Latest / Divas That Care Network / What If Success Is A Bigger Table
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: It's Divas the Care Radio.
- 0:02SPEAKER_00: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
- 0:06SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Divas the Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
- 0:13SPEAKER_00: This is a global movement for women, by women engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
- 0:20SPEAKER_00: To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show.
- 0:26SPEAKER_00: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
- 0:31SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is someone who has built something pretty remarkable.
- 0:35SPEAKER_01: And she's done it in a way that I think is especially meaningful for women.
- 0:39SPEAKER_01: Amanda Chin is the co-owner of Norwood Dental Center.
- 0:43SPEAKER_01: And since 2018, she's been quietly changing what people can expect from a dental clinic.
- 0:49SPEAKER_01: For Amanda, it's never been just about teeth.
- 0:52SPEAKER_01: It's about creating an experience where people feel respected, cared for, and completely free of judgment.
- 0:59SPEAKER_01: And that same philosophy seems to show up outside the clinic too.
- 1:04SPEAKER_01: Amanda is deeply involved in her community and currently serves as a board chair of community options, supporting children and families through inclusive programs.
- 1:16SPEAKER_01: What really caught my attention is that Amanda has grown her business through relationships, community, and genuine connection, rather than traditional marketing or trying to outdo the competition.
- 1:29SPEAKER_01: So today we're talking about collaboration over competition and what can happen when women stop seeing each other as threats and start seeing each other as opportunities to connect, support, and grow.
- 1:41SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Amanda.
- 1:42SPEAKER_01: I'm so happy to have you here.
- 1:44SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
- 1:46SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course.
- 1:47SPEAKER_01: So we're going to start with the idea of collaboration over competition.
- 1:52SPEAKER_01: Now you've grown your dental practices into mil multi-million dollar businesses without relying heavily on traditional marketing.
- 2:01SPEAKER_01: How have like the relationships and the community, um, the communities that you belong to played a role in that growth?
- 2:10SPEAKER_02: Community has been absolutely everything for us as we've grown our businesses.
- 2:14SPEAKER_02: When we opened our practice in 2018, we um we founded our practice in a small area of inner city Ebonton.
- 2:22SPEAKER_02: So if you have any Emonton listeners, we're kind of by Nate and Kingsway Mall.
- 2:27SPEAKER_02: And a lot of our dental friends told us, oh my gosh, like you're gonna go bankrupt being in inner city.
- 2:32SPEAKER_02: You should go to Windermere, you should go to where there's rich people with big insurance plans, um, and that's a path to success.
- 2:39SPEAKER_02: And um we want to stick to inner city.
- 2:41SPEAKER_02: And what made the big difference there was having a community of people who would come together and really just go all in to support us.
- 2:49SPEAKER_02: Um, so it might not be like the rich area of the city, but it is an area where people value relationships and value connection and um it's made a big difference for our businesses.
- 3:01SPEAKER_01: That's beautiful.
- 3:02SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 3:02SPEAKER_01: And and you can't always just go where the money goes, right?
- 3:04SPEAKER_01: The money will come to you when you're open to it.
- 3:07SPEAKER_02: That's actually the irony because today, like eight years down our journey, we do have people from Windermere and Red Deer and Athabasca and faraway places driving to our practice.
- 3:18SPEAKER_02: Um, but took a while to build that reputation.
- 3:20SPEAKER_02: And and now that we have it, for sure, people will travel to you in this inner city pocket of you know our little dental paradise.
- 3:27SPEAKER_02: Um and it's it's wonderful, it's such a privilege.
- 3:30SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 3:31SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 3:32SPEAKER_01: So I think women can sometimes fall into comparison uh without even realizing it.
- 3:39SPEAKER_01: When we look at another woman's business, family, appearance, success, or all the things, even things like handling life, and suddenly we question ourselves have you ever experienced that feeling of comparison or competition yourself?
- 3:57SPEAKER_01: And what has helped you to move through that?
- 4:00SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, uh all the time.
- 4:03SPEAKER_02: You know, the irony of our lives these days is that because we have social media, it's a blessing because we stay connected, but it's also a curse because we only see like the highlight reels.
- 4:12SPEAKER_02: Like I have social media myself, and as a mom of a four and seven-year-old, I have rough days.
- 4:18SPEAKER_02: I have days where the kids are crying or refusing to put their shoes on as you're leaving the house and they're not what gets posted.
- 4:25SPEAKER_02: So what we see online is like the picture perfect moments, and then there's that messy real life that follows.
