Episodes

What if clinging to your vision is holding your practice back, not propelling it forward? In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain with Dr. Anthony Do, who shares an unfiltered look at the messy middle between opening the doors and building a practice that lasts. Moving from Southern California to Texas, Dr. Do discovered quickly that behind every high-performing dental office are hard choices, failed systems, and invisible pressure that most never see. He’s here to challenge the myth th...

Have you ever felt like your SEO company isn't delivering the results you want? Dr. Brittany Dickinson shares her failure in dental SEO that lost her new patients and led her to discover the unexpected power of AI. From surviving zero cosmetic consults a month to thriving with 17 and counting, Dr. Dickinson reveals how leveraging AI allowed her to take matters into her own hands, save thousands of dollars and attract more patients. If you want to learn how to harness AI and its potential to tra...

What if your marketing budget isn’t the real driver of high-value, loyal patients? When Dr. David Rominski looked back after selling one of the nation’s largest physical medicine practices, a startling pattern emerged: their highest-value patients—the ones they loved serving and who boosted profitability—weren’t coming from big ads or generic marketing efforts. They came almost exclusively through trusted relationships with other providers. In this episode, Dr. Rominski reveals exactly how that...

As a dental leader, it can be easy to mistake team members with different goals, communication styles, and values as underperformers. In this episode, Michelle Affanato, from Affinity Management, shares her journey of embracing individuality within her team. She came to the realization early in her career that not everyone is wired the same, and this single shift in perspective allowed her to enhance her leadership skills dramatically. Listen to Michelle's secret to flourishing relationships wi...

What if your practice could add $30K or more a month just by giving patients the confident smiles they already want? In this episode, Rachel Hicks reveals how this overlooked service could be a sleeper profit center in your practice. While most practices chase expensive ads, add more operatories, or focus strictly on big-ticket treatments, they miss the chance to turn empty chairs into steady revenue with in-office whitening that patients actually want. Rachel breaks down why so many clinics g...

Have you ever questioned the traditional drill-and-fill mentality in your dental practice? In this Fail Forward episode, seasoned dentist Dr. Ankur Gupta reveals how he broke away from the traditional "drill and fill" approach engrained at dental school, after seeing his teenage daughter multiple cavities. Reflecting on the long-term effects of extensive fillings he performed on his patients, Dr. Gupta decided to change his approach and direct energy into proactive preventative measures for his...

Scaling a dental practice sounds exciting until growth starts to feel like extra weight on your shoulders. In this episode, Dr. Brinda Patel of Smile Select Dental unpacks the real costs and lessons of scaling a dental practice across multiple states. You’ll hear how her family’s journey from four to twenty locations came with tough calls: when to expand, when to consolidate, and what it actually takes to make your practice stand out in crowded markets. Dr. Patel shares why selling can be the w...

What happens when the weight of practice ownership gets too heavy, but partnership and selling don't work out? In this Fail Forward episode, Dr. Michelle Jorgensen discusses her challenging journey in dealing with practice partnerships and selling to a DSO (two major choices that didn't pan out as expected.) Listen as she shares her revolutionary "ecosystem of a dental practice" concept that categorizes ownership duties, establishing clarity in responsibility, and fostering effective partnershi...

What if your practice could run smoother, convert more patients, and scale without burning out your team? This episode dives into the playbook of Kristen Davis, a strategic operator who’s worn nearly every hat in a dental office, from ground-level execution to high-level growth planning. Kristen shares the real story behind launching and scaling a de novo dental practice during the chaos of COVID-19, turning disruption into a blueprint for resilience and expansion. She introduces SOPHIE, a dyn...

Are you a caring dentist who finds it hard to accept when a patient is beyond your help? In this episode, Dr. Don Barden, a scholar of economics and human behavior, candidly talks about a critical failure, one that many dentists might relate to: assuming you can help everyone. Sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience, Dr. Barden shows the dangers of this mindset and explains the importance of recognizing that patients, and indeed anyone, can only be truly helped when they are willing to h...

How did a Colorado dental group turn technology disaster into a growth catalyst? This episode takes us behind the scenes of a bold, full-scale transition at a seven-location pediatric dental group: moving from server-based Open Dental to the cloud-powered Dentrix Ascend. Nicole Hartshorn, COO and regional manager, shares how scaling demands seeing every location not as isolated outposts, but as parts of a truly unified business, and what happens to patient experience when operational hiccups ri...

Are you scared of going against what's popular or accepted in dentistry, especially when it hits your patient base hard? In this episode, Dr. Delaney Spaulding, the fearless owner of Ross Bridge Dentistry, underscores the value of courageous decision-making through her own story. Dr. Spaulding moves from a terrifying plunge into an out-of-network practice model that losses half of her patient base, to learning to navigate pushbacks, tough conversations, and an unforeseen leadership refurbishmen...

