Brandi: It was such a game changer to get quiet and figure out what was for me. Not, how do I become famous? Not, how do I have what so-and-so has or what these other people are doing? But what was my individual calling? How was I supposed to make a difference with the tools I was given? That moment changed so much of my career because, since then, I have paid more attention to trying to figure out what is for me.
Anne: Hello, everyone. It is Anne Duffy, and welcome to the Just DeW It podcast. I am so happy that you're here, and I am so happy to have such a dear friend and a dear person in my life and all the DeWs' lives with me today. I'm going to tell you a little bit about her before I get started. Brandi Hooker Evans: Stop herding cattle, start loving patients individually. This Idaho country girl, RDH, can be counted on to help you cultivate a rewarding professional career. Grab your boots and roll up your sleeves as we get to the work of having great days while providing exquisite, individualized care with my dearest, Brandi Hooker Evans. Yay. It's so nice to see you.
Brandi: You fill my heart with sunshine, Anne. Thank you for having me this morning.
Anne: You're so wonderful, and I love your book. The reason we talk about cattle is because your book is out, and it is Dentists, Hygienists, and Cows: How Brilliant Dental Professionals Have Great Days While Providing Exquisite, Individualized Care. I love your book, and it's so fun. It's so much of your personality, like the weaving of your story. It resonated with me as a practicing hygienist for 46 years. I was in your shoes, and I hope that I did the best. Well, I did do the best job that I could, but reading your book brings it up a notch.
I think every hygienist out there should get this book because it's a super-quick read. You will not stop smiling, honestly, and you will not stop shaking your head yes. Please get this book. It's on Amazon, right, Brandi?
Brandi: Yes.
Anne: And it's also on our DeW Book Nook. I believe we have this in the DeW Book Nook. Yes, we do. How long have you been practicing hygiene, Brandi?
Brandi: I am almost to the 20-year mark. I graduated in '07, so I'm ticking down the last couple of months until I've had a license for 20 years, which is crazy because I was the baby yesterday, and I am no longer the baby.
Anne: Oh my gosh.
Brandi: I was 17 yesterday, and now I'm 41. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but all of a sudden, I am a mom and have had this whole career that has had so many different lives to it. Since I graduated as a 23-year-old in 2007, I have experienced no less than 10 different careers in the last 18 years. It's been such a whirlwind. But as you know, I think we’re given gifts along the way that we’re meant to share. Don’t hide your light under a bushel, as it were.
Anne: Exactly. That's not fair, right? We know that, and you just light up a room. I love how you light up when you talk about dentistry, and you've got Stellar Outcomes. I didn't realize you had that for five years before you even joined DeW.
Brandi: Yes. I celebrated 10 years in September of '24.
Anne: Tell us a little bit about Stellar Outcomes before we get started. What I love when I go on your program, which is usually a Thursday night, 8:00 to 9:00, you're on Mountain time. I can't believe you've got 80 to 200 dental hygienists on there, and they are in it. They are wrapped up in what you have to say, really dipped in, and really present when you're talking.
I just think it's something special when you're still in the trenches, you love your profession, and you can actually share that. You exude that. Tell me, how did that get started?
Brandi: I created the Stellar Infusion Study Club in 2020 to fill a void. I felt that with all the shutdowns, people felt like they were on an island alone and didn't know what to do or what to think. Unfortunately, I saw a lot of leadership not represent our hygiene profession well, and I thought, what we need is a place where we can get together, roll up our sleeves, and figure out how to have great days and take exquisite care of our patients.
What I've learned along the way is that when we are showing up in our purpose, it makes everything we do, including the yucky parts of being a clinician, whether you're a dentist, an assistant, a hygienist, or even working at the front office, tolerable. What I saw a lot of, especially in that timeframe, was people being worried, people being burnt out, and lots of hygienists, especially, clocking in and clocking out, which we’re experiencing some of right now.
I see a lot of pain from hygienists right now, and it's been interesting to watch. Many of them have been pointing fingers at other people in other professions, and I have yet to hear a group really come up with a solution and an admittance of how we have potentially been part of the problem, Anne.
Anne: Because?
Brandi: Because if you can be part of the problem, you can be part of the solution. That's a lot of the essence of Stellar Infusion Study Club that I host for eight months a year. I want people to come, roll up their sleeves, dig in, and know what it's like to look at the human as a whole human, get some insight into how the business is run, and get some insight on how they can really enjoy their career.
