Dental A Team Podcast

Kiera Dent
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Dental A Team Podcast

This podcast is here to give dentists and all dental office team members, in EVERY position, TACTICAL and PRACTICAL TIPS to: - Be more efficient - Have more fun - Improve doctor and team communications - Eliminate frustration - And make your life easier! Jump in! We are thrilled you have decided to LEVEL UP and be part of the DENTAL A TEAM! New episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

  1. HÁ 18 H

    #938: Fitness Amid Everyday Business

    “Humans want to move, and life gets in the way.” Those are the words of Laura, Kiera’s personal trainer, who’s the guest for this episode. Together, Kiera and Laura discuss overcoming the often quite sedentary life of dentistry professionals by bringing on a source of accountability. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.9) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today I am so freaking pumped to introduce you to one of my dearest friends, someone who has transformed my life and that I just cannot wait to introduce to this audience. Welcome to the show, Laura, my personal trainer, macro guru, the one who knows all the things, who's helped me through so many personal injuries and actually has been able to like make a busy life, work with working out. Laura, welcome to the show today.   Laura (00:04.089) And so, we're going to end it here.   Laura (00:27.021) Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.   Kiera Dent (00:29.614) I'm so happy you're here because I think that you have changed my life and you and I were chatting at the gym the other day and we actually talked about, well, I work with dentists, dentists are very busy, entrepreneurs are very busy, office managers are very busy and yet figuring out how to fit in this working out, eating healthy, taking care of ourselves. And you made a comment, you said, Kiera, they invest in their businesses, but their businesses require them to be their highest self like.   Let's do a podcast and talk about that. So I'm super jazzed to have you here today. Talk about all things. And as a fun side note, I did look up some data and believe it or not, if you work out, you make more money. So let's just add a little plug there too. But Laura, like let's kind of tell our listeners a little bit about you. How did you get into working out? How did you get into being this macro fitness guru that you've become that's changed the lives of so many? Kind of just walk us on your journey today.   Laura (01:00.461) Yes.   Laura (01:09.049) There we go.   Laura (01:21.921) Yeah, I would love to. My journey started in college. I, like many other women, grew up insecure, like judging myself, comparing myself to other women. And I just came to a point in college, I remember the moment where I just realized   I don't want to live my life this way anymore. I want to feel confident. I want to feel strong. I felt disconnected to my younger self in a way. I grew up not necessarily in high school, more like actual elementary school. In my childhood years, I was very active. I did sports, I did gymnastics. And then you get into high school. I didn't do anything in high school. And then comes college and I just felt very disconnected to myself.   And I wanted to get back to that playful, confident, able person, able to do the things I wanted to do. And so I started going to the gym, had no idea what I was doing. I would just climb the StairMaster the whole time. And slowly, the gym I was working out at was kind of the StairMasters where   upstairs and you could look down into the rest of the gym. And I would just see at that time, this was like a decade ago or more, there were no women in the gym and all the girls were upstairs on the ellipticals and the stair masters and then all the dudes were downstairs. And I don't know, I just, started to see what they were doing and copied a little bit, you know, did a couple of the machines that I knew how to do, started to get hooked.   and was like, you know what, what if I made this a career? And I got certified in 2014 and the rest is history. mean, there's actually a lot more to it, but that's basically how it started. And fast forward to now, I feel extremely connected to my younger self through my movement. I have created a beautiful life that I'm able to do what I love and...   Kiera Dent (03:13.978) you   Laura (03:29.613) And yeah, help other women connect to their own bodies and their younger selves as well.   Kiera Dent (03:33.914) I love it. And I love that you went through this journey because I think so many of us, well, I'll speak for myself. I'm not gonna speak for all the listeners. I feel like an idiot at the gym. They have reels about people at the gym of like idiots using like equipment so many times and we're at the gym. Laura was originally virtual. We started out virtual and I actually wanna get into like virtual versus in-person training and if there's a difference because when people are busy, there's solutions that way.   Laura (03:43.629) Thank   Kiera Dent (04:01.028) but I felt like such an idiot. And I think something that you've done for me, and that's why I wanted to bring you on here is because I feel like I was the worst workout person in the world. Like honestly, I feel like Laura should have fired me as a client. So we had a really rough start and I think it was honestly fear of my, like where I was at, fear of not knowing what I'm doing. Also, I do run a busy life. Laura, you told me I'm the second busiest person that you know, second to a lawyer. So I felt like that was like, all right, my life is a little bit more exciting.   but I also had a lot of injuries. And so that was why I hired a personal trainer is because I was actually losing so much muscle mass that I was starting to get more injuries because the current injuries were causing me not to do anything, which then was leading to more problems. And so was thinking about how many dentists and how many team members do we sit there all day long? We're very sedentary. I remember as an assistant and doctors, you're like, I don't sit, I don't even have time to pee, which I get, hear you.   but we're sitting there and yes, you're ergonomically correct, but it's like we work all day long. Where do we actually put in time for this body that's serving us? That's creating like the experience for our patients. Like where do we do that? And so even in the time Laura and I have worked together, I changed it from working out to honoring my body. And so Laura, I really wanted to dig into this of like, you've worked with a lot of people, you're a personal trainer, you're freaking genius at it. I love that you have modified so many workouts for me to be able to lift, to get strong.   Like just yesterday we were working out and we saw back muscles on me and like, that's something I haven't had for seven years. And so I'm excited because coming from a space where I couldn't lift, couldn't squat. couldn't lunge. Like literally none of those things were in my life. I have a very strong issue with food. I grew up anorexic most of my life and Laura, I know that you've been on a journey with that as well. And I think just all these different factors. I'm busy. People are busy. You were able to find like this, like.   little crack of sunshine in my life and then expand it more to where in my week I look out like look forward to working out. We've like reworked my schedule to make that a priority. And so I'm just curious, you work with a ton of people you worked with me. Let's bring this to the table. How do people when they're so busy, when they're so exhausted, when they've got the kids, they've got the job, they've got all the people like how do you even start working out? How does this even become a reality for people?   Kiera Dent (06:22.136) What do you tell people when they're in that spot? Because I think every person listening to this podcast is probably there.   Laura (06:27.225) Yeah, I think we all have some desire inside of us to move. Humans want to move and life gets in the way. And I think the determining factor of are you going to do this or not is are you willing to think deeply enough about why it's important in your life? Like what happens if you don't do this? Take yourself five, 10 years, 15, 20 years down the road.   What does life look like once you've retired and you have all this money to spend and all this adventure to have, but your body is not working properly and you can't truly experience life in the way that you want because your body is failing you. Like take yourself there, take yourself to that hard, reality that if you don't figure this out, you're going to have this experience of life. Or what if you do look at your life one year from now, if you decide to just commit 30 minutes a week.   Even if it's 10 minutes at a time, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10 minutes, first thing in the morning, I wake up and I get on my Peloton or I do three sets of 20 squats. Like just start so small. What does life look like in a year? If you start that now and you don't stop in 10 years and 20 years, the trajectory of your life will be so different. And I think it's, that is the, like I said, determining factor, whether or not someone commits to this for the long haul.   You have to be very realistic about your about your situation and what you want out of life, know We're so serious about building businesses and making money and being successful But what happens once you get there and you don't have the vessel to carry you through that's that's very that's scary to me So that's that's where I take people   Kiera Dent (07:57.722) Hmm.   Kiera Dent (08:09.496) I agree. I completely agree. And I love that you did this because like at Tony Robbins, he calls it the like Ebenezer Scrooge experience where you like, he literally makes you walk down. It's like terrifying. You hear all these like thousands of people screaming like how awful it'd be. But I don't think we actually like make this as much of a reality. I don't think we see it. And for me, I thought, okay, I really do have a vision of myself. Tiff will tell you, gosh, it's awesome. Tiff and I have committed that we're gonna be like.   98 year old grannies. I'm gonna have cotton candy pink hair. She

