3 Life Lessons Every Dentist Needs to Hear About Resilience – Episode #694

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Logan Ganoe, DDS, MS joins Ryan to talk about his remarkable journey through dentistry and life. From early career decisions and the challenges of dental school to navigating contracts, DSOs, and the path to oral surgery, Logan shares professional experiences that shaped him. He also opens up about the challenges he faced after a cancer diagnosis and obstacles of parenthood. Logan reflects on the power of resilience, the value of financial preparedness, and the importance of  prioritizing family and meaningful experiences over material success. Tune in to hear how Logan’s journey demonstrates how life’s toughest challenges can lead to meaningful growth.

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Podcast Transcript

Ryan Isaac: Welcome to the Dentist Money Show. This is where we help dentists make smart financial decisions. I’m your host, Ryan Isaac, and here with a newish friend, new from the summer of 2025, Dr. Ganoe Logan, what’s up, man? Thanks for being here. Appreciate it.

Logan Ganoe: Hey, thanks for having me. I’m super excited to be here today.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. So, is actually a really timely podcast for a few reasons, in my opinion. I’m going to let you do an intro to yourself and who you are and what is life and work like for you. But I’m just going to give a little bit of an intro here. We met at our 2025 Park City Summit up in Park City. Obviously, we were doing a breakout session one of the days and we just had a chance to sit down and talk about life and practice and, you know, where everything goes and what everyone’s working on. was a small room. was half a dozen people in there in this little, kind of last minute little breakout session we had. And, frankly, we just got to hear a really important story of yours, your life story, your journey so far in dentistry and life. And, when we left there and there was a few of us in the room from our team, we just left thinking like, well, number one, that’s a really cool dude. First of all, that’s a really like just a great dude. but also his story. I think he’s important to share for a few reasons. So I’ve done this job for almost 18 years now only with dentists and, nobody escapes a life where stuff happens. Nobody. Just today I was on the phone with clients in their 90s, approaching their 90s, running out of some of their money and some buckets, facing significant, scary, very sad health challenges. I was on the phone with another client in the mid-career, same thing, mental health challenges with the doctor, struggling to go to work and provide financial challenges, raising adult kids, going to college. All of us just deal with something at some point probably multiple times and so We just kind of wanted to have someone come share their story someone who’s dealt with stuff dealing with stuff and You know, you’re also really cool, dude. So that was my yeah, that was my take that was my experience of being there But let’s you know Logan who’s Logan who are you?

Logan Ganoe: Well, thank you.

Ryan Isaac: How’d you begin in the dental? So let’s just start with your journey into dentistry. And then let’s just kind of jump into some of your story. And my hope here, let me tie this up. The hope is that people will just find something relatable in your story. If this helps one person go, hey, okay, can keep pushing, I can keep doing this, I can keep going, then we’ve done our job. And that’s been helpful to somebody. So. Let’s just give it to you for a second, man. Hot Mike, where did you begin in your dental journey? How’d you get into dentistry? Why did you do this in the first place?

Logan Ganoe: A phenomenal question and something I think every dentist gets asked every day by patients when they’re like, why do want to work in someone’s mouth every single day? Yeah, why would you torture yourself like that? Like I just had a patient yesterday, they just kind of dead face, look me in the eye and say, I could never do this. Like, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. And you’re like, yeah, I know.

Ryan Isaac: Why, why, why’d you do this? Yeah. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Well, I mean, let’s start there, you know. So I absolutely love this show. I’ve been a long time listener. So thrilled to be on. I had a fantastic time at the summit. That was my first time. mean, full disclosure, there’s no endorsement here. They’re not paying me to go to the summit,

Ryan Isaac: Man, thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: But no, it was so cool. I met so many cool people. And I mean, to be honest, I kind of used it a little bit, you know, in my own advantage. was like, I have this story to tell and I just, need people’s thoughts, insights. And so I kind of went there with that mentality, but I came with, that was so much more and ⁓ just a quick story from the summit. So we had a phenomenal speaker and I don’t know how you say her full last name, but it was Dr. Aditi.

Ryan Isaac: Mm.

Logan Ganoe: And she talked about the five resets and gave this phenomenal lecture and just like, you know, world renowned doctor and just amazing person. And at the end she, you know, went off to go sign books and hand them out to everybody, which was such a cool gesture. So I get in line, of course, cause I’m like, yeah, I’m gonna get my copy and meet her. And I’m talking to the people around me in line and stuff. And then all of a sudden it’s my turn and I’m at the front line and right next to her is Rabih

Ryan Isaac: That’s it. Yep. Aditi. Yep.

Logan Ganoe: He’s helping her out like and I’ve never met Rabih before and I’m like a long time Two Cents fan and everything something you’re Rabih like and I I didn’t recognize it until it was over but the whole time I just spent like talking to Rabih and like trying to talk to him like did you guys film a new or record a new session today and he’s like yeah we did and she was asking if they have like a podcast you’ve never heard his podcast I was like all about it so I kind of felt bad that

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, he was he was excited. Yeah. Yeah, Rabih.

Logan Ganoe: I got to the front and like I was more paying attention to Rabih, but yeah, the summit was an awesome time.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, no. Hey, to be fair, everyone’s starstruck by Rabih and rightfully so I am too, actually, when I talk to him. that’s great.

Logan Ganoe: But yeah, so to your question, how did I get into dental? ⁓ was kind of, you know, a long story, but, when I went to undergrad, kind of knew I wanted to do something medical dental and wasn’t really sure. And for a long time, I thought anesthesiology was going to be my path. And so I shadowed a couple of anesthesiologists. was, I started my undergrad at San Diego state and I shadowed anesthesiologist out there in San Diego. And then I’m from Colorado and I shadowed one back home. And independently and separate from me saying anything, they both said a very similar thing, which was if I could do it all over again, I would do dentistry, which kind of struck me. you hear that from two different docs. I was like, and they talked about, you know, work-life balance, how it’s really hard to kill somebody. Not impossible, but really hard to. And yeah, as a dentist. Yeah. Let’s clarify that. Not generally speaking. Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, it’s interesting. Hmm. Let’s clarify, not generally speaking, we’re just saying as a dentist doing your job properly, it’s hard
to kill somebody. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

Logan Ganoe: like, know, malpractice is less stress, you know, in their, in their outside opinion, stress is less and all that stuff. You get to be a practice owner and they saw a lot of benefits in that. Cause I think our colleagues in medicine have seen the consolidation of that. And most of them, you know, are, are W two employees and they wish they owned their practice or had the same thing. my, my mother was a dental hygienist, so I had easy access to that. I went and shadowed a couple of dentists and I was like, okay, this is pretty cool. I think I could do this. You get to work with your hands every day. Seemed pretty, you know, eight to four, dry cut. Most of the docs I was meeting and shadowing, you know, four days a week. I was like, okay, yeah, this sounds right up my alley. so, you know, finished undergrad and I, I actually, when I applied to dental school the first time is very half heartedly. I was kind of in my senior year and, just so many different things going on. And, you know, I was young and stupid and let’s be honest.
I was just like, do I really want to do more school? None of my friends were on that course, you know? And I grew up kind of in that surfer, skater, snowboarder mentality. So, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: I was just remembering, yeah, didn’t we connect on a bunch of surf, skate, punk rock stuff from, yeah, okay, okay.

Logan Ganoe: Exactly, yeah. And so like that, you know, that’s my shameful background. And I just had no friends doing anything of that nature. So it’s like, am I doing? Like, do I want to go to school more? Like everyone else is getting a job working. I was like, the school thing, it’s been a long road. So I think I only applied to like three programs. And one of them like had these extra requirements of like paperwork and essays you had to fill out. I was like, that’s too much. I’m not gonna do it. So I really only applied to two and got one interview at the University of Colorado, which is, you know, where I’m from. And went to the interview and I don’t honestly remember that interview, but must not have been anything too impressive because I didn’t get accepted that year. And I had a cousin that was

Ryan Isaac: Sorry, what year is this? When is this all happening, by the way? I’m just curious.

Logan Ganoe: This is 2010. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: 2010, okay, so just, I’m trying to think of some context. We had started our business two years, that’s in, okay. And we’re in the the, yeah, the housing crisis, the entire economic bubble had just burst, things were still so shaky. Just before we move on, do you remember much of that? Do you remember what it felt like to be graduating in, you know, in your lifetime, my lifetime was the biggest, you know.

Logan Ganoe: Well, that’s when I graduated. Yeah. So I was like 20, like 09 was when I was doing this. Yeah. They’re 0809, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: economic market crisis. Do remember anything about that? Just curious if that struck you as like, what am I doing? And is there going to be an economy and will I have jobs or do remember anything?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. Yeah, no, 100%. So yeah, I was an undergrad during that time. But so like I said, I started my undergraduate degree at San Diego State. And then

Ryan Isaac: Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: At the beginning of my sophomore year, I don’t really remember why, but I always had it in my head that I was going to go to maybe two different schools. So I just kind of applied to a couple of different universities. And as much as I love San Diego State, it was kind of weird being in the California State universities. Like a lot of our professors kind of always talk down about, they’re like, if you want to do medicine or this or that, you got to be in the UC program with the University of California. And

Ryan Isaac: Mm. Hmm. Okay, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: You know, I was young and impressionable and later learned that it doesn’t matter at all. You can go anywhere. Um, but I was like, Oh, maybe I do need to be in there. So like applied to UC Santa Barbara, UCLA applied to the university of Colorado Boulder. Um, you know, was out of state at Santa state and getting help from my, parents. my dad had a, uh, he was an entrepreneur, had his own, uh, mattress business and that went under in the way at Oh nine.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay, alright.

