Crystal Ball Predictions from Dentistry Experts – Episode 170

Didn’t make the Voices of Dentistry Summit? Here’s what industry experts were talking about.

On this Dentist Money™ Show, Reese and Ryan take time out to interview several well-known dental industry leaders at the Voices of Dentistry Summit. Experts from Kleer, Inspired Hygiene, Wonderist Agency, and others, chat with Reese and Ryan, and offer their unique points-of-view about the coming year. The interviews can be unexpectedly personal, and often truly powerful. It’s a one-of-a-kind show full of little golden nuggets of wisdom.

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Podcast Transcript:

Reese Harper: Welcome to The Dentist Money Show. I’m your host Reese Harper on a special episode today from the Voices of Dentistry down in Scottsdale, Arizona, where I carved out some time to get some of the best people that were attending The Voices of Dentistry to come and do some rapid style interviews with me, where I got to ask them some three really critical questions for myself as it relates to the 2019 planning that I was doing. The first question was, what’s the best thing that happened to you in 2018? The second question, which is what’s the worst thing that happened to you in 2018? The last thing was, what’s the number one best piece of advice you could give to dentists right now? I went through a bunch of interviews, I got some really good insight and I really think that you guys will enjoy the show.

Reese Harper: So, take a listen, make sure and visit us at dennisadvisors.com and check out our education library. You’ll find a lot of videos, podcasts of new articles that we’re releasing every week. Also, when you go to the website, don’t forget to book a free consultation. Clicking the book free consultation button” where you’ll be paired with one of our dental specific financial advisors on a day that works for you. We book appointments on off days, lunches, even on some Saturdays. Just check out the calendar and find a time that’s convenient. Call us anytime at 833DDS plan. You can also text us at the same numbers. Don’t forget to submit your financial questions on our free Facebook group at dentistadvisors.com/group. We take the questions from the Facebook group and use them in the podcast. Thanks again for listening and enjoy the show

Announcer: Consultant an advisor or conduct your own due diligence when making financial decisions. General principles discussed during this program do not constitute personal advice. This program is furnished by Dentist Advisors or Registered Investment Advisor. This is Dentist Money. Now here’s your host, Reese Harper

Reese Harper: I’m excited to have back to the program, Mr Brian Cleo. Brian, welcome to the show.

Brian Cleo: Always a pleasure to be here. Always a pleasure to be here. Really excited to visit with you for a little bit.

Reese Harper: Yeah, man. Last time we went through the intense deep dive of the DSO Space, group dentistry, a lot of forecasts about the industry as you know, and we’ve prepped you for this two seconds ago, you’re going to get asked the three questions today that everyone’s being asked that our Dental Industry Experts Series mash up podcasts getting asked. The first question is, what’s the best thing that happened to Brian Cleo last year?

Brian Cleo: The best thing that happened to me last year was our DSO conference set an attendance record. It was in Dallas, it went so much better than we expected and we had high expectations. We set an attendance record of 600 people. We had a big slate of A list speakers. Everybody came, it was just an absolute blast last year. I have to say that was the best thing last year.

Reese Harper: I love it. So why do you think the attendance was so good last year? What is it about the, what was it a marketing push that you guys made? Is it just the way that the industry and economics are kind of coming together? What made it so successful?

Brian Cleo: I really think it’s because we’ve worked hard to make our conference different from the others, first. We don’t make a penny on it because as you know, we’re a law firm, we want to meet people. Hopefully that can turn into some business and contacts, but we don’t make money on the conference itself. So every penny we collect from sponsors or registration fees goes into the conference. We had Bill Walton, the NBA all star as our keynote speaker last year and we had Stan Bergman, the CEO of Henry Schein was there, for example, we had some really A list, private equity guys, really, really good panels and we put every penny into the content and into just making the event just spectacular.

Reese Harper: I can tell, man. You felt it was really substantive.

Brian Cleo: It was.

Reese Harper: I remember that from our last interview man.

Brian Cleo: You know how excited I was. I’m just excited about that conference, yeah.

Reese Harper: You asked Brian, what’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to you? The best thing. And he’s telling you it’s the substantive conference that he provided to educate dentists. I’m telling you, this is a guy you want to give you advice.

Brian Cleo: It was, I just have to say it really, I don’t know if I am, maybe not every year if you asked me this question again, but in ’08, that conference was really special.

Reese Harper: Yeah. Well that’s one thing I’ve always liked about chatting with you. I feel like you get the importance of not wasting people’s time and getting to the information that they need to hear and learn. Maybe that has to do with the background of being an attorney as well. You’re just on it, you know that your time is valuable and you get to the value really quick.

Brian Cleo: Everybody’s time is obviously if you’re charging people by the hour, you can’t waste their time.

Reese Harper: Yeah, I like that.

Brian Cleo: I try to be respectful about that.

Reese Harper: Yeah, that’s cool.

Brian Cleo: I Really do.

Reese Harper: Okay, question number two, the hardest thing that happened to Brian Cleo or the most difficult thing in 2018?

Brian Cleo: Yeah, I mean this one’s a little different. I mean, this is a different experience, these questions, but my answer is my beloved cat died-

Reese Harper: No way.

Brian Cleo: In 2018 she was 14 years old. Her name was Cissy-

Reese Harper: Oh my gosh.

Brian Cleo: … actually, that was her nickname. Her full name was Sassafras. But she was such a part of the family. She actually had a nickname of Cissy and you know, she had kidney failure and it took about two years-

Reese Harper: Holly cow.

Brian Cleo: … for the whole thing to go. For the first time in my life I had to put an animal down and it was very, very sad-

Reese Harper: No way.

Brian Cleo: … for me. So-

Reese Harper: Dude, that rocks. That’s how-

Brian Cleo: No, I’m serious.

Reese Harper: [crosstalk] you.

Brian Cleo: You told me it could be anything not work related.

Reese Harper: I said [crosstalk 00:05:34]-

Brian Cleo: That was the worst thing that happened to me.

Reese Harper: I was trying to get my good friend Brian, the attorney to get personal. You’ve got real personal man.

Brian Cleo: Yeah. I mean, seriously, fortunately, no serious close family members or anybody that we’re humans died, but she was part of the family and that was-

Reese Harper: Gee, we had a lot of that this year, in our company we had a few people, I swear it was like one of them… when an animal dies that you’ve been close to for a long time, it really does set you back for a while.

Brian Cleo: It can really do. I’m very, very sad. I mean we were talking about do we get another one and we’re just not-

Reese Harper: Yeah, we’re getting excited.