    38min

  2. HÁ 5 DIAS

    #937: The Full Picture of Practice Success

    Tiff and Dana start their first episode of the 2025 focused on getting the entire practice team on board with goals. This doesn’t mean just the numbers or just the patient experience, but all the pieces of the puzzle. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:01.926) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be back here today. We are recording quite a few podcasts today, Dana and I, and this is our second up, so we should still be super fresh for you. Just kidding, we're always fresh. Dana, your hair looks amazing. You guys know it's hair and leggings and workouts, apparel and...   protein bars for me. Like she is my girl who shares all of my same hopes, dreams, wishes, and desires in life. So Dana, your hair looks amazing today. I love it. Yeah. I used my...   Dana (00:33.454) Well, you know, I'm podcasting with Tiff. I had to put a little effort in.   The Dental A Team (00:38.46) Well, thank you. went and straightened it real quick, but I used my my crimper thing yesterday. I've used it quite a few times on my new haircut. I wasn't sure how it was going to work, but it worked. For all you male dentists out there listening, just give me a stitch. I'm sorry.   Dana (00:43.854) Let's go!   The Dental A Team (00:51.26) Dana, made her, this is like a year and a half, two years ago now, something like that. I made her give me a tutorial because she was doing this weird thing with her hair and I was like, my God, it looks so good. I need to know how to do my hair like that. She's like, just get this thing. I'm like, yeah, but I don't think you understand. I need a tutorial. So she literally did a tutorial for me on how to wave my hair. And it is actually really cute with my new cut. So thank you, Dana, for stepping up my game, my hair game.   and all of the other games. Your Tip Tuesdays, I'm always like dying to see what it's going to be. I have protein bars because of you. I have so many things. So thank you, Dana, for having all of the tips and the tricks in your back pocket every single time.   Dana (01:36.022) can't take credit for it, I'm constantly asking my girlfriends, hey, what are you guys doing? Give me all the products too. So a lot of them are tips that have been shared with me that I just pass on.   The Dental A Team (01:46.182) That's what this world is about, right? Everything we share on this podcast are things that we've learned along the way, either on our own from exploration or because we learned it from somebody else. And that is the beauty, I think, of life and really being able to have that community and that camaraderie where you can share those things. So you have your girlfriends, our doctors here at the Dental A Team have each other. We have a...   An amazing doctors group that I feel like is just like that, Dana, where I see things go off all the time on the little texting app and they're like, my gosh, what do you guys have for this? Or what new bond are you using? My bond sucks. Or cosmetic stuff. So I think that's...   That's how we do it. That's how we move along and that's how we were meant to do it. We were never meant to do life solo. We were meant to do life in groups with incredible, amazing people. And we are here for it every single day. We love our clients. We love you guys who are our clients and we love you guys who are not yet our clients. And we have those communities for you. So look for them. Instagram, Facebook, we've got all kinds of communities there for our clients who are listening. If you don't know what I'm talking about with this doctor,   collaboration sucker, you better be texting me right now. Same with Dana. If you are our client and you don't know what I'm talking about, you better be texting me right now. Let's get you in there. Awesome. Dana, today I really wanted to talk about teams and how doctors and leaders, so doctors and probably office managers, business administrators, can really utilize the team to help push goals.   I think oftentimes we have clients that come in, they onboard, and I hear a lot of the time, and Dana, I think you might as well, I don't talk to my team about numbers because I don't want them to think that I'm numbers driven. And I think it's super freaking common in the dental world because we have a really hard time differentiating black and white numbers and emotions. And   The Dental A Team (03:44.13) I always like to say that emotions are fleeting, the way I felt when I woke up this morning, drastically different than how I feel right now. And that was like six hours, seven hours ago. Like within a day, I've had so many emotions come and go that if I'm constantly weighing out if something's working right or not, or if I'm growing or if I'm happy, if I'm sad, I'm just constantly trying to weigh out what that looks like based on my feelings, it's gonna be very difficult. But dentistry, we are in the   care profession and we are saturated, luckily I think this is an incredible asset to all of us, we are saturated with emotional beings, highly emotionally intelligent human beings that are keyed in first to how we feel.   So bringing in that numbers aspect can feel cold and sterile and it can feel like, Tiff, I'm here for the patients. I'm here for the patient experience. I don't wanna talk about the numbers. I've literally had a doctor say, I don't wanna look at the numbers. I don't wanna talk about them. And I said, okay, you don't want to yet, but we're gonna get there. Now Dana, I know you've had that as well. What do you feel is the reason that you've seen or reasons that you've experienced that doctors or business administrators might not want to talk about numbers?   Dana (04:58.923) Yeah, I think a lot of it comes from a fear of when they talk about numbers, the team sees that only as profit, right? Or dollars, dollars, right? When we talk about numbers and dollars that go directly to the doctor or to the owner. And so I always feel like   The Dental A Team (05:08.433) Yeah.   Dana (05:16.692) Yeah, we want to talk about production. We want to talk about collections. We want to talk to dollars. We also want to talk about expenses, right? You want your team to have a full picture of numbers, not just the dollar, because when they have a full picture of the numbers and they also know what those numbers tell them in relation to patient care and patient experience, and all of those are part of numbers. And so I feel like you can't talk about numbers without talking about those other things too. And you can't highlight, like you have to highlight what the numbers tell you about those pieces, which are the   The Dental A Team (05:22.214) Correct.   Dana (05:46.808) that usually rally up the team that they really care about that are the reasons why they are there. And so when you make those connections of, yes, these are dollars, but these dollars tell us about patient care. These dollars tell us what an amazing patient experience we're creating for our patients. These dollars tell us how great we are at getting our patients to accept the treatment that we recommend to them. And these dollars come with expenses. And so they aren't just profit. They aren't just dollars that are sitting in a bank somewhere and accumulating interest.   The Dental A Team (06:10.789) Yeah.   Dana (06:16.384) and making you as the owner, right? And you as the owner should you take all the risk, right? So don't feel guilty about that either. You take all of the risk. It is all of your license. It is all in everything that you've created. So also don't feel guilty if you make a healthy profit from your practice. But I think when you have a full picture.   The Dental A Team (06:21.498) Yeah.   Dana (06:33.334) of expenses and what they tell you and all of those things numbers become really easy to talk about and team members can start to get behind those numbers when they understand what those numbers are telling them about the things that they care about.   The Dental A Team (06:49.692) Totally agree. I 100 % stand by everything you just said. One thing that you made me think of is, because you're talking about this profit piece, gosh, I think a lot of dentists, you all want the profit, but I think a lot of you feel almost guilty for the profit, and especially when it comes to the numbers. That's why sometimes you don't want to talk about it. I totally understand that. But I think what you forget to see in that,   is how much decision making becomes easier when you know the numbers. When you know that you're truly profitable and when the practice knows you're truly profitable, the team meaning that it makes it much easier to make decisions. So can we take an extra day off next month because there's a festival in town and we all want to go to it? Can we buy the ultrasonic or the autoclave or the cavatron? how many cavatrons do we get asked for at the end of the year you guys? I just had one, I just had a call today.   Dana (07:41.003) you   The Dental A Team (07:44.966) They're like, hygiene department needs a cavern shot, and we need an ultrasonic, we need a sterilizer, and I'm like, cool, we've got to figure out where that's coming from. But the team, I mean the team, I just had this call with this doctor this morning, he's one of my favorite doctors I talked to, him and his wife. We have...   like tenfold changed their money and their financial situation and their practice and it has been incredible. They went from like an 82 % overhead to typically they're like 57 to 62 % right now. They're profiting, they're able to put money aside. He has a CE bucket I make him put money in, all of these different pieces. He's just bought a new practice to expand. It's huge. All of this stuff has happened in the last couple of years but it

