Anne: Hi everybody. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to the Just DeW It podcast. I'm so happy that you're here. I have a special guest today. She's a good friend. And colleague as matter of fact, but let me tell you a little bit about her before I introduce her to you. With over 15 years of experience in the dental industry, Laura Johnston is the visionary behind MyDentalSOP, a pioneering software solution Designed to streamline employee onboarding and cross training in dental practices.
Laura's journey in the dental field has been extensive and varied, encompassing roles such as dental coach, office manager, and insurance specialist for both dental anesthesia and general dental practices. Please help me welcome my good friend, Laura Johnston.
Laura: Hi,
Anne: Laura.
Laura: Oh, thank you for having me. It is my pleasure to be here with you.
And you were one of the very first people that I met when I came back into the dental space. it has been just absolutely lovely. Learning from you and being a part of the do community and I'm so excited for the retreat this fall.
Anne: Well, We're excited to have you and we're going to have your daughter here also, which is so cool.
And I met, her in, where were we? Aruba on the beach, which we had so much fun. and of course we know Travis from, was that St. Thomas, I think back in the day.
Laura: Yeah. St. Thomas. Yeah.
Anne: Drug him along. And he's like, you went to back to Aruba, he's like, Hey, what about me?
What about me? I want to go.
Laura: Pretty bad. Oh my gosh,
Anne: when I first met you I was having a coffee at the house and it was a do meetup. I didn't, I know you before that though.
I feel like we had met before. I don't
Laura: think so. I literally signed up in your driveway for do, I was with Teresa Shepard,
Yeah. I had just moved to the East coast and There was another ADMC thing happening also, and you were having the meetup because there were so many do ladies in town.
And so, yeah, it was so fantastic. I got to come right to your home, give you hugs right from the get go, signed up in your driveway to become a do.
Anne: Thank you so much. That wasn't a prerequisite for the lunch, but that's just honorable. Thank you so much for that. That was super cool.
Laura: It was just a pleasure.
Like Teresa was telling me all about it. I'm like, I can't go in there to her luncheon without being a do like, I wanted you to know that I was a I'm excited about what you're doing. So it was really
Anne: cool. Well, I'm so glad. I mean, That's one thing about do a lot of times we've grown so organically that it's, like when they find us, it's like, where have you been all my life?
So if you're a do out there, invite your friends and so tell me then that was when you just first started my dental SOP. Was that the name of your company back then?
Laura: No, actually, it was s three dental growth. It was a coaching and consulting company. I was new to being an entrepreneur.
I come from entrepreneurial blood. My dad was a mean, The amount of businesses my dad started and enjoyed in all different kinds of industries. But I had never really dipped my toe into it. And so finding do at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey was just really powerful for me seeing other ladies, go through the process and learning from them and, sharing tips and tricks, but also, networking with them.
collapsed time for me a bit, right? Because otherwise, if I had to do that on my own it would have been a lot more bumping and grinding. And so I'm grateful for just, being around other entrepreneurs in a big way.
Anne: Yeah,
Laura: really cool stuff, too, by the way. So yeah, I was doing coaching and consulting.
like you mentioned, I'd been in the dental space for goodness many, many years I married into it a long time ago, married to it for 23 years. My was been I learned that word and at MC but my husband, you know, he's a dental anesthesiologist I've worked with a lot of different types of companies and one different hats.
think when I left. That, you know, marriage, I kind of wanted to step outside of the dental space, right? Like, okay. Yeah. And so I went into leadership training and team development, because that was always something that even when I was in the dental industry, it was serious need. Like There was a lot of leadership opportunities and just, creating a more cohesive team was something that was really important to me.
And so that's kind of, it morphed, you know, into my transition at this point in my life as an entrepreneur was just wanting to go out on my own find and create a space for that. And then I came back into the dental industry just because it was a language I knew I understood the pains, right?
Yeah. I just realized that when I would leave their office with all these great things that I brought in the coaching and consulting space really, how did I leave it behind in a Google Drive, they would have their SOPs in a binder things like that.
And so that was really how my demo SOP came to be was just recognizing that when I left an office, I felt like I was leaving them kind of undone.
Anne: Yeah, it's like,
Laura: bye bye. Good luck, everybody. Yeah, we've done other stuff. Have fun. As soon as somebody leaves the office and they have to hire a new person, they're right back where they were.
