DSOPro: Tell us about your background and how you got involved in dentistry.
Early in my professional life, I was working at Wells Fargo Bank and the duties I performed there led me to professional coaching. I was implementing some changes and improvements to processes and needed to ensure that people who were really talented and experienced at what they did—and were comfortable doing in a way that seemed to work well—would remain cohesive and motivated.
The project was successful and one of the managers we shared the floor with who had been watching the processes asked, “Can you share your approach? I want to manage change in a way that’s effective and keeps our teams on the same page.”
I agreed to coach him, and he ended up referring me to a dentist friend of his who was having similar issues in his practice. That introduction was pivotal, because I was introduced to this incredible industry and a beautiful relationship was born.
I began coaching dentists in the evenings. Meanwhile, I still had a day job. At that point, my dental coaching consisted mostly of phone conversations, emails, and sometimes some in-person things. Leadership and personal development were common areas we coached on.
DSOPro: How did your career evolve in the dental profession?
I continued coaching dentists and became interested in owning a dental practice. I met with Brian Colao at Dykema who became our attorney, and we ended up partnering in some dental businesses and practices. That was exciting and educational for me because I was able to see through a different lens how our professional coaching and leadership development approaches could be implemented, and the domino effect they can have on teams and organizations.
We grew that organization and sold our ownership interest as Dental Life Coach grew. I am passionate about the people aspect of the dental business, and it is where I spend all of my time and energy now.
DSOPro: How did your practice partnership impact Dental Life Coach?
We are fortunate to work with many organizations and also work with some individual doctors. Whether I’m consulting leadership teams at a DSO, or I’m coaching the doctors, the work we do is far reaching. It impacts the people being coached, their teams, their patients, and it goes home with them, impacting how they interact with their family and approach their personal health. How we think changes everything and that really drives me!
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DSOPro: Tell us about the concept of learning or training yourself to think differently for better outcomes.
I’ll need to backtrack to when I was 16 and my dad was supposed to come home for my birthday. He was traveling for business, and he didn’t make it home. He was in a car accident. When you’re a kid and something that you’d never expect happens, it changes things.
My mom was wise and got us into grief therapy and I found comfort in self-help books. I absolutely love a book called As a Man Thinketh. It says, “As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.”
This type of thinking opened my mind to thinking differently and considering alternative perspectives.
I continued to research and study everything I could about how we think, why we do the things we do, why we hold ourselves back, how to change, how to develop in the ways that align with our goals, and how to create more of what we want in our lives.
I found solutions and access to inner strength and power. I used what I learned to improve my life in remarkable ways, and I gained a desire to share with others so they can create what they really want in their lives.
No matter who I work with — individual doctors, leaders of big dental organizations, attorneys, accountants, young people, seasoned people — development is critical for everyone.
The things I’ve been through – loss, confusion, rejection, overwhelm, unhealthy habits, perfectionism, chaos, and crisis – are human issues: how we process and manage pain and discomfort and how we increase flexibility and adaptability are the mental muscles we need to develop if we’re going to experience life the way we want to.
DSOPro: Does it ever become automatic or do people need to revisit how to process through it?
It takes daily strength training. Dental Life Coach is designed to be highly impactful for our clients. We provide each person the tools they need to get on the trajectory they want, and we do it in a relatively short period of time. Then we maintain support, because we’re always growing. Often, when we advance in one area, we uncover others that need refining. A client may lack the confidence to initiate “uncomfortable,” professional conversations. Then once they develop past that, he or she may uncover that there’s an area of opportunity to grow in conducting those conversations.
DSOPro: Give us some examples of the types of things you commonly deal with.
Some of the most common components we coach on are effective communication, influencing behavior and change, time management, understanding perspectives, emotional fuel, self-awareness, and creating results.
Sometimes there are underlying circumstances that impact our clients’ performance — death of a loved one, divorce, health concerns, unhealthy habits — and by processing and working through those things first or simultaneously, notable professional development is able to take effect.
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DSOPro: Who is typically involved in the coaching process?
The founder, CEO, and/or executive leadership are involved. DSOs partner with us to assist them in creating and maintaining healthy cultures. The consulting and coaching that takes place in those meetings is foundational to directing organizational improvements. The doctors and other leaders are involved in coaching that is specific to their growth and individual situations.
DSOPro: What other problems do you tackle?
Trust is a critical component of healthy professional atmospheres and it’s something that must be intentionally cultivated. We work with organizations to unify varying levels of leadership and close gaps that may prevent connection. We coach through discovering what people really want, why they want it, and how to get there. We teach strategies to influence more of the results we want and how to increase accountability in teams.
