Latest / Back in 10 / Episode 3: From Theater Kid to Dental Boss

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Episode 3: From Theater Kid to Dental Boss · Back in 10

0:02
Jen Steadman: Back in 10 is a podcast for dental leaders who do it all
0:05
and need 10 minutes to themselves.
0:07
Savanah Carlson: It's about real conversations, not curated ones, the
0:10
kind that happened off the clock behind closed doors, and between the chaos of
0:14
running a practice and running life.
0:17
Jen Steadman: Hosted by Savanah Carlson and Jen Steadman, two women who've led,
0:21
learned, and laughed through it all.
0:24
Savanah Carlson: This show brings honest stories, leadership truths, and
0:27
the occasional sassy take on what it really means to lead in dentistry today.
0:31
Jen Steadman: Because sometimes the best leadership happens when
0:34
you step away for 10 minutes.
0:36
Savanah Carlson: This is back in 10.
0:44
Jen Steadman: Hey everyone, and welcome back to back in 10 with
0:49
Savanah Carlson: Savanah.
0:50
Jen Steadman: And Jen.
0:51
So on today's episode, you are going to get to know a little bit more
0:56
about my lovely co-host Savanah.
1:00
So if you did listen to episode two, I wore this blazer just for Savanah
1:05
today because she talked about the first time that we met, I was
1:08
wearing yellow blazer and I said, I need to wear it for her today.
1:14
So there you go.
1:14
This is for you, my friend.
1:16
Yes.
1:16
Savanah Carlson: Oh my God.
1:17
But you still have it.
1:19
Jen Steadman: I know, right?
1:20
You can borrow it sometime if you want to.
1:21
Yeah, anytime.
1:22
Oh, it wouldn't be the first time that we matched when we wore something,
1:25
so you know, we'll go for it.
1:26
Savanah Carlson: Sometimes it is a little eerie when we just show up places like
1:30
the airport at three in the morning and we're literally in the same exact
1:35
black pants, black sweatshirt with a blue jean jacket or a white jean jacket.
1:40
But we're always wearing the same exact thing with our white tennis shoes.
1:44
Jen Steadman: I know it's creepy.
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And the same lipstick.
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We did that and the same music.
1:50
That's another problem that we'll have to talk about that someday.
1:53
Oh lord.
1:54
My dear, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about you and about, how
1:59
you got into dentistry and, just tell us a little bit, what do you like to
2:04
do outside of, I'm gonna say in your world, outside of dentistry, tell us.
2:09
Savanah Carlson: Sure.
2:10
I did not have any interest in the dental world when I was in school.
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In fact, I literally loath the dentist.
2:20
Although I liked going to my pediatric dentist because he was a looker.
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He was fine.
2:26
He is gonna listen to this.
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I know he is, and it's okay because I'm no longer, a child and it's fine.
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He made going to the dentist enjoyable, right?
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But other than that, I really just dislike the dentist and I had no
2:42
intention of getting into dentistry.
2:43
I went to a liberal arts college and I got a bachelor's of English.
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What do you do with a Bachelor's of English?
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But I also got a Bachelor's of theater.
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Jen Steadman: Yes, you did.
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Savanah Carlson: What do you do with a bachelor's in theater?
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Who knows?
3:01
After I graduated and I worked for Warner Brother Pictures for Harry Potter here
3:08
in Boston, we had the beta exhibition for the Harry Potter exhibition.
3:14
I know there's one recently here in Boston and everybody was like, oh my
3:18
gosh, it's the first time back up.
3:22
Back up.
3:23
It was not, actually, the first time was back in 2010 and I was managing it,
3:28
so don't I will come at you back up.
3:32
Anyway, so yeah, I gotta use my theater degree doing that.
3:36
That was a very cool experience.
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That was one of my first real world leadership jobs.
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I had been working since I was 13 years old and it started with a
3:46
summer camp in my town and my sister and I just, are natural leaders.
3:54
We led leadership committees in our high school, and then by the age of 16 I was
3:59
running this summer camp of a hundred kids and 15 to 16 teenagers, my age, staff,
4:05
and that was a really great experience and I owe a lot to my boss then Adrienne,
4:09
if you're listening, I absolutely love you and admire you to death.
4:12
She gave me the autonomy to learn how to be a leader and she.
4:17
I was very gentle in her leadership style with corrections and feedback,
4:25
and I feel like that's where I built a strong foundation of being able to
4:30
get and receive feedback because of her gentleness and willingness to do it right.
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So I found that helped me a lot with my manager position at the Museum of Science
4:41
during that exhibition, and I was able to use my theater degree a lot of fun.
4:44
Okay.
4:44
But then when that ended, my mom and my stepdad were running a dental
4:48
practice and they said that, you wanna come in and file some charts.
4:53
And I was like, yes, I need money.
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And this practice was on paper charts still.
4:57
So I would go in at night and file paper charts, and then I would come in
5:02
during the day, later in the afternoon, and there was one afternoon, the
5:05
phone just kept ringing and ringing.