It is not by turning it over to someone else and saying, “You should do this, this, and this.” For me, it is showing up and saying, “What can I do for you, our patients, and myself?” If we can modify that mentality, I think we'll see some really dramatic improvement in not only our profession as a whole, but the morale of the people inside of that profession that you and I love so dearly. Between the two of us, we've got some years.
Anne: Yeah, we’ve got some years, but we also have the love there. I love that you said the patients, yourself, and the industry as a whole, because that all has to come together. It’s so purposeful what you decided to do. How did you know that was for you?
Brandi: I had a great experience of getting really quiet with myself. I had Stellar Outcomes for five years. There were lots of things going on in our world professionally and politically. There were a lot of options and a lot of questions, and I also noticed a lot of comparison. I see everyone looking at everyone else and comparing themselves, and I had this divine download that said, “But Brandi, what is for you? What is your calling? What is your message?”
It was so powerful because all of my love, the way I like to practice, the way I like to learn about practicing, and the way I'm totally happy with realizing that what I did wasn't so great, but now I have better information and I'm going to do it now. This was such a great way for me to share with one another, with the rest of our friends, and not just hygienists, but the whole profession.
It was such a game changer to get quiet and figure out what was for me. Not, how do I become famous? Not, how do I have what so-and-so has or what these other people are doing? But what was my individual calling? How was I supposed to make a difference with the tools I was given? That moment changed so much of my career because, since then, I have paid more attention to trying to figure out what is for me.
When you're doing what's for you, it's so fun, and you light up, lean forward, and get out of your seat. It's so exciting and so fun. I love the Stellar Infusion Study Club, and I can't even say the name because I love it so much. I do the same thing when I'm speaking and coaching. I've found that's my lane. My lane is the study club, speaking, and coaching.
When I compare myself to what everyone else is doing, then I start to feel nervous and worried. “I haven't spoken at those big conferences,” or, “I haven't done this, and I haven't done that.” It eats up all the time, energy, and worry inside my brain so that I can't show up in the way I want to.
I feel like, Anne, when I'm watching our DeW Sisters and the world at large, if there was one thing I could give, it would be that question. First, you’ve got to clean something out to make room for the new. Clean out the comparison. We don't have any room for that. Your journey is not my journey. Then insert a prayerful intention moment and just ask the question: “Is it for me?”
I think it's important to also say, “Is it for me anymore? Is it for me yet? And is it for me at all?” Because there are certain parts of our career, like if you would've started DeW when you were 30, what would that have been like compared to what it was later? DeW absolutely was for you, but when you were 30, it was not for you yet.
Anne: That brings in the prayerful intention to sit back, be quiet, and listen to our spirit, our God, or whoever is inspiring us, because as you and I both know, we have the talents to do what lights us up. I think that is a clue to where your purpose is. Then you have to say, “How will I know? Is it because we get lit up? Is it because we stay focused? Is it because we keep putting one foot in front of the other? What is it that keeps us on the track of attaining the purpose?” I'm curious about that.
Brandi: I believe that it definitely comes to leaning into your gifts, number one. When you get a divine download of what something might be for you, I think we have to sit with it and think of all the things we'll need to do to execute it. For example, for the study club, I had to think of the topics, how I would execute it, and all of those things. When I was working on it, it was exciting and fun. When something was frustrating to me, I could feel that I still needed to move forward because I could still envision what was supposed to come.
I've learned contrary to that in my career and watched others do this. When you come up against a brick wall and you just don't want it, too often we think we are supposed to keep going up against the brick wall, when maybe if we did a little quarter turn to the right, there might be the door we're actually supposed to go in.
Are we supposed to give up because it sucks? No, but I really think we need to quiet back down and say, “Is this a roadblock that I still need to plow through?” This turns back to my belief system, but I truly believe that if we stop, get quiet, and say, “Am I supposed to do this?” your internal knowing, and don't even use a vocabulary of any kind of religion, your inside will tell you, “Keep going. One foot in front of the other. Wipe that snot tear off your face and keep going. Girl, wash your face,” Rachel Hollis, right?
But it takes sitting with the insecurities, Anne. It takes sitting with the roadblocks that are in front of you because they come, and they're there. Even if you're living into your purpose, and sometimes even more when you're living into your purpose, because the world needs some change, and things don't like to change. When you're living into your purpose, the chances of you probably making a change, I would throw out, are probably high.
If we can sit with those insecurities, scares, and roadblocks and say, “Am I supposed to keep going?” it gives you the clarity to look and say, “I am, but it's a quarter turn to the right.”
