Latest / The Resting Stitch Face Podcast / The Dark Side of Your Dream Job: What Residency Doesn't Prepare You For | Dr. Brendan Gallagher Pt.1
Transcript
- Sarah Harding: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Resting Stitch Face Podcast. I'm your co-host, Dr. Sarah Harding, along with Erin Sheffield: Doctor Aaron Sheffield, welcome back. Sarah Harding: Hey, welcome. Erin Sheffield: We are so excited to have Dr. Brendan Gallagher back on the podcast. He's a resting stitch face alumni. We've already done a couple episodes and we thought it has been long enough. It is time to bring the master podcaster back. So, Brendan, how you doing? Brendan: Great. I'm great. I we were just talking about how our last podcast was in May. And I'm in two new jobs. The only downside is a lot of commuting. Sarah Harding: I can't wait to hear about this. Brendan: It's it's it it's two new jobs, only five days a week, no weekends. it's it the only downside is a lot of commuting, but you know what? Sometimes we gotta Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: suck it up and get the job that we dreamed of. Sarah Harding: That's right. Erin Sheffield: Yeah. How long is this commute? It's pretty long, isn't it? Brendan: I I have one of those timer watches and I've been I've been tracking in the early couple weeks in the summer where the traffic's really bad going out east on Long Island to the Hamptons, you get caught in that traffic and it I was pushing sixteen hour commute weeks. Now it's between thirteen to fifteen hours. So still a lot, but like it's a lot. At Erin Sheffield: That's a lot. Brendan: least where I'm going. I'm I'm glad to be there. Erin Sheffield: How many miles is Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: that? Brendan: In in in April we've got a Kia, IKEA sportage. Erin Sheffield: Okay. Brendan: And we leased it where we were like, let's increase the miles. So let's say fifteen thousand on the year and we already passed that. So Yeah, I think we're gonna have to Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah, that's gonna be an expensive lease right there, sir. Erin Sheffield: no, I bet. Well, I used to do quite a bit of commuting before I got in this job. My first job was 75 miles away. And I'm curious if I was going more miles or you. But mine was like 75 miles was like minute per minute. So 75 minutes Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: in, I was home. And then my next commute was 50, like 54 minutes or something. So are you driving a hundred and twenty miles or how much is it mostly just traffic? Brendan: Mostly traffic, but let's see. So four days a week it's about fifty miles. It's like forty five, fifty miles Erin Sheffield: okay. Brendan: four days a week going that way Sarah Harding: Each way. Brendan: each way, yes. And then on Thursdays, that's the long day. That one we go up to is that tea? What kind of tea we got? Sarah Harding: Yeah. I wish I'd brought that in here. it's like an it's a black tea, but it's got like fabric cardamom, ginger, some other things. It's delicious. Yeah. Brendan: nice. You'll have to send me that one. I started having tea with my fiance in the last month and Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: we've been having ginger and peppermint and lemon ginger and I Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: aga I I'm a big fan of the T Rex, so let's get to that. Sarah Harding: Yes. Yes. I am a tea I've got a whole shelf in my pantry of tea. Like I love tea. Yeah. We do we Brendan: so you gotta yeah, let me know what your favorite is. Sarah Harding: do like herbal teas every night before bed. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is. Yeah. Brendan: That's what we've been doing. I love it. It's like a great way to wind down the day, just chat a little bit, right? Sarah Harding: Yeah. It's very good. When we talk about our s when we talk about sleep hygiene with patients when they come in with our TMJ complaints, Brendan: Hmm. Mm. Sarah Harding: that's one of the things is having a bedtime routine, right? That's like getting getting you to calm down. Erin Sheffield: My TMJ exams were long, but we I'm not going into that. I'm not talking, I've never talked about tea with any Sarah Harding: Does it surprise you that that's what I'm talking about? Okay. Erin Sheffield: tea bags for bleeding. That's about as far as I go on the tea. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Speaking of efficiency, I am not that apparently, so who knew? Erin Sheffield: Sounds like not. Sarah Harding: Who knew? lots of information. Erin Sheffield: So are you is Brendan: Stop. Erin Sheffield: this commute really burning you out or is the improved job setting worth it and it's fine? Brendan: The weeks are long. Am I getting burned out? No. No, I'm not. It does take a lot to burn me out. I feel like I I got a bad rep at some points in residency because they were how much study and could you possibly be doing if you're making so much content? Which that's not how it works. But a lot of people think that way. I know you guys know. A lot of people like to think that way. But Erin Sheffield: Yeah, sure. Yeah. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: I I was saying on Thursdays is the longer day, because now most of the days I'm going this direction on Long Island. Thursdays, I'm at a different practice. One of my friends is a is a dentist who has three practices the other way. So I gotta go up around Manhattan and then up a little bit to Sarah Harding: wow. Erin Sheffield: wow. Brendan: we alternate those three offices. That's the longest day. I don't even know how many miles Sarah Harding: Okay. Brendan: that one is. but so to to Erin Sheffield: So is this eight to five or are you building in a little commute time and starting later or leaving early? Brendan: Yes, for the four days a week doing ten to five, ten to six. And then Erin Sheffield: good. Sarah Harding: Okay. Brendan: Westchester's a full nine to six day. But and and to answer your question, burnout? No, I I turn the commute time into admin time. So on Thursdays, Erin Sheffield: Good. Brendan: my assistant, I pay her it's part of like like I looked up the Uber fee, so I pay her what the Uber fee would be, and then I pay her a percentage of what I do of what we do together. Cause I go to her, I pick her up, but then she drives up. She makes a percentage of what we do every day and then we drive back and and go from there. So it's Yeah, and then Yeah. Erin Sheffield: So are you using that time for like the admin time? What are you doing in the car? How are you maximizing that? Sarah Harding: Yeah. Are you like hot spotting your I'm confused. Brendan: Yeah, hotspotting the laptop, doing content work, all all the above. All the above. I I created Sarah Harding: Okay. Erin Sheffield: Amazing. Brendan: an oral boards web app for like I basically look looked at how I studied for the exam last year and I put it into a web app using the Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: the AI stuff and that's where Erin Sheffield: Amazing. Brendan: I made that. So you could study while you're driving, you could study with practice examiners. I think I have like I think it's over a hundred cases now on there. It's a lot of cases, isn't it? Erin Sheffield: Yeah, cool. Brendan: and just I'm I let people just email just email me, I'll implement whatever you want. And I made I've been making five revisions a day for them. yeah, so it's fun stuff. Erin Sheffield: Wow. That's cool. Sarah Harding: Wow. Erin Sheffield: I love that. