Hello everyone. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to the Just Do It podcast. I'm so happy I have a, new friend and a wonderful guest for you today, miss Tiffany Wuebben. that's such a pretty name and it's so nice to see you.
Anne: I just love being in your company. We met a while back and. It's just been so fun. We laugh that we're, sisters of different mothers. So it's pretty cool. It's pretty cool.
Tiffany: Amazing. And thank you so much. And do has been like a warm hug from the beginning.
And that's from you. thank you so much for the community and thank you so much for all that you're doing out there. And. Just really elevating everyone and always so positive and just operating with so much joy. I appreciate you and thank you for having me on today.
Anne: It is my pleasure.
And we'll spread some hugs around. But before we get started, let me tell our listeners a little bit about you as the founder and CEO of the Hygienepreneur, Tiffany Wuebben. RDH is a published author and speaker. She's dedicated to serving the dental community in a very big way. Tiffany's influence empowers the dental team to prepare with an ownership attitude, which leads to better clinical outcomes, higher case acceptance, and more productivity for the practice.
Her book, Hygienepreneur, The Dental Hygienist's Guide to Achieving Career Success and Personal Transformation. Outlines 25 key lessons for becoming the ultimate dental hygienist. One who provides the highest level of patient care, contributes significantly to practice revenue, and gains new insights into mastering their destiny.
Welcome Tiffany, here we go.
Tiffany: Thank you so much.
Anne: Oh my God. It's so fun because we're both hygienists. I, of course, I've been doing it longer than you and I retired after 46 years. And when I read your bio, it just kind of gives me chills. It's like, where were you when I was, doing hygiene and then the trenches and young and wondering what the heck did I get myself into and how to make my career just really soar.
I had a great career in hygiene. But I attribute a lot of that to stepping out of the op and not necessarily in the op, even though I loved the clinical side of it, the profession, the patients the docs that I worked for. But you're so passionate about serving the dental community.
Where does that come from?
Tiffany: You know, As a single mother for 20 years and You know, I started in practice management and was really married to the practice because as an office manager, we couldn't leave. We couldn't have all of those, little bit of freedoms to get out. We were check in, check out the last patient and stay until it's, all done.
And so I was struggling single parent doing everything on my own. And when I decided to go to hygiene school and I got that license, it was like a license for freedom. And of course we work. really hard as hygienists. We are super providers and, that's where the cover of the book comes from.
about hygienists really elevating the practice in a big way. And as a practice manager, I saw that in our hygienists. I saw that, drive and that passion to serve the patient and the practice. And it always really impressed me. And so I had always known how to build a practice from the front.
When I got into the operatory, I discovered very quickly how I could build a practice from my little operatory and do it in a way that I serve generations of patients and I gain the lifetime patient and build that practice through the power of hygiene. And it was just. it saved me. It was exciting.
I felt renewed and boy, it was just wonderful.
Anne: And here you are. Well, First of all, kudos to you. You've got two kids. were you still working and then going to school at night? How did that all work? And did you have to take a little bit of a leave, I guess, to do your hygiene education?
Tiffany: So my doctor, I was so thankful.
He let me still be involved with the practice on Fridays. So we had hygiene school Monday through Thursday. And then when we got into that first quarter, the directors of the hygiene school were like, you're going to need to quit. And I said, I can't afford it. I've got a house payment. I have two small children.
It's not like I have. You know, A lot of financial support or anything. I was just doing my student loan thing, Borrowing money and saying, Oh, I guess I'll be able to pay it back somehow. And, of course, when I graduated. I was the first one working out of my class.
got my license at two in the morning. It posted and I was working at 7 45 at a practice that same morning because I had to work. And wow. So that drive and that passion was really to take care of my family to take care of my Children and. I was so excited that with that hygiene license, I was able to provide for my children, work hard, make a nice living, and then also take time off for their baseball and softball games and volunteering at their school hygiene allowed me to do all of that.
So that's why I have so much love for the dental industry for hygiene and, really making sure that our community is served because. for years. It's been serving me.
Anne: Okay. So when you the doctor that you were the office manager for? Dr. Nash.
Oh, Dr. Nash
Tiffany: Temecula, California. Oh, and Guy Nash. And so I did all my prereqs at night and, you know, took care of his practice and I would, take care of that last patient. And then Hustle down to San Diego to whatever community college. I actually went to three community colleges at night and on weekends and did some online courses to get the prereqs.