Brian Cleo: … we’re not ready for what we’re going to eventually but it just not ready right now.

Reese Harper: So are you a dog person ever or is like-

Brian Cleo: I grew up with dogs. My wife was a cat person. I’ve been married going on 19 years and so she did the cat thing. I inherited the cat thing and I became really attached to this particular cat.

Reese Harper: I like cat?

Brian Cleo: We got two more. I mean, in fairness, we have two others, but they’re my wife’s cats. They love my wife. They don’t give me the time of day, but this one really got under my skin, for me, so that’s the worst thing.

Reese Harper: All right. Number one piece of advice for dentists in 2019 from Brian Cleo. What would you say? Number one piece of advice?

Brian Cleo: It’s actually really simple for me. Understand the changing marketplace. Understand the opportunities that are available to you. Understand how you’re organized nation fits with the existing opportunities and have a plan for the future. Your plan for ‘019 might be we’re staying put, not doing anything this year, but here’s our plan for the next year, or here’s our longterm plan. So it’s understanding the marketplace, understanding the opportunities where your organization fits and what your plan’s going to be.

Reese Harper: You’re saying that the economics are changing, the industry’s changing a lot. You need to be able to understand that. What do you think the best resource or way for them to start learning about that would be?

Brian Cleo: These conferences are great. I mean, obviously if you have a specific legal question or industry question, I love to hear from people. I’d be delighted if any of your listeners called me, but really on the general basis coming to these conferences, Voices of Dentistry’s, great. Of course, we talked earlier, our industry leading conference in July. I’d love to see people come to our conference, we’re trying to break our attendance record, but just get out there. We’re fortunate that this industry has so many great conferences where in a day or two period you can like a sponge, absorb an enormous amount of information.

Reese Harper: It really has a huge value to be able to come to a place where so many people are congregating, or so many different specializations and backgrounds and depth. I mean, in a period of a few hours, you can absorb so much information that you’ve met. It’s just so hard to get that unless you come.

Brian Cleo: My experience, maybe it’s yours too, people want to help. Maybe there’s, there could be a tiny, tiny amount of divas in our industry, but for the most part if you come to a conference, it doesn’t matter if it’s the CEO of a big company or a keynote speaker, they will stop if you grab them at a reception and they will talk to you or they’ll schedule a time to chat with you. People are very generous in my experience, overwhelmingly at these conferences and sharing information.

Reese Harper: Well, Brian, thanks so much man. We look forward to having you back on again for another Deep Dive episode, but thanks for popping in at voices of dentistry and sharing some of your insight with us. Really appreciate.

Brian Cleo: Always a pleasure. [crosstalk 00:08:54].

Reese Harper: Looking forward to seeing you in July at the conference.

Brian Cleo: You too.

(Music Break)

Ryan Isaac: All right, everybody, we are here live at Voices of Dentistry, 2019 in sunny, warm, beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. I am sitting down with Gerry CMO from Kleer Membership Programs. What’s going on, Gerry?

Gerry McGoldrick: How are you?

Ryan Isaac: I’m warm today with there’s hot water in the hotel. Did you get a hundred year room?

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah, I thought yesterday was just me. I’m like, oh.

Ryan Isaac: NO, no, no. So, when we checked in, they had this like disclaimer that there probably wasn’t hot water in a couple room, but it was like the whole hotel.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: I felt like today they made up for it by making it extra hot though.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah, it was a nice day.

Ryan Isaac: Is it really [inaudible] as well, yeah. was nice. So we’ve-

Gerry McGoldrick: Yesterday was not a great experience.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. So I want to ask you a couple of questions. One was you were a college radio host DJ?

Gerry McGoldrick: Yes.

Ryan Isaac: Tell me about like what, where were you at? What college?

Gerry McGoldrick: At Temple University.

Ryan Isaac: What was the program?

Gerry McGoldrick: WRTI.

Ryan Isaac: What did you like music in the mornings-

Gerry McGoldrick: Because no one else, I’m always been a morning person, so I would get up at and be on at 6:00 AM because no one else would do that.

Ryan Isaac: Did you have a cool nickname? Gerry Atrix.

Gerry McGoldrick: Gerry Atrix. A-T-R-I-X.

Ryan Isaac: Let’s rename this intro. I’m sitting with Gerry Atrix. Now that’s really cool, man. All right, so we got a few minutes here. We’re going to sit down and talk about what you do. I have three questions for you.

Gerry McGoldrick: Okay.

Ryan Isaac: Do you know the questions are beforehand really?

Gerry McGoldrick: No.

Ryan Isaac: Oh, cool. This is even better. All right. I’ll answer these two if you want. We can turn the tables later. All right. Number question number one, what is the best thing that happened to you in 2019? Is that the question of 2018.

Speaker: 2018.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. This is what’s the best thing that happened to you in 2018?

Gerry McGoldrick: My daughter graduated from college.

Ryan Isaac: Oh, cool.

Gerry McGoldrick: University of Southern California. So that was cool. The Trojan but I guess from a work perspective, we launched Klear in January 2018.

Ryan Isaac: It was just January, 2018.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah. So we started building it in November of 2016 and we did a bunch of research with dentists and patients and found the uninsured patients space. Really the other thing that we really found was that dentists really had no ally in their work. They’re being squeezed by insurance companies-

Ryan Isaac: Sure.

Gerry McGoldrick: and losing [crosstalk] missing out on patients coming.

Ryan Isaac: Exactly. Okay. Yeah.

Gerry McGoldrick: So, we’ve, we launched in January, 2018. It’s been going really well. And now-

Ryan Isaac: Congratulations.

Gerry McGoldrick: Thank you.

Ryan Isaac: How did you get involved the operation?

Gerry McGoldrick: I’ve, a friend of mine was new, the CEO founder and hooked us up and he and I and another gentleman started just kind of thinking about things and thought we were, at first we thought, oh, we’ll go back to the whole dental insurance industry. We were like, that’s a big task.

Ryan Isaac: Let’s go kill that brand.

Gerry McGoldrick: Then we started seeing people’s keep saying-

Ryan Isaac: Why are you small Gerry? Why you small?

Gerry McGoldrick: Well, we initially heard that insurance company was hurting dentists, so we thought, we we’re like, you know what-

Ryan Isaac: Good opportunity.

Gerry McGoldrick: No, then we found the uninsured patient base and really saw an opportunity there that by 20 30% of dentists patients are uninsured. So, if you get them to come back more than twice a year, which is what they usually do-

Ryan Isaac: Make it easy on them.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah. The dentist can see a big upticks in their revenue close 75%.

