My day has been incredible. I have the opportunity to work with clients and just a fun coaching call day. And I always enjoy it. I enjoy helping clients. I enjoy helping you. I love to get on a podcast and I love to share. And with summer approaching, I thought it might be kind of fun to give you a quick tactical podcast where I talk about maybe some summer marketing ideas that maybe you haven't thought of. know   For a lot of practices, summertime can get a little bit slower or different things can happen for you. And so just maybe a quick tactical for you about maybe some ideas that you hadn't considered to grow your new patients during the summer. If you're planning and preparing now, that way you can have a more filled summer for you. As always, the Dental A Team, we are here to give you tactical practical tips, helping dentists and teams.   have an easier life, helping you have a better patient experience, helping you just have more fun in dentistry. That's what we're about. And that's what I hope you're about. And I hope you remember that you are truly in the best, most incredible profession you could ever be in, and that's in dentistry. If you love our podcast, I hope that you rate it, you review it, you share it, and you are able to just help us positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So in today's episode, it will be short. It'll be technical.   I'm gonna break it down for you of just like I said, some summer marketing ideas that I think are a little outside the box thinking. So one thing to think of whenever we're going into marketing is we always wanna make sure that we're looking to see who is our patient and where are they located. So if you're trying to attract for pediatric practices, they're trying to attract moms, that's their ideal patient. I know you might think it's kiddos, but guess what? It's actually the mom. In some of my other practices, their patient base is more of a geriatric patient base.   For others, it's a transient. So you've got more new families moving into your area. And so when you're looking at that, paying attention to what is your patient base and where are they going to be hanging out, that's gonna impact some of these summer marketing ideas. So I think one of the easiest things is having a really, really great referral. I see this in the waiting rooms, I see this in practices, but making sure it's targeted to your patient base. I have a practice and I think this is just a huge shout out to this practice. They picked a KitchenAid.   Kiera Dent (02:19.562) That was what they're giving away to their patient base. And the reason why this is so impressive is because they know their patient base and their ideal patient so well that one of their patients was actually at their child's birthday party telling every person who came to please become a patient because she wanted to win this KitchenAid so bad. This patient A is a raving fan, B took it to their child's birthday party and C this practice picked up a ton of patients because what gift they were giving away actually resonated with their patient base.   So I have a practice in there in like upstate Washington and it's like more of a outdoorsy area. So like a Traeger or a Blackstone works really well in their area. A practice in Texas, concerts were really big. So they gave away these very limited concert tickets. It was like one of the top best ones. A pediatric practice gave away some like Lulu or Aloe gift cards. So that was something that was super, super powerful for another practice.   but really just knowing your patient and what's going to resonate with them. But I think like something to really know is making sure that your practice is focused on internal and external marketing efforts. So when we do referrals and raffles within our practice, that's more internal. Yes, we're attracting external patients, but what we're doing is we're only able to connect with the patients that are coming to our practice. So we really wanna make sure that we're not just like...   only focusing on the internal and then looking for some of the external opportunities. So I thought like that would be something fun, a referral program, bring a friend, share a friend, having cards made so that way people can get really excited. And with some of the practices we work with, a lot of them are like, gosh, I wish I just had a card as the dentist or as team members, because when I'm out and about, people always ask like, where can I get it? And like, I wish I just had a card where I could just give it to them. I could put my phone number on it. So if they had any questions, they could contact me.   So just really looking to see what are some of these internal ways that are so simple that maybe we're just overlooking that could really help us, especially with summer on the horizon. Some other things like, depending upon where you are, if there's a school around you, looking for possibly around fall time where you might do something with clear aligners or whitening. Think about those seniors who might be needing to get senior photos and proms and end of year. Those could be some really good promos that you could possibly run in your area. Again, depending upon your patient base and what's around you.   Kiera Dent (04:39.178) And now for some external ideas that I think are just kind of fun of look to see again, where is your patient base? So for like geriatric, they might be hanging out in some retirement homes, in retirement communities, maybe the YMCA club, like that's where these people are going to really congregate. And so could we put flyers there? Could we go to the retirement communities? Could we put on a wine and cheese evening for them? Could we put on some lectures, some lunch and learns for them?   Could we offer our membership program that's special for their residents in their area so that way if they don't have insurance, they're able to access our membership program, you're able to bring in a huge patient base, and you're also able to help and support these communities as well. And I really think some of those areas, like if you can actually access them and get in touch with them, think about if you're the preferred dentist for that retirement community, especially if you place implants, you do all on fours, that might be a really incredible area for you to go.   to access, to incorporate, to be with them. I also am really big on community. If you wanna be a community dentist, if your community is tight knit, which a lot of them are, where can you access? Can you get into county fairs? Could you be at some of the sports games? Could you be in any of those other areas where maybe your community's at? And that is more for branding, not necessarily for ROI of patients. So branding is something super important for you to have as well, where it's not necessarily just.   like, okay, great. Like I spent $5. Now we got a patient in a lot of times it's just awareness. It's just being there. And I use the example of the chiropractor in my hometown. They're Ellison chiropractic. And honestly, this chiropractor was everywhere. They were all of our high school games. They sponsored a lot of the football games. It was Ellison chiropractic, which makes sense. You know, these, these football teams, they were there. Our community was very tight knit. had   our high school colors were orange and black. Their colors of the chiropractor place was orange and black. So they had it everywhere. They were representing our school. They were representing our community. They were on the city council. Like they literally were everywhere. They're the chamber of commerce and everybody knew and everybody went to this chiropractor in our community. And so I've thought about dental practices of how can you be the town's dentist?   Kiera Dent (06:54.744) How can you be the one that everybody knows, that everybody sees, that no matter where you are, people are like, hell, that's the dentist. Like that's our community dentist. So looking to see, is there a festival that you can attend? Can you get your name out there? Can you be a part of it? Can you have swag? I know there was a practice that we worked with that made mouth guards for all the football players on the high school teams.   So that way, and it had their school colors, but it also had that office's logo on it. And I just think that's so clever because this is branding. These are opportunities, but you've got to make sure that you're doing this based on what your patient base is. So if your patient base is elderly, you don't want to be supporting the high school. They find out a lot of people there. You might want to do TV commercials. I have a practice and they do TV commercials and my in-laws actually saw one of our practices. Like I saw them on TV and I was like, yeah, because   my elderly in-laws are watching TV. They're listening to the radio. That's where that patient base is. So those marketing dollars are actually making an impact. So looking to see maybe mailers, maybe mailers work in your area. Maybe there's a new housing development that you could go get in and you could again offer a membership program to them. So if they don't have insurance, you could be there, throw some testimonials in there. Maybe talk about your in-house plan and how great it is for patients within your practice. These are all little ways where if you get ahead of the summer slump,   or the September or slam dunk September that we're going to be able to have it. We're really truly just going to impact your community and maybe just get you out there. You could do a block party. So your community is out there. They're having a good time. Have like hot dogs. I know there was a practice and every Friday they'd hand out donuts on the corner. So everybody knew this dental practice. Like literally they were the practice of all practices and people would drive by, they'd get their donuts. They had their   practice name on a napkin, and that's what they were known for within their community. So I think knowing your practice, knowing what you can do internal, so having like a great referral or giveaway during the summer to really get people excited, making cards just so your practice and your team can actually give those away consistently, and then looking to see what can we do externally. I also think back like when you were starting your practice, how often did you go see specialists? And if you're a specialist, how often did you go see general practices?   Kiera Dent (09:09.646) Are you dropping off goodie baskets? Are you going to say hello? Are you, I mean, for March Madness, I remember I used to love all the ortho offices because they'd bring us cookies all the time as a dental practice. But how often are we going and actually connecting with the specialist in our area or vice versa, the general practices? And I know that seems like, Kiera, I did that back in the day. I don't want to do that now. I want to remind you that grassroots marketing and face-to-face and referral marketing is one of the best things you can do.   So I have a practice and they're incorporating sleep. So they went and met the sleep doctor. They started getting a ton of referrals and vice versa. And now this doctor is actually taking on this dentist patients and kind of moved that doctor, the dentist, moved them to the top of the line at the sleep doctor's clinic. And I just think the power of relationships and the power of being known in your community and the power of really making an impact. Dental A team's big.   Big mission is to create an impact in the greatest way possible. And so we do it with dentists all across the nation. So we don't really get a community opportunity, but you and your practice can. You can make fun things in your area. And I think being cautious of our dollar spends, making sure we're tracking what we're doing. There's two sides of marketing. There's the actual like getting patients in and then there's the branding and awareness of your practice. And I think it's really important to not just do internal marketing, but also external marketing in some fun ways like this.   where you really get to make an impact because this is a community where you live. This is a community where maybe your kids grow up or your kids go to school or if you don't have a family, it's where your employees, kids and families are going. I think really as dental practices, we have such an incredible opportunity to impact, to flourish, to grow these communities by looking out. So just wanted to pop in with some quick tactical things for you for summer marketing, really easy of one, having our internal, two, having our external.   knowing who our patient base is, knowing the actual appropriate prizes and giveaways and fun things that we can do for that. And then last but not least, it's always making sure that you are just an incredible practice, that you are really giving top-notch dentistry, that you are creating an incredible VIP customer and patient experience where your team truly, 100%, is giving these patients something to rave about, something to be excited about.   Kiera Dent (11:27.244) And this is something I love to do with offices. love to do with teams. love to do it in our consulting where we help offices figure out what is their niche, what makes you special, what makes you the best practice for somebody to come to, and then really highlighting that and making it such a full team experience. So that's something that we're passionate about in consulting. Our job is to help you grow, to flourish, to have your best life, but to get that from a doctor and a team where you guys are working in tandem together.   I really do believe that dentistry and running a successful practice does not need to be hard. so Dental A Team, the question is, what if this could be easy? Because with Dental A Team, can. And so if we can reach out, we can help you if this resonates with you. Email us, ask us for more ideas. I'm happy to have a call with your practice and give you some free resources and advice for your practice just to truly help youth flourish. And if you're like, gosh, I just need some help, reach out. This is the time. I know it takes a lot of humility to do that.   But why, why struggle when we have done this successfully for hundreds and thousands of offices? Why not yours? So reach out, I'd love to help you. Hello, thedentalateam.com. Let's make this summer an incredible one. As always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.  

Kiera talks about the numerous shifts on the horizon in dentistry, what your practice can do to embrace the changes, and how Dental A-Team can help. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so excited to have you on the podcast today. I hope today is just an incredible day for you. And I hope you remember you are in the greatest industry possible. And today I'm really excited because I feel like there's some opportunities to discuss and challenges that I think offices are gonna be facing in the next five to 10 years. I wanted to pop on and just say like, hey, dentistry is changing fast. And my question is, are you and your practice gonna be ready to seize the opportunity or?   Honestly, are you going to be struggling and hanging out in the back? I think that there will be a lot of shifts. I think we've seen a lot of shifts in dentistry. And so really just popping on to help you look for different things for technology, patient experience, different things within the practice, and really be able to help you guys prepare and get your practice there. Do you guys know Dental A Team? We are here to serve. We are here to help you and your practice have the best experience. I truly do believe that running a dental practice that's profitable and successful does not need to be hard. It does not have to be crazy.   and it can actually be fun and we can get doctors and team members aligned to be able to work in tandem together. And so that's why we're here today. I'm super excited because honestly, staying ahead of these trends is going to help you have long-term practice success. I've really been watching in the offices that we consult, the ones that are adapting and early adapters to technology, I think are going to be in the forefront. And so really just looking at where you are in the life cycle of your practice, looking to see where you want to be in the next five to 10 years.   and not making decisions to sell or to go to a DSO or to stay in a legacy practice out of necessity, but actually out of choice. So number one, I think that AI is coming in. AI is coming in pretty popular. There's a lot of different things. So we're having it in diagnostics. So like Pearl and Overjet, they're able to help co-diagnose with you. There's 3D printing that's coming in. I know offices are using AI and creating bots. We have an office.   where they've created an actual 24 hour a day bot for their practice. And I really think right now is a time for you to be learning. So whether it's 3D printing within your practice, automating our patient communication, looking into AI like this practice where they have a bot, using chat GPT for other things, utilizing AI, think helping practices with case acceptance. We've talked with Pearl, I've had Pearl on the podcast before, but what's crazy cool about that is offices are utilizing it.   actually you're seeing like a 30 to 50 % increase in case acceptance just by using this AI assisted technology. And I prefer Pearl over Overjet. Honestly, I think that there's no wrong choice on it. But the reality is like, I think you've got to get these things in motion. You've got to start looking for them. Otherwise, I really am concerned for you as a practice that you will accidentally become outdated. So really making sure that you are, you're working through this, that you are adding these things in because I think   AI is going to rapidly take off. And if you're not prepared, I think you will be outdated. So that's opportunity number one. So I'd say get involved in some sort of AI, whatever it is, even if you just start dabbling in chat GPT every single day, whatever it is, but really starting to utilize that. Opportunity number two. Now these are the opportunities that I see in the next five to 10 years. I think they're hitting this now. But number two is going to be like looking at membership plans, fee-per-service.   looking at some of those things. Now I'm not here to say drop insurance plans. I've actually been, think a consultant who's been pretty adamant about hanging onto insurance plans for as long as you can, pending upon what you want to do for marketing. If you're an incredible marketer, rock on, you might not need it. But insurance is just going to be something where I feel over time, it's going to get a little bit funkier. I don't think you're going to see a huge increase in insurance funds. I could be totally off on this. I'm not stamping my like everything that I am, but I think like, let's pay attention to it and let's see.   costs are rising in dentistry, but insurance plans are not paying a lot. And so could we start to shift our patient base? Could we start to retain our patients and actually build this fee for service model in? Now you've got to be super careful and I'm going to put like huge asterisks and exclamation points and pieces around it because if you do not transition out of insurances correctly and have a plan and a process and a patient experience in place, you will get like, I've seen it be so bad for practices. So really I think like,   One, if you don't have an in-house membership plan, let's get that started. I'm very pro these. It allows you to have options in the future. It allows you to have different marketing strategies. I think a lot of people are just looking at benefits at a different way now. And I think it just helps you to not be as dependent upon insurance in the future. Then number two is assess your insurance plans. And let's see, are there maybe any insurance plans that we could drop that aren't really going to hurt your production? You really got to do this strategically. Otherwise it will burn you in the booty.   and I do not want you to be at that practice. I've had too many of those offices, so let's make sure you're not there. And then make sure that we're like really getting people sticky to our practice. I think this will be a really, really, really big change for people. And then also it's something where even as fee for service patients, if you can get them on membership plans, I can speak for myself. Being on a membership plan, I actually came in for my two cleanings as opposed to a fee for service patient who often will only come in one time.   So I think it's just another way for you to have more patient flow, more opportunities to diagnose by having that membership plan. I have a practice where they were, this is me as a patient, I was going to them and they had a membership program. The doctor left, branched off, opened up their own practice and they don't have a membership program. And I was like, well, sweet, maybe I'll just go to you once a year. This is as a consultant. I know I need to go in twice a year. I know I have amazing teeth, but I don't need to go twice a year. Like honestly, if I only go once a year, my teeth are probably fine.   but if they had put me on a membership plan, there are other opportunities. For example, you could offer me a night guard, you could do whitening on me, you could do fluoride treatments on me, but because they're not putting into place a membership plan, odds are I probably won't be going back. So look to see how can we actually get our patients to be retained in our practice, not dependent upon insurance. So when we start to trickle that down, we start to convert more and more of our patient base. And what I will say is a lot of practices have transitioned say,   30 % of their patient base over to a membership plan. They start practicing on this, they start getting used to it. So when they want to drop insurance plans, they have a solution that's been really ingrained into their practice. The team's really good. I'm obsessed with companies like Dental Menu. I think that they do a great job for membership programs. I think that they've got a great one built. BoomCloud Clear. So you can just take a look to see who you like the most for it. And then I'm really obsessed with Moola. Moola, I think is a great credit card processor for you.   that actually helps you with your membership programs in-house so you can actually save on your credit card fees. I'm really pro them. Any of these companies that I'm recommending today, be sure to tell them, Denali team, you heard it on the podcast because they actually have a referral pricing for you. So that's what I negotiate. We don't do hardly any affiliates within our company. I just negotiate the lowest fees for you. but really I think looking to see, I think it's an opportunity for you with insurance plans and the economy to start adding in a membership.   Opportunity number three for you is looking into, tell the dentistry I don't think like hot, hot, but I do think virtual consult and online payments. So how can we make things easier for people? So can we get a virtual consultation? Can we start to have, I know there's like, we've had other people on our podcast before where they do virtual, like your smile, what is it? Your virtual smile consult. And what you can do is you can actually do treatment planning. You can have new patients meet you.   You can have videos on your website where it's like, hey, I'm the doctor. They can actually ask questions to the doctor. I have seen a lot of this with bigger cases come into pretty strong effect. Also, if you're wanting to do say consultations where maybe we're doing bigger treatment plans or even like full mouth cosmetic, there's a lot of those that I think are out there to help virtually. I have a doctor and they do a lot of what's called hybrid. So all on X cases and there's a software they can literally use and show the patient their new smile sitting in the chair.   So I think whether you're having patients virtually meet you or if you're using that technology within the chair to help present your cases better, having online options, so online scheduling, online payments, those types of things I really think we need to get more into the virtual world. I think dentistry is a smidgey dated. So I would strongly recommend for you on this to see how can you actually add these pieces into your practice because I do think these are going to like enhance you and just be something patients are expecting. Right now patients are expecting online.   patient scheduling, they're looking for online payments. They're looking for, mean, think about it. If I want to have a consult, my husband and I, we've done IVF. I've talked about it a couple of times on the podcast. I did a virtual consultation with my IVF doctor in another state and we went and we went, now, if you know IVF, IVF's around a 20 to $25,000 process per cycle. And so thinking about that in comparison to dentistry, they literally did virtual consults with me so I could be out of state, I could fly in.   I didn't have to actually be there. And so looking to see, that's what modern medicine is doing. What things could we actually do in dentistry that might be able to help us out as well? So I really think looking for that, that's where I mentioned Moolah, they're great for online, your smile, your virtual, gosh, I'm like botching it. I think it's your smile virtual consult, virtual smile consult. Look it up, that one I'm not as strong on. But just see how can we incorporate some of these items within our practice.   And I would really say that when you do this, you're able to get those high case acceptance. You're able to have more patient acceptance. Think about it. We're paying bills online at night. We are also scheduling appointments. I am constantly on my phone in the middle of the day, at night, on the weekends, moving appointments around, looking to see. And I think if we're not offering that for our patients, we're actually gonna get left behind because patients might accidentally leave you to go to a practice that's actually more up to date. So definitely.   Let's get into how can we become more virtual online. I think it's a huge, huge, huge opportunity for practices. Like I said, I think those are the top three opportunities right now. So we've got AI, membership programs, and then getting more virtual. So virtual consults, virtual like having more available online options. And then I think two of the big challenges in the next five to 10 years, which I think we're seeing it, which I think tie into the opportunities are,   We know it's expensive to run a dental practice. And I think dentistry has had this like nice run for quite a few years, decades where they've been able to stay in a very profitable margin. Hence why DSOs have entered the playing field. And so I think with inflation, higher payroll, supply costs, I think that there's some things in there to pay attention. And number one is you've got to know your number. So I'm really pro overhead calculators, looking at it, having your team involved with you, making sure that all of you are on the same page.   Those are gonna be some really good ways for you guys to stay on top of it, not falling out behind the scenes and figuring it out. Then utilizing buying group things. So for example, Synergy is a great buying group. You buy from your own preferred vendor, but you just get a discount on your supplies. Why not do things like that? How can we actually look to see, can we hire hygienists in and then have a base plus commission? and I were on the podcast.   a couple of weeks ago talking about how we can incentivize hygienists and not have to have as high of payroll, but really looking to see what are the ways that we can do this, looking to see how we can increase our fees, doing a 5 % fee increase, negotiating with insurances or possibly dropping some of those lower paying ones. What are some of these pieces? And what I will say is When you watch your numbers and you analyze your overhead, I promise you, you will be more profitable. So right now we're like, gosh, it's so expensive, which I'm not here to say it's not.   But there's offices out there that are running at a 35% overhead. So that means there's 65% profit margin for them. So looking at that and knowing that there's practices that are able to do that, that means once we know it's possible, then we can look for how you can do it in your practice as well. Now I understand that there's different areas. California is expensive. Hawaii is expensive. Like I hear you, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible. And I think being a wise steward over your numbers is actually something that I really would implore you to do.   to make sure that as costs rise, you know what you're actually spending money on. So you can actually make better decisions. look to see, can we hire this person? Are we paying within the realm? What do we need to do? Could we add on other services within our practice? all on X cases, ortho cases, things like that. But I really think like it's a huge challenge that I think you've got to stay on top of. Otherwise, before you know it, you're gonna just be like inundated and not be able to hire team members because we weren't watching it. We didn't know our numbers. We didn't know what we needed to be producing.   We didn't build block schedules to make sure that our practice could actually run lean and efficiently. And then challenge two, which I think has been hitting hard, which we'll just kind of address, is like staffing shortages and team retention. But I will say that this is like an if. Like there's so many offices out there that I know have incredible cultures. And so what I really feel like needs to happen in this realm is you've got to be an office that in a place that people want to work for. I started noticing that the new currency is time.   