Whether it's dental practices or consultants this is a solution that helps them help their client better. And it for sure helps the dental practice and office managers to onboard and train and have a hub for all of these things that Are the keys to running a successful dental practice.
Anne: Yeah, that makes so much sense.
Because there's a revolving door now in dentistry, right?
So if you don't have a place to go to find your SOPs It is your Standard operating procedures. Thank you. Thank you. Standard operating procedures. If you don't have a place, usually it's in like five binders or like in one operatory, there's one part of it and another operatory, there's another part of it.
it's so unorganized and you really are leaving them with their hands tied behind their back, especially office managers. So this is like a genius idea for a company and you like a normal entrepreneur or an excellent entrepreneur, I should say. Saw a problem. And figured out how to solve it. And now you're building your business, which is really cool.
Laura: Yes. And I'm having so much fun. you know, One of the things that we started talking about before we started recording was the scalability part, right? So I know a lot of the ladies in do are doing it, you know, they're kind of a one man band wearing so many hats. And we brought on a team really before we could afford it.
We've been bootstrapping this thing and, I guess it started really in May. We hired Joe in May and it was just wonderful to have the support of a fantastic team. So now we have five team members. Alison, as you mentioned, you met her we'll probably bring Brianna to the retreat as well.
She's our new customer success person and. We just really had to jump in with both feet and it's scary, right? It's scary to go, all right. we're all in and, really don't have the revenue to support it yet. And so it was really exciting to get our team in place and then see the momentum that came from having.
That team in place. So I'm glad I'm not wearing all those hats anymore. I love just being the high level CEO person and have a really great team to take care of our clients and You know, we're still in the scary phase, but it's, it's exciting.
Anne: That's cool. But I know, first of all, so Joe is one of the top dudes and, dudes are men that support women in dentistry.
So I, gave him his number a long time ago. And he's so sweet. He knows what his number is. I can't remember. It's 30 something. I can't remember what it is. I
Laura: think it's like 37. all proud of that. He tells everybody,
Anne: well, He should be proud of that because we're up to one 42 or one 43 right now. So he's one of the early adopters to our organization.
But I mean, You have developed their team. And I love Alison. and she's your daughter. I mean, That's so cool. If you're listening, I mean, not everybody can work with their mother or their daughter, but she seemed to like, be happy as can be and very, very talented.
You could just see, you know, it's great to be able to give her this platform and carry the legacy on of your dad in a sense that you are the entrepreneur. And now your daughter is falling in. your footsteps as well. What positions just curious because a lot of us start in.
Yes, I was having heart problems in the beginning because I was trying to wear so many hats. And that's when you start your business you do have to bootstrap and do all those things. What was the first position you hired, Laura.
Laura: So for me the first position was an executive assistant right I hired a VA to help me do the things that I was doing.
He is fantastic. He knows our platform inside and out. his role has grown. He's been with me now for two years. He was with me when I was doing my coaching and consulting. So having somebody that you can just I guess hand off a plethora of. during that time I hired sales coach you know how hard it is to sell yourself? It's so
Anne: different.
Laura: So I hired a sales coach. hired a marketing coach. I hired all of these people to help me do these things. Oh my gosh. Honestly, I love that I did that because I need to know what I'm doing as I hire these people.
But I did invest a lot in myself to learn these things that I ultimately ended up just hiring somebody who knew how to do it. there might've been a little bit that I could have saved there.
Anne: Let me just stop you right there about first of all, the EA. So executive assistant, like Tari, they asked her on the coffee one day Tari, what do you do for Anne?
And Tari's response was anything that Anne doesn't want to do. And so we know through StrengthsFinders that I have other gifts. And she has other gifts, but together, like we make a great team. So super that you can hand off when you say hand off, it's really everything you don't want to do because it takes you away from being the visionary and the creative source of your company.
hired. Sadly, the truth is sometimes it's stuff that you do want to do, but you can't do it
all. That's true.
Laura: Recognizing that part of it too for sure the stuff I don't want to do, but then recognizing that I can't do it all. And there's some stuff that I was hanging on to that I shouldn't have been.
it's been a journey in that way just recognizing what my strengths are. As I could probably take sales coaching forever. I don't know that it would ever turn me into a sales person. And so bringing Joe on board, Actually, before Joe we did bring on Tom Brown, right?
Anne: Yes, I love Tom Brown.