What does it feel like to jump off the cliff of comfort and control, building your dream dental practice from the ground up before the first patient ever walks in? In this candid conversation, Dr. Ryan Le and Dr. Tran Nguyen open up about the exhilarating and anxiety-filled final days before launching Lakeview Dental, their new practice in Horizon West, Florida. After three long years of planning, delays, and relentless detail work, the couple shares what it’s really like behind the scenes: how...

What does a million-dollar mistake in dentistry look like? Dr. Nathan Coughlin reveals the hard lessons learned from choosing the wrong business partners (a decision that cost him over a million dollars and countless sleepless nights.) Despite the significant financial strain and emotional toll, Dr. Coughlin has transformed this setback into invaluable wisdom about the importance of vetting partners, clarifying partnership agreements, and ensuring a clear exit strategy. Tune in to learn the pra...

What if the biggest threat to your implant outcomes isn’t technical, but the urge to treat your next patient? In this episode, Dr. Ivan Chicchon, founder of Implant Ninja, flips the script on implant success by showing that mastery starts with mindset, not just motor skills. He reveals that the most dangerous enemy in implant dentistry is the rush. When clinicians try to wedge implants into the usual high-pace dental schedule, judgment falters and patient care suffers. Drawing on years of clini...

Can detaching your worth from your title pave the way for better leadership? In this episode of Fail Forward, Lorie Streeter dives into a pivotal crisis (the closure of an enterprise she nurtured for nearly 20 years) and how this seeming failure propelled her towards purposeful leadership. Listen in to understand how separating her worth from her role sparked audience-resonating authenticity and emboldened her to redefine her dental leadership and write her story on her own terms. Don’t miss th...

What if the real obstacle to growing your practice isn’t getting more calls, but what happens after the phone rings? In this episode, Dr. Len Tau unpacks the step-by-step system any dentist can use to turn a $500,000 practice into a $1 million powerhouse in just 12 months (without breaking the bank on marketing.) He dispels the biggest myth in dentistry: that growth is out of reach with limited resources, revealing that most offices are held back by overlooked “leaks” and conversion gaps, not a...

Stepping into dental practice leadership can be overwhelming, especially when you don't see yourself as a born leader. Come along as Dr. Eric Block recounts his journey from struggling with leadership and practice management to becoming an efficient leader, all by developing comprehensive standard operating procedures. By documenting every process, from clinical setups to insurance claims, Dr. Block reduced his practice's stress levels, improved training efforts, and even crafted his own produc...

Who you hire in your first year will shape your dental startup for years to come. Are you choosing team members that truly click? In this episode, Dr. Kelsi Lewis of Glow Dental Co. opens up about the real challenges and rewards of founding an intentional, community-focused dental practice while balancing dentistry, business ownership, and motherhood. She shares honest insights on her current stress points, switching marketing companies, hiring for fit over resume, and doing it all without an o...

Have you ever felt devastated when someone beat you to a brilliant idea? In this episode of Fail Forward, David Jenyns talks about his venture of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) wood sale and how it got hijacked by a stranger who went on to become a close friend. While you unwind the twist and turns in his story, you'll realize how acting quickly on your ideas can prevent others from beating you to the punch. This episode provides concrete proof that it's not about who came up with the idea ...

Can you still win patient loyalty when you walk away from insurance contracts? Dr. Parth Kansagra did just that, launching a premium-priced, insurance-free dental practice in Orange County against all conventional wisdom. Dr. Kansagra shares why he walked away from burnout and chose the hard road of building a practice on his own terms, leaning on his MBA skills, strong patient communication, and a vision for comprehensive patient care. He unpacks the pivotal moment that inspired him to drop i...

What would you do if your high-performing practice was flooded and couldn't operate? Dr. Sonny Spera faced exactly this in 2006 when a disastrous flood wiped out one of his three dental offices. Amid the chaos, Dr. Spera showed exemplary leadership by ensuring no team member lost hours and every patient received their care. The key? Pioneering solutions, resilience, and a shared commitment to their dental family. Dive into this episode to discover how, even when catastrophe strikes your practic...

Can you protect both your marriage and your margins while building a dental practice from scratch? In this episode, Eva Baughman of Clearwater Dentistry in Greeley, Colorado, shares the behind-the-scenes story of launching a practice with her husband just before the pandemic hit and how she transitioned from a non-dental background to becoming the financial strategist their office needed. Eva unpacks the path her husband took from serving as a military dentist in Germany to stepping into owners...

Could you be mistaking tolerance for compassion as a practice owner? In this Fail Forward episode, Dr. Adrian Cummins from Cummins Dental Group shares a critical setback he experienced in his practice due to a lack of firm boundaries and leadership clarity. Listen as he illuminates how tolerating substandard performances led to not just revenue loss, but a depletion of peace and time, which act as the backbone of every flourishing practice. He shows how he turned confrontations into clarity, cr...