Time is the new currency, I think, in where we're at right now. Time and compensation and being happy. But I don't think it's as high on compensation as people think it is. Yes, it's a piece, but I see team members that are getting paid less, but for great cultures are saying because they want this work-life balance. They want more time. They want to be able to be with their kids. They want to be able to feel appreciated with their boss. They want to feel like they're doing a great job. And that is more the currency of today. And so how can you build this culture where   We attract a bunch of people to our practice. We have team members that want to stay with us and that we actually know that, like, we're looking to see how can we maximize this. I am seeing a trend, I'm not saying this is how you have to be, but I am seeing a trend where there is a four-day work week of employees actually tends to lead to less burnout and less team turnover. I don't know what it is. My five-day practices tend to have a bit more of that, but the four-day, and again, they, so they're not,   just open four days or open five days, but they have these rotating shifts and rotating days where they're off. I have seen that that's helping. And so I really feel that when you can build this amazing culture, build it to be a place where you're excited about, add fun things in, watch your overhead, watch those costs. But I really think it's something that's possible. think back to why you started to practice. You wanted to change, you wanted to do things differently. You want to have a team where you were so excited. I know that's what I get excited about. love, I love having a team. love.   loving on them. I love giving them opportunities. I love seeing them flourish in their lives. I love being excited for the growth they're having and so really trying hard to build this incredible team culture to cut the team turnover, to keep it to where you're this like raved about practice where everybody wants to work for you. I think would really, really be an incredible thing for you to just take on. And I know we've heard about it, but I think like, look at your culture, look at the things. I had to do a deep dive of this last year.   Britt and I, sat there and we're like, all right, what is the team saying? What are the issues that we know we're seeing consistently? And what do we want to do to change to make this a better environment and a better space? And I feel that only teams in incredible culture, but there were things that we were struggling with. were things of that we needed to change. There were things that had shifted since I started the company. And I think you've got to stay on top of that. Otherwise, I think you can easily get outdated. So that's a quick wrap.   I think the biggest opportunities are definitely AI membership programs and then also getting virtual, like getting everything up to date and online. And then challenges of course are going to be higher costs and then staff shortages and team retention. But I honestly believe that those who adapt, those who innovate, those who listen to this and they don't just passively listen but actively implement are going to flourish. They say a lot of times the biggest millionaires and billionaires are born during times of hardship and harder times. And so I think   Instead of looking at this like, my gosh, the world is falling apart. Look at this. I'm like, this is the greatest time in dentistry. This is where you get to rise to the top. This is where adding customer service or doing unreasonable hospitality or being a different work culture will actually set you apart. Like you have a chance, like it's not all just set anymore. You have a chance to shuffle and ruffle and make your way to the top. And I honestly believe that you can future-proof your practice. You can get ahead of these trends. You can look ahead and   You can be the practice who is proactive and looked and saw where to get the worm and how to navigate your practice rather than being the one who wished that they would have innovated sooner. And so really just to call the action and truly if you want to future proof your practice, you want to get ahead of these, us. We're on Instagram, DentalATeam or email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com I'm happy to pop on a strategy session with you, give you a free practice assessment for your practice to look at maybe where the gaps are, maybe where your blind spots are, maybe we can help you out.   And honestly check out our newsletter. We have a newsletter that goes out so you can always subscribe go to our website TheDentalATeam.com We try to keep you guys on top of this of just insights and knowledge to where we can really help you and your practice thrive And so really this is truly what the Denali team does. This is who we are This is what we love to do and if you're ready to take on opportunities and overcome your challenges reach out Now's the time I do not believe that having a practice should be hard. I do not believe that these things are just   Let me talk about it. It's time to implement. time to take action. And it's time for you to be the elite practice that you were destined to be. And as always, thanks so much for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Kiera is a guest on the Dentalligenstia Podcast, hosted by Nick Zagar and Remy Isdaner. She talks about the connection between success and knowing your practice's numbers for the following: Production Overhead Collection New patients Case acceptance Kiera also gives tips on streamlining workflow, working through scratch starts, startup versus seasoned practice needs, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00.16) Hello Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and today I am so excited. I did an incredible podcast and I just thought it'd be fun for you guys to hear it, to listen to it. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast. Welcome to the Dentalligentsia podcast. I'm Nick Zager and we have Remy Isdaner, my partner, and we are Mirlo Real Estate Partners. Today we have a special guest, Kiera Dent from the Dental A Team. Welcome Kiera. Thanks guys. I'm super excited to be here.   I love what you guys are doing. I'm just jazz. And I'm glad that I didn't have to say the name of your podcast because I would have totally botched that. So thank you for taking that on for me. I love what you guys are doing. And I'm just super, super excited to be here. I love geeking about dentistry and business and all things. So thank you guys. I'm really honored to be here. We appreciate that. you know, our favorite clients are typically early to mid-career dentists. And we love what you do to support.   our mutual clients and really want to know a little bit more about you and why you do what you do. How did you get into this? Yeah, for sure. Well, luckily for both of us, we love the same type of clients. So it's really fun. I actually started my career in dentistry in high school. I was offered an opportunity to either go into nursing or dentistry. And I thought, hmm, I want to wear scrubs. Like that was my end goal. And I thought, learn the whole body or learn the mouth. I'm surely going dental route. So that was honest to goodness. The reason why I got into dentistry.   I was a dental assistant for years and then became office manager, treatment coordinator, scheduler, biller, you name it. I have not been a hygienist and I'm not a dentist, but my husband, he went to pharmacy school at Midwestern Arizona. And during that time, I'm a little hustler. I found out if I could work at the college, I'd get a discount on his tuition. And so I knew there was a dental college and so I found out, got a job at the dental college.   And I was super blessed, super fortunate. And I worked there for three years with dental students. And one of the students asked me while we were in school, she said, hey, Kiera, do you want to come help me open my practice in Colorado? And I was like, heck yeah. Dental assistant to practice owner. Like, this is a great plan. I never knew how I'd be able to do this. I'm not a dentist. And I'm like, I see what you guys do in dental school. Yes, I want to say yes to this. So I went and helped her open the practice in Colorado. And we took our office from 500,000 to 2.4 million.   The Dental A Team (02:25.773) in nine months and opened our second location. And what I found from that was I learned a lot. We built a pretty big group of practices and I learned so much from that of what not to do. My marriage was about in shambles. Her marriage was about in shambles. My health was deteriorating. I was working from 2 a.m. till 10 p.m. trying to make these practices grow and I thought, well, shoot, one, if I could help her grow a practice, I wonder all my other students that I love.   Could I help them grow their practices and give them the confidence as well? And two, there's got to be a better way to do this than what I've been doing and what she's been doing. Like, yes, we have success on paper, but behind the scenes, we're deteriorating as human beings. And so that's really what spurred my passion. I never worked with a consulting company. Everything that Dental A Team's consulting is are things that I wish I would have had when I was a practice owner, things that I wish I would have known.   things to help all of my dental students. It's fun because it's becoming full circle. A lot of those students are now buying practices and coming and working with me, which is super fun. But really the passion comes from how can I help these dentists live their best lives, get the profitability they want, but also get their team bought in because most consulting companies work with just the dentist or just the team. And I thought, but if I can get the team on board, these dentists lives become a lot easier. And so it's really fun to talk about both sides of the coin.   And shoot my last name is Dent. So I think I was destined for this career path. It's not a stage name It's just the third fiance finally like I didn't get married I just took three fiancees to get a better last name So that's kind of my story and how I got into it and truly just love love this industry and love helping dentists Flourish and succeed and help more people But nursing never had a chance Yeah, I mean the scrubs if it would if they would have cuter scrubs than maybe but   The fact that I had the short path didn't just the mouth, but it's funny. I don't even get to wear scrubs anymore. like, man, that was a short lived moment. yeah, nursing. don't think I could do rectal trumpets. That's just like, I mean, I'll take the mouth all day long versus that. I don't think I could. I have such a gag reflex. I don't think I could honestly do it. Well, talk to us about some of your favorite client stories. gosh.   The Dental A Team (04:39.725) So knowing that like the startup to the mid range are kind of the ideal clients, I was thinking of a couple and one comes to mind. He attended one of our summits. We have one in April every year for doctors and teams. And so he attended it. And I remember he had like a really funny name on his screen because I see all the participants. I really try to make our summits really engaging and active. And I remember it was iPhone. And so I just kept calling this person out. was like, hey, iPhone, how you doing over there?   just kept kind of like razz and I had no clue there's no camera on it just says iPhone and lo and behold iPhone decides to sign up with us and he had just bought his practice and paid in full for consulting which I was always like man that's a pretty like gutsy move you just bought a practice but I also like people that are gutsy and this committed to it and what was interesting is we'll call him iPhone if you listen to this you'll know exactly who I'm talking about but over the course it's been about two years now iPhone has gone from   Being a practice owner who literally knew nothing about ownership had a pretty seasoned team when they bought their practice And went through all these hard transitions like I'm telling you this was a labor of love on both sides the consulting side and his side from needing to transition out his office manager who was really really causing a lot of like Shakes within the practice and and driving the team in a direction. He didn't want to go   So learning how to hire, learning how to lead, learning how to present treatment plans, learning how to put KPIs into the practice. Like you want to talk about a jumpstart to business ownership. And I remember he's like, Kiera, I'm not even taking home a paycheck. And those moments always rock me because this is real life for a lot of dentists. And my goal is to help them get to taking home their paychecks quickly. And so about six months, he was taking a little bit, but we started like at six months, he was able to take his full paycheck and then fast forward to   I just saw him actually last weekend and he was sharing that now he's producing over 250,000 a month in his practice, collecting home a paycheck, has a new office manager that was sitting next to him. They've shifted the culture. This office manager said that this doctor like makes for Phil Seen, Heard and appreciated. He understands his KPIs. He's got a profitability margin of 60%, which makes me so proud.   The Dental A Team (06:59.629) excuse me, his overhead 60 % profit margin of 40%. He knows his numbers. He knows how to look at it, getting ready to possibly expand his practice. But he said, we were just meeting last week and he said, Kiera, I want to give back because Dental A Team's given me so much. so having him help coach other practices now of things that he's learned really just inspires me. But I think about this man of...   like the rocky road he went on to get there. And I think that his journey is not unique. I think this is so common for so many owners who buy practices two, three, four years in, but to be able to have him be an example of what can happen and for him to be going from about 150,000 when he first bought the practice to now doing 250,000 a month, just to give him the confidence, I think as a leader, as a dentist, to get a team bought in and on board.   the fact that he knew his numbers and it's been, it'll be two years in April since he bought his practice and joined. And I think that is one of my most favorite stories because to see him excited about life, to see him excited about his practice when there were some dark days, I remember like his name, we'll just say iPhone was on our schedule a lot of times to give more support and to review resumes and to teach him how to hire for culture and to build a culture.   That is a magical experience. And there's, like I said, so many things from KPIs to numbers to culture to hiring to diagnosing and getting patients to accept you when the other dentist was still a part of the practice and moving on. He's honestly one of my favorite clients because I think his story is so relatable to how so many other people feel. And to see him now on the other side of it, truly beaming, I think is honestly one of my favorite stories. I have so many favorite stories.   But I think he's a really recent telling one that is just a fun success story to share with people. That's super cool. And he's got a great name. I know, right? iPhone. I'm like, it's easy because I was like, who is this? Who shows up? Like, I hate it on meetings. Like, get your name of who you really are because I want to call you. There's another, she's now a client. And I was speaking in person and, you know, front row, was like, hey, what's your name? And she's like, I'm going to be anonymous.   The Dental A Team (09:13.803) So we have a running joke now that she's just anonymous, even though she's a client now. And she's like, I'm so glad. But now she's like, secretly optimistic anonymous. So, you know, we've kind of changed that around, but yeah, it's fun to have clients show their personalities. But yeah, if you're on an event, put your dang name on there. Otherwise, maybe you'll be iPhone forever. Fair enough. I'd rather be iPhone than anonymous, but point taken. I've got a serious question.   for you based on that great story, but first I'm gonna joke. So it's on record in our company, there's a iPhone, Samsung battle and I'm on the iPhone side and Nick's on the other side. And we have it on record here on this podcast that Nick said something to the effect of, that sounds awesome being iPhone or iPhones are awesome.   So just just want to make sure that that we're all in the same page there, you know, Remy I'm happy in our company. It's the same. It's like Apple versus HP I'm diehard Apple everything connects in so seamlessly. So Remy we're on the same. Yep. I phone over here It's definitely definitely for the Samsung. I'm sick of the green bubbles, but they are getting better now I can see that you're writing I can see that it's been read. So I mean, hey, they are making some progress, but that's been like, you know decades in the making speaking the same language   Okay, as promised, I'd start with jokes and then, you know, that was a great success story and your passion is clear. Let's talk about those KPIs. So what are some of the KPIs that young dentists, newer dentists should be looking for? And I asked that question and then also add a preface. We talk to doctors all the time who have no, it's clear they have no...   connection to what the business side of dentistry is doing in their own practice. And I get it, we get it, that they didn't set out to run a business necessarily. They set out to provide the best oral health to their community. But it is a business after all. And so what are some of the things that those young dentists should be looking for? Remy, I'm so grateful you asked this question. It was not pre-planned.   The Dental A Team (11:36.073) My passion came actually from teaching people how to run successful businesses because as a business owner myself, profits seemed elusive. I remember like, what the heck is a freaking KPI? I didn't even know what that meant. And I really love in dental hygiene, there's no judgment. And I just want people to feel safe and confident to ask those questions. And I think dentists really feel this need to know everything because you are a doctor. And I just want to highlight that, guess what? None of them know it. Like 99 % of dentists that we work with   don't understand the business, but yet understanding the business and the numbers, I feel is like your treasure map to success. It helps you see where are broken systems in your practice to fix. So rather than just trying to pump a bunch of systems, let's look at the numbers to see which system we really can impact. Also, when you know your numbers, you can make smarter decisions of who to hire, when to hire, things like that. And so for people who don't understand KPIs, like I said, someone told me that I was a Dr. Seuss of systems. So I take that.   as a huge compliment to try and make it so simple for people. I believe KPIs are like the vitals of your practice. It's like when you go to the doctor, they always check your like height, weight, your blood pressure, your temperature. They're gonna check those things because if any of those things are out of whack, we're gonna have like an immediate plan. And I feel like that's similar to KPIs within a practice and KPIs can get a little extensive. So if we're talking about a brand new practice, things I start small and then we get bigger.   And so like main things that are really going to give you a nice suck on your business, if you're not careful are going to be your cashflow. So that's going to be your overhead. I'm watching your production and your collections because oftentimes the practice is producing enough, but your team's not collecting that money. So we want to make sure we have a 98 % collections ratio. I'm also going to watch your AR. So AR is your accounts receivable, checking from patient portion and insurance portion, because a lot of times practices actually have the money in their practice.   but they're not collecting, it's just kind of sitting there in overdue payments that are due to you, whether that's from patient or insurance. If we can look at those, we can figure out where's our collection problem. it we don't have clean claims sending to insurance or we're not collecting from patients and we're sending statements or we're not even calling. So I'm really gonna watch those super, super tight. And then if you want to go, excuse me, further down the line and things that I'll watch are gonna be like your lab costs, your supply costs, marketing can come into place.   The Dental A Team (14:00.685) scheduling, we can look at your scheduling and see like number of new patients coming in. That's a big one that I really like to watch because if we're not getting enough new patients or on the flip side, we're attritioning, AKA we're not keeping them in for re-care and reappointment percentages. We can get a leaky bucket and just keep filling with new patients but not retaining the ones that we have. So I like to watch your attrition rate. I also like to look at your case acceptance. So what are you diagnosing and what's being accepted to see is it a diagnosis problem?   or is it an acceptance problem? Whatever doctors wanna make, there is a study and a standard of three times what you wanna produce is what you need to be diagnosing. So if you're not watching this diagnosis amount, you might not be diagnosing enough to be able to get what you want on your schedule for your production. So I like to watch that. And I like to watch your case acceptance of dollar for dollar. So if you're presenting a thousand dollar treatment plan, how much of that thousand is actually being accepted? Are we accepting 100 % of that? Are we accepting 50 % of that?   and then asking questions of why, because case acceptance is usually one or two words from our exam to our treatment coordinator. And then I like to watch your hygiene percentages. So what's your hygienist producing per hour? I like three times pay for PPO practices, and I like four times pay for fee for service practices, and that's on adjusted production. So let's not go off of gross, let's go off of adjusted. Gross feeds the ego, net feeds the family.   So let's not be feeding our egos. I know it feels really good to say you're producing 260, but if you can only collect 150 of that, let's live in real life world. So those would be some zones. And then like, again, if you want to go like next level, you're already doing that. Some things we found over the last year of tracking hundreds of offices were open time in a schedule and your dollar per hour production, because a lot of times just open time in schedules, we found you could actually hit your goal.   if we could fill those spaces and then figuring out protocols for your team just to keep that schedule full. So I said a lot of KPIs for you, but really your main ones, you've got to be watching our production, collection, overhead, new patients and case acceptance. If I could only pick five, those would be my top five that I would start with. And I'm going to give six, like your reappointment percentages. Cause if we're not reappointing, that's really going to kick you down later on. And it's going to make a lot more work for you. And I think those are some pretty easy ones to watch pretty quickly.   The Dental A Team (16:18.733) but then also hopefully giving a lot of other ones for you to be able to watch in addition to that, that depending upon where you are in the journey of your practice, things to be looking at and doctors, you don't have to track all this. You get your team to track this for you. And then you get this lovely report that comes to your desk every week or every month. You review it, you assess it, and then you make the changes accordingly.   How do you help the practices that you're working with refine their systems to streamline their workflows to ultimately maximize their productivity? So Nick, on that, I'm just going to sound like a broken record. I literally look at their numbers, because whatever their numbers are looking at, these KPIs, that's going to tell us where the system's broken in addition to what your team is saying is a problem. So usually it's like communication or it's   low case acceptance or overhead or cashflow issues. And so what we're gonna do from there is we're gonna look to see what is the system in place. So if we're having an overhead issue and cashflow issue, well, I'm gonna look at the billing system. Like, let's look there, because that's where the money's at. So let's figure out what is our process, who's doing what, and where is the breakdown, and then we're gonna refine the system. I don't believe teams like to do hard things, and I don't like to do hard things, and so.   everything we implement should be easy because teams will gravitate towards ease and also not making someone remember things. So that's a true system. So we'll put in things like we can put automated notes or we can change our note templates if we're consistently missing something on our claims, we're gonna fix and adjust that system. We're also gonna look to see running certain reports that we put on an automated system for them. It's on a sheet for them. That way they don't have to remember to do this.   We create handoffs where it's on their route slip. So no one has to remember, like just with your memory, it's already built as a true system. And I think a lot about like McDonald's or Chick-fil-A or some of these companies that are able to mass produce and give you the same experience wherever you go. Well, let's build that and let's make a very simple system that everybody can follow rather than hoping and praying our team members remember and they don't drop the ball. So I'm going to look at those numbers. I'm going to look to see where the gap is and then dig deeper to find   The Dental A Team (18:33.461) root problem and then add an automatic system as much as we can to fix that problem forever. Are you dealing, how much of your business are startups, scratch startups versus acquisitions, also new practice owners through acquisition versus, you know, I guess that's the question, those two paths.   I tend, and I think it's just due to who I am and the things I did, I tend to attract more acquisitions in our company. So we're probably 75 % acquisitions, 25 % scratch start. We've worked with a lot of scratch starts. We've done a lot of pieces with scratch starts. But for me, I'm of the opinion, it's already there. My job is just to come and be the miracle girl on a practice that's already there. I know that I can successfully add hundreds of thousands to a practice very quickly.   adjust their overhead and make them profitable within just a couple of months. Scratch starts, we can do the same thing, but there is more of building that base to get more people in to build it. However, you don't buy someone else's problems when you do a scratch start. So in Dental A team, again, I think it's due to my experience, the things I've done. Like I said, I took a practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months. I know which systems to quickly shift and adjust. I like to say that we're...   We're a miracle girl for practices. You just sprinkle us on and we watch it bloom. Scratch starts, like I said, usually I'm about six months to a year before we're gonna start to see that churn and burn. And it's just due to building that patient base, which doesn't exist in the scratch start typically. But again, we've had several scratch starts. We've had several be a very successful, but that would be the reason I think why. But again, I don't shy away from scratch starts. I've done plenty of scratch starts and I do love that you get to build everything that you want and it's brand new.   You get to set the systems up from day one. I just think I like to. It's already in place and now my job's just to optimize and magnify it and make it even stronger for them very quickly. But I'm a fast results person. I like to see results quickly. Scratch starts long term have amazing results. Short term they're a little bit harder to get that churn on. Sure. Are people, are dentists typically onboarding you during the acquisition process so you're already known to them and their, you know, their,   The Dental A Team (20:55.281) They're acquiring with you on board versus an acquisition where things are just not, things don't feel right and they're not turning out the way the doctor planned or not as fast as they had hoped and then they're onboarding. So I think the doctors who do the best are the ones who bring us on usually month one or two before they open a practice. And I always say when you open a practice, it's like having a baby.   people nest the two months before they have the baby and then baby comes in, it's like screaming mayhem for about six months until you figure this out. And I really do believe that that's how practice ownership is. So the offices who I found do really, really, really well are the ones who bring us in one to two months before they actually add us into their loan of their additional cashflow that they need. So it's part of their purchase. That makes sense. Versus the ones that are like, Hey, I don't have cash, but I need help.   because every office does this, literally every single one of them they're in and I call it the six months shakeout. As soon as you buy a practice, it is bananas for six months. Like you have high costs, you have high expenses, nothing shaking out. You're trying to win over all these patients or bring in new patients. Like it's mayhem. And that's actually when you need consulting the most. Like you need someone to pull your head out of the sand, tell you do step one, step two, step three. This is where you actually need to focus rather than just being psycho and trying to like do all the things, but never getting anything done.   So I really love when they come. Otherwise, and I'll say, I'm really pro, of course, being a consultant, I'm pro this, I'm really pro hiring a consultant that can actually like put money on your books. So a lot of things people buy when they're buying a startup, they actually don't add revenue for them. So it's just a lot of cost without a lot of adding to it. And so there's lots of great consultants out there, but I'm really pro find someone who's done what you need to do successfully multiple times.   and bring them in because a consultant for us, our fee is guaranteed covered every single month. Like I'm never worried about that, but we tend to do two, three, four, five times our fee, adding that in in production and reduction of overhead for a practice very quickly. So I never worry about, I understand the owners do worry about fees because it can feel scary with everything you're adding on, but be intentional with what you're purchasing, what can add money to your books rather than just taking money off of your books.   