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VIDEO - DUwHF #704 - Karah Maloley
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AUDIO - DUwHF #704 - Karah Maloley
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Dr. Karah started her career in Counseling. Within mental health, she was hired into an Executive Director role, where she discovered leadership excited her.
After marrying her dentist husband in 2002, their adventures continued in Europe while Dr. David Maloley served as an Army officer in the dental corps. Karah worked as a civilian contractor for the Army in Germany and with the VA while living in Italy.
When David was done with his military career, in 2007, Dr. Karah joined the founders team and served as Chief Knowledge Officer of EQmentor, a professional development company focusing on mentoring and emotional intelligence. During this entrepreneurial venture, she completed her Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix (in 2009).
In search of a more “European” way of life, Karah and David moved to the Vail and Beaver Creek resort area of Colorado in the fall of 2009 to start a dental practice, Vail Valley Dental Care.
Their family grew by one on May 5, 2010 with the birth of their son, Bennett.
Interfacing with dental patients – and realizing their remarkable response to heartfelt care – inspired Karah to create a workbook, Where is the Love? The 52-step dental practice customer care makeover system.
In 2012, Karah began working with the Vail Leadership Institute, now called Vail Centre. She hosts a mastermind groups, leads workshops and facilitates retreats.
In the summer of 2013, David and Karah started Relentless Dentist podcast — I (Dr. Howard Farran) was David’s first guest! On November 2013, Karah (at 39 years old) had a major health incident and suffered a stroke while at David’s dental office. Luckily she was found by David in his admin office and she received 2 stents in her internal carotid artery at the hospital in Denver. She is so proud to be a stroke survivor and able to speak again!
In 2016, Karah decided it was time to match up leadership and dentistry. Leading Dentist is her podcast and she just completed a new online course, Being a (Dental) Boss.
www.dentistleadership.com
www.beingabossdental.com
Howard Farran: It's just a huge honor for me today to be podcast interviewing Dr. Karah Maloley who started her career in counseling within mental health. She was hired in to an executive director role where she discovered leadership excited her. After marrying her dentist, David Maloley, in 2002 their adventures continued in Europe while Dr. David Maloley served as an Army officer in the dental corps. Karah worked as a civilian contractor for the Army in Germany and with the VA while living in Italy. When David was done with his military career in 2007, Dr. Karah joined the Founders Team and served as Chief Knowledge Officer of EQMentor, a professional development company focused on mentoring and emotional intelligence. During this entrepreneurial adventure she completed her Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix in 2009. Congratulations on that. That is amazing.
In search of a more European way of life, Karah and David moved to the Vail and Beaver Creek resort area in Colorado in the fall of 2009 to start a dental practice, Vail Valley Dental Care. Their family grew by one on May 2010 with the birth of their son, Bennett. Interfacing with dental patients and realizing the remarkable response to heartfelt care inspired Karah to create a workbook, "Where is the Love? The 52 Step Dental Practice Customer Care Make-Over System."
Email me the link to that and I'll push it out on social media today. That's good for everyone.
Karah Maloley: Thank you.
Howard Farran: In 2012 Karah began working with the Vail Leadership Institute, now called Vail Center. She hosts a mastermind group, leads workshops and facilitates retreats. In the summer of 2013, David and Karah started The Relentless Dentist podcast and I was the lucky guy to be David's first guest. And when he asked me to be on it I had no idea what he was even talking about. I had no idea what a podcast was.
On November 2013, Karah at 39 years old had a major health incident and suffered a stroke while at David's dental office. Luckily she was found by David in his admin office and she received two stents in her internal corraded artery at the hospital in Denver. She is so proud to be a stroke survivor and able to speak again. In 2016 Karah decided it was time to match up leadership and dentistry. Leading Dentists is her podcast and she just completed a new online course, Being a Dental Boss.
Man, you don't look like a woman who had a stroke.
Karah Maloley: Aw, thank you, thank you.
Howard Farran: You look amazing. But, I'll tell you, you know I've said this so many times I shouldn't repeat myself but it seems like we were all led to believe that if we went to college and we learned calculus and physics and chemistry and biology that it'd be the keys to the universe and we'd be the kings of all this information. And then you realize that, I'll be a dentist 30 years this month, that I never use any of that stuff one time. And the keys to the universe is actually figuring out how to get along and play in the sandbox with all the other monkeys. And the monkeys are the greatest thing in life, I'd hate to be born on Earth the only sapin on Earth. So, you know, the humans are the greatest thing but they're absolutely the greatest source of all your stress and problems. So, I mean, what you got a Doctorate in is 10 times more important than math, chemistry, physics and biology. Do you agree or disagree?