Logan Ganoe: Timeframe. So schooling was going to become on my own. And just randomly through that process of applying actually got a scholarship to CU. So the University of Colorado Boulder. So it wasn’t the only reason, but that was one thing that kind of forced me to go there. And then, you know, fast forward, I move in into the house and there’s two other guys that lived in there with me. And then one guy that we called him a resident because he was always on her couch. But every single one of us had a family member, mainly our dads that

Logan Ganoe: Were laid off, lost their job, business went under. And they were like, and like you would see it on the news and all that. And it’s like, well, this is, this is real life. So we’re, we’re seeing that kind of all happen. Yeah. So, so that’s kind of what I remember and take away from them. And the biggest thing was, you know, during that time too, still seeing some dentists and, you know, business was same as ever. seemed like, you know, like people, people still needed the, you know, their health needs met.

Ryan Isaac: Really? Okay. Close to home stuff. yeah. Man. Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you’re right. obviously is. It’s a career and a, yeah, it’s a career in a business that maintains itself through a lot of world and economic cycles. Interesting that you noticed that early on. Did you have any dental like friends or family? Do you remember your dentist as a kid yourself, or was it just these conversations with a couple of physicians that were like, you should be a dentist.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, no. like I mentioned, and probably just glossed over too quickly, but my mother was a dental hygienist. So I grew up, like, she would have to go set up her operatory before taking us to school. So I would fall asleep in one of the dental chairs, because like we’d have to go in super early so she could set up and be ready for when patients showed up. We would all sleep in dental chairs until she was ready to take us over to school, drop us off and she would go work. And then the receptionist, she would pick us up.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Yeah, maybe we didn’t catch that. ⁓ okay. yeah. Cool. Okay. Got it. Okay.

Logan Ganoe: From school and we’d go back to the dental office until my mom was done and we just hung out in the back office and you know as operations ran like normal and there’s you three kids in the back office.
Ryan Isaac: Okay. So you have fond memories of the sights and smells and sounds of a dental practice. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: The dental office smell, yeah, it’s truly home.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, yeah. Okay, so you get into school. What was that like? You said you were kind of like not really half you were halfheartedly doing not really expecting to do it What was that like when you finally kind of got in and chose the path? Were you in in or were you just like I don’t know. We’ll just see where this thing takes me

Logan Ganoe: Yeah Yeah, so… Well, yeah, so I had some time off in between. So I didn’t get in that that time frame and I went and did a master’s program and excelled in that. And then I went and lived in Central America for a year. There’s a program through USC called Somos Hermanos that took future health professionals down to Guatemala and you worked in health clinics and learn Spanish and that was when I was applying so like I came back and like I had all these crazy stories like I remember my first interview I literally flew from Guatemala and like a night prior was sleeping in a volcano because we like climbed into it and camped and stuff is inactive of course because like the inactive ones have lakes but like I just had so much more to add to my resume and stuff so and I was actually really kind of the fire was relit again like I was ready to go to dental school and I was excited about it

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mmm.

Logan Ganoe: And yeah, so I entered dental school loving it and ready to do it and thought I’d do you know I was kind of always interested in specializing namely oral surgery And spoiler alert, that’s where I ended up at but but after my first year, know We took our boards I passed that and those had just become like pass fail and I’m like I had that kind of same wall that I hit you know my final year of undergrad where I was like Do I really want to do another four to six years of residency? like, I still got three years left of dental school and this is a lot of work and, ⁓ and all that. I kind of talked myself back into doing a general dentistry and then, you know, it’s one of those, I think every profession’s tough, right? Like, how do know you love doing something until you do it day in and day out? And maybe the advantage that other professions have is that you might not commit for ten years of your life’s, know, learning that, yeah, just getting ready for it and racking up debt. Whereas in dentistry, like, you might not find that out till a couple years out and you have a whole bunch of debt and a whole bunch of lost time. But, my fourth year of dental school, I just had that realization that I did not enjoy general dentistry.

Ryan Isaac: Just getting ready for it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. You’re in. Uh huh.

Logan Ganoe: Not talking bad about it by any means. love every general dentist and, I’m so glad that everyone does their part. but it just, I wasn’t, you know, being fulfilled by that. Like I was like, kind of what am I doing? Like, how can I do this the rest of my life? And that’s a hard time to realize that when you’re about to, you know, a couple of months away from finishing and have, I had like about a quarter million dollars of debt when I finished dental school, which is, you know, a lot, but like,

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, yeah, calm down, GPs. yeah, we love you. That’s fine. No, just kidding.

Logan Ganoe: Crazily, that’s on the low end these days. Like, it’s wild.

Ryan Isaac: I was just gonna say, shortly after our business, had started, and I remember some of our first clients having 200 grand in student loans, 180 grand, thinking that’s the most insane amount of student, I can’t even fathom, you have $180,000 or $200,000 of student loan debt. Fast forward to today, five or 600 grand, you don’t even really blink an eye. We meet couples who both went to dental school and there are a million dollars in student loan debt, and it’s like, all right, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. Yeah. And we can do a quick plug. Luckily with you guys, there’s a way out, No, ⁓ but yeah, so, you know, I was trying to decide what to do. And I, like I said, I started school thinking oral surgery.

Ryan Isaac: Seemed like a lot of the time. Higher rates though, but the… There’s a way out. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: I was lucky because I, because I spoke Spanish, I got all the Spanish speaking patients and I was so far ahead in all my requirements that I didn’t really need to be in clinic anymore. So I took a couple of weeks and went down to LSU, New Orleans for an externship and they have a phenomenal oral surgery program. I had a buddy that was actually from my master’s program that was in their oral surgery program. And so I went down there and got to shadow and just do and see so many cool things.

Ryan Isaac: Okay.  Got it. yeah. Tigers.

Logan Ganoe: Kind of again, relit that fire. I’m like, yes. Like, so they had ⁓ a gentleman who had a volts to his ear. meaning like ear ripped off right from a motor vehicle accident. The docs there, and this is way crazier than anything I do these days, but the docs there, you know, phenomenal surgeons, they harvested rib cartilage, shaved it to look like an ear and planted it in his forearm. So that would vascularize and the tissue would grow around it. And once the blood vessels had vascularized to it, they took that with the blood vessels, put it back on his face and then nasty most of the vessels into his neck. So I had blood supply. So looked like he had an ear. And they did that final surgery when I was there and I’m like, and we’re a dentist. I was like, sold. Like you didn’t have to convince me anymore. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: What? You’re like, I’m in this. Okay,

Logan Ganoe: Knew this to say I don’t do those type of surgeries as an oral surgeon, ⁓ but there are oral, there are, yeah, there’s OMS out there that do those crazy surgeons. They’re all microvascular fellowship trained. And then I can’t tell you what the outcome was long-term, but I saw that and I was like, yes, okay, this is, I’m not doing dentistry anymore. So I was like, do this. And, know, like, again, full disclosure, most of my days these days are dental alveolar surgery and I love it, but

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, rib to ear, rib to wrist to ear, yeah. Yeah. Wow. You knew it was for you.

Logan Ganoe: It was just something that I think I needed to relight that candle. And so ⁓ it was too late to apply to oral surgery residency though, because they go through the match that happens in like January. This was like March, April. And so I’m like, well.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, that’s cool, man. okay.

Logan Ganoe: What am I going to do is like, do I just go work as a, know, GP for a year and then, you know, apply or, I, I talked to the oral surgery head at my school and he’s like, Hey, if you want to be taken seriously, you need to do what’s called a non-categorical year. And essentially it’s a intern year that doesn’t count for anything, but the oral surgery programs, they’re so busy. They need all hands on deck. Right? So a lot of them have spots where they can hire interns, but you’re not actually in the program. So you don’t advance through it. You just do a year.

And during that year, a lot of people apply and you can get into that program that you’re at somewhere else, who knows, but you’re getting exposure to all that stuff. And he’s like, Hey, this is going to, what’s going to show everyone. You’re the most serious because you’re putting in the time you’re learning it. It’s a very intense, you know, labor intense time intense year, but everyone’s going to know you’re serious. If you do it. Well, even those spots were pretty much filled up because again, I was pretty late to it and everyone that did not match chose to already apply to those.
So I was looking and I found a GPR spot that was, which is, general practice residency in Hawaii. And I was like, perfect. So I’ll go surf for a year and this will be great. Um, and so I applied to that. I got offered the position. And then a couple of weeks later actually got, I found out that you pen in Philadelphia had a non-categorical spot open up because someone dropped out.
So my buddy was like, you got to do that. And so I applied to it and it went out there and interview and got accepted. So now I had to make this decision. What do I do? And I just, I just remember like, you know, one, the, the doc that was kind of my mentor telling me what to do. He really put that emphasis on the non-cat year, but the GPR had a requirement for that year. had to make two dentures.

Which is such a low threshold for anything. And so you, you might not respect this, but I’m sure the audience is rolling their eyes right now. I hate removal process so much. I could not fathom making two dentures. And I was like, I could go live this Kush life in Hawaii. I don’t want to call it Kush. You know, GPRs are very labor intensive all this, but like in my mind, I could go surf every day in Hawaii, probably work less hours. I knew it was better pegs. I saw the pay at both and have all those things, or I could go be, you know, indentured servant to the hospital for a year. And I chose that because I just knew it was, was what’s right, but I didn’t want to make dentures. And so I applied during that time and got accepted to Thomas Jefferson, which is another university in Philadelphia. And I did my residency there. Very grateful for all the attendings and docs there and saw a lot of cool surgeries, was a part of a lot of cool surgeries. And yeah, that’s how I kind of came to became an oral surgeon.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. Wow. Cool. Wow. So when you get through this program and you’re graduating, you’re getting into your field, can you recall what it felt like thinking ahead to your career at the beginning right there? how did you envision what would happen from that point? What did you think was gonna go on after that? Where would you go from there?

Logan Ganoe: You’re saying when I got into residency?

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, uh-huh, and you’re kind of thinking about like, all right, after this, you know, my career is going to be dot, dot, dot. You know, what did you think about that at the time?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, so man, it’s, it’s, guess, a little depressing. Because again, I did a non cat year. So I did a whole year of just being the intern, which is the worst job in the hospital. Like, any, any medical professional listening, they hear the word intern, that’s the job nobody wants. ⁓ And so

Ryan Isaac: Mm-hmm. Okay, yeah. Mm.

