Episode 565: Your Future You Thanks You

This episode is about reflecting on who you are — as a business owner, as a team member, and on the person you’ve become. Kiera talks about different types of business owners, and strengths that come with each, and then encourages listeners to write a letter to themselves to come back to in a year, two years, five years, or ten years. Leave notes for yourself, ask questions, and challenge who you are.

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Transcript:

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0:00:05.6 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to The Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host Kiera Dent and I have this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A teams. Welcome to The Dental A Team Podcast.

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0:00:51.3 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. Guys, it's a car-casting day. Sometimes, sometimes I kind of wanna karaoke with this microphone, while I'm car casting. Because if any of you have been in a Tesla, which I do own and I do love. I mean, shoot, it makes me a bad driver, I don't lock my car 90% of the time, 'cause with a Tesla, you just walk away. Driving right now, guys, I'm on a four-hour drive. Do you know how much I'm missing that Tesla auto drive for me? Oh, I am so dreamy. It just drives for you, I forget like, "Oh yeah, I gotta get back in my rhythm of me driving while I'm podcasting." But in the Tesla, the reason I bring this up is because there's a thing... This is one of my number one reasons I bought the Tesla. Guys, I have a really fun car, I have a manual six-speed chipped and tuned Audi S4 that I absolutely love. I'm a fast car driver, I love to drive fast. Today, I'm driving an Alpha Romeo. That's pretty fun. They're getting a comeback guys. I just... I love fast cars, I love anything fast, but yet, there was really not a lot of other cars that were as impressive as my Audi S4. I went and test drove the Audi RS7, I've test driven Porsches and Lamborghinis, and they're fun.

0:02:05.8 KD: They're real fun. But dang, that Tesla is so freaking fun because not only is it lightning fast, of course, I bought the performance model, let's not be crazy guys, 0-60 in less than three seconds. Yes please, sign me up, I'm obsessed. Definitely says DAT, Dental A Team, D-A-T, "DAT FAST" on the back of the license plate. I feel like I have to drive like a race car driver. But the reason I bought this is because, one, it was super fast, super fun, something I'd never experienced in another car before, and number two, they have a thing called caraoke, so it's like karaoke in a car. And you better believe that I sometimes sing at the top of my lungs while I am driving in the Tesla with my car karaoke. It's like, honest to goodness, why I bought the car. Yes, it's fun, yes, it's great, whatever, but the fact that I had car karaoke guys, ah, so fun. So sometimes when I've got my microphone, podcasting by myself in the car, sometimes I wanna bust into song. But guys, I'm not really the best singer. I had to take voice lessons for a hot minute, but I will spare you guys the singing.

0:03:14.1 KD: So on that note, that was a clever pun guys, pun intended there... On that note, [laughter] I just wanted to say thanks guys for being awesome podcast listeners and for helping us grow. You guys, we are 100% on track to break one million downloads this year, and we need you guys's help, so please leave those five-star reviews, share with your friends, share in Facebook groups, tag us on social media. You guys, I can't do this. I can deliver amazing content that you're obsessed with, and that is my job to do, to give you ways to improve your practices, improve your lives, that is what I'm here to do, and that's what I will deliver for you all day long. I need you guys to share it, I need you to leave those five-star reviews and to share this with your friends and get those downloads down, that way we can positively impact the world of dentistry in an even greater way. So guys, please help me out. I always say, "What if it could be easy," it is, you literally click the Share button, download it, and you guys are gonna help us break that million.

0:04:08.6 KD: And the reason I set a lofty goal of a million in less than three... Just over three years is what it will be, is because I figured if we can get over a million downloads in just over three years, talk about the impact we will have, the ripple effect serving and blessing more people's lives, and then the ripple effect from that. So guys, help us out. Thank you for those of you who have done that. If you have not done it, I'm asking you directly, I'm talking to you through your radio, through your headphones, wherever the heck I am, on your computer, I don't care where I'm at. I'm asking you directly to help give back to a practice just like you that could benefit from this. So go leave those reviews, share it in a Facebook group, tag us on social media, we'll repost you. And who knows, if you tag us maybe I'll send you some swag, you never know. I give out gift cards, I send swag to random people, I might sign a book to you. So hey, if you wanna hear from me, the one and only KD over here, tag us, we'll see what happens. On that note, I wanted to go into a fun topic today, because I was actually just talking to one of my dear friends. And what we were chatting about, I actually feel is something so relevant that I wanna put it on the podcast today.

0:05:15.6 KD: One for me, two for you, because I wanna remember this. This is a podcast that I hope I get bookmarked, that I go back and listen to over and over and over again. You guys, sometimes I feel like when I podcast, I actually talk to myself in the future of things I wanna remember. One of my favorite quotes from Tony Robbins is that, "A lot of learning is just remembering." I mean, think of how many CE events you guys have gone to, think about how many podcasts you've listened to, and yet you've heard it over and over and over and over and over and over again, but it's remembering is a lot of what learning is. So today, this is a podcast that I really want to just be one, hopefully for the archives that you listen to over and over and over again. So my dear friend, he and I met at a Tony Robbins Business Mastery event.

