Love Your Practice

If something happened to you today, what would happen to your practice? If you become disabled or die, do you have a plan for your practice? This is a difficult topic, but it is one that is essential to address. Unexpected things happen, and I want to make sure you are prepared to protect your practice's value and legacy. In this episode, I welcome Mary Fisher-Day who is a personal practice transition advisor. Mary says, "I help dentists who are unprepared and underrepresented work through the transitions in their lives - specifically buying and selling a dental practice," and she also helps them to prepare to buy or sell a practice. With a career in practice management and practice transitions, Mary has a wealth of information and experience to share with you to help you protect the value of your practice.

As dentists, we need to be prepared for the transitions of our practices so that we can protect their values if something happens to us: Accidents, illnesses, and medical emergencies can be catastrophic to a dental practice if the proper steps have not been taken to prepare for a smooth transition of the practice. Being prepared - or NOT being prepared - greatly affects many lives: those of our own families as well as those of our employees and their families. In this information-packed conversation, Mary explains what to do right NOW to create a plan for the future of your practice and ultimate transition to a new owner. From explaining the vital need for a current practice evaluation to creating an emergency directive and much more, listen now as Mary shares incredibly valuable steps to take and information to know and understand as you protect your practice!

Highlights from this episode:

• Understanding what "dual representation" means
• How and why buyers and sellers are usually underrepresented
• The necessity for a baseline practice evaluation and why it is the most important piece of information to have
• How fast the value of a dental practice falls when a dentist dies
• What an emergency directive is and why it is critical
• Smart ways to keep your practice valuable and be prepared to sell anytime you wish
• The importance of "buyer's perception"
• Why you should consider incorporating "prepayment" into your business practice
• What buyers want
• A close look at profit numbers and what "add backs" are and why they matter
• Private buyers and DSOs
• Resources to learn more about selling your practice

Resources and links mentioned:

• Mary's website: Thedentalbusiness.com - free checklist for an emergency directive or to contact Mary
• Business of Dentistry Facebook: Business of Dentistry
• Dental Nachos Facebook: Dental Nachos
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drlauramach
• Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlauramachdds/?hl=en

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Love Your Practice with Dr. Laura Mach
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

When you went to dental school, did you dream about your role as a manager? Probably not! I know I definitely did not, and now we are all in the middle of dealing with "The Great Resignation" that is affecting dentistry as well as other industries. I am happy to welcome back to the show Kara Kelley who is a Dental HR Consultant and founder of Clinical HR, an advisory firm for medical and dental practices. This conversation with Kara will help you adapt and face the changes that are happening now and make your practice a progressive one!

If you are having a difficult time hiring team members right now, you are not alone. Dentistry is dealing with the fact that employees have moved on to other side hustles or jobs that are providing greater flexibility and benefits. Being understaffed impedes our goals and sense of wellbeing as dentists. This episode will tell you what employees WANT right now to help you attract team members and get your practice back on track. From flexible schedules to paid time off and other key benefits such as professional development, Kara explains many things you can change in your practice to attract and keep valuable employees. This could require a mindset shift for you in how you look at rewarding your employees for their efforts and dedication to your practice. Learn how to avoid micromanaging, invest in your team, and create flexibility in your practice now… Your employees will love it, and so will YOU!

Highlights from this episode:

• The challenges facing the dental industry right now
• Benefits you can offer to boost morale in your office
• Changing how you look at staffing to create more scheduling flexibility
• The dollar amount attached to turnover
• Aligning the standards of patient treatment with your team
• The importance of finding the right person for a job and knowing the market value of positions
• What good leadership is and how to exhibit it

Resources and links mentioned:

• Kara Kelly's company and link to the eBook: Clinical HR, LLC
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drlauramach
• Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlauramachdds/?hl=en

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Love Your Practice with Dr. Laura Mach
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Is there something that another person in your life such as a spouse, friend or parent does that is irritating you? If so, this episode will be very helpful! This is not supposed to be about nagging someone else if we don't get our way; rather, this episode goes over the proper way to request a different behavior.

We all have people in our lives who sometimes don't handle situations in ways that we consider to be acceptable, and so boundaries may need to be established. This episode will clearly lay out the steps to follow to create those boundaries. From how to ask about the topic in question to explaining the consequences if the situation is not properly handled, you'll hear the 5 steps in this method to very effectively draw a proper boundary. Don't let your relationship with someone in your life suffer due to lack of communication. Listen to this episode now to hear the simple, clear process you can follow to address what needs to be changed!