The Dental A Team (23:19.462) Go ahead, Nick. Well, I was going to switch gears into talking about building and developing a strong team, since you just mentioned that. And I wanted to start by actually saying that when we're working with a client and they're looking for, you know, to a relocation option or they're looking to buy a building or just a general lease, mean, these are all super negotiable things inside, you know, inside of their   you know their business world but you know the the You know the highest expense that they likely have is payroll and so they can't really That's not something you're not gonna retain high-level talent by you know negotiating like a like like a madman like you would with a landlord for example, and so I wanted to talk to you about what are key qualities that a you know a dental practice owner should look for when hiring   key team members. For sure. I'm so glad that you said that rented landlords are negotiable because I think people feel like it's fixed. And I'm like, no, listen, listen, this is why you need Nick and Remy. Talk to them. They'll help me negotiate this down. Agreed teams are a bit trickier to negotiate down here. You're not going to probably get the best people. No one wants to feel like they're being bought on sale to come onto your practice. but as a landlord, yeah, I want the best deal. My labs and my supplies, I want the best deal.   But for teams, so I'm gonna kind of give two different answers because I think startup practices versus maybe a little bit more seasoned in their career actually have two different needs typically. As a startup, I'm really pro them hiring basically an office manager that knows how to do a lot of the things that they don't know how to do. So we need someone who's strong with case acceptance, strong with billing, strong with leadership, strong with hiring, and it's going to be an expensive hire. But what that...   that expensive hire is going to do is going to exponentially grow your practice for you. While dentists are in the back doing dentistry, you have someone who's really your yin to yang in the front office for you. So I'm really pro and I'm really pro not hiring just one person, but two people in the front office. I've seen a lot of embezzlement in my time. I've seen a lot of just funny things going on in the front office. And also if you only have one person up front, you're literally like SOL, which stands for so out of luck.   The Dental A Team (25:38.758) Um, in my opinion, like you really will be S O L if that one person leaves because you know nothing in the front office. So I'm super pro hiring those people and hiring really good talent when you're a startup. Now, if you're a little more seasoned, figure out what's going to be your yin and yang. If you've got a good biller or you can outsource your billing, um, maybe you don't need as high quality of, or as expensive of an hire that way. But what I have found is typically I like to see payroll around 30 % of your collection. So we're collecting a hundred thousand.   about is going to be spent for payroll costs, not including doctors. And so for that, that's also your fringe benefits, your 401k. And what I've seen with a lot of doctors is team members are only listening to their dollar per hour, but doctors, you're paying a lot more than just a dollar per hour. So we've actually created a really beautiful form for our offices that's kind of like their total compensation package that we recommend giving like once or twice a year to your team so they actually see what they're producing.   Now, hygienists are coming in as a really hot topic, depending upon the area you're in. And a lot of those are like, they're kicking that overhead, the payroll amount really high, but you need a hygienist because they're a producer. And so what's happening, we have a couple of hygienists on our team as consultants. And what they're recommending is let's have a really good base, base plus commission. And then looking back at your hygiene schedule to show this hygienist based on what we've already done. I don't like to live in like theories.   because no one wants to live in theories. They want to feel confident. So if I can hire hygienists for X amount that is fair within the market rate, but give them a commission, so anything they produce over that, showing on historical trends of what my practice has been doing, that's gonna help me keep my payroll costs lower, but I'm gonna be able to pay this hygienist more and be able to actually offset my payroll costs because they're producing more, but I can keep my payroll lower. So that's where I do think you can quote unquote negotiate.   But I really feel strongly, you've got to show them with confidence that they can do this and you've got to have an incredible culture. Culture and time tend to be the currency of hiring great team members right now. And so if you don't have a great culture, if you're not a great boss, you're not gonna hire great talent. I've seen offices paying their employees less than other people in the market, but they have such a great culture that team members want to stay. And then also looking at this time off, PTO is becoming a really hot topic and I feel like since 2020,   The Dental A Team (27:57.872) We're seeing more of this lifestyle that people want to be living more so than like the 401k traditional benefits, depending upon the age of the person you're hiring. Cause I do think there's two different age groups that want two different things. And so being aware of that and cognitive, think you can get creative with what you're doing. So I think that's a lot of great ways to bring it on, but you've also got to be clear on what your culture is and what your tip is. And you've got to be careful not to hold onto those sour apples that are truly destroying your practice.   One of the best quotes I heard is, the worst thing you can do to your best employees is tolerate the poor performance of your worst employee. And so really being cognitive, and I know that's hard, but trusting and believing that you can bring these great people in. So we put awesome ads out. I tell people to write to their ideal person, figure out who they want of their ideal person, and then posting those ads consistently and following up can be really good ways to get it. And then like,   Great culture does not mean you give everything to your team. It also means that we hold them accountable, that we have structure, that we have systems in place, but giving them the autonomy within that to create what they want to. I think are some hopefully simple pieces based on where you are, of who to hire, how to keep those costs lower. Also, what a good framework of what your payroll should be. And then also realizing the amount of payroll you've got, that should be producing. So make sure that you're.   payroll dollars are actually giving you the production that you should be getting from it. And if not, maybe it's time to make a couple of changes that way too. Yeah, one, one always is, is trying to kind of create a culture that promotes accountability and collaboration and continuous improvement. And you can probably, you know, inside the mission statement of the, of the, of the practice kind of address some of those things so that you have some ground rules. But ultimately at the end of the day, it's about   the leadership and also needs to live those values as well. Yeah. And on that Nick, am really pro core values. When I first started, I heard a explanation of core values and they said, usually when you start a practice, you have three core things that really were the core of why you started this practice. So think back to what those three, those are like your true core. And when I thought back, I was like, yeah, for me it was do the right thing.   The Dental A Team (30:16.272) have a ton of fun and make it easy for clients. So like those are my three. it's do the right thing, fun and ease. And then we have aspirational ones in addition to that, but really truly like our core values go on our job board. So like when we're hiring people, we say these are our core values, this is our company. Every Wednesday we're highlighting out team members that have been exhibiting core values within our company. So each team member shouts someone out about the core values. And I really have found that   That's how you build culture. Culture is a slow burn, but it's a consistent burn. And so if you have that and you really live, breathe and bring that in, your culture, it will take a little bit of time. say it's kind of like moving the Titanic, but the consistency piece will start to shift it to where you have that incredible culture. And then if you have someone who's not, have the one-on-one conversations rather than the full team conversation. Get really, really good at having uncomfortable conversations. I love the quote. I've added my own little.   sprinkles to it. I say your success and happiness that's care is added is directly proportional to the number of uncomfortable conversations you're willing to have. And I like adding happiness to it because I think like my success is one thing, but my success and my happiness, I want to be happy when I go to work. I want to have a great time. And so just getting really good with those uncomfortable conversations. And I say, it's a conversation. It's not a confrontation. And like, let's get to the root cause. Let's solve the problem rather than the person.   and let's move that forward. I think those are some hopeful quick tips for people to start to change that culture because it can be done and it's paramount for bringing in great team members as well. Well, that's a really important piece of the puzzle is communication, especially since everybody has a different communication style. you know, I wonder what your guidance is about how somebody who owns a practice can, you know,   can become a better communicator or overcome some of those challenges to be able to kind of understand how to communicate to different members of their staff or what have you. For sure. I'll give a couple of books. I believe there's so much wisdom found in the minds of men and authors. And so The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lanzione I think is a great one to figure out how to build that trust and healthy debate between you and your team members. so encouraging that.   The Dental A Team (32:43.974) and digging down deep into that. Also, there's a lot of personality traits, tests that are out there. I really am pro disc. There's also a company called Culture Index, and I think they teach you a lot of how to communicate. And something I learned early in my career that I try to pass on to our clients is hire people who are complimentary to you, not necessarily the same as you. Your biller is going to have a very different personality than your scheduler.   I want a bubbly outgoing scheduler who just makes my patients feel incredible. And my biller, do not want them being the party scene. I want them to be the person who's so detailed on every single number. Well, those two personalities are also going to be different communication styles. My biller, can probably be a bit more direct with. My scheduler, might need to have a little more finesse with. The five love languages at work is another great way to see how do people prefer to be communicated with. And then also just asking. I think asking people of,   hey, like some people really wanna be direct and just told directly, other people need like the sandwich, the compliment, here's what we need to work on, the compliment, because otherwise they're gonna feel like they're an utter failure. And so I think as leaders learning, I used to always communicate the way I like to be communicated too. And I feel like that was so naive on my part, because that's how I prefer, does not mean that's how other people prefer. we have, when we hire new hires and we recommend this for our offices,   We actually have them take a quiz within our practice and it tells me their favorite things for appreciation. What is it? If I was to get them a gift, what would be something very meaningful to them? How do they prefer to be communicated with? Is it direct? Is it collaborative? And then we have them read the same book so that way we can speak in the same communication language with each other. And then coming in to when it's an uncomfortable conversation, owning that and saying, hey, like this is uncomfortable for me to say.   We address the root problem and then we ask for feedback of, Remy, how did that land? I want to make sure that what I was trying to convey is actually how you heard it. Then Remy can come back and say, Kiera, I felt like you thought I was a jerk and that I'm not working. And I'm like, my gosh, thank you for saying that. That's not at all how I was saying it. What did you hear? That way I can change this to make sure we're on the same page. That communication takes finesse, takes time, but I will say I would rather invest in that skill than having the constant turnover.   The Dental A Team (35:06.96) train that's going on. And if you're in maybe a bad culture right now and you don't know how to fix it, anonymous surveys, we send them out for a lot of our clients when they're in this particular spot and start to ask honest feedback of what does this doctor or team need to do to change? What's causing the turnover? What's causing the breaks in the practice from the team members perspective? And then adjusting our communication styles accordingly to really try and help that communication. But I really love asking for feedback of how that landed.   I think that's one of the easiest ways to get that feedback very quickly on communication. So we've talked a bit about communication, I guess, with your own staff, but paramount to any successful dental practice, they need to have strong communication with their patients because enhancing a patient experience, I think, really kind of goes hand in hand with growth and all the other   types of things you need to consider to raise the, do better, I guess, for lack of better word. So. I think patient communication, you're right, it's paramount. And learning, I think that's handoffs. I think that's having everybody speaking the same thing, doctors giving good exams on that. But then also finding out what your patient drivers are similar to a team driver. What is ultimately their number one objective? Is it cosmetic?   Is it function, is it cost, or is it longevity? I said those in a very important order. believe order matters. Because if I put cost first, I'm highlighting cost. But if I put these in a very strategic way, I've done this with hundreds of offices, and we've asked thousands of patients, I will tell you 99 % the time it's not cost. It's usually function, it's longevity, cosmetic, how it looks. And then of course, figuring out within cost. But if you can figure that out from your patients and learn to communicate with them in their style, utilizing disc profiles as well.   You're exactly right, Nick. You'll get higher case acceptance, you'll have a better patient exam. If you have handoffs where everybody's speaking the same language and we're passing the baton off from person to person so that way nothing gets dropped, you will be shocked. We've increased case acceptance. I had a practice, they were getting about 25 to 30 % case acceptance and we literally got 100 % case acceptance that day just by changing a little bit of how we communicate in our handoffs.   The Dental A Team (37:27.462) The patients would walk up to the front and say, doctor wants to see me back in two weeks for a crown for an hour, I need to get that scheduled. And if your patient is that clear and your communication is that clear, you can only imagine what that does for your practice and your production and your reviews, because that patient's not confused anymore, they literally know what to do.   The Dental A Team (37:50.822) Can you share any practical tips on how dental teams can educate their patients more effectively about their oral health and treatment plans? Yeah. So I'm really pro hygiene. The hygienists have hopefully an hour with them. And so I'm really big on visuals. And so we work with our practices to build kind of like explaining it helping these patients see like on x-rays where you can use, there's a lot of AI softwares out there. I love Pearl. I love Overjet. They can help educate the patients of what's going on in their mouth.   And what I found for patients is there's a lot of mistrust. And I know dentists hate this analogy, but it is kind of like a mechanic. And so we're looking under the hood and the patient's like, I see nothing but black and white up on there, but you're telling me to like squint my eyes and there's a little cavity right here. So I think also helping train your patients of like, this is a good tooth. And this is a tooth where there is decay, showing intraoral photos for them, helping them so that way when they're going through their teeth, it's like, okay, tell me what you see on this tooth.   the more the patient can actually grasp it and understand it, the more they're going to actually accept that treatment. But in addition to that, one of my hygienists that's a consultant on our team, she gave me some really good advice and she said, never ever, ever use little league words for major league problems. I think oftentimes we don't want to offend the patient or want to make it feel better. And so we're like, well, there's this like little cavity. The tooth is bombed out. Like, why are we saying it's a little cavity rather than telling them like, this is what's going on now.   Yes, they're still finessed, so we don't wanna make them feel bad about it, but we also need to help them see the severity. And what I found is when you're confident in your diagnosis, when you're confident in how you're presenting treatment, your patients are actually buying your confidence, they're not buying the treatment. And so you being confident, and I've helped hundreds of them practice, I literally have an office and we've added multiple millions to their five locations by simply helping them present treatment better and stronger and more confidently, because truly the patient is buying your confidence. And so now, never over diagnosing.   but getting that patient to see it and truly telling them what's going on. And then I always love to say like, here's a comprehensive exam and the good news is, this is how we're going to get you like great back to great oral health and using the good news is, or the great news is that way the patient feels like there's hope and optimism and then giving them a really clear plan of where you want them to start. That way it doesn't feel overwhelming or daunting. Cause you can teach a patient all these things.   The Dental A Team (40:14.448) They just need to know where to start and how you're gonna be able to help them get the success that they're looking for and to get back to oral health. Not all patients have it. And I say that not like these problems did not happen overnight. So it's not gonna get fixed overnight. Our bodies are always decaying. Like we're always like aging is as fun and thrilling as that is. Same thing with our teeth. And the great news is this is how we're gonna get you healthy.   We've talked a bit about, you know, communication and creating a strong relationship, I guess, with your patients. Talk to us a little bit about how dental practices can develop a strong presence inside their local community to build trust and attract more patients. Yeah, there's an office that I really love. We were just chatting with them and something that I think this office did so well is they have the goal to be   the hometown dentist in their city. That's the vision of their practice. They want all of their patients to feel that way. So it's a very large practice. They have 15 operatories and they've still been able to maintain that hometown feel and they're very connected to their community. Another practice they said that our goal is to change the way people feel about going to the dentist within our community. And so I think the way that you can get this like stamp in your community is one, having that be part of your vision where you want to be   that local dentist to your patients where it's that hometown dentist feel in your practice, then your practice, your patient experience will feel that way. But then these offices, the two that I explained, they're very involved in the Chamber of Commerce. They're very involved in the little league sports. They're very involved in giving back and providing for these communities. I have another dentist and she created what's called the Thrive Home, where it's literally being able to give back to the community with all the different specialties like OT.   PT, dentistry, to give back within the community. And I really think if that is something that is your MO, treating your patients that way, asking for their referrals and their reviews, and then also being able to have that presence. I know growing up, for me, our chiropractor was so well known, that chiropractor was everywhere. They were at all the football games, they were all the high school events, they were at the town hall, the chamber of commerce, like.   The Dental A Team (42:30.106) Everybody knows that Ellison Chiropractic is the number one chiropractor in the area. And I will say it's because this family was so involved in the community. We saw them everywhere. And so I think how can you also do that and giving back to it? But I think my biggest recommendation, if you want to grow patients based on your community, I think it comes from genuine care and genuine authenticity that you actually love this community that you want to give back. If it's just to pull new patients in, there's other ways to do it.   But I think really, truly, you want to give back to that community you want to serve. I think patients will feel that when it's true and genuine and authentic. We understand how important marketing is to a practice and how it gets teeth through the door. And it's expensive, and it's money we're spending. But I think you hit the nail on the head. In addition to traditional marketing, there's so much more you can be doing in   involvement really is the key. The more involved you can be in your community, the better. Whether you want that hometown feel or you're focusing on productivity and efficiency and I think getting yourself out there and being a part of something is invaluable. That's great advice. When our clients hire us, it's normally because they   They feel totally lost. They're beginning the journey of practice ownership or real estate ownership. They have a lot of student debt. They are about to borrow a lot more money. And it's really scary. we try to really hold their hand through that process to kind of give them those tools so that they can ultimately make the right decisions.   for their practices real estate. And so it's really cool to hear you and how infectious your energy is and you have really good support systems for your clients to really ensure that they're not missing anything and are really maximizing their potential. And so that's really cool to...   The Dental A Team (44:54.078) to hear from you. Switching gears a little bit, I want to talk about the future and industry trends to see if there's anything that you're seeing or anything that you think your clients are going to face in the next five to 10 years that they should be preparing for. Yeah. And Nick, thank you. I just wanted to highlight what you said because you're right, it's terrifying. It's terrifying to go into that much debt.   I remember I used to call my dentist 2.5 because we were 2.5 million debt. And I was like, that back straight because you need to keep these hands and that back good. And I would just always say like 2.5, 2.5 because we were 2.5 million debt. And I think that that's where my passion comes from profitability overhead systems because I know how daunting it can be to be an incredible clinician, to be an incredible business, to be an amazing practice, but not to have the cashflow to support what you just went into debt for.   And so that's really where I'm pro like know your numbers, use the systems, utilize your team because, and I will say this again and again and again, a dentist who is financially successful and secure is the best boss to have. And health health teams, want your dentist to be successful and profitable because they're more solid, they're more stable and they're not stressed out, which is going to make a better boss for you. And so agreed. It's very daunting. It feels very scary, but I will promise you if you know your numbers,   It can feel awful at the beginning, but it can actually make it so much better for you. So thank you for highlighting that Nick, because I think I've just seen so many students so stressed about cash and staying up at night. I've had it myself. And so speaking from real life experience, giving you the tools out of that dark hole, I think is one of the greatest gifts we can give to these dentists who are already giving the gift of smiles and confidence to all their patients. Being able to do that same for dentists is such an amazing thing. And now,   Speaking of like what's in the future, shoot, DSOs are on the horizon. I think an AI, like these are two hot conversations. My doctors tell me that they are probably getting a DSO offer at least three to four times a day. And that is ratcheting up. They're getting so many offers constantly from DSOs. They're finding them. And I don't blame them. I think Wall Street is smart. They've realized that dentistry is a great business to invest in. mean, we're hearing 50 % overhead. So we've got exponential profit within.   The Dental A Team (47:19.474) Dental practices are profitable, typically speaking. And so I think that these are some things for doctors to be aware of. And I think educating yourself on making sure that you're selling or you're living your life the way you want to, rather than like just getting an offer on a bad day. So I think the DSO offers are dangerous because when you have a bad day in dentistry, it's very easy to look at that EBITDA number and say, I just want to sell. I want to get rid of all my problems, but I want to also caution and advise.   to know exactly what you're getting into because I've had some dentists sell. I think DSOs can be great for a lot of practices. I think MSOs can be great. I can see legacy practice and partnerships being great. There's so many amazing things and I don't think there's really a wrong route to go in dentistry. The wrong route I think is when you make an emotional decision that's not going to impact your life the way you want to. And so being very cautious, I think of when do I wanna sell and also what really is a good deal because I had a doctor and their epita,   They talked to some DSOs and he's like, cure it. It's going to be great. I'm going to get five mil for this. And I said, we'll call this one hometown. Like he's not the hometown, but like, we'll just call him. I got iPhone anonymous hometown now. So I was like hometown. I just want to point out that next year you're going to produce 5 million based on our block scheduling and also on the expansion of your practice that we just did. You are going to produce 5 million and they did. So I said, you're going to actually get short changed on this DSO deal. If you're like.   But if you're done with dentistry, it's a great deal. But also you're going to have to work for this person as an associate when you're going to make five mil next year, just in producing on your own and you don't even need to sell. This hometown does not want to be done with dentistry for about 10 years. So I said, you are shortchanging yourself where you can build this. You can exponentially expand into this, but you've got to make the decision of where you want to go and what you want to do. But the five million sounded so attractive to this doctor.   when they didn't realize that their practice was already producing that and would produce that with ease the next year. So I think like being really cautious of that, that you're not making, I feel like I'm so passionate because I feel like your business not only is providing for your life right now, but it's a long-term asset. And like what you guys do with the real estate, these are long-term assets that are building their wealth portfolios. Let's not, let's not do botchy investments, kind of like stocks, right? The stocks we all know just like dropped like, shoot, if you're watching that, you're going to freak out and you're going to want to sell everything.   The Dental A Team (49:40.68) but they know be stable through your investments, stay steady and not make those irrational decisions I think is so paramount because the DSO offer seem very appealing right now, especially on those like hard dental days. So that's one that I think dentists really need to be cognitive and aware of and knowing what your end goal is, what your retirement goal is, what you ultimately wanna sell out for. So that way when these offers come through, you can be educated and educating yourself more because I promise you.   I do not believe DSOs are going away. think in the next decade to two decades, we will see dentistry become more similar to healthcare. I know I'm like very hated about this. I've had this opinion for several years. My husband works in standard medicine. He works for hospitals and I'm like, gosh, like what was going on in the hospital scene is now what we're starting to see in dentistry. It's not gonna be too long before they're all bought up, but I'm also watching standardized healthcare now trying to shift into private practices and get out of the DSO.   like with air quotes around it. So I think just being cognitive of what you want to do and what you want your legacy to be. But also I don't fault you. I mean, a lot of these dentists are going to be able to get incredible retirements that they may never have been able to get similar to people buying homes in COVID. Like they're getting insane value, insane interest rates. it can be a very wise financial investment deal for you, but just do your homework. Cause I've seen some DSOs go under and people have lost pretty much their entire retirement. So that would be something I definitely highlight on. And then also watching AI.   