Logan Ganoe: I was just, you’re just kind of, it’s different, right? Like dental school, like you’re talked up and yeah, you’re to have this great career. You’re to be in like in residency. You’re just a little bit kind of humbled, right? Like their whole job is to beat you down to make you realize you don’t know anything and you’re worthless, you know, until you learn it all. And so I was actually kind of struggling. Like I got in and I was like thinking, I’m like, is this the right decision? Like. I mean, I’ve, I’ve matched in this most competitive specialty and like, know, so many people would love to be here, but like, I doing the right thing? And, ⁓ I mean, that’s a whole nother, ⁓ podcast right there, but you know, chasing achievement versus chasing success. Right. And I think a lot of times we, the world that we live in. You know, right or wrong kind of pushes these things. And like, you’re like, okay, go, this is what success is. But really they’re just talking about achievement, right? They’re talking about titles, a dollar amount, a boat in your, yeah, all this stuff. And, and yeah, and all those things are fine and great, but, success is not limited, right? Anyone can be successful what, no matter how much money’s in your bank account, no matter what your job title is, what you do. success is a very like,

Ryan Isaac:
Yeah. huh. Yep. Milestones. Yeah. Quantifiable things. Totally. They have their place.

Logan Ganoe: Internal thing, I feel like, and there’s plenty of it, right? It’s not limited, right? Like the number of boats on this planet, that is a limited number of things. There are only so many people that can own a boat, but success, everybody can have success. And so it’s, it’s just one of those things that’s, feel like different. And I was having that internal struggle, but, ⁓ I guess I just knew, cause just from what you’re told and heard, you’re just like, okay, you’re just going to get to that end of the tunnel and everything’s going to be okay. Like you’re going to start making lots of money. And oral surgeons have boats and big houses you know, I remember, so my mom again was a dental hygienist and their office always got invited to like a office party with the oral surgery group every year. And they would throw this big extravagant event. And it was, it was obvious that they were doing well. Right. And so, I don’t know, I just kind of would think, okay, you know, there’s, there’s a silver lining here. You just gotta hang on and just wait and you’ll get there.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, yeah. Did you have an idea where you would want to go establish a career and start practicing or how did you like, what was the transition from this residency to actually getting into things?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, so I knew I wanted to go back west. Like I grew up on, you know, kind of Mountain West, Pacific Ocean, all that. so I knew I wanted to go back west. And I really liked the small town feel. And one of the things like, you know, having lived in Guatemala and served the community down there, you know, Part of that, I initially left the country saying, Hey, oh, whenever I get into dental school or whenever, like, I’m always going to go back abroad and do these mission trips and stuff like that. And those things are really great. And I’m glad people do them and they’re important. But I think I also came to kind of a realization that there’s a lot of places in the, in the U S that don’t have great access to care. Yeah. And, um, and I was like, you know, there there’s something to be, to be set for that. Cause there’s plenty of great people here that just, they have to drive two hours or four hours to go see a doctor.

Ryan Isaac: Right here in your backyard. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: And even then maybe that doctor doesn’t do full scope or offer these things. And so I was kind of really intrigued into that. And, know, I love the mountains and love nature and being outside. So I love Colorado, but it just become a little too popular. Like I grew up in the Denver metro area. And anytime I had to go back is just, you’re sitting in traffic on I-25 and took forever to get in. Yeah. And it’s beautiful. And for good reason, that’s why it’s so busy.

Ryan Isaac: Place is sprawling. Totally. Yep.

Logan Ganoe: But I was like, I just don’t know that I go back there. So I started looking all over and I ended up finding a practice in Montana that was looking for an associate. And it just spoke to me. I’ll be honest, the contract wasn’t anything impressive. It wasn’t the highest paying contract. It wasn’t the biggest percentage of collections. It didn’t have all the bells and whistles that some other contracts I’d seen offered. All my co-residents, were… Staying East coast and there’s a lot of different things that are being offered and stuff like that. But I just, I just kind of knew I was like, yeah, I think this is, this is where I need to be. And I remember when I, uh, told my, was my girlfriend at the time and, I remember saying, Hey, like, this is where I want to move to. And I wanted to go with me and her response was, isn’t Montana a flyover state? I was like, exactly. I was like, that’s why I want to go there. Yeah. Like, cause nobody else wants to, yeah. And this was, this was a.

Ryan Isaac: Hmm. She’s like Montana. Yeah, huh? Yeah ⁓

Logan Ganoe: Well, I don’t know, this was like 2020. So like, think it was pre, I don’t know if it was Yellowstone yet. Was Yellowstone out yet? I can’t, I watched it late. So don’t know if Montana had caught all the fad that it does now these days. Yeah. So, yeah, so I found a practice there and I was really pumped and excited about it. And that kind of gets into the next part of our story. So, you know, I,
Ryan Isaac: Mmm. Uhhhh maybe not. I did too. Yeah. Wasn’t cool yet. Yeah, real fast before you make that transition, that next part of your story. Looking back now, you have any advice? If someone’s in that position right now, coming out of a residency, looking for their first job, any advice on what you would give someone in your position back then on how to choose where to go? Like you said, it’s a place maybe not a lot of people wanted to go. It wasn’t the most special, unique contract. It wasn’t the biggest offer.
Any advice you would give to someone making that call, because there’s so many factors, it’s very nuanced decision.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, well, yeah, a couple of things like, man, it’s just I know it sounds so cliche, but like follow your gut and your heart because, you know, you’ll see as this story unfolds. I’ve never regretted that decision, right? And I’m sure people could pick apart that story and find reasons to regret it. ⁓ But I would say because I it’s just what felt right to me. I don’t regret it by any means.

Logan Ganoe: And then I guess another, mean, you know, for any, you know, somebody finished dental school or residency, I know there’s a lot of resources out there. Actually, I just. You you guys just had a podcast with, think it was Dr. Tony Schistanz and he’s, ⁓ yeah, the, educated associate. And it sounds like he’s doing some real cool stuff, kind of helping, you know, young docs kind of realize all their options. And, know, you, do have, you do have value coming out, even though you, know, you’ve only learned the basics. but, you know, make sure that you guys are, ⁓ you know, putting in the due diligence and kind of looking through those things, but.

Ryan Isaac: Huh? Yeah, chick tans, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Logan Ganoe: I would say at end of the day, it’s got to feel right in your gut. Like if something just isn’t sitting right, like, I know, I would question that big time.

Ryan Isaac: To your gut, yeah. Cool. Yeah, I like that. Yeah, maybe the biggest offer doesn’t feel the best or the shiniest place doesn’t feel the best. Yeah, I like that. Kind of check your gut with that.

Logan Ganoe: Well, I mean, I hope part of the story that we’re about to tell kind of alludes to all this, but. You know, I think money is a great tool that can bring you lots of happiness, but it’s not the only thing. And I think when you sit there and you argue over percentage points and you’re like in the long term, what does that, does that mean? Does that move the needle? You know, like, am I going to not take this opportunity? we’re, arguing between 32 % and 33 % collections. Like, does that move the needle enough for you to be truly happy and at a place where maybe you’re going to fit really well and mesh with the staff? Well, and you love the area. Like,

Logan Ganoe: So I wouldn’t let the number be the end all, if that makes sense.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, good call. Yeah, I’m from a career standpoint, I’m a big believer in geography and location. I mean, I think when you’re younger in a career, a lot of us, just, you go where the job is and you do what you have to do to get started. But over time, I do think the places we live in, they make a big difference in our overall wellbeing and how satisfied we are with everything. Like you said, money’s not all of it. That’s good.
Okay, I know, yeah, now this is where the story starts getting as if, you know, sleeping in a volcano the night before. It wasn’t interesting enough or unique enough. Yeah, where does it, where does it turn from from here?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, so yes, I took the job in Montana and convinced my girlfriend at the time to move out with me. And this is, you know, the summer of 2021. So I had finished residency during the COVID era and ⁓ was just so was so thrilled to get there. And man, I just remember like we flew out there and like we had like

Ryan Isaac: Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: We took like two weeks off from ending residency and starting the job and we got to take this cool trip to Hawaii. And like we first get to Montana just to drop off all our stuff. It’s blue skies, beautiful. everything I thought it would be. We go to Hawaii for like a week and just get to see that. And it was just like the most amazing time. And I’m like, okay, we finally made it. I just felt like the, way to the world had been lifted off my, my shoulders, you know, all that, everything I had planned for and worked for.
This was when I started to get to, you know, reap the rewards. And finally, yeah, it like, it’s, you know, easy sailing, smooth sailing from here. Nothing can stop us now. Right. Yeah. So I was 33. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, you’re like, finally, finally. Yeah. Yeah, wait, what age were you at this point? Do remember? Like what age is this? Okay, yeah, you’re like at 33 and past all the hard stuff. Nothing but yeah, it’s all downhill. Yeah, it’s all coasting from here. It’s chill. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, it’s like, yeah, it’s easy now. And yeah, so we started work in Montana in July of 2021. And I don’t remember exactly the third or fourth week I was there. I just remember one of the partner docs stepped into my office. There’s two other docs in the office there and sits down and I think, oh, he’s just going to like check in because he asked like, how are things going and all that. And, you know, once we get kind of through the small talk, he tells me that they got an offer from a private equity group and that nothing was signed yet, but they were pretty certain they wanted to move forward and see. And he was kind of just kind of seeing how I felt. And I think looking back, he probably wanted to know, like, am I going to jump ship? Because that’s probably going to hurt the deal. But I wasn’t really that smart to think that far ahead. I like, I thought he was.