    25min

  3. HÁ 6 DIAS

    #936: 2025: The Year to Thrive

    Happy New Year! Instead of setting resolutions to start off 2025, Kiera tries a different route: identity changes. What fights can you stop starting in your personal or professional life in order to become the best person, the best dental hygienist, the best doctor, the best _______ you can be in the new year? Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.878) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy 2025. I feel so honored to be with you on New Year's Day today. I mean, I'm calling 2025 the year to thrive and no longer survive. Like, let's get real. Let's get on this. Let's stop surviving and let's start thriving. And so to kick off New Year's today, I was thinking about it. And usually on New Year's around this time, we're all setting our goals. We're setting our resolutions.   And I actually want to give you a different spin. Are you open for it? Like, let's start 2025 on a different note. And that is maybe instead of setting resolutions, let's set identity changes this year. Resolutions are fighting. Let's change that verbiage and change how we think about that. I'm so excited. I love this podcast. I love all of you. And I was thinking about resolutions and resolutions are like,   you know, I want to lose weight or I want to be this leader or I want my practice to be there. And I think resolutions are different than goals and changing an identity is actually the fastest way to do it. One of my favorite quotes of all time is the need to stay like the greatest, like the greatest driver within the human being is the need to stay consistent with who we believe we are, not who we actually are, but who we believe. And so changing identity,   is actually the fastest way to grow and to evolve and to hit the goals and to hit the resolutions. It's not just setting a resolution like up like a sticky note on a wall. Like I want to be this. Okay, great. But if we don't believe we are so like there was an example and they said like, I don't know if I can stop smoking. I've been a smoker. I am a smoker. You know, I'm gonna try really hard. Well, in their mind, they're still a smoker. So trying to put it up there, I'm gonna stop smoking is actually fighting against who they believe they are.   And that's a fight rather than a flow versus saying like, I'm not a smoker. Like I'm an identity. I don't smoke. I'm not a smoker for me. I've never smoked in my life. I'm not a smoker. That wouldn't even be a thing. Like, but I take it on of I'm not a smoker. And so oftentimes I love the book by James Clear, Atomic Habits. There were things I liked about things I didn't like about it. The overall piece that I really, really loved though, was when he talks about sometimes getting to these resolutions means we need to start thinking as that person.   Kiera Dent (02:20.942) So if maybe today I don't feel like I'm not a smoker and I'm trying to get there, it would be like, what does a person who doesn't smoke do? And we start to act like them. And I have a really great example of my mom. My mom, she went and met with her doctor and her doctor said, you've got to start having more exercise in your life. You're not getting enough steps. You're not having any of these things and you need to start hitting 10,000 steps a day. Well, my mom, I was watching her and her and I started doing it. I had like, I'm just...   I enjoy a good challenge. And so when we were in Tokyo, I got several days in a row of hitting over 10,000 steps and there was a badge of hitting 30 days in a row. And so I was like, sweet, I'm going to hit 30 days. Like I'm to hit 10,000 steps. Like we're just going to do it. And my mom was doing it. I'm like the doctor told her she needed to do this. And it was really interesting. I remember meeting up with my mom one day and she's like, Kiera, how are your steps? And I was like, great. I've got like this, I did this earlier today. I set up my schedule. Like I went for my walk or whatever it was.   I was like, well, you know, maybe I'll get it tonight. Maybe I won't. And in that moment, I thought like, my mom has this is just like a hope and a wish rather than an identity. And not to say I was better than her. It was just for me, I had already decided like, this is what I do. This is who I am. And I'm going to hit this like, period. I don't care what I've got to do. If I've got to walk at midnight, I'll do that. In airports, I'm like rolling my suitcase up and down and walking just because it was something I was committed to. I remember my mom and I were talking and I said, mom,   Like I pulled James, James Clear into the equation. said, mom, like, what would a healthy person do that would hit their steps every day? And I said, maybe just consider that. And so my mom started actually asking herself the question. She's like, well, like, what would a healthy person do? They would start taking a walk on their lunch break. And I was so proud of my mom. My mom started taking walks on her lunch break. And then my mom said, like, a healthy person would get up in the morning and they'd go for a walk before they'd go to work. So my mom started getting up and going for a walk at work or before work.   And then my mom, was interesting. I was listening to her and she's like, you know, I've already been prepping like it's going to be winter time and it's going to be like rainy and snowy. And she's like, I don't like the cold. And so she's like, what would a healthy person do with that? They would go walk at the mall and they would plan their schedule to be able to go do that. And I was so proud of my mom because she went from someone who was like, maybe I'll get this AKA setting a resolution to this is who I am. This is my identity. I am this healthy person.   Kiera Dent (04:42.466) but she had to get there by thinking of herself as this other person. What would this person do? And so when we're looking at our businesses and we're looking at our goals and we're looking at the things we want to do, what would a doctor who produces 3 million a year do? What would a CEO who owns a $3 million business, what would they do? What would an office manager who runs a $2.5 million practice, what would they do? How would they start their day? What things would they actually work on? What things would they delegate? What things would they not do?   What things would they, how would they present their cases? How would they close their cases? How would they follow up with their cases? If it was a hygienist who produced 3.3 times their pay, what would that hygienist do? They would be looking at their schedule every single day. They would be checking for comp exams and for x-rays when their x-rays are due. They would be looking for fluoride and adjunct services, sealants. They would be tracking their metrics. They would be tracking their numbers. They would be adding these things to their patient schedules because they're obsessed about their patients and want their patients to thrive.   What would a dental assistant do that could add same day treatment every single day? They'd be prepping their schedule. They would be talking to the treatment coordinators of how do we up our, how do we talk to the patients about this? They would be figuring it out. They would be looking at their schedule all the time. They'd be talking to the patients. They'd be helping the patients realize this is better for them and they don't have to come back for multiple visits. What would a biller do that has 98 % collections? And they don't spend all day doing it. They would be   prioritizing their time, they'd be doing their insurance verification in batches. They would be calling patients instead of sending statements. They'd be proactive with that. They'd be collecting balances when the patients are in the chair. They'd be working their 90, 60, 30 days. They would be having set aside time. They would have a schedule set up to where they actually followed through on this. They would not make excuses for it. And they would own their results. And I think if we think this way and we change our identities, and again, maybe we're not there today,   But as we're setting these resolutions, what would someone who has great family work-life balance do? Well, they would set up their date nights for their spouse. They would set up their kid time. Those would be the first things. They would have their work schedule in there. If they know that they only want to work four days a week, they then build a schedule with block scheduling. And they start to realize that they might add additional treatment in, higher dollar treatment, whether it's cosmetic or implants or sleep or different things like that. They would look at it.   Kiera Dent (07:06.06) A CEO of a practice would be looking at their numbers every single day, if not weekly. The reality is you've got to know your numbers forwards and backwards. They would love numbers and obsess about numbers. They would love to solve puzzles and crack codes. They would make sure that they empower their team to make decisions and that they're focusing on the top pieces. They would hold their team accountable. They would have agreements. They would make sure that this team is actually operating at the highest level. And if they don't know how to do it, they would hire people to help train their team to do it.   a doctor who's producing three million. They're confident with their presentations. They aren't afraid to tell patients what they need. They're very good with their case acceptance. They're really good with their handoffs. They're really good with their comprehensive diagnosis. If they're not good with that, they would put in AI, so Pearl or Overjet, to use on their x-rays to make it easier for them. But they would actually get confident presenting treatment. Now, what does a con

