Anne: Please help me welcome Amber Auger. Hi Amber. Thank you for having me. You again are showing me how much you love dentistry right now and then you're like you cannot stop talking about it and then you get into the period you're lighting up like a Christmas tree when you start talking about all that.
It means I'm on the right path. You're on the right path. You're on the right path. So go on. I agree that we need help with our, with our profession and falling in love with it. That's what I see you doing. You're helping me fall in love with their profession. with their skills and see that this is a career that they can grow and continue to grow like you.
So how does, how does it work when you come into Thrive?
Amber: Yeah.
Anne: And who's your average, who's your, who's your member?
Amber: So my member is my past self. So my member is the hygienist who's burned out. The hygienist who doesn't feel respected in their practice. The hygienist who wants to do more, but is told that they don't have enough money in the practice to do it.
And I've been a hygienist where I'm trying to and from work, I've been in toxic work environments. I've been the, the higher level of clinician. When I graduated, I wanted to do at least the standard of care and then learn more. And I found myself in practices with hygienists who had been practicing for 10, 20 years, who would just put.
I've honestly extinguished my light as a new grad and said, that's never going to happen. I had Dennis tell me, you know what, honey, you'll figure out how it works when, you know, in the real world of hygiene. And I was like, no, I'm going to take blood pressure every patient, every time. Like, what do you mean?
This is a bare minimum of what we should be doing. So driving me off is literally the last 12 years of my dental experience from a clinician standpoint, but also from a corporate standpoint, because I'm giving you all of the skills that I've learned from personality assessments and the companies I've worked with.
I was, I started my career outside of the operatory with working for James and management. So I learned clinical and business consulting. You know that. Yeah, they taught me a ton. They taught me how to network well. They taught me the importance of integrity at these shows. They, I literally had amazing mentors from Jamison management.
Then I joined the RTH team and I saw, was in meetings and seeing hygienists who were pitching themselves outside of a dentistry and they really lacked emotional intelligence and they lacked self awareness. So they were doing things like chomping on gum and telling how it would be great if we had them as a speaker.
And you know, here's why you need me to be here. Instead of leading with grace and instead of leading with integrity and really trying to force themselves in. And what I've found in the world is when you're in true alignment with what you're supposed to do and when you do the work in yourself. It's all comes together and it's really easy and you have a lot of fun doing it.
So, you know, the last two days I've presented content that's taken me a ton of time to build. It's all new programs this year and I'm in full alignment. I'm yes, tired at the end of the day, but I feel almost my cells and my body feel sparkly. And in dentistry, we have a tendency to be so negative and we have a tendency to focus on the 30 percent of why it's not going to work.
And this prevents us from progressing forward. This prevents us from really integrating in systemic and oral health. And we've talked about it since the 70s, right? If not the 80s. Oh my gosh, yes. But here we are. We're still doing the same thing. So my mission is to equip you with the tools that you need for personality assessments, how you handle a difficult team, to how you stay on time, how you become a time management ninja.
Because here's the thing, there is no way in hell that I could ever do what I do in one hour if I wasn't in control of my time. And there's a lot that we can't control, right? Those patients come in 10 or 15 minutes late, what do we cut out? How do you quickly assess that? How do you know what's important that day?
And when do you dismiss? What is that practice protocol? How are you going to talk to your boss about, hey, we cannot be seeing patients if they come in 20 minutes late. Here's why. Here's what we promise we'll do. with that sign that they're there for to make it a valuable appointment, but they're going to have to come back for that preventative actual therapy where we're detoxifying those pockets.
And then how will you communicate with the patient? The patient does not care how much, you know, my goal is to not kill my patient with science and said, as soon as I build that rapport and they know how much I care about them, then it's an invitation for them to partner with you in their oral health.
And that's where it becomes so much fun because you have healthier patients. Your day is much easier. You can talk about things outside of dentistry for a bit, build that rapport, and then you can talk about the really cool things about seeing redacted protein and do the salivary test, come up with a customized plan for them.