The doctors are not into AI, they've got to get into AI. That's where I mentioned Pearl and Overjet, they're helping with diagnosis. I can already see they're riding on the wall that insurance companies, guarantee you, are probably already using AI. And so making sure that you are staying at least up to par with insurance companies, if not further ahead. Utilizing virtual assistance, think staffing costs are going to continue to be skyrocketing. And so for that, what other things can we do? like...   Opportunities force innovation. And I think we're in an opportunity zone to force some innovation and to be on the cutting edge of that. I do think right now, doctors who are not online, depending upon where you are in your career, if you're not online, having a presence on social media, if you're not getting involved in AI, I am going to caution that I think those practices very easily could get left behind unintentionally to where it might be hard for them to come back. So just even dabbling in it, getting some team members that could help you with that, I think is super important. And I would say this year,   The Dental A Team (52:04.51) I would add some sort of AI to your practice. Whatever you choose to do, just so you start to experience it, use it. There's so many things and I think honest in the next five years, I think AI is going to radically disrupt how practices are operating that I think it's important to like at least be dabbling so you're not completely left behind on accident.   You think the AI is, I mean, it's mind blowing and the applications just seem endless and hard to keep up with. you, so are you, if I hear you correctly, you're talking about AI integrations on like the practice management side of things versus patient care, right? Like patient care, so yeah. Yeah.   I think patient care is going to be tricky. I think until they get robots who are amazing, do think like the clinical side of dentistry probably will maintain pretty accurate. But I do think your front office and a lot of your systems will get changed. And I'll just highlight, there's a practice that we work with and she has, it's a pediatric practice. She's got incredible- call them? Sorry, what? What are we gonna call them? this one, we're gonna call this one, we'll just say jammin'.   so this one's jammin. I do like that we're naming all my offices. right. So jammin jammin has a pediatric practice. She's got an entire amazing team, but she has like eight support virtual assistants behind the scene for this practice. In addition, she has made her own AI bot called Amy and Amy. That's actual name of the AI bots. That one's real. didn't change it. mean, I should have called it like Joker, but like that's not really going to work jammin and Joker. This was actually called Amy. but Amy.   responds to to Jammin's practices day in and day out to make sure patients are happy. Now they live in a very affluent area, so it's very fast paced. But what I love about this doctor is she realized in order for me to keep my patients happy and to meet their demands, there's AI and I can create an AI bot that responds exactly how our practice would, but I'm actually not having to pay a team member, an actual human being to do this. And they're able to get all the needs met. That's what I mean by.   The Dental A Team (54:13.37) looking to see where can AI integrate. And I think it's going to hit your front office faster. But I think like software is meh, like that one's tricky. Software's are tricky to me, but I'm like billing. I guarantee you AI is going to take that over for sure. Hands down. It's going to take it over. I think answering phones and scheduling phones, I think are, the way we send out claims for sure. Like that's all within your billing realm. there's some softwares that are trying to act as office managers. think reading X-rays are going to definitely be taken over by AI.   hands down and I am curious and I don't have an answer for it, but I'm super curious. How is that going to impact diagnosis? I work with some practices in Canada and Australia and they're more streamlined. There's not really a lot of change. Like it is what it is. It's standardized healthcare over there. And I'm curious with AI coming in and I know I'm going to be like, I might get ripped on this. I'm welcoming the reviews because I think it's worthwhile to talk about. I'm curious how AI is going to impact diagnosis.   And what can be diagnosed and what can be actually built out which leads me to believe similar to medicine That's why there's bill like they bill out every single possible code that they can't I mean for the gauze for the cotton and I'm super curious that I don't know I think it's worthwhile to look into is that gonna impact our diagnosis and how we're billing should I maybe be looking and knowing those codes more thoroughly? Depending upon how it's gonna be. I don't know. I think that that's huge speculation on my part, but I   I can't help but think that AI is going to impact our diagnosis in a big way. We're insurance companies, which then leads me to think companies might be leaving insurance. right, like we might be going more fee for service. So then you got to ramp up your marketing. But I think that's going to be a big spin that's probably going to be hitting us in the next couple of years.   The Dental A Team (56:02.27) It's scary and exciting. don't know what else to Scary and exciting. It feels wild, right? But I'm like, don't think dentistry itself is going to change much. I still think we're going to have our craft. It's a very, very humanistic, very crafting. But I'm super intrigued. And I think for me, I'd rather take it on as like, let's be excited about it. Let's get into it. Let's see. How can we dabble? How can we influence it rather than being told like, is what's going to happen now?   I would prefer to be a pioneer through it and I think first office is to innovate. I I prefer to be like second, third, like I'm not gonna be like right on the first in case everything botches, but like second, third, get in there because these things, I don't think it's going to go away. I think it will adapt and morph, but I think it's here for a while. I hate that I didn't ask you this way earlier, but are you also, are you working with all different specialties or are you strictly general?   That's a great question. We actually work with all. So we have pediatric, GP, oral surgery. The only one we don't dabble in is ortho. I think there are some incredible consultants out there that do ortho. Ortho has its own software. It's its own beast. It's its own animal. I do work with ortho and GP, so we're very familiar with it. But ortho, I just think there's consultants that rock the ortho world, but all other specialties. We have clients within all of those and really love them in all their areas. We tend to specialize GP and pediatric, but we have clients of all.   all specialties minus ortho. Yeah, I The reason I asked is that I was speaking to, you know, an endo group who was actually starting to transition to fee for service. And I don't know, maybe that'd be a good introduction. Yeah. The fee for service world is weird. I really, offices want to cut. They want to just cut the insurance right now. And I'm like, hold please, before you do that, realize it's a retention piece for your patients. And if you don't have a great experience and you also don't have great systems in place,   and you also don't know how to maintain these patients, I had a practice to do this and they almost lost 50 % of their entire practice. So I'm really pro, like you can drop insurance and I'm not here to say not to, but I want you to be very thorough and educated on it and know worst case scenario, best case scenario. I think fee-for-service is gonna dip in a lot more, but if you're not careful, fee-for-service patients are free agents and never forget that. So they can go anywhere at any time. They're not tethered to you like they are with insurance. So making sure.   The Dental A Team (58:25.202) before you start cutting and get all excited about fee-for-service, I'm here to say do it, but do it correctly. Because I think there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. And I've seen it hit practices really hard if they don't do it correctly. Good to know. The time we spend with people like you is meant to help dentists and really end support staff all around. And they all offer different types of great information and fe

Tiff and Kristy give listeners examples of different practices that have different definitions of ‘thriving.' They then provide questions each practice owner (or even team member) can ask themselves to identify what success looks like for them. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. My name is Tiffany. If you've never heard me on this podcast and you haven't been listening for long enough, then go back through, sift through. We've got so many episodes with so much amazing content and information for doctors and teams alike. There are very doctor-specific ones and very team-centric ones, but I do tell you this. Doctors, listen to them all because I want you to always know   what your teams are doing, what they should be doing, or what they could be doing. So there's a million different ideas in here. Please make sure you listen to all of them. We love you for that and we value you as a listener, client, prospective client, or just listener. Thank you guys so much. Kristy, I've got you back here today. I have stolen you today for quite a few episodes and I am so, so thankful for you carving out this time in your calendar, making sure that we could be here together.   I know we both really love this time together and I'm just super appreciative of it. So Kristy welcome and thank you for being here. Yeah. So I'm excited for today's podcast. One, because there's not a lot of structure to it. So it makes it fun for me. Cause I, you know, I just like to ramble sometimes. So just be here with it.   Kristy (01:05) Thank you.   The Dental A Team (01:19) I'm just kidding, but I am excited for today's podcast because I really love telling stories and I really love to utilize experiences that we have had, and teachings that we have done with other clients or things we've learned along the way. love utilizing those things to just provide more valuable information to the world. And today I want to, Kristy, just have conversation about the difference between surviving.   and thriving in the business owner world. And these two words, I love them because you know, they almost rhyme and that makes it fun. And I think our marketing department enjoys that. But I really love it because it's such a wide definition for anyone, right? Just surviving could be someone else's thriving. And someone else's thriving could be someone else's I'll never get their dreams.   Right? I think it's really interesting to chat about a subject like this because it is so in like independent, right? It's so dependent on the individual's dreams and what it means to them specifically. And Kristy, I think you have a really wonderful ability to articulate yourself really well.   and to see into spaces of life for people and with people. And I just think it's really cool that you can take a statement and really see further into it than maybe your average Joe might be able to see. And so I want to pick your brain a little bit on this and the idea of thriving or surviving. And it kind of makes me think of, you know, our onboarding call when we get a new client and we ask them, you know, what does success mean to you?   and what are your goals? mean we take them through this goal build out and Kristy what is this thriving or surviving like where does it take your brain? What do you think of and how do you think it relates to just dentistry right now?   Kristy (03:26) Yeah, I'm with you. It is a vast subject, if you will, and it can mean different things to different people. Surviving could be that they just worked really hard and they're kind of burning out. They don't see the spark anymore, right? Yet, it could also mean that they're fearful. They don't know or they're unknowing of the next step. They don't know what's next.   for them. They feel like they want to do more, but they don't know how to do it. I think asking more questions when we get on these calls. And I love that you say that onboarding because they obviously come to us for a reason, but sometimes I think they are just surviving and they don't really even know what they're looking for yet. And same with thriving. mean, thriving, it almost sounds like it has a little more positive spin on it, but yet sometimes   The Dental A Team (04:16) Yeah.   Kristy (04:25) Our docs don't feel that way when they're thriving. They feel burnout as well. So it is a big topic on both sides.   The Dental A Team (04:29) and   Yeah, I agree. And I think the difference there, right, or the space to find is the definition. And so, Docs, I think...   Figure out what thriving means to you. What is it that you're going for? What is it that you're here for? If we don't have a purpose driven behind us, right? We don't have anything driving us to our goals, then you could make that $300,000 this month that you wanted and it still might mean nothing or you might just be surviving because like Kristy said, you're burnt out. So what does thriving mean?   And I have, you know, I told you that we do this on our onboarding call. We chat with our doctors. We do this with every doctor that we work with. It's what is your business doing for your personal life?   How is your business projecting your personal life and what do you want your business to afford it? I work really hard with every client that I have and Kristy, I know that you do too because we believe, both of us believe so strongly in this. I want your business to work for you, not you to work for your business. And I want your business to be providing that life for you. And...   I've worked with a lot of clients over the years and Kristy, you've worked with a lot of clients over the years as well. And I have a few that really just come to mind for me. And my...   one of my all-time favorite practices that I have ever worked with and I will say that from the freaking rooftops, from the mountaintops, from everywhere. They're incredible human beings and I want to tell their story today because I think it's a really incredible space for everyone to find themselves a little bit in what this practice went through and where they are today.   And when I met this practice, they were pretty new to ownership. I think they were about three years in, a doctor and his husband. And they had just decided that his husband was going to leave his job, which is not in dental whatsoever. He has no dental knowledge and become the office manager.   And they decided this because it was the easy route and that it just kind of really made sense for them personally in a lot of different ways. So it made sense and it was all good. And they had a lot of ambition. They had a lot of change that needed to be made. And then they had a team that was just kind of upside down and at each other's throats. And they were three years into having taken over a practice and they really didn't lose a lot of team members in that takeover, which was impressive, but   We had a lot of cattiness going on in that practice. And one of the first things that I had them work on, they had been working with somebody already who was working on their numbers and telling them, gosh, you need to expand and you need more room, you need more space, and you can do so many cool things. And I sat them down and I said, yeah, absolutely, you can do all those things. That's not a question in my mind. But do you want to do those things? Why are you doing those things? Why did you become an office manager? Why did you become a dentist?   And how do we know when you've reached it? What does success look like to you guys? And I made them sit down and I made them figure it out together as a couple. And I made them figure it out individually within their own positions. And this process of really figuring out the impact that they needed and they wanted to make on the community.   turned into this incredible space of this dentist wanting to serve a community who is unserved and unseen within their   rural town community and it's just really impressive and so amazing and this community thrives with him like they just they know him for it and he's been able to make his name out of this this space because he really believes in it but really what it did was it allowed them to not only see the community aspect but to also see the team aspect and it   we worked together, Osmander and I have worked side by side for many years now and he is this incredible human that just said he wanted something different. He wanted to go home feeling different every day. He wanted his team to feel different every day and we worked through a lot of personal development spaces, a lot of leadership spaces and he has come just, I mean he's achieved so much but in the early stages it really was about him being able to see what he wanted his team to say about   the practice when they weren't at work. So when they're in the community, are they recommending my practice? When they're in the community, are they thinking about the office and are they representing the practice or are they just done working? And he wanted to build a community within their team. He wanted to build a place where his team felt loved and welcomed and all of these things. And that was to him what thriving as an office manager would be.   he would feel less stressed obviously and feel more in tune with his position. But if he had a team that could stand behind him and he had a team that he could say they were thriving, they were reaching goals, that to him was success. And we worked through so much leadership.   Gosh, tenfold with this team. got his entire team. They both did got their entire team invested in the leadership like space and in learning the leadership. Now doesn't mean they had leadership. They had a leadership team. They had a team that was invested in themselves and learning how to lead their own positions. And gosh, Kristy, they did it to do the add on. They did the add on within two years. They did the add on.   They did a full remodel of that practice within three years of us working together. I believe is what that was. We got the owner doctor to, he's in a space now where he's mostly surgery. He's got a thriving associate that he has mentored the heck out of and really, really done well on leading him to be a successful dentist and refers to him for his GP dentistry. gosh, recently purchased, they,   purchased a building that they also have suites in there that they're renting out to other people and that's this whole property management, but they've been able to because they wanted to make such a massive impact on their community. You guys, like they built this place for their community. They've built out a 16,000 square foot practice in their rural town.   And it's beautiful. is gosh, it's so beautiful. But the entire process, I have to say, the entire process was built around what could help our community. There was even talks of like   Kristy (11:04) And, you know, it was a thank you.   The Dental A Team (11:18) a gardening area there so that it can be, they want things to be more green, Like green, like reduce, reuse, recycle green, right? And they thought, gosh, if we had an area where the community, the local community could have herbs or gosh, they're here for their appointment and they needed some oregano for dinner tonight and we've got herbs over here that they can just pick and take home with them, that would serve our community. they, and every space it became, their thriving became a space of how are we serving our team and our   community in the best ways possible. I can't even tell you, think you can imagine 16,000 square feet, like what their revenue needs to be, what their profitability needs to be, like they have exponentially projected their personal lives and their business is working for them. And Kristy, it's just been so incredible to watch them come.   from the space that they were in, but really learn and be able to express what success looks like for them. And I think success doesn't have to be a 16,000 square foot building. Like it's beautiful, right? It is gorgeous. And I have other practices that are like, gosh, Tiff, no, like I want to work three and a half days a week. I have four operatories. I want two hygienists a day. And I want to work out of the other two operatories. And I hope that dentist is thriving.   And there are days he calls me and he's like, I'm only surviving. It definitely will come in waves and it has its ups and its downs, but he knows what success looks like for him as well. He knows what he wants to accomplish and he knows if he can do the amount of dentistry and impact the community in the ways that he wants to on three and a half days, that propels his personal life. He gets time with his kids, he gets time with his wife, he can take vacations, like all of these spaces. So two drastically different.   practices, but the point there, are you surviving? Are you thriving or just surviving? Is that they know the difference between that. And it is financial, they do have financial goals because that's how we we gain the profit. But in order to get to those financial goals, Kristy, we had to invest in the leadership and we had to define   those words, we had to know what does it mean to be thriving? What does success look like? And in the on the days when it's just surviving, what are we looking forward to? What are we looking towards? That gets us back in that thrive mindset. And it's just been so much fun, Kristy and I   Kristy (13:47) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (13:52) I just love it and I wanted to make sure you guys heard those stories today because it's so incredible. Kristy, you have so many clients too that you have worked through as well. And what do you feel like when we have clients define and when you've worked with clients previously, when they define that success marker, what do you feel like the commonalities are that you see when people are like, yeah, that would be success for me?   Kristy (14:17) Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head and that it's different for everyone. And I think that you truly have to get down to your emotional why, if you will. Because even though, I mean, we don't really work with any nonprofit people. So we all know that we have for-profit businesses. That just is a given. If we're not making a profit, then our business isn't successful.   in every one of our clients, it's so much more than that. It's what is it going to give them? And just like you said, I mean, we have the ones that work five days a week, and we have the ones that work two and a half, and they're not ever gonna work more than that. And that's okay. But it's, what is it giving them? And like you with these guys, it's about the community.   And for other ones, it could be about them spending time with family, right? And so everybody's why is different, but I guess the common theme, and when I really see, because we're going to use the words, thriving, not just the dentist, but the team, they have articulate, the dentist has articulated their why down to that emotional aspect, so clear that everybody knows what we're going for.   The Dental A Team (15:26) Yeah.   Kristy (15:41) And I would also say it's also taking a step back and investing in your team to find out what their why is. Because they're coming to work for a reason as well. And when we're all thriving and going in that same direction and it's meeting those needs for everyone, that's when you get that synergy and it just shines through. I mean, when you have a bad day, you know the why that you're working for on the good day.   The Dental A Team (16:10) Yeah.   That's beautiful. I love the team aspect that you brought into that because it's so true. And I think I would just challenge everybody now to define those spaces. Like what is thriving? What is surviving and surviving you guys, especially when there's only the two words, right? It sounds like well, surviving is fantastic and surviving or dying. Like, that's not it at all. Surviving is sometimes I'm like, no, I'm happy to be surviving right now. Like I'm good. I am good. And surviving for me today is thriving. So   Kristy (16:30) you   The Dental A Team (16:41) find all of those spaces. What is thriving? Like what does success look like to you? What is surviving? What is that space? And what is the this is a panic button space. And I need I need to get out of here. I think   Define all three of those and really like Kristy said, go through that emotional space. Tie it to something that's insanely important to you because when it's insanely important to you, you won't let go of it. You will dig your heels in on those days when you're like, this is panic mode. I need to get back to surviving. How do I get out of this? You're gonna do it. You're gonna push it and you're gonna get all the way. You're gonna surpass surviving and get straight to thriving. So action items, you guys. What is your mission and vision?   What are they tied to? Because your mission and vision, especially in the dental world, can get a little clinically and it's like...   Kristy (17:30) you   The Dental A Team (17:31) I know,   just chat GPT, give chat GPT your, I always tell it like a millennial flair, like give it your tone. What do you need this to say? Right? Just make them not so stuffy, you guys, number one, but do your mission vision. Why are you here? Why did you become a dentist? What is it that you're after? Why do you own a practice? What are you trying to accomplish? And then what's your why behind that? What is it pushing for you personally? What is it doing for you in your personal life? What is your business affording you? Why are you   going to work every day. And then I would look at your core values. Do your core values align with your mission, vision, and why? And do they create a culture in your team that will project those into the?   existence, right? So if our core values are like totally off base, and not creating the culture that you want, tackle your core values and do those simultaneously with your team. I would say work them up on your own, know what yours are, and invite your team share them with your team and invite your team to give feedback to   Kristy (18:18) you   The Dental A Team (18:35) answer more questions to provide different angles, different points of view, and maybe even for them, I've had many teams really work their own personal core values. So if I know my core values as a human being, like who I am as a person outside of work, what my core values are, makes it very easy for me to be able to see how I align with the practice that I'm working with. So   Actionable items you guys to really be able to see this space doesn't have to and the reason I did not Have you office the reason I did not take today's podcast. Are you thriving or surviving? I could have talked financials with you guys. I could have said so many   thriving practices who see millions of dollars a year and 20 to 40 % profit in some practices, I could have taken you down those roads and let that be today's podcast. But I believe with my entire heart that that is not   the only reason that you could you could say you're thriving. I thriving is different for everyone. And that's the reason that we took today's podcast in this direction. Figure out what thriving means to you. If thriving means a $2.5 million practice per year, then fantastic. Let's get you there. But I still want that why I still want to know what 2.5 is going to do for you. I still want to know what that extra operatory is going to do for that practice and why we needed to remodel and why we needed a new building. I still want to know why   because I want to make sure that whatever it is that you're doing that you're spending your money on makes a difference in your life. So we could have talked financials and I can give you all those if you want to know, but I'm not here to give you a space where you can compare yourself to someone else's success. I'm here to say you've got to figure out what that success looks like and I will always ask you why every single time like the annoying little four year old that only knows the word why. So, Kristy, thank you so much for taking this   journey with us today. This was a really fun one for me. I know we both love the like leadership introspective personal emotional tie side of life so thank you for for taking that journey and will you will you wrap us leave the leave everyone with your take and and your perspective. I love when you do that for us and I'm here for it today.   Kristy (20:58) Yeah, you know, I love that you didn't take the money route because I've had clients come in that are You know collecting six million dollars that aren't thriving, right? And so you're you're absolutely right But I think the last takeaway would be as you're defining those core values really get clear with your team I'll give you an example I had a doctor that one of his core values was lived by the golden rule and that can be I mean you would think it's pretty   crystal clear, but always explain what that looks like to you as the doctor when you're setting those. And then I challenge you guys as teams to what are some daily things that you can do that help achieve that? You know, so we're all rowing in the same direction. So give it a little bit of clarity, not just to find it, but explain what it means to you and share that part. Really, that comes from the heart.   Your teams appreciate it and then teams, you know, let your docs know what you will do to make that live, you know? So that would be my advice.   The Dental A Team (22:03) That's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you, Kristy.   I hope that you guys loved this podcast today. I hope that you really listen to it and that you share it with the world. And I want to thank you for listening to us, for trusting us, for being here, for supporting us. Dental A Team is nothing without all of you. So thank you for being here. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. If you need help with anything or if you need help working out those goals or those definitions, we're here for you. And as always, drop us a five star review below. We'd love to hear from you guys and we love to know that this content matters. The Dental A Team (22:39) So till next time, we'll catch you later.  