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: that was my problem with commuting is I Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: didn't have a self driving car in those days or Brendan: Mm. Erin Sheffield: someone to do, you know, or just couldn't even work on a computer in a car. Sarah Harding: Right. Erin Sheffield: And now that's great they're able to use that. Maybe in some ways that's great because you're just hit you got like forced time to Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: get stuff done. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: yeah. This gotta have you been dabbling with the AI at all? Sarah Harding: I've been really trying. I get like Brendan: She's Sarah Harding: I get like little little steps in a day that I'm like, whoa that seems like a lot. I'm good. Erin Sheffield: I just set up Muse this week and I am like so sold on it. Have you tried Muse yet? Brendan: What do you think about Muse? I Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: I haven't tried Muse. tell me tell me about it. What what is it doing for you? Erin Sheffield: everyone keeps talking about AI agents, and I'm like, I don't know what that means. How do I set that up? And they're like, just look it up and set it up. And I'm like, I don't understand, Sarah Harding: I know. Erin Sheffield: and I don't I keep procrastinating, trying to figure out I don't know how to figure out how to get started. And so I haven't. But Muse is an AI agent just automatically. And I am just like, my gosh, my life is so It's like the first day Sarah Harding: Wow. Erin Sheffield: it just like connecting to all the things and it deleted like 60,000 junk emails out of my email inbox within the first five minutes. You know, it's like, my gosh, that was really helpful. And it's found Brendan: Big step. Sarah Harding: It is. Erin Sheffield: old emails that I've been trying to search and can't find. And we'll like, okay, I'll respond with this. You like that? And like, yes, please. Like it's just been so easy. It can Sarah Harding: Wow. Erin Sheffield: connect to my Kajabi to check my business stuff without me having to log in and do all this stuff. It can send, I don't know. It's just like, my gosh, yes, it's really Sarah Harding: That's amazing. Erin Sheffield: working. It's so helpful. It can actually log in to my Instagram and my Facebook and my TikTok and repost things like automatically to the others. Like look log Brendan: What yeah? Erin Sheffield: in and see your analytics. It can do all this stuff. So that's been really helpful Sarah Harding: Wow. Erin Sheffield: too. Cause it's always like I'm trying to jerry rig analytics or try to figure stuff out on, Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: other apps. So I don't know. I'm like super pumped and now I'm like, I'm ready to do some training. So mm-hmm. Brendan: So use logs into TikTok too? Cause I feel like TikTok is the hard one. That's the one with like a like a fork. Sarah Harding: Chinese firewall. Erin Sheffield: I got off of TikTok almost completely. So I started on TikTok. That's Sarah Harding: yeah. Erin Sheffield: where I was almost exclusively. And then the algorithm changed right when they were doing that, Chinese buy or they needed someone to buy it out, and Trump was shutting it down. Don't I feel like the algorithm just like tanked after Brendan: Function. Erin Sheffield: that? And so I was doing great. I was monetizing. I was making like $500 a month just off of views, which I feel like with how little followers I had, or like Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: I don't know, wasn't like doing amazing, Brendan: Which is great. Erin Sheffield: but that's a lot of money when you get paid pennies, and then it just tanks suddenly I'm getting 200 views no matter what I do. So I just left pretty much and went over to Instagram and I've been over there, but Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: now I'm like, okay, because you can't just audit, you can it tricks you. I'll be like, Instagram, do you want to post this to TikTok or vice versa? But they penalize you. Because they want new content over there. So if you just auto-repost without taking the watermark off, it won't do well. So I'm excited that Sarah Harding: Interesting. Erin Sheffield: I'm able to have my muse back end it. That'll be a lot better. I hope. We'll see. I'm I'm hopping back on. TikTok Brendan: Give it a shot, go for it. Erin Sheffield: here I come. Sarah Harding: Wow. Erin Sheffield: We'll see. You're on TikTok too. Brendan: Let me know. I'm doing Erin Sheffield: Are you still hard on TikTok? 'Cause that's where we met, I feel like. But are you you're Brendan: Yeah, yeah. Erin Sheffield: on both. Where do you prefer to post your stuff? Brendan: I just go all the above, and I'm trying to tailor it towards different platforms. you got the creator searching sites on TikTok where you can do content gaps. So I guess it's like where they don't have enough Erin Sheffield: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Brendan: content in this area, so they promote it up. people are searching for this and there's not a lot of content. I guess that's what they call the content. Sarah Harding: my gosh. Brendan: Okay. So you so I've been trying to do that a little bit on TikTok and you need we need more time of the day. Can we just Erin Sheffield: I know. This strategy is different. So TikTok, I started making patientslash community facing videos. I was always talking to people, patients, community. And then on Instagram, those did not do very well. And so when I leaned in and snitched down talking to doctors on Instagram, I like tripled my following in ninety days. So I went from like two thousand followers to like Probably eight thousand in ninety days. So that made a big Sarah Harding: Well Erin Sheffield: difference. and so I really started leaning into that. And then the doctor content doesn't do as well on TikTok. But TikTok, I'll tell you the secret there, it's SEO content. That's what's key. So for me, I kind of figured there's like menopause experts and health people like that that people want to hear from daily. Like people aren't like, I need to hear from my oral surgeon every day. Like that's not really Sarah Harding: Speak for yourself. Erin Sheffield: from me, clearly they do, from Dr. Gallagher, who is like prolific in his content. But I found most people aren't like trying to build a relationship with their oral surgeon, but what they're doing, there's about a one to two week period of time where they're freaking out and they're looking up everything and it's the week before and after they have their wisdom teeth out. So they're Brendan: Yes. Erin Sheffield: typing in wisdom teeth you know, or try socket, Brendan: Dry socket. Erin Sheffield: and so Those are the videos I made a joke. if you want to monetize on TikTok, all you have to do is talk about dry socket. So now I'm, giving you my competition. No, Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: I don't really believe in that. But that's those are the ones. So I'm still making money on TikTok. I post like three times in nine months, and I still made like eleven dollars last month just because the SEO brings people back around. So I have hundreds Brendan: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: of thousands of views Sarah Harding: Well, interesting. Erin Sheffield: on videos that I made three years ago. that still bring people around because they're searching. So young people use TikTok as Google. It's their Google. That's where they go to find answers. So for Brendan: Hmm. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: me, that's definitely the TikTok strategy where Instagram's much more people who follow you or are interested Brendan: Yeah. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: in the topic for long term, if that makes sense. But I don't know if that's what you've found. Brendan: Yeah, yeah, for the for the most part. Yeah. And earlier on, Instagram just tried to copy the TikTok algorithm. We're talking about between Erin Sheffield: Yes. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: twenty twenty and twenty twenty-three time. So just taking whatever did good on TikTok and just reposting it to Instagram, it just exploded. And that's what I was doing early Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: on. But now, yeah, whatever does good on TikTok may or may not hit on Instagram, which it's which is kind of Cool, it's makes it difficult, right? But it's cool Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: because now each environment has their own thing. It's Erin Sheffield: For sure. Brendan: it makes it better because all you have to do is really hit a home run in one platform and things take off. versus way back when it just covered all the platforms kind of thing. And it it Erin Sheffield: Yeah, sure. Brendan: by like it kind of diversifies who can do what where, you know? But then Erin Sheffield: Yeah, definitely. Brendan: people that hit a home run on all the platforms, it's like, okay, that I consider them there's like if I don't know, I I used to think about it if you have more than say 10,000 on three platforms, I'd say you're like a really skilled marketer, right? Just for anything. But if you have on like five or more, Sarah Harding: Say you're like multi-skilled artists like a five Erin Sheffield: Sure. Brendan: you're an expert. I really consider that to be true because I mean think about it. What's Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: five platforms? There's YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn. I consider Sarah Harding: LinkedIn? Yeah. Brendan: So if you can get over ten on multiple of them, and that really that really goes That's really important because there's different kind of perspectives on all the platforms. LinkedIn is all professional stuff, right? And so it's a different mindset when you're logging into LinkedIn than when you're on TikTok. And so I I think that's important. I really would think here's another thing. You'd think that brands and companies would want to partner with people who have an idea of what's going on and how this stuff Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: works. And then I gotta tell you, like no one wants to partner with anything. Like none of these companies Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: To shell out any money. They just want to say we're gonna give a discount Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: code, and then you get three percent of whatever that produces. Three percent, that's eighteen cents. Like what I'm not putting your instruments up on social media. I'm not putting none of these companies want to shell out any money. which is so Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: funny because it's like you look at Nike, they'll spend like billions of dollars on LeBron James, and it's like Henry Schein won't s will won't shell out five cents. Anyway. Sarah Harding: Like can we shine well this one show out five cents. It's so true. It's so true. Yeah. Yeah. Brendan: This is everyone thinks like, you must be making a lot of money doing all with all these followers and all this content, all these likes. And I'm like, no, dental companies don't pay any money. But guess Sarah Harding: No. Brendan: what? This is where it's time for us to create new companies using AI, Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: a new practice management software, a new insurance agency that s sells out the, you know, negotiates the fees and stuff, to create a new new websites for dental practices, a cybersecurity team for dental practice, like whatever you may name it. Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: This is our opportunity to bring prices down. and all these companies that don't want to use AI, providers should start doing it. We should start creating Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: these things, decrease the prices, and then give each other discount codes and stuff like, hey, let's like, let's make this together. We don't need this doesn't need to be an Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: For sure. Brendan: all about me thing. so there's an opportunity with AI here because now we could actually create those platforms. Whereas Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: like it's been Henry Shine for how many decades? But it's Sarah Harding: Right. Brendan: like, but they're not reinvesting in their customers. They're not enhancing the user experience. They're not Sarah Harding: Right. Can Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Sarah Harding: we talk about this? Like ordering Brendan: They're just gaining Sarah Harding: instruments, ordering supplies, ordering all of the things. I would so much rather go to Amazon to buy things than to go to any of these Henry Shine Patterson, McKesson, any of these websites, because you're you type in like, I don't know, whatever you Ivy tubing, right? And they give you this like this weird catalog description of it, which is just their like weird 15 digit thing, and there's no pictures. There's no description. There's no anything that lets you know what you're getting. And it's really backwards. I was like just now for the first time going in and ordering things a couple months ago. And I'm like, what in the world is this? I'm like, I need to see if this has lore lock attachments or if it's, you know, like how many ports there are. And nothing. I mean, you look at this drawing of a picture and it looks like some kindergartner drew it. And you're like, I don't I can't I can't tell if that's a port in there. Mmm, I'm not sure. Hmm. And then you spend like 15 minutes Googling this product in like this product name thing to try and figure out if there's other pictures of it. And you can't find anything. And I'm like, this is bonkers. And they'll give you five cents for selling their Brendan: Yeah. Can't find anything. It's just a picture of their catalogue. Sarah Harding: freaking instrument. Brendan: It's just a picture of their catalog. It's Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: like they couldn't spend a little more time during COVID when everyone was home. They couldn't take a photo of the instrument themselves while everyone was coughing. they they really? They're taking a picture of the catalog picture? Dude, Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: you had time. You had they had time. Henry shot hen I don't know where Henry is now, but Henry had some time and he should have taken this into consideration. Sarah Harding: Yeah, he's definitely not shining down on