And then you get to celebrate their wins. And that's what dentistry is all about. That's where you prevent the burnout. That's where you really step into feeling really, really valued. And honestly, that's where all the money comes from too. I produce a ton. I average three to 4k a day and I never am focused on the money.
Never focus on money. So I make more working two days a week than I did five days a week as a hygienist alone. And that's fun. That allows me to go and invest in other people. That allows me to do scholarships for people. That allows me to create a community of hygienists. So I want to be able to take that burned out hygienist and transform the way they're thinking and show them how to create their dream career, whether it's in clinical or out of clinical.
It all starts with being in clinical first. And learning how to be successful share side. Then if you want to diversify and do a little bit of clinical and stay in and out, great. And I would be a full time hygienist and love it, but I can't be because I have carpal tunnel. So that's why I diversified. So I'm kind of a different breed of a speaker.
My goal is to never not quit clinical full time. I love clinical. It's my favorite time of the week.
Anne: That is so neat. And that is, that rings so true with what I feel in my heart with, with Du. Because I wanted to keep amazing women in the profession, and it kind of breaks my heart when uh, you've gone through all this education, all this training, and then all of a sudden you decide you want to go into real estate.
Now I bless you, but I'm like, there's so many opportunities in our career of dental hygiene to be able to soar. Work some other muscles and really strengthen your opportunity to live in your strength, in your strengths when you know what you are good at, right, versus what you're not good at. Right. And it just makes for what such a rich career.
And I think if you're not surrounded by women like you that have been where you've been. That no people that have been where you've been and you've seen them succeed. You really don't even know that that other world, those other worlds of career class, you don't even have to, you just think you've signed up for downwriting four or five days a week for the rest of your life and you'll retire when you're.
Then over at 65, right? And you have a 401k, but your body doesn't work.
Amber: That is so well said. And that's literally what we're taught is success in our industry. So I graduated in 2015, December 2015, with a master's in public health. And I got an additional career because I knew I wanted to step out of dentistry because of the carpal tunnel.
Not out of dentistry together, but out of the arm, I should say, and diversify a little bit. And I went to a conference called Cruel Fusion. Unfortunately, it's no longer around anymore. But that day I saw Jackie Sanders and I knew nobody. I didn't know a soul at this event. I literally, and for me, yeah, I'm an extrovert, but when I don't know anybody, I can go quickly become a little turtle and an introvert.
I don't want to talk to anybody. I'm like, I don't know. And this is before speaking. So, you know, I, I wasn't, I had no desire to be a public
Anne: speaker. to Cruel Fusion. You didn't even know what you were saying. I said yes,
Amber: because I felt in my soul that it was right. And I just went for it. And a couple people at a conference, I went to my first ever RDH under one group and they said, you have to be there.
They said, you know, I'm still in grad school. I can't afford it. I can't afford it. But as soon as I graduate grad school, I'll do it. I'll save up and I'll go. And it was a pretty hefty investment. You know, it was at a very expensive hotel. Uh, we have to invest in Yes. We're worth it. So Long story short, I saw Jackie Sanderson in there and I was like, hello, can I sit next to you?
And she was like, absolutely. And I had no idea who Jackie Sanders is. And like yourself, she's an OG in dentistry. She's the builder of women. And we started talking a little bit and This, this conference opened my eyes. I thought my options outside of clinical were teaching, which I had already done, or becoming like a sales rep for like Preston OB.
So my aspiration was like, let me get into Preston OB, and I had already taken a test. They make you take this crazy test. I hope they don't no longer do that because I failed real hard. It's crazy. It's all these shapes. How does dictating a shape tell me I'm going to be a good sales rep? Like, why does that have anything to do?
But anyway, I digress. So with this first day, they didn't tell you at this conference, but the first day in the afternoon, they make you present. So they have you send in a PowerPoint to prove that you can make five or six slides. They say nothing about a presentation. So they can run the mic. Welcome back from lunch.