0:06:00.8 KD: Guys, while we were there, we found out that there are three types of people, there are artists, there are entrepreneurs, and there are managers. Okay, so artists, they love their craft, they love their art, these are business owners, okay. So people that are artists, they're just obsessed and passionate about it. Then there's entrepreneurs who are kinda like sharks, Shark Tank, cut-throat, if they could sell their business off tomorrow and get a profit off of it, they would do it.

0:06:25.4 KD: And then there's the third type of people who truly are managers. They see the processes, they see the details, and they execute on that. I'm just gonna ask you before I tell you the answer, "Who do you think Kiera Dent is?" Do you think I am an artist? Do you think I'm an entrepreneur? Or do you think I am a manager? What do you guys think? You've heard me... If you... This... You're brand new? Welcome. Super excited to have you. If you've been listening for a while, you've heard a lot of different things, who do you think I am? An artist, where I'm obsessed with my craft and I love it and I'm passionate about it; an entrepreneur, where I see it as a business deal, cut-throat, I would sell it a second, and no, it's not a bad thing; or a manager where I like to manage the processes, manage the people. Who do you think Kiera Dent is? Bingo. If you said, "Artist," you're correct! Guys, passion bleeds freaking through me, why do you think I do three podcasts a week? Why? Because I love... I'm so passionate about dentistry and people. I love what I do, that's why it's fun for me to work, that's why I enjoy it.

0:07:26.8 KD: If someone were to come and offer me for being... Like, to buy Dental A Team, guys, I might consider it, I'm not gonna lie to you. But that's not why I built the business. I built the business because I'm obsessed with serving and loving people. That is my true heart of hearts, sometimes it gets me in a lot of trouble because I should be a little more cut-throat and think business, think about that. And, Oh, Gosh, managing, forget it, count me out. That's why I hire really good managers around me, that's why we've got a COO coming in, that's why we've got Shelby, that's why I've got all the team members we do, because I do not think in implementation operations. Can I do it and have I done it and am I really good at it if I need to, the answer is absolutely yes. Would I rather poke my freaking eyes out, the answer is also a yes. So with that, Kaylee Taylor, if you guys remember, Kaylee, if you've been listening for that long, Kaylee used to be in our operations, you guys, she is a prime manager. Shelby, prime manager, obsessed with people, obsessed with growing people, obsessed with the operations. Like, Okay, cool, I'll do it out of necessity, and I'm really freaking good in an office, but I would much rather have that passion that bleeds through.

0:08:32.3 KD: That's why I'm a really good consultant 'cause I've got passion. Could I... That's also why I was making less than a Starbucks barista when I first started the business, because I wasn't thinking in business terms. I wasn't looking at my margins, I didn't know about overhead. A lot of you dentists are actually artists, you don't think about the business as much, that's why you're like, "Yeah, I'll write that crown off, no problem," 'cause you just love to do it.

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0:08:55.0 KD: How many of you would just love to DIY and get the secrets of people who have been there, done that on your own time. Because I know for me, I love to learn from the best of the best, the people who have been there, done that and can give me the shortcuts. That's why we have created our Dental A Team Virtual Academy where it's on-demand courses for you at your fingertips, where you literally can learn the secrets from all of my experience, all of Tiffany's experience, Brittany, Dana, our entire team's experience at your fingertips. So stop taking the hard route, guys, there's a shortcut sitting there waiting for you, and it's also CE. Head on over to thedentalateam.com and click on our Virtual Academy. Be sure to use coupon code "Podcast" and get started on that DIY and become the practice of your dreams.

0:09:41.3 KD: Then there's other dentists and owners that are more that entrepreneur, they went into dentistry for the side of the business. There's very few managers, there are some dentists who are managers who just prefer to manage all the operations, they love to put systems together. Fantastic. But really look at your team as well. So when I was at this Tony Robbins event, we were in a group, our group of people, and they said, "You know, you should really find a friend that you can stay in touch with for years." This is in August 2019. One of the best things I ever did was go to Tony Robbins in person, Business Mastery live. I'm sitting this group of people, and there's this guy named Pierce. Pierce is from Canada, so he's nice, but I can tell he's a freaking cut-throat shark that's an entrepreneur. And so I looked him straight in the eyes when we were in this group and I was like, "You. I need to be friends with you." Because I knew that he was going to be so much different of a person than I was, he was going to think in different terms. I'm passionate, I love people, I love creating and crafting, like being out and speaking and podcasting.