us. That's what I know. Brendan: Paul Schumacher Erin Sheffield: Henry Shine, if you want to sponsor me, I didn't say anything bad about you, by the way. I love you and all of your products. Free advice. We are. And we're willing to change things. But you have to make Brendan: We gave them a lot of good ideas and th we get a lot of good ideas and we're willing to work with them. We are. But are they willing to work with us? Hugh Freedy. Sarah Harding: Yeah. You're welcome. Yeah, welcome. Erin Sheffield: it worth it. That's the thing. I I am so for getting as many doctors on social media as we can because I think it's so important to flood the airwaves with real information and push this like cavitation crap. Out the wayside just because you can't find it, because there's so much good information. And then I think there's so many opportunities for doctors that can come personally and professionally, that it's just like so many missed opportunities. But if you're planning to hop on here to like get rich quick is not the scheme Brendan: Mm. Erin Sheffield: for most of us. And even if you do get the collabs, yeah. Right. Sarah Harding: No, neither is being a doctor, just so that we're all on the same page. Erin Sheffield: But getting the collabs, I had someone recently where I was like a product I and service I really aligned with. And yeah, I would love to, but they were asking so much. They wanted me to post in my stories every single week. And then they wanted me to make a post, a real post that I spent time on every single month. And then they wanted to take room in my bio to say I'm like an ambassador for them, which I'm trying to sell my own things. My bio has only got so many letters. That's like prime real estate. All for a 10% code, And so it's like, I don't even know if anyone Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: buys anything. And for a hundred dollar product, maybe I make ten dollars here and there. But I remember making a video once and it was five hundred dollars. And I thought, well, that's okay, sure. I'll do it. And it ended up felting selling my soul and a ton of my Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: time. Brendan: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: For five hundred dollars on a product that I thought I was okay with, but then by the time they dictated exactly how they wanted me to say it and what to talk about and stuff, it was like, I feel weird about this. So selling your credibility Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. Brendan: I miss this? Yep. Erin Sheffield: and you know, that's always a little bit of a hit for me. Like, am I keeping my credibility if I sell this product? I don't want people to think I'm Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: here as a salesperson, you know. So there's a lot that you have to consider and you gotta pay my time. Brendan: You basically did free marketing. Sarah Harding: Right. Brendan: All that Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: is free marketing for the company for a maybe you get it in return. It's free marketing. And all these companies Erin Sheffield: Exactly. Yeah. Brendan: want free marketing first before they give anything back. I'm just I'm just not really a fan of that because you know Henry Scheint has that money to shell out. Right. And I'm not like capitalism I I am a fan of of small sp small scale capitalism, not big hundred and twenty five thousand dental office size corporations, but You like Henry Schein could shell out that that money, the d we don't have to get ten percent discount codes. You can partner with someone and Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: give them their own. I know T B S was doing that with a couple of people, but TBS is getting very I'm hearing through the grapevine that they're getting pretty Yeah, we need you to do this and this and put it in the bio and post this many times a week and and you Sarah Harding: Hm. Brendan: need to look all dialed up and pretty and Erin Sheffield: That's a thing, you have to sell your soul a little bit sometimes. It's just not worth it. Brendan: So we're gonna create something where you don't have to sell your soul. You can have your own customizable Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: anything, whatever we're gonna do. And that's I I'm interested in this AI because I wanna make that happen. And we could bring down these Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: astronomical prices a little bit for for normal people, you know? Sarah Harding: Right. Yeah. My other favorite thing is when you're setting up a practice and you don't have any you don't you haven't been with this supplier forever. So you get zero discounts, right? And so you're buying all of this stuff. And then like when you come back to it, they're like, you're gonna make another order. We'll give you all of these instruments for free. And you're like, You're not giving them to me for free. You just overcharge the crap out of me. And now you're giving or offloading more of your instruments onto me and calling it free. that's not really how that's not really how I'm thinking this is gonna work. It's it's and Brendan: Yeah, and then you you look at the the email and it's like, Wait, what I don't do clear liners. I'm an oral surgery. What do you I don't want free clear Sarah Harding: Right. Brendan: liners. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: You don't, you're not doing that. Think of how much we could make Brendan: But we might have to start. Erin Sheffield: as oral surgeons. Brendan: You know what? There's that T J issue? Let me stick this clear liner in there, put it in at night. Let's see if that solves two at once. Sarah Harding: Please don't. Please don't do it. I'm so tired of the TMJ, the TMJ consults because they're like, I've had this, well, I I had this night guard and it was supposed to fix everything and now. Brendan: Can't close my mouth. Erin Sheffield: I can't even Sarah Harding: And I'm Erin Sheffield: close their mouth. Sarah Harding: like, right, you can't close your mouth now, right? And they're like, Yeah. How'd you know? And I'm like, Hmm, yeah, 'cause I do. Erin Sheffield: I'm so busy I said I wasn't going to see TMJ consults anymore. I'm like, I just don't have time for it. I don't like it. And then it's still Sarah Harding: Yeah. And most of the time it's not a surgical issue. Erin Sheffield: and then it's still like, Doctor Shuffle, this patient really, really wants Sarah Harding: Patient. Erin Sheffield: to get in. Won't you see them? And I'm such like a bleeding heart. And I'm like, Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: feel so bad saying no and then it's like don't Sarah Harding: I know. Erin Sheffield: rush him in on the schedule. They can wait six months. And then somehow they always get rushed in on the schedule. I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Sarah Harding: Yeah. At five PM. Yeah. Awesome. I know. Brendan: There next week, yeah. Yeah. Fee for service TMJ consoles. Sarah Harding: Yeah. But if you're in network Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Sarah Harding: with whoever they are with and you're out of luck on that. Brendan: And then they claw them. Erin Sheffield: You can get twelve dollars for hour long consult. Sarah Harding: Yeah, not to mention the massive notes that you have to write afterwards too, because Brendan: Yeah. Sarah Harding: some people talk about all the things sleep hygiene and Brendan: That one night three months ago. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: Some people talk about tea during their TNJ consult. Sarah, Sarah Harding: Who? Erin Sheffield: you can you know, for me I talk I say, How's your sleep? Definitely sleep hygiene and then we move on. You Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: can go look up your sleep hygiene yourself. Sarah Harding: Yeah, they can also look up dry socket too, and that tends to fill up my chair all the time too. That's right. Erin Sheffield: Well, that's why videos do so well. You take that Brendan: Mm. Erin Sheffield: to your advantage and you make some cash on TikTok. Sarah Harding: That's right. Speaking of TikTok, I've never Brendan: But now it's only eleven dollars. Sarah Harding: I've never downloaded TikTok or Twitter. I just want you to know that. Or X, whatever Brendan: Mm-hmm. Sarah Harding: it's called. Yes, I am a true granny, if you will, on these these things because I'm like holding out. Brendan: You're holding you're holding the line. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. Because I Erin Sheffield: There's a lot of people who are very suspicious about TikTok because of all the Chinese spies and stuff. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: Which that was my favorite part when all the Trump shutdown happened. Did you see all those videos? All these people were making videos saying goodbye to their Chinese spy, or their Sarah Harding: Yeah. If my spy is watching, yeah. Erin Sheffield: spy was like, I'll miss you so much. Sarah Harding: Yes. Erin Sheffield: They were showing all these things to their family and like, I'll miss your kids and your dog and your work and all the spying. I don't know, it's pretty funny. People are funny. Brendan: Who ended up buying TikTok? Erin Sheffield: I don't know. Sarah Harding: what was his name? People were really upset about it anyway. Allison, somebody Al no. Is that right? Somebody Allison. Yeah. Who was it? Somebody Allison? Erin Sheffield: Keep hearing bite dance, is that something? I don't remember what that is. I don't know. Did it even Brendan: Let's find out. Erin Sheffield: I don't know. Donald Trump bought Brendan: Let's see. Erin Sheffield: it. Sarah Harding: Nah. Brendan: Eighty one percent US and global investors led by Oracle. Erin Sheffield: Mm. Sarah Harding: Yeah, who owns Oracle? Brendan: Yeah, with that I wanna know who owns Oracle? Larry Allison. Sarah Harding: Yeah, Larry Ellison. I was look at me. I am so smart Erin Sheffield: I don't know who that is. Who's that? Sarah Harding: on the inside of my brain somewhere. He's the guy that owns Oracle. Well, forty percent. Erin Sheffield: But you knew that somehow? Sarah Harding: Somehow I knew that that's who was taking over Twitter. Yeah. I mean TikTok. Erin Sheffield: do you know who that is before how do you how do you know that name? Sarah Harding: I d because there's lots of little fly traps in my brain that catch things and then they just buzz around and they distract me and they turned into fireworks spaghetti, but they're still there. And so I can sometimes catch them again and find out. It did. Erin Sheffield: I hope that helped on boards. Brendan: Larry yeah. More than thirty eight percent. He's the largest shareholder of Oracle, and then Oracle owns that. And then Wow. Okay. So, Erin Sheffield: Hmm. Brendan: his son, David Ellison, runs Paramount Skydance. I don't know what that is. I recognize Sarah Harding: Mm. Brendan: Paramount, but I don't know if I know Skydance. Yeah, interesting. Sarah Harding: Yeah, didn't they just merge with MGM? Brendan: Is that them? Yeah, yeah. Isn't that Par is that Paramount the Erin Sheffield: I don't know, they're all on cahoots, it seems like. Sarah Harding: I actually don't watch the news. I have no idea how I know these things. Erin Sheffield: Whew. She's just learning it from the moon or something. It wouldn't surprise Brendan: Pretty good. Sarah Harding: I d my chickens. Yeah, they tell me all about it. Yeah. Brendan: A chickens are good. Erin Sheffield: So how's the wedding planning going? Brendan: Going great. It's it's going. It's it's going forward. And yeah, make making big strides forward. Sarah Harding: What's a budget for a wedding day these days? Erin Sheffield: When's a wedding? Yeah. Brendan: A lot, a lot. Sarah Harding: No, don't say that. You're supposed to say it's like twenty thousand dollars. My stepdaughter Erin Sheffield: Mm. Sarah Harding: just got engaged and I'm like, dear. I think we didn't spend I think I think we spent I Brendan: twenty thousand dollars. I that that was the engagement. What about the wedding? Erin Sheffield: Right. Sarah Harding: know, I think we spent twenty less than twenty thousand on our wedding, but it was like fifty people in my back patio. Erin Sheffield: We spent eight maybe, maybe eleven, but we were cheap. Brendan: Around a hundred thousand these days in a foreign country. So we're going to DR. Gonna have it in Santo Domingo in the DR at the oldest church of Sarah Harding: Where are going? nice. Brendan: the Americas. And that's not even close to being the most expensive part, which I thought is like the coolest part. We're gonna be it's the oldest Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: church of the Americas, but Erin Sheffield: Wow. Brendan: that's very affordable. It's it's just the whole the the winning venue and and and everything else around that. So Erin Sheffield: I believe it as putting on a conference myself, that's basically putting on a wedding and that's about what it costs. But at least people pay their own way. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: Yeah. Yep. So it's Erin Sheffield: Wow. I can't imagine it's a very big wedding if you're having it in the DR. how many people Brendan: Her whole family's in the DR in that city. So Erin Sheffield: they they're there, that's why you're going there. Okay. I was thinking she's from Venezuela for some reason. Okay. Brendan: No, no, no, no, not from the No, she's from the DR. Yeah, it's gonna be good. It's gonna be good. But yeah, we're gonna plenty from her side are are coming, which is gonna be great. yeah, it's it it's it's going great. It's going great. It's Erin Sheffield: Good. Brendan: all part of the process. Erin Sheffield: Hi, yeah. Sarah Harding: That's good. Brendan: How are you both doing? Sarah Harding: So did you did you buy a house and then you then you didn't move into it? What was the deal with that when everything was like in flux and shifting? Brendan: Yeah, literally the day we made a down so at with the new job, it's four days out east. And Thursdays I go up. So we're like, wait, so then Monday, Tuesday, went or like Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, we could stay out there or say Monday, go out Monday, stay Tuesday night, Wednesday night, come back Wednesday to the this house is in the middle, middle point between the two places. So it's kinda helpful, right? And this Sarah Harding: Okay. Yeah. Brendan: will be like our main home base. But we're like, why don't we buy an investment property out there, rent it out on weekends? It's a Hamptons house, and then stay there for Erin Sheffield: Nice. Brendan: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And we're like, you know, maybe it'd be tough, but maybe we do