Karah Maloley: I agree with that. You know it's funny because I have my counseling degree, I'm sorry, my master's degree is in counseling and I do leadership. So they're a lot the same. So I think it's more about using your heart and your head at the same time. And you have to use it pretty much every single day with the people that are around you. No matter where you are.
Howard Farran: And you know, when I talk to dentists I say, "What keep you up at night?" It's never their bonding agents.
Karah Maloley: No.
Howard Farran: Never their root canal technique. It's either the staff or the patients. I mean this morning, even on my cell phone my phone's been lighting up with this guy having a blow-out problem with his office manager. And you're reading this stuff and you're just thinking, "God that's gotta be the worst pain. It's gotta be, you know, it's crazy." So how do you ... The dentist, it's natural selection. You can't get in dental school unless you were the nerd who sat in the library and got As in calculus and physics and chemistry. If you were the well rounded person in a fraternity and all that stuff you probably never would've got in. So, dental school, med school, law school attracts all these introvert, geek, engineer scientists.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And then they come out and they have to be a people person.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: How do you get them to have a doctorate in people instead of a doctorate in dentistry?
Karah Maloley: Well first of all I think they need to be interested in it. And so that's where, I think, there's a little bit of gap between where the person is and what they need. And so I think one of the things in my course that I love so much is about assertive communication. And that's a win-win. So how can you say what you need for yourself and for the practice? I think that's difficult but you need to know how to stick up for the practice because that's why you're there. You're there to stick up for the practice.
Howard Farran: I've never heard that term. Assertive communication. What does that really mean?
Karah Maloley: Well I think it's more like being able to say what you actually need. Sometimes it's not what people want to hear but, you know, you want to be able to say what you need. So, for example, can I have vacation? Well tell me when it is. And so, one time someone asked me at our office, "Can I have vacation?" And I said, "I don't know. If you fill the sheet out then I'll let you know if you can or can not have it." Right? So you have to have they systems and then be able to say no. That's the hardest part is sometimes you have to say no. And you have to say, "This isn't working for the practice." Not for me, because you are, again, you're the CEO. That's what people need to understand. When you are the boss of a practice or any organization, you're the CEO.
Howard Farran: True or false, women dentists say, "Well the man dentists says it, it's just an uncomfortable conversation, if a woman dentist says it she's a bitch." I have, I've heard that 20 times from women dentists. Do you think that's in her head or do you think that's in the staff's mind too?
Karah Maloley: You mean on, with the women dentists or with the male dentists?
Howard Farran: Yeah, a lot of women as leaders, even outside of dentistry in business say that when the man says it he's tough. When the woman says it she's a bitch.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: Do you see those stereotypes or not really?
Karah Maloley: I see what you're saying. Again, I think dentistry is becoming more of a equal ground for women and men being dentists. So I think over time that will go away. But, again, when you look at the companies and you look at people who are running practices, who are they? It's still a lot of white males. It's funny cause, like recently there was something on TV and it showed congress. I'm like, "Uh oh," you know it's not really a spectrum of people but I think that's changing now.
Howard Farran: Well you know I grew up with five sisters so I saw the sexism massively within my own home.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: Like we lived 100 yards from the Arkansas river and I was allowed to swim in it 24/7 and fish. My sisters couldn't go within 10 foot of the edge. And I remember at 10 years old swimming in that river looking at my five sisters with their little house on the prairie dresses on wondering why can they not get in the river?
Karah Maloley: That is interesting.
Howard Farran: So I have always in my 30 years of voting, the first I voted for was Ronald Regan in 1980. But any time I had a female and a male at any seat I just, sometimes I had to cover my nose, but I always voted for the woman, I even did in the last election, I voted for Hillary.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: Because my granddaughter Taylor, I don't want Taylor growing up and seeing that every President of the United States was a male.
Karah Maloley: Right, yeah.
Howard Farran: I just don't like that. Even though I thought Hillary was, you know, I'm not going to get in to politics or sex or religion or violence or any of that. But still, it's a different world. So, you put up an online course with 10 modules, where is that course at?