    17min

  4. 31/12/2024

    #935: Prompts to Reflect on 2024

    On this final day of 2024, Kiera gives listeners a series prompts to reflect on the past year — personal, professional, and many stops in between. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.964) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy New Year's Eve. I cannot believe 2024 is wrapped up. We're done. Like chalk it up. We're done. Can you believe that it is 2025 in less than 24 hours? You'll be ringing in that new year and I hope you do it with Dental A Team. Of course we'll be there celebrating with you. But 2024, 2024, can you believe it's wrapped up? It's done. It's packaged up. We can't go back in time. We can't change things.   All we can do is reflect and celebrate and look forward to next year. And so I'm so excited. I thought I'd just pop on quickly today of let's do a quick reflection. Let's think about how it was. I love New Year's Eve. And this is probably 1 of my favorite holidays because gosh, like a few, man, this is before I got married. So we're talking 15 years ago. I only been married for 13 years. So I'm guessing 13, 14 years ago is how long ago it was. But I remember.   sitting there and I said, I love new days because new days are brand new days with no mistakes. And I thought about that with new years and like how much excitement is there of like, it's a brand new year with no mistakes. It's a brand new year. It's a clean slate. And how beautiful is it that we get to have this every 365 days most years to be able to clean slate, to be able to say, all right, that's who I was in 2024. And this is who I'm going to emerge into in 2025. And I think people who really are very consistent on doing this and   Spending a little bit of time on today New Year's Eve where we sit and we actually journal So I'm gonna give you a few journal prompts if you want To reflect back and I know I've had a few podcasts over the next couple over the last few months about reflection But today's like the pinnacle day of it So if you've already done this amazing if not, I'm also gonna give you some personal things to think about too So of course technical and life life and dentistry like I said life is my passion dentistry is my platform and so   Let's just think about today as we're going through. Number 1, I want you to think about your personal life. I want you to look at your physical body. I want you to look at your health and I want you to rate yourself on a 1 to 10. How is your physical body? How is your health compared to where you would like it to be? Is it a 10? Like I'm 10 out of 10. I'm perfect. I'm a nine. I'm an eight. I'm a seven. If you're on the path there, be generous with yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself. But let's look at our physical bodies. Okay. So 1 to 10, how are you doing on your physical body?   Kiera Dent (02:24.33) 1 to 10, next 1. How are you on your personal relationships? Like, let's start with like your marriage or your intimate relationship. 1 to 10, is that like, if I were to go talk to your spouse or your boyfriend, girlfriend, whomever it is, your significant other, if I were to ask them how, like on a 1 to 10, how are they showing up for you? What kind of a relationship do you have? Is 10 like, it's off the charts. We have incredible, incredibly passionate relationship. I feel like they support me, they love me.   Where are we at on a 1 to 10 with your, and that's how are you showing up for them? And also like, how are they showing up for you? But we really, we can only control ourselves. So let's rate ourselves on how are we showing up? How is our relationship compared to where we want to be? If you're not in a relationship, great, it's not a 10. How are you on that? 1 to 10. Next up is how is your personal relationship with yourself? What's your self talk to yourself? Is it positive? Is it negative? How do you view yourself?   Are you proud of yourself? Are you someone that you would want to know? Are you not? How is that? 1 to 10. Next, how is your mind? What do you do for your mental health? From meditation to mindfulness to stillness to having control over the thoughts that come your way. 1 to 10, how's your mind? All right, let's move on to how is your fun in life? We'll put travel.   I think travel is an easy 1. 1 to 10, how did you do on your vacations and the travel you wanted to take this year? 1 to 10, was it 10? Like it was off the charts for me and Jason, it was a 10. We had an incredible year this year. We traveled, we saw so many incredible things. We made so many memories. It was amazing. 1 to 10, how are your hobbies and things outside of work? How is that? 1 to 10. For me, it's like a five. Do a lot of hiking, but not as many hobbies as maybe I would like to do. Okay, so we've got quite a few things on your personal life.   How is that, we can also put in there like your expansion, your growth, so like reading books and expanding your mind, listening to podcasts, maybe not necessarily dental, but things. How is that? 1 to 10. How are you doing on that? Now I want you to dig into like, let's talk about your wealth and your financials. How are you financially? And we can talk in two different levels. So could have two different 1 to 10s on here. How are your financials as far as your take home pay? Where is that at 1 to 10 of where you'd like it to be?   Kiera Dent (04:48.548) And then your next 1 would be, is it on your, you're setting up for your financial freedom for longterm. 1 to 10, how are you doing on that? Are we saving for retirement? Do we have our 401ks in place? Do we feel like when we want to retire that we'll be able to retire and do it with ease? Or are we not on track at that at all? And team members, this is for you too. Doctors, this is a great 1 that you can share with your team. Okay, so we've got our personal life. We've got our health. We have our...   Our expansion, have our finances. Now let's look at our business. How was your year this year on a 1 to 10? 10 was like, it was freaking awesome. We hit our goals. We had a ton of fun. Like I'm just living my life. It's like, you know, we're getting there. 5 is like, whoo, like treading water some days, winning some days. 2 is like, I'm treading water every single day and I don't know if I can do this anymore. Where's your practice at? 1 to 10. How about your team? Let's do your team. 1 to 10.   How are they? Is it the dream team, everyone you want? Do have a few bad apples in there? Just some people you know you need to get rid of and you haven't? How's your team? 1 to 10. And I know you like everybody. I know you love everybody, but how's the team getting you to where you want to go in your practice? 1 to 10. How's that going for you? Next up, let's talk about your practice. How are your systems? 1 to 10. Are things like smooth flow and easy going, we got this dialed in? 1 to 10. How is that? How are you doing on that?   1 to 10, or are you like, shoot, we don't even have systems. you have our operations manual done? Do your dental assistants know how to set up for every procedure? Does your front office track the calls that come through? Do we have a system for our scheduling? Do we have a system for our treatment tracker and do we review it? Do we have set KPIs for every single position? Do we review those? Do we have set mating cadences? Do we have morning huddles? Like what do we have going on within our systems? Do we have hygiene trackers? Does our hygiene team, are we tracking our perio and our fluoride and having meetings around that? How's our training and onboarding?   How's our firing process? How's our HR compliance? How are all the systems within the practice? How's our leadership? How's our management? How are all those different pieces? And of course, you can go through each department and rank each department if you want to go further down of how's our office manager 1 to 10, realistically leading, guiding, having the profitability, being basically the COO of the business with you. How's your office manager? What about your front office team? Let's talk your scheduler 1 to 10. How's your schedule?   Kiera Dent (07:13.988) What about your TC's? 1 to 10. What about your billers? 1 to 10. What about your dental assistants? 1 to 10. You can break them out by name if that's easier so you don't lump them together. What about your hygienists? 1 to 10. What about your doctors, including yourself? 1 to 10. How's their clinical suite? How's their production? How are they doing on that? How's your bookkeeper? 1 to 10. How's your lawyer? 1 to 10. How's your financial advisor? 1 to 10. How's your marketing? 1 to 10.   How is your CPA on taxes? Do they prepare you for them or do they not prepare you for them? I understand me asking all these questions. You can not go back in time into 2024, but you can go forward into 2025 and make changes. So now we've gone through, we call it the yes model in Dental A Team. You as a person is the why I did that first with you. E is for earnings and profitability. S is for systems and team development. So as you look through that, look to see how many tens do you have.   nines, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, 1 zeros. There might be some zeros. Maybe you don't even have that. You are welcome to add any other category. And then how's your fulfillment? Like this is kind of 1 that I might just put overall. How happy are you? If you looked back in 2024, how many days of the year? Like we can't know. So this is just an assessment, right? Like there's no right or wrong. I'm not going to grade you. You can only do it. more of a feeling. On a 1 to 10, how is your fulfillment this year?   On a 1 to 10, how many days? So like, was it 100 % of my days I was happy, 90 % of my days I was happy, 80 % of my days I was happy, 70 % of my days. How many days were you super happy

