414: How To Be a Savvy Dentist

We hope you like Australian accents, because this episode is full of ‘em! Kiera joins the Savvy Dentist podcast’s Dr. Jesse Green to discuss recruitment challenges, what work-life balance means, the obvious benefits of working with a good team vs. a great team, and more.

Both doctors/owners AND team members will find huge benefits from the advice shared, and be inspired to become their best selves in the office — and outside it.

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Podcast 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 over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yup. 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.

0:00:49.8 Jesse Green: So much for taking the time to come and hang out on the Savvy Dentist podcast, coming all the way from Reno, Nevada. How are you today?

0:00:56.0 KD: I'm doing so well. I just wish I had as great of an accent as you do. That would just make my day even better. It's so fun to be here. Thank you for having me.

0:01:04.6 JG: Well, I'm delighted to have you here and I love yours as well. I love your accent, and I can't wait to explore a little bit about your background, and I can't wait to understand exactly the work you're doing because I see it, I read it, and I'm really impressed by it. And I'm really keen to understand and really figure out how you operate, because there's so many pearls of wisdom I see you share. But before we do get into all of that material, in Australia, at the moment, parts of our country have gone back to lockdown. Sydney, at the moment, is in lockdown. Melbourne has just come out of lockdown. Adelaide has just come out of lockdown. And I'm curious to ask, what the, I guess, the COVID-19 experience has been like for doctors and practices in the United States? How has it all been over there, for you guys?

0:01:48.5 KD: Yes, for sure. I actually just heard that from a dentist that I worked with actually in Perth, he said, "We're closing down again, which is so hard in Australia." I heard that. In the United States right now, it's been a very unique situation. I think most dentists were very taken by surprise. I think they all thought they were in a bulletproof industry. There's nothing that could ever stop dentistry, the economy, the housing crisis, none of those have ever impacted dentistry. And then COVID hits and that definitely impacted dentistry. And so for the bulk of our offices, they actually shut down for at least 30 days, if not 60 days, some even up to 90 days, depending upon what state they were in, and it was actually really ironic, because as I watched, that was typically from March until about June, July is when it started to open back up again. And ironically, I had actually just come back from a trip to Antarctica, and lo and behold, my ship and all the people on there were mostly Australian. And so, I was hanging out with a ton of Aussies on our trip to Antarctica. We just flew home.

0:03:00.7 KD: Luckily, I got off the boat because the next boat that went down, it was this exact same boat. The Australian crew was there. They were amazing. I loved every minute of it. But that boat actually got stuck in the ocean, I think, for 30 days. They were not able to come back on into Argentina. So I felt like I got the jackpot of getting home because I got home from Antarctica, and Monday, I started my coaching calls with clients and everything was just changing so rapidly. It was like, "Kiera, are we supposed to shut down? Are we supposed to lay off all of our employees? Are we supposed to continue on? What's the future?" And I remember, I'm pretty young, I've had a lot of experience in dentistry but I was like, "I actually don't know." These are moments that I don't even know how to coach them, and I think there was just so much fear that was rampant from everybody. Are we going to be okay? What's going to happen? Do we have to lay off all of our employees? And so most of them ended up furloughing their employees, most of them ended up getting government assistance, the PPP loan was a really big piece. But I felt like... When I was podcasting, I felt like I had to do the date of what it is today because... And the time, because give it one, two, three more hours, that information was irrelevant.

0:04:11.6 KD: And so, most of the practices, though, ironically, actually did better than they had done the year prior, and they all took at least a month off. And so, a lot of the offices really were just impressed by the fact that they could have a month off. They never believed that they could take a month off and still be just as profitable, just as successful. But they were able to have that much family re-life balance. And so a lot of my clients took that and ran with it, but now, we're on the flip side of that coin, and they're calling it the great resignation across the United States. Because of so much money being pumped into the economy, because of the moratorium, so the housing not being... Which I agree, so when people haven't had work for so many months, but there are jobs. So now we're starting to see the flip side of that, where hiring is a beast over here. People cannot find employees to work, because there's so much money. The government was paying so much more into these stimulus packages that now, there's a hygiene shortage.