Anne: Wow.
Tiffany: And so that took me a while cause I had to work full time and then I had the children full time. and then when that got done, my sister had graduated before me from hygiene school and she said, This is the best. It's a fast track system. You can get in, get yourself done. And my whole goal was to get out and work so I could provide for my kids, you know, myself and my children.
And so I got in thankfully the first time and I loved it. It was the hardest thing I ever did. It's
always joke. I said, I'd rather go through a divorce again than hygiene school.
That's why we
Anne: say women in dentistry are so smart. You cannot get through hygiene or dental school without being smart, organized and executing the job at hand.
And the same thing with assistants and office managers, as you know, I don't know which is harder though, hygiene or office managing. I mean, I get kudos out to the office manager who the first one there and the last one to leave every day. Right?
Tiffany: Yeah. Yeah. And. When we see eight to 10 patients a day, they see like 90.
So I just love our front office providers. I say all of us are dental providers, you know, especially when I'm out there in training offices and things, I'm like, it takes all of us. We're a team. We're all dental providers and we have to really be thankful for our front office team, because. Gosh, we see our patients, but then they're answering the phone, checking in and out and handling so many, like
Anne: so many things and they could keep it all right here.
And, you know, I mean, that's such a neat thing that you've had that experience and then hygiene and most hygienists that have gone through office manager first or assisting have a great love for the team there's one thing to know the team is another thing to be in the trenches with the team and, you know, to really know.
And I think that gives you a. even a broader, scope of what it takes to have a great practice and be profitable. I think that's super for your consulting, while I was reading the article, and so if you're listening to this I hope that you will read the article that is coming out in our spring edition of do life that Tiffany wrote for us.
And. you subbed in like a hundred offices. tell me about that. Cause that's going to lay the foundation for your book.
Tiffany: in order for me to really write a good book that is packed with not just one office experience, I said, I had to temp and really gain the knowledge, the good things, and maybe see the not so good things in our industry in many different demographics, many different types of practices owned by male, female dentist groups.
You know, Older demographic patients, peds, all of that. And so it was over 100 offices. And at first my doctor, he was like what are you doing? You know, You're already working three 11s. You know, I would work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays and I say, yeah, but I need to do this. And then he was like, you know what?
You're right. Brilliant. Good job. And so there's a lot of things in my book where I'm like, this was the best pearl that I found in practice. And I would bring it back to our office and say, we've got to be doing this. Or I would notice maybe that the doctor would steamroll me when I was trying to do a handoff.
And I'm like, oh, that wasn't good. Okay, and I would see that in a lot of different practices and it was just because the doctor didn't know. It wasn't that he was trying to do that. It was just, He hadn't been trained. but it's interesting how many doctors sat back and said, okay, what are you doing here?
Cause you're asking a lot of different questions that we normally don't, get I would say, oh, do you have a periodontal protocol that you'd like to present to me as your temp? And they'd say, wait, what? And some would say, don't even perio chart. You're our guest hygienist.
You don't have to do that. Don't worry. And I'm like, what? No, we have to serve the patient, right? We've got to do that. So that's where the content came from. And my experiences in my practice, my practice management experiences way in the past, and then also temping and all those practices.
Anne: My gosh, that is loaded with lot of nuggets in there then because just speak so much to your character though Tiffany because I mean, this is just the story. The threat is that no matter what. You do what it takes to get the job done. when they say, you know, everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.
You just actually went ahead and did it because that is a richness that you can provide for everyone. I love the book. It's so fun. It's not only great nuggets and all that, but your personality is in there and the cover and all that good stuff. One of the things in your bio too, I want to go back and I want to touch on you.
talked about, ownership attitude. Tell me a little bit about that. Cause I always took ownership when I worked in a dental practice.
Tiffany: So I don't know, and maybe you could agree with me on this, but It might be the way we were raised. I'm not sure. I think I did have that entrepreneurial, example from my parents a little bit, but they always said never do anything half job.
and they always took an owner. Attitude in any job that they did at whatever it was. And so I think because I saw that that just became ingrained in me that we don't do half work. operate with integrity. And yes, we act like we own that business because it matters. It's important.