    18min

  5. 26/12/2024

    #934: It’s Time to Reevaluate Your Handbook

    Did team members in your practice have to have any hard conversations this year? Maybe about dress code or drug testing? Did that new PTO policy work? Were there uncomfortable topics with patients? Tiff and Dana give advice on how to go about updating your handbook as 2024 comes to an end, so you can be more ready than ever when 2025 begins. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:01.422) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are so excited to be here with you today. I have Dana. You guys know I love podcasting with Dana. She's my girl. Dana, thank you so much for being here with me. know we have, it's Friday, and so we're super excited about that. We have fun things in our lives coming up and we have so many podcasts to get recorded today for all of these people and I'm so excited because it means I get extra time with you. Dana, how are you today?   Dana (00:27.746) Doing good, doing good. I'm just as excited to be here. I love this time too.   The Dental A Team (00:32.202) Awesome. Awesome. And we just sprung on you guys, only asked for your permission, but we sprung on you a little meetup for the consultants here in a few weeks. And I am so excited. You guys, you listeners, I know you guys know we are all kind of like super close by. Some of us are further away in other states, but we're a fully remote company. And so we don't get to see each other a lot. And so the culture that we're able to build with our company, in my opinion, is freaking incredible because we're rarely ever   together but we are going to do a consultant meetup in a couple of weeks and we do a Live To Give every single year where Dental A Team just kind of goes back to the the communities as best we can and we do angel tree shopping or one year we dropped off coats for   homeless shelters and women's shelters and kids shelters and all these different things. We just really love to give back and so we do a live to give shopping spree basically. So in a couple weeks Dana, I'm so excited. You're gonna be here. Kristy's gonna be here. Britt is here already, but I actually will see her. Kiera's flying in. It's gonna be such a huge event and I'm just so excited to get some time to crunch some things, figure some things out for the future for us.   and do the Live To Give and get some shopping done for some kiddos. anyways, how excited are you for it though? We sprung that on you like yesterday.   Dana (01:57.814) You did. I'm truly so pumped. Anytime I can, and I say this from the bottom of my heart, get time with my consultant crew. It's some of my favorite time and they're some of my favorite people. So I would have moved heaven and earth to make that work.   The Dental A Team (02:14.302) No, thank you. I agree. It's so much fun getting all of us together and   Just getting some fun out there and getting some brainstorming. I feel like we brainstorm the best when we're side by side and I'm excited for it. Well, on that note, it's kind of our end of year wrap up is what our meeting is about. Like what is next you're going to look like and part of those this is HR Britt is what I like to call her. in our company, she handles our HR pieces and part of what I want to talk to you guys about today is really the employee manual and towards the end of the year making sure that it's wrapped up and ready to   Dana (02:28.972) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (02:50.132) to go for next year. So Dana, you had some really great ideas, you always do, on updating the employee manual and where to go about those things. And one caveat I have, number one, I love talking about companies like CEDR.   They're fantastic. C-E-D-R, you guys. If you need an employee manual, if you don't know what needs to be in there, like we have options, we have ideas, we can definitely help you through with that. But CEDR does a really great job at pulling all of your state's laws, all of those little pieces that we don't necessarily always know you might not know. So I'll always say that. Reach out to CEDR if you use them or if you need one from scratch. Updates wise, same thing. Like what does CEDR have for your state? Right now towards the end of the   year, we pretty much know what the new laws are going to be coming into effect for the next year, this next year, I know what year you're listening to this in right now. But this next year is 2025. So most of those state laws have already been passed or any federal changes or laws to employee sanctions and different pieces have already been passed. So they're already there, you just got to find them. And you've got to make sure that they're all encompassing that you've grabbed all of them. So CEDR does that for you any employment lawyer,   Most of the lawyers you guys retain for most of your business pieces can usually snag that information for you too. So just double check. know, states like California and New York have really strict employee policies, so you just want to make sure you're always on part of there. So that's like the first layer of updates for me and the easiest space to really tackle and hit. But Dana, I loved your idea and really like looking back on the year to project for the future. Will you walk us through kind of   your thoughts on that and what you used to do when you were in practice.   Dana (04:37.142) Yeah, sure. I think the end of the year is a great time to just kind of reevaluate. Did I have everything in my handbook or did situations come up throughout the year that man, I really wish I had had something in writing for that. So, you know, I had a couple instances and practices this year where like they had to like have some hard conversations around like drugs or dress code, right? And they didn't have those things defined or they didn't really know what to do because it's like, well, can I ask them to take a test? Can I ask them to wear something specific because I don't have it   in writing. So if you happen to have to have some of those hard conversations or make some uncomfortable decisions and you don't have it in writing, now is the great time as you are updating for laws or you're getting your handbook in place to begin with. Just considering throughout this year, was there anything? Did my PTO policy work? Did raises come up at times I wasn't expecting them? So maybe I put in my handbook like when I evaluate for raises or that raises are based on performance or that I follow a tier raise structure.   The Dental A Team (05:26.414) I'm stop.   Dana (05:37.664) you know, maybe we had some team members who they asked for some last-minute PTO, so like maybe we need to get in writing a little bit stronger of what the process is for getting it approved and what kind of notice they need to give. So just looking back through the year and did anything happen that man I wish I had had something in writing or this was uncomfortable because I didn't.   The Dental A Team (06:00.686) think that's fantastic, I love that whole structure there. I love that you pointed out like drug policies, things like that. Those are things I think we forget to think about often times when we initially make it because...   I mean, we're all here with the mindset that people are naturally good human beings and that things are, which not to say that they're not naturally good human beings, but sometimes what we feel like is intuitive or known or like just natural thought process just isn't the case. And we find that in literally every aspect of life. So not forgetting that when it comes to the employee manual is true as well. And making sure I think Dana, as you're talking, I'm thinking like getting so granular with it that it can't be confused or misconstrued.   that it's insanely clear that from the smallest level possible and the biggest level possible, we can understand this entire makeup of whatever this rule or whatever you want to call it is.   It made me think too about smoking breaks and where are they allowed to indulge in a cigarette if that's something that you may have a team member on your team who does that or vapes or these are all the real things. These are all common factors of everyday life. Where are those things able to be handled, be done? I know for me, my practice I worked out for years, we had that it could not be on the premises at all because we didn't want patients walking into it.   advocate it for our patients for their health and their overall you know teeth so we had to make sure that they weren't walking into it and they weren't seeing any team members who may be on the team that did partake in those so it had to be off-site completely on their lunch breaks or what have you so I think though that's something that we tend to miss until like you said we get to the situation and we're like great awesome I actually don't have something for this so carry on and we'll fix this later making sure though I   The Dental A Team (07:56.116) think too, we're having those conversations with those people. Because I can say that maybe, you know, when updates come around, and they're like, pointed, right? And then you're sitting there like, is that because of me? Did that? You don't want to make your team members feel like you're attacking them or a situation either. So I think making sure to have those conversations with them like, hey, we know that this happened. We know that this was a situation. It wasn't something I was prepped to handle. We handled it together and we did our best. We handled it beautifully.   Moving forward just so you know, there will be a policy in place for it. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. It was obviously something that I had not known I needed to put into place, but I'm really glad that it was you and we could have this conversation and get through this. I think it's better, and

    23min

  6. 25/12/2024

    #933: Merry Christmas, Dental A-Team Family!