Ryan Isaac: Cool. Well, congratulations. So you’re saying you kind of joined up with things early on in 2016 when it was getting off the ground.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. So that was a big accomplishment then you stopped for two years. All the behind the scenes, the development, the winds, the temporary setbacks. You’ve probably seen it all.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah, the changes.

Ryan Isaac: The changes.

Gerry McGoldrick: So we’ve given it a lot.

Ryan Isaac: The ideas you said no to along the way.

Gerry McGoldrick: Right. I mean we were initially telling, going with the, hey, we’ll get you new patients. And then we realized there’s no need to do that. If dentists really just concentrate on the dental of the patients they have, they can build their revenue.

Ryan Isaac: There was revenue sitting right there already.

Gerry McGoldrick: Exactly [crosstalk] At the cost to acquire a new patient is exorbitant. So concentrate on the patients who have, bring them back. They’re only coming in every two years, get them to come in and make it easy on twice a year-

Ryan Isaac: Yeah.

Gerry McGoldrick: You’ll make all that revenue up.

Ryan Isaac: Cool. Okay. That was the best thing that happened in 2018. And your daughter.

Gerry McGoldrick: Right?

Ryan Isaac: All this kid [inaudible 00:13:19].

Gerry McGoldrick: I understand.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Number two is what is the worst thing that happened to you on 2018?

Gerry McGoldrick: That’s-

Ryan Isaac: We can go deep here, Gerry. We can get personal. We can go deep here.

Gerry McGoldrick: I guess the… I don’t know. 2018 was a great year.

Ryan Isaac: Was a great year.

Gerry McGoldrick: There was no worse things, the the worst thing.

Ryan Isaac: It’s probably not that bad.

Gerry McGoldrick: No. I would say-

Ryan Isaac: he lost a sock or something in the library.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah,. No, yeah, probably, oh, I moved from the house that we had for 17 years. And-

Ryan Isaac: Where do you live? Where are you at?

Gerry McGoldrick: Philadelphia.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. And did you move nearby?

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah. Yeah. It was just our kids were out, they don’t need the space anymore.

Ryan Isaac: Was that hard? So that-

Gerry McGoldrick: It was hard, it was probably the man, the worst, because you leave behind really good neighbors, people you met and all that kind of stuff.

Ryan Isaac: That’s interesting. We kind of see these transitions happen with our clients that are near like retirement ages and downsizing. That’s kind of an interesting concept, man.

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: So in your mind, you knew that was something had to happen. It would just made sense for you, but it was still hard to do?

Gerry McGoldrick: Yeah, it was so hard to do. It was early, you know, it was earlier than we expected, but it was just my wife really liked, so.

Ryan Isaac: Okay.

Gerry McGoldrick: [inaudible 00:14:31].

Ryan Isaac: That was the hard part. Okay. Number three, give me your best advice for dentists.

Gerry McGoldrick: The best advice for dentists is really to, I just said previously, is to really start to focus on the patients you already have. They know you, they trust you, they’ll keep coming back. They’re just afraid of cost. They don’t understand what the cost of dentistry is, they’re fearful of it. They feel like they’re somehow being misled and really, and that’s why we started Klear and that’s why that’s the name. To provide full transparency. And let patients really, uninsured patients know that they can get simple affordable coverage with a membership plan and get the rural health.

Gerry McGoldrick: Everybody we talked to when we do, we do a lot of consumer research and dentist research, everyone understands the value of good oral health.It’s the gateway to good overall health. Try to get new patients where you can if you, but don’t focus on it, make the focus and treat them special. They just want to be, they just want to know that they’re not like some sort of second class but they’re actually people who matter to your practice and they should matter because they’re going to be your most valuable patient.

Ryan Isaac: Excellent. Okay. Gerry, thanks for sharing all that. How can someone get in touch with Klear? What’s the best way?

Gerry McGoldrick: Can go to klear.com and you can fill the form right there. And one of our folks will reach you or you can email gerry@klear.com, G-E-R-R-Y@klear, K-L-E-A-R.com, or justinfoatklear.com if you don’t really want to talk to me.

Ryan Isaac: If you get in touch, they can call you Gerry Atrix? Oh, of the next?

Gerry McGoldrick: Of course again, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: All right. Thanks Gerry for being here we appreciate.

Gerry McGoldrick: All right.

Ryan Isaac: Have a great weekend man. Thank you.

Gerry McGoldrick: Bye.

(Music Break)

Reese Harper: And onto our next interview. I’m very excited to be joined by Rachel Wall. Rachel, thank you for joining us.

Rachel Wall: Thank you for having me.

Reese Harper: We are here on the podcast floor. As you know, we have three questions that we want out of all of our guests today. We have the mash up of the best speakers and tendons of this conference. And the first question I’m going to ask you is what’s the hardest thing or the worst thing that happened to you last year?

Rachel Wall: Oh, 2018. That one’s pretty easy actually. 2018, I was very happy when New Year’s eve arrived.

Reese Harper: Okay, good.

Rachel Wall: Think about 2018. Just to kind of be open and vulnerable, Reese.

Reese Harper: Yes. That’s what we’re looking for. Thank you.

Rachel Wall: We had some really hard things happen in our family. My mom suffer from dementia-

Reese Harper: Oh man.

Rachel Wall: Yeah, I’ve got-

Reese Harper: How old?

Rachel Wall: She’s 77. So she’s still in good health. We’ve decided to laugh about it, so we just kind of, sometimes make a joke about the fact that she can’t remember that she asked us five times if we had a good night’s sleep and she laughs about it too. So that’s kind of been our approach so far. Maybe that’ll change.

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Rachel Wall: And some other things with my extended family, I have some niece and nephews that are been going through a really rough time and just separated from their parents and it’s just been really important for us to be able to be there for them.

Reese Harper: Wow.

Rachel Wall: So it’s been, it was rough.

Reese Harper: So it was a year where relationships, like we’re at the forefront of your kind of life almost all the time.

Rachel Wall: Totally. Totally, relationships breaking, relationships strengthening, like all kinds of [crosstalk]

Reese Harper: Was that hard sometimes to not let that get in the way of work?

Rachel Wall: Absolutely. I will say that if I look at really the best things that happened was I feel like going through that with my immediate family, it really strengthened us. I got to really see, that even through some really, really hard things that you would never think of happening. My husband was right there by my side the whole time.

Reese Harper: That’s awesome.

Rachel Wall: Yeah. And this is his family. But it is now, right? You hear me.

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Rachel Wall: So he was right there for me the whole time. Despite all of that, my team had inspired hygiene, everybody really, really rallied. And we had the best year ever. And we set a really pretty lofty goal and we hit it.