Ryan Isaac: To hold it over him is leverage, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, like I thought he was just really kind of just kind of asking like, you know, what my thoughts were and stuff. mean, and internally I was screaming no. I guess, actually, I’ll say like I’m anti DSO. ⁓ You know, hot take. I’m sure there’s some people that won’t like that answer. Yeah, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Sure, yeah, it’s okay. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t think it’s that hot anymore, but yeah, it can be.

Logan Ganoe: It’s just I did not want that happen. I entered the field for private practice. I believe that private practitioners can do it better with more patient centric, patient focused, deliver better care, cheaper care. I think all those things in the long run are true. But for some reason, I didn’t want to I didn’t say that like I just I was kind of quiet as your typical associate, which is

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. Agree. Yeah. Especially over time. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Like again, like that’s why I said, like if you’re going through those contracts, you got to kind of speak up for yourself. But I was like, well, if that’s what you guys feel is best. And, know, at the end of the day, like I don’t fault them. That’s their decision. They’ve created this, you know, awesome company. And if, if they want to monetize it and that’s what makes sense to them, like there’s no fault there for sure. but I was, I was just really hoping in my head, like, it would fall through. like the second I got home that night, like I was pulling up my contract again, looking at my non-compete and seeing like, does this, like what, what violates this contract and all this? Like, I do, but I was, I’d been in Montana like, you know, three, four weeks. Like, was I going to go really just do a scratch startup by myself? Like barely knowing how to be in private practice, not having anybody’s backing and in a town that I didn’t know that we would love, you know, like we had been there a month. ⁓

Logan Ganoe: And so there was all these kind of questions about like what to do and where we go. And it was, there’s a lot of turmoil for a while. And I started kind of interviewing again, looking at other places, but you know, Montana still felt really special to us. Like we really loved where we were. We loved our lifestyle. and what I ended up doing was eventually just kind of negotiating a contract with the DSO and, you know, my, my thought process kind of turned to, well, the grass isn’t always greener. Right. And so was like, maybe, maybe I should just stick on and see. And in my mind, I was like, I’m going to negotiate, something that has no non-compete. So that way, if I ever don’t like it, I can just bounce. And the negotiation, process was a nightmare. ⁓ it was just, it was very tough with this DSO, really hard to get in contact. Kind of the CEO at the time was handling everything cause it was kind of still in its infancy and he was just overstretched. Like I get that. Like he didn’t have enough time to worry about an associate contract, but I think that burned them in the long run. Cause if you don’t care about your doctors, like that shows. then that I think trickles down.

Logan Ganoe: And I was like, I’m just not going to give up until they say no non-compete because I hold all the cards here, right? If I leave. eventually what had happened was like, we got to the language and like, we kept changing it. It’s very clear. Like they were telling me there’s no way they can do no non-compete. So it’s going to have to be something. And like we were negotiating back and forth. And then eventually in the contract, they one time forgot to write the, the, distance. So instead of saying like, you have to, you can’t practice within a seven mile radius. Right. I just said, you can’t practice within a two of the building. then like, that’s all it said. And in, in where I trained in Philadelphia in the city, it’s very, very common to have a blocks, right? Like you don’t do miles. say, Hey, you can’t practice within eight city blocks, right. That radius. And.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, uh-huh.

Logan Ganoe: You know, I’m not a lawyer, but my understanding of the law is ambiguity and a contract goes to the person that didn’t write it being myself. So I was like, Hey, this is my outright here. I was like, they didn’t put it in there. So I was like, I thought it meant two blocks, you know, I’m golden. So I signed that contract right away. Yeah, which was maybe not the smartest thing, but stayed on for a little bit. And yeah, let’s see, where do we want to take the story next? So stayed there for quite a while, I was in Montana for a total of three years. But in 2023, January, I was diagnosed on my wife’s birthday with testicular cancer.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Okay, pause. What month of beginning of 23? January 3rd, 2023.

Logan Ganoe: January 3rd, 2023. Yeah, I mean, we can make it even spicier. So a week earlier, finally, ironically, got the balls to propose to my wife. Can I say that on this? I don’t know. Yeah. So.

Ryan Isaac: Hell yeah, we can. Let’s go. We’re leaving it in there. Wait,
just a week. Okay. So let me actually back up a little bit. You ended up being an associate in this situation. They sold, I take it. They ended up selling, transitioned to the new owner. I think it’s just in it. We don’t have to dwell there stay there, but that’s an important thing of your story, I think, because huge scenario. And it’s happening all over the country. And the associates who are in practices thinking they might take over for the owners one day are…

Logan Ganoe: They ended up selling it.

Ryan Isaac: Becoming associates for corporate owned dental practices, which is probably not in the plan. So we don’t have to stay there, but that unimportant note, I think to just say, you know, you made it a few more years. You got, you got some experience. think you’d probably just say you got some experience. You speak fondly of it, of your time there. It was what it was, and it got you to where you were going. So you’re in, you’re still, you’re three years in. Are you ending your work contract at that time? Or were you like on a year to year kind of thing?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, I was on a year to year contract that just kind of renewed annually every year. And I think I had to give 90 days notice was what the contract held in it. So I could quit any time with 90 days notice. If I didn’t give 90 days notice, then there was like, I was getting obviously like a production bonus, right? So that, that wouldn’t be paid out for that time. And there might’ve been some other penalty and all that.

Ryan Isaac: When this is happening. Okay. Okay. Okay, that wouldn’t be there. What were you thinking was the next move before we get back to the spoiler alert, where life really turned? What were you thinking was going to be the next career move from there?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. Yeah. So mean, like I said, so I had negotiated my contract to where in my mind, so in Montana, non-competes I’m told aren’t enforceable. It’s not like California where you, it’s illegal. You can’t put them in a contract. You can put them in there, but they’re not enforceable. That’s one. Two, my, my non-compete had ambiguity in it. So I was like, that’s two. So I like, this is an easy, no brainer. When I’m ready, I’m just going to peel off and start my own practice in Montana, whereas practicing. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you can’t enforce them. Mm-hmm, okay, so that was the plan and end of 2022 December of 2022 you propose I assume she said yes December 20 as she says yes January 3rd her birthday you guys are in your early 30s same age that both of you

Logan Ganoe: December 26th, she said yes. She’s luckily a lot younger than me. Yeah. If she was still in her twenties. Yeah. She’s eight years younger than me.

Ryan Isaac: Okay, so she’s in her 20s, you’re in your early 30s, and you find out you have cancer.

Logan Ganoe: I find out I have cancer.

Ryan Isaac: How did you find that out? How was the news delivered?

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. So it was kind of a crazy week. So I was on call from Christmas to New Year’s and I was just getting crushed. Like Billy, where I was in Montana has two level one trauma centers and there was just a lot of trauma coming in. And I remember I was just operating all night, one night, ⁓ on two, two separate patients. But then I just started having like pain in my groin area and I

Ryan Isaac: Okay. huh.

Logan Ganoe: Convinced myself, I was just like, must’ve been leaning on the table somehow. Like one of the patients was a little bit bigger. Yeah. I’m like, I’m just positioning myself weird. And, any male nose, can sometimes, you know, kick yourself there. And so you’re like, okay. Yeah. And I’m like, I must’ve just like been leaning wrong and yeah, whatever.

Ryan Isaac: Sure, yeah, long surgeries, long days, yeah. It can hurt. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Well, you know, 24 hours goes by that hasn’t really resolved 48 hours goes by hasn’t resolved. Now we’re at like day three, day four. And I’m like, this is weird. Like, why do I have pain, which is actually a blessing because most of the time testicular cancers are not painful. Um, yeah. So that’s not a common symptom.

Ryan Isaac: Really? Ooh.

Logan Ganoe: And even like when I went in with that to see the urology team, they’re like, don’t worry. It’s not cancer. You cancers aren’t painful. Like this is probably, you know, it’s something different. Like, that’s like, that’s what they said before we got the ultrasound. they got the ultrasound. I did something you’re not supposed to, but then I went into the hospital and checked my own chart. Saw that it said concern for malignancy. My great,

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Testicular cancer when they see a mass on the testicles ⁓ because it’s so predictable and where it goes to next they don’t do biopsies because if you do a biopsy then it can spread in an unpredictable fashion so it’s pretty much just assumed cancer until they get the the results which is they do an orchiectomy they remove one of your boys and they send it to the pathologist and ⁓ sure enough it came back as result salt

Ryan Isaac: Wow, okay. Okay. ⁓ Whoa. And this is all happening in January 23. This is all happening within that month.

Logan Ganoe: All happening in January that month. I remember, yeah, when my wife still asks, cause when we were going, when I was in pre-op sitting there and they’ve started the IV and I’m getting ready to go back to, you know, the surgeon comes and talks to me and he’s asking about how much time it took off. And I was like, well, so far I have this, this week off, I’m going to work Friday. This was like on a Monday, had surgery on a Monday. He’s like, you might want like three to four weeks off and that had taken, you know, four days.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: But yeah, I had the surgery, luckily the surgery was uneventful. ⁓ everything went well, but the pathology did come back as a cancer. luckily it was one of the non-aggressive types, with a pure semenoma, ⁓ for our listeners, they probably know that name. so that was, that was fortunate. But, ⁓ you know, going through all that, I never really worried about dying because I’ve been through enough schooling that I know the different types of cancers and not that anybody wants any type of cancer, but as a male, probably testicular cancer is probably one of the best ones to get. know that sounds weird to say, but like, it just has such a high survival rate, right? ⁓ like you don’t want to get any cancer. Let’s just leave it there, but it has the best survival rate. I was like, okay, like I’m going to beat this thing. Everybody beats this thing.
But what really worried me is like, put so much of my life off, you know, like, and I had done that unconsciously the entire time, but so what, what I mean by that is, you know, I, I, it made me reflect and I kind of looked back and you know, what’s, like I said, I wasn’t worried about dying, but I was like, what am I worried about? Like, what would make this the worst thing ever? And to me that was what if I can’t become a father?