    Kiera invites listeners to consider what gift(s) they provide others — whether it’s patients or team members, or in a more personal capacity. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:01.422) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate, well, happy December 25th. If you do celebrate, Merry Christmas. I love the holidays. I truly do. And this year, my husband and are celebrating with his family, which is so fun because we got married 13 years ago and I'm the second oldest of seven. And so my siblings were very young. I have one sister and she was born...   when I was 12 and another sister born when I was 15. so I really, when we got married, my husband's the youngest of five and I just really, really, really, really wanted to spend holidays with my siblings because they were so young when I got married. And so for the last 13 years, we have been with my parents and my family except for one year.   which was when my brother got married and we were with Jason's parents. And so super fun to be celebrating with his family today. I just hope you guys are with something, someone doing something fun, whether it's family or it's friends or it's by yourself, but that you are just taking this time to celebrate. I think holidays are especially beautiful. And in Christmas, I think Christmas is just a magical holiday in the sense that I feel like.   We give gifts to each other and we give of ourselves and also Christmas is like right before the end of the year and so you might be headed back to the practice to produce or you might be just completely done, but wherever you are today Merry Christmas, and I hope you have just fallen in love with two things number one is Being in the spirit of giving I think that that's something that's so important and parent mount for us that we are truly   giving. I think I've shared this on the podcast before, so some of you may have heard this. For those of you that are new, welcome. I went to a conference and our group's name was Live to Give. And I remember hearing the thing that the secret to living is giving. And so in this holiday season, I know it can feel bustly, I know it can feel crazy, but I think when we take a step back and we look at what is ultimately the season, it's the time where we all give gifts to people. give holiday parties and we give gifts to our team, we give gifts to each other.   Kiera Dent (02:15.23) We're looking for those perfect gifts, but the reality is, what is our gift that we're giving of ourselves day in and day out to our team and to our patients and to our communities and also to ourselves? And so maybe today you take some time to think about what is that gift? What is my gift that I bring to this world? And I know that that can feel awkward for some people, but I would really hope that I can encourage you to love yourself a little bit more. And what is something incredible that you bring to your team?   In some teams, what I have them do is I have everybody draw. Don't worry, they can write words if they desire. But I have them draw who they are and what they bring to the team. And then Brittany Stone, she took it a step further with a team where inside I have them draw. I remember one person drew a visionary. So it's an eye with a cast of a vision. Another person drew Gumby because they're very flexible. But whatever it is, you draw that. And then what we had our teams do is actually, Britt did this.   And she had people actually write what that person brings to the team outside of it. So for example, in a circle, you could put what you bring to the table. And then on the outside of the circle, your team tells you like what you bring to the table and how you benefit and like what your gift is to the team. And it's crazy because inside the circle, we often are so hard on ourselves and don't give ourselves credit of what we bring to the table. I understand that we're trying to be humble most of the time and not egotistical. But then when we have teams do this, how much they actually share of   what everybody's bringing to the table. And it's just such a lovely experience because people are able to see themselves in a different light. And I think that that's actually like, as you're reflecting today, you're spending time, you're opening presents, you're doing whatever. What is maybe the gift that you bring to this world or maybe the gift that you want to bring to this world next year? Maybe you want to bring more kindness. Maybe you want to bring more humility. Maybe you want to bring more patience. Maybe you want to bring more vision. Maybe you want to bring more fun.   Maybe you want to bring more energy. Maybe you want to bring more balance. Maybe you want to bring more gentleness. Maybe you want to bring more positivity. Whatever it is, what is your gift that you can bring to this world, to your team, to your family, to yourself? And then also, I would ask if you were writing a letter, Dear Santa, what would be something I would ask for three wishes? One, what is the wish that you would have for your team? Two, what is the wish that you would have for your practice?   Kiera Dent (04:37.494) and patience? And three, what is the wish that you want for yourself? I did this in our doctor think tank a little while ago. And it was so interesting. I asked him like, what do you want? What like what would you guys want? And the group was actually very quiet. And I realized we've forgotten to dream. We've forgotten how to ask for what we want. We've forgotten how to to be vocal about those things. And so maybe today, just look at that and see what would be my wish for my team.   And really like be intentional with this. What would be the wish for my practice? And then what's the wish that I have for myself? And then what I would think is how can you make those wishes come true? How can you bring and give gifts of yourself for your team? And that doesn't mean you have to do it. It means you can delegate. means you can use other people. But what would be some fun things for you? And maybe this year you want to give yourself the gift of health. So you're going to prioritize your health. Maybe you're going to give yourself the gift of a stronger relationship and you're going to   be done on every Thursday at five o'clock and go on a date with your spouse or your significant other. Maybe you're going to give yourself the gift of fun and you're going to plan one day a week or a month where it's just a fun day for you. Maybe you're going to give yourself the gift of a new hobby and you're going to go get into pickleball or something. But like really think about what would be a gift that you'd give yourself because I think that so often we're obsessed with giving to other people, which I agree with. And that's secret to life is giving.   but also let's not forget to give ourselves a gift as well. I think the greatest thing I did for myself in 2025 was giving myself the gift of health. I have been on a health journey. Some people look at me and you just might think, like we obviously have our super, like our preconceived notions. And I have had immense pain in my knee and my hip from years and years of traveling. I ran a marathon. I went from zero running in October to running a marathon in December. So I trained for about two and a half months.   I've had severe knee pain since then and then top like tackle that on with all the years of flying that I have of just being crunched up in seats. And I have had pretty severe knee and hip pain. And this year I just decided like, I want to be 99 years old and still active in spry and I'm hoping that my last six months of my life are going to be the ones where I phase out and maybe that's when my health deteriorates. But if that's what I want my vision to be, thank you to the book of die with zero, it gave me that perspective.   Kiera Dent (07:01.456) but I've thought about that so many times of, if that's what I want to do, what do I need to do today to be able to have that vision? And maybe when you're thinking about the gift, you want to give yourself paint the vision of who you are at 99 years old. And what does that life look like? Maybe that will also help you figure out what to give your team, what to give your practice and what to give yourself. Because this year in 2024, I committed and I hired a personal trainer and we went to the gym and it sounds so silly, but for me to be able to squat and not have knee pain.   which I have not been able to do squats, any type of lunges, squats, nothing for seven years. Like literally my quads, my hams, my calves were all atrophying. To be able to this year, me, my coaches, my PT, I have an incredible group of people around me. We were all celebrating at the fact that I can do a squat with no knee pain. And that has been seven years in the making. It was an added benefit because I was able to wake surf a lot better this summer too.   But just to feel strong and to feel like I'm taking care of my body so I can be this 99 year old woman who's not frail and feeble but is strong and has strong muscles. I have to do things daily now to be able to do that. I worked on my macros. I worked on protein intake. I worked on eating healthier. I worked on figuring out what the meals were. That was freaking hard and I hated every second of it. But to see how much healthier I am today versus where I was a year ago.   is a gift that I could never get back. I can't go back in time and live my life differently, but I can move forward and we can give ourselves those gifts now. So maybe even today, think about who do you want to be when you're 99 years old? Going into that hundred, I hope I live to like, I don't know, 103 sounds like a fun time. I love the number three, but just thinking abou