Now we're going to invite the first years up to do a presentation immediately. I was like, Oh my God, my initials are AA. That's it. Oh my God. I'm going to be first. That's it. I know it. So they call me up and I start to channel. Okay, what would I do if I was on SpinBite? Because during grad school, I did two things.
I did full time hygiene. I was in grad school full time. And then what I did is I taught spin classes for grad school and a nanny. So I didn't want to graduate with a nanny. So I just watch and everybody's in spandex. So I got up there. I had no idea there was all these corporate sponsors. I didn't know anything about dentistry outside of the clinical.
I had no idea. I had been a one trade show my whole life. And I'm up there, and I do my thing, and they're like trying to throw me off, you know, asking some questions, and, you know, just kind of get to know me a little better, kind of tease me, see how I can handle it. And then I sit down, and they're all passing notes to each other, and I'm like, okay, and Louis Myers, from American Eagle, all the time, he goes from American Eagle, now he's with Solomon.
He came up to me and he goes, you know, you are going to be a speaker. And I was like, you know, I have no desire to public speak. I need public speaking and I don't think that's a good fit for me. And he was like, you'll see. And one by one, all the other speakers who really came up to me and said, Hey, we want you.
I mean, Patty DeGangi went through this program. Gibson went through this program. So many of the big speakers that we know in the industry who are game changing professionals that have really changed the way we view preventative care have been through this. And that's how it all started. So it was taking getting uncomfortable and saying yes and I am so forever grateful because Jackie Sanders that night said, you know, we're doing dinner and we'd love to invite you.
And I would have eaten dinner alone in my room. And from that moment, Jackie has been my little compass of my life. I've had a lot of bullying. It was really, it was not all roses whatsoever. When I first started, I was a very young face. There was a lot of really terrible rumors about me and she helped me rise above it.
And she is my, uh, number one. She's now the editor of RDH magazine, which is fantastic. Cause I was on the team before and now she's at the helm and there's really no better leader. She just cares so much about women. So you do have to align with someone who's going to remind you where you're going. And remind you not to get stuck on the little petty things and to not be negative.
And instead, you have to look at what would your future self want out of this. And there's so many times it would be easy to say things that maybe aren't nice. And once somebody meets you with an energy, you want to match their energy. But instead, I just kind of let it roll off. And I know that's no longer a safe person.
And you just kind of protect your energy and you choose to sit at the table where you want to be. And that's a good.
Anne: Oh, it's beautiful. That's beautiful. Beautifully said, Amber. And I love to see how you've grown. I love Jackie. Sandra so much. She has influenced so many women in our industry and really taking them on like, like her daughters.
I mean, I, and I, and she loves the guys too. I mean, you know, she's just, she's one of the kindest people I know and would do anything for anybody and shout out to you, Jackie, for raising, for raising Amber. And I feel like you're walking in her footsteps. I really do. I feel like, you know, they're, they're big shoes to fill, but you can fill those shoes and you're just getting started.
I've seen you on stage. I popped into your class yesterday, a full ballroom, if I say, if I might say and brag on you. I mean, I remember you really were just getting started and now it's like you're sought after because you speak with that sense of authenticity. And knowledge and your and your story's always there.
You've never forgot forgotten where you started and where you came from. I think that makes you so easy to Influence others because they know that it's real and that if they can, if it can happen to you, Amber
Amber: Auger, it can happen to anyone. And that's the message I give. You know, I was the hygienist who struggled through hygiene school.
I had to work to pay for hygiene school. I've been on my own financially since I was 12. You know, I, I've never met my father. My mom is a single mom. My mom didn't never, never set foot on campus. They grew up in Maine, but just kind of had to get. She came for graduation and that was it. So it was me moving myself in every year.