Ryan Isaac: What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? So, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Sorry, I a little emotional talking about it. But yeah, had to think about it. And that, I guess, doesn’t always require this path. But to me, becoming a father means, meaning being married to the one that you love, right? And I had realized I’d put all those things off, because I was pursuing a career. And I was like, I can’t get married until I’m financially stable.

Ryan Isaac: It’s okay, yeah, you should. Hmm. Hmm.

Logan Ganoe: And, you know, I was like, as you go from, you know, you’re not you’re not rich as undergrad. I wasn’t rich in grad school. I wasn’t rich when I was a surf bum in Central America. I wasn’t rich when I was in dental school. I wasn’t rich as a resident and and not even rich, but like, you know, negative net worth, you know, scraping paycheck to paycheck. And you didn’t walk by a dime on the street. You saw that you picked it up. And. So I’d put so many things off because I was like, just wasn’t there in my life yet to be ready for that. And as a big realization, like, what if you don’t get to that point? Like, no, like, and you kind of realize like who, who promised you tomorrow? And the answer is no one. And that was, that was tough. And I was like, I really want to be a dad.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: And I was like, but I had to get all this stuff ready to be, know, and we weren’t even married yet, right? We had been engaged a week and I’m like, we’re not married yet. everyone says, be married for a couple of years, enjoy that before having kids. I was like, and I had the talk with my wife and you know, luckily that she’s, she’s my rock. She’s awesome. understands me. And like, we were just up the same, you know, feather and like, she just understood. She’s like, yeah, no, like we want to be parents.

Ryan Isaac: Mm. Mm-hmm.

Logan Ganoe: And she had been on an oral contraceptive since she was 13, right? And she was still on one. And we’re like, well, we’re not going to get pregnant with that. So let’s stop that right away. And let’s try to go towards this journey of starting a family, because that’s what I would regret most. If I leave this world early, I would regret never having been a dad.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Wow.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. And so we, so we started that journey and that the, I’m sure you’re going to have many listeners because I’ve just, the more I’ve told the story and I’ve listened to other people that have had the same issues, fertility is not something to be taken for granted. You know, ⁓ I’ve met so many people that have been on long two, three, five year struggles to have kids and

Ryan Isaac: Yep. Yeah. Right. Yep.

Logan Ganoe: So my wife, she got off her birth control and we were just like, okay, we’ll just wait for kind of your cycle to get regular and, you know, do it all natural. I at this time I was in the point of cancer where you have to go back every couple of months for a scan and repeat and they’re just making sure there’s no recurrence and all that stuff. And it was every four months and you have to drink this really nasty like chalky contrast dye and they don’t do that anymore luckily but I was drinking that stuff and getting the scans and

Ryan Isaac: Okay. And real fast, you’re still an associate. You still haven’t left. You’re still, yeah, okay. Still Montana.

Logan Ganoe: Still an associate, still in Montana because yeah, because now we’re like, let’s kind of go down this. I had decent health insurance through the DSO. I guess maybe that’s a good thing. ⁓ I was very lucky and we’ll talk about this I think at the end, because of my financial.
Attitudes and being respectful to money early on in my career like it wasn’t Crippling us so we were very fortunate for that. So we’re like, let’s stay here. Let’s kind of let’s see what happens And let’s try to start a family well Let’s kind of go to this point next that the DSO every month we would get a report that lagged maybe by two months or just a month, can’t remember of our metrics, right? They called them KPIs and all this stuff. And if your numbers were green, that was a good thing. If your numbers were red, that was a bad thing. ⁓ you know, cause doctors aren’t smart, so we need the colors to tell us. And yeah, sorry. I, I, you can tell I’m not a DSO fan. ⁓ So yeah. And.

Ryan Isaac: Mm-hmm. Okay. That’ll never leave you, you’re like you guys. huh, thank you for the color.

Logan Ganoe: And so it just happened to be, I think it was like March and we’re talking about my January numbers or maybe it my February numbers because I had surgery at the end of January. And I did, I went back. They knew everything going on and I went back to work after three days. I took three days off, but I couldn’t do a full schedule because like, I mean, if you can imagine what it’s like to get hit there, imagine having one removed like.

Ryan Isaac: And were they aware of all this? They knew, they knew they were.

Logan Ganoe: I did not feel great most days. Standing was not fun. Trying to walk or run obviously was out of the question. It was kind of a slow kind of shuffle. So I wasn’t seeing a very busy schedule, but I still seeing patients because I wasn’t going to just sit at home and feel sorry for myself. So I went back to work and all that. And I remember they’re talking about the numbers and I was in the red across the board. And they made a comment about it. And then they said, but we know why.
I was like, do you though? was like, cause do we have to have this conversation? Cause I was never a fan of these metrics anyways, because everything was like, how many patients are you like, what’s the average number of patients you’re seeing in a day? What’s the cost per like, how much money is each patient bringing in and all these things and things that are probably very great when you want to run a very sound business. And I understand that. And we do run a business, but I think more importantly, we treat patients.
And it just felt like we were looking at dollar signs instead of individuals. And I hated that. And so I hated these conversations because we were still out producing ourselves from the previous year. So we weren’t meeting the DSOs goals in every metric, but we were growing pretty substantially. I think we, you know, we like 5 % growth, which is huge, you know, but it wasn’t, it didn’t meet all their categories. And so that was kind of just the icing on the cake when.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. You’re still growing. Yeah. Yeah. huh. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: You know, when we pointed out that my numbers were low, but it’s okay, because we know why I was like, no, like, I just, at that point, it was just clear to me as like, I got to get out of this system. I can’t have a career in this. So it was, that was kind of a big eye opener and you know, we’re like, so we’re trying to start a family. We’re going through all that.

And that, know, another time just, thank God for my wife, you know, like she is my rock and all this and talking to her, like, what are we going to do? Where are we going to go? Like, do I want to do a scratch startup? Like that’s so labor intensive, time consuming. think it could be successful here. And I was like, I think that’s what I want to do. Cause I don’t want to leave this, this town. loved Montana and then started kind of exploring the implications of that. And as it turns out.
Yes, all my assumptions of my non-compete were right. They are non-enforceable in Montana. The ambiguity in my contract would favor me, but all those things only work in the court of law once you have a judge. The litigation to get there, when this was what I did not think about, can be very time consuming, can go on two, three years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And essentially,

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Wow. Okay. And so expensive. Yeah. ⁓ huh. Yep.
Logan Ganoe: As I kind of took, ⁓ legal advice, just know that if they want to, and they come after you, that you’re looking at easily 200, $300,000 over two to three years. And some of that could potentially limit what the bank’s going to do for you. and look at you differently and could also potentially until you get a ruling can affect on like where you’re able to open doors and all of these things. And.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, they could tie you up in courts and yeah. Mm-hmm.

Logan Ganoe: Uh, was like, well, that’s a nightmare. you know, even though I felt comfortable that we could, we could win that battle. It’s like, do we want to take on that battle? And my non-compete was only a year. So it’s like, well, why don’t we look elsewhere? I was like, we can go somewhere else, live it out and come back and then just, and do, you know, start our own practice, make it what we want and, I have to worry about it.

Ryan Isaac: Mm-hmm.

Logan Ganoe: So we started looking elsewhere and ended up taking an opportunity down in Arizona.

Ryan Isaac: Okay.

Logan Ganoe: Great, great doc here and everything just kind of felt right. And it kind of opened a lot of doors because he’s someone that was looking for not just an associate, but a true partner wants someone to come on and help be a partner in his practice. So it’s like, Hey, if we love it, we don’t have to leave. And, he knows my story and like, are you going to sell to DSO?
And he’s like, no, I was like, can I have that in the contract? And essentially what we got in the contract was that like, if he sells it to DSO, it’s null and void, like my non compete and everything’s voided. So like, he wouldn’t say that he won it, which is smart, like no one should say they won’t, you never know. And I get that.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, okay. What does it say? Okay, cool. yeah, don’t kneecap me and my career and my town after making a move and changing my life around. Yeah, uh-huh.

Logan Ganoe: Exactly so, so yeah, so, you know, we’re, and at this point we’d been trying for about a year to have a, have a child and had no success. And, um, that I’ve learned isn’t that long. Like I’ve met people with such longer journeys, but I was like, Hey, like that’s kind of the criteria when they will start helping you. was like, let’s go see a fertility specialist, try to get these things and my wife was diagnosed with a PCOS, during that and like, cause she just had the most irregular cycle.

So no baby yet. And, uh, we, signed with the practice in Arizona and, we’re getting ready to leave. And this is July of 2024. Yeah. July, 2024. I’m supposed to have my, um, four month scan in August.

Ryan Isaac: I was just going to ask how long that time period was. Okay.

Logan Ganoe: And I’m like, well, I’m moving. I called the oncologist, you know, luckily like another doc, like he’s like, I was like, Hey, can you do me a solid? we do it two weeks earlier just to get the scan? That way I have a couple of months to find an oncologist where I moved to. And I was like, yeah, of course, whatever. so we get the scan and all that, 24 hours before leaving, I’m told that I might have a metastasis that my cancer has recurred and it looks suspicious in my lymph nodes and the retro peritoneum.
Like right before you move, start a new career. So that was tough. But you know, again, as I say, it wasn’t the first time life kicked me in the balls. So I moved on and, so I got a joke about it because I do get emotional talking about it and, I was like, well, there’s no guarantee that I talked to the oncologist and he was a great oncologist. I think he’s now retired, but he was practicing in the town of Montana as then. And he’s like, hey, you know, this is still very treatable, still very curable. We repeat the scan in two months, make sure that it’s definitively a metastasis, that it’s not just some rogue lymph node. ⁓ And then we go from there. And I’m like, okay, well, maybe it’s just a rogue lymph node. Like I’ve had weird things all the time,
So we moved to Arizona. Start practice there. You know, I told the doc right away, like as we were driving, as we were literally driving the U-Haul from Montana to Arizona and told the doc that I was going to work for like, just FYI, like I got this news. I don’t know what it means, but I just want to be upfront and clear with you so that you know. And he was, you know, super receptive and, you know, encouraging and super great, like, help, you know, like, obviously there’s, as you know, there’s things that you have to do so it’s fair for all employees, right? With like health insurance and all that, but like, he’s like, Hey, we can, know, within what we can do legally, we’ll help get you on the insurance as quick as possible and all that. And so there was a little bit that was kind of, you know, another eye opener that as I moved, you know, I lost my health insurance at the end of the month from the DSO. And then I didn’t have health insurance with the new place. Again, very, very, very fortunate that I had money saved up.