    14min

  7. 24/12/2024

    #932: The Magic of Excitement

    Merry Christmas Eve! Kiera talks about how dental teams can apply the excitement and anticipation associated with holidays to their practices and work spaces. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.856) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and Merry Christmas Eve. If you celebrate that, otherwise, happy December 24th. It's so fun to podcast with you on holidays. I love the magic. I love the anticipation. I love Christmas Eve. In my family, it's always been these fun traditions that we have. We do a big breakfast in the morning and then we all go shopping for cereal. It's been the tradition since I was little and we would always, always, always go get a...   cereal and being in a family of nine people our own box of cereal that we got to choose was like the greatest gift my parents could ever give us so and also kudos to my mom that meant Christmas morning it's cereal for breakfast like talk about a smart mom I've got so we'd always go to the store we pick out our cereal and then we would do like sometimes we'd go shopping for last-minute Christmas gifts and then we'd usually go home and it feels like an eternity of countdown of time from that like 11 a.m.   to 5 p.m. And I remember as a kid, it would snow and my dad was very proactive of giving back to the community, which I really love and respected my dad. And we would go and we'd shovel snow at all of our neighbor's houses. And I remember my brother and I were two years apart. We were super tiny. So we were probably like, I was probably eight and he was probably six. And we were shoveling all these yards. And I remember we were laying behind our house after we were done making snow angels.   and we're both in our little snow suits and we look to each other and we're like, it's gonna be forever before tonight happens. I think that that's the reality of how we feel. And then for my family, what we'd always do is for Christmas Eve, we would make waffles, Belgian waffles. My parents again got smart. So it was like, they could feed a lot of boys very quickly. And then we go into like a Christmas program, which over the years, my siblings have definitely like made.   crazy. It's now turned into a talent show and I absolutely hate that part. And if any of them listen to the podcast, I just want to put it out there. I think we should not do this is my trust conversation with my family. I hate the talent show, but they love it. So Jason and are not as talented. So last year we talked about how we do Disney because I love Disney. But like really, it's just this funny thing. But we all get together. All my family spread out with seven siblings. We none of us ended up close to each other. My older brother's in Alaska. I'm in Nevada.   Kiera Dent (02:21.038) The brother below me is in Ohio, brother below him is in Texas, brother below him is in Utah, sister below him is in Missouri, Kansas City, and then the youngest sister is in Utah, and my parents live in California. So literally, I feel like we just spread all over the nation, but just a fun time of year. And I hope today I wanted to just pop on real quick and give you guys like a quick little noodle thought for you as you're probably getting ready for the festivities or time away from the practice.   But during this time, and I've got something fun for you guys for tomorrow for Christmas as well, but during this time, I think about the anticipation that we have for Christmas and the excitement that little kids have. And my question is, how can we bring that excitement and anticipation to our practices? Maybe not the same, but are we actively anticipating? Are we having countdowns to something so magical and special? And how can we actually do that within our practices? And so a couple of ideas are...   What do we do monthly? And do we celebrate when we are hitting our monthly goals? Or are we just like nonchalant, like it's fine. And there's no magic. Like think about children with Christmas and how like blissfully magical it is to watch a little kid so excited and telling Santa what they want and circling in the magazines what they're hoping and wishing for. And then the like utter anticipation of sleeping through the night and waiting for the next day.   Like how can we create that as adults for us within our practices, within our businesses, within our lives? Like what are you anxiously anticipating waiting? Because I feel like the holidays and the magic that we have right now is what we can actually produce within our practices. So whether that's through bonuses or whether that's through a community outreach or it's adding in new services. I know an office like literally are counting down the days to add in sleep apnea to their practice and make a sleep center within their practice.   But like, are we allowing ourselves to get excited about our practices and get excited about the magic of what we're able to do for patients? Or is it just another day every day? And I think the true secret to a lot of success is creating magic within the day in day out. How can we get the countdown chains out for something within our practice? What do you get excited about? Do you have something that you set for a goal for yourself for next year that utterly makes you giddy? Or is it for me, I love to travel and so within work.   Kiera Dent (04:40.584) Dental A Team and what I do, I have so much passion and excitement and this year I'm so freaking excited. If you have not joined us in platinum, get ready to have your life changed forever. We, have a, it's, it's similar to what our platinum has been, but it is slightly different and more advanced. And I cannot wait because we are bringing offices together in person. And if you are not a part of it, please email me right now. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and come be a part of it. I only, we've limited our space for our first year to make sure that we can.   execute at the highest level. But like, that is the countdown. I am counting down the hours, the minutes to March. If you can't join us in March, don't even stress it's virtual as well. And then we have another one in September. And I am just so excited. It's like counting down to Christmas to be able to put on something so magical for clients and change their lives and do life and dentistry. I realized life is my passion dentistry is my platform. And I'm so geeky about dentistry. And I love it. But I love giving you your dream life more. And so for me,   That's something I'm so lit up about within the company, like literally a countdown chain to March. Our team is so excited. I'm so excited about it. We're so excited to have offices be a part of this, like giddy to meet people in person. So if you've been a podcast listener and want to meet me in person, well, it's time. It's time to come and join us. But really like, what are you so giddy about for next year? Are giddy about the goals? Are you giddy about the CE? Are you giddy about the team?   What is the magic where you literally are sitting there like, can't come soon enough, I cannot wait for it? Or do you add in the sprinkles like my husband and I always plan fun trips, so I'm looking forward to something because so often we just need something to look forward to. And I think that that's actually what creates so much magic for us. So as you're filling the magic of this year, which I hope you're feeling, and if this year and this time of year is hard for you, I'm just giving you a giant hug because this time of year has been hard for me too.   And I think when I realized that there's so much magic that can be here even through hard times I feel like Christmas changed for me and the end of the year changed for me and I can see it now with sparkle and glitter and gold Whereas before it used to just be sadness And so I'm here and I'm happy to be a friend to you through it I also am here to let you know that like it's okay to feel sad at this time of year It's also okay to feel happy It's okay to have hard times and to to come out the other side of it and to be happy again   Kiera Dent (07:02.496) I think the greatest gift that we can give ourselves is the gift of being happy and having something that we're so giddy about. So tonight, maybe as you're sitting there dreaming, getting excited, think about what would get you so giddy and excited in your practice as well. And if I can be a part of it, like I said, I am so giddy. I'm so giddy to help offices literally get their dream lives and their dream practices and to do it with doctors and office managers and have leadership retreats in person and then to have   quarterly check-ins, whereas like kind of like a boardroom assessment where you're looking at your practice and we're really assessing and then do the team integration where we're helping your team. Just really being able to like do a huge lift for these offices. I can't tell you how giddy I am about this. So I hope that you have something you're that excited about. Maybe it's a CE that you're excited about. Maybe it's joining consulting that you're so giddy about of having a different life. Maybe you've already started. Maybe you haven't. Maybe you're excited about.   I don't know, but I just hope that you build some type of excitement and anticipation within your practice that you and your team can literally get fired up, lit up, so excited about because finding ways to make magic within our businesses in the day in, day out is how we keep our stamina. It's how we feel alive. This is where is the power of fun of creating magic.   So go create some magic. you need some brainstorming ideas, email me, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com If you want to pop on a call, click a strategy call with us. I'm happy to chat with it, but truly let's stream up some magic. I don't want to take too long with you guys today. I