- 4:32SPEAKER_02: You know, for me, I find what snaps me out of it is having those connections in real life in person.
- 4:38SPEAKER_02: Because that's when women get to talking and you hear that their seven-year-old also doesn't put on their shoes periodically, and their kitchen also was left a mess today because heck, getting to school on time was a challenge, let alone like putting the dishes away.
- 4:52SPEAKER_02: Um, and those real life moments happen to all of us.
- 4:55SPEAKER_02: And just also realizing that there's seasonality to our lives, um, I do think that women can be it all and do it all, but maybe not necessarily all at the same time.
- 5:04SPEAKER_02: So there's things that you give up in order to do certain things, and and you have to find for yourself as a woman what will be peaceful for you.
- 5:13SPEAKER_01: Right.
- 5:14SPEAKER_01: And and know that you're not in this alone, right?
- 5:16SPEAKER_01: Like if you're struggling to get your kids out the door to get to school, probably two or three of your neighbors are doing the same, having the same struggle, right?
- 5:24SPEAKER_01: It's you're not you're never alone, right?
- 5:25SPEAKER_01: There's always never alone.
- 5:27SPEAKER_01: And the best part is there's always someone you can go to to kind of lean on and get a little bit of support or you know, just vent even.
- 5:36SPEAKER_01: Just say, oh, I can't believe what a morning I had, right?
- 5:38SPEAKER_02: There's always my best friend um is a business owner too, and we we have car drive talks together where when one of us is driving, we just pick up the call and we see if the other person's driving.
- 5:50SPEAKER_02: And it's great because it's like our catch-up time when you're I have 20, I have a pocket of 20 minutes.
- 5:54SPEAKER_02: Like, let's go.
- 5:55SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
- 5:57SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 5:57SPEAKER_01: You know, and I think you know, especially I I was a stay-at-home mom, I needed that.
- 6:02SPEAKER_01: I mean, sure, I could stop and go get myself a coffee or or whatever I need, you know, felt would help me.
- 6:08SPEAKER_01: But it was just nice sometimes to have someone on the other end of the phone to listen to you, right?
- 6:14SPEAKER_01: Just so like you wouldn't believe the kind of morning I'm having.
- 6:18SPEAKER_01: And then it makes you feel good when she says, Yeah, my morning is kind of the shits, too, right?
- 6:23SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
- 6:24SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
- 6:25SPEAKER_01: Uh now you've talked about building your businesses through authentic connections, like we spoke earlier, rather than through traditional marketing.
- 6:34SPEAKER_01: What I would like to know from you is what does an authentic business relationship look like to you?
- 6:40SPEAKER_01: And how do you know when a relationship is genuine, genuinely worth investing in?
- 6:48SPEAKER_02: I love that question because I think it's part of the ethos of just being a good person.
- 6:53SPEAKER_02: When I think of an authentic relationship, it's one where I'm building it and I'm not expecting anything immediate in return.
- 7:00SPEAKER_02: I'm just being a good person, putting good vibes out in the universe.
- 7:04SPEAKER_02: And I think that when you do that, like good things will follow you.
- 7:08SPEAKER_02: So if I look at our business, if you live in Edmonton, you probably get like a million dental flyers in the mail every single week.
- 7:14SPEAKER_02: I know I do.
- 7:15SPEAKER_02: We have never done one of those.
- 7:17SPEAKER_02: Instead, we try and be the clinic where if there's a local sports team for like nine-year-olds, we're going to sponsor it.
- 7:23SPEAKER_02: If there's a Community League barbecue, we're going to be there.
- 7:27SPEAKER_02: Um, if there's a donation drive to collect toothbrushes, we're going to be there.
- 7:31SPEAKER_02: Um, Halloween, right around the corner.
- 7:33SPEAKER_02: We run an annual event called Switch Witch where children get to bring in their candy and we change it to a toy for them.
- 7:38SPEAKER_02: So I look at just things that we're able to do that add positivity and joy to the world and where we're not expecting anything back.
- 7:46SPEAKER_02: Um, and I find that when you do that, it's authentic because it's not as transactional and you build a deeper bond where people want to actually have a relationship with you in all the ways, not just some business.
- 7:58SPEAKER_01: Right.
- 7:59SPEAKER_01: And you're choosing, right?
- 8:00SPEAKER_01: You're choosing who you're supporting, right?
- 8:03SPEAKER_01: And that makes a difference.
- 8:04SPEAKER_01: When you send out a flyer, you don't know who's getting it and you don't know the reaction on the other end.
- 8:09SPEAKER_01: Whereas when you're supporting the community, like, you know, I love the switch witch program, right?