0:05:14.7 KD: I feel like we're in a hygiene drought right now. So very few hygienists, dental assistants are just quitting, people are just giving resignations. And so, that's been a big thing of now changing into culture, making sure you have an incredible culture that your team wants to be a part of, how to attract team members when you're competing up against every other office out there, and offices are really having to start to get very innovative and creative, because although there's more dentistry to be done than ever before, because there's so much money in the economy that people are doing these cosmetic cases, they're doing different things, but they don't have the employees and the manpower to service all these patients willing to come. So that's kind of where we're at right now, as of July 29th. You guys are a day ahead of me, but July 29th, in the past, that's where we're at.

0:06:01.4 JG: Okay. So July 30th here. And so it's a really interesting experience that you've had because it mirrors pretty closely to the Australian experience as well. I do wanna come back and ask you about Antarctica in a moment 'cause that sounds wonderful. But I'm curious to ask you, with the drought of hygienists and their recruitment, that's exactly what we're seeing here in Australia. People are saying the labor market is very tight. We're finding that the class that we work with as well, are really having to become really good marketers around recruitment as well as taking their marketing skills for patients and turning those marketing skills into recruitment as well, to try to track those people who are the best talent. So I'm curious to ask you, Kiera, what sort of lessons do you think came about from the doctor's point of view, the practice owner's point of view, when they took that month off, found that they were profitable? Did they kind of have a realization that "Actually, you know what? Maybe I do need to re-evaluate how much I work." Did they re-evaluate what's important in their life? What was that experience like, particularly?

0:07:07.4 KD: Yes, I love this question because the answer is, yes. The bulk of them saw, "I actually really liked not being as busy. I liked not being as stressed. I felt like I had more time with my family. I felt like I had more time to be a person." Some people were also like, "What was your COVID baby?" And I mean, for me, I learned how to make macaroons. For other people, they learned how to do woodworking or all these different unique talents came out. Bread making was a big, popular thing through COVID. But what I've actually watched, over the course of the year and a half, since I think we're coming in on that now is, I feel like people are slipping back into who they were, pre-COVID.

0:07:48.4 KD: So those lessons learned, that taking a break, really taking care of themselves as people, they've just... They've gone back into the hustle and bustle, and now I'm getting this, "I'm so exhausted, I'm so stressed out," and I'm like, "Guys, you had a whole month off last year. You had a much slower pace, although yes, drenched with fear," but at the same time, now we're trying to rush back into it, to be who we used to be. And so I feel like people are kind of in this ping-pong, where we went from very slow, learning how to be more calm and less stressed, and then ramping it back up and now getting on the other side of just this pure stress, burnout exhaustion. I'm calling it the COVID crank. So many people are just cranky, that I feel like it's now starting to settle and people are like, "I didn't love being completely complacent and not having anything to do and very dormant, but I also don't like this crazy chaos that I used to be living."

0:08:42.2 KD: So they're kind of trying to find that middle road. But then I also have other clients who realize that they could do it, and one client I just came back from in New Jersey, they literally took a month off this year, again. They took their girls, they went traveling, they have associates in play, and they were like, "We are more about our life and making memories right now," and I think those people who learned that lesson and have been able to hold on and sustain, are the ones who are flourishing more, more profitable in their businesses, happier. It's the people who are rushing back and getting exhausted and burnt out, I think, even those teams aren't doing as well either, just due to the fact that they're reflecting their leader.

0:09:22.4 JG: It's really interesting. You raised an interesting point there and we were looking at the data for our practices that we work with as well, and there's a really strong correlation between the financial performance of the practice and the amount of holidays that the owner, in particular, the owner and the team take, but the owner particularly. And so, the more holidays that owners are taking, the more financially profitable and successful the business is, as well. And I think it speaks to your point around burnout, and when people are doing that ping-pong, trying to get that balance right is, if the balance is not right and they're back in that hustle and bustle. I don't know about you, but I think that people are finding it hard to be creative, they find it hard to be upbeat, they find it... When you're working, working, working, working, that it's draining, and I think they lose that edge. It's like chopping wood with a blunt axe after a while, and so it's a slight deterioration. Is that something that you see with your clients as well?

0:10:16.3 KD: Absolutely. And that's something that we really focus on in the Dental A-Team is, I don't believe the business and personal are separate. I think they're intertwined, and my definition of this balance is actually more of an intertwined lifestyle, because I really do watch and I've been pondering. We've been watching offices for the last four years, and even as a team member, and I just... I realize that there's always something different about people that are successful, not always, but generally speaking, and I've been tracking my clients. The ones who are just ridiculously successful, they have the best lifestyles. But it's not that they became successful and then had the lifestyle. It's that they incorporated that lifestyle while they were becoming successful and I truly do believe that they are more productive, they are more profitable, happier, less stressed, and so it's really this...