It was a parent's weekend, parents coming down. I didn't have family that came down. So I had so much adversity and I love sharing that. I versed like that, not for, not for pity by any means. But to show people that, you can change in your card deck anytime. You literally can. You can create the life that you want and start from nothing.
You literally can. You know, I grew up with the lights being shut off because we couldn't afford the electric bill and whatever was in the food box in the food bank is what we ate. And now I get to have the privilege of creating a life that is so posh. You know, my, like, I look at Margo, my little dog, and I call her the posh life.
I mean, she's really number one. She's the bougie. Yeah, she's the bougie. I used to have a TJ Maxx for me over here and she's getting the elite kibble and whatever. I budget around her, her needs. But it's, it's amazing what we do as dental professionals. We forget it, just get burnt out and we have to take care of ourselves first.
So it's, it's figuring out, figuring out that first step. And the first step, honestly, is investing in yourself. And that is what has been so amazing about thriving in the app. I'll do my best. saw on your podcast, but it's seeing the switch when he's hygienic. So they come in, they're burnt out. They're exhausted.
They're new grads who've learned during COVID and they they're struggling with time management. It's hard enough to go from a four hour appointment to a one hour as a regular grad, nevermind doing it in the middle of a pandemic and trying to get patients. I mean, that's a whole different level of stress and anxiety that your body's still recovering from, honestly, there's oxidative stress happening each and every day, and we get insulin resistance.
for that oxidative stress. So it creates a dysbiosis in the body. It's, it's amazing really what our bodies do to get us to be in survival mode. I don't want any hygienist to feel like they're just in survival mode. I truly want them to thrive in the office. I want them to know that they can literally create the career that they love and really have a ton of fun doing it.
And that is what's been amazing. We've had eight members in the past six months get a three or more dollar an hour raise without even asking. Wow, they're doctors. She's going to them and they say something is different. We see that you are literally engaging on a different level. And I want to thank you.
You're building our practice so well. And these are all because they're implementing five and beyond. But I will be honest with you. A lot of it is mental coaching. A lot of it is changing that mindset. And kind of directing the hygienists to get out of their own way. It lives in us a lot. Today, I had a woman who came up during our break.
And she said, can I make a suggestion for you? I said, sure. And I was like, oh gosh, my joke's terrible. What are you going to suggest for me right now? And she said, I want you to write an article on psoriasis and oral health. And I said, I do not want to do that at all, but I want you to write it. And she was like, I can't write it.
And I said, why not? She's like, well, I'm not a writer. I said, well, it takes, it just takes one to know one. Let's go. I'll have you write it. You pick up the pen. We have great editors. I'd love for you to write for me and the RDH graduate. I'm happy to publish it. But if it lives inside of you, you have to do it.
That's what you're passionate about. Not what I'm passionate about. I'm going to chase my passions. I'm going to help you chase yours. And she took a seat and she was kind of shushed, okay. And she came back up to me at the end of the program and she said, I want to apologize if I was rude. I didn't mean to boss you around with this.
Oh, I didn't think you were rude at all. I think you were so convicted, convinced me of what lives in your heart that you're excited about. And you saw me as someone who has a brand, who can do that for you, but that's your calling, not my calling. We're going to get you published. And that's the best part of this is it's just sharing that space.
It's what you do so well is once you've seen that you've been gifted and kind of have, I call them like the downloads where you're just kind of channeling where you're supposed to be and just in flow and in tune, you can literally have the capacity to build others up and not have a scarcity mindset.
So I can go and recommend others to be speakers, I can go and equip people to be speakers, I can go and equip new consultants, because I'm not in competition with them. Because the truth is, I can literally give you my PowerPoints, and you could present it a totally different way. You can't replicate your own personality, you just have to be in alignment, and that's what results.
Anne: And that is so beautiful, and so DeW, Amber. There's no scarcity. It's no scarcity mentality. We know that it's so much, we're an abundant group and so are you, and it's so beautiful to see that our profession is going to just thrive under your care, under your leadership, and continue to keep doing you.
