New owner. New mindset. Zero panic. In this candid conversation, Derek sits down with a brand new owner to unpack how a 20-year-old’s discovery of FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) shaped his entire path through dental school, associateship, and a swift, strategic leap into ownership.

He shares how he maximized clinical reps in school (hello molar endo and wisdom teeth), evaluated practices with a clear freedom-first lens, and landed a rare small-town, low-competition office outside Dallas. You’ll hear the exact factors he prioritized (fixed costs, saturation, collections), why he chose coaching with TLP to compress his timeline, and how he handled week one with a “change nothing, learn everything” approach—using curiosity and “strong opinions, weakly held” to identify true root problems (documentation, over-spending on supplies, collections discipline) without rattling the team or patients.

Whether you’re a student, associate, or on the brink of ownership, this episode is a blueprint for moving fast and smart.

What you’ll learn:

How a FIRE mindset clarifies clinical, career, and ownership decisions

The simple filter used to evaluate practices (competition, fixed costs, collections)

Why saying “no” a lot makes it easy to pounce on the right deal

A calm, high-trust playbook for your first weeks as an owner (“change nothing, ask why”)

Where passive leadership hides in the numbers (supplies %, lab %, collections rate) and how to spot it

Highlights:

Discovering FIRE and choosing dentistry with the end in mind

Maximizing clinical exposure in school (be in clinic 8–5; study after)

From associate to owner: doing the math, then committing

Due diligence in saturated markets and why small-town sites can win big

Week-one leadership: reassure the team, observe, document, then prioritize

Back-office fixes that move the needle: documentation, insurance, discounts, CareCredit/process cleanup

Reach out to at: [email protected]

Reach out to Derek at: [email protected]

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