Reese Harper: Wow. That’s awesome.

Rachel Wall: It’ll happen in the last few days of the year. But that’s okay. It was great and they were really behind it and so-

Reese Harper: Awesome.

Rachel Wall: I think that it was really just a learning year for me on, I prayed the serenity prayer a lot.

Reese Harper: Okay. Yeah.

Rachel Wall: Is allow me to accept the things I cannot change and to know the things that I can’t have that courage and also just to let go and, and recognize the relationships that are there. And how they really supported me and supported my family directly or indirectly made all the difference in the world.

Reese Harper: That’s awesome. That’s great insight. I appreciate you sharing that. Like a lot of people can relate to how difficult it can be when you have relationship challenges. There’s all kinds of personal relationship challenges that can come up throughout the course of a year that can really disrupt work and, disrupt your life, your emotional state. I know it’s healthy to be able to look back at that and kind of see the silver lining like you did as well. Let’s talk about the best thing that happened to you last year. If we look at the best thing of 2019 or 2018, what would that be?

Rachel Wall: I think it would be that like recognizing the strength of the relationships that I did have around me, my immediate family, friends, my team. It just-

Reese Harper: So in the lows you got to the high point-

Rachel Wall: Yeah.

Reese Harper: … of as well looking back and going. This is actually by having family or, and relationship struggles with your mom, your nieces and nephews, you kind of valued family more?

Rachel Wall: Absolutely. Yeah. Family and just general relationships. I’ve said this, repeating this, but my team really stepped up too.

Reese Harper: That’s cool.

Rachel Wall: And were there for me. They knew what was going on and also they were there to fill in the gaps when I wasn’t there. And then they were also there to just let me know that they care. So I really think that was the best thing-

Reese Harper: That was awesome.

Rachel Wall: … because out of those relationships came other good things for the year. And as we’re all reminded when we go through things, if we’re all honest and vulnerable and really just be ourselves with each other, everybody goes through stuff like this.

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Rachel Wall: And if you don’t share, then nobody knows. Right? They can’t care for you. And also if we hold it all in, we can’t get that care and support from other people.

Reese Harper: Yeah. That’s awesome. Okay. So 2019 best piece of advice you would give to a dentist in 2019, what would that be?

Rachel Wall: So I would say in that same vein is, we all talk a lot about building relationships with our patients and how important that is. It’s interesting because there’s a theme today here at Voices of Dentistry that is very much like what I’m going to share tomorrow. And it’s, a lot of it is about empowering and building relationships with your team. So, as Richard Branson says you take care of your team, they’re going to take care of your customers. I really think that’s true. So that’s could be a lesson for dentists as just take a tiny step to building relationship with your team. I will tell you that we read surveys from team members all the time and one of the things that they often feel is unappreciated and it is not about money. It is often just a, “Hey, you know what, you did a really great job with, Reese, he’s kind of a hard patient to work with.”

Reese Harper: Yes, I would be, I’m a very difficult patient.

Rachel Wall: But you made him feel comfortable and he left with a smile on his face and I just really want you to know how much I appreciate that. So it costs nothing. And it goes so far to bonding your team with you and with each other. So I would just say focus, focus on those relationships and what you can do to strengthen those.

Reese Harper: That’s awesome. Rachel, that was such great advice. I really appreciate it and I appreciate you sharing that. Your perspective on the year with us and that piece of advice that I think really could go a long way. I feel like people under, we all have a tendency to under appreciate the relationships that are closest to us-

Rachel Wall: Yes.

Reese Harper: … and sometimes don’t take advantage of the opportunities to express our gratitude. Express our thanks for the people that are closest to us.

Rachel Wall: So we can all take that advice, right?

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Rachel Wall: Yeah. You’re exactly right. It’s typically the ones that are the closest to us and when we’re working in a dental team, day in and day out, it’s like another family.

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Rachel Wall: So, sometimes we feel so comfortable that we just kind of, we’re not always our best selves and we should have, we should be able to have those moments of like, okay, I just kind of lost it and I’m really sorry I’m going to do better in my communication, but just dental team members just thrive on that. You just verbal acknowledgment of what they’re doing right.

Reese Harper: Thanks Rachel.

Rachel Wall: My pleasure.

Reese Harper: That’s great insight, and I look forward to having another discussion soon. Thank you.

Rachel Wall: Thank you.

(Music Break)

Reese Harper: And now on to our most awaited guests of the day, Jake Conway. Jake, welcome to the program.

Jake Conway: Thanks man.

Reese Harper: As you know, this is a non-traditional day where we are not allowing people to get quite as far into their subject matter as normal because we were trying to get a highlight reel of the Voices of Dentistry. We came up with three questions. I asked them to everyone. And your first question is, the best thing that happened to Jake Conway in 2018 was what?

Jake Conway: Boy, we talked about this earlier and I thought about it for a few minutes here and have to say probably purchasing my mother the car of her dreams was the highlight of last year.

Reese Harper: Wow. That is something that makes some of us feel guilty is we have not purchased our mom a nice car yet and we probably should have right now.

Jake Conway: Is the only car I own at this point. So it’s okay.

Reese Harper: I actually don’t have a home or a car myself. So but-

Jake Conway: It was great man. Hey, you know? But that-

Reese Harper: That’s so nice-

Jake Conway: That was it.

Reese Harper: So what was the trigger that made you decide to do that? That’s awesome.

Jake Conway: Well, so, my mom has always been obviously like, I think for a lot of us, especially males has always been my cheerleader, the one to always be at my side no matter what. I’ve always known for years that her favorite car was a BMW. So for me it was a no brainer. I mean, once, once it made sense for me, like I said, it was a no brainer for me to go off and do that for her. It was a nice Christmas gift for her. And like I said, it was a no brainer.

Reese Harper: That is so funny dude. If you asked me that same question, that would have probably something very similar would have been the top of my list. I mean, my wife has been patiently driving a Honda Pilot that we’ve owned forever until December that just passed 2018.

Jake Conway: Excellent.

Reese Harper: When I finally bought her a new car.

Jake Conway: Good.

Reese Harper: That was probably one of my highlights of my year I don’t know what it is about buying someone you love a car, but that’s like a big deal.

Jake Conway: It’s a grand gesture. Right?

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Jake Conway: But the thing is, it’s not about the money. It’s not about material thing-

Reese Harper: No.

Jake Conway: It’s the gesture.

Reese Harper: You wanted the-

Jake Conway: Just appreciation.