5:08
The other front desk team members were not answering.
5:12
They were eating their lunch and/ or snacking, and one of them was on the
5:16
back phone talking to their boyfriend, and the phone was just ringing.
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Jen Steadman: Phone has to be answered.
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Savanah Carlson: And so the boldness got ahead of me and I picked up the
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phone and I said, hi, this is Savanah.
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Thank you for choosing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
5:29
How can I help you today?
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And I had no idea what they were talking about.
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They're like, I need to reschedule my filling appointment for number
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31 and number 30, MO and MOD.
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And I was like, okay, you know what let me put you on hold for a moment and I
5:43
will get the right person who will be able to help you reschedule that appointment.
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And like I told the girl on the back, I'll call her Susie, I'll go, Susie,
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there is a patient on the phone.
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It was ringing a lot.
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Could you help me please?
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She said you over the phone now.
6:00
And I said.
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This is where the grace comes in.
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I had to take a breath, see no, but I thought you may need help
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because it just kept ringing, I didn't want the patient to wait.
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So they're on hold If you could pick that up.
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Okay.
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And then I keep filing my group of charts and I go to bring in a chart
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into the office manager's office and he said did you just answer the phone?
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I was like, freaking great.
6:23
I don't officially work in this practice and I'm already getting a
6:26
fired because I answered a phone.
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And I said yeah, I did.
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I did answer the phone.
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And then he said do you wanna job?
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Do you wanna work full-time here?
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And I said I don't know anything about dentistry.
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And he said, you don't need to know dentistry.
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You need to know people.
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You just answered a phone without knowing dentistry.
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Did you die?
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And I was like no I guess I didn't die.
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So yeah.
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Okay let's try this, let's do this.
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And then I just worked my way up from every position in the front desk team.
7:00
Check in, check out insurance coordinator, social media marketer.
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Built out a whole adult dentistry side of this practice 'cause
7:07
it was a pediatric to start.
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And then I transitioned to a new practice and really blossomed there
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and learned all the dentistry I could, and I was very lucky that the dentists
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I worked for were also educators and not just within the dental schools
7:28
in Boston, but with their team.
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They always promote education and I always loved to work for people
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and with people who want to learn.
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So I was within the practice for almost 14 years, 13 to 14 years.
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Then I transitioned into a dental organization and was a member
7:49
service director, and now I'm the director of business development for
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a local dental management company.
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So that is my career.
8:00
Jen Steadman: Nice.
8:00
Savanah Carlson: In a nutshell.
8:02
Cliff notes, but I still get to use my theater degree because
8:07
people love the accents.
8:08
Jen Steadman: In preparation, I went through the archives of my phone
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because I keep every picture and video and actually found a video.
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We were doing a raffle at a study club and I said, oh, can
8:20
you do an accent for this one?
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And you did.
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There's multiple accents.
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I am that person that when Savanah and I have done round tables together, I'm like,
8:28
can you do this one in a British accent or could you do this one in this accent?
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And she will do it.
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I think everyone really enjoys it and thinks that we're a little
8:36
bit cuckoo of Coco Puffs at the same time, but it works, man.
8:40
So on that note, I have a question for you and I would like for you to answer
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it like you were at the Harry Potter.
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Savanah Carlson: Yes.
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Love.
8:47
Of course.
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Jen Steadman: So in a dental office as dental leaders, we all wear many hats.
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Many of course.
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What is the weirdest.
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Non-dental skill that you have had to master through your
9:05
role in a dental practice?
9:07
Savanah Carlson: The weirdest non-dental skill.
9:11
Okay, the weirdest one, we did this team building exercise where we are like,
9:18
okay, we're gonna write down anything that did not go well for us this year.
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We're gonna put it in a jar or a ball or jaw and we're gonna light it on fire.
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And I had to figure out how to do that without setting off a smoke alarm.
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So that's probably the weirdest thing I've had to, master, because
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we would do this quite often.
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It was like a cleanse of the bad juju and, okay.
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Other than that, I also was like it.
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I was also the plumber, I was also the vacuumer.
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I was an interior designer.
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That was fun.
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You've never done a practice and if your dentist trust you with design
10:00
work and you get to do that's amazing.
10:02
Jen Steadman: Complete this sentence for me.
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Okay.
10:07
You're a dental practice leader when...
10:12
Savanah Carlson: You know you're a dental practice leader when you eat
10:16
your lunch in 10 seconds while talking to a patient about their insurance and
10:21
also going over their $10,000 treatment plan, which they don't wanna pay for,
10:26
but you have to help them also apply for patient financing, and you have
10:30
team members in the back fighting.
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Jen Steadman: That's a lot.
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Chris Stone: By the way, Savanah, are you also standing on one leg and patting
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your head with one hand while you're eating your lunch with the other hand?
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I'm just curious is that,
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Savanah Carlson: yeah,
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Chris Stone: is that part of it?
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Savanah Carlson: What office managers and even, there are even treatment
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coordinators, patient coordinators, the front desk team members.