- 8:15SPEAKER_01: I remember a friend of mine, she her kids were quite a bit younger than mine, and she was doing that.
- 8:19SPEAKER_01: And I thought, that's wild.
- 8:20SPEAKER_01: I love that, right?
- 8:22SPEAKER_01: And the fact that the dentist is actually supporting that, you know, the the kids will go to their trick-or-treating night, and then in the morning they're like, okay, let's go off to, you know, see Amanda and her family at the Norwood Dental Clinic, right?
- 8:35SPEAKER_01: Because they want that toy and they're doing it, it gets them involved in the community as well.
- 8:42SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's exactly I love that.
- 8:45SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 8:45SPEAKER_01: Okay, so you're not only running a business, you have two boys, four and seven, a community leader and a volunteer.
- 8:54SPEAKER_01: How have the relationships that you've built in the community influenced you personally and not just professionally?
- 9:03SPEAKER_02: I think the community relationships are everything because they make life more bearable in the stressful moments.
- 9:10SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, when we first started our business, we were living in Sony Plain, actually, because we were living in my parents' basement.
- 9:16SPEAKER_02: And um, it was neighbors who would go check on our business at 2 a.m.
- 9:19SPEAKER_02: when we got the break-in alert.
- 9:21SPEAKER_02: And if we didn't know our neighbors near our business, like the physical people living in our community, how would we be able to have that relationship to have neighbors going and checking?
- 9:29SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I've had days where, you know, we've signed up to do an event and we're short-saffed, and it will be a neighbor who will say, I can go stand at the booth for a little bit.
- 9:37SPEAKER_02: Or if you're hiring someone, a neighbor who will say, Hey, I have a friend who is really good at uh administrative.
- 9:43SPEAKER_02: Maybe she could work.
- 9:43SPEAKER_02: So we've gotten some of our best employees over the years that way, some of our best relationships, but these also have become like friends to me personally.
- 9:51SPEAKER_02: I'm a giant extrovert, so I'm someone who's constantly looking at what's a cool thing we can do as women.
- 9:57SPEAKER_02: Can we go for brunch?
- 9:58SPEAKER_02: Can we go to the ballet together?
- 10:00SPEAKER_02: Is there an ESO show?
- 10:01SPEAKER_02: And these become like the cherished relationships that also bring joy and delight to life because you want to spend time with them.
- 10:08SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 10:09SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 10:10SPEAKER_01: And then there's always like when you have these different relationships, whether it's through the neighbor or through, you know, all those scenarios that you just described, you learn a lot about yourself as well, right?
- 10:22SPEAKER_01: How you how you invite those relationships in.
- 10:26SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
- 10:27SPEAKER_02: And you know, you also learn about just different people's lived experiences.
- 10:30SPEAKER_02: Like I I love hearing about where people have come from, like the foods they eat, the dances they like to do.
- 10:36SPEAKER_02: Like that's the variety that makes life exciting and fun.
- 10:40SPEAKER_02: So yeah, 100%.
- 10:42SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
- 10:44SPEAKER_01: Now, there can be a fear for women, you know, when it comes to succeeding, you know, when we watch other women succeed, you know, we somehow for some reason feel like there's less room for us, right?
- 10:56SPEAKER_01: Like there's, you know, oh, how can I do this when she's already doing it?
- 11:00SPEAKER_01: You've built a business around the idea that connection creates opportunity.
- 11:05SPEAKER_01: What would you say to the woman who sees another successful woman and immediately thinks, oh my gosh, I should be doing more, instead of what can I learn from her?
- 11:15SPEAKER_02: And I would say that like that sounds like a path to burnout to me, right?
- 11:18SPEAKER_02: Like there's only we all have the same 24 hours in our day.
- 11:22SPEAKER_02: And no matter how cool or superhuman we are, we all have 24 hours.
- 11:26SPEAKER_02: So if we can work together to lift each other up, like why not?
- 11:29SPEAKER_02: Um it's interesting because like right before our podcast today, Tina, I was having coffee with a friend of mine who's a therapist.
- 11:36SPEAKER_02: And she was saying, like, how do I find therapy clients?
- 11:39SPEAKER_02: There's a million therapists in Ebonton.
- 11:41SPEAKER_02: I hope she'll listen to your podcast afterwards.
- 11:43SPEAKER_02: And we literally were talking about how there's so many women coaches who are in the coaching space, in the perimenopause space, in the life development space.
- 11:52SPEAKER_02: And I was like, could there be an opportunity to collaborate?