Laura: So Tom has been involved in many dental software startups. And so I came to him as a friend and just said, I would love your advice. This is my idea. What do you think? And ultimately I ended up bringing him on as a growth advisor. that was a really powerful first step for me.
Anne: Yes. You're taking big steps. You had a, vision of where this could go because hiring before you've got any money. And I think that's another interesting thing, Laura, because I think, speaking for myself, it's be hard to let go of all that money. And you just want to shore it up hang on to some of it.
you just opened up the checkbook and said, okay, what do we need to grow this? And of course the other do ism is good. People find good people. And of course, Tom and Joe are both amazing and amazing at what they do. So again, kudos to you to have the humility, honestly, to say, I can't do it alone and I'm going to seek out some help.
So then you hired Joe and Joe came in and sales. he's awesome.
Laura: Yeah. He's a great salesperson. He also does our events. And, he started doing our events in May, actually DSI. And supercharge, went to a couple of supercharge, you know, he's doing ADMC.
And then he wants so badly to come to do. And I said, just because you're a dude doesn't mean you
Anne: No,
Laura: doesn't mean you get to come hang out with the dudes.
Anne: I know it. Those guys, they just want to be with us so much. I don't know. Maybe next year I'll do a dude thing the day before something. I mean, it's just because they're all such great guys.
We love hanging out with them too at the meetings. It's just like, keep saying you guys, this is just for women, but that's so cute. It makes me happy on that. But yeah, that's awesome that he's doing that. Cause he's a hugger. He's a very, engaging young man honest and all those things.
Laura: You And Tom as well, because getting the messaging out, like I have it all up in my brain. I know that it's a solution that offices need. Whenever we talk to anyone about it, and even though I'm not a great salesperson, whenever I talk to someone about it, they get super jazzed up about it because they know they need it.
I knew that there was a need. We did enough front end,
Anne: Reconnaissance, reconnaissance.
Laura: Exactly. So get the right feedback to know that there was a need and a desire for what we were trying to create. But then dialing in the messaging and Tom and Joe both helped in really refining our messaging so that people know what we're talking about, right?
It combines couple of different solutions, but then puts it in one place. And we're really the software. Solution. And sometimes I think people get a little bit confused that we're a content training platform. No, we are the hub for your customized standard operating procedures.
And so really refining that message and speaking about it clearly, that's a process. And anyone who's an entrepreneur knows that too it's, tough to get your messaging just right.
Anne: Yeah. And especially someone like me, I can't even get, standard operating procedures down but I digress.
so in other words, it's a hub. So, you have a very robust IT team then, that has developed this hub is it AI? Would you consider this AI or.
Laura: It's not AI. We use other third party AI to help our clients and ourselves. Everybody I think uses chat GPT a a little bit.
And so refining some of your messaging, like if you have a checklist. of say how you open your office during the day, you can plug that right into chat GPT and say, please create me a standard operating procedure around this. And it'll do that.
So it's not really about the content. There's so much content out there. Is that it's in 15 different places, whether it's on, your drive or you have stuff on YouTube, or you have all these different places, you can are resources for you. How do you bring that home and say, I'm hiring?
Everyone I know is hiring some position or another. So it's if you're hiring for a position, what does training them look like? And usually they don't know it other than sitting beside the office manager now who doesn't have time in the first place,
To onboard and train these new hires is just a, Nightmare.
It just brings on so much fear. So when people ask me, what was the impetus of, my dental SOP, essentially it was like getting of fear and frustration because you're afraid of losing key players and the frustration of hiring. And so it combines those into a lovely little place and even when you go to do.
So when I go to do. There's a channel that I can take notes right there and say, Oh my gosh, I learned this from so and so. we're going to implement this right now into our practice and you can share it with the key people right then and there. and update your SOPs right on the spot if you want it.
Anne: Boy, that sounds like it logical and Just so smart, what else strikes me is that first of all, I didn't realize this is exactly what you were doing. So it is really exciting, to hear where you put all that. so do you work with individual offices then and like what their SOPs are now, and then you show them how to get them in the hub and how to organize them and how to find them at any time in any place.
Yeah.
Laura: so the process for onboarding them is the first thing is what do you have and then we digitize organize and get it all uploaded for them because who has time for that. that's, our white glove services just making sure anything that they already have. Is put into the system.
Anne: And looks good, right? And does it look like it's written on a napkin?