0:11:07.5 KD: It feels counter-intuitive, to take more time off to be more profitable, but you watch it over and over and over again, and my clients who work six, seven days a week, they're the ones who are struggling to make payroll, they're the ones who are burnt out all the time, they're the ones who are frustrated, they're the ones who are talking to their therapist all the time, because there's no breathing room. There's no space for them to catch up and recharge, and so they're always running in the lowest gear, versus coming in, hitting it hard, going home, and really having that reset. I think I can take a lesson from a lot of my clients, to see, "Kiera, you need more breaks in your life too." I'd be more successful, so I've tried to implement that as well. Just seeing that, and I know I feel better when I come back from a trip as well.

0:11:54.3 JG: Totally. I just came back from two weeks and it was the best thing ever, and I was spending a lot of time, honestly, just doing nothing, and I enjoyed just... I was looking at out of the ocean, watching the birds, and I sat there, and I think it was probably an hour, I sat there just watching birds. And it was wonderful. It was really, really lovely. And so, for anyone listening, take a holiday. You'll enjoy it. It'll do you good. And when these borders open up, Kiera, we'll have to see what holidays people can cook up to get across to the United States or off to Antarctica or wherever they get.

0:12:27.3 KD: I'm dying to get to Australia. We have friends that we met when we were in Antarctica and they're like, "Come visit us," and I'm like... They've already retired, they were... We were gonna go for their retirement party, and I'm like, "What is this world? Open back up." So definitely, definitely can't wait to be back with you guys again and mix and mingle.

0:12:45.9 JG: That would be good fun.

0:12:47.0 KD: How many of you have wished that there was an easy way to get that dang operations manual then? Well, guess what? We are here to deliver. That's right. Join us Friday, September 17th, for our operations manual creation. That's right. We are literally going to walk you and your team through step-by-step workshop style. It's virtual, and you're gonna get that operations manual started and quite a few pieces completed. So join us on Friday, September 17th, utilize our coupon code, PODCAST OPS, that's podcast O-P-S. Head on over to the dentalateam.com/events. I cannot wait to see you. Let's get that operations manual done, done and done. Bring your entire team, and I'll see you guys there.

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0:13:31.8 JG: Kiera, I do wanna ask you about teams, because your podcast is called the Dental A Team, your business is called The Dental A Team. So team features really prominently in the work that you do, clearly, and I wanted to spend a bit of time talking about what makes up a good team, how to create a great team, and what are the benefits of that? Now, I know that sounds... When I go, "What are the benefits?" it sounds really obvious. Compare that to having a terrible team, the benefits suddenly seem really obvious. But some of those benefits will be less obvious. And so, I wanted to ask you a little bit about some of those less obvious benefits of building a great team, because we know that we're gonna be more productive, we know that we're gonna be happier, and so on and so forth. But from your perspective in the work that you do, what is the real joy of building a wonderful team? Where does that really pay dividends that we might not ordinarily think about, first up?

0:14:24.1 KD: Yeah, I think that's a really good point. And I must say, thank you for recognizing that we are very team-focused, because I used to have the company named... I think all entrepreneurs do this. First, you name it after yourself. Kiera's Dental Consulting. No one really knew what that was. Then we thought, "Oh, we're gonna be brilliant. We're gonna entitle our company Dental Masters." And I remember going to an event, people were like, "What the heck is Dental Masters? "So I was like, "Oh, that was a bad demo. We didn't brand ourselves well." So then Dental A Team, I'm glad that you can tell because, yes, that is... That's actually what I found of, being a business owner, I've owned several dental practices, I've been every position in the practice, excluding hygiene and dentist, and what I found is, we come in with a very unconventional approach, because dentists most of the time, don't wanna do the management. They went to school to be dentists. They are becoming great business owners, not by choice, but due to necessity. And so, what's happening is, I found if we can get a really solid team to drive your practice for you, you can get great team buy-in, that ship moves so quickly and so easily, it looks like it's not even hard for them to be doing successfully, when other offices are just struggling. And I really have found that a lot of it has to do with the team around it.