that. You know, we get Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: some investment stuff going. The the morning we made the down payment on that, the day we made the down payment, my fiance was laid off from her marketing job. And so Erin Sheffield: no. Brendan: we're like, huh, do we even go through with this now? Or and I was like, it it was my life savings. So I I've been investing in stocks and Bitcoin since like I was a freshman in college. So I took all that out and I was like, We it's just working hard. It's just like Sarah Harding: you're so in the know on all this stuff. Bitcoin. Just yeah. Brendan: throwing lot of darts at the board and seeing what works. But yeah, Bitcoin is very cyclical. You could track it back to 2012. So when Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: people were saying like start to track this around 2020, around COVID, I was like, you know what, why don't I do that? And so I got in on a low and just waited, got out on kind of a high or midpoint. But yeah, I took all that money out and was like, let's let's just go through with it. And then this could kind of be your full time job, learning how we're gonna rent this out. This is this could be our like key to retirement one day. so that so we did it. We just went for it. We don't stay there at all. It's getting fixed up right now to get ready to be rented out. Erin Sheffield: cool. Well, there are a lot Sarah Harding: Amazing. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: of tax benefits that can come from running your own Airbnb. Did you know that? You can like write off Brendan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Erin Sheffield: so much of your property, Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: but you have to be the one that does most of the work. So that's where for me that's tricky. That's an Airbnb host. But yes, that's very cool. Brendan: It's it's it's good. Yeah, you didn the trusts and then you have the different L Cs for different properties, something like that. But we're we're figuring out as we go. Little hobby. Thanks for asking. Sarah Harding: Amazing. Amazing. Your brain capacity is a lot larger than mine at this point. Erin Sheffield: Whatever Mr. Lewis, whatever Brendan: You're busy. What? Erin Sheffield: Ellison. Sarah Harding: That's just f trivia, random, stupid Brendan: Larry. Sarah Harding: things that actually don't matter Erin Sheffield: Larry. Sarah Harding: in my life. Brendan: You're busy, you got your hands full and you have your practice now. You have your kids, right? You have the chickens in the backyard, backyard or front yard. Sarah Harding: Mm. Front side ish. Yeah. Yeah. Our property's not Brendan: For inside, okay. All right. How is practice going? Sarah Harding: like a square, it's like a thing. Brendan: That's fun though. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of work. Erin Sheffield: That's a thing. Sarah Harding: It's a lot of work. It Brendan: It's shaped like Texas. Sarah Harding: is Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Sarah Harding: if if it could get me back to Texas sooner, that'd be that's good. That's all I'll take, you know. Erin Sheffield: She's the only person in the world that complains about San Diego. We're all like San Diego is like the promised land of America, the land of butter Sarah Harding: Ha. Erin Sheffield: and honey and milk or whatever, and not just milk and honey, but butter. We're upgrading to butter. Like the best weather. And she's always like, Sarah Harding: Yeah, and see. Erin Sheffield: It's so cold here. It's raining. And I'm like, I am in the Midwest right now. I don't want to hear it. Sarah Harding: what are people doing that rains? I'm like outside taping up my windows with painter's tape because they're these like old Spanish windows that don't have any weather ceiling or weather stripping or anything. And so like air can just you just go stand next to it and you already know what temperature it is outside because it's single paned and there's no so when it rains and it has these like south wind south or whatever winds that blows the rain right in my house. I had to go tape them up from this hurricane that we had. Yeah. See? Brendan: Be Erin Sheffield: Then Brendan: careful with that. Erin Sheffield: you can mop the floor so easily it's already wet and just ready to go. Sarah Harding: Hmm. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: Trying to you silver linings. Sarah Harding: Thank you. Yep. Yep. Brendan: Don't slip. Sarah Harding: Yeah. So I'm curious to now we can revisit about your transitions. I yeah. Brendan: Transition. Yes, yeah. Sarah Harding: I you and I talked offline a little bit about about that. We you okay, good. Can we can we talk about it? Is that okay? All right, good. Brendan: Let's get into it. Whatever you want to do. Let's thought about it, yeah. I'm not Sarah Harding: Okay. So we, you know Back when I was still in the Navy, I read this article by, I think it was by Joni M2. and it was written, my gosh, I mean, 15, 20 plus years ago. And it was talking about, you know, getting into practice after residency, things to expect, if you're building an office, things to plan for, things to do, all of this stuff. And one of the things that he said was, Don't expect for your first job to be your forever job. And he talked about being an associate and how So often associates are mistreated and are given scraps and are put into these positions where they're not set up for success. And the fact of the matter is, apparently this has been happening for a long, long time. And so we just so now what? We just sit here and expect, okay, I'm gonna take this job. I want it to be my forever job because I wanna be happy. but it's probably not gonna be. And so how can I approach this? And so now looking back on it, clearly your first job was not your forever job. And Erin Sheffield: Mine wasn't either, by the way. Sarah Harding: mine. And and so what things did you learn from that that you take with you now as little learning tokens? Brendan: Yeah, absolutely. And and it is true. Unfortunately, it's a tale as old as time where it's like your first job might not be your end all be all. yeah, I I was I was very hopeful. I was I was really hopeful, but y I mean, you don't really know what a job's like and what's behind the curtain until you're on the stage. You're actually working at the job. You don't know, you know, everything could look you know, the book's cover looks perfect, right? Until you're really reading it and you're like, wow, really? So that's that's essentially what happened. The first thing I would say is so I had my dad basically told me after residency, look, I gotta downgrade. This whole house is is like I I'm alone now because my he my parents divorced and he was alone in the house. And he's Look, I'm gonna downgrade. I I I just want a condo. I don't wanna have to be can the whole yard and mowing the lawn and doing the wheat whacking Sarah Harding: Mm. Brendan: and the pool and the house. It's a ranch. It's it's like a three-bedroom, three bath house. but just for one person who Sarah Harding: Yeah. It's a lot. Yeah, right? Yeah. Brendan: Be honest, he plays golf and watches a lot of TV, it's he doesn't need all that, right? The condo's great on a golf course now. So he's got best of both worlds. But Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Brendan: he was like, look, take it or