Laura: Exactly. Okay. And it's branded to their organization, so that when their team opens it up, they know they're in the right place. once that happens, then we have just a ton of templates. So if they're missing something so they can go through our, our lookart menu and go, Oh, I don't have anything on this, this, this, this, and this, that goes into their system and then they can easily customize the template.
And so the onboarding process, we have offices that have sent us. Literally hundreds of documents that we have uploaded and they're inviting their team within 48 hours. So I'm proud of that. We have a really great team that has taken great care of our clients.
We work directly with practice owners, especially those who are scaling, get, you don't want to scale chaos. That's one of our taglines is you don't want to scale chaos. Getting it really, those SOPs really dialed in before you start the next thing, right? Yeah. You're a multi location already, just bringing some cohesion to how things are being done.
That, standard of care is, consistent across your brand. And
Anne: is just so smart because that's one of the first pieces you should have in place. And. Everybody knows that if you are trained well, onboarding is very important and because an empowered staff is a productive staff an empowered staff is going to feel the connection right away.
I mean, I have been in offices where the new person comes on board. We're supposed to, you know, be in our, bays doing what we're supposed to do. And, oh, you know, here are the instruments go. Try to figure out how to sterilize them or whatever.
Laura: Yeah, go do it. You said you had experience. Go do it.
Anne: Oh, and you know, it was interesting that you're saying that too. Were you in Beverly Wilburn's talk at ADOM? I don't know if you were or not, but her talk, she asked in the room one of the pain points with office managers is Actually hiring people that said they have this experience and they show up with no experience to speak up or the experience that they said they had because it's an employee world right now in the dental arena, right?
If you're breathing, come on in and I'll teach you how to do this because we need a body to take on this task. But I was shocked at How many hands went up when things
Laura: from that and because Teresa Shepherd always says experience is not expertise. don't want to take away from somebody saying they have, experience.
You probably do. Were you ever trained properly? have mastery in it? Is it the mastery that I need for my practice? Cause we do things a little bit different here. So really being able to train them to what you do. And The second thing you said is we're hiring from all different kinds of industries.
If you have this in place. Totally opens up your pool of qualified candidates because now you're hiring for just a really amazing person. And it doesn't matter how much expertise
Anne: that they have,
Laura: you have such a great in house training system. this is not to take away from going to great events or to, taking courses with some of these really great trainers.
But when you do those training, how does it get back to your practice? And then when you hire next week, you're not redoing the whole process, right? Like it's now a part of you and it's a part of your practice.
Anne: Yeah. And so many things would slip through the cracks. And it's interesting you should say that because I was just at Productive Dentist Academy and shout out to Victoria Peterson and Bruce Baird.
There was a gal that sat next to me in one of the round tables and she was. Fantastic. And she was the office manager of this practice that was absolutely soaring and she had no dental experience when she started. to your point, you hire for the person, you hire for somebody that has the execution and that's where strengths comes in.
Are you an executor? Are you strategic? Are you just like a happy face? You to have somebody like that that's going to greet people when they walk in the door. Or relationship building. I mean, those are the four domains, but it really struck me that wow, she's a fantastic office manager.
They've grown exponentially and she had no dental experience, but that was probably because she was on boarded. Well, Plus had the strengths and the skills that you were looking for. Not everybody in dentistry that has been an office manager or has been a hygienist or has been an assistant is really good at what they do or they really like it.
That's just happened to be the lane that they fell into. job to Yeah, you're exactly
Laura: right. The lane they fell into, because they might have been a rock star somewhere else in the practice. and because they were so awesome, they got to wear an additional hat, sometimes still doing both of those things, which, hey, I get when you're growing a small business, right?
You do what have to do, but if you document what you do, of course, we do this in our own business. And. There's not an industry that shouldn't be doing this, right? Yeah. you document how you do what you do, because so many practice owners I found when I was coaching were frustrated that they weren't even doing it.
They hired for this experience. They weren't doing it the way they wanted it done. Well, How do you want it done? They don't have it documented anywhere.
Anne: That's not my gift. it's so funny. Cause with Tom and me, my hubby, he would show the kids how to clean the garage.
I would say, go clean the garage. And then he would actually show them how to sweep and do all these things. I don't have that in my personality. So I, when I think back on Tari and Nasha, when they came on board, all of our team members, I just basically said, okay well, good luck. And this is what I need.
Do you SOPs for someone like me that is, you know, you may have put that in your repertoire?