Ryan Isaac: Totally. Yep. Yeah.

Logan Ganoe: So I could pay cash for something. I wasn’t going to sit on that. yeah, so was trying to establish care and all this stuff. And I started seeing a group in the town that I’m in. And we were getting everything kind of worked up.

Ryan Isaac: Mm-hmm. Gosh, in the middle of treatment.

Logan Ganoe: By the time and they wanted a PET scan and all this with another CT scan. And there was kind of all these like moving parts and we’re trying to get it set up and I got the CT scan, but we were still waiting on the PET scan. And then finally I got active for insurance. So now we’re in like September of 2024 and, my insurance wasn’t taken by that, that group.
And I’m like, well, that’s great. And like just an oversight that I didn’t think about right away. you know, but I was very fortunate that, I’m close to Phoenix and the Mayo clinic takes my insurance. Yeah. Yeah. They have a lot of great, they have banner cancer and Andy Anderson and, and, and the Mayo clinic. they got a lot of great, cancer centers there. And I was like, well,

Ryan Isaac: No way. I was just gonna say, isn’t Phoenix famous for cancer care and research and yeah, okay. And Scottsdale, the Mayo, yeah. Mayo.

Logan Ganoe: I was like, to me is like the world was speaking to me. was like, I’m supposed to be there. So I established care at the Mayo clinic. And again, you know, no, not being paid by them, but the most phenomenal care I’ve ever had anywhere. And like, it made me reflect internally on how I am as a doctor. Cause it’s like, from the person that greets you at the door to the person sweeping the floor to the barista making coffees in the coffee shop to the doctors, to the nurses, to the reception, like everyone, the schedulers, they’re phenomenal. Like so praise to them.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. Mmm… Mm-hmm.

Logan Ganoe: Because they what they’re doing they’re doing it right so good on them but got established there got some repeat scans and so September yeah and found out that unfortunately my castor my cancer did metastasize and so that was kind of a question mark like what does that mean what’s next The very next day, my wife had a positive pregnancy test.

Ryan Isaac:  my gosh,

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. yeah, roller coaster. And yeah, so it was, you know, good and bad news all just flowing in. And I think though the pregnancy definitely helped. Like that took both of our minds somewhere else. And for the better and for the good. And I was at the right place.
Like I said, the Mayo Clinic was phenomenal. And so we talked about surgery and they set me up with a surgeon. There’s something called a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and those docs are, you know. Monsters it’s crazy what they do like to just go all the way through your abdomen We have you know The major artery that runs down is the descending aorta and that’s where all these lymph nodes are at that are cancerous and they have to peel them off this artery without nicking it or else you bleed out Right. It’s not guaranteed death, but it’s it’s very bad if that starts bleeding and so we know we’re talking about the surgery and all that stuff and they’re like, well, it’s an option. There’s some things I don’t like about it because of this and that. And here’s the risk of it. And there’s a lot of bad risks with it, especially from a fertility standpoint again. ⁓ And the other option is chemotherapy, which has a very high success rate, but also has its side effects, to say the least.

Logan Ganoe:
Honestly, I was kind of leaning towards the surgery at one point because it just kind of felt like that’s what the world was pushing me towards. But then they got another scan and it looked even larger and they’re like, I don’t think surgery is going to be the best option because surgery only treats the disease that we see. It doesn’t treat what we don’t see. And chemo goes everywhere. Like, yeah, it’s killing you, but it’s also killing all the cancer cells. So I underwent chemotherapy and I started that in.

Ryan Isaac: What is this? We’re talking like fall 2024. Oh yeah, you’re just about to say it.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, so yeah, it’s like November, I think was my start date when I finally started and that it has such a good prognosis because most people that get testicular cancer and then has a metastasis were otherwise young and healthy. So they can just blast you with it, right? Like there’s different types of chemotherapeutic agents. There’s different ways it’s administered and how often, but like I was getting blasted. Like there were some weeks I would have to go, you know, every single day. Some weeks was like Tuesday, Thursday, some weeks, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but
Yeah, it was a wild, wild journey. I ended up losing all my hair, no facial hair, no eyebrows, no nothing. Yeah, I’ll have to show you a photo. Like I don’t, I don’t look like myself. But yeah, but yeah, when you lose, but I was like pale, right? And no eyebrows and no facial hair. And like, so like you look, you look sick. And like, that was the hard thing was my whole

Ryan Isaac: Just bald as Ryan from the Dentist Money Show. yeah, well, same. Yeah, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Training i’ve been learning how to identify sick people right like who’s too sick to operate on like who like who do you need to like raise that red flag for? ⁓ And to look in the mirror and see that person like that was a battle that I had going on and Yeah, so that was that was really tough. And meanwhile, the whole time my wife’s pregnant, right, growing a child. And it’s her our first pregnancy. And, you know, it’s all supposed to be about her and everything she’s going through. And like I was the sick person needing treatment and the end to be taken care of and soup made for and stuff like that. And I was still trying to work when I wasn’t getting infusions. But I would wake up at like

Ryan Isaac: So I was gonna ask how the work was going, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, I’d wake up at like 4 a.m., leave the house by like 430, get down to the Mayo Clinic around 6, 615. They’d hook me up to an IV and I’d be there for seven hours and then I’d drive back and kind of lost the whole day. It’s about an hour and a half to two hours depending on traffic from where I live on days that I wasn’t going in, I would go see patients and it was really hard. ⁓ At first, you know, first week, you know, not too bad. But then as time went on, and patients could tell and we were very open with everybody. And, you know, because I’d have to wear a mask a lot and stuff like that. And it’s like, hey, like, we know COVID is over. And this isn’t any political statement. It’s just that I have to protect myself because I don’t have an immune system. And here’s what’s going on. ⁓

Logan Ganoe:
And like, you know, and stuff like that. And I mean, the community was awesome. Like patients were very understanding and just so grateful that you were still there to help and see them. ⁓ I remember even one time there was a guy that had a mandible fracture, no insurance to the hospital and I was going through chemo and I actually drove back on one of my half day infusions. after getting an infusion all morning drove back and then did a mandible fracture in our clinic to help this guy. Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Whoa.

Logan Ganoe: And so it was tough, I think work still gave me purpose and helped me take my mind off things. And like, don’t think I could have just sat at home like that because the days that I didn’t go into work, I feel like we’re actually tougher because you felt all the, like, I mean, it’s an undescribable level of nausea.

Logan Ganoe: Like I’ve never felt nausea and vomiting like that. It’s like the, aches and pains and my cell counts were dropped so low that they were so scared because like, especially with what I did, they know I’m exposed to people. They were giving me these, they’re called neupogen injections that stimulate your bone marrow to try to get your bone marrow to grow and make more immune system. just the bone pain, like it felt like every bone in my body was about to break. Like it just felt like I was brittle. Like it hurts so bad when they’d give you these bone marrow injections and,

Logan Ganoe:  Yeah, it was a very wild, eye-opening journey to go through and it’s given me such a profound, you know, respect for every person that has to go through that. You know, wouldn’t wish it on anybody because it is a wild, wild journey. But I was very, again, grateful and lucky to be at the Mayo Clinic where I had phenomenal care. And…

Everyone did their part and I was just so lucky and yeah, we got through treatment. That ended up in February. We had a couple complications. The chemo is really harsh on all your bodily systems and started having some liver issues where they didn’t know what was gonna happen because my liver enzymes just kept skyrocketing and going up and up and up.
They’re like, well, know, could get worse. It could get better. You’re like, well, that’s not great. But luckily that’s resolved. then, you know, finally, you know, kind of March, April, there’s some sprouts up here and there’s some, some growth of the hair. And I’m like, okay, it’s coming back. I can’t bring myself to cut it. Yeah, I can’t cut it. Cause I’m just like.
Ryan Isaac: Looks great actually, man. It’s got a thick head of hair. I wouldn’t either, I would never. Never.

Logan Ganoe:  I didn’t have it for so long and like, yeah, I just I can’t I don’t have the emotional bandwidth yet to do it. ⁓ But yeah, so and my wife’s still pregnant and she like had the most, you know, I don’t I can’t speak to it because I don’t have to do anything. like she’ll tell you she had the most, you know, easy pregnancy.

Ryan Isaac:  Don’t do it.

Logan Ganoe: You know, she like she didn’t get morning sickness really like she was like maybe a little bit tired, but she’s a phenomenal and lover of Pickleball. And she was playing that up until the end. She’s going all over the Pickleball court and ⁓ loving it. And then we were in April and she had her she was at 35 weeks gestation. And that’s when you start going weekly until until baby comes.
And she goes in, she has her OBGYN appointment and they’re like, how’s everything going? She’s like, fine, whatever. Life is normal. And, know, they listened to the baby and the heart sounds and all that. And everything was great. You know, like you’re just going to keep cruising. And at some point, you know, you have a baby probably around 39, 40 weeks. And we’re like, sweet. And so she comes home, she tells me the good news and we’re sitting there. It’s a Friday night. We’re watching TV. And she just looks at me and it’s just a look I’ve never seen on her face. And it’s kind of terrifying. And she just jolts up and runs away towards the bedroom. And she was wearing white sweatpants. And I just saw a sea of red. And I was kind of confused at first.
And I start kind of, get up, I’m like, is she okay? Like, what’s going on? And then I see going towards her bedroom is just puddles of blood.
And yeah and so sorry.