leave it. I'm I'm getting out of here when you graduate residency, and that's it. So I was like, perfect, you know. And then my practice was 30 minutes away. And I was like, This is gonna work out. And I thought the practice was great because I was hoping for like a partnership track where I could start and work my way up in there and that. it guy was at like seven, eight practices now, I think he's at ten. Or Levin. he's just just Sarah Harding: been three months. Brendan: just yeah, within a year it got another three or four, I think. He's just going and going and no Erin Sheffield: Empire, yeah. Brendan: partners, which is key. And people warned me about that going in. And I was like, Yeah, you know, maybe I could prove myself on the marketing side of the practice. But the month before I started at the practice, he cut the funds to like us to do the marketing for him on all the practice platforms. So which I was really looking to get Doing even more once I'm in the practice. So before, a month before I started working in the office, he cut those. And I'm like, well, now you just cut the legs out for me. I can't do the marketing I was planning to do. and then about halfway through the year, I I like I talked with other oral surgery residents out there. I knew everyone he was interviewing, and he was telling everyone that there's no partnership opportunities. And I'm like, you know, that's not what I was told. What's going on here? You know what I mean? And then I'm hearing Sarah Harding: that's yeah. Brendan: what their offers were, I'm like, Well, I've been talking about my offer, my contract for a year now. You all know it. And they're like, Didn't you say in this video here that you were getting this percentage and this is the you know bonus, whatever the base? And I was like, Yes, that is. And I and they're like, but I was offered this. And I was like, huh. So Erin Sheffield: So were they getting more than you because they knew where you started or less? Okay. Sarah Harding: Wow. Brendan: So things are starting to decrease. And that kind of behavior and activity in an owner Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: is looking more like living in an ivory tower kind of situation, which is what it turned out to be. but the so the first lesson, getting back to that, the first lesson I would say is don't pick your first location around that job, which isn't what I was doing, right? But things coincided, and now here I am with my fiance. We're stuck in the middle. But luckily, it's the midpoint between the two jobs that. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: So it is working to our advantage. It's just those four days a week, we gotta go that Sarah Harding: Different. Brendan: way, an hour and fifteen hour and a half. but here's the thing like if we didn't have a location around that job and then the job changed, we could easily pivot and move, right? Like I bought the Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: house last December. So like that was it. I think people, yes, your first job, don't expect it to be hopeful. Absolutely. You wanna give it your all, right? Sarah Harding: Right. Brendan: I also that was another thing. I found out when I was the last one every day calling the patients that I did surgery on at the end of the day, but I was the only one in the practice doing that. And I knew that because I knew when other people were leaving, they weren't bringing, the phone calls home with them. I was like that kind of practice, taking all the insurances under the sun, almost all the insurance, it's just like it's it's get in, get out, and that's it. And look, there are jobs out there like that, but that's just not the kind of the organization. In in October last year, he brought on Because it's all those offices owned by one person, brought on the previous regional manager of a DSO in this area. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Okay. I was wondering who was managing the business side of it because you can't be doing all of that. Brendan: He was, he was. But then when he got to what seven or eight offices, brought that person on, continued to expand. But then that it just went basically solely corporate after that. Everything became Sarah Harding: Mm. Brendan: a corporate thing. the regional manager sitting outside the room listening to me when I'm doing consults and stuff. Say, do you have any other questions? Rather than saying, So what questions do you have? All right, all right, all right, I get it, I get it, but anyway, timing my consult appointments, dude, relax. Relax. It was a T J console. I'm not getting out of there too quick. You know Sarah Harding: Right. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: Yeah. We we're not getting under forty five max, forty six for sure. Brendan: But Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: it's very important. Yeah, don't don't expect the first job to be the end all be all. Be hopeful, give all your effort, but be very self aware of what's going on behind the curtain, if you will. Like, is that really going to be your long term path because you're being brought on? Are you you know, like now I'm in an office completely different. The owner is bringing Sarah Harding: How'd you find the office? Brendan: it's it he's actually the the the oral surgeon at in my dental school who told me how to take out my first root tip. Like literally. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: I thought that was so cute, right? And a friend of mine's an oral surgeon back out this way, near my house, 20 minutes from my house. And he's like, this oral surgeon's looking for an associate, right? You should go and meet him. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: And I was like, No way, Dr. Ivy, and and so we reconnected, phone calls, dinners, lunches, just like visiting the practice and meeting his family. And that was another thing. Being Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: being an opportunity to come see him at his house. And I was like, Really? You know, meeting like your grandkids and your wife. I was like, Wow, nothing like that from the first practice. Sarah Harding: Right. Brendan: it's a much it it's more of like there this is important for presidents. Sarah Harding: Well, what we what we all got into this for, right? This is like this is the Brendan: Yeah. Sarah Harding: exactly what you're talking about is what I all thought what I thought we were all getting into. And it's Brendan: Right. someone investing investing time into meeting and getting to know you just Sarah Harding: Yes. Brendan: as much as you're gonna be giving a commitment and time and effort to contributing to that practice, right? Hopefully Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Brendan: for the long term. So yeah. Anyway. Erin Sheffield: Yeah. I my advice I always give people is give yourself an in and give yourself an out in your contract. 'Cause I've seen the other side too where like this is just a filler job and it's great for a year or two, but we're planning on moving and we don't want to be in this town, so we're just gonna be here for a while and so there's no partnership track or I didn't ask what it would be to stay or whatever. 