Highlights from this episode:

• Why you should separate the facts of the situation from the story you're telling yourself
• Recognizing where your feelings come from
• The steps to creating a boundary
• Figuring out the consequences of how the other person handles your request
• What the MOST important step is in the method to creating a boundary

Resources and links mentioned:

• Free course on correcting employees: https://www.loveyourpractice.net/redirecting-employees-e-course
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drlauramach
• Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlauramachdds/?hl=en

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Love Your Practice with Dr. Laura Mach
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Dentistry and medicine go together! After over 30 years seeing patients and impacting lives as a dental hygienist, Cheryl Shafer has changed her professional path and is now a Certified Orofacial Myologist focusing on airway, breathing, and tongue function. In this candid conversation, Cheryl addresses her burnout as a hygienist and thoughts for how we should measure the worth of our hygienists, discusses new services we should include in regular exams, and wants us all to remain focused on "The mission that we have is the health and welfare of our patients."

As practice owners and healthcare providers, our roles continue to evolve regarding what we should be doing for our patients. Cheryl believes that dental offices should be viewed as any other medical specialists treating patients; a dentist is a member of an individual's medical team. So, it is critical that the care that can and should be given in dental visits is well known. Some of these issues include sleep screening, how people are breathing, if they have sleep apnea, or if they have tongue ties. Cheryl shares her story of ultimately stepping away from being a hygienist and becoming a Myofunctional Therapist focusing on tongues and the impact that tongue issues can have on patients' overall health. Cheryl recounts a story of how she saved a patient's life, and says, "We need to value what we do and how we change lives." Listen to this episode to hear some great ways you can measure the worth of your hygienists and provide higher levels of care for your patients!

Highlights from this episode:

• Challenges that hygienists face through their daily work
• Things dentists can do to help hygienists not burn out
• Recognizing and valuing the impactful work that hygienists and other dental office team members do
• Changing the perception of dental visits to include more essential medical screening
• Cheryl's personal family experience that led her to focusing on the tongue
• The benefits of releasing a tongue
• A dentist's role regarding focusing on tongues and recognizing concerns of the tongue
• Next steps for dentists to take to help their patients

Resources and links mentioned:

• More information on the March 2022 Mastermind Class
• Cheryl Shafer's website: Facial Function, Myofunctional Therapy in Maryland and Online
• Dr. Richard Baxter's book: Tongue Tied
• Dr. Soroush Zaghi's website: The Breathe Institute
• James Nester's book: Breath
• Dr. Michael Geld's book: Gasp!: Airway Health - The Hidden Path to Wellness
• Dr. Ben Miraglia's website: Airway Health Solutions
• Other Podcasts:
• The Untethered Podcast
• I Spy with my Myo Eye
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Welcome ladies of dentistry. I am happy to see that you are all taking the time for yourself to listen to my podcast. I am so amazed every time I hear the graduation rates and that more and more female dentists are entering the workforce. We are taking over dentistry!

In the last episode, I updated you all about some issues I had post-surgery. I am happy to report that I am doing much better at this time. Thank you for all of your notes of encouragement.

In this episode, we're going to talk about the current state of staffing affairs in dental offices. I am hearing from my mastermind class that many of your offices are understaffed and this is causing a lot of emotional stress. We will be talking about some ways to work through this.

Highlights from this episode include:

• Kara Kelley will be back as a guest to discuss the HR perspective of the staffing shortage
• Information on how to sign up for a repeat performance of my free webinar about moving from fear to confidence in your practice
• More information about the March mastermind class that is getting ready to start
• The emotions we are experiencing by being understaffed
• The feelings that those emotions are causing us to have
• We work through "the model" on how to handle these feelings
• We discuss how to recognize the actions that are resulting from these thoughts and feelings
• We go over how to change the thought process to manifest a more positive outcome
• And, finally, we share some real-life samples of actions that you can try in your own office

Resources and links mentioned:

Sign up for the FREE Webinar on February 16, 8:00 am CT:

https://www.loveyourpractice.net/free-webinar-registration-Feb22

Get more information on the March 2022 Mastermind class:

https://www.loveyourpractice.net/master-class-mar-2022-1

• Kara Kelley's company: Clinical HR LLC
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Hi Friends! I have an unusual episode for you! I missed a week on the release of my podcast because I had an elective surgery that created some subsequent complications. This episode looks at what was going through my mind as I was going through my recovery… And then I take this golden opportunity to look at my mistakes of listening to my brain's efforts to eliminate tasks from my life and turn those mistakes into learning opportunities FOR YOU as I reflect and "coach" myself through the recovery process.