    11min

  8. 19/12/2024

    #931: Book Club: Focusing With Deep Intent

    It’s Dental A-Team’s last book club episode of 2024! December’s book is Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport. Kiera dives deep (heh) into what it means to work with such intensity in a world overrun with distractions, including layers of cognitive focus, an increase in the ability to master topics, the power of routine and ritual, and more. Episode resources: Find the full book club rundown here! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:01.124) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome to the book club. This is the last book club of 2024. Can you believe it? We are to the last book club of the year. And just as a fun little book club, let's do a year in review of all the book clubs that we've done together this year. So in case you didn't read these books or you need a book or you need to remember the book clubs we did, January, we did the Go Giver. February, we did Crucial Conversations. March, the Noticer.   April, buy back your time. May, high output management. June, come up for air. July, you can heal your life. August, your next five moves. September, die with zero. October, the power of fun. November, who, how. And December, deep work. This is our last one. And like talk about a really fun year that you guys have actually gone through of all these different books. And I hope you've enjoyed them. I hope you've read them. I hope you've enjoyed the book club. I'm excited to...   like, you know, we're doing in 2026, it's still TBD or excuse me, 2025 still TBD. But talk about how many incredible books that you guys have read this year. and just think like that's so much wisdom brought into your life. And I hope you're implementing these ideas. Like I think back to, as we look back, the go-giver remembering to do those simple acts of kindness for people and to notice and to give more value than people expect. Crucial conversations, saying what needs to be said, not like dodging and beating around the book.   or the Bush. Wow. the noticer just noticing people. remember the, the, was either the beach. He was sitting on a beach and eating seafood and was like, I'm on this crummy beach eating this like day old food. And the noticer said like, I am eating surf and turf with a view and just looking at things differently. thought was it such a cool perspective, April, buy back your time. You guys know, I'm obsessed with this. What's your dollar per hour? how can we buy back more of our time and do more of what we absolutely love?   High output management, figuring out how we can actually maximize and be high output consistently within our management team. Really lovely book. Come Up for Air. You guys know I love this one. This was like leveraging systems and teams. I made my leadership team. I didn't make, I had our leadership team read this book. There was so much goodness with Come Up for Air that I loved. Systems and tools, we've implemented so many of the things from that book. Definitely is gonna be on my consistent books to read here over here.   Kiera Dent (02:23.552) The next one, you can heal your life. This one was such a unique one of diving deep into our own personal lives and how can we heal ourselves and heal from the past and letting go of things that are holding us back. Your next five moves, looking at the business strategy and thinking of what do we need to do next and what are the next five moves in our business. Really incredible. Die with zero. I loved Die with Zero. Another book where you literally like live life now.   And it's such a controversial book compared to Profit First. I love the controversy. I love thinking of it, but really die with zero and how can we have more fun in life? The power of fun. you know, remember how to feel alive again and the different areas of how we can make fun and play more a part of our daily life. Who, not how. It's going back to buy back your time. Thinking of who can do this, not how can we do this? Who can we leverage? Consultants, team members.   Delegating collaborating all those different pieces and now today deep work This book to me is such an incredible Like I love it. I love it so much It was recommended to me by a doctor that I'm obsessed with and their team and he's just someone this doctor I feel is able to get so much done and I was like, what do you do? And he said deep work is one of my biggest things and he goes and hides in the library and he Will consistently like this doctor is someone that I feel is such a high   output constantly and just keeps doing it. like his secrets are he's great with time management. He has none of the apps on his phone. So there's no Slack, there's no text messages or excuse me, there's no emails. It's literally just used as a phone. And then he has, he blocks his time. He's very disciplined. He's disciplined with his spiritual life. He's disciplined with his kids life. He's disciplined with his physical life. He's disciplined with his work life. And I'm just so impressed by who he is. And he said deep work was one of his pieces.   So getting into deep work, are four rules. number one is work deeply. Number two is embrace the boredom. Three is quit social media and four is drain the shallows. And what I loved about this book is he really talks about like he, this guy, he was like in his room and he realized when he like locked himself in this room, he was able to like exponentially grow in his career and like what he was learning and realized.   Kiera Dent (04:41.464) that the reason we don't grow as much as we could is because we're constantly distracted. so within Deep Work, it talks about, we blocking time? And you can call this CEO time, you can call this Deep Work time, but like, we blocking time, distraction free, to work on the biggest projects of our organization? And so Deep Work, like I said, you will see in every one of my calendars, blocking out two to four hours per week is what I recommend for doctors. And I'm really big on blocking it during your production time. So that way you actually...   are super focused and super intentional with no distractions. That does not mean you have to be in the office. I actually sometimes recommend not being in the office so you're not distracted, but it's really awesome. There's actually some really cool apps that you can do that lock everything. So when I go into deep work time, you can literally lock everything. So no email, you could set up the apps or the browsers that you're allowed to do. And then literally your whole computer locks out of everything else. So when we get bored, we want to go scroll social media. You can't do that.   And that's where it's like the embracing the boredom that I thought was so critical and so incredible is we embrace the boredom. We embrace these different things because when you embrace the boredom, you push through versus being distracted and wasting away our time. so during it, like literally you want to go check your email and it's shocking because you'll see how often you check your email, check your social media, do all these different things. But the answer is like, we're here to have deep work with no distractions and we're training ourselves.   to become so effective with our time when we're working on these projects that we actually move the needle forward exponentially. And I love this. I love this so much because we are in such a distracted society that we don't get deep work done. So many dentists are like, Kiera, like, I just can't get this done. I'm like, block the deep work, block the CEO time, office manager, same thing. Like this is, and it's not for us to do the little tasks, like the payroll that we know is going to get done or to check. It's like, no, we need to make a operations manual. We need to get that done.   We need to build out new job descriptions and tiers for our employees to move up from one position to the next. We need to go and figure out like it could be CE. For me, a lot of times it's like projections for the next year. It's looking at my PNLs. It's building out for us. Like I've been working, my deep work time has been so focused on building out content for next year's in-person events for our doctors that I hope that you're coming to. If you have not, please sign up. Prices do go up in January. We have promoted the prices through end of year for you guys.   Kiera Dent (07:04.42) giving you, want people to have this be a no brainer. So you actually save exponentially thousands and it is a complete tax write off. You get to come be with us in person. You get to network with peers, but we're going to do, like I said, a strip down from top to bottom of your business. And you're going to have a plan every quarter of what to do plus one-on-one calls with the consultant. And you also get us to help with team implementation. So we're working with the doctor and the team. It's doctors and OMS in person. This has been my deep work. This is what I'm working on every single week. This is what's pushing the needle forward. This is how   as a CEO who's busy, I pushed the most important things forward. And it's crazy because this is, one of my favorite quotes from Jaco Willings is discipline equals freedom. And so having the discipline to do this deep work that Cal Newport talks about in there is just so incredible to me. because really we've got to be digging in, we've got to be working on the pieces that move us forward. We have to be able to focus without the distractions on these tasks. And so like,   It literally allows you to focus and to work without distractions. And they talk about in their like shallow work versus deep work and shallow work is non-cognitively demanding logistical style work often performed while distracted. So think about like how often we submitted payroll while distracted, h

    17min
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Sobre

This podcast is here to give dentists and all dental office team members, in EVERY position, TACTICAL and PRACTICAL TIPS to: - Be more efficient - Have more fun - Improve doctor and team communications - Eliminate frustration - And make your life easier! Jump in! We are thrilled you have decided to LEVEL UP and be part of the DENTAL A TEAM! New episodes every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Informações

  • Criado por
    Kiera Dent
  • Anos de atividade
    2019 - 2025
  • Episódios
    936
  • Classificação
    Livre
  • Copyright
    © 668974
  • Site do podcast
    Dental A Team Podcast

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