0:10:44.0 KD: He's like, "Kiera, there's no way you could pay me enough to do what you do." And I'm like, "Cool, there's no way you can pay me enough to do what you do." And so he and I are a really good yin and yang, and I will say he and I have a call every single month and we've been doing it since August 2019. Pretty rad friendship, right? I've watched him grow and evolve, he's watched me grow and evolve, we've given each other lots of pep talks, we've talked about personal, professional, we've talked about him, he sold his business and like what that even looks like. I've talked to him about splitting partnerships and changing and evolving, he's [0:11:17.5] ____ bet on... He's losing a podcast, so many different things because we are two very different people. I remember one time I asked him what he would do in a situation, I won't even tell you the situation. It was like I had to split from a partnership and there was gonna be money pay out and all this, and I was like, "Pierce, what would you do?" When he was like, "You know what I'd do, I'd be ticked."

0:11:35.1 KD: He's like, I'd send that person a U-Haul of pennies for that amount of money and be, "Here's your money!" And I was like, "Oh my gosh, that is like legit cut-throat." He'll ask me, "Kiera, I can't get this team member on board, what would you do?" So it's been a really awesome... I truly think I picked the best friend, mentor that I could have asked for because Pierce truly is one of the most successful business owners I've ever met in my entire life, and he has truly grown me into a better version of myself. So with that back history, one, find yourself a mentor that is opposite of you. He and I yin and yang really, really, really well, 'cause I'm more of an artist, I love my craft, he's more of an entrepreneur, very involved in business, how to sell, how to have good business deals and to cut the emotion out of it. I bring the emotion, he cuts the emotion, and truth be told, he and I have really been awesome in each other's lives. He teases me that when we get on a call, he's like, "I love to hear about your life, Kiera,'cause you're kind of like a soap opera," and I'm like, "Pierce, take that back!" [laughter] But the reality is it's true, and I love it, and I love what I do, and I love the people I get to hang out with and serve.

0:12:39.0 KD: So today, he and I were talking, and I won't go into all the nitty-gritties, that's something personal and private, but the idea behind it, and he told me I could share this was what he did was five years ago, he actually wrote himself a letter and he forgot, he totally forgot about this letter. And what he did was he actually put in his calendar, and the way he found it was 'cause this week he was going through his calendar and he saw on Thursday there was an appointment of anniversary. He was like, "Anniversary? Did I forget my wife? Did I forget my work? What is this anniversary?" And he clicked on it, and there was a letter he had written to himself five years ago, five years ago. And like I said, it was the most prime letter. Like, better advice than I could have given, better advice than his coaches could have given, because he wrote it to himself. And he's like, "I don't know, Kiera, if you believe in fate, but I didn't know how much I needed that letter, but my five-year younger version of me knew I needed this." So I wanted to pop on today of, like, no matter what position you're in, no matter what you do, write yourself a letter five years from today, or two years, or seven years, or whatever feels right to you, but write that letter.

0:13:52.4 KD: In his letter, he asked himself, he had a pretty big business deal he was doing five years ago. And in it, he said, "I just wanna ask, how did that turn out?" What's crazy is at the time he wrote the letter, that business still had not been completed. Since that time, guys, five years, that man has done so much in five years, but he wrote this letter five years and gave himself wisdom and advice and asked poignant questions to remind him of who he was five years ago, so today he can have the confidence to execute on an even bigger project that he has coming his way. You guys, we evolve as people, or hopefully we do, otherwise, we're dying. You're either growing or you're dying. So hopefully you're evolving and growing as a person, but what I thought was super magical about this is what he needed, the comfort, the growth, the opportunity, the wisdom came from himself. So often we go to other people looking and seeking for wisdom, and I think back... So five years ago, I would have been 31. You guys, I had just split. It's probably gonna make me cry, I had just split from a partner that I had helped grow practices with that I truly...

0:15:02.1 KD: She was one of my absolute best friends and we had just split, I was depressed, I was in massive therapy, my marriage was in divorce row, I was anorexic, I had just started Dental A Team five years ago. Guys, and if I would have written myself a letter of, "Hey Kiera, how did it turn out from when you separated from that partnership?" Guys, I knew I needed to split from that partnership, I knew it with every ounce of me, I knew it wasn't good for me, I knew it wasn't good for her, I knew we had run our course. I know what I would change for sure. Guys, I went through like hellfire and brimstone for a lot of years. But if I was writing that letter to myself and asking myself, man, I can't tell you, 2020, if I would have gotten that letter of like, "Hey, Kiera, how did that turn out? You're scared out of your freaking mind right now, you don't even know who you're gonna be, you don't even know what your marriage is gonna look like, you don't know if you're gonna live for another day." If I would have written myself a letter and I would have gotten it two years later, I can't even tell you because I could look back and see, guys, five years, five years ago, Dental A Team isn't even what it is today.

