Episodes

The Making Of Smile & Co., The Art of the Yes Part 2: Presenting Treatment, the Buying Equation, and the SMILE Framework Ashley and Collin pick up the communication series with the second half of Ashley’s team presentation. This time it’s about what happens once the patient is in the chair: how to present treatment, what a patient is calculating while you talk, and a five-step framework for case presentation. What You’ll Hear in This Episode: The Psychology of Saying Yes Ashley shares the stor...

Wellness Starts With We: A Message to Our Profession About Mental Health in Dentistry If you’re in a dark place right now, or having thoughts of suicide, please pause this episode and call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. This episode is heavy. If you’re driving, you may want to save it for later. Why Ashley Is Sharing This Now In the last three weeks, our profession lost two dentists to suicide. Ashley chose not to name them out of respect for their families, and she couldn’t...

Dental Startup Ask Me Anything: Insurance, Virtual Assistants, Staffing, and Build Regrets Ashley and Collin work through questions from The Making Of community, then get into the build regrets Ashley would fix in her Folsom and Roseville offices. What You’ll Hear in This Episode: Learning Dental Insurance How did Ashley learn insurance, and where can you start if you’re still figuring it out? Virtual Assistants Are virtual assistants worth it for a dental practice? Ashley shares what Smile...

Dr. Nate Jeal and Dr. Bao-Tran Nguyen have opened seven dental practices, and on their newest build, the only original hire still on the team after 13 months is their AI agent, Sally. In this episode, Ashley talks with them about designing The Smile Formula after six previous practices, why they make team decisions faster now, and how Sally went from answering after-hours calls to texting new leads and verifying insurance. Nate also shares a simple formula for calculating what every missed call ...

What's Happening Behind the Scenes: A Life Update from Ashley and Collin Ashley and Collin skip the business talk for a catch-up on what life has looked like behind the podcast lately, from Ashley's return to full-time dentistry to the habits both of them are using to find balance after long days at the office. What You'll Hear in This Episode: Back at Smile & Co. Ashley is working four days a week after 10 months away, catching up on the schedule, and feeling it in her back and neck. Wh...

Moving the Goalpost: Ashley's Talk at the Dentist Money Summit Ashley shares the talk she gave at Dentist Advisors' Dentist Money Summit. The team asked for a talk on having your business under control and not moving the goalpost. She gave the opposite one, and this is it. Recorded live, so you'll hear her reference slides you can't see. What You'll Hear in This Episode: How the Talk Almost Didn't Happen Ryan Isaac invited Ashley to speak after they recorded a podcast together. She drafted a...

The Making Of Smile & Co. — The Art of the Yes: Communication, Selling, and Reading the Room Ashley and Collin catch up after a busy stretch away from recording, starting with Smile & Co.'s first full team meeting in a long time. What follows is a deep dive into the communication framework Ashley built and taught to the whole team, why "selling" isn't a dirty word in dentistry, and how to read a patient before you ever sit them in the chair. What You'll Hear in This Episode: A Four an...

The Making Of North Star Implants & Periodontics with Dr. Paula Cohen Schlemmer Dr. Paula Cohen, a periodontist opening North Star Implants and Periodontics just outside Dallas, joins Ashley to talk about the winding road from dental school to specialty practice, and the first steps of building her own office from scratch. What You'll Hear in This Episode: From General Dentist to Periodontist Paula's path through a general residency in San Antonio, several years of associate and corporat...

Ashley shares a personal update recorded on a quiet Sunday evening, no clinical talk, just life. What's In This Episode: Brian finished radiation and is back at work. His follow-up PET scan came back with a possible cancer recurrence scare that lasted over a week of waiting. Ashley shares the toll that wait took on her, a girls' weekend in Napa, a hard conversation with Brian mid-run, and the relief when his results came back normal. She talks openly about anxiety, faith, and leaning on commu...

Back Where It Started: Ashley Reunites with Michael Arias of The Dental Marketer Before Smile & Co. existed, before The Making Of existed, there was Michael Arias. He was the first person to ever interview Ashley about her plans to open a dental practice, recorded when Folsom was still just an idea and a construction timeline. That conversation, and Ashley's decision to keep documenting the build in public, is what became The Making Of. Ashley sits back down with Michael on his show, Th...

The Making Of Smile & Co. #2 — Episode SEVEN: Supply Ordering, Storage, and Building the Buzz Dr. Ashley Joves and co-host Collin Al-Samarrie sit down in person to break down how supply ordering, storage, and pre-opening marketing looked different the second time around, from Folsom's early over-ordering mistakes to the systems built into Roseville from day one. What You'll Hear in This Episode: Folsom vs. Roseville: Ordering Then and Now Why Ashley's first round of ordering in Folsom fo...

The Making Of Evelina Smiles - SEVEN One Month In: What Actually Happens When the Doors Open Ashley catches up with Dr. Rich Constantine for his first update since Evelina Smiles saw its first patient. Real numbers from opening week, the 90-minute new patient experience, a few good MacGyver moments, and the one thing Rich would do differently with his loan allowance. What You'll Hear in This Episode: Opening Week, By the Numbers First patient seen July 22nd. One patient on day one, fiv...