You know, and I see that in you too. when we can act like we own something even before we own it, but we act like we own it. You see the passion, you work harder to make sure it succeeds. Your patients are going to have a better experience because you're acting like you're the one writing the checks.
to pay for that laser. So you're going to make sure, for example, that that laser is really well taken care of and put away correctly. And
Anne: used more than once, a year. Right. I mean, You know what also strikes me about that is like the dentist you said earlier, they need to be trained.
I think some of the docs I work for weren't all that happy that I took so much ownership that is the beauty of being in dental hygiene and having our schedule. really run our schedule and we run a business within the, practice. And I think You want everyone in the office to take ownership for sure. But I think it's really pertinent for a dental hygienist to take ownership in what she's doing and how she is building the practice and that everybody wins. that's culture. That's the culture that you provide.
I know when you're going in
Tiffany: we train consulting. Yes, we train and we support hygienists into building thriving hygiene practices within a practice. So just to your point, it's a business within the business. And actually that business, that hygiene practice within the practice elevates the overall practice and really carries it home.
75 percent of all diagnostics are out of the hygiene, the hygiene and We see the generations of families, the children, grandchildren, and then some, 46 years and for you, I'm practicing since 2005. And so we saw generations, we had those life patients, those lifers, and They don't come back unless they like their hygienist, right?
Anne: Well,
And I think that it's true the fact that that's what I really miss the most. I think is the people, just the different stories. I always think hygienists are so smart because look at all the conversations we've had about every person in every walk of life.
Tiffany: Every gender, every age. All of that. We got to know them and, just through our conversations, you know, I think we gained a great education. love that. You're also going to be doing another book, coming out. It's going to follow up with the hygiene preneur, and that's going to be coming out next year I just keep getting inspired and I keep writing. And so, you know, it's, interesting when you're creating something, you're a very creative person. And so you kind of don't want to give it up because you're still creating. And so I just figure when. I feel good about it.
And when my husband, John says, okay, you're done. Give it up. Then we'll give it up. And then it'll get
Anne: published. Well, That's a great way to go because honestly what you're doing to, so instead of working in the offices and hygiene, you're actually consulting and working in the practices. So then every time you go to a new practice, you're getting nuggets, things that, that some things are working and some things aren't working and you're going to get some, great tips and tricks, for everybody going along.
Now I know you and John, we met you guys at I met John at Savannah. nachos and
Tiffany: and nachos. Yeah.
rocket conference.
Anne: It was a beautiful conference and they were such generous host.
but then you told me about some kind of a barn you're building. And so you're a San Diego, California girl, you get married I hear that you're celebrating an anniversary coming up like tomorrow.
But tell me how that journey has gone a little bit about what your goal is the future of, that and how that's going to blend into Hygienepreneur.
Tiffany: So it's interesting as I've developed into being a speaker, going out and sharing all about the book and all of the strategies to really be successful and build a wonderful thriving hygiene department That isn't so stressful because that's the big thing is I saw too many of my friends being stressed and dentist being stressed.
And so when I go out and speak on all of these topics, I'm seeing the meetings that are happening so I got a little inspired, and I said to my new husband, because we've only been married now two years, I said, John, you know, what do you think about us, having our own event center and doing our own thing?
And he was like, absolutely, let's do it. And so we started looking for property in San Diego to do this. And. We just found that it would be too difficult it's just harder to do things in California. And so I have family in Tennessee and we've been visiting for six years, every couple of months, my mom and my sister, they love it in Tennessee.
And. We grew to love it and the community, all the people. yeah, we bought almost 17 acres in the country, right outside of Nashville. The barn is almost finished. So we're going to have a barn event center and we're going to have hygiene hoedowns and dental dude, ranch retreats, and two little mini Highland cows will be on the property and some horses and.
Hoping to give people a really nice experience just to, yes, have action steps on Monday after they come to the meetings and really learn some valuable tips, but also to give them a place to relax and to really connect with others and listen to some great music, have some good barbecue and just,
you know,
Anne: it fun,
What are a couple of tips? If you're, um, hygienist here and you're listening to this. what would you say to a hygienist that's just embarking on their career? What should they be looking for, what on their career path?
Tiffany: Yeah, and I get that question all the time.