- 11:55SPEAKER_02: And maybe they'll shine in one area and you shine in the other.
- 11:58SPEAKER_02: And together there's magic, and everyone has more relationships and connections and patients and clients as a result.
- 12:07SPEAKER_02: And she was like, Well, why would people want to work with me?
- 12:09SPEAKER_02: And I was like, because you have an amazing gift and expertise, and they're not gonna have that, right?
- 12:14SPEAKER_02: You you're stronger together, right?
- 12:17SPEAKER_01: And then there's also there's this way that we bond with people naturally that will attract her people, right?
- 12:24SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, the people that come to you, they like you.
- 12:27SPEAKER_01: There's a reason why they like you, right?
- 12:30SPEAKER_01: You have this, you know, magnet to them.
- 12:32SPEAKER_01: And so those are the clients that you attract, right?
- 12:34SPEAKER_01: And I have the same type of thing.
- 12:36SPEAKER_01: The people that I attract are the people that are attracted to my personality, and so you know, we're all we all work that way.
- 12:43SPEAKER_01: We don't know it a lot of times, right?
- 12:45SPEAKER_01: Like we don't realize it, we don't feel it, but we that is how it works.
- 12:49SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
- 12:50SPEAKER_02: That's exactly it.
- 12:51SPEAKER_02: And I think it's also okay to not be afraid that not everyone will be your client or patient or whatever.
- 12:57SPEAKER_02: Like, I think that we were one of the first dental clinics in Edmundton to ask people their pronouns um on a medical history form and their preferred name as opposed to their name on their insurance.
- 13:07SPEAKER_02: Um, for trans people, sometimes their preferred name and the their gender might be different from what their direct billing insurance is.
- 13:15SPEAKER_02: And I can remember a conversation back in like 2020 of someone saying, I don't want to go to a dentist, why are you asking this?
- 13:22SPEAKER_02: And I was very cool with saying, you know what, there's clinics that don't ask this.
- 13:26SPEAKER_02: And if it's uncomfortable for you, you can check out one of those.
- 13:30SPEAKER_01: Right.
- 13:31SPEAKER_01: Right.
- 13:32SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
- 13:33SPEAKER_01: Sorry, not sorry, exactly.
- 13:34SPEAKER_01: I and I get that.
- 13:35SPEAKER_01: And I think over the last, I mean, 10 years, we're hearing more and more like this, right?
- 13:42SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's because every everyone is unique and the world is starting to accept that uniqueness, no matter what that what it is, right?
- 13:50SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's easy for me to say, well, you're there's no one else like you.
- 13:53SPEAKER_01: Sure, there's no one else like you, but you're, you know, we all we don't always accept that that part of us that we're trying to show the world, right?
- 14:03SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that's how we learn to accept it is by you know allowing it to just to come out.
- 14:09SPEAKER_01: I agree.
- 14:10SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
- 14:10SPEAKER_01: So now I know one of the things that we talked about uh when we met a few months ago uh was the importance of the importance of finding joy and not just constantly checking things off the list.
- 14:23SPEAKER_01: Now, as your life and your businesses continue to grow, what does success look like for you now?
- 14:30SPEAKER_01: And what are you doing to make sure that there's still room for joy, connection, and the people you love?
- 14:36SPEAKER_02: Wow, what a great question.
- 14:38SPEAKER_02: You know, it's interesting because in the early stages, I can recall working 7 a.m.
- 14:42SPEAKER_02: to 9 p.m.
- 14:43SPEAKER_02: every single day.
- 14:45SPEAKER_02: And I don't regret that.
- 14:46SPEAKER_02: You know, work hard on your early days so that later you're able to relax and have, you know, the life that you want.
- 14:52SPEAKER_02: These days, um, you know, I'm able to block time off of my schedule for the ballet, for the theater.
- 14:58SPEAKER_02: I can take time off on a random Thursday afternoon and go for lunch with friends.
- 15:04SPEAKER_02: Um, and I have systems in place in my businesses to make sure that everything gets done and a team that's amazing that gets everything done.
- 15:11SPEAKER_02: It didn't happen overnight, though.
- 15:13SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I kind of believe in those early days you might not have great balance.
- 15:17SPEAKER_02: At least that wasn't my experience, but that grind was worth it because today I have incredible freedom and um and I love it.
- 15:24SPEAKER_02: I'm so grateful.
- 15:25SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
- 15:26SPEAKER_01: And the thing is, like you said, it doesn't happen overnight.
- 15:29SPEAKER_01: But if it's something that you want, you have to work at it, you have to make it happen, right?