Reese Harper: You wanted to, they’ve sacrificed to help you a ton.

Jake Conway: Exactly.

Reese Harper: It’s something that means a lot. Yeah.

Jake Conway: Yeah.

Reese Harper: Pays dividends. Jake, you’re a wise man. So the worst thing that happened to you in 2018 was what?

Jake Conway: Buying a BMW for my mother, just kidding.

Reese Harper: The financial impact of buying a BMW for my mom.

Jake Conway: Amortization tells us, so. I think the worst thing for me was actually, so this is actually, I thought about this as well. It’s kind of a two headed spear here. The worst and best thing. The worst thing was a realization that I am almost too generous to a fault, but at the same side of that token is that I realized that’s not necessarily bad thing, but I need to curb that to make sure that I can have those around me show their generosity and how they feel about me as well. So it’s kind of a like I said, a double sided coin there. But a worst thing happened to me was the realization that I’m too generous and that I should a little more handle on that. Does that make sense?

Reese Harper: Yeah. You’re good at, if you can, without getting too personal, where did this initiate from? Like what experience made you realize I’m being too generous?

Jake Conway: I think it was a lead up to that. Honestly speaking to one of our, and I consider one of my mentors, Alistair Macdonald. He was really eye opening to that and made me realize that it was a disservice to myself and those around me. So for me, this is kind of a self introspection point and for me that [crosstalk 00:27:52].

Reese Harper: I think dentists can relate to that probably a fair amount.

Jake Conway: Totally.

Reese Harper: Is at what point we are a lot of dentists’ want to please their patients. They want to please their staff and so that-

Jake Conway: Spouse.

Reese Harper: … comes at their expense, right?

Jake Conway: Totally.

Reese Harper: Spouse, family, friends. Right?

Jake Conway: Absolutely. So, yeah.

Reese Harper: You ended up doing a million in production, but 500,000 of it was in trade that you’ve got. And you ended up a couple of scooters in exchange for 500,000 production.

Jake Conway: Absolutely. That’s a great knowledge, on the play.

Reese Harper: Some sleds-

Jake Conway: Some sleds-

Reese Harper: … and some two by fours or you didn’t name it at some random stuff. You just got all this great trade.

Jake Conway: And a BMW with that of your own car.

Reese Harper: Yeah. Case. Then you see a ton of data, which is a pretty unique insight that you can bring. Tell me a little bit about the best piece of advice you’d give for dentists in 2019.

Jake Conway: So I would say have the courage to go off and discover and really dig into your numbers and find out where your opportunities and weak points are. Because even though things could be going well, things could not be going well. But just that, just discovering and finding out exactly where you’re at is gold is absolute gold.

Reese Harper: So you see a lot of dentists not understanding maybe there’s no reference point that they have into their numbers at all. That’s what you’d say. I mean, is that kind of where that piece of advice is coming from?

Jake Conway: Yeah. I mean, I’ve been doing this for quite a while now and I’d say nine times out of 10, is just a matter of finding out exactly where your numbers are, where you should be. What your overhead numbers look like, what your profitability looks like, what your debt services are and how’s that affecting your true profitability in all these different key metrics that we glossed over a lot of times when we’re talking about this, but to really dig into that and make it personal and see, like I said exactly where you stand as a practice owner and as an entrepreneur, I mean that in itself can yield amazing results because then you can find out where you can turn on a faucet, turn off a faucet, whatever the case may be to increase your overall take home.

Reese Harper: So tell me if I said to kind of dive deeper into that piece of advice. What are the, if you had to say these are three statistics, top three things I would look at if I’m looking at an overview of, of statistics about a practice. What are the top two or three things that Kind of come to mind that you’d want to see to evaluate the overall health?

Jake Conway: Production collection new patients. I’m just get everyone knows it. No, I would dive into what’s your true overhead number is meaning your fixed and variable costs outside of what you pay your associate or yourself because that’s the way to measure the true performance of your business. Right?

Reese Harper: Okay.

Jake Conway: So I would identify that number one. Number two, I would then go look to see how your debt is affecting your true take them, because I get this question all the time, Reese, Jake, my overhead looks good, my numbers are good then where’s my money going?

Reese Harper: Where’s the money going?

Jake Conway: Right?

Reese Harper: Yeah.

Jake Conway: So, I’m sure you see that to Reese, but whether it’s personal and business combined, but I would go out and find out exactly what you’re paying on your amortization schedules, including interest. Find out exactly what that number looks like and how it’s affecting your cash realization.

Reese Harper: Man, that’s great advice, Jake. I really appreciate you coming on and being part of this mash up today. I think we’re going to have to have a deeper dive session into all these statistics over the next year. Maybe that’s the 2019 goal. We can post that.

Jake Conway: I love it, man. I’d love to do that.

Reese Harper: Thanks man. I appreciate you coming on.

Jake Conway: Thank you, Reese. Appreciate you buddy.

(Music Break)

Ryan Isaac: All right. We are live at Voices of Dentistry in Scottsdale, Arizona, #VOD2019. Is that what I say? To be cool.

Michael Anderson: That’s what I’m hashtagging.

Ryan Isaac: It turns out it’s like some other weird conference that doesn’t have any relation to this one. I am with Michael and Laura with Wunderlist. I’ve got three questions for you guys. But first, give me the 30 seconds rundown on Wunderlist.

Michael Anderson: Yes Wunderlist Agencies, a full service marketing agency. We work exclusively with dentists and specialists on the dental space and we’re really known for being full service. So there’s a lot of marketing agencies out there. Some do websites, some do digital, some do local. We really take a-

Ryan Isaac: It’s involving.

Michael Anderson: … holistic approach because that’s what’s required because frankly, not everything works in every market and we have to be able to turn things on and off when we see what’s going on. We track everything back to phone calls, we use call tracking and we really pride ourselves on having a design that celebrates the practice. We’re not hiding behind stock imagery and we’ve got a fantastic team in San Diego that loves what they do.

Ryan Isaac: You guys are super nice.

Michael Anderson: Thank you.

Ryan Isaac: You say, I look like one of your friend’s name, something.

Laura Maly: Mark Bushy.

Michael Anderson: Mark Bushy.

Ryan Isaac: Bushy, shout out to Bushy. He’ll listen to this.

Michael Anderson: Oh, he’s going to, we’re going to definitely Bushy this for you(crosstalk).

Ryan Isaac: Bushy, this is for you. I apparently talk like you or something.

Michael Anderson: It’s the dude.

Ryan Isaac: So okay. I’ve got three questions for you guys. We’ll do these separately though. This would be really cool. Question number one, what is the best thing that happened to you in 2018?