It was so interesting that the first thing my brain did was go through all of my "shoulds." For example, I knew I was supposed to be back at work and caring for patients, but I had to realize that I just could not do that work. My brain made me highly aware of the fact that I was off track with my professional commitments for the week and continually went through the master list of tasks that I should be doing but was not completing. It was fascinating to actually witness how my brain reacted to the situation I was in. It didn't want me to relax and take care of myself. It wanted me to feel like I was failing! My brain was taking what was uncomfortable to me and trying to efficiently eliminate those tasks from my life. In this episode, I share with you how to get away from the "shoulds" that are statements that remove our joy and replace them with curiosity about doing things differently. Listen to this episode to learn how to redirect your brain while it is trying to do its job of protecting you!

Highlights from this episode:

• How to access the new, free course on redirecting your employees
• Information about the new, free upcoming webinar about moving from fear to confidence in your practice
• The steps my brain went through during recovery
• How quickly the brain perceives failure and reacts to it
• A look back at coaching through how my brain was reacting during my recovery process
• The importance of changing the brain's narrative

Resources and links mentioned:

• Sign up for the FREE Webinar on Jan 27, 2022: https://www.loveyourpractice.net/free-webinar-registration
• Sign up for the FREE course on Redirecting Your Employees: https://www.loveyourpractice.net/redirecting-employees-e-course
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Are you ready to be kind to yourself and your team members? It's time to focus on synergy within our lives! In this episode, I welcome Dr. Karen Tindall who is originally from Yorkshire, England. There she was a family dentist prior to entering orthodontics. She and her family moved to the United States when her husband had a job opportunity here. After some time as a stay-at-home mother, she became an internationally accredited professional life coach for female dentists who are juggling their busy careers as well as family life at home.

Noting the outdated nature of "work-life balance," Dr. Tindall explains why she created a new concept of looking at juggling life at work and life at home. Her new concept is called the work-life synergy approach. She says, "It's impossible to separate your life from your work and vice versa… It encourages you to blend those various parts of your life together so they work as a whole… It's much easier to create something that makes you feel good." This episode focuses on wellness: both your own wellness as well as the wellness of your team. This may mean handing some tasks off to others to manage or finding creative solutions by opening your thinking to how you can manage to accomplish tasks. It is critical that we spread the message of focusing on wellness within dental practice teams, and that starts with YOU - the owner. There is great value in focusing on the ROI of investing in yourself before anything else, and this episode will show you some ways to create work-life synergy!

Highlights from this episode:

• Work-life synergy: what it is and how to view it
• The blending of work life and home life
• Equilibrium's sliding scale and how it can let you be kinder to yourself
• The mental load concept of owning a dental practice
• How to reduce or remove the mental load by sharing tasks
• The Mint Door as a space for open conversation: its elements and how you can join
• Bringing wellness to the forefront of dental practices

Resources and links mentioned:

Laura's free course: Redirecting Your Employees

Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

The Mint Door website

Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!

Laura's email: [email protected]

Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net

Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists

Love Your Practice

Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

How are you doing at this point in 2021? It has been a roller coaster of a year, especially when we, as practice owners, look at our staffing issues. We've all experienced ups and downs as we've dealt with staffing turnover, but what about changes you've wanted to make to your practice? Have you wanted to implement new training, software, or equipment only to have those suggestions met with negative reactions? It is very normal to be uncomfortable with change, and we have to recognize that our employees' brains react the same way as ours do!

Our brains are wired to like and appreciate the status quo; we like systems and order. So, when we plan to make and implement changes, our brains try to protect us. The desire for the changes we want to make has to be greater than the objections our brain will register. We have to recognize our need to move forward by making the changes we want to make. And our employees' brains are just like ours; they want to protect them. So, we have to understand that these defensive reactions will be normal. In this episode, I share with you a valuable system to overcome this natural tendency for your employees to hold out against change. From understanding that your employees' feelings matter to allowing them to ask questions, listen to this episode to understand all the steps to overcoming your employees' resistance to change and increasing their trust so you can successfully implement changes to YOUR practice!