Have you noticed signs of apathy in your practice? Does your job feel insurmountable? Kiera talks about telltale signs of burnout, how to help people bounce back from burnout, and ways to avoid burning out in the first place. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript:   Kiera Dent (00:01) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I am so happy you're here. I'm so happy that you're spending your time with us, that you are truly here committed to making your practice, your patient experience, your team experience that much better, which ultimately impacts your life. It ultimately impacts your profitability and it ultimately impacts the success that you have in this world. This is one of the greatest opportunities for you to truly live your dream life, to truly have everything and more. And that's what I love and I'm so passionate about. And so today,   I just wanted to talk about some telltale signs of burnout and what to do if you are a practice experiencing burnout or what to look for to avoid burnout. know burnout is one of these hot topics and I was talking to an office today and I thought, you know what? I need to podcast about that because offices feel alone. Offices feel like I'm the only one who's experiencing this. I'm the only one who feels this way. Like, gosh, I don't even know what to do. And so I feel like it's just a really...   important topic that I'm super passionate about that I am excited. So today, it's going to be a quick tactical one of what to do for burnout. What does that look like? What are some symptoms and then what to do to help with that? Because I think all of us can be in that space at one time or another. And so just noticing being able to have it, I've done some other ones. There's been some other doctors that have been guests on here. But I realized that today when I was talking to this office, I realized, my gosh, this doctor is just struggling from burnout.   And I don't think that they even realized that. And so just giving you some quick, like, these are some things to be aware of. But then in addition to that, I always love like, but what's the solution? How do I get out of this? Because burnout, think is a little bit of a buzzword. What are truly the steps out? So I'm really excited that you're here. If you're a part of the Dental A Team family, I'm so glad you're a part of it. I love our clients. We are a consulting company that works across the nation. I'm really trying to bring.   dentists and team members together because I think it's so tricky when doctors are consulted but the team's not or the team's consulted and the doctor's not but getting both parties on the same page to where we can really truly thrive we can gain a lot of traction and momentum within our practice having the best team and patient experience because I honestly believe that building a dental practice should be easy building a practical building a practical and profitable practice should be easy so with Dental A Team that's what we do that's what we're here for we're the masters at team and   and practice success. And really we've been there, we've done it, we've done it successfully many times and I hope to be able to help you in your practice. So today talking about burnout, this doctor called in and they were saying, Kiera, I need some help. I was like, all right, great, let's talk. And this doctor, what I started noticing was there was a lot of apathy. As they were talking, they just said, I know I should be doing this and I just don't. I know that I...   Like these are some issues that I'm struggling with and I've just said it a lot of times and I've just kind of given up asking for it. Like when I have patients there, like I know I should be diagnosing this and not that I'm not diagnosing, I'm diagnosing, but maybe I'm just not presenting all of it because I honestly don't want to tell the patient like you've got seven crowns. So you know what? This one, I could watch it. I started hearing and I know some of you were like, my gosh, I don't want you to judge this office.   Because guess what? hear this from a lot of practices and I'm not sitting here judging. I never sit here and think, wow, that doctor's crazy. I think, wow, that doctor is burnt out and we need to figure out why. Doctors at the end of their careers, they get this way too. Doctors when they are at different areas in their life, they get these things. And I really hope that today we come to this with love and empathy and no judgment and no judgment of yourself.   and no judgment of these offices. I'm mixing and mashing a bunch of offices together so that way you can't figure out who I'm talking about because I hear this from so many practices. But it's apathy. It's saying like, gosh, I just feel like I can't find the energy. I'm tired of just asking for this to be done. It's the insurmountable to-do list. It's the, I think like as I just took that breath, I think that's how they feel. It's like I have this never ending to-do list.   I don't quite know what I need to do. I'm tired. I've got things going. I know I could be doing better. Do I really want to? And it's just kind of like this swirl. I also notice when officers are really at a good burnout space, they swirl. They swirl a lot because honestly, I think that their mind is swirling and they're just like, I know I need to do this and I know I need to do that, but I'm so tired. Or gosh, like I just like, no matter how many times I like tried to take a step forward, I've got 10 steps back. And what I look for when I'm   when I'm seeing a practice, the first thing I'm gonna ask when I have a doctor who's in this space, those are some telltale signs. And then after that, we just get to a workspace where we actually stop caring, where you don't wanna come work, dentistry is not fun for you. And so what I get excited about is like, when I get to catch a doctor before they get to that where they've lost the interest, they're not excited about it, they still have a little bit of that spark and sparkle and they're like, hey,   I know I need some help and they reach out. That's like the prime spot. I love to catch them even before that, but hey, we can catch you at that spot. Fantastic. Because otherwise, like I said, you go into complete and total like shutdown and it's things. It's almost like the world loses its color. Food loses its taste. Things that you used to love. They just don't inspire you anymore. You start to detach. start to, it's hard to find the energy. It's hard to find the motivation. It's hard to get excited for things. You really are just sitting in this space of   I feel like it's almost complete overwhelming. So your system is just naturally shutting down and it's like, all right, we're just gonna like put a, we're gonna put a blanket on that. Like it's a fire and we need to put the fire blanket on it and just like put everything to baseline zero. So we're not having highs, we're not having lows. We're just gonna settle. And I think when I look at practices like this, that's the part I don't like because you got into dentistry because you love it. And so when I find doctors like this, one of the first questions I'm going to ask is, do you have a great office manager or right hand?   And a lot of times I will hear, and office managers, this is nothing on you, office managers, I hope if you're listening to this, you are picking up, that's why I do this podcast. So doctors and office managers can have conversations. You can talk about this. You can say, my gosh, like, hey, these things are things we need to talk about. And so with that, what I found is usually the office manager has been there for maybe a while, but the office manager is not truly managing. And so,   What I like to highlight on this to these offices is like this doctor, they'll something like, Kiera, just, I know I need to hire this person, but I can't get the ads. And I'm like, that's what your office manager should be doing. They should be placing the ads. They should be interviewing. You can help with the compensation, but they should be bringing that to you. Like literally owner doctors. That's what you should be relying on your office manager for. And office managers, this is what you are supposed to be doing as an office manager. And I know there's no rule book for office managers. So a lot of times it's just.   You didn't even know that this is part of your job description. So things like payroll, things like website, things like marketing, things like tracking our cases, things like figuring out new softwares in the practice, things like listening to podcasts. So kudos to all those office managers out there. Doctors, if you're office manager listens to the podcast, or if they haven't started, have them join us. It would be great. We try to talk about these things so you don't have to have the awkward conversation. We have it for you. But so many things that when I look at doctors lists, I'm like,   well, high five, all of these things that you're doing for the most part actually should be delegated out to your office manager or your leadership team. Now again, pending upon the size of your practice, but the reality is doctors, you're an owner. And so your job is to do dentistry and be an owner and a CEO of your practice. That's what your job is. It's not to be the manager. And so oftentimes I find that the burnout for a lot of doctors comes because they don't have a strong office manager next to them. And even if...   because a lot of people are like, Kiera, can't find an office manager or I don't want the office manager title in my practice. And I'm like, that's fine. So we can hire a personal assistant. We can hire an office manager. We can hire a front office lead. We can build you a leadership team. The point is you need more people to help run this ship because you are the one who's producing dentistry. And without you doing dentistry, the rest of these things aren't getting done. And so that's where you just feel this insurmountable. It's like the laundry got piled on top of you and there's no way to get this laundry off of you.   And so what you do instead is you just fall asleep under the pile. That's called burnout. And so when I look at this, I'm like, fantastic, let's look at your team. And I'm not here and in our consulting, it is very clear that we do not terminate team members. We give them an opportunity to rise up because like I said, a lot of office managers don't even know this is what they should be doing. They don't even know how to do it. They don't know how to have the conversations. They don't know how to run the meetings. Doctors get so tired of trying to implement a system and then it falls off. They get tired of trying to like be like,   broken record and just keep telling this team member, hey, I need you to do this. need you to do this. Doctors, it's not your world. It's not what you're there to do. It's not your job. Even as an owner, that's not your job. That's your manager and your leadership's opportunity. That's what they should be rising up to do. And so what I found that I really love is when we meet these offices, that's where I love coming in and being able to help out. Because what we do is we now get to help coach your office manager for you. We get to help say,   Great, tell me everything on your to-do list. This is who in your practice should be doing this project. This is who should be able to take care of these. This is how we start tracking your numbers. This is how we help you look at your numbers to make decisions on who you can hire, on what your overhead and profitability should be. Because a lot of times the burnout also comes from not knowing your numbers, not knowing what systems to put into place, not knowing what your office manager should even be doing, not knowing what you can hold your team accountable for.   And I think the hardest thing is I watch so many offices and so many doctors is you feel like you come out of dental school expected to know how to run a business as well. And we hear it all the time. We don't know how to run a business. We know we don't know how to, but no matter what, you're doctors. And so you think like, gosh, like I've got this doctor degree. I'm supposed to know how to do this. And so I feel like instead of stop, like stop thinking like that's what you are supposed to do. Let's come into reality of what you really do. So for doctors, what I really need from you is I need your vision.   I need to know what life you want to be living. And I need to know, we're gonna need to know your numbers as well. So we're gonna need to get that with your CPA. You don't even have to give it to us. We can work with your CPA. But those are the main things. And then I need you to be a great producer. I need you to be great at diagnosing and I need you to be great at taking feedback on your case acceptance. I'm not here to be a dentist at all. You get a diagnose, but I am here to teach you how to get more patients to say yes. So you being open to that, fantastic. And then be the eyes and ears. If things aren't going well, tell me. Tell us as your consultant.   how we can help you. But really doctors, that's your main thing. Set the vision, get us the numbers. Yes, you need to be good at spending your money. So like, let's make sure we don't go wild on that and then be a great producer and like, let us know if things aren't going well. You also have to be willing to communicate those things and letting us know what your dream life is. Because once we have that information, amazing. Now we get to take it to the team and now we get to figure out KPIs, tracking, teams, systems that need to go into place to get these things into play. And so what I like point out is   Doctors, you're kind of like Walt Disney. Your job is to set the vision of what you want your practice to be. And then your team's like Roy Disney, and they're gonna go put this into place. We just need that information from you. So I hope that that gives some reprieve to these poor offices that just feel like they're under this laundry pile of, gosh, we have so many, like, I don't even know where the socks go anymore. I know I put them away for years, but like, you're just so inundated with so many things, trying to be a great dentist, trying to be on all the time. Doctors, your job is hard.   You're doing dentistry, you're working in a finite space, you're trying to win patients over, you're diagnosing, you've got to make sure your team loves you. You work in very small proximity. And then on top of it, you've also got to do all these other things that realistically your manager should be doing for you and your team should be doing for you. And so being able to have those conversations of like, amazing, this is what my office manager should be doing and this is how they can do it. But I think doctors get so nervous because like, well, I don't know how to do this. How am supposed to tell them to do it? That's why I love being a consultant and a coach too, to office managers.   we get to coach that office manager on how they can have these conversations, on how to track these numbers, on how to look at the business. Because guess what? Office managers have also never been taught this. Even if they come from other practices, it's like trickled down through the grapevine. And so working with so many practices, we're able to see this is what elite managers do. This is what basic managers do. This is what leadership teams do. This is what a very junior leadership team can do. And then we grow them into more advanced. So wherever your practice is,   no matter where you are, if you're already there, helping them take on more tasks and duties and utilizing the numbers and really looking at the business as a business to make decisions that help you and really truly help you grow. But I really just hope that we've inspired doctors of these are some of the signs I see consistently. This is what you need next to you. And if you don't have that person, there's a great doctor that we work with that didn't have their right hand when we started with them.   And we worked with them and it was a good like six to eight months before we were able to find this right hand. And it was interesting. I saw this doctor and they told me, said, Kiera, I'm so grateful for your guys's guidance because I didn't even realize what could be possible. I didn't know what it would feel like to have an office manager who actually was a true manager, not just by title alone. Like I didn't even know how to tell them what to do. And you were able to be their coach just as much as you were able to be my coach. You're able to help me see the numbers to make decisions.   but you're able to help the manager have the uncomfortable conversations with team members. You're able to help them know how to put meetings into place of how to track KPIs and track numbers and get the whole team on board of how to present treatment plans and schedules and block schedules and all those things you hear about. Like you guys were actually able to teach my manager and you were able to be that resource for my manager when they didn't even know. And so really being able to partner in, I think it's just important for you to realize this is real life.   for so many practices. This is what hundreds of offices are dealing with. And my heart goes out to you because you don't have to live like this. There are other options. You can actually go home at the end of the day and be with your family. You can actually have a team that looks at the numbers and makes decisions that you don't have to make all the decisions. You can have a team where your office manager holds them all accountable and you don't have to. You can have a team where they literally rise up. And the great news is teams want to rise up. Teams want to make you so proud. Teams want you to go home.   I was talking to someone the other day about my personal life and they're like, Kiera, this is the best news ever. Like, this is what you've been working for. Now you get to go enjoy this life that you've worked so hard for. And hearing that, I just thought that's what your teams want for you doctors. They want you to be living this dream life. They want you to be home with your babies. They want you to be flourishing. They love you so much. And so realizing that there's another option if you want it. And so I just wanted to pop on of the solution is   helping your team take on the responsibilities of what they can do and what they should be doing, giving them the tools and the resources, hoping to highlight a lot of the tasks that doctors, this is what you should be doing and this is what your manager and your leadership team should be doing. All those other things, supplies, ordering, budgets, all of that, those go to team members. Doctors, yes, we teach you how to look at the numbers so you can make sure that your business is profitable and you can make decisions from there, but we do that in tandem with your office manager if you want.   I understand some people don't want to share all their numbers, but I will tell you having someone to shoulder this weight with you really is just going to be able to give you so much freedom and so much happiness. And so I felt like, man, I hear this all the time and maybe you don't realize that this is normal. Maybe you don't realize that these are signs that you're, you're headed towards burnout. Maybe you don't realize that this is the solution out of maybe you're sitting there and you're listening to this podcast at seven o'clock at night because you were hanging out at the practice because   You had to check the charts and you had to check this and you had to check that. like, you got to make sure it's all set up. The answer is no, you don't. There's other team members and other people who should be that want to, that want to rally with you. They may not just even know what it needs to be. And you don't know. So guess what? We've got the blind leading the blind. Neither of you know what you're supposed to do. Neither of you know where you're supposed to go. So it feels really hard to get out from underneath that tunnel, but I'm going to come in and shine the lantern for you. I'm going to come show you there is light at the end of that tunnel, that there are ways out.   that these things are possible for your practice and really truly taking it on, giving yourself that gift because running a practice doesn't have to be hard. Going through burnout doesn't have to be your reality. Being able to go home on time, be with your kiddos, be with your family, be with your friends, go and live your life, work as many days or as little days as you want, those are reality. And so knowing what that is, then we just work backwards. We get your team on board. Things that you love to do, fantastic. You can keep doing them. Things you don't like to do, fantastic. We take those off and we give that to someone else.   And we train your team of who should be doing what and how they can be doing it and really empowering your team to take this on as well. So that resonates with you. Take it on. This is the time. Live that life. It doesn't have to be hard. And if we can help you in that, please reach out. I'd love to help you with your practice. I'd love to take a look at it. I'd love to do whatever we can to make sure that you are living your best life because your life is important. You are worth it. You don't need to be sitting there and stressed out, apathetic, loss of life. The world doesn't seem to have as much color as it did. You don't need to live there.   Burnout's real. These problems are real and the solutions are also real. And so I'd love to chat with you. If that resonates with you, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com DM us on Instagram, dentalateam. We're happy to help you. And even if you're like, gosh, I just don't know, maybe I'm different, reach out because I promise you you're not so different. And there's a solution for you. And if I can give you the solution right away, easy, I will. And if we can work with your practice and your team, we're happy to do that too.   