Karah Maloley: It's on Being a Dental Boss. So I kind of sent that link to you so I hope you can see that as well. I think it's on the sheet that I sent over. But, it's basically a course that really ... You know, more so than anything I think that leadership is a journey. It's just like parenting. When you first have your child you're like, "Uh oh, I don't know what to do here." And then over time you kind of get it. And so leadership is about the same. You know, you have to learn how to do things. You have to understand how to talk to people. But over time, once you experience it, it gets better. But I think there are certain things that doctors really need to know about when they are in their practice.
Howard Farran: So, is it Being a Boss Dental or?
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: Being a Boss Dental.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: What's that?
Karah Maloley: Yes, that's correct. So let me see when I [crosstalk 00:08:57]
Howard Farran: Okay, being a boss. Okay, I'm opening up your website now.
Karah Maloley: There you go.
Howard Farran: Being a Dental Boss, a step-by-step guide to learning the leadership skills to unite your team. If my homies go to beingabossdental.com what are they going to find?
Karah Maloley: So basically you can see here there's a little video from me. I'm looking at it as well. There's a video from me and there's also ... It kind of tells you what I'm focusing on. I really want ... Have you ever, let me ask you a question, have you ever heard or seen the show The Profit? On CNBC?
Howard Farran: Yes.
Karah Maloley: So Marcus Lemonis, so he is a little [crosstalk 00:09:36]
Howard Farran: Say his name again, Marcos what?
Karah Maloley: Marcus Lemonis. It's called The Profit. The show is amazing.
Howard Farran: Yeah, Marcus Lemonis.
Karah Maloley: Yeah, yeah.
Howard Farran: What is Lemonis? He kind of looks Italian.
Karah Maloley: Um, I want to say [crosstalk 00:09:47]
Howard Farran: You've lived in Italy.
Karah Maloley: Maybe he's Lebanese or something like that.
Howard Farran: Oh really?
Karah Maloley: Well, I don't know about that. I'm not sure.
Howard Farran: He has a lot of uncomfortable conversations. I love that show. [crosstalk 00:09:57]
Karah Maloley: Oh I love it.
Howard Farran: I love Shark Tank and The Profit.
Karah Maloley: Yeah. So what he says, he focuses on three things, people, products and processes. So when I looked at that I'm like that's what dentists need to understand. They need to make sure it's very simple for their practice. So I think it's three things, it's the foundation. You need to know your mission, vision, you know your, the culture of your practice. That needs to come first. You need to know your processes, your systems within the practice. And then your people so they understand how to do their work. But again, I think your people are your best resource that you have. Sometimes we don't think about that but you need them. You need them to really be on your team. So with this, as well, when you go to the site you can see there's 10 modules that I have created and I think ... I think they're amazing. And again I'm looking at this more so from my leadership perspective but also I help my husband in his practice for a few years and you know, you just want, you can see what the team actually needs.
Howard Farran: Yeah, yeah. So how long is each of these 10 modules?
Karah Maloley: They're anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes. And there's [crosstalk 00:11:05]
Howard Farran: And how much does the 10 module course cost?
Karah Maloley: It costs $997.
Howard Farran: $997, so 1,000 bucks.
Karah Maloley: Yup.
Howard Farran: And each module, the length is between what period of time?
Karah Maloley: 20 and 30 minutes.
Howard Farran: 20 to 30 minutes? So do you, now do you recommend that the dentist stays home and watches this with his spouse or do you think this would be best to have a staff meeting? I like the time, 20 to 30 minutes cause you get an hour at lunch.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And you can send someone to go get some pizzas or Subways and it usually takes 10 minutes to get all in to the room. And then you got to kind of break up 10 minutes before the first patient shows up. Do you think this is a staff meeting event? Or is this more a doctor/spouse event?
Karah Maloley: It could be, it could be. I would want the doctor to listen to it first. Because it's basically telling them how to be more accountable. How to be more assertive. How to, you know, know what your leadership style is. So a lot of people really like servant leadership because dentists, they're super, super, super nice, right? I mean they're like some of the best people I've ever met. But also, you want to own your practice. And so, some of that stuff, your staff knows that, they think like, "Well he won't decide so we will." So I want the dentists to really think about them being the CEO of their practice. Because it's a lot of responsibility but it really goes back to you.