'Cause it's not, it's just temporary. And then wow, this is working out really well. And our kids like it here. And the our practice is successful and we actually like the town and didn't think we would. oop. We only signed a two year contract and there's no buy in opportunity. We're done. So I think it can go both ways. And then like you said, give yourself an out too. Like I think non competes and things like that. I everyone says they don't hold up. Well, I don't know. I think From what I've heard, they don't hold up as well, but you can't bank on the fact it's not gonna hold up. You might Sarah Harding: Right. Erin Sheffield: still have to pay legal fees and blah, blah, blah. So it'd be a lot easier on the front end to have an amenable contract. Brendan: Yes. Erin Sheffield: And part of that is like, it's gonna work out and I'll never leave. So I don't care that the non competes 50 miles. It's fine. And then, it didn't work out. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: Yeah. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: And it could be something totally weird, Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: I know someone where their partner got caught up in a prostitution ring and suddenly you're trying to figure out what to do with your practice, or your partner ended up getting arrested for stealing drugs from the practice. You know, like sometimes weird things happen that are out of your control, even if it seems like it's going great. So having some kind of Sarah Harding: I can't believe you just brushed over that just now. Erin Sheffield: Well yeah. Yeah. There's some weird things happening in Iowa sometimes. No Sarah Harding: Yeah. And so the Erin Sheffield: Yeah. Sarah Harding: so Brendan, the other thing that you do on Thursdays, what is that? How'd you find that place? Brendan: It's I go it's a friend that I know from the it was from ASDA sessions long ago while I was in Sarah Harding: Okay. Brendan: dental school, stayed connected through residency and you know, social media on the podcast and such, and she's very well connected and high up in in throughout the ADA and does speaking throughout the United States. She's I really pushed her to start making content. She's making content now. It's Dr. Amrita Patel. And she's really putting up a fight for us as providers, exposing a lot of the BS that these insurance companies are making us run through. And Sarah Harding: I think I Erin Sheffield: I that's who you're working with? my gosh, I love Sarah Harding: I okay. Yep, I follow her. That's awesome. She's badass. Brendan: She's Yeah, yeah, I do Erin Sheffield: her. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. She's so Brendan: She is awesome. I I like flowers to her, really. Sarah Harding: well spoken about it too. It's amazing. Erin Sheffield: I So did she just barely get on how long has she been on social media? Not very long? Or just not seriously? Brendan: I think she's she's been on on social media for a while, but seriously, putting out content and really working on it. Maybe Sarah Harding: Mm. Brendan: a year around there, she's been crushing. Erin Sheffield: Wow. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: She's crushing it. I love Sarah Harding: Yeah. She's incredible. Yeah. Brendan: And she's awesome. She's really well versed in the realm of running a practice, Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Brendan: employees and you're you're running like working with your staff. And then so yeah, I do oral surgery in her offices, her and her dad's offices on Thursdays. Sarah Harding: That is so cool. Brendan: And I'm so happy because they're they they work with me on this issue and that issue. not issue, it's a it's their first time having oral surgeons. So we're not issues, I mean like building that project into Sarah Harding: Yeah. Right. Erin Sheffield: Yeah, no, for sure. my gosh, I can't believe it. I love her so much. dentistry Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: is the only place where people expect to buy something and not be responsible for paying for it. That's like the stuff she's saying every day. And I'm Sarah Harding: Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: always like, boom, mic drop every time. That's so cool. Yes, amazing. Shout out to you, Amrita. Come on the podcast. Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. That is so cool. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We love you. Brendan: You should get her on, actually. I'll I'll text her right after this. I gotta Sarah Harding: Yeah. We'd love to have her. Okay. Cool. Erin Sheffield: Come to the Brendan: connect you guys. Erin Sheffield: Doctor's All In retreat, you'll love it. Sarah Harding: Ha ha ha. Brendan: She would, yeah. She's the perfect person for for events like that to speak. Yeah. yeah. Erin Sheffield: She would love it. Anyone would love it, but she would love it. Got two spots Sarah Harding: Yeah. Erin Sheffield: left. Yes, yes, yes. Wow. Well, I love that. And it's fun that you Sarah Harding: Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Erin Sheffield: found someone that's aligned with the social media thing, because you are so seasoned on that. And it's Sarah Harding: Good at it. Mm-hmm. Erin Sheffield: funny that it's such a I would think a benefit to a practice, but some are still worried, right? There's still a lot of people who don't Sarah Harding: Yes. Erin Sheffield: like it. Do you run into that? Are people still pretty supportive now? I know in residency you run into a lot of pushback and stuff. Is it feel different now or is it about the same? Brendan: It's a lot better now. It's a lot better now. It it really it everything comes down to your your boss. Everything comes down to your team. Erin Sheffield: Mm. Brendan: That's just what it comes down to. You know, are they trying to control you or are they trying to work with you? Erin Sheffield: Yeah, absolutely. And let Sarah Harding: Yeah. Yeah. Brendan: That's it. Erin Sheffield: you fly and offer things that you know, the things that you can bring to the practice, even if they haven't been done before. Your talents, yeah, for sure. Brendan: Yeah. yeah. Just bring in and we all have talents that we can bring. But you want to be a boss that can bring out the talents, let the flower blossom rather than putting it in the shade where it can't be seen or it can't see the light, figuratively, but literally we all have our unique things and talents that can really optimize the office and patient care and bring something unique to the table. And it's like figuring out what those talents are. And and bring out it, not suppressing them. I feel like the bosses that want control, they want to suppress things or or or own it. They want to own Sarah Harding: Yeah. Brendan: certain things. Sarah Harding: Yeah. And I feel like they also want to make us cookie cutter, which Brendan: Mm. Sarah Harding: really dilutes down the product, right? Because everybody chooses a different person intentionally, you know, because we're not right for everybody. And so if I'm just a cog in the wheel and you feel like I'm replaceable with the next guy that comes along, like that it's not gonna work, you know, because it's just we're not like that. Brendan: Have you ever been told you were replaceable? Sarah Harding: Well, if that's not a cliffhanger, I don't know what is. Come back next week for part two of our conversation with Dr. Brendan Gallagher, and trust us, you don't want to miss where this goes. Until then, keep your stitches tight and your face is resting. We'll see you next time.