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They're not bound to one title, and truthfully, in the practice,
11:03
unless you're an associate dentist, everyone does a lot of everything.
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The dentist might be the dentist owner, even associate dentist though too.
11:14
It depends on the associate, but it depends on the associate.
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True.
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But like your dental assistant, she could also be in charge of ordering supplies.
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She could also be your HIPAA compliancy officer.
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Your social media coordinator could also be your insurance coordinator.
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There are multiple hats that everyone wears, and honestly, that was not the only
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one to have to do all of that at once.
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Jen Steadman: Oh, yeah.
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Savanah Carlson: At the same time.
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I hope you weren't looking for a one word answer because it was not gonna happen.
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Jen Steadman: No, I would never expect that.
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No.
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Chris Stone: I'll just say this.
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In working and having worked with both of you over the course of the last
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several years, I have learned that there are no such things as one word
12:05
answers, and it's phenomenally fantastic.
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Jen Steadman: Thanks Chris.
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A wizard.
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Savanah Carlson: You know what Chris?
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If you get a one word answer, you better run.
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Chris Stone: Yeah, I was gonna say.
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I better run and hide.
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Savanah Carlson: Yeah.
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One word answers from any office manager is a sign of doom.
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There's something going on.
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Not geared towards you necessarily.
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Jen Steadman: No.
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No.
12:29
Like
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Savanah Carlson: it's about to go down.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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If there's a.
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Chris Stone: So I have a question.
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I'm gonna build off that real quick, right?
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What should someone in the dental practice do?
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Let's say I am the treatment coordinator, right?
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And I come to you, Jen, and I say, I ask a question and
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you give me a one word answer.
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Jen Steadman: Yep.
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Chris Stone: But the question I have is a very serious question
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that I need you to help me with.
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What do I, what should I do?
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Jen Steadman: You could ask, is there something that I can do to support you?
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As leaders, we are very rarely asked that question.
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We're always the one that's asking it.
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We're never the ones who is the recipient of that question.
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Sometimes your leader just needs a bone.
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They need you to say, is there something that I can do to help you?
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Is there something that I can do to support you right now?
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Can I take anything off of your plate?
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'cause there might not be.
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Just the fact that you asked is gonna make him take a break and take a breath for a
13:30
second, and maybe they need to step away and go listen to a podcast for 10 minutes.
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Maybe they need to step away and go get some water, or go get
13:40
some tea or coffee or anything.
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They need a moment.
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And if you don't have a signal or something to tell each other that.
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You're having a moment you need just ask.
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Ask what you can do to support them.
13:57
Okay, Savanah, one last question for you, my dear.
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What are you hoping that our listeners get from this podcast?
14:05
A break.
14:07
Savanah Carlson: I hope listeners get a break.
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I hope that things that we discuss on here it helps them become more efficient
14:16
and energetic about what they're doing, that they're able to take the break.
14:24
Take your break.
14:25
You deserve your break, even if you're only afforded five minute
14:29
breaks, depending on your state.
14:30
Please check your state laws.
14:32
First and foremost.
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Everyone needs to abide by their state laws.
14:36
If you do not have an HR company, we can recommend some for you.
14:41
Yes.
14:41
But if you are the sole HR person, sure.
14:44
You know your employee loss for your state.
14:47
When it comes to breaks and time off, especially time off,
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we will talk a lot about PTO.
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Everyone knows I'm an advocate for PTO, I will get on a soapbox.
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You work to live, you do not live to work.
15:00
You need to enjoy what you do.
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So that means taking your break.
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Remembering you're a human being.
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You're not a.
15:09
You're on a robot and and also re recognizing that for your team.
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Your team, they are your team.
15:19
You're thriving from each other.
15:20
They're not your robots.
15:22
Yeah.
15:22
Not your robot.
15:23
Yeah.
15:23
Absolutely.
15:24
And anyone, I hope that they weren't, they take the break or like maybe you
15:29
need to just float away for five minutes.
15:32
Yes.
15:32
And you know you could do that though.
15:34
Jen Steadman: You could clock out and listen to back in town.
15:36
Right?
15:37
There you go.
15:38
And thank you for that because we're clocking out on this episode.
15:40
So BRB, we'll see you later.
15:43
Everyone.
15:43
BRB,
15:47
Chris Stone: I'm a genius.
15:48
Savanah Carlson: Oh my God, that was a blazer of where I fell in love with
15:51
Jennifer Steadman, office manager.
15:57
Thanks for spending a few minutes with us on back in 10.
16:00
Jen Steadman: If something made you laugh, nod or feel a little more
16:03
human, share it with a friend and make sure that you're subscribed.
16:07
Savanah Carlson: You can also follow us on Instagram at Back in
16:09
10 Pod for more behind the scenes updates and probably a little chaos.
16:14
Jen Steadman: We're not here to have it all figured out.
16:17
We are just here to tell you the things that we wish someone had told us.
16:21
Savanah Carlson: And remind you that leadership doesn't
16:23
have to be perfect, just real.
16:26
We'll be back in 10 in.