I speak at hygiene schools, to the classes that are just going to be graduating. So the senior class, and a lot of them will come up to me and say, Yes, I want to be a hygienist, but I think I might want to branch out to other areas. And I say, well, you just think about what your passions are, you know, and then you can just ask people around you to mentor and to help.
and then let the community elevate you because that's what happened to me. I found a passion in making sure that providers were operating with less stress. And I wanted the triple winning scenario to happen for, you know, the practice and the patient. And I wanted as a hygienist who, was a single mother forever.
I wanted my hygiene friends to do well financially, emotionally. That's where my drive was you know, to really incorporate systems and operations and have a consulting company. But sometimes I'll sit back and brainstorm with people and say, okay well, where's your passion lie? How were you raised?
How are you influenced? You know, Who are your influencers? Who do you gravitate towards? everybody's different. But there's a place for all of us in all these different areas. The dental industry is huge. Sales, you can go into, of course, speaking on topics,
Anne: consulting, Yes. It's really, the sky's the limit. And I think that's part of what your book does. It gives you like hope that this is not just a flash in the pan career. This is a long lasting career that you can have and you can be fulfilled and you have to look for those opportunities. Absolutely.
Just like we say with the dude, look for opportunities. That's principle number one that build on your strengths. What do you do well? And then look for those opportunities and then ask for help. And your community will help. The dental community is very generous and it's a relationship community.
So you just got to find people give, give, give first and ask second. And, it'll all come their way.
Tiffany: And just keep enhancing leadership and empowerment, keep enhancing to be you, you know, be unique. so I'll tell people, don't be afraid. you don't have to be like anybody else.
You can be yourself and you will be embraced. It's okay.
Anne: Yeah. And you know, I think the other thing that you just mentioned, I want to just touch on, there is something about, going to meetings. Finding your community, finding your tribe, you know, that's the thing about with do you like we're here for you, you know, and there's all like minded people here.
So find that community that really helps lift you up and gives you an opportunity to lift. Your neighbor up or your sister up or your, you know, we love the men too. Cause I love the dude ranch. Cause you know, we have dudes. I think I don't know what John's number is. I'm going to ask him when I see him, because uh, we have dudes, but all the guys are dudes. Cause everybody wants to be part of the Duke community. I'm like, you guys, it's you're a dude. So I asked John, when you talked to him tonight, what his number is. And the dude Arena. We're up to one Oh three.
I think so. He's somewhere probably around, I think when I met him, he's probably around 80 something. So see what he says,
Tiffany: we go to these meetings, we like to have fun and John is a great dancer and it's kind of now been expected of us when we go to these meetings, they're like, you're going to dance, right?
And Oh, okay. We're doing that. You know? Oh my
Anne: gosh.
what's your best dance?
Tiffany: John leads because he's the dancer and his father is a professional ballroom dancer. His brother is Broadway dancer, his other brother is hip hop and John is a mix.
Anne: Wow.
Tiffany: he can dance, just anything.
Anne: the other thing, you must be a very good follower because I am the worst. Like I want to dance with John. And the next time I see him, see if I can follow him. Cause usually I take over the lead and it's disastrous.
So I love that. We'll see how
Tiffany: dances with so many ladies. They'll go, can I dance with them? I'm like go, you know? and so, yeah, he spins them all over. I go, don't you throw her on the floor. Be careful. She's got heels on. Oh my God. Yeah.
Anne: You guys just go dancing tomorrow night when you celebrate your, anniversary and have the best time.
And Tiffany, How do we get in touch with you after this podcast?
Tiffany: So my email is tiffanyatthehygienepreneur. com, but the hygienepreneur. com website, my phone numbers on there, everything. And I'm just loving this and I just really appreciate you and.
The time and, the nice chat. It's always so wonderful talking to
Anne: You make it fun. you're easy to talk to. And I think we did pretty well today. We had a great conversation and I can't wait to see you and follow your career as the hygiene Preneur, which you really are, and you're making a difference in this world.
So thank you Tiffany, for being with me today. Thank you, Ann. Welcome. I love you. Hugs. I love you. Hugs, hugs, Hugs. Virtual hugs. And remember, if you're listening to us, the most important thing for you to do is keep doing you. Thanks Tiffany. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'll see you all next time.
Bye bye.