0:15:38.9 KD: So I'm glad you brought that up of... Yes, of course, you have greater success, but I think more than anything, work is just easier when you have this incredible team that's bought in with you. So my approach, going into an office, I was a team member, and I tell people, "Just tell me the goals of what you wanna hit and I'm going to do it for you." I love my doctor, I love our patients, I love our practice, and people didn't realize that as team members, we literally want to make our doctor's lives easier, we want to help, and we just need to know the goals. Well, working with a lot of doctors, I've realized, a lot of doctors are uncomfortable sharing their goals with their teams, and I'm like, "Guess what? Your team probably actually wants more than you do. They probably could dream bigger than you can, because they always do, every time I do this activity." So what I found is, some of the benefits of a team is, they actually can innovate and create and think in a much broader, bigger way, because they have a different perspective than dentists do. They come with these innovative creative ideas.

0:16:35.6 KD: My team literally today, I was trying to be the awesome boss that was giving them all the ideas, and finally I said, "Hey, I trust you guys. Come up with whatever you decide. I know it's going to be awesome. I can't wait to see what you create." They came up with a much better idea than I ever did, and I didn't have to do anything other than empower them to just go with it and run with it. So I think we don't realize the intangible of your work that you are required to do is less, when you have a really incredible team, because that team's invested, they're bought in, they're driving your practice and your organization forward in the most creative, innovative ways, which then has another benefit of, that team feels fulfilled, they're happy, those team members feel like they're contributing to a greater cause. So then, you get this loyalty, this buy-in, this incredible culture, and dentists sit back and they're with their family four of the five days, they showed maybe one day a week, and that team is driving in the exact direction that that culture has been created. So I think, often, we don't realize less stress, greater experiences for our patients and our whole team, and it all comes from just having this really core amazing team. But again, that doesn't just happen overnight. That's not just like, "Oh, I got lucky with a great team." There is quite a bit of work that I feel, goes into making that incredible team.

0:17:54.3 JG: Well, let's talk a little bit about that work that does go into that, because sometimes we think about... I like to think about the A-Z. What's the start to finish kind of thing that we need to be thinking about? And clearly, there's a lot of moving pieces in that. There's the recruitment piece, there's the onboarding, training and so on and so forth. But for those people who are listening to this podcast and going, "A team that actually thinks, a team that actually is innovative, a team that has initiative and drive and cares about my goals." What stops the doctors sharing their goals? Because you touched on that, and I know many dentists, many practice owners, do feel a little bit uncomfortable and particularly around financial goals, particularly around saying, "I want the practice to earn a certain amount of money. I want the profit levels to be whatever they wanna be." How would you communicate that elegantly and effectively to the team, for buy-in, because the big fear that a lot of practice owners will have is, it just feels a little bit... I feel like I'm earning this much and the teams earning not as much. And is that gonna create resentment? Am I gonna be suddenly asked for pay rises? All of those questions come up. So how would you suggest someone starts that process, by at least communicating their goals?

0:19:13.0 KD: I'm so glad you brought this up because this is actually what I love to do, coaching. Because I feel like I understand it so well. As a team member, I actually didn't think any of those stories that dentists were telling themselves... I didn't think that they were getting this huge production number because they were trying to buy a new boat or a new house. And honestly, I don't care because, guess what? I love my job. And I worked at a dental college for three years, and I say, "Dentists, I want you to be successful." You put in a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, and me as a team member, if I'm the right team member, I want you to be successful because I realize... And you guys can play this for team members, if you'd like, as a team member, I actually am more secure and more safe when my dentist and the practice is profitable, because my job's not in jeopardy, and the energy from my doctor, actually, is better. I can feel that security around me.

0:20:04.6 KD: So I tell all teams, "You want your doctor and your practice to be insanely successful, because you're job's secure, and you have way more opportunities to grow and help more patients." So I think, first of all, docs, realize that your team's most of the time, not thinking about that. And the team members who are thinking about that might not be the right team member for your practice.

0:20:24.2 JG: Totally.

0:20:26.7 KD: But I will also flip and say, as a business owner now, I get you. It's awkward to tell my team, "Hey, here are these goals," because I have those exact same questions of, "Does my team think this about me?" Which is ironic, because as a team member, I didn't think that at all. But now as an owner, I question, "Does my team think that?" And then I have to realize, the way you start this is, "Guys, I look at production as a way to measure how many patients we're helping." The greater our production is, the higher our production is, the more patients we're able to help. And I'm on a really big moral mission to save patients from bad dentistry. There are a lot of practices that don't provide the best dentistry.