But really, I want you to commit to yourself that you deserve to live the best life and that you are going to live your best life and that you aren't going to deal with burnout any longer. And you're not going to even get yourself to that line if you're not there yet, but you're truly going to empower your team to be the incredible team that they are meant to be and that you are worthy of that and that your team is worthy of that. Guys, I just love you and I wish I could give you a giant hug and a high five and tell you you're doing an incredible job because you are. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com   Give yourself a huge hug. Give yourself a high five. You're doing better than you think you are. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Tiff and Dana walk through different dental departments and share ideas many practices have used to keep things green, including reconsidering which items actually need to be disposable, reducing paper, reusing plastic, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I'm so excited to be here with you again. You know that I am just always so happy to bring Dana on the set with us and be here with you. We love sharing our tips. We love sharing our tricks. We love sharing our, I don't know, workout gear with you and all of the pieces and just sharing our lives with you. So we are both so excited to be here today. Dana, thank you for always being on board, for hopping on, for jumping in on any conversation. I know I spin you.   and throw you in some directions that you're not always expecting. So thank you for keeping up with me and knowing how to roll with the punches. How are you on this fine, fine afternoon?   Dana (00:42) Doing good. I'm excited to be here. You know you're right. You keep me on my toes. I never really know what you're going to throw at me, but I leave with a smile on my face and having loved it. So I'm excited to be here too.   The Dental A Team (00:48) That's true.   Perfect.   And now clients and non-clients and listeners here, you guys know that this is truly unscripted from our brains. We come up with topics, but we do riff here and we really pick each other's brains and really come up with solutions for things just the same as we do on your coaching calls. So when you guys bring stuff like this to us clients, this is how we roll. And for anyone who is wondering,   We do have conversations like this outside of the podcast world as well, as consultants are constantly talking to one another about things that we're seeing in practices, things we're experiencing when I need something, maybe I don't have an answer for it. Cause you guys, I know this is going to sound crazy and wild, but we do not know everything. I know it's a shocker. It's a shocker, but combined between all of us, we've got it pretty well handled. So if there's something I don't know,   or have questions on, I definitely, definitely throw it to my ladies and get those answers for you guys. So rest assured everyone, we're constantly collaborating just like we tell you to collaborate and we're constantly growing and learning ourselves. So Dana, thanks for being one of those beautiful ladies behind the scenes for me on so many occasions and I'm excited for today's topic. I...   I just barely prepped you with it, but it sounds like you've recently had a conversation like this with a practice and I'm excited for it. So think it's really something that has been coming around the dental scene for probably the past 10 or more even years, but really strong recently. listeners, we're going to talk today on some eco-friendly dental practice methods. And that doesn't just mean dentistry, but really a lot of the products and just what are we doing?   new out there right now to really go green and a lot of the practices and Dana with your conversation that you've just had with your practice recently I know you've got a lot of hot tips and tricks and there are other practices out there we both talked to as well but what do you have for us today on on that like what eco-friendly things did you guys chat about on that call?   Dana (03:04) Yeah, and I think that it is just coming up with ways any ways that we can reuse, reduce and recycle things right When it comes to eco friendly offices And the biggest thing in dentistry is our disposables, right? So what are the things that we have that are disposables? Can we find a recyclable option? Or that we can reduce the number of disposable items that we're using or eliminate them altogether if it is, you know,   The Dental A Team (03:10) Yeah.   Dana (03:31) I'm all about sanitation, infection control, all of those things. But I think COVID put us in a little bit of like a redundancy mode in some of those areas. And so I feel like in the last 4 years, our disposables have gone up a ton. And our infection control, while those standards are great, I think even above and beyond what is really needed. And so I think it's just finding ways to navigate those things. And we tend to like put plastic over everything and just use   things that aren't super eco-friendly to keep like sanitization standards. And so we don't want to give up on those things, but there are a lot of new products and new technologies and things that we can use that aren't necessarily disposable like we're so used to them being.   The Dental A Team (04:19) Yeah.   Yeah,   I love all of that. I totally agree with you and I hope everyone got the 90s child reference, the late 80s 90s child reference there, reduced, recycle. If everyone could see the commercial and hear the song, I would be even happier right now. I think it needs to come back. I agree. I do love the fact that you mentioned the disposable pieces and like the plastics on everything. And it's funny because I've   Dana (04:32) Did you love it?   The Dental A Team (04:50) I've done it myself and I've watched people put the plastics on and then take the plastics off and then like we're scrubbing everything still and so it's like gosh that's that redundancy space that is it necessary and is it always necessary for every appointment too?   know, because my implant placement appointment or extraction or perio surgery or SRP even is going to be a little messier, we'll say. It's going to look a little different than my limited exam with a PA where I'm not actually infiltrating any tooth structure whatsoever and everything's very clean. So are we taking that into consideration too, which I think leads into exactly where you said like, are we taking inventory of the disposables that we're using? Because do we need to   to   do we need to have disposable air water syringes? Number one, is that completely necessary? And do we need it on both air waters for the limited exam because they're both gonna be removed likely and tossed out after that appointment, especially if you've got.   sterile tech or another dental assistant or anybody coming into the room because they don't know what you touched and so they're going to dispose of anything that's disposable. So I think just taking into consideration too what the next appointment is.   what's actually necessary and only putting out the things that are necessary. for doctors listening, this definitely is an overhead situation. It's going to help supply cost immensely. But for everyone who's listening, this is a reduce, reuse, recycle situation of we've got to save the dang planet, you guys. We've got to do what we can to really make sure that we're not filling those landfills with unnecessary debris and that we're really doing the best that we can for the people that are.   the people that are here.   I think I still see Dana when I go in offices, I still see, you know, those dental assistants running around there. And I was this person, they just grabbed, you know, we've got a filling coming up and I just grab a stack of two by two by two. So just grab a stack or the hygienist, right? Just grab a stack instead of like, how many do I actually need? And my doctor, realistically, we only need two. If I'm cleaning off your instrument, you're passing it, you know, you, you pack the composite in there and I need to clean the instrument off before you pack more composite.   it's not going to take this whole stack. I'm never using all of those. And if I do need more, then I can get more. It's available. And same with hygiene, right? When you're going through and scaling, like you don't need a massive stack in most cases. You probably need two to four, I would assume, to really keep your instruments clean. So even just as simple as that. Now, Dana, I...   On the same subject, right, eco-friendly, what are you seeing practices do within the front office with paper? I know paper's always been a big thing. And then COVID happened. And like, I think we got paper crazy again, which was the exact opposite of what I thought would happen, but we got paper crazy again. And what are you seeing offices do now to try to combat that and switch things back around?   Dana (07:58) Yeah, and I think it is. just going back to making sure that they're doing medical histories, like sending those to patients ahead of time and doing them electronically, doing their consents electronically when patients walk in, you know, using the iPads for new patient information, for treatment planning and presenting. So there's a lot of ways and not only, think that a lot of this is there's kind of like another benefit to it, right? We can switch everything to electronic, which is also going to save us a fair amount of time.   I was just in a practice recently and they were like, Hey, we're clocking a lot of overtime. And I'm like, front office, like, what are we doing with our overtime? And I'm not kidding you. They looked at me and said, well, we spend about two hours at the end of the day shredding. And I was just like, wait, what? So not only right, are we being eco-friendly by eliminating paperwork, we're truly eliminating work from our team two hours every day spent on shredding.   The Dental A Team (08:38) Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. I had an office last week that said the same thing.   Dana (08:54) then we're paying a shredding company to come and take our shreddables too. So it's like you said, it helps with supply costs and it helps with costs and it truly also buys us back time while also serving the environment and being really, you know, as eco-friendly in those instances as possible.   The Dental A Team (08:57) Yeah.   Totally, totally agree. I literally had an office just, I think it was two weeks ago now, Trish and I went to an office and they had a massive shred pile and I was like, what are we shredding? Like, what do we have to shred if we're getting insurance verifications, like download it on the PC and then upload it into the document center, like all these different spaces. So being efficient and being innovative is gonna be huge. How can we reduce the amount of paper that we're using, the amount of ink that we're using, because those ink cartridges, they gotta be thrown.   away somewhere and they have to be picked up like it's this whole process just for ink cartridges. One space I know I work with a lot of teams on is route slips because yes yes yes yes to route slips. I want route slips but it doesn't mean it has to be individually printed every time. I have plenty of practices that do that and prefer it. I'm totally fine with it. I don't care what you guys decide to do but I have a lot of practices actually that pre-print   they'll print what they want a route slip to look like and then laminate it and they fill that out per patient. And so the night before or...   day of whatever, they fill these route slips out just the same as they would have printed them and then they're setting them on the counter. Most of the time it's like patient name, type of appointment and any balance that they might have. And then the back office is then filling out that NDTR space, the next visit date, time, re-care. And so there's really not a whole lot of extra that you need on your route slip. They should be pretty simple. If you've got, I have a lot of practices that have a lot of checklists and check systems on their route slips.   and I'm totally fine if you want them there. Again, I don't have a huge preference, but they're not necessary. I do think if you need an appointment check system, then maybe make a separate sheet that's laminated per appointment that the dental assistant or hygienist can keep and check off for that appointment, especially if you're gonna do the laminated version so the front office doesn't feel like they're filling a ton out as well.   route slips, I agree, any kind of forms or documents that you can automate and make them put them online, make sure all of your stuff is on your website, make sure that the forms are being texted and emailed to your patients prior like this is 2025. remember, gosh, I remember way back in like, how to be like 2009 2010. My doctor that I worked for was like one of the first doctors to he was always he's very innovative. So he's one of the doctors that's always got   the next best tech thing. And I remember way back in 2009, 2010, he came to me and he was like, we're doing a kiosk, Dent, a Dentrix has a kiosk, and everyone's going to check in on this little computer on this little desk in the corner. And it's going to automatically put the paperwork into our system. And it's going to be amazing. And I was like, no, it's not. And it was so clunky, and it was so hard, and so difficult. So   to my men and women of 2025 in the dental industry. If you didn't get to experience the pains of getting to where we are today, and you think today's paperwork is difficult, I have stories to tell you. It was ugly. It was so hard. Everyone hated it. It never transferred. It never uploaded correctly. Patients hated it. It was embarrassing. Oh my gosh, the day and age we live in today of automation just blows my mind. So every time   Dana (12:23) Thanks   The Dental A Team (12:37) I walk into a practice and they're like, it's too hard. I'm like, let me tell you and we get it done. So just go get it done guys. Dana, do you remember that? Were you one of those offices?   Dana (12:47) yeah. Yep. Yeah. And you know, I I'm all about like being on top of tech and being but sometimes I'm like, let's let it work its kinks out. Let's let it work its kinks out before we're like, maybe man number one on it.   The Dental A Team (12:53) Yes.   Yes.   Literally, think yeah,   I think that the the rep just got to him and we were like one of the first I swear and I was like, oh for the love doctor and I'm like 20, you know 20 maybe 23 I guess back 23 24 back then but I'm just like baby I felt like like I don't know how to do this. Like are you kidding me? barely I I   was using dial-up in high school, okay? This kiosk, less than 10 years later, is blowing my mind. I can't, I can't with this kiosk, but today it's much different. So there's everyone, in case anyone wanted to know my age or how much of a...   Grandma, I am when it comes to tech, there's your answers. Dial up and kiosks and it was a pain and today I finally feel confident today with Canva and I've been working on that for I feel like two years. So here we are, here we are. But and then.   Dana (13:54) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (13:57) On the space of eco-friendly, I think those are really, really fantastic ways. I've also heard, I don't have all the stats and the answers on it, but I do know that there's been a lot of research by a lot of doctors on different like vacuum systems for the suctions and different, I know there's a dry and a wet and one or the other, right? They both have their pros and their cons, but making sure those two, if you do find yourself in a situation where you need to replace your system, I know I've got a doctor that's working on that right now.   actually making sure you do your due diligence and research on that because there is a way per the stats at least to save a ton of water with the dry system and so I know even down to those pieces or a lot of the new data you might even know a lot of the more stats or whatever but a lot of the new   compressors and things are more energy efficient and lasting longer. It's kind of like the Energizer Bunny, like the batteries just keep getting better. So I know a lot of those spaces as well, and the hand pieces, electric, you know, motorized and all those different spaces. So there's a ton there. And Dana, what about for, I think hygiene department wise for you, what about the   Like the giveaway bags, all of those pieces, like what are you seeing practices do there?   Dana (15:17) Yeah, I've had a lot of offices either nix the bags all together and just kind of like bundle them or switch to like a paper bag versus a plastic bag. Also to there are a ton of eco friendly home care products coming out and I'm not advocating for them. I think do your research, make sure they meet your standards for your patient. But there's, know, bamboo toothbrushes, there are now recyclable toothpaste containers and you can be a recycling center for them. There are also toothpaste tablets that like you just refill you can just get a sachet.   The Dental A Team (15:25) Yeah.   That's cool.   Dana (15:46) fancy words, Hachet, of the little tablets and you put them in your plastic container. So you just reuse that plastic container over and over again. So there's all kinds of eco-friendly home care products too that you can consider switching to. Just reduce waste, you know, from a patient perspective too. So I think all of those things are worth taking a look at.   The Dental A Team (15:46) I do like that.   Dana (16:08) Again, making sure as long as they meet the standards of your office and what you want your patient to utilize them for, if you can opt for an eco-friendly version and it's something that you're wanting to incorporate more of, I say go for it.   The Dental A Team (16:20) Yeah, I love the toothpaste that you mentioned. know I've seen one of the hygienists that's been in my life. does a lot of, she just does a lot of this stuff and she does a lot of posting about it. And she posts the powder that comes in the little jar, right? Like, gosh, that's brilliant because you like the sachet, right? You're refilling that jar. And so it's a glass jar that you're refilling with the powder and you're just getting your toothbrush wet, dipping it in the powder and then brushing your teeth. And you just think about how many   Dana (16:33) Mm-hmm.   The Dental A Team (16:50) tubes of toothpaste run through your household, just your one household, how many tubes of toothpaste are thrown away on average, right? Probably somewhere between two to six a year, I can imagine, right? At least two to six a year for every household. If you can   teach your patients and educate your patients about products like that, that do work, do your research, right? I don't know which product was, I did not do the research on it, right? I did not buy it, I will do more research, but like do your research like Dana said and advocate for something you believe in, but make sure you're educating your patients too. So maybe you've got those things on hand at the dental practice, maybe those companies have disposable ones that you can give out.   Dana (17:18) you   The Dental A Team (17:38) And I've had a lot of practices too that have done away with like the bags and really they each time just ask the patient like, hey, do you use the disposable toothbrush? A lot of our patients, you guys, we've sold them electric toothbrushes. So a lot of our patients aren't using disposable toothbrushes. And I can tell you, most of the time those disposable toothbrushes are used for the guest bathroom for when somebody comes and forgot their toothbrush, right? That's what I did with them. That's what I do with them. That's where they are.   Dana (17:50) That's for sure.   The Dental A Team (18:06) So making sure we're asking those questions and only giving those things out as necessary because eventually they do go into the landfills and all those spaces. So take a look, look at what you can do, how you can make things a little better. Like can we install, I know in the house I'm like use the fans guys, like don't turn the AC on yet. I know it's.   96 degrees today. I hear you. I'm in Phoenix. I get it. But I'm like, none of the fans in the household are on and we're cranking the AC. Come on, like how can we be how can we be more economic and eco friendly in every aspect. So I think there's a lot of space in it for the dental in the dental practice. And then there's a lot of space for us to really educate our patients on how they can carry that through into their own homes. Yeah, Dana.   What do you think, I'm gonna do this to you again, what do you think are some good actionable items, especially because you just chatted with your own practice that you consult, what do you think are some good action items, some easy things that they can consider either watching or switching out or whatever that they can take away from today's chat?   Dana (19:10) Yeah, I think first thing is just review your disposables, right? Is it necessary to use all of the things that you use? And is there there, you know, one that you can sterilize or you can reuse alternative? Make sure we're looking at just paper waste, right? How much have we shifted or can we shift electronically? It'll just help with efficiency too. So this is a win win on both sides. So take a look at paper use in the practice and then do some research on some eco-friendly products and see if your office is a good fit for them.   The Dental A Team (19:39) I love it. I love it.   Thank you, Dana. Thank you for taking this adventure with me today. I was so happy to hear that you had just had this conversation with a practice recently, so that makes it very simple. So thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you, everyone here for listening. As always, we appreciate, value you. We are here for all of the things and we're here to support you. So drop us a five-star review. Always let us know if there's any topic you wish that we would talk about. Dana and I will get right on it. I promise you that. We need the ideas, you guys. So thank you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com   Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and we'll catch you next time.  

