Back in 10

You’re on PTO.

So why are you checking your work email?

Somewhere along the way, many of us started confusing great leadership with endless availability. We answer the text. Check the email. Solve the problem. And convince ourselves the team needs us.

Jen once processed payroll while IN LABOR. Savanah admits she checked her work email first thing in the morning while recording this episode… on PTO.

So yeah. We need to talk about boundaries.

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah get real about personal and professional boundaries in dental leadership and why being responsive is NOT the same thing as being constantly accessible.

They talk about protecting PTO, after-hours communication, setting expectations with your team, social media boundaries, working from home, and what happens when your team becomes so dependent on you that you can’t actually step away.

Because if everything requires you, you may not have a boundary problem.

You may have a dependency problem.

Start small. Decide what your boundaries actually are. Communicate them. Build systems that allow people to function without you. And then comes the hard part:

Respect your own boundaries, too.

Want more conversations like this? Comment BOUNDARY and let’s keep talking.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

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Breaking up is hard to do. Especially when your PPO is helping fill the schedule.

But is it actually helping your practice?

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah talk about the leadership and business side of knowing when a PPO relationship may no longer make sense.

Before you panic about empty chairs, it's time to look at the actual numbers. How many patients really have that plan? What are you writing off? Which procedures are taking the biggest hit? And is that PPO keeping your practice profitable or simply keeping it busy?

They also talk about what happens after you make the decision. Your team needs to understand the change, know how to talk about it, and feel prepared for patient questions. And your patients deserve thoughtful communication about what going out of network actually means for them.

Because you're not breaking up with your patients.

You're changing your relationship with their insurance company.

And sometimes, that's exactly what a financially healthy practice needs.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

Your title says Office Manager. But your responsibilities? They might look a whole lot more like COO.

Hiring and firing. Managing payroll. Reviewing the P&L. Negotiating with vendors. Implementing technology. Leading the team. Making operational decisions. Turning the doctor's vision into actual execution.

So where exactly does office management end and executive leadership begin?

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah don't completely agree on the answer. And that's kind of the point.

They go back and forth on what should fall under an Office Manager's role, what crosses into COO-level responsibility, and why the lack of a clear industry standard makes this conversation so complicated.

But they do agree on this: if you're being held accountable for the success of the business, you need the authority, trust, skills, and compensation to actually own what you're being asked to do.

Maybe the question isn't whether you deserve a different title.

Maybe it's whether your title, responsibilities, authority, and paycheck actually match.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

What does it actually take to become a Practice of the Year?

Back in 10 went LIVE from the Henry Schein One booth at AADOM for a very special conversation with the newly crowned Dentrix and Dentrix Ascend Practices of the Year.

Savanah and Jen sit down with Betsy Cord, Kym Page, and Melissa Floyd to talk about what happens behind the scenes of exceptional dental practices and, spoiler alert, technology alone isn't the answer.

They talk about using technology to create efficiency, getting the entire team involved, the importance of ongoing training and cross-training, making the move to the cloud, and finding ways to make everyday workflows easier for both the team and the patients they serve.

But when we asked these leaders what they were most proud of, the answer wasn't a feature, a workflow, or even the award.

It was their people.

This episode is a celebration of what can happen when great technology supports great leadership and a team that's committed to getting better together.

Congratulations to the Dentrix and DentrixAscend Practices of the Year, and a huge thank you to Henry Schein One for inviting Back in 10 to be part of such a special moment.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

Your schedule is full. Your team is busy. Production is up.

So... why is there less money left at the end of the month?

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah talk about the financial squeeze happening inside dental practices and why increasing production doesn't automatically mean increasing profit.

Payroll goes up. Supplies and lab costs go up. Overhead increases. Insurance write-offs take their share. And sometimes, the expenses we cut in an attempt to save money end up costing the practice even more.

They also tackle a conversation more practice leaders need to be having: Should your office manager understand the P&L? And how can they help protect profitability if they don't have the full financial picture?

Because production tells you how busy you were.

Profit tells you whether the business is working.

The goal isn't simply to do more dentistry. It's to build a financially healthy practice while doing great dentistry.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

"I'm exhausted."

"I hate this job."

"We're understaffed."

"I'm doing the work of three people."

"I need a vacation."

We've gotten really comfortable calling all of it burnout. But is it?

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah dig into what burnout actually means and why labeling every hard season, stressful week, or frustrating workplace experience as burnout can keep us from identifying the real problem.

Is it burnout? Bad leadership? Broken systems? Lack of accountability? An impossible workload? Or have you simply outgrown the job?

Because burnout isn't just being tired. It's what can happen when chronic workplace stress goes unmanaged long enough that exhaustion turns into detachment and you start wondering whether the work you're doing even matters.

And for leaders, calling it "burnout" isn't enough. We have to get curious about what's causing it.

Before you plan the pizza party, fix the problem.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

This one wasn't planned.

What started as an off-the-cuff conversation about expectations and accountability quickly turned into Jen sharing her own experience working within a DSO and what can happen when performance goals, KPIs, and financial pressure start driving the conversation.

This isn't an episode about what every DSO gets right or wrong. It's one leader's experience and an honest conversation about what she saw from the inside.

Jen and Savanah talk about what happens when high-performing practices are continually asked to do more, whether goals are always as attainable as they look on paper, the pressure that can land on practice and regional leaders, and why focusing only on financial KPIs can cause us to lose sight of the people behind them.

Because yes, the numbers tell a story.

But are we paying attention to the right numbers?

No agenda. No perfectly packaged lesson. Just an off-the-cuff conversation that went somewhere we didn't expect.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

You know the conversation needs to happen.

But what if they quit?

In today's hiring market, that's the fear many dental leaders carry every single day. You know someone isn't meeting expectations, but the thought of losing another team member makes accountability feel impossible.

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah unpack one of the biggest leadership challenges in dentistry: how to hold people accountable without leading from fear.

They discuss:

Because accountability isn't about catching people doing something wrong.

It's about helping great people succeed by making expectations impossible to misunderstand.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

Your career is made up of thousands of little decisions. This episode is all about picking a side.

In this edition of This or That, Jen and Savanah tackle some of the biggest career questions dental leaders face:

• Mentor or coach?

What starts as a fun round of quick choices turns into a deeper conversation about career growth, professional identity, and one question every leader should ask themselves:

If someone asked who you are… would you describe yourself, or where you work?

Grab your favorite drink, pick your side, and let us know where you land.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/ 

The doctor knows there's a problem.

The team knows there's a problem.

You know there's a problem.

...but no one is making the decision.

In this episode of Back in 10, Jen and Savanah tackle one of the most frustrating realities of dental leadership: what happens when you're expected to lead the practice, but the doctor avoids the tough conversations and final decisions.

They discuss why avoidance is still a decision, how indecision quietly damages culture, what office managers can do to influence without overstepping, and how to stop losing credibility when you're caught in the middle.

If you've ever found yourself saying, "I'll have to talk to the doctor," while wondering if anything will actually change, this episode is for you.

Because great leadership isn't about avoiding conflict. It's about having the courage to make the decision.

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Special thanks to our recording partner Chris "The Wizard" Stone of Rock Solid Media!

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More ways to stay in touch!

Watch the episode on youtube: @backin10pod

Follow on Instagram: @backin10pod

Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backin10pod/