0:16:15.9 KD: I would look back and be like, "Holy Cow! I had like one client and I didn't even know how to get more clients." Today we serve over 150 offices, and I am so excited because what we're doing is gonna be able to serve and help more people, and I cannot wait. I was terrified to go and start a business on my own, I was terrified not to have income. Guys, I went from having a day job to running a business, I would have told myself, like, looking back, I mean, we were able to figure it out, I was able to find out how to serve and give back to more clients. I found Tony Robbins, I found a peer group, I joined Tony Robbins Platinum Lions group. I've been able to be all these different things, and I look back and if I would have received that letter, gosh, 2020 was brutal, guys, that was... That one rocked me, and if I would have written myself a letter then. I just think of all these times, and to hear that today from somebody that's one of my biggest mentors, he's been one of my greatest assets in this life, one of my best friends, biggest mentor, someone who has pushed me, evolved me, has shared with me his successes and his stories, so I have somebody that I can have as a guiding star. For him to tell me this story, I was like, "It's going on the podcast, number one for Kiera's journal, because I need to remember this. I need to write myself a letter, because, guys, I'm freaking scared for my future, I'm about to...

0:17:32.7 KD: We're trying to have kids, who am I even gonna be when we have kids? Buying a house, having the apartments, all the different things, like so many pieces, and yet we get scared. But when we remember our person from two years ago or five years ago and writing ourselves a letter, more wisdom can come from those and they'll come at the most perfect time. So write yourself a letter, stick it two years, a year, five years, wherever it is, put it in your calendar and leave notes for yourself, ask questions, who do you... What things do you wanna remember? You don't know who you'll be in five years, shoot guys, I don't know who I'll be in five years. I'll be 41, ah! I wanna cry. Forty-one. And if 36-year-old Kiera could write and say, "Kiera, think about when you're ready to hire your first C-Suite position. Whoo! It's happening guys, I'm doing it. I'm scared out of my freaking mind. What am I even gonna have this person do, do I have enough work for them? I don't know, but I know I need to do this. And if I look back five years ago, splitting from that partnership, making Dental A Team. Shoot! Thank you, Tiffany.

0:18:34.3 KD: Hiring Tiffany as my first employee, and I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew, and my intuition was right. There's a lot of hard things, a lot of things I would have done differently. But at the end of day, that advice I gave to myself is worth more weight in gold. So I would just encourage you guys write that letter to yourself. I truly believe. As Winnie the Pooh says, "All the answers are within you, you just sometimes forget to look inside you first." So write that letter, stick it in there, like he said, it's anniversary, I'll given you the step-by-steps of a "bajillionaire," guys. Pierce is one of the coolest, most raddest, most humble, most cut-throat, all mixed in the same breath, people that I've ever met. And if these are things... And he's like, "Kiera, I tell everybody, every person I mentor, every person I do... " Like this man lives to work, he doesn't have to work to live anymore, guys, at all. Work is optional for him, and these are things that he does for himself, so if you wanna get... Success leaves clues. This is what "bajillionaires" are doing.

0:19:34.1 KD: Like, talking, I will not divulge everything about this man. If this is what he does, why don't you start living like him? Why don't you start acting like him? You better believe I know I will. And writing this letter to myself, who knows when it will come, but I do believe in divine intervention and intuition. Set it up, you know, you know when you're gonna need this the most. How you know, I have no idea, but I know you know. So do it, have fun with it, and if I can ever help you, be a coach that gives you these ideas or our team, I would love to. It would be magical because I don't just talk systems, we don't just talk about systems, we do profitability. You as a person evolving as a leader, as a spouse, as a person, whatever you wanna become, and then we do systems and teams, all of it, the whole shebang. If that resonates with you and you wanna see if you're a candidate, that would be great for Dental A Team, email me "Hello" at thedentalateam.com. Shelby and I will chat with you. And it would be really fun just to get to know you as well.

0:20:31.5 KD: But email us. Guys, life is magic. That was one of the most magical powerful stories, and I could not wait to podcast about it. Because if I could go back in time five years ago, shoot, like that's like giving myself a hug in the future. It's like Interstellar, where she sees herself and she's able to pass that note to herself after she's already been there, like how cool is that? Those are the things that we're talking about, that's how you get to evolve as a person, maybe this jives with you and maybe it doesn't, and that's okay. But I hope you do it, I hope you take the challenge and see where you are in one year, two years, and then write me an email and let me know how it turned out for you, how magical of an experience that was for you, 'cause I promise you, it's gonna come at the most perfect time and remind you of exactly what you needed to know. And with that guy, I appreciate you, and I hope you know that, and I hope you just make today the best day you possibly can. Take massive action, guys, 'cause you're always just one decision away from a totally different life. And with that, thanks for listening, I catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast.

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0:21:30.9 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.

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