Michael Anderson: I was prepped for this. Do you want me to go first?

Ryan Isaac: Oh you knew?

Laura Maly: You were prepared for this?

Michael Anderson: I heard that one. It’s got like-

Ryan Isaac: It’s an emotional-

Michael Anderson: I was walking by, I’m researching, I’m prepared. I and I didn’t know. So Laura is my wife. We were in business together.

Laura Maly: You didn’t know that?

Michael Anderson: I didn’t know. I found out today. I didn’t know she was going to be-

Ryan Isaac: Surprised.

Michael Anderson: I didn’t know she was going to be sitting here with me. So this is going to sound like a total homer, but I’m going to stick with my answer. I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary.

Ryan Isaac: Score point man.

Michael Anderson: Yeah. It’s crazy. I think about being married for one year and I know there’s a lot of people that been married a lot longer than that, but it’s a thing. It’s an accomplishment. I feel like we really, it was a good year.

Laura Maly: Marriage suites us, you hit a home run [crosstalk] in my book, you’re still correct.

Ryan Isaac: This is cool.

Michael Anderson: You did a good job. We learned a lot, That’s the thing we learned a lot. That’s what I’m proud of [crosstalk] I look at where we started and where we ended and we learned a lot.

Ryan Isaac: So it’s like the, it’s like.

Laura Maly: We bought a house this year.

Michael Anderson: I bought a house this year. Yeah [crosstalk 00:34:05].

Laura Maly: In San Diego,

Ryan Isaac: What’s your best top?

Michael Anderson: Top that.

Laura Maly: I think-

Ryan Isaac: Just give you a shout out for marriage. If you win, let’s just shut this thing down. Like you win this thing right now

Michael Anderson: Just interview me [crosstalk] just now [crosstalk] commentary.

Laura Maly: We solid fall, we celebrate our wedding anniversary. We bought a house and we closed on a great year with Wunderlist Agency. Our team is insane.

Ryan Isaac: You got to pick something.

Laura Maly: We just get fine. Then being married to you.

Michael Anderson: Oh. No that’s off the table.

Ryan Isaac: Too easy, too easy.

Laura Maly: Then behind that, the house [crosstalk 00:34:39].

Ryan Isaac: You guys are down in San Diego?

Michael Anderson: Yeah.

Laura Maly: Yeah. So that’s no small feat.

Ryan Isaac: So I’m going to ask you the same thing that everyone asks me when they’re like, oh, you live by the mountains in Utah. Are you guys surfers?

Laura Maly: No.

Ryan Isaac: See that, this is what I say-

Laura Maly: I am a couch surfer.

Ryan Isaac: … when people ask me, are you all of you [inaudible] do you ski all the time? I am like not really. They’re like, you’re wasting your life near mountains. I feel like that’s kind of a shame that you don’t surfer.

Michael Anderson: Though. This the thing though. The ocean, so on. First of all, I do some body boarding world gets out some times and we are-

Laura Maly: I believe that was occasionally.

Michael Anderson: Yeah, She’s [crosstalk 00:35:10].

Laura Maly: Ain’t frequently in most case.

Michael Anderson: [crosstalk] through to her. But the, I mean that’s the great thing in mountains too. I feel like it’s just one of those things that you get so much just being around.

Ryan Isaac: Just being around.

Michael Anderson: Being around and for sure. We take it for granted. I mean, we will go two weeks and we’re like, what are we doing?

Ryan Isaac: Everyone does go over to the ocean [crosstalk]

Laura Maly: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Ryan Isaac: Get a little beach town.

Laura Maly: We are like literally 300 yards from the water-

Ryan Isaac: Really.

Laura Maly: … which is like pathetic.

Michael Anderson: Our offices, yeah.

Ryan Isaac: You can like see it, smell it and like-

Michael Anderson: Oh, it’s the best.

Ryan Isaac: That’s really cool. Okay. Right. Well, let’s make this less happy. Little more depressing. What is the worst thing-

Michael Anderson: Oh Man.

Ryan Isaac: … that happened to you in 2018. Sounded like it was a good year though. So this might not be too bad.

Laura Maly: How honest are we being?

Ryan Isaac: Oh, this is like, this is real.

Michael Anderson: Are you editing this? Can [crosstalk] about this?

Ryan Isaac: Yeah. All this will be edited. It’s not like first take. How many followers do you guys have?

Michael Anderson: It’s like it’s, we might be like $20,000.

Laura Maly: It’s turning into a comedy bit.

Ryan Isaac: No, let’s look. All right, let’s take this at like therapists level.

Michael Anderson: Oh Wow.

Ryan Isaac: I mean, I know my answer.

Michael Anderson: Well, just You go.

Ryan Isaac: You go.

Laura Maly: I had a miscarriage earlier this year,

Ryan Isaac: Oh. Really?

Laura Maly: In 2018 was totally [inaudible] had at dental conference.

Ryan Isaac: At a dental conference?

Laura Maly: Yes damage.

Ryan Isaac: On a one year anniversary.

Laura Maly: On a one year wedding anniversary.

Michael Anderson: So our high apparently was also of low.

Laura Maly: Yeah.

Michael Anderson: I didn’t realize that. Well this is got some cemetery

Laura Maly: Do you have a couch nearby that we can lay down on it?

Ryan Isaac: Yeah, you can just like sit back.

Laura Maly: You didn’t get out your notebook.

Ryan Isaac: I remember my wife going through that on our first pregnancy too. We were three years in a marriage. That was, I’ll make this worse though actually. So that happened to her and we had to like go get both of our blood tested to see why this might have happened.

Laura Maly: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: I was in college so she calls me, I meet her at the hospital and she gets her blood and it’s just traumatic.

Laura Maly: Yeah so traumatic.

Ryan Isaac: It was really super Sad. They take my blood. I didn’t really tell anyone that I’m petrified. I have a literal phobia of giving my blood and I pass out every time from sitting in this tall chair. Why do they take a blood if there’s any phlebotomist listening, why is there a tall chair when you’re taking someone’s bloody.

Michael Anderson: You feet are dangling?

Ryan Isaac: Dangling?

Michael Anderson: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: I passed out, sideways, off the chair, hit the deck.

Laura Maly: Oh. No.

Ryan Isaac: I wake up, they’re feeding me and my wife drove me home from the hospital when we drove together for her miscarriage.

Laura Maly: Oh.

Michael Anderson: Oh my God.

Ryan Isaac: It’s terrible. I ruined it and it was awful.

Michael Anderson: I’m very sorry.