Howard Farran: You know it's so funny how you just non-nonchalantly say, "You want to own your practice." But all the people in corporate think that all the dentists are all going to go work for them.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And what's funny about that is ... Then I turn around and say, "Well what is your number one problem? Is it marketing, sales? What is your number one problem?" And they go, "I can't keep my dentists. You know? Most of our stores we can't keep a dentist for more than a year." Its' like oh so everything I see, no one wants to work ... No one went to school eighth years to be your boss.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: They want to own you dentist ... So if you're driving to work right now and you're working at corporate and you're a 27 year old woman dentist and she's listening to you right now and she says, "Oh my gosh." She goes ... And the millennials are different. Like, I graduated May 11, 30 years ago this month. And I had my office opened September 21st. But they seem to overthink everything. They want to work a year, two years, three years.[crosstalk 00:13:22]
Karah Maloley: Sure, yeah.
Howard Farran: Think about it. I mean, you know, I'm old school, if you want to learn how to swim just go to the swimming pool and dive in.
Karah Maloley: Sure.
Howard Farran: Because you're not going to drown. And if you buy a dental office not even .4% of those loans go into default.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: So what would you say to a 27 year old woman dentist driving to work right now saying, "Do you think this would help me go from being an employee to owning my own dental office?"
Karah Maloley: Well I think so because again, no ... You tell me if I'm wrong because you know the dental schools more than I do. But no one talks to you about how to be a boss, how to run meetings, how to say ... There's two questions I think you should say, "Can you do this for me? By when?" Hats' it. You need to delegate. Say, "When can you do it?" And "By when?" So it's just things like that. Now, a lot of people, you know, that happens in corporate America all the time. I'm doing the project, I'll have it done by two weeks. But again, you have to follow up. You have to say, "Okay I'm going to give you a month to do that. You know, check in within two weeks." Again, this is stuff that happens all the time in, you know, in organizations. But I want, I want the people to think like a CEO so they go in to that mind set. And again, so this doctor that you're talking about, I want her to feel like she knows those skills and knows how to utilize them as well.
Howard Farran: It seems like so many of the dentists ... You also said that, you know, "Dentists are so nice, so sweet." I really enjoy my profession. I mean all my colleagues have eight to twelve years of college. They're all readers. They all chose a field to serve people, healthcare, healing hands. As opposed to other professions, I just love them. But, they seem to want to make all their employees their friends. I mean they just can't seem to have an uncomfortable conversation. I mean they could walk in there and the hygienist shows up 10 minutes late and they'll say, "Oh well how was your evening last night?" Say, "What do you mean how was her evening last night? She's 10 minutes late."
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: You know, are you her new boyfriend? Are you a boss? I mean, and the other thing I see in dentistry is nothing ever gets done because they'll say, "Well the girls up front have to do all these things." And there's like two or three girls up front.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: So when there's two or three people in charge they don't ever get done. But walking up to someone and saying, "Karah, when are you going to run that report? When can you have it by?" Just you.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: As opposed to just walking up to the front, "Hey if anybody gets some time, can someone run this report?" And then no one runs the report.
Karah Maloley: Right. That's so true. But people don't know how say, "This is what I need from you." So again, you know, when you're a boss you tell people what to do and you want them to respond. You know, that's usually how it is. It's the same way with your dad. If your dad says, "Do this," you're like well it's my dad so I should do it. In some ways it's a little bit more like that. But again, you have to have the systems so that people know what to do. Usually on a new patient visit, for example, it's about the same, right? You know, when you go through the processes it's about the same. And that's really what I want dentists to understand. You want to have processes throughout your practice so it's not, so you don't know what to do it should always be the same. Every month should be almost exactly the same.
Howard Farran: So, was David trainable on this? Did you get him whipped in to shape? Or is he doing dentistry all day while you do this?
Karah Maloley: No, I actually don't help that much in the practice right now. I work more from home. But again, I'm really trying to create leading dentists ... To really work with dentists because, you know I think, I like the idea of mentoring people. And again, once I see how David runs the practice and how people respond to him. Again, he likes to be a leadership person but he's also very good at marketing and things like that. So, you know, once you get in to more of the business world, I think it's amazing what can really happen. So, yeah, he's a good mentor for me as well.
Howard Farran: So module three, Build Your Team. Your team needs a few things, being connected to the leader, learning, systems, evaluations. Talk about module three.