Kiera and Dana chat about ways dentists can go “beyond the chair” with passive income streams, including real estate, investments, speaking gigs, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.802) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today, man, it's been way too long. I have the one and only Dana from our team. If you've known her, if you're here as like an OG, you know Dana from Donuts with Dana. Gosh, Dana, that's like way back in the archives. But if you're newer, you may have heard her as Dainey. I don't know if she loves that one. And then Dana, what was the one that I heard? I think it was like Dynamite Dana was the last one that I heard come through for you. So those are kind of when you're like morphing over time, but   Which one do you prefer, Dana? And welcome to the show.   Dana (00:32.799) I I think the OG of donuts with Dana is probably the one that like will continue to stick.   Kiera Dent (00:39.342) It's true. A lot of people like even at events and they see you, they're like, oh my gosh, it's donuts with Dana, which is so fun and so cute, but super happy to have you. Welcome to the show today. So grateful. You actually brought up a really interesting topic that I thought it'd be fun for us to dive into from a lot of your clients that you've been talking to of like, what are maybe some passive income ideas for dentists beyond the chair? Now let's just clarify. This does not mean that you have to actually like give up dentistry that you're not working, but   I think we have a lot of entrepreneurial minded dentists that are just starting to like get creative, want some ideas. So today, Dana and I are here to like pick your interests, just how you start thinking in different ideas. But Dana, give some more background. know this came from a lot of your clients. What are some of the things you've been seeing and hearing?   Dana (01:26.34) Yeah, I do think that you're right. I think that if you are a business owner, right, if you're a practice owner, that just naturally comes to you. And I think that people that own businesses and people that have gone and graduated dental school and become leaders are just always looking for opportunity too. I think it's just a mindset thing in that group of people. So it's come up just on calls, like, what can I do? What are some things that I can do outside of the chair? And   some interesting things that some of even my clients do that I thought would be really fun to share, to help brainstorm and give some ideas.   Kiera Dent (02:02.542) I love it. I love a good brainstorm session like this, Dana. So this is gonna be a little different podcast style for all of you coming on. Today it's more of a rift. It's more of a like, oh gosh, I think these are like a good think tank. My husband and I, we go hot tubbing and we call it our like tub talk. So it's not Ted talk, it's tub talk because that's where a lot of our best ideas come. today is a, it's donuts with Dana and Kiera. It's like dabbling in dentistry. Like, but I want it to be better than like,   dabbling outside of dentistry, maybe that's what it will have this brainstorm such as, because I agree with you, Dana, and I also think sharing some ideas that some of our clients do, obviously we mash and mix, so you can't really figure out who we're talking about, because I like to keep that private and confidential for them. But I think like, again, let's spur some ideas. So Dana, I've got some ideas, I know you have some, but let's take it on of what are some of the things that dentists can do for this passive income? But wait, before we go there, I also feel like it's important to say why.   Dana, you mentioned about like a lot of these offices, these dentists want something beyond just dentistry. I also think for me, it becomes an insurance policy. Like dentist, if these little hands right here, if they break, well, that's your livelihood. So I do think for some dentists having passive revenue, passive income, coming through generating different ideas means you're not as dependent upon your hands, but more able to do that out of like desire rather than necessity.   So I think it's a good morphing and it doesn't have as much stress and pressure from what I've seen from doctors that do it. But again, those are maybe just a few ideas within our dabbling in outside of dentistry talk today.   Dana (03:42.022) Yeah, I think it's an exciting one and I will usually always preface the conversation with like make sure you have a good financial advisor too because some of the things is Make sure that the money you're currently making can also potentially make you money. So just really connecting with a strong financial advisor so that you can maximize the money that's coming into you from your practice, whether it's in investments, whether   It's in bonds, anything like that. Connect with a strong financial advisor and they can help walk you through any of these ideas we roll out today in our talk that just helps them make better decisions.   Kiera Dent (04:19.886) Couldn't agree with you more because also it's fun when you start to make these extra passive income ones Don't forget depending upon how it's set up what it's structured what it is Well, this could also incur a higher tax bill for you. I'm never opposed to you made more money no, I've got more tax But if you don't plan and prepare for it then instantly that can become a cash flow crunch for you end of year So agreed and with all things we are not financial advisors. We are not here to give you legal counsel We're not here to give you financial counsel. We're just here to riff with you   And then you need to make sure that you take this on and get the appropriate advice for your specific needs because truth be told, it varies from client to client, state to state, location to location, and scenario to scenario. So what I do and what works for me, what Dana does, they're not the same, but again, today's a fun riff. So Dana, let's kick it off with what are some of these ideas that are brewing that you've heard?   Dana (05:06.222) Yeah.   Yeah, I mean, I think real estate is definitely something that a lot of dentists look at as like a more of a passive. I It depends on how passive you want it to be versus how active you want it to be as far as a supplementary income. So I think real estate is one. I think silent business partner in a business that is of interest. I mean, we have a mutual client who I think is in real estate and maybe even a farm. So there's those things.   Kiera Dent (05:35.738) huh, true, it's true.   Dana (05:39.352) and I've got another office where she is a spokesperson for a pretty big oral health company. So she does podcasts for them. She writes articles for them. She speaks at some of the conventions that they are at. I have heard of a dentist who created webinar series on a procedure that he felt like he   was really strong in. And so I just feel like sometimes it just takes thinking outside the box, thinking about where your passions are, thinking about what you might enjoy spending your time if it's more of an active pursuit. So I think that there's endless ideas really.   Kiera Dent (06:20.226) Mm-hmm agreed and I think like let's dig a little into real estate. Let's talk about this a little more I am no real estate professional on this there's different pieces, but we'll dabble a little bit venture out into that just so you can hear a few things because I am very passionate about real estate and I'm very intrigued by how to it started because I met some people at Tony Robbins like surprise surprise started chatting with them and I started meeting a doctor community surprise surprise because I wanted my husband   to look for ways to not have to be always working at the hospital. I think hospitals are a little more grueling than dentistry, not as forgiving. And literally there was no way for my husband to get out of it. And I thought, well, shoot, we don't have kids. I wanna travel. But you're my travel buddy and you're always at work. So I started meeting these people and we started talking. And something I really was impressed by was they actually started talking about how...   Like as doctors and dentists, we have it a little bit different. You don't have as captive an income as say a lot of medical professionals do. My husband, there was no way for him to make more money. Unlike in dentistry, you produce more, you're able to create more. And so what they do is there's actually a thing called rep status where you can actually, there's a couple different ways to do it. And again, I'm no guru on this. It's just giving you a couple of ideas to look at. But if you get rep status, so a lot of times people will have their spouse.   become the rep status. So for example, in my situation, let's say I didn't work at dental team, let's say I had a lesser job right now, I would not be the right candidate for this relationship. But Jason, he's working at the hospital. I'm a spouse, I'm staying at home with the kids, or I'm working maybe only part time, I have more hours. What we can actually do is I can take on rep status, so real estate professional status. And what I can actually do is I can offset with deductions within our real estate portfolio, all of Jason's tax within his W-2.   So it's a really good way for you to actually make more on a W-2 by offsetting. Now there's a secondary loophole on there for short-term real estate where you can be full-time working, but you can actually get short-term real estate in there and you can actually offset again through rep status. Now rep status are, there's like a lot of rules. So go read up on it, go talk to your financial advisor, go talk to your CPAs about how you get this rep status and see if it qualifies for you because like this is something my husband and I have looked into exponentially to figure out, hey,   Kiera Dent (08:38.68) How could we offset this? Because if I can keep the taxes that I'm paying from our W-2, is there possibly a way that we could reinvest it? So now maybe you wanna do it, maybe you don't. There's also ways if you don't wanna be that involved and take that on, or you don't have a spouse or a partner that can help you with it, then other ways that you can do it are actually through syndications or being like Dana was mentioning of being a lesser buyer into it, where basically you just put money in.   Those ones, they're a dime a dozen. There's a ton of them. And so usually the best deals are found through networking. So if you're interested, odds are your financial advisor probably knows someone. I know there's quite a few dental groups. I will put some asterisks around that bet. Some of the dental groups that I heard, I will not mention names. There are some dental groups that were doing investments that actually a lot of dentists lost a lot of money on. So just make sure with any investment, guess what? It's risk. We're like high five. And the best advice I was ever given on investments was   same thing with like loaning money to people. Once that money is gone, I kiss it goodbye. Yes, I hope it comes back, but I have to be okay losing that money and it never coming back to me. So I think that there's other ways, but also let's not forget like investments, like putting money and maximize like for me, I utilize taxes and savings on the company. Those go into high yield savings accounts. I am still having true passive income off of those investments. They're not invested. They're just sitting there. I have to keep the money anyway. Why not have that?   come back to me and some returns that way too. But I think those are some fun ways to look into real estate in some different zones, which again, I didn't even realize it realize and my brother didn't realize and several people I've talked to about this real estate professional status that you can achieve that will truly offset those W-2 taxes. So looking into that might be a fun way for you to see it. I am one who I know I'm not going to be getting the phone call in the middle of the night. I'm not going to be going doing the plumbing. Jason, he built custom homes.   He still doesn't want to do it. We might do short-term rentals. And I was like, well, what are you going to do with the freaking snow, Jay? He was like, don't worry, Kiera, it will be an upfront cost, but we're putting heated driveways in. I'm never going to have to shovel them ever. No liability on us. just looking, and I know there's some really fun things, again, depending upon your area, but you can actually pick up some short-term rentals. Again, you've got to look at the areas. You've got to look at the zoning, but there's a lot of small houses that are like kit houses that are 20 grand, 30 grand, 40 grand. They literally come as a kit. You just need to...   Kiera Dent (10:59.358) slab it and make sure that there's sewer and water to it. But those who can then rent out is like really cool Airbnbs too. Now Airbnb is hot topic right now. I don't know how much people are following it, but there are a lot of places that have been zoned for Airbnbs. Like we're even talking Dallas. I'm familiar with this because I live by Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe, a lot of those places were zoned for short-term rentals. And then after being purchased, so people have had these for years,   they're actually being rezoned into residential, which I think is totally shady. There's opinions on both sides of this of like, yes, but we need housing. And I'm like, yes, but they bought it. But again, it is another investment. So it's not an always guarantee. But Dana, I just went on a real estate rant. Any thoughts that you've got on that? Because I agree. think real estate is usually where a lot of people do venture in. I mean, there's storage units, there's short term rentals. Well, excuse me. There's like farms. There's other things you can get into a lot of these pieces. But again,   Be careful, do your homework and realize that money once it's gone, it's gone. Like hopefully it comes back to you, but maybe a few ideas in that realm too. Dana, thoughts, cause I really went on a rant on rep status.   Dana (12:05.72) No, I love it. I think I learned something too during this podcast, which is awesome. And I agree with you. I think it just comes down to doing your research, knowing how much time you want to invest in something, knowing how much work you want to invest in something. And also too, how much money do you want wrapped up in things like that? And so I love that walkthrough of it.   Kiera Dent (12:25.664) And Dana, as you said that, I also was thinking about Ryan Isaac with Dennis Advisors. He's my financial advisor and he reminds me that like really the biggest way to make wealth are independent businesses, real estate, and then like private equity and venture things where like you're going into venture capitalism. And so I also want to highlight while yes, we're talking about these getting outside of the chair, never forget that your business is your greatest asset in a lot of ways too. Now.   For me as a business owner, I sometimes love all my eggs in my own basket. Other times I absolutely hate that my eggs are all in my own basket. So, but never forget that sometimes even investing like hiring an associate in your practice or expanding what you're able to do in your practice or expanding your hours or opening up more chairs, that's also a way where you can get, I mean, truly, I'm not trying to like sound like unreasonable.   That's passive income. You have someone working for you. I get that you have to still own the business. You still have the liability on it. So it's not as passive as say a syndication, but you have somebody literally in your practice that's producing for you that they may be taking 30, 35%. Yes, you still have the additional overhead of your team, but that is passive in a lot of ways too. So I really want to highlight like, don't forget the greatest asset is your business, but you might want to have an insurance policy around that where you have other revenue streams, not just dependent upon the practice. Dana.   thoughts on that because I think people forget that their businesses are an asset as well.   Dana (13:52.536) Yeah, I agree with you. you know what, too, I think that sometimes I've seen like even just getting creative with your space, right? There's offices that are doing dental assisting schools within their practices. I've got a couple offices where they've got myofunctional therapists coming in and they're renting space and they're using operatories that they're not ready to build out yet. So even if you have space within your practice, what can you do with that that can generate some passive income? And I love, like you said, like it is your number one investment and probably the   easiest, simplest way for you to continue to grow and expand your portfolio is growing and expanding your practice.   Kiera Dent (14:28.238) And Dana, as you said that it reminded me, I have a friend who's a dermatologist up in New York. This woman was smart. There's a business that's doing it and I wish they were doing it a smidgey better. I've thought about doing it. But what they're actually doing is they're like renting out professional spaces to other professionals. So she's a dermatologist. She's only there three days a week and she literally rents her space out to like an optometrist or something. Like it's literally like someone within the healthcare field. She's like, here, I get paid to have my space.   by someone else coming and using it. So also maybe can you moonlight your practice? Who could come in? Like I love these had myel functional. I've seen some offices where they have a spa within like eyebrows, microblading, facials, like literally you don't even have to that as a service within your practice. It's just like one little nook, one little space or when you're not there after hours, obviously check your liability insurance with your building space. But I have seen a lot of offices doing that as well.   Like I think that that's so clever because I'm like, I already have this practice. I've already paid for it. And now I get to just have basically a renter within my space in a different zone. I love the dental assistant program. feel like it's a win-win. You're giving to the community. You're also able to cherry pick your best dental assistants. Like so many cool things for you to be able to do within your space. And some offices even have built like really cool lecture spaces and then they build a dental community and do study clubs within their area.   they get paid to host it at their location as well. You don't even have to be there. You can just have the space that somebody rents out from you. And hey, perk is you get all these these benefits of listening to these great speakers come in. We've done that in like several areas. We've spoken at those groups. I think it's a I think you're right. Like what do you have? What can you do? Jason and I love like we literally love in our tub talks to sit there and think of ways to make money. I will tell you door dashing is not my number one best idea. We did try it.   I was, I didn't realize like how hard it is to make money. Like it like humbled me a lot. But like there's so many little ways that you can actually do stuff outside. Like look at your home office, could you rent out spaces? Like there's just so many crazy cool things that we're able to do. I think you can create a lot of income in a lot of ways if you're creative with it. I also love the dental assistant one because you can have a dental assistant make more money by running the program for you. So you're getting the benefits, the assistant's able to grow and you're coming like   Kiera Dent (16:51.508) wins all the way around, again, depending upon your state, because there are laws around it. But gosh, like I get nerdy on this type of stuff because it's fun to think outside the box for sure. So Dana, talk to me about speaking gigs, because I'm sure people are like, how do you get into that? How do these people get into this? Like writing webinars, becoming a keynote speaker, becoming an expert, writing blogs, because I think a lot of people have passion for that. But how do you actually do that and get into that?   Dana (17:16.826) Yeah, and I think it comes down to the same thing that you said about real estate is networking, right? Going to conventions, starting by even writing things, right? And then and maybe speaking on a podcast, right? And then maybe writing a peer reviewed journal article, and then just growing those things, networking, reaching out and letting people know right? Companies that are a part of whatever you want to speak about letting them know that you know, you are experienced in that, that whatever it is topic.   And that you are available to speak I've had it I had one doctor that like just video like did a video presentation and sent it out to conventions and to people in that industry and Other office or other dentists that just started out small started out with simple articles started out just with networking letting companies and and Areas know that they were available   Kiera Dent (18:12.782) brilliant and Dana as you said that I do agree like get on people's podcasts I can tell you how many clients have had like hey Keira I have this great idea of like selling charts or have this great idea that I'm super passionate about how to make composite crowns you guys I don't do any of that that's not stuff that I do I am NOT a clinician so we are a great podcast for you to get it then you say I've been like I've been on this podcast I've spoken to this place I love like just being a little scrappy there's several people that do things like this I also think if you're really passionate about something   Put it on your Instagram too. You can start to showcase your work. I know some people have become pretty popular on social media by doing cosmetic dentistry, by doing composite veneers in certain ways. like, I also think don't sell yourself short. There's probably some cool things that you do. And Dana, I'm just going to throw another idea because I forgot. I do have a client that does this. They are an expert witness. I want someone else to do it. Someone else go become an expert witness. Or if you are an expert witness, I want you to talk to me because I to put you on the podcast. Like you can get on with me.   but an expert witness is one, like I literally have a client and they tell me like, all right, Kara, gotta go meet with this person. And they make a truckload of money by being an expert witness as a dentist in like crimes. And I told my husband, was like, go be an expert witness in pharmacy. And he's like, I'm not doing that. I don't wanna get close. Like that creeps me out. But I'm just gonna throw, that's another random idea out there that I think again.   I'm hoping someone on the podcast is an expert witness. Please, I want to podcast with you. I want to hear your stories, your ventures. And for all of you listening, if you are someone who does real estate really, really well and you figured out the rep status or, I want someone who's not like dabbled in it, I want you to be a freaking expert on this. Like you've done at least a couple of things in it, or you're a speaker at locations where you're getting paid for that as a side gig, or you have a dental assistant program within your practice.   I want you to reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com because I'd love to get you on the podcast. think sharing our knowledge, sharing with each other, I think it's freaking fun. And I think like, Hey, let's all rise each other up because guess what? You're probably not going to be a forensic witness at the exact same space everyone else is like, they need tons of those people. So anyway, Dana, this was a fun rift for me. Thanks for, thanks for rifting with me. Any last thoughts you've got as we wrap up.   Dana (20:24.9) I think just get creative, right? Find, figure out if there's something that you're passionate about. Figure it out if you have space for something. Figure out what it is that you really want to spend maybe some extra time doing. And there's definitely ideas that fall around it.   Kiera Dent (20:39.596) I love it. Dana, thanks for bringing this brilliant idea. Thanks for doing dabbling outside of dentistry with me today. Dabbling outside of dentistry with Dana today. Thank you for that. It was always a good time. And for all of you listening, this is what we love to do. We love to help dentists get the freedom to be able to have the creative space to think outside of just their day in day out. So giving them the ability to build their practice, build their leadership teams, be able to create. So that way you're able to think outside and also to help offices think in these ways and get them connected to people.   that are resources. if this is your world, or you're like, Hey, I'd love to have a little more mind space out there. I'd love to have less stress on my practice and more creative space. Reach out. That's what we're experts at. We're helping to help you and your team. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. Catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Kiera shares exactly how Dental A-Team helped a practice with over $2 million in accounts receivable break even — and learn how to never fall behind again. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:01.848) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome to the podcast. I hope today you are truly just so happy. I hope that you are honestly just living your best life and I hope you know that you're truly doing better than you think you are. So you guys, this is where we are. We're here to help you. Dental A Team is obsessed about helping you and your team thrive. To be able to give you guys the guidance that you need to navigate the challenges that we have in dentistry. so welcome. This is what I'm obsessed with. I hope that you just know that I   I truly love and adore this podcast family. I'm so grateful for you. I'm grateful for you sharing this with your friends. I love, love, love seeing you tag us when you're driving to work or listening in the car or taking us on a road trip. And my goal is to be always something of value for you on this podcast that you can go and implement immediately to make your life and your practice even better. For those of you new, welcome. For those of you who are OGs, welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. As always, please.   like and subscribe and leave reviews for our podcast. That way we can reach all the practices truly out there. Right now we have impacted several, but I know there's thousands of other practices that we could reach and guide. And the only way I can do that is through your help of sharing this. So as always, if you've shared, thank you. I just gave you a high five or a hug to say thank you. And I'm so glad that you're here. All right. Today I'm going to give you some quick tacticals on some billing help.   how to handle old balances. think old balances are just annoying and I help practices with this all the time. Just to give you a little story, I kind of like stories on podcasts. I'm usually I'm here to rattle and roll and today I want to just take you down a little bit of memory lane. But there was a practice who reached out to us and wanted us to be a consultant for them and asked us to help them with their billing department. And I was like, all right, sure, like we do this. I'm more than happy to help you out. Let me know what you need. And this practice said,   Well, Kiera, our over 90 and our total amount is about 2 million. And I was like, that's all right. It's not the worst I've ever seen. Tell me a little bit more. And they said, we literally have no handle on what we're doing with billing. And I was like, fantastic. So we got on. We started working with, they had a few different practices, 2 million. Could you imagine? Like, this is why I get paid what I get paid. Because we go and we find these little money holes in the practice and we patch them up.   Kiera Dent (02:20.622) and we're able to add all this money back into your practice and to help you put systems into place so this doesn't happen again. I think that's the biggest thing is let's make sure this does not happen again. And so with this practice, what we ended up doing was we started checking in Trulie every single week with this billing team. We created spreadsheets. We had them download the AR.   We prioritize which balances for them to go after first. And then we started like just chipping away at it. And we were heavy on our accountability. You better believe that I was hot to try on this practice. And it was every single week I was getting a report and update how many claims that they worked through. We looked to see, I think we had over 5,000 accounts to go through. So what we did is we said, all right, I'm gonna grab my calculator. I don't know off the top of my head. We said, all right, 5,000 accounts. We are working 20 days.   That means we need to get through 250 accounts per day. We had three people working on it. That meant 83 accounts per person. Now that's not realistic, right? And so what we did is we took those 5,000 accounts and we did that over three months before we ran a new AR account. That way they could feel like they could get through that because then you have 5,000 charts. We have 60 days to work, right? 20 days times three. And then we had three people working on it that broke it down to about 25 to 30 accounts per day.   that felt a lot more doable. Now remember, a lot of these accounts just needed to have a resubmit from insurance. It was a denied insurance claim because we didn't attach an attachment. Others, we just need to call and collect from a patient. Others, there was more work that needed to be done that we had to dig into. And then there was the dun-dun-dun-dun, old accounts. Like, what do I do with these old balances? We can't collect on them. And so that's really where we started to work. And so with this practice, it took us   Truly, I'm not exaggerating, it was about six months before we started to get a good handle on it. And then like at a year mark, they felt like very confident we were able to get through all the accounts. We had good processes in place. We started collecting when people were coming in the door and that way all those accounts of this billing team looked to see who on the schedule we could collect from. Because that then, instead of just these three people working on it, we also had all of our front office team working on it, all the back office team, we were prepping the route slips.   