0:21:03.5 KD: And so I'm really big at growing the best practices and helping them serve more people in their community. So that's a great way to show that your production number actually is completely connected to how many patients you're actually able to help and serve and give back to in your community. Also then, you ask your team, "What do they want?" So I've been working... A great example is I have an office in Greater New York area, up by Canada's border, actually, and they have four locations, they're about to expand to two more this year, and they're amazing. They're all private practice, and we actually have started building goals within those practices individually. So I asked the team members, "Teams, where do you see your practice in one year, three years, 10 years? Where do you actually wanna be?" And it's really fun because some of the teams put "In three years, we wanna go on a cruise." Well, I'll be honest, if we're hitting certain revenue goals, absolutely, I would love to take my team on a cruise.

0:22:01.0 KD: But what's really fun is, the team built the revenue goals, the team built what they wanna do, the team built how many new patients they wanna be seeing. And you help them understand math, of course, you can help guide the team on certain things they might not know business-wise, but let the team dream with you, let the team help create it. Because, then doctors, you're not the one pushing and driving this revenue and saying, "I wanna have this." I say 50% overhead is what's expected of a healthy business. So you just let them know this is what's expected, that way you're secure, that way our business is secure, this is what's expected. Go from there, sky's the limit. So then, your team literally can build off of that, they know what to do, and that's, I think, one of the best ways you can start these conversations is ask the team where they see this practice growing in one, three, 10 years. And if they want, in 10 years, to have four locations, well, they have to realize that you need revenue to be able to do that, then the conversation becomes a very easy. And you tie that to, "This revenue can only be increased by us doing better care, greater value, serving more patients, that's what's gonna grow our business, and that's what's going to help all of us achieve what we ultimately want of the best patient care."

0:23:10.2 JG: Perfect. So Kiera, there's so many pills of wisdom there, so many really practical and useful conversations to have. So ladies and gents, if you've just tuned in now, I'm gonna ask you to rewind for a minute or two, and just really play that little piece over there, that clip there, there's so much wisdom in there. Kiera, I wanna ask you about recruitment, because people will be driving to work listening to this particular episode and they'll be like, "Wow, if I had a team like that, that would be amazing." Where do these wonderful, mythical creatures called engaged team members live? How do I find some? How do I encourage them into my practice? And so what I'd like to ask you is, do you have any particular thoughts about how to attract certain team members, how to onboard them, how do you create that culture, but especially in a tight labor market, like you spoke about a moment ago, how do you go about attracting people to your practice who are of that caliber, who are really engaged, who are big-picture thinkers, can dream with the owner, where do those people live and hide, and then how can we find some?

0:24:14.5 KD: [laughter] It's funny because I used to own a company called Dental Placement Pros. I think when most people start businesses, they get excited to make more businesses, and then you realize you actually should just focus on one business if you want it to be successful. [laughter]

0:24:29.2 JG: We should talk about that off-air, yes.

0:24:32.1 KD: So I created this company called Dental Placement Pros, and we were a recruitment company. I should have kept it, now, I'd be a billionaire because of what's going on. But we actually had a tagline of, "We help you find your unicorn." And I think first and foremost, the way that I found that's best is, start with you as the leader, as the owner, look to see who you are. Are you growing and developing yourself? Are you a big-picture thinker? I truthfully invest in myself every single year, and I do a lot of CE. I am going to things that expand my mind, expand... And not just on clinical, but on professional and personal as well, on relationships, because I believe we bring all that back to the practice. And I'm going to naturally attract people like me. So I say you start with you first as an owner, to look to see who are you, because if you're expecting a team to be driven, are you yourself driven? So start with yourself first. Second, look at your practice. Is your practice and your culture a place that these rock-stars would actually wanna come join?

0:25:34.6 KD: I know I'm very choosy when I go work at a practice, because I want somebody who's growing me and developing me, and they're investing in their team, and them themselves as the owner, they're growing and developing as well. So I would say check those two things first. Because oftentimes, we're hoping to bring someone in to change us, which yes, that can happen, but I think often we don't go to the most simplest place first with starting with ourselves, 'cause that feels like the simplest and the hardest at the same time. After that, get really clear of who you actually want to hire. I think, so often, we just post ads out there of, "I want a hygienist." No, you don't. You don't want the hygienist who's lazy, who doesn't show up to work on time, and doesn't actually care about patients. You don't just want a hygienist. So spend... Like this morning, I was actually working with my coach and we spent 45 minutes really getting a crystal clear picture of the next person we're hiring. We've been trying to hire this position, I'm very choosy on it, and we've interviewed several people, and we feel like we're just not quite getting it right.