Laura Maly: But it’s a real life. I mean I’m only saying that and it’s-

Ryan Isaac: Calming.

Laura Maly: During our private life because I feel like it is common.

Ryan Isaac: It is.

Laura Maly: And it’s tough thing to deal with, especially when you’re at the helm of a growing company and it was a personal trauma, which is a real part of owning a business, a dental practice or an advertising agency.

Ryan Isaac: Well that’s such a good point too because like those things don’t separate. I think sometimes there’s this idea of like work life balance.

Laura Maly: Doesn’t exist.

Ryan Isaac: It doesn’t, as if you shut one thing off and turn another one. I mean they just blend all together and you show up to conferences and have personal tragedies that you have stopped to go on stage and talk and you start to run a business and help employees and be happy for customers and it’s just, that’s very real.

Laura Maly: It’s messy Yup.

Ryan Isaac: It is messy. Thank you for sharing that. Okay. Let’s do the third question, which is what advice would you give a dentist, and it could be any piece of advice, but probably in your area of expertise. So what, what advice would you give a dentist?

Michael Anderson: You want to go first?

Laura Maly: Yeah, I mean speaking on less, I guess less in our area of expertise, but more in the venue of entrepreneurship as a whole. Especially for those who are scratch starting or acquiring for the first time, or thinking about doing something like that. Growing a business is all about taking punches and getting back up, taking punches and getting back up. It’s pure grit. It is pure grit. And figuring that out and still getting up in the morning and doing what you know you should be doing is like, if you can drill that into your head and know it and live by that drum beat, you’ll be just fine.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. So like as a young dentist maybe starting up, I mean, you don’t it’s one thing to say like, okay, I get that, but you don’t get it until you start taking those punches.

Laura Maly: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: But maybe set the expectations that it’s going to happen. Then would you say when you start feeling like life’s kicking back at everything, you’re trying to accomplish that that’s not a sign.

Laura Maly: No.

Ryan Isaac: That you’re going down the wrong path necessarily. It’s just like, that’s just life.

Laura Maly: Yeah. It’s just a way it’s a message for you to take it for what it’s worth. Figuring out what you can do different next time and then grow.

Ryan Isaac: Cool.

Laura Maly: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Thank you. Michael.

Michael Anderson: Yeah, I’ll be a homer and go more in a area of expertise. I love that. That’s been huge for us. One thing, anyone that’s heard this talk, for us, we get questions all the time about does this marketing channel work? Do postcards work? Do Facebook ads work? what about websites? What should I do? It’s a simple answer for me. That’s, you need to be authentic and you differentiate. The easiest way to do that dentists overlook, and this is our tip years, you got to have photos and videos really just start with photos of your team, your staff. Don’t stop at the yearbook photo, don’t have the team photo and say, check that box. You want to get family, friends, perspective patients in and do a little photo shoot.

Michael Anderson: That could be with your iPhone, that could be with someone on the team who’s a hobbyist photographer. That could be actually working with a local photographer or an agency, whatever it is, but use those assets and that’s going to differentiate you in the market. And here’s my really fun pro tip for those people that want to do a little DIY stuff out there. If you want to do some of your own design, check out canva.com.

Ryan Isaac: Canva.com.

Michael Anderson: Canva is this Canva, it is the coolest tool you guys are going to say, why do I need a marketing agency?

Ryan Isaac: You’re talking like logo design or branding?

Michael Anderson: Logo design. You can design tri folds, you can design-

Ryan Isaac: Oh, actually [crosstalk]

Michael Anderson: … posters, you can design social media ads, really anything that you need for your practice and what you need to marry that with is actual photography of your practice. So that’s our pro tip for anyone that’s starting out. It’s going to change the way you look at stuff and it’s going to help you do it on a budget.

Ryan Isaac: Appreciate it. I think it’s a professional person who’s willing to say like, here’s some other places besides me where you can get some help.

Michael Anderson: For sure.

Ryan Isaac: So Cool.

Michael Anderson: Yeah.

Ryan Isaac: How can someone get in touch with the Wunderlist Agency?

Laura Maly: Yeah, you can go to Wunderlistagency.com, there is a button above the fold that says chat with Laura and you can click that and-

Ryan Isaac: I get you.

Laura Maly: … sink right into my schedule so you get to talk to one of our [crosstalk 00:41:10]-

Ryan Isaac: And that’s nice everyone, super nice.

Laura Maly: Most of the and sink right into our schedule and my schedule. And you can talk with one of the founders. Also you can email me at Laura, luramaley@wunderlistagency.com. And I will respond to you but probably not till Tuesday.

Ryan Isaac: Okay. Thanks guys for joining us. Have a good weekend and safe travels back to San Diego.

Michael Anderson: Yeah, thanks.

Laura Maly: Thanks [inaudible 00:41:33].

(Music Break)

Reese Harper: Dr. David Maloley man, what a great honor. It is again, that’d be able to interview you, man. You’re one of my favorites.

Dr. David Maloley: Oh, thank you. The honor’s all mine, you know, it’s in 2019, it’s a little bit strange that you can become friends with someone and not really know them. But today we had the opportunity to actually sit down and have a meal and get to know each other. We were fast friends via the microphone, but it’s nice to, it’s definitely nice to do it person as well.

Reese Harper: Yeah. I just love the connection that you can get from some interviews that I do. I resonate with people really quickly and it’s kind of fun to kind of see the face to face interaction and the podcast interaction kind of come together and it feels consistent. That’s when you know someone’s real, when you’re like-

Dr. David Maloley: Good point.

Reese Harper: … I met him and it felt the same. Anyway, so we’re going to start and two of the three questions we’ve been asking everyone today. The first one I want you to talk about is in the last year. We’re here looking back at 2018, what do you think, if you had to look back at 2018, what’s the most successful thing that you’ve accomplished in 2018? Or the thing that you’re the proudest of and the part of your life that you felt like was the biggest? Doesn’t have to be anything in particular. I just want to know the first thing that came to mind when I said in 2018, the best thing that happened to you was this.

Dr. David Maloley: Starting a coaching business as something that’s been kind of eating at me for a long time. I started my podcast about five years ago and I felt called, I felt like the coaching thing would eventually come, but life got in the way and the practice stage, center stage. Finally I was able to harvest out enough time to give it its due and onboard clients and feel like I was really serving them without neglecting the practice. So it’s something that’s a little bit scary because you don’t know how it’s all going to play out. But to be able to successfully execute that and not sacrifice time with my son Bennett, traveling, all the things that we had developed in our lifestyle was probably the thing that I’m most proud of because impact is my goal and I feel like I was able to do that in new ways-

Reese Harper: So cool.

