How long did it take you to get into dentistry? I mean, really… think back all the way to the beginning. You may have been like me and chose it when you were just a kid. That’s a pretty early start! I developed a crush on dentistry before my teen years, but I never actually dated dentistry before marrying it. Instead, it was as if I created an ideal image of dentistry just from studying it’s Bumble profile. I thought dentistry would be a certain way, but when reality didn’t match my hopes, I obsessed about the quickest way to...
How long have you talked about change without really getting anywhere? That used to be me. All I did was talk, talk, talk about how I wanted to find a new career, or quit dentistry, or finally be happy and have fun in my life. I was all talk and no action. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. No matter how often I googled “other jobs dentists can do,” it never led me anywhere. The problem was I was too scared to take even the tiniest baby step forward. Playing it safe kept me stuck...
In January, I spoke about shifting your energy to shift your burnout at the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention (RMDC) 2024. Here is an overview of the discussion, as featured in the corresponding issue of the MDDS Articulator magazine (page 14.) Do you ever feel burnt out by burnout? The word is everywhere these days. I’ll admit, as someone who loves helping others reduce burnout, even I sometimes get sick of hearing it. There’s a reason this word gets so over-abundantly used though. Burnout is currently the pervasive problem that we, as a profession, still struggle to solve. During my decade...
If you’re ready to get into action and start your side gig once and for all, there’s no better way to do it than on a safari. You might be wondering what the heck I’m talking about. I mean, what does a safari and side gigs have in common? They both create the adventure of a lifetime, and that’s why I’ve decided to combine the two to bring you Safari N Side Gigs! I’ve partnered with Morris Mugo, founder of Safari N Smiles, to bring an epic event to dentistry specifically for people like you and me. Morris is a dental...
Do you ever take road trips anymore? The last road trip I took was in dental school– that’s over 20 years ago! It made sense at the time. We had an extended break and very little money to pay for travel. Based on the time commitment and the lack of comfort, I thought they were a thing of my past. But a few months ago, the road trip came back on my radar. My mom moved into a smaller house, and she had some goodies that she wanted to share with me. It wasn’t enough stuff to pay for a...
Do you love travel? Is it of high value for you to create great experiences in your life? Would you love to fly across the ocean to an exotic destination and get to enjoy the thrill of business class travel? Do you want all of that without breaking the bank? If you answered yes to any of those questions, listen up! I’ve partnered with longtime friend, Roger Kleckner, aka the Miles Mentor, to bring the art of affordable luxury travel to you. You might be wondering what this has to do with side gigs and career design. Well, it’s part...
I am an entrepreneur. Believe it or not, that’s a little hard for me to say. Today I was writing an email to a friend who is my client’s daughter. We don’t always become friends with our clients’ or patients’ families, do we? Unlike the days in dentistry, when I felt like I wanted to keep some level of separation from my patients in our relationships, now I get to become great friends with all of my clients. They share their personal lives, and when appropriate, I even get to connect with their families. I feel so grateful for it....
Dentists should never clean teeth. If you’re unhappy in dentistry, you should buy a practice. Those who can’t do, teach. We dental professionals have some strong opinions, don’t we? Statements like these create our reality about dentistry and have become a defining part of our dental culture. For decades, we have perpetuated beliefs about the way dentistry SHOULD be– without really questioning other possibilities. This messaging was passed down to us in school and in practice. Luckily, today more people are speaking up and challenging these long-held beliefs: The only way to be successful in dentistry is to own a...
Don’t you just love a good overnight success story? It could involve the dumb luck of getting “discovered” by a talent agent while being featured on a Jumbotron at a football game (yes, I’m actually referencing Pamela Anderson here on my blog.) Or it might be like the recent story of the nurse whose TikTok video lead her to a new career. After her interior design transformation of her sister’s college dorm room went viral, she decided to leave nursing to become an interior designer. No matter how it happens, when we look in from the outside, these huge leaps...
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in with your dental community? I felt that a lot throughout my decade in practice. Whenever I showed up to local CE or dental society events, I felt invisible. It was hard to genuinely connect with other dentists within the community, and I didn’t think I had much in common with most of the people I met. So I slowly pulled away from the social aspects of the dental community. After all, I wasn’t getting much satisfaction from it. Plus, I felt tired of eating, sleeping, breathing, and discussing dentistry all the...