0:26:35.5 KD: Well, that's because of the ad we're posting, it's because of what we're putting out there is what's being brought back in to us. So spend some time, figure out what type of a personality you want this person to have, what type of attributes do you want them to have, what would be your ideal hygienist, what would be your ideal dental assistant for this role? Really spend some time, just write down their attributes and then you're going to actually write an ad to this person. I have attracted so many amazing people for so many different offices, and I literally believe it's in what I'm putting out there in my ad. Also get really creative with your titles. If you just put your title on your ad as "Dental hygienist," well, guess what? Every other dental practice out of the exact same creative title, and so all of you look the exact same. And Jesse, I'm sure you'll relate. I know my podcast downloads have nothing to do with the content, they actually have everything to do with the title of that podcast. I can have the best content in there, but if my title isn't a great title that someone would wanna click on, I don't get nearly as many downloads.

0:27:35.9 KD: So spend some time coming up with a creative title. I have done like, "Dental hygienists who loves ice cream." Because we love ice cream, so I want a dental hygienist... That stands out amongst all the other ads out there that just say, "Dental hygienist wanted." If you are a growth-driven practice, if you are a self-help person, if you are a GSD, get-stuff-done type practice, put that in your title, so you actually stand out amongst all the other ads. Write your ad to the avatar, like, "We're looking for somebody who loves team development and loves to grow a practice. We work hard, we play hard, we love to eat ice cream on Fridays as our... " But that's culture, that's literary culture. My team has flex Fridays. We don't work in the office on Fridays unless you want to. That's something that's fun. I want somebody who has fun. So I write those things in my ad. So really look at your culture and see what is your culture and who are you trying to attract? Write the ad to that person, and then don't sit back. You can't go fishing and just throw your line in the water and hope and pray that fish shows up on your boat. You have to literally do the work. And so I'm big on ads of... I actually...

0:28:46.1 KD: This is gonna get exciting. I will sometimes post three ads simultaneously, for the same position, with different titles for my ad, just to see which one...

0:28:55.2 JG: You're split testing.

0:28:55.9 KD: Yes, exactly.

0:28:56.4 JG: You're split testing your ads. Yeah.

0:28:58.9 KD: Just like you said, you said earlier, Jesse, of like, "Take your marketing skills that you've learned, to attract new patients, and do the exact same thing for your candidates." Find out what they want. Most of the candidates you're hiring right now are Millennials. They're super invested in lifestyle, they're invested in giving back and growing communities. Find out what these people actually want and put it in your ad. Look for ways that you could add that, add value to it. So many people that I've interviewed, they say that the number one reason they wanna work with us is because of the ad we wrote. I write as me, I write as our company, and because I know the person that I'm trying to attract is going to read that and be like, "That's me," and they're going to apply, and I'm gonna stand out amongst all the other ads, but I also hustle and I write ads every single week, I post new ads every single week, I interview people as soon as they send their email in. I'm very quick because I know the best people are going to be taken by somebody if I don't quickly get on those ads.

0:30:00.9 JG: 100%. The... Good talent has plenty of options. And so good people are not out of work for more than five seconds or they're not even out of work at all, they're just looking. So when they're looking, we've gotta be ready to go. We created a thing called a magnetic job offer, which was really designed to understand the fact that good people have options. And so we wanted to also be pitching ourselves to that talent as much as they're pitching to us. And so, understanding, as you said, what they want, making sure that we can deliver that, demonstrating that we can deliver that, demonstrating our culture is gonna be a fit with one another is really key. Kiera, I really love that explanation. It's really, really on point, and to hear that you're split testing your ads and headlines, brings a smile to my marketing heart. I love it.

[laughter]

0:30:50.0 KD: It's fun. I think just think outside the box. And I love what you said of, "Make a magnetic job offer." I hope everybody heard that because like you said, good talent usually isn't applying. I don't know about you, Jessie, I can't tell you the last time I applied for a job. So that's another piece to it of, start working your network, talking to a lot of people, because your best people usually aren't looking for a job, they're usually recruited. And so start playing that up as well, 'cause that's usually where your best talent's hidden.