Dr. David Maloley: In 2018.

Reese Harper: How did that feel different from dentistry and practicing dentistry? I’m just curious, the emotions that you had coaching that were maybe new or that kind of turns you on in a different way and lit a fire in you in a way that maybe dentistry hadn’t. How would you explain what it was about coaching that really was that fire for you?

Dr. David Maloley: I think was the newness, quite frankly. Because there’s, it’s always rewarding to get somebody out of pain. It’s always rewarding to give someone a confident and do smile. But I hate to say it, but you’ve been in the game for 15 years and it’s kind of like more of the same. I don’t ever want my occupation to feel like factory work. Sometimes I felt like I needed another entrepreneurial outlet and another way to serve. It allowed me to do that while still maintaining the chairside stuff that I’ve been doing for so long.

Reese Harper: Yeah. It’s Kind of cool. I think a lot of people have an itch they want to scratch, but I think they’d do it at a time that might put some of the stability of their life in jeopardy. So like I think the classic example, it just be that entrepreneur that has 10 business ideas never really like does one for more than like six months, but constantly just spinning. I’ve watched you really methodically, build a really successful practice and continue to sort of make sure that that stays healthy and vibrant and successful and then still be able to scratch that Itch, of something that you felt like you were missing and in a responsible way that didn’t put the golden goose in jeopardy for example. Right?

Dr. David Maloley: Right.

Reese Harper: I guess, that’s a really important lesson that a lot of people can kind of learn from. I don’t know if you consciously had to do that or if that was just your nature, but.

Dr. David Maloley: I did because I was in people that know my story through the podcast, like I was in dire straits for a long time. Like I thought I was going to crash and burn. I remember those days of looking at my son in the crib and like literally trembling from anxiety saying, I don’t know how I’m going to make this happen, but I’ll figure it out.Once I figured it out, I don’t want to go backwards. So some of that’s emotional, some of that’s powerful lessons, but I think I kind of believe in I have it all lifestyle and I don’t want one thing to come at the risk of another meaning business shouldn’t undermine relationships. They should all be, I think success is a byproduct of alignment. I needed for my own sake and soul to make sure that these things work in harmony with one another, because I know the, I know the tug of Warfarin feeling and you’ve always, or just feeling guilt because you feel like your time should be spent doing the thing you’re not doing.

Reese Harper: Yeah. That’s awesome. Okay, we’re going to go on to question number two. Question number two is, if you think about the last year, what is the hardest thing that happened? Not the best, but the hardest. What’s the thing that stands out as the most challenging thing and what did you learn from that?

Dr. David Maloley: I live in a resort area and there’s a high cost of living. The one thing that I didn’t realize when I started my family and practice there was the effect that would have on Team. 2017 was almost a magical year for me. I remember being at the Christmas party at the end of 2017 thinking like, my life is now better than what I dreamed. In January of 2018 I got a resignation from my longest term employee. She moved back to Oklahoma and it started a domino. Next person is moving back to Denver. Literally, I turned over my entire team except for one full time team member. It was difficult. I was in a space middle of the year and June and July where I was like, I thought it was over this and it was, to use a metaphor, I felt like I had built up this beautiful sand castle and I didn’t take into account where the tide is and all of a sudden it was just getting wiped out. I was starting to have flashbacks from the startup days.

Reese Harper: Interesting.

Dr. David Maloley: But we came out the other end. Thankfully. I think if I can shine a light on the optimistic side, I think your biggest challenges can quickly become your biggest blessings. I never went into the dental office more than 11 or 12 days a month. The numbers still looked really solid and that’s a byproduct of the culture that we had worked so hard on. They attract the right people and they kind of repelled the wrong people. I went through some hygienists and they’re the pillars of our practice. They build a rapport, they drive the case acceptance, and you start getting warm bodies in there and you start worrying about your reputation. And it was a fight. It was a fight.

Reese Harper: That’s great insight. I think a lot of people can relate to how challenging it is to have turnover and feel like there’s just so much time and energy and investment that goes into building your human capital, building up a person, training someone, getting to the point where they can almost finish their senses. Then to, and then just start over. It can be pretty depressing for people and kind of leave them in a spot where they feel like they don’t want to keep trying.

Dr. David Maloley: Yeah.

Reese Harper: They don’t want to do that again. They don’t want to. I’ve had many people tell me, what, I’m just tired of that. I don’t want to hire, try and associate again. I don’t want to try to go to dental hygiene again.

Dr. David Maloley: No.

Reese Harper: It’s just too much. I think that’s a big thing people can relate to. But okay, last question of the lightning round here will be, I want you to give us one piece of advice for a dentist. If you can give someone the best piece of advice you could give. Based on your experience as a practice owner, a coach, consultant, what would that piece of advice be for 2019?

Dr. David Maloley: I would say run into the fire the now that I’ve been in this coaching game for awhile, I feel like dentists by and large are very kind and generous people, but that also sometimes makes them people pleasers. And that can undermine the leadership ability because if you’re trying to make everyone happy, you make nobody happy. And sometimes you just have to collide and set the expectation and it’s not in our nature, but know that the avoidance of that, the abdicating of the leadership will cause you more problems and hardship than actually just addressing the situation.

Dr. David Maloley: Certainly do it with a kind heart. I like to ask lots of questions, almost like coaching my team and to the right decision as opposed to dictating them. But avoidance is the worst option because like a fire, you let that thing fester and it can run out of control, or can start effecting other team members going viral in a negative way. So, I think that’s the thing is having courage and confidence and building yourself up as a leader that you know ignoring this problem is not an option. I have to run into it and put it out quickly to make sure that your asset, your baby in the practice is always well maintained. Because that’s your responsibility.

Reese Harper: That’s great insight man. David takes so much for taking the time to pop in. I’m looking forward to having another full episode with you at some point in the next year or so. Thanks a lot for taking the time and look forward to getting up on the ski slopes with you soon.

Dr. David Maloley: Yeah, man, thanks. So Reese, I love what you do and respect to who you are, so thanks for helping so many of our colleagues out because I think, it’s a rewarding thing but to see people get some semblance of freedom, whether it be financial or just peace of mind or being able to sleep at night, dentists are desperately in need of that. And I always love to be able to point them to a trusted resource. And I know you’re one of those, I thank you.

Reese Harper: Thanks a lot, man. Look forward to doing it again.

Dr. David Maloley: Appreciate it.

Reese Harper: Thanks again for listening, guys. I really hope that you enjoyed the show.

Advisors, Getting Organized