Anne: Yeah.
Brandi: Or straightforward, sister, or if you're a boy, brother, right? No way this roadblock was meant for you, and what you're going to learn on the other side of this roadblock is going to serve you in your purpose. But what I notice in our busy world is people constantly drowning their own thoughts out, turning the phone on, scrolling, and going from one thing to the other, one meeting to the next, and not taking that time to really question and ask, “Is this for me? Should I keep going?”
If it's something you love to do, like I love to share continuing education, when I would get frustrated because I did a poor delivery, I didn't think I should not stay on the stage. I thought, “Girl, you need to take some lessons, and you need to learn how to get better at this.” You can't discern if it's for you or not, and whether those roadblocks are to help or to get you turned in another direction, if we don't take some time to really examine what's on the inside of us and what we believe is our best use of our time, energy, love, and talents.
Anne: I love that you're looking in. We were talking before, and I was saying that I gave up yammering for Lent, probably three years in a row. Yammering, to me, I made that word up. I don't know if it is a word or not, but it's just complaining about the little things. I feel so blessed, and yet I'm complaining about, “I'm traveling so much.” I was telling you, and you said, “Do you love it?” I'm like, “Not as much as I want the outcome.”
But something just struck me. Is it for me? Because it feels like sometimes my purpose is always for others. I know that is what I'm meant to do: serve the DeWs, the women in dentistry, and all that. But is it for me at this time, in this moment? Honestly, I'm going to say yes, and I need a mindset shift. I need just a little smidge pivot to the right to get back on track, to realize that it is for me, and I do love it. I do want to do this because that's the end, the purpose.
We say DeWs never retire, but the purpose might shift a bit. The purpose there is to follow my calling, like we talked about earlier. I like the mindset shift, and it's not that hard to shift one millimeter, right? It's hard to make a total turnaround and to see that brick wall and say, “Nope, I'm not doing that. I'm just going to shut it down.” How often, Brandi, do we see women in dentistry reach the point where they're so burnt out, they’ve had it? That's it.
What you do with your coaching and your Stellar Outcomes is inspire and encourage these amazing women to stay in it and give them tools to really find out what is for them. It often isn't just leaving the profession altogether. It's a little pivot, right?
Brandi: There are so many good examples of that. I watch when I am in a big room of all kinds of professionals, a lot of times heavy on the RDH, but generally the entire team that I get to hang out with. When you start talking about something that connects with an experience they've had, so a big one is misdiagnosis of ADHD, not breathing through your nose at night, being overwhelmed with the calamity that our standard American diet is causing not only our patients, but us.
As I'm touching on these topics, and we're talking about caring for the whole human being, yourself as a professional, and then that carries to the patients, what I notice is it's almost like I'm planting seeds. Those three over there need to learn more about myofunctional therapy. They need to call Cheryl and Joy and get their certification. Over here, I see there's an advocate for a little boy who was naughty, had ADHD, and he is in trouble. Actually, he just wasn't sleeping well at night, so he woke up every day as a mess, and no one helped him. They just wanted to medicate him.
You see the advocates start to light up in the audience. They're like, “That was my kid,” or “That was me.” Is this getting them out of the profession? Absolutely not. But what does your conversation with your dental hygienist sound like when she also has a certificate in myofunctional therapy?
My job is not to teach myo, but my job is to plant seeds and figure out what they need in their tool belt to show up to the dental office, live their best life, and have so much fun providing care or answering the phones. It doesn't matter what you're doing. If you are leaning into you and all of your strengths, talents, and gifts, and letting the people around you support where you lack, it doesn't matter if you're a landscaper, a janitor, or a dental hygienist. Now we're really bringing all of our goodness to the table, and it's being utilized. You might be tired at the end of the day, but you're fulfilled, and it's joyful. It might be the exact same position you had last week, but because you took the time to say, “Is it for me?”
Anne: You also mentioned the team, and I think great joy comes from being aware of your team and realizing, is it for them? Helping them realize and giving them a little bit more purpose in the mundane work that we do, if they've gotten to that point.
I've heard people say, “It's the same thing every day over and over again.” But no, it's not. It's not because a different person, a different biome, a different everything is sitting in front of you. It takes everybody to make that patient follow your instructions, the walk of health in so many different ways. We have not only the knowledge for it, but the responsibility.