0:31:21.3 JG: Absolutely. Kiera, we have covered a lot of territory today, and I really feel like we've just scratched the surface. So there's lots of things I'd love to talk to you about. Maybe we can do a round two of this if you're up for it.

0:31:31.9 KD: Of course.

0:31:32.9 JG: But before we go, I did wanna ask you about Antarctica [0:31:35.5] ____ back to the beginning.

0:31:37.6 KD: [laughter] We should.

0:31:39.0 JG: I'd like to just ask you, What was your favorite thing about that trip?

0:31:43.0 KD: This is so fun. I actually was just talking to my husband about this last night. We were walking, and...

0:31:49.1 KD: It's funny 'cause I actually have a little bracelet on. It's actually this morning. We were on a walk this morning, that's when it was, and I had this little bracelet on, it's actually from Antarctica. There's hardly anything you can buy, so we bought it on the ship, and it's an insanely expensive bracelet for this little string with a charm. And it's really got a funny story behind it, because my husband, every day when we were in Antarctica, we'd be going to bed and we'd ask each other, "What was your favorite part of your day?" I'd been eyeing this bracelet in the gift shop for the whole time we were there, so my husband finally buys it for me. Like I said, it's this piece of string with a little charm, and it was absurdly expensive. And we were laying in bed, and I said, "My favorite part of the day was my oatmeal in the morning." And my husband said, "Not that very expensive bracelet I bought you?" [laughter] So, out of guilt, I put this bracelet on.

0:32:41.7 KD: I haven't taken it off, so it's been on since we got back from Antarctica over a year ago. And I told my husband today, I said, "I'm wearing it until it falls off because that'll be life calling me back to Antarctica." And my husband said, "Why? Why do you wanna go back? It smelled like Penguin poop." It really did smell terrible. Penguins are so cute, but they smell awful. But I said, my most favorite part of Antarctica was I felt very... It's a serendipity of feeling very free, there's literally nothing down there, while also being on this terrifying verge of death as well.

0:33:11.2 KD: It's this very, very surreal experience, because you were at the bottom of the world. People used to die going into Antarctica. It's freezing cold. It can take you in a second. But you're in this most gorgeous, serene space that nobody hardly travels to, and the water is insanely, insanely clear. You can look down, you can see seals going through the water. We saw penguins. I could literally watch penguins swimming through the water. And it's so cold that you know if you fall in that water, it could consume you in a second, but yet, it's this most magical, serene... You've got glaciers just careening off that you watch just ex... And so, you were talking about the birds, I felt like my life slowed down, and I started to appreciate just watching an iceberg drift, watching penguins waddle down a penguin highway, and yet seeing the most beautiful place I've ever seen on earth and being captivated by that, and being so freezing cold and yet just this magical element. I guess that it took a long time to get there. The Drake Shake is not a joke. I was almost thrown out of my bed. It was insane. My husband got insanely seasick. Our room on the boat was so tiny, but it was incredible to experience that and to be a part of that. So that's really what I loved about it and why I've got this bracelet on, and I can't wait for life to call me back down there because it was something that I would say every person should experience, for sure.

0:34:46.1 JG: Lovely. Well, it sounds wonderful, and I'm pretty sure your husband's gonna make sure that that bracelet lasts a long time given the expensive nature of it. [laughter] So he'll be making sure he's repairing it when it's starting to fray.

0:34:58.7 KD: Exactly.

0:35:00.2 JG: Kiera, you've been a really wonderful and fun guest today. I really wanna say thank you. I've enjoyed talking to you immensely. I'm a fan of your work, and long may you continue to do that. So thank you for all the work you do for our profession. It means the world to me to have you onto our show. And thank you for being so generous with your knowledge and your insights today, you're an absolute whizz.

0:35:17.5 KD: Absolutely. Well, thank you. I truly appreciate it. I admire your work as well. And I'm just honored to be here and to give back to a profession that I just love so much, so thank you.

0:35:27.6 JG: Thanks, Kiera.

[music]

0:35:32.7 KD: Alright, Dental A Team listeners, that's a wrap. Thank you so much for listening. And if you loved today's podcast, go leave us a review. It takes you five seconds, and your review helps more offices, more practices, more team members just like you find out about the Dental A Team. Thank you guys so much for being a part of my Dental A Team family.