Ryan Isaac: No, take your time, Wow.

Logan Ganoe: I walked into the bathroom and there’s just, mean, I’ve rotated on some crazy surgeries with trauma surgery and vascular surgery and I’ve seen bloodshed and my heart just dropped. Like I did not know what was going on, but I knew something bad was happening. But you can’t tell her that, right? You got to be the rock. So I just tried to tell her it was okay. Like, we’re gonna go to the hospital, it’s gonna be fine. Who knows what’s going on, but we got this. Got her into my truck, drive her to the hospital. And we’re just waiting. The OB guy that was on call, they’re calling him in to come evaluate everything. And the nursing staff was great. They were trying to like do some things to help but then like every time they tried to take a look it was just too much bleeding and stuff like that and they’re like we just have to wait for the doctor and yeah like I won’t forget when they put on the monitors and could hear the heart sounds. Yeah. And you just knew that she still had a heartbeat. So that was good.
Yeah, and let’s see. Yeah, so doctors came in and I mean, there’s a whole bunch more to this story, but not all relevant. The essential part of it is they decided emergency C-section. And so they did the C-section. Kind of funny, the anesthesiologist saw me. He’s like, do we have a mandible fracture? Cause I just did a case with him like two days earlier. And I was like, no, I’m like, I’m not here for as a doctor today here with my wife, And, they did the C-section and you know, we were a couple of weeks early, but baby came out breathing healthy.
And we are parents of a baby girl and she’s five months now. So grace for obvious reasons. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, wild. Yeah. It’s hard to tell that story because it like it just brings back all the emotions of going through it. And it’s weird. You know, our whole time we’re trained to be

Ryan Isaac:  My gosh. What’s her name? Grace. Yeah. Whoa. Congrats to that, though. Mm-hmm. I can’t even imagine.

Logan Ganoe: The doctor and to be the one in charge and to direct the situation and to be in a spot where you feel like you have no control and just have to kind of sit back and let another doctor or another surgeon or someone else do the work. That was definitely humbling. ⁓ But we have a beautiful baby girl and like…
I mean, I could tell you about the year I lived in Central America and I could tell you stories for, you know, five hours straight of all the cool things and the times I’ve backpacked through Europe, that’d be another couple hours. But there’s nothing cooler than being a dad.
And I absolutely love it. It’s, the best part of every day. And when I wake up and she’s smiling and like, like I said, I ran home to come do this interview and I saw her and she looked up at me and like that, that, that look and that smile and it just makes everything worth it. Nothing. And like, yeah. And so it’s amazing. And I know you have, you have three daughters, right? Four.

Ryan Isaac:  Hmm There’s nothing better. Now there’s nothing better. I have four and I was just gonna say as we’ve been sitting here, my two oldest ones in college, I’ll just tell you, they’ve been calling through for different reasons and it still makes me just so happy to see a text or a phone call or a FaceTime. It doesn’t change, it’s different but it’s the same feeling. That’s really.

Logan Ganoe:  Yeah. Well, I’m sure it only gets better. Like I said, she’s not even talking or she doesn’t contribute anything. I don’t know what she does all day. But like I love her more today than I did when I first met her. And I’m like, how’s that possible to what I felt that first day? But it’s like every day it just it grows and it’s such a cool thing. And I just feel very fortunate that that was in our plans and that life had that in our plans. But so, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. of course. Of course. It is. Yeah. Yeah. so, okay. well, first of all, there’s so much. mean, first of all, we’re not done here, but thanks for just sharing so much personal, you know, emotional stuff just being so raw on Canada. I, you hear people go through stories like this all the time. and you just think, wow. How do people survive that? How do they get through one thing after another, after another, after another? Like you, sitting in the doctor’s chair when people are coming in for trauma and their lives are upended and they’re scared and worried and out of control and now you’re sitting in the chair. At this point, you’re still working, right? You’re still working and healthy baby girl, assume healthy mom, through all that ordeal.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah. Yeah, luckily, Mom and baby did phenomenal through the whole thing. I baby came at 1043 on a Sunday. I went to work at 7am on on Monday. had patients I was like, it’s like, well, they already took off work to have surgery. They’re being asleep and sedated. I was like, I felt bad cancer. And so and so I went into work because my just randomly my parents were in town too. So they had my wife had people at the hospital. So I went took care of business and I’m still working today. But Yeah, it’s kind of been that whole, you know, whole question of what’s next and, you know, where do we go from here?

Ryan Isaac: Hmm. Okay, so here’s some questions I think that are, this is at the root of really the meaning of, know, why we work, why we earn money and everyone has different values and reasons for the things that we do. But if you were to, which I’m sure you do all the time, reflect on at this point in your life, you’re still very young. You still have so many things. I’m sure you still have question marks about what’s going to happen, where things will head and what to do on certain things. But
How do you feel about, let’s just say, I’m gonna ask this same question on a couple of things. What’s the role of work in your life? What purpose does the role of work or career serve to you now with all this like unwanted perspective, really?

Logan Ganoe:  Yeah. Yeah, it’s very much changed over from what I thought it initially was. I always thought work was for a job, just to have money. And yes, work does give us that. But I recently read a book, and I’m sure you have too. It’s a very common one, Start With Why. And just a great book, but it’s made me kind of reflect onto.

Logan Ganoe: Everything I do and why I do it and the experiences that I’ve had, right? And, you know.

Ryan Isaac:  Hmm.

Logan Ganoe:  I said, like, one of the most humbling things was being in that position. that, know, it was really my wife that was going through it all. And I was just on the sideline. So I wasn’t the patient, but being helped by what I said, felt helpless and at all. like, and it was, was terrifying. And luckily most of the things I do every day, aren’t that terrifying. but patients are terrified of it, right? Like no one wants to come see you for, for an extraction or wisdom teeth implants, but we also do bigger stuff like.

Ryan Isaac:  Mm-hmm. They are. I was gonna say. Yep.

Logan Ganoe:  Surgery, orthomathics, TMJ surgery, stuff like that. But it’s given me so much appreciation to just be the doctor that puts them at ease, right? I mean, and even something for as routine as wisdom teeth, which is like our bread and butter. For most individuals, that’s their first experience with surgery, right? They’re 17, 18, 19. They’ve never been put to sleep before. They’ve never had surgery before. And they are terrified. And, you know, like, to me, we have such a privilege to try to make that the most enjoyable experience for them, right? That you can’t just, and even though like not everything’s gonna go smoothly, right? They might have post-operative pain. They might get a dry socket or have bleeding or whatever, but showing them that doctors do care and that we’re there for them and that we’re gonna do everything we can to make them feel as comfortable as possible, ⁓ you know, within our realm. So I think that’s kind of been a new perspective ⁓ of mine.

Logan Ganoe:  I think too, like I said, going through all that, going back to the DSO, like for a long time, I didn’t want to be mad about the company selling to the DSO or private equity, whatever you want to call them. Cause I’m like, don’t fill yourself with bitterness. And I guess that’s partly true.

Logan Ganoe:  But I feel like now like actually, no, like I’m gonna use that to light my fire. Like that should make me mad. Like I’m not mad at any individual, right? But like I said, I know I can deliver better patient care in a more sustainable model and a more patient centric model in a better setting overall than any DSO can. And I’m going to let that fuel me. That’s my mission. And for anyone that wants to work for a DSO or is part of a DSO, that’s fine. You can have your own mission. But that’s my mission. I want to do it better than any corporation can because I believe that I can and know that I can. ⁓ So that’s really started to fuel what I look at and what I do. ⁓

Ryan Isaac: Love that. Yes. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Man, yeah.

Logan Ganoe: And then, you know, and that’s kind of from the personal side, guess, from the professional side, from the personal side, like I said, being a dad is phenomenal. And I think, you know, I came out of residency and I didn’t know what to do. And I just thought.
I started hitting the books and I started reading about personal finance and reading all these things about like, you know, what do you do? How do you save in a 401k? What is a 401k? What’s a backdoor Roth IRA? Right? What’s the mega backdoor Roth IRA, which isn’t even an IRA, you know, it’s like, just, ⁓ but all these things. And I started listening to podcasts, your guys’s podcasts, the white coat investor. I started reading all these books and have

Ryan Isaac: Right, yes. Yes, the mega. Yes.

Logan Ganoe:  Probably like 30, you know, on my shelves. I started going to like financial wellness conferences and stuff like that.
learning all about it and I got really excited about it. Right. And I started saving lots of money for those things and just being very money savvy, money smart. ⁓ you know, I didn’t go out and, know, the, the, I didn’t have a car or the car I bought was a 99 Ford Rangers, you know, $5,000. so I didn’t go by the, you know, the Porsche or the Lexus or the Audi.

And I was just really money smart and that was very beneficial because when I’ve gone through all these health things, I’ve been very lucky that I haven’t had to worry about money and what it was going to cost to pay the bills. I, my heart bleeds for every patient going through all those same things, but then also has a financial worry on the other end. Cause I just, couldn’t imagine to add that to the mix. Like it’s stressful enough. Like nobody deserves to have that added stress. But I was very fortunate, but I was also maybe a little too obsessed with it. Like, I don’t know that I was ever in the fire campaign, you know, like the financial independence retire early, but like you hear about it, you hear about it everywhere and you know, all this stuff and like, I was very sad, like, okay, I got to get to these numbers and you know, like try to always make sure that I’m staying on track. And I was really aimed towards this goal that was

Ryan Isaac:  Mm-hmm. Yeah. Retire early, Mmm.

Logan Ganoe: 30 years away, right? And that was so much of my focus. And then life just kind of slapped me and was like, you got to focus on now. I mean, talk about a theme for a conference like plan for the president. It just hit home so much and it’s like, yes, I still believe that you have to do all the right things and save for retirement. But no one promises that we’re going to get there, right? Like no one says, oh, you for sure are going to get to retirement at age 55 or 65 or whatever it is. And like, I don’t want to have anything left on the table, right? It doesn’t make sense to die the richest person in the graveyard.