Highlights from this episode:

• The importance of expressing gratitude
• Our brain's instinctive behavior
• What the speed bump of change is and how to overcome it
• Looking at how your employees' brains react to changes we want to implement
• System to overcome your employees' resistance to change
• Why your employees' feelings matter

Resources and links mentioned:

• Podcast episode featuring Dr. David Maloley: Maximizing Your Team's Instinctive Strengths
• Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
• Laura's email: [email protected]
• Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net
• Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

• Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists
• Love Your Practice
• Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

Sleep… we know we need it, we know how important it is… but are we prioritizing it in our lives? Lacking sleep from sleep-related breathing disorders can have far-reaching detrimental effects in our lives. My guest in this episode is Dr. Mona Patel, a private practice owner for nearly 30 years who now teaches teams how to implement Dental Sleep Medicine into their practices.

Making changes in our practices is often met with fear and resistance. This is a natural response in our biologies. However, it is possible to proceed through this fear to get your practice to the point where you want it to be! Dr. Patel shares her story of overcoming fear and rejection by putting her patients' health concerns ahead of her fears about making changes within her practice. And sleep issues are serious concerns for patients. From educating your staff to adding new questions to your screening questionnaires for patients, this episode will walk you through ideas to integrate Dental Sleep Medicine into your everyday care for patients. Listen to this episode now to hear Dr. Patel's amazing path to creating her "Dental Snoozology" business and how you can customize implementing sleep care into your practice!

Highlights from this episode:

• Shifting to a new mindset within the dental industry
• Dr. Patel's path to selling her practice
• STOP-BANG questionnaire: what it is and why it is good to use as a screening tool and introduction to patients
• The importance of integrating Dental Sleep Medicine into dental offices
• Getting your staff on-board with discussing sleep medicine with patients to save lives
• Overcoming your fears about implementing change in your practice
• The process of integrating communication about sleep issues into your everyday conversations with patients
• Where to find a questionnaire right now to begin sleep conversations with your patients
• The Kaiser method and how that applies to your practice

Resources and links mentioned:

Dr. Mona Patel's website: Dental Snoozology

Dr. Mona Patel on Facebook: Snoozologist

Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!

Laura's email: [email protected]

Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net

Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists

Love Your Practice

Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura

The businesses of dentistry and nutrition have many common challenges and similar goals! This is an interesting episode because I am co-hosting it with nutrition therapist and business coach Rachel Leigh to serve both our audiences as we share our wisdom and inspirations to help you thrive in your business and live a happy life! Rachel and I went through our life coach training together, and, in addition to owning her own nutrition business, she is also a business coach for other nutrition therapists who are building their practices. Our clients have common goals of wanting to feel better, be healthier, and provide amazing services to their clients and patients… So we are excited to bring this episode to our respective industries!

Are you having fun as a nutrition therapist or dentist? If not, now is the time to start! As providers of care to our clients, we want to provide the best treatments possible for their long term health. But we all know that sometimes those treatment plans can be expensive and not covered by insurance. How willing are you to offer the best care options to your clients at the appropriate prices to be properly compensated for your efforts? This episode will help you jump over self-limiting hurdles so you can be open with your patients about their treatment options. We also discuss much more including how coaching has changed our clients' lives and how they lead their businesses. Your business is a manifestation of what you're thinking in your mind… And your thoughts can be changed! Listen to this episode to learn how coaching can help you overcome discomforts and build your business to levels your mind may not even be considering!

Highlights from this episode:

• The common challenges of dentistry and nutrition
• Serving our communities in fields that are not covered by insurance
• How to avoid talking yourself out of pricing your services appropriately
• Overcoming the narrative in your head about what your clients may be thinking
• The value of truly understanding what clients want or need to create a connection with them
• Coaching and how it is life-changing both personally and as business leaders
• How to choose your thoughts so you can love your business
• The challenges and rewards of initiating change in our minds and businesses

Resources and links mentioned:

Rachel Leigh's podcast: 6-Figure Nutritionist

Rachel Leigh's website: sixfigurenutritionist.com

Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!

Laura's email: [email protected]

Laura's website: LoveYourPractice.net

Laura's podcast: Love Your Practice!

Laura's Facebook pages:

Leadership Coach for Busy Dentists

Love Your Practice

Laura's personal page

Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!

~ Laura