- 15:35SPEAKER_02: 100%.
- 15:36SPEAKER_02: And like it doesn't come easy.
- 15:37SPEAKER_02: Like it is often entrepreneurship is often a grind in the early days.
- 15:41SPEAKER_02: And if you're a woman listening and going to that right now, I wish you strong Red Bull and coffee.
- 15:47SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
- 15:48SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't suggest Red Bull to anyone, but if you know if that's your thing.
- 15:52SPEAKER_01: That's my thing.
- 15:52SPEAKER_02: You everyone do the life.
- 15:54SPEAKER_02: No pressure, no judgment.
- 15:55SPEAKER_01: It's my whole model.
- 15:56SPEAKER_01: Right, exactly.
- 15:57SPEAKER_01: I love it.
- 15:58SPEAKER_01: Now, is there anything, Amanda, that you would like to tell any of our listeners uh when it comes to the collaboration over competition?
- 16:07SPEAKER_02: I would just say that like it's good to cultivate relationships where you can support one another.
- 16:13SPEAKER_02: Like, if I look at for me, for example, working in the healthcare space, I also love like women's fashion.
- 16:20SPEAKER_02: I also love the arts, I also love working with diverse communities.
- 16:24SPEAKER_02: If you find those communities, you're able to collaborate and support one another, and just everyone does better as a result.
- 16:30SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, it starts by like leaving your living room and getting out and building relationships.
- 16:35SPEAKER_02: It can be awkward, but like I would just encourage you to go do that because that's how you grow and thrive.
- 16:40SPEAKER_02: And I think you'll be happier too, because you know, relationships I think are what make life worth living.
- 16:46SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
- 16:47SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think, I mean, I personally think collaboration over competition is more than about it's more than business, right?
- 16:55SPEAKER_01: I mean, we women like to compete with each other all the time, right?
- 16:58SPEAKER_01: But I think there's more to it than that.
- 17:00SPEAKER_01: It's also about like, you know, what's happening when we stop measuring ourselves, you know, against the other women and actually get curious with what we learn from each other.
- 17:11SPEAKER_01: You know, how can we share that and how can we create something bigger and more brighter together?
- 17:18SPEAKER_02: A hundred percent.
- 17:19SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm part of a few different business groups, and some of them have like revenue qualifications and things like that to get into them.
- 17:26SPEAKER_02: And so when there's that kind of thing in place, there's often not very many women in the room because women who own multi-million dollar businesses are still a smaller club.
- 17:34SPEAKER_02: And I just look in these rooms and I'm like, man, like we need more kick-ass ladies here, not less.
- 17:40SPEAKER_02: And if I can help work with another woman to get her in this room too, so much the better, right?
- 17:46SPEAKER_02: Like I look at my little boys.
- 17:47SPEAKER_02: I want them to see strong, powerful women and to know that just part of the world we live in and to celebrate it.
- 17:53SPEAKER_01: Right.
- 17:54SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
- 17:55SPEAKER_01: I love that.
- 17:55SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love that.
- 17:57SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Amanda.
- 18:00SPEAKER_01: This was great.
- 18:01SPEAKER_01: I love hearing how women work out in the community and in their business.
- 18:05SPEAKER_01: So this was this was awesome for me.
- 18:07SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
- 18:08SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Tina.
- 18:09SPEAKER_02: I appreciate the conversation.
- 18:10SPEAKER_02: And um, feel free to link to my Instagrams and all the things.
- 18:13SPEAKER_02: If people want to connect with me, I'm always happy to coffee or brunch.
- 18:16SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
- 18:17SPEAKER_01: That's perfect.
- 18:18SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll have all that information in the show notes.
- 18:21SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
- 18:21SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
- 18:22SPEAKER_01: Now, maybe confidence isn't about becoming more impressive.
- 18:26SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's about trusting yourself enough to stop comparing, stop performing, and actually decide for what success and connection means for you.
- 18:36SPEAKER_01: If you're listening and something in this conversation made you stop and think, maybe I've been listening to everyone else a little too much, I want you to know that's exactly the kind of work I love doing with women.
- 18:47SPEAKER_01: Getting underneath all the those outside voices and helping you hear your own a little more clearly.
- 18:54SPEAKER_01: If this resonates with you, send me a message I'd love to hear from you.
- 18:58SPEAKER_01: So until next time, remember you don't have to become someone else to bloom.
- 19:04SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
- 19:05SPEAKER_00: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
- 19:08SPEAKER_00: Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on divasThatcare.com, where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.