You are planting seeds. There are so many things going on in dentistry right now that I didn't really have a handle on 20 years ago, and it's really exciting. But if you don't ever seek out someone who is going to plant seeds for you, then you have to water the seeds, take part in it, and own that garden. So many people want to be fed without tilling the soil.
That goes back to being a guest or a host. The host has something to offer, and that's why you got into hosting, developing, and creating the beautiful content that you deliver on a regular basis. It gives you joy, and I know you've seen it bring fruit not only to the individuals, but also to the profession as a whole.
Brandi: It's been so wonderful. I think there's a whole passel of us out there spreading words like this, and it goes back to, we have to scooch out the comparison. The passel of us are making a difference because they're not just hearing it from Brandi Hooker Evans. It's Katrina Sanders, Stewart, Ann O. Rice, Angela Davis Sullivan, Joy Lance. We could do this for another 50 minutes with all the people who are spreading goodness.
In a lot of ways, it overlaps, but when all of us, men and women who are sharing these ideas, show up, even if we're saying the same thing, it's different, and it has our own experience and twist on it. What I notice is that it sinks in with people better when they've heard it more than once.
I was just in Iowa a couple of weeks ago, and this was a very heavy hygiene-focused conversation when I was teaching this course. I talk about caring for the whole, not just the hole, H-O-L-E versus W-H-O-L-E.
Anne: I love that.
Brandi: Chapter 12 of the book.
Anne: Chapter 12.
Brandi: It was so fun because a couple of dentists came up to me at the break, and they said, “Oh my gosh, Brandi, this is so fun. We went to this course with Dr. Uche Odiatu, and he's recommending the same books. He is up on the table. He's teaching us to do all of these things that you're talking about. We started learning about this with him, too.”
Now we've got this combination where what I'm saying and the way I'm saying it has that same thread through it, but it's totally different than what someone else is saying. Because they're hearing it and hearing it again, and I'm showing up in my best, thinking, “What can I do for this audience? Who needs to hear what?” they're able to match where they're hearing this information in more than one place, which grows the seeds and then gives them the tools to be able to plant them with their patients.
If I'm thinking, “I wish I was as good as,” or “I wish I had done those same conferences,” or “I've never spoken at the Chicago Midwinter or the Hinman, so I must not be good enough,” then if you get that comparison out of the way and you say, “Is it for me? Is it for me yet? Is it for me anymore? And is it for me ever?” then it guides you down the path you need to go.
Maybe you do need myofunctional therapy in your life, and if so, we've got some websites and books for you to read. Or maybe it's sleep that's your passion. There are so many different ways that you can show up, learn, and enhance your career with just that little bit of quiet.
Anne: You can't stop, though. That's the thing. Another principle of Just DeW It: start and don't stop, because that's when people get frustrated. They think they're not worthy or not good enough. They say, “Why me?” And I say, “Why not you?” You never know what's going to stick.
How many times have we gone to a conference, and if we can get three nuggets, even one good nugget out of a conference, it’s worth it? Sometimes it takes hearing it from five different people, five different ways, right? But we can't stop because we feel like the roadblock is there. That's just making it up in our mind, honestly. We've got to keep going because you have something to share. You're good at sharing it. If not you, who? And if not now, when will you do that? We just keep going.
The other thing, Brandi, and that's what DeW is all about, is when you get stuck in the roadblock, call a DeW, call a friend, call somebody who's been there and done that. Our industry is relationship-driven, and everybody we attract, I think, are people who will help us. Those who won’t could be the weeds. We'll pull those out and toss them away because not everybody's going to jibe with my message or your message, but there are people who will take our hand, help us, and support our mission and our purpose, especially when we can share it with gusto, confidence, and enthusiasm, as you just shared yours.
Brandi: I think it's also about being okay when the answer is no, it's not for you. Here's a great example. Right now, I have two children: one has graduated from college, one is in college, and then I have two children in high school, a senior and a junior starting in the fall. It's not for me to travel every weekend. There are a handful of conferences that I get invited to speak at a year. I've got the Stellar Infusion Study Club, and I get a handful of coaching clients a year. Plus, I run a practice in Pocatello with my husband. I do hygiene, the HR, and all the administrative things. That's enough for me.
When I go and sit in a class where they talk about how to 10x your business, maybe it's taken us this long to get to this bottom line. Maybe that 10x your business isn't for you. If I 10x my business, I couldn't do it, and I wouldn't be the human, the wife, the mom, the sister, and the daughter that I want to be right now. Quadrupling my income is not for me right now.