Logan Ganoe:  You want to have it set up that if you do leave this world early that your family’s taken care of. But the only thing, I mean, this was just my own personal belief. The only thing I get to take to the grave with me is the experiences I have on this planet. Right. So it’s like, want to go be with them as much as possible and do as many things as I can with them and ensure that and let them know how much that means to me. Cause that’s to me at the end of the day, that’s all we get to take. So that’s, that’s really changed my, you know, my,

Ryan Isaac:  Yep, people you loved, yep.

Logan Ganoe: Why and why I go to work. I love what I do and I love that I get to help people, but it also allows me to go do all those fun things with my family and I’m very grateful for that.

Ryan Isaac:  Yeah, man. love the, um, thanks for sharing all that. I love hearing the perspective of what that made you feel as a clinician and a business owner in the healthcare industry. Your experience with the DSO and private equity, your experience as a patient, your experiences, you know, a support to a patient, your wife and your, daughter. I love how that, uh, you’re right. Yeah. You don’t want to carry anger and bitterness, but you do want to have something fuel you to be better than that system that you saw and that you’re a part of. And yeah, I love the personal takeaway too. It’s a tough balance. Everyone’s trying to strike it in their own way. How do you stay present? How do you enjoy the vacations of today while taking care of your old self that is gonna need some money later on too? It’s a delicate balance that’s probably walked imperfectly, but it ⁓ sounds like you have a lot of really good perspective on that. If you were trying to tell someone or convince someone to maybe hold those same values or have similar perspective without them going through what you’ve been through, how would you do that or what would you say to them?

Logan Ganoe:  Wow, yeah, that’s a great question. You know, it’s one of those things that I kind of look at.
just how much joy and experience can bring you, right? And that experience is going to be different for every individual. Some people will get joy out of going surfing, going camping, going to Disneyland with their family, doing all sorts of things. But really kind of focusing on when you spend your money on experience with the people you love, the feelings and emotions that brings to you as opposed to when you spend them on a new car.
nice clothes, a fancy whatever, know, and kind of seeing how that relates to you and kind of realizing which one means more to you. And I bet 99 % of the people are gonna say, oh yeah, that experience was way better. Like it’s just, you know, hands down, it seems to top everything. The only thing I can say is just like, again, nobody promises you tomorrow.

Ryan Isaac:  Totally. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm.

Logan Ganoe: And if you think, you know, if you’re, if someone told you, okay, on Friday, don’t wake up, how would you live the next few days differently? And that’s an exaggeration, right? Cause no one’s going to work the next day. and we got to do that. But like, I mean, think about like the first things that go through your mind. Okay. Well, those are your, those are called priorities. The first things I just went through your mind. Right. So, you know, was it, I’d be with my family. I’d be this, I’d go here. Like those are things you should be thinking about. Like, okay.

Well, how can I make those things still priority, but accomplish everything else if I do get to make it to 75 to 85 to 100, you know? And I would say it’s just, it’s a, it’s a delicate balance and you know, it’s, just like the market, right? Like we’re never going to know if we had it exactly right. Like should I have put in my money today or tomorrow? Like you can’t time those things. So like, and it’s anyone’s best guess. Um, but I’d say if you invest in those things, I’m betting on that you won’t be upset at the end of the day, you know.

Ryan Isaac:  Yeah. I feel like we could keep going for hours. There’s so many more, details I’d love to hear and stories. Maybe we’ll do a follow-up. Actually, that’d be really cool is to do a follow-up. but, ⁓ what’s next for you, man? Where, where, where do you go to next? ⁓ what are you looking forward to in all this stuff? Career life. You don’t know what’s coming up for you.

Logan Ganoe: Yeah, so that’s, that’s the big question. We’re trying to decide what’s, what’s next. Right. We wanted, like I said, we came to Arizona thinking we might live out a non-compete and then go back to Montana. that, and that’s completely possible. however, ⁓ a scratch startup is very time consuming. and there’s a lot that goes into that. And, we’re one, I don’t know if.
if I’m ready at this point in my life to commit that much time to work. I know that sounds terrible. Like I’m a hard worker and I love working, but like people talk about, yeah, you’re coming home late. You’re never seen your kids on like, I wouldn’t be following my true set. Like all I want to do is go hold my daughter. right now, like when we hang up, I’m running upstairs to pick her up. Like, cause it’s the best thing in the world. ⁓

Ryan Isaac: Mm. Mm-hmm. No, no. Yeah. Yeah. Good. That’s so good. It’s so good.

Logan Ganoe: But the other caveat is that you’ve heard our health concerns and we want to continue to grow our family. That would be amazing if the world has that in the cards for us. We don’t know if my fertility is going to rebound. Chemo destroys your fertility. ⁓ So we had to do cryopreservation. So freeze some of my swimmers. so we’ll see, we might need IVF. We might be able to conceive naturally. My wife is now considered risk pregnancy because of that bleed. And the OB-GYN in the small town that we’re in in Arizona pretty much said, Hey, you can’t get pregnant for two years or else we won’t see you. You got to go down to Phoenix. And so there’s a lot of benefit to being near a metropolis like Phoenix, right? Having world-class care and every, not just specialist, but the specialized of the specialist right there.

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, I’m sure. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Logan Ganoe: But we miss the mountains, we miss that aspect. So we’re just trying to figure that out. And I think when I was at the summit, I really came wanting that answer. I was like, okay, what am I supposed to do next? What makes the most sense? And over the last couple of months since the summit, I’ve kind of just realized like…
I think it’s one of those things is again, I just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. Like we want things to be permanent, like, right? Like I want to be a practice, you know, like say, Oh, this is my practice that I built from scratch or this or that, or this is where I’m going to live the rest of my life. And this is the house that we live in for the rest of our lives. But I think what I’m realizing is for us, that’s just not a reality right now. Like there’s so many moving pieces and we just have to accept that we’re.

Ryan Isaac:  I know. I know.

Logan Ganoe: Life is good, like it’s really good. We have nothing but thanks to give to the world and we’ll just have to enjoy the ride and kind of see.
I have lots of opportunities. That’s a blessing. Everywhere wants an oral surgeon, right? So that’s very lucky. And for us, my wife works remotely so she can go anywhere that we want to go. So we’re just trying to figure out what makes the most sense and what takes us. But I have a feeling there’s going to be more twists and turns. if we ever do a part two or whatnot down the road, there might be a whole other story to it.

Ryan Isaac: Well, I look forward to it and I hope, you know, and wish nothing but the best for you, man. I can’t thank you enough for going through this. Like I said in the beginning, know, nobody escapes not this exact story, but nobody escapes pain throughout their lives. either gets to us or someone close to us and it’s just a part of it. Again, like I was saying, I was just on calls with clients this morning hearing
the struggles that people go through, ⁓ many of it out of our control, stuff we don’t choose or want. And it reshapes our perspectives, reshapes our goals and our values and our priorities. so just thanks for being vulnerable and sharing your story. I know for sure people listening can relate some more than others, I’m sure. And I guarantee it’ll be a huge help. So I appreciate it, man. Thanks for coming on the Dentist Money Show.
telling us that you might actually have the record for longest interview. For sure you do. You got the record, longest interview. I love it, it’s long form. No way, we like it.

Logan Ganoe: Oh, wow. Yeah. I was, was, see that taken away at the top. I’m like, Oh man, this is all going to get cut out. They’re going to be like, this guy said nothing. Um, but yeah, no, it’s been awesome being here. Thanks for having me. A true pleasure. Um, I think you guys are an amazing group. I enjoy listening to you guys every week. Um, well, multiple times a week. Uh, if anyone has a question for me, like, uh, I’m very receptive, especially so, like I said, going through the fertility stuff and the testicular cancer stuff.
Ryan Isaac:  Hmm. Thank you. ⁓

Logan Ganoe:  It’s something that I felt like I was alone in. then once you start telling the story, so many people have gone through that in both of those. And so if I can help anyone in any sort of way, they’re free to reach out. My email is probably the best way. It’s logan.ganoe.com. ⁓ You can reach out to me and I’m happy to help in any way I can.

Ryan Isaac: You’re not. Yeah. Okay. Dude.

Logan Ganoe:  But yeah, this was awesome. I hope it helps somebody. my leaving advice would just be, I tell that whole story, but I’m able to sit here today and tell you that that whole story was 1,000 times easier because I did all the things that you guys recommend about being financially smart with your money.
And I didn’t have to worry about the bills and the financial component. And that within its own is a huge blessing. So I’m just very grateful for all the help and free education you guys put out there because it really helped make a very stressful thing slightly less stressful.

Ryan Isaac:  Hmm. Cool. Man, is, ⁓ yeah, to take one thing off your plate, glad you, I mean, you did the work. So, you know, thanks for listening and tuning in all these years. You’ve listened to a few old episodes, Yeah, thanks for sharing that. You know, I’m sure there’s someone out there that would love to reach out and just know that they’re not alone in whatever struggles they’re going through as well. So, Logan, we’ll see you in 2026 in person up at the next summit.

Logan Ganoe:  I’ll be there.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Yeah. You got a standing invite forever. I’m just going to go tell the team right now. They got standing invite forever.
Man, thank you so much. Best of luck. We’ll be in touch. Just can’t thank you enough, man. So I hope you have a really great week. And thanks for being here with us and sharing your story. And I know this will be really helpful for a lot of people. So thank you. Thank you.

Logan Ganoe:  Awesome, well you guys have a good one, appreciate it.

Ryan Isaac:  Okay, thanks everybody. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll catch you next time on another episode of the Dentist Money Show. Take care, bye.

Keywords: mental health, dental industry, breath work, addiction, financial advice, dental practice, grief, self-care, purpose, transition, emotional well-being, support systems, dental community, healing journeys

Early Career, Work Life Balance