Michelin Star Moves: The Smile Design Process Dr. Ashley Joves sits down with co-host Collin Al-Samarrie to walk through how Smile & Co. approaches cosmetic cases, from the first consult to the sneak peek reveal, and why she built this into her practice in the first place. Where It Started Ashley's interest in aesthetics began in dental school as part of NYU's honors aesthetics program, taught in part by a then up-and-coming Dr. Michael Apa. She later completed a highly competitive three-...

The Making Of | Brian Is Back: A Life Update From The Centurion Lounge In this episode Ashley and Brian record from the Centurion Lounge in Phoenix while waiting for a delayed flight home from a conference in Scottsdale. It is the first time Brian has been on the podcast in months and they cover a lot of ground together. From completing radiation to returning to work part time to the big questions this past year has forced both of them to sit with. What You'll Hear In This Episode: Brian's He...

The Making Of Smile & Co. #2 — Episode SIX: The Tech Behind The Practice In this episode Ashley and Collin get into all the technology behind Smile & Co. #2. From practice management software to in house milling, scanners, 3D printing, and the music that patients always comment on. This one is packed with real world insight for any startup doc trying to figure out what technology is actually worth investing in and when. What You'll Hear In This Episode: Practice Management Software A...

The Making Of Smile & Co. #2 — Episode 5: Operatories, Chairs, and Everything In Between In this episode Ashley and Collin get into the equipment decisions behind Smile & Co. #2. From how many ops are plumbed versus equipped to why Ashley switched from Sirona to A-dec, this one is packed with real world advice for any startup doc trying to figure out where to spend and where to save. What You'll Hear In This Episode: The Operatory Layout Smile & Co. #2 is plumbed for nine operato...

In this episode Ashley and Collin dive into the design details behind Smile Design Studio in Roseville. From the Pinterest board that started it all to the $200,000 lighting package that got vetoed, the $45,000 fireplace that never happened, and the cosmetic wing that patients cannot stop raving about. What You'll Hear In This Episode: The Design Vision If Tom Ford met dentistry, what would that look like? Ashley shares the Pinterest board of boutique hotels, restaurants, and resorts that inspi...

The Making Of Evelina Smiles - SIX Delays, Profit Sharing, and the Week Before Everything Changes In this episode Ashley sits down with Dr. Rich Constantine for a look at what the final stretch before a soft opening actually feels like. Setbacks, systems, 300 patients on a priority list, and the first peek at how Rich thinks about rewarding his team. What You'll Hear in This Episode: The Weeks Leading Up to Opening Supplies delayed by the Fourth of July holiday. Design Ergonomics trainer fle...

Building Ashley's Second Smile & Co. Office: Floor Plans, Architects, and Unexpected Surprises In this episode, Ashley and Collin go behind the scenes of building Ashley's second Smile & Co. office, diving into the two-year construction timeline and the decisions that shaped the space from day one. Ashley opens up about drawing her own floor plan on taped-together printer paper, why she brought on a dental-specific architect for this build (unlike her first location), and the surprisi...

Michelin Star Moves: The Morning Huddle That Changes Everything In this episode Ashley and Collin break down the morning huddle that has become a non negotiable part of how Smile and Co. runs every single day. From starting with gratitude to identifying VIP patients, this quick episode is full of tactical takeaways you can implement in your own practice starting tomorrow morning. What You'll Hear In This Episode: Starting With Gratitude Every huddle begins with each team member sharing somet...

The Making Of Evelina Smiles | Front Desk, Floors, and Soft Opening Strategy with Dr. Rich Constantine In this episode Ashley catches up with Dr. Rich Constantine after a few weeks away and gets a full update on everything happening at Evelina Smiles. From hiring the front office team to finally solving the herringbone flooring saga, to insurance decisions and the philosophy that is shaping how Rich is building his team this time around, this episode is packed with real, in the moment startup...

The Making Of Evelina Smiles | Branding, Marketing, and Building Something That Lasts with Josh Scott of Studio 8E8 In this episode Ashley sits down with Dr. Rich Constantine and Josh Scott, founder of Studio 8E8. They talk about everything from the story behind the Evelina Smiles name and logo to ad spend strategy, grand opening timing, and what actually makes a startup marketing campaign work, this one is packed with real talk from people who have been through it all. What You'll Hear In This...

How To Build A Team That Actually Fits Your Culture In this episode Ashley and Collin sit down for a quick but packed conversation on one of the most important and most overlooked parts of building a dental practice. Hiring. Ashley has spent eight years building the culture at Smile and Co. and she shares everything she has learned along the way. From personality tests to working interviews, from the questions she asks that nobody else does, to the exact words she uses when it is time to let som...

Technology, Equipment, and the Nuts and Bolts of Building Evelina Smiles In this episode Ashley sits down with Dr. Rich Constantine for a deep dive into every system, tool, and piece of equipment going into Evelina Smiles before the doors open. The decisions nobody tells you about until you are already making them. What You'll Hear in This Episode: 05:00 – Practice Management Software Cloud-based vs server-based and why Rich made the choice he did. What to look for in a startup package. Why t...