Kiera Dent (04:33.774) which a lot of billers will tell me that just feels like a waste of time, Kara. I don't want to do that. I don't want to prep these charts. And I think, yeah, but think you probably see, I don't know, 25 to 70 patients per day. And if we could collect on all of those that come through and collect those balances, well, now I'm not having to go and like look for all this stuff everywhere else. I can just get this done like in real time. So again, I'm a person of let's work smarter, not harder. And so this practice started doing that. So that became a system of then we chart prep.   consistently making sure that, my gosh, like let's get all these patients there. We put into a process for the front office to collect at time of service when they checked in. And then we also made sure that we were really good on our treatment estimates to make sure that we didn't get into this hot water. And the reason this office got into hot water is not because they were doing anything wrong, but because this practice did not consistently work there.   their insurance. And so they got all these old accounts, they got all these old balances. And guess what? That's no fun for anybody. That's not fun for the patient. That's not fun for the practice. That's not fun for cashflow. That's not fun for the billers. I mean, gosh, like when I look at 5,000 accounts, I'm like, all right, we got to work. Like we've got our spreadsheet to get through. And so for these practices, I just want you to know that no matter where you are, there's still hope. If we can help you on that, by all means reach out. Even if you're not there yet, like that far.   Let's great, like let's catch it because the ultimate goal is that you have no more than one month's worth of production in your total AR. So if you're producing a hundred thousand, then guess what? I want no more than a hundred thousand in your AR at any given moment. Also, I really watch your over 90 accounts because those can tip to where they're no longer collectible. So what I recommend we do is when I'm working with a billing team is we're going to start with those big balances and then like, let's make a big hit. Like let's do a good impact.   So I have people put it on an Excel spreadsheet. We have it color coded. It's actually so simple. And once billers get into this rhythm and doctors, when you have it, it becomes truly like flawless. It's so beautiful. It's so easy to do. So we put it in there. We sort it. You can use it and sort the list and sort your AR list. So that way I can look usually within your over 90. It's usually held up in like five to 10 accounts. So what we do is we actually go hit those accounts that are going to give us the biggest bang for our buck and our time.   Kiera Dent (06:48.238) and we're gonna go try and collect on those accounts, figure out what's going on with those accounts and try to collect. Now, when I have an office that has a lot of really, really, really old balances, there comes a question of, we just write this off as bad debt or do we try to collect? And my opinion is you did the work, let's try and collect whatever we possibly can. So on those offices, I usually send out statements. You'll be shocked at how much you actually can collect from those old balances, that old debt.   And then we go, we try to collect, I usually send one, two or three statements, depending upon the practice and the doctor's choice. I do not think it's aggressive to send three statements. I also call, I'm making sure I call these patients. You can even let them know like, hey, we're updating our system and we noticed there was an outstanding balance. So we needed to get that collected for you. This is the total. And I can take Visa or MasterCard, which do you prefer? Collect right over the phone. It's very simple. I know it feels weird. It's like, my gosh, we were supposed to have collected this a while ago.   Well, high five, we updated our system. Hashtag we updated to actually looking at it is what we're trying to tell people. We should have collected this. We didn't, but now we have a process in place where we do this every week. And then from there, what I like to do is have you guys truly start collecting on those calling. I am amazed at how many practices do not call. Also amazed at how many practices do not have an online payment portion. Well, that's a really easy way to get old balances. Cause if you're expecting them to call during working hours or send you a check,   or write their credit card on a little piece of paper and send it back to you. Well, we've just made it to where it's like so much of a time delay. Why not just have them get on the phone, get on a call with you and start making the outbound calls. I just gave you the script, use that for your team. That's how we start to work with these old balances. So now we've tried to collect everything. We're working on it. I also am very sticky that our billers are working at least two days a week. Billers, I'm going to tell you, you can work more efficiently. And I say that with grace and love and a hug.   Because I don't want you working on this all the time. What I want you doing is I want you clumping things together, clumping insurance plans together, looking for all the patients that I can call, working A to J and then my, what is it? JK, K to Z. So we work those every other week. We're sending out statements, we're sending out text messages, and we have a rhythm. I have a billing calendar that I share with offices so that way we don't get off track. Yeah, you're going to have some hard work to do at the beginning, but once we get this on track and we have a system, guess what? You'll have to work on it like two days a week.   Kiera Dent (09:08.75) It really does cut down time and doctors, just so you know, again, that's pending upon the size of the practice. When we have multi-offices, it's a full-time job. When we're at one practice, one provider, it should be a two-day job for billing. Now billers might hear this and they might be angry with me. Billers, I'm saying that not because I think that you are doing things wrong. I'm just saying that most offices can do it that way. So let's give you the efficiency tips. Let's help you out. Let's make sure that you're able to do it too. That way you're able to...   Do this in the most effective and efficient way as possible. My goal is to not waste time. Let's not waste time on hard things, but let's actually do things that are fun. You can also outsource this to third party companies as well. That can also help. They're working. They're hugely less expensive. So if you're struggling with billing, those are some solutions. So I promise you old balances. We've now gone through, we've done all this. We still have debt.   We still have these balances that we can't collect. We've sent out our three statements. We've been contacting them. We've called them three times. This has also been documented in their ledger. So we know it's really been done. Doctors, can run reports when it's documented. I usually do made up codes for these, but that way doctors, can run reports to see how many of these procedures are actually being, or how many of these calls are being done consistently. okay. Now it's a choice. You have choices. So depending on how old it is, what I usually like to do is I run my AR report.   And then doctors, it's your decision here. I'm not going to tell you what to write off. All this money is technically owed to you. You did the work, so you get to decide what you want to do. I'll tell you my preference and I'll tell you what I usually recommend. But at the same time, this is your money and I want you to know you are entitled to every single penny that has been billed in the practice. I usually recommend anything below $20. If we can't collect it, it's not there. There's no way for us to collect it. Just write it all off. I also like to do this at a strategic time point.   where it's probably at end of year or end of quarter. So that way I know at this point in time, I wrote off all this bad debt because then we can move forward and we know that was like a bad time. We're never doing it again, but this was my one time. So anything $10 or less, $20 or less, just write that off, get that out of the accounts. It's gonna clear up quite a few accounts for you. Then, well, and before we do that, we've tried to collect also any person who has a balance on their account.   Kiera Dent (11:27.79) I don't usually think sending someone to collections over $20, that's not my jam. I'm not usually a big proponent of collections, but again, every penny is entitled to you. So you decide what's best for you. So we write it off and then from there we get to start deciding what we're gonna do. Are we gonna call these patients and do a 50-50 split with them to where if they pay 50 % today, we're then gonna write off the additional 50%, but most likely they're probably not welcome back in the practice. Are we going to send them to collections?   Are we just going to say these balances are never going to be collected? And we like pick through them and decide, but doctors, once we have this bad debt, it's your decision to decide what are you going to do with it? Look to see how much it's there. Look to see how much we've contacted them, called them. Can we do anything else? And then we really get to decide, we write this off? Now, if you do write it off for bad debt, it does need to be adjusted off. There needs to be a note on that practice, on that patient. And that patient does not get to come back to the practice until they've paid their debt. Let's not get ourselves back into hot water.   but that's how we're gonna handle these old balances. And I know this feels like icky sticky, but when we get to this, like that practice, we worked on it six months, eight months, nine months. At the end of the year, we decided, we showed the doctor, we said, this is all, this is everything we've collected from this 2 million pile of these 5,000 accounts. And here we are. And I think we ended up writing off about $50,000 at the end of it, which that feels like a bad day, but $50,000 out of 2 million, I think they did a really, really great job.   We had bad systems in place. We didn't have people collecting consistently. And that was the reality of where we got. But they then moved forward and we made sure we were at 98 % collections. We kept that claim amount low. We kept our AR low. We made sure we never got over one month's worth of AR ever again. And this practice is happy skipping along, but it was hard work. So I want you to know that it is tricky, but it is doable. And this is hopefully a quick tip for you of how you're able to handle those balances.   Now there's a lot of other pieces, there's a lot of other options, there's a lot of different things. I just kind of gave you a highlight reel today that hopefully will take you through to see, all right, what is my AR? Am I at one month or less of my AR? What are my highest balances? And what are my oldest balances? Can I get those collected? And then what do I need to start writing off? So those would be some of my quick highlight tips for you to get started. You know at Dental A Team, our passion is making sure that you are so successful.   Kiera Dent (13:44.76) that you're able to have the know-how, the things that you need to do, the things that will make you the most successful, and also the less stressed, and also to help your team, because I know doctors, you're not taught this in dental school, this is really tricky, and so this is what we're able to do. We're able to work with your billing team, we're able to work with your teammates, and the entire practice, including yourself, to understand A, what is the process, B, how do we get ourselves out of this mess, C, how do we never get there again, and D, how do we make sure that this is something that...   literally becomes a system that is forever running rather than something that's person dependent. So that's what we're about. If that resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com or just go to our website and click on a call or DMS. Either way, I'm happy to help you. If you're in a billing sticky spot, I'm happy to assess it with you, give you some free guidance, get you on your way, but always reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.

Kiera gives listeners a “choose your own adventure” challenge for planning practice growth. She touches on comparing your growth to others', how and what to expand, taking advantage of opportunities (or not), and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00.856) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and I hope you are just having such an amazing day. I hope that you remember why you went into dentistry. I hope if yesterday was a bad day, today's a better day. And I hope that Dental A Team podcasts truly boost your spirits, lightens your mood, and gives you tactical tips that are gonna be able to make your life incredible because at Dental A Team, we're obsessed about making your life happy. So today, I wanted to get on of a choose your own adventure. This is kind of fun. I think it's fun to just kind of like...   dabble in where can our practice go? What are some ideas? What are some things to think about? And we do this with our clients. And I just got jazzed about this one today. It was a really fun one that I chatted about with another office. And I thought, I think our Dental A Team family needs to have this. So if you are new to our Dental A Team podcast, welcome. I'm Kiera Dent. Dent really is my last name. I just make the joke. That's not really a joke. It's my real life. I had to just get three fiancees to get this last name. I didn't marry any of them. I just married the last one and   I love dentistry, I love helping practices, our team loves helping offices. We truly are experts at what we do of helping doctors and teams come together to have the best practice, the best opportunities. We fly to your practice or we do it virtually. Both are super incredible. We also have an in-person doctor community that we go to as well, which is really magical. And really our goal is to make sure that you are living your best life, that you are profitable and that your team is thriving. And so really, and we're the experts.   that do this. We have been team members ourselves. Every one of our consultants have been team members. They grow multiple practices, to hundreds and hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars. So we, are experts at doing this and we love to just share resources to help you and your team be absolutely the most incredible that you possibly can be. So with that today, I wanted to just dabble on a choose your own adventure, giving you a short tactical choose your own adventure. So there's a practice. So this is kind of an office autopsy, if you will.   There's a practice and they started out kind of small. So they had a few ops and don't worry for all of you listening, I do smash a few practices together so you'll never know which practice I'm talking about. And I do that intentionally to keep practice confidentiality. So with that, this practice they started out kind of small. They had four operatories and they were in that practice for about five years. The doctor was taking on about 1800 patients solo. That's a lot of patients. And they were just booked out.   Kiera Dent (02:25.72) They worked four days a week and they knew they wanted to expand. So they expanded to 10 operatories and within about two months of expanding, this is not an exaggeration, they had basically outgrown their space. So they had another associate that they hired. They brought in more hygienists. So they had four hygienists and they had an opportunity to add another associate and also another hygienist. And it kind of was coming to a crossroad of what do we do? And so I want to just place this for you in practices and I'm going to bring a bunch of   choose your own adventure because I think a lot of times thinking outside the box really becomes something we don't do. We feel like we're living in a day in and day out. And so this practice made me think of like, let me bring to the table some options that I've seen with other practices for you to not compare, but to create a What do I want my practice to look like? What do I want my life to look like? So step one is that I'm really, really pro whenever we work with an office is A, we've got to know what you want to do. And I usually like to do it in 2-5 years stints.   thinking about your kids, thinking about your age, thinking of who you are, where are you gonna be in the next 2-5 years? So when we look at that, But then I also wanna take it and expand you out to 10 years. Reason being is because decisions you make now actually might impact where you wanna be in 10 years. So for example, with that, if you were choosing your own adventure, let's say in the next 2-5 years, you're like, gosh, I really wanna scale back, I wanna be home with my kiddos, I wanna do some different things, that's really what I'm looking for in the next 2-5 years.   Well then kiddos get older, they're in school or maybe your kids are graduating and you're like, gosh, in like 10 years, I actually want to be building a bigger practice. With that, if we scale down now in the next 2-5 years, your 10 year plan is actually gonna really be a problem because now you're gonna have to build it back up because you scaled it back down. So maybe there's a way that we could get you to scale down now without killing your patient base that's going to help you within the next decade of your life.   So that's where I really love this choose your own adventure. And I get so giddy about this and I love helping doctors dream and I love building out dream boards with our doctors to help them see, all right, where do we wanna be in 2-5 years? But then where do we really wanna be in the next decade of our life and or the legacy of our practice? Because for some, some wanna grow these massive practices. For others, they wanna just have a solo practice. Something I'm really like, this is where I'm gonna get on a rant in a soap box.   Kiera Dent (04:44.738) I get really frustrated with offices that are just growing for the sake of growing. They're looking on social media. feel like social media is such a blessing and a curse because we compare and we're like, gosh, like, what am I doing over here? I'm just schmucking over here and I'm not really building a practice. And my gosh, I only have four ops and they have like 17 ops. And what am I doing over here? And gosh, that one just grew. And this one has like 12 practices and like, I'm just sitting over here in four ops. And I really get annoyed by that because   There's no reason to grow unless that's ultimately going to serve your life. And I really want to hone that in today of is your practice serving your life or are you serving your practice? Because you can have whatever life you want to live. Some people who have 12 practices are like very miserable. Yeah, they look great on paper, but their life is miserable. And I think about that ballerina picture. If you haven't seen it, go do a quick search where a ballerina is on point. So that means they're standing on their tippy toes and they're in a beautiful ballet slipper.   And the picture says like, everybody wants to be a ballerina on point until they see the work that has to happen. And the other foot is like this bloody ripped up, like the toes are gnarly. And you think about like, you can't see that behind the beautiful ballet slipper of this gnarly foot that's been like beaten thrashed and like, just chewed up and spit out on the other side. And I think about that often about these offices, like, we don't see what their life is like, we don't see.   the problems that they're having. And I'm also not here to say that growing is bad either. I'm not here to say that if you're like 12 off, isn't it like, gosh, like my life's terrible and I wish I was a four off practice. I'm tired of the comparison. I'm tired of people just feeling like whatever they're doing is not good enough. And I think that that comes from comparison left and right. And so when we look at this, choose your own adventure, I also think it's choose our own adventure, but let's also choose the life we want to live. Choose the life that's going to make us freaking passionate. Choose the life that's just going to inspire us and do all the things that are.   are going to be great for us and then be able to just flourish from there as well. So when we say that, with this practice, the choice is where do I wanna be in two years? Where do I wanna be in five years? And where do I wanna be in the next decade? And then there's options that we can do. So for example, with a practice, four ops, they have a choice. We can expand, we can maybe go next door, we can maybe find an op within our practice.   Kiera Dent (07:06.574) Um, but what is the reason why for this office, what they were doing is they had so many patients, tons of patients, they couldn't see them all. And so they wanted to expand. So they knocked out the wall. They made it a 10 out practice. They were only going to do eight. And I said, Nope, always go for more ops. You will never be sad about adding more ops in. This doctor was so grateful that they added more ops in, uh, gives more choices, more opportunities, especially when you're growing that way. So now it's a matter of, all right, what do want to do from here? Do we want to keep growing? So that would mean we might expand out, bring on other people.   Could we expand our hours so that we're not having to expand our days? Could we bring on more providers? What are some of the choices that we could do? And I think getting really creative in the space that you've got. So it's not always having to expand out, but could we add an operatory? Could we expand hours? Could we add another provider? Could we, if a doctor wants to pull back and only work two days for right now, but we don't want to drop our patient base, can they work two days and then maybe come in and do hygiene checks on another day to fill a doctor's schedule? I don't know what are the solutions? What are the things that we could do?   are the things that I really love for you to look at. So when we look at that then, the next thing we're gonna ask ourself is, this is why it's important to look at your two year and your five year and your 10 year. Then from there it's, okay, we could keep doing that, we could scale back. Or if we have too many patients, maybe we consider dropping a few insurance plans. But be careful, because if I drop those insurance plans and in a decade I want to grow my practice back up, well, it kind of is like cutting my arm off and then I need to use my arm in the future. So what are some solutions that we could do now?   Maybe with something where we say, is where we wanna be. This is what I want my life to look like for the next 20 years. Awesome. Then we know we can scale back. We can start to be more fee for service. I have a practice in there, six ops. And they're like, here, we're going out of network. And I was like, are you sure? And they're like, we don't freaking care. They have their new patients wait for three months. But guess what? They're busy and they know that they don't wanna expand any bigger. They want six ops. They wanna work four days a week. And they wanna be home with their kids for the next two decades of their life.   They are so clear that now they're making decisions that impact their life rather than dictate their life. And so that's really where it's choose your own adventure. Do you wanna maybe scale back and only work a couple days a week? Do you wanna be working five days a week? Do you wanna have you and one provider? Do you wanna have you and then two other providers so you can scale back and maybe do some other things? Do you want to build a bigger building? I know I've got some practices that are like 17 ops. Gosh, I've got one that I think is pulling in a 50 ops.   Kiera Dent (09:32.12) practice. That's insanity to me. I'm like, you're going to have to be like a hospital with a parking garage. Like that's not even a joke. It's like a 50 bed hospital, but it's a 50 op practice. Those things sound so dreamy, but again, that's fun. And if that's your vision, but this doctor has been practicing for about 20 years, who's building a 50 op location. but looking to see what do we want to do? Also, I like if you're in this practice and we're kind of bursting at the seams, there's a practice that I've got where we expanded them out, similar to the one I was   alluding to at the beginning, they expanded out, they now have, think, 15 operatories, and they're like, we need more space. So they looked around, there's some real estate, and they're like, we're gonna build a surgery and a sleep center across the street, we're gonna keep this as our general. So are there other building locations, and do we wanna do more surgery or more sleep, or I have a practice that does a tongue and lip tie in their location, do we wanna add a dental assisting school, so that way, instead of it just being dentistry, we're also doing dental assisting.   So our building is being double utilized and we're able to have another revenue stream in there. Do we want to bring in other specialties under one roof? These are the conversations that get me so lit up because I feel like there's so many choose your own adventures, but it's really choose your life. So if we choose our life first, then these adventures can really make something exciting for us and make something really fun for us that you can then determine what you want to do, how you want to do it. But I think it's really important of two years, five years, and then 10 years. That way these mash up.   And so you might have opportunities right now and just because you have opportunities does not mean you need to take them. But I'm also very cautious of let's make sure we're not turning down opportunities too early or because we don't feel like we can get creative enough to think outside the box. And that's something I think as consultants, our job is really paramount to help offices do is to really 100 % help you think down the line, two years, five years, 10 years, what's gonna come your way? What do we need to do today to prepare you for?   the future. And I think that's something just really fun and consulting of where is your practice? Where is your life? What do you want to do? And getting into this creative space. And so for you, I'm curious. And if you want to email me, you want to pop on a call with me, I love to choose your own adventure with offices. Like, let's talk about the possibilities. Let's talk about what you're capable of doing. Let's talk about what options are available to you. Let's let's dream. Let's think like, we're maxed space. I love when people give me their problems. So hey, if you've got a big problem, like I had an office and like, Kiera,   Kiera Dent (11:55.734) We cannot see any more patients. I found space for them to add a whole other hygiene operatory in their practice. You might not like it. Like I had a doctor and I found a whole other operatory and she's like, Kirea, but I don't want to like be that cramped. And I said, all right, then that's your choice because there is space for you to add another operatory. So I don't want to hear you can't. I want to hear that you're choosing right now because that's not your priority. So when we have that, that's what I love. Give me your juicy problems. I love to hear them. I love to figure out how we can think outside the box. I love to think of   What things have we not thought of? Like there's a practice and you're like, I can't get new patients in. I was like, all right, let's look. Could we add maybe a couple hygienists starting an hour earlier so when doctor comes in, they can catch all those hygiene exams and we can actually add quite a few more hygiene patients. Could we maybe run an afternoon of assisted hygiene? Could we maybe expand our hours? Could we bring on another provider? Like what are the tools in our toolbox? What are the crayons in our coloring box that we could actually start to use?   to look at our practice in a different lens. And that's honestly, think something beautiful about consulting is I don't live in your house. I don't get to be there just like you don't live in my house. And if you were to look at my house, you'd be like, Kiera, you could move your dishes over here, could put your silverware here and it would actually work a lot better. That's the beauty of not working in your practice with you is we're able to see outside of it and to help you choose your own adventure. So I'm just curious if you were this practice, what would you do? Would you expand your max out? You've already expanded out past your 10 operatories.   Would you expand? Would you drop insurance and stay where you're at? So you're working less but making more. Would you scale back your hours? Would you build a bigger building? Would you build a surgery center and just keep GP there? Would you expand your hours and maximize your space? Would you add a dental assisting school? Would you bring on another provider? So you've got three providers now, so that way you have more flexibility. What would be your dream?   I'd love to hear from you. Email me Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I think it's fun because what's crazy about this is there's no wrong answer to this. I think there can be wrong timing, but I don't think there's a wrong answer. And so really looking at what your life is, two years, five years, 10 years, choose your own adventure. I'm here to help you in any way we can. If this resonates with you, if you're like, gosh, I just need someone who's outside my practice looking in, I'd love to help you reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to hear what you would choose. And I want you to remember that   Kiera Dent (14:16.942) everything within your practice you get to choose. You get to choose your life, you get to choose your practice, you get to choose your team. You get to choose and how blessed are we that we get to have these opportunities? How blessed are we that we get to have these problems? How blessed are we that we get to choose our own opportunities and our own adventures of what we want to do and what we make with our life as our opportunity? And so just challenge you and encourage you and implore you to make sure that you're living your life on purpose, that you are living the dream life that you want.   And as always, I just adore you and I hope you remember that. And I hope you know you're doing better than you think you are. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.