Laura: I love that you said that. two things. The first is, yes, we have a ton of templates and we can walk you through them. some people do need a little more handholding and we have a team prepared to do that.
But the other part of that is A lot of practices when that's not their skill set, right? an amazing clinician. They're not really great at the business side of it. They don't even really know how they want it done. So what do they do? They hire a consultant. Yeah. And then once you hire a consultant, again, you're left with this great stuff.
And had a particular client that I adored this person. He was not a businessman. He was an idea, man, and a great clinician. And really at the end of that engagement we hired a new team for him, got a bunch of things in place. right after all this, he had an employee that had to leave.
I can't remember what they had some health issue and now this person who has just gone through all of this training and all of setting up all these systems. Now they have to rehire for this. that's really what broke me because I felt horrible.
He had spent a lot of money working with me and I felt horrible because now he has a new person. What am I going to go in and redo? Wow. I asked him more money. So it was like, no I, just was not okay with it. And so I had a friend in the tech space I said, this is what I'm trying to accomplish. And so we actually Combined our business, his tech and my business idea and created this platform.
And it's exactly what I wanted to be able to leave him with which was something that he could use forever. Whether he hired a trainer, a consultant went to a cool event or retreat. Where do I bring that back to? And how do I onboard and train to it?
Anne: that sounds like you need to get with all the consultants out there also to bring that in because that lives on and then that helps them not have to go back and hold hands.
And it just, that happens all the time too. That's not unusual
Laura: with because of, do I go to the coffee chats and I've met several consultants that love it because of that. They can. content on it, right? Like So their trainings, their courses their things, but they also can help as they're working with these different offices, help them refine their SOPs, what they work together on now they can leave them with it.
it's a fantastic solution for the consultants as well. And, and we're, trying to communicate that more and more. So you consultants out there and do land.
Anne: Yeah. You'll have to reach out. We'll get that in the show notes, how they get in touch with you, because the other thing that's so cool is that your SOP, you know, a lot of the consultants, and this is what's do is everyone's welcome.
So we have tons of consultants and there's no scarcity mentality, right? Because. Your SOP that you're putting into their program is authentic to them, right? And so that's cool. It's not something that not everything's on chat GPT, and it's all like a standard thing. And the same thing would be with, for the office.
And so it would be so helpful for the consultants find the, office, what's the vision of the leader? those S. O. P. S. Be exactly what they want for the vision of their growth and their team and all of those things. And then our
Laura: consultants,
we have so many niches.
Whether it's someone who is a consultant to help practices go to fee for service, right? Or they, help them with their numbers. there's just so many different types of consultants. And you are absolutely right. truth is, We need them because they bridge another gap, which is the office doesn't know what they don't know.
Anne: Right.
Laura: So even as they're trying to create their own SOPs, it's pretty cool that those practices, they're already working with these amazing consultants we can tag team this process to lead them with something that Is lasting,
Anne: is sustainable. Yeah.
And good people find good people. Like, you know, You need those things because a lot of times the consultants, most probably, and I, all the consultants that I know and do are experts at that. And there's not very many dental. Team members that are experts at that. So we all have to kind of come together and it is worth it to have this lifelong fulfilling Successful and profitable career for all of us.
So Laura, you're just awesome. This was really fun No it I'm so curious about all this stuff because it just makes perfect sense and it's just so neat that you discovered the missing piece. And this is something that's really, I think, again, going to really help all of us to, go forward in the coming years that we don't know what's going to happen.
So how do we get in touch with you? It'll be in the show notes. And I'd love to know how you can get in touch with you.
Laura: My dental SOP. com. Laura at my dental SOP, you can email me but yeah, my dental SOP. com. You can find all the details about what we're working on and, and how to be a part of what we're doing.
Anne: Oh, that'd be so great. I love it because I know you and you see something special in everybody. So it's going to be a very unique and very warm relationship. And also not only that, it is sustainable through the years that they're in practice. So Yeah, wonderful to see you today. Dear heart.
Give Alison my best. Give her a hug at the family. My best. I will. And I'll see
Laura: you in November. It's
Anne: coming up quick. I'll see you at the do retreat. And if you haven't registered, we still have seats available. So November 14 through 16, it's going to be amazing with these amazing women in dentistry, that'll go home and go out to the DeWs in help share some of that love in bright minds with you. So, you know, The most important thing with anyone that's listening to us now is remember to keep doing you. Thank you so much, Laura. I'll see you uh, in November. You're welcome.