DSOPro: Talk about teams building trust and balancing that with accountability.
The learning centers in our brains shut down when we feel threatened or attacked, so we need to be intentional in our approach with each other. The tone we use, how long we talk, our body language, and the words we choose all communicate very direct messages to others about what our intentions are, how valued they are in the process, how psychologically safe they are in our environment, and what future experiences might be like here.
Trust and accountability go hand in hand because they’re both optional. People choose to be trustworthy, and they choose to live in accountability. Our first job as leaders is to be living and leading in ways that are consistent with the level of integrity that we want in our organizations. Then we focus on creating a safe environment for people to grow in where they can ask questions without being critiqued or ridiculed, share without being interrupted or laughed at, and get back up after a failure knowing optimism and support are nearby.
DSOPro: Explain how your company operates its training, seminars, and retreats.
Retreats and seminars are held on-site (or off-site) in person. When a new client partners with us for ongoing coaching, there’s a kickoff event, and that is either in person or held virtually and then we continue the training and coaching virtually.
DSOPro: What types of changes have you seen in DSO management and their business approaches?
There is an increasing emphasis on the importance of culture and leadership development. It is clear to most people that this type of training and development absolutely affects the bottom line of practices and organizations.
Business owners know that whatever problems they have are going to grow as the business grows — ineffective communication, poor conflict management, inconsistent team members, lack of delegation, gossip, procrastination, disharmony, or anything that’s not working well.
I am impressed when someone says to me, “We have 25 practices and plan to grow to 40 by next year. We want a strong and healthy culture. Here’s where we’re strong, here’s where we’re not. We’d love some help.” That level of ownership and responsibility helps create a workplace that provides a trusting environment, a place that the people you want working with you will be attracted to.
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DSOPro: How are you different from other professional development companies?
When we partner with a new client, we gather specific, numerical data. As personal and professional development takes place, changes occur in businesses that can be seen and tracked. We’re not only seeing a more cohesive and happier culture develop, we’re also seeing improved financial results for our clients. We see increases in case acceptance rates, team member retention rates, company profit margins, and ultimately, individual profits.
With intentional focus, the right training, and enhanced skill sets, we see some very exciting results!
DSOPro: How does your approach improve case acceptance?
Case presentation is about communication and awareness. Everybody involved — the doctor, the team member(s), and the patient — has a lot going on: thoughts and opinions about the treatment options, the investment, the timeframes, and other things that impact mood and energy like stress levels and things going on personally. When the doctor has an increased ability to understand and manage emotions, the team has access to better leadership. With enhanced leadership comes additional training, support, and encouragement on how to connect with patients and best communicate treatment options.
DSOPro: Have you seen different kinds of or increased needs from the lingering impacts of the pandemic?
The pandemic was devastating, and it unveiled areas of opportunity for each of us as individuals and as organizations. We learned where we had reservoirs of support and where we were vulnerable. There is lingering anxiety and unsettledness from what we experienced, people are recovering at different paces and that discrepancy can be off-putting or confusing, and our individual tolerances for anxiety and stress vary. Other factors that impact how we recover from tragedies include our ages, experiences, and belief systems.
Coupled with the post-pandemic situation we have the current economic situation. It has never been more important to prioritize wellness and provide our organizations with access to support. Development is a choice, and it makes every difference in how we ride these waves.
DSOPro: How do you help DSOs with recruitment issues?
It is important that organizations know what they want their culture to look like from the beginning and plan how they’re going to support developing, sustaining, and scaling it. The organizations with the strongest cultures and the happiest employees are the ones that put a lot of focus and resources in place to ensure those results.
When I envision health, happiness, and success, I think of it like a rubber band on three prongs. You can pull two of them ahead, but if you are not nurturing and coaching on the third piece, or have the right tools in place, at some point the rubber band snaps. Prioritizing all those pieces at an organizational level supports retention, culture, production, and revenue.
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Chelsea Myers is the CEO & Founder of Dental Life Coach and the host of the Dental Brain Crops podcast. Dental Life Coach is designed to optimize the health, happiness, and success of dental entrepreneurs and executives.
Chelsea began her career at Wells Fargo Bank where she recognized her passion for facilitating the growth of high performers. She began coaching additional individuals in the evenings, including some dentists. Falling in love with the dental community, Chelsea partnered in some dental practices and businesses. She continued coaching and spent the next few years learning, designing, and refining her coaching tools to best serve entrepreneurial dentists.
Chelsea’s programs proved themselves to be highly valuable and successful, pushing her focus entirely toward the growth of Dental Life Coach. Dental Life Coach is dedicated to making exceptionally enriching lives accessible to all dentists.