What's for me is the handful of conferences I speak at, the handful of coaching clients I get to love up individually, the Stellar Infusion Study Club, and my commitments here at the practice doing hygiene, HR, and all the administrative things. That's for me right now. I'll tell you, in a couple of years, when my husband retires, I'm going to have to ask, “Is that piece for me anymore?”
Anne: Yeah.
Brandi: It might not be, and I'll have to be willing to have the answer come. For all the speakers out there listening, I've never done the Hinman. I've never done the Chicago Midwinter. I've never done the Greater New York or the Yankee. I have not done any of those. Yet the other big conferences or the other study clubs that I have done have been so precious and fun.
Some of my favorites are the Utah Dental Convention and the Iowa Dental Convention. Both of their dental associations put on such a wonderful time and show, and the people are interested and engaged. I don't think I'm less than because I haven't done the “big” conferences. They're not for me yet, and they might not be for me ever. That's okay.
I finally got to the place in my life where I can say, “If you get to do that, awesome.” We talked with a DeW the other day who said, “I really want to do this conference.” We said, “Okay, we're going to call these three people and get you at that conference because if that's for you and that's where you feel like you're called, let's make it happen. Roadblocks be danged.”
That's been heavy on my heart, and as I've been doing the DeW Coffee Chats and out in the world, I notice that comparison is probably the worst roadblock I see for the men and women of our profession and beyond that, not even just our profession. If we could scooch that over and everyone was living into what was meant for them and what their personal experience led them to, I think we'd see a lot of smiles. I think the tears would feel very, very worth crying, and I suspect the mental wellness of the entire community would elevate. That's my hope and prayer for all of those who got to join us today.
Anne: I love it. That's a mantra. You made it feel right. That's the right road to be on: the road for you, and I'm on the right road for me. We lean into what we're good at and what opportunities come to us. Then we sit with that for a minute and see, is this for me?
I love you so much, Brandi, and I'm also so thankful for you taking over the DeW Connects this year as director of our DeW Connects on Wednesday mornings. You have just been a light for people. You show up as a light, and they leave feeling lifted and encouraged. That's what we're here for: the good, the bad, the ugly, and all of it makes sense when you can share it with your friends and the people you know love you in this industry and beyond.
Thank you for the love you've shown me today. I really got a lot out of this conversation. I'm actually feeling excited and enthusiastic about what's going to happen for my life tomorrow. The purpose that I know is in front of me, I will continue to drive that home. Thank you, Brandi, for being with me. How do we find you?
Brandi: Stellar Outcomes is the name of my company, and the Stellar Infusion Study Club is a study club that I do from September to April every year. I'm really excited. I'm in the planning phases for the upcoming year. If you want a ticket, if you go to my name, brandihookerevans.com, you can get a free ticket. We have beautiful sponsors that make this accessible for anyone who wants to come. It doesn't matter if you're a hygienist or not, you can come. Dentists get their CEs, and I hope for it to be enriching no matter what part of the team you're on, even if you're not dental.
I'm really excited to share. I have not told anyone yet this year, but this is my list of people I'm going to invite, and all but one are outside of dentistry. We're going to do functional health, diabetes and kidneys, pharmacy, and I'm hoping to do pelvic floor health for men and women, ancient Chinese medicine, and talk to a pediatrician in dermatology.
We're really going to lean into the whole human. How can we serve our patients? Because I can promise you one thing I know for me is service is for me. I am supposed to serve. I'm supposed to serve others. I know that deep down within my soul, and I think we can tap into so much more. I've got some friends in other professions who are going to be getting a call and a request. If you and the community could send me good luck in getting these people to come and share their expertise so that we dental geeks can lean further into what's beyond the mouth, I think it's going to be a really fun year.
Anne: That sounds like a great calling. I'm just so excited for you and for all of us to dip into your life, your content, and your magic. Brandi, thank you so much for joining me today. Again, they can get in touch with you how?
Brandi: Brandihookerevans.com. That's the easiest way, and that just pulls up the access to reach out directly to me.
Anne: That's good, and we'll put that in the show notes. Thank you so much. Brandi, I'll see you at the retreat in November. All of you listening, be aware that we're going to be gathering 250 amazing women in Charlotte, and you're one of them, so join us to raise not only yourself, but to raise each other. We'll raise a glass to you when you arrive.
Thank you all for joining me today. And remember, everybody out there, most importantly, keep DeWing you. Thanks so much, and I'll see you next time. Brandi, I'll see you on the road.
Brandi: Thank you so much, Anne.