Karah Maloley: So, I think, again, I think your team needs to really understand what you vision is. We need to know where we're going and how we get there. And so, you know, I think I want the practice owners to really assume, like once you know the vision, get your team on board. And I'm not sure that we're good about doing that. So if there's certain things that we need to do within the practice or if we need to know we need to be better about asking for Invisalign because now we're doing Invisalign. You need to get your team on board with you. So it's not telling them what to do it's actually getting them to have ideas. Everyone in your practice has ideas. And usually the person who you don't ask for their ideas, they probably have great ideas.
Howard Farran: Yeah and a lot of the dental office staff meetings the dentist does all the talking. And it's a lecture. And I always say, "If this is your staff meeting then you need to stop going to your staff meetings. You need to let your staff ..." You know General Patton, four star general in World War II, used to say, "Just give them the objective. Don't tell them how to do it because they'll always blow your mind at how innovative they are to do it."
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: Just tell them the goal, don't tell them how. And dentist staff meetings are usually lectures.
Karah Maloley: Right. I think that's true. You know it's funny cause my husband and I were at this conference this last weekend. And it was amazing because it really put the ownness on the people there as opposed to me standing up here telling what to do. So I'm like that's how it should be. It should be more of an interactive thing. And that's how leadership is. You know? It goes back and forth. They can lead as well. So, in some ways, we're talking about here, I can't remember which module it is, but it's called A Self-Managing Team. So that they know how to run themselves. And you happen to be the boss and together you can make it all happen.
Howard Farran: So, module four, Accountability. Who are we holding accountable? It should always be something the leader is doing. Being accountable. Where do you think dentists fail on accountability?
Karah Maloley: Well, I think that everyone needs to say it's their fault. So, a long time ago I read this blog, I can't remember what it was called. But basically this guy was saying he was a boss and he created this manual for ... And he was writing it out and he didn't really like it. And then he realized, "Why am I blaming other people? Isn't it me?" So again, like my husband used to say this, "We should point two thumbs at ourselves." So, if it didn't work right, whose fault was it?
So start here. Start here with you. And again, when you're the boss I think you really have to look at the practice and, again, we need to not make this personal, cause you were just saying that just a little bit ago. But, you need to make sure you talk about the practice, not me as a person. So that's how I think things really get done more. Start here and then see how people around you can start here as well.
Howard Farran: I think it is absolutely one of the most hilarious things about Homosapiens that they spend all their time watching politics and back seat driving, you know, Washington D.C., they're critics of everywhere. And then you look at their house, like, "Okay, you've got five piles of dirty laundry. Your dishes are dirty. Your kids are running crazy. In your office, you don't know any of your numbers, any of ..." I mean, so they never look at the man in the mirror. If hey would spend just spend just 1% of the time they're judging and critiquing everyone else they have no idea what's going on. [crosstalk 00:21:03]
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And just focus on the man in the mirror. They never want to ... Who was the general that said it's easier to conquer 1,000 people than to conquer yourself?
Karah Maloley: I think that's true. And also just to say, "It was me. It started with me. This is what I did." So no matter what ... And I'm assuming if it happened in my house it was my fault. Right? Because this is my house. Even if it's my son it's still my fault because I'm raising him. So again, if we look at our own selves it's amazing what can happen. But you have to be okay with the feedback you get from, internally. We do it all the time. But can we do something with that?
Howard Farran: It's true, whenever my four boys mess up I always think it's my fault that I didn't have a vasectomy in dental school. And, you know, if I could just go back [crosstalk 00:21:51]
Karah Maloley: You can't.
Howard Farran: And do that vasectomy, I'd do it on my self with a scalpel, with everything. Sorry Ry. So module five, which we started with. A term I'd never heard before, Assertive Communication. Communications need to be assertive so you can find a win-win. Let's discover the right and wrong ways to communicate with your employees. I love that saying, "Successful people are the ones who are willing to have the highest number of uncomfortable conversations."
Karah Maloley: Yeah. There's something else in here that I talk about having, being able to create a frog. So, basically [crosstalk 00:22:24]
Howard Farran: Create a what?
Karah Maloley: A frog. A frog.
Howard Farran: A frog? I thought that's what you said. And I thought, "She didn't say frog did she?"
Karah Maloley: Yeah, I did. So the funny thing is is that if you have something to tell someone, start with F first. It's horrible to say, "And well by the way, you know, you were late five times. And we'll see you tomorrow." Don't start with that. Start with that right away so we can talk more about it. Again, you need to know when to talk to your team and be assertive in person, face-to-face, one-on-one and a team. Because sometimes we don't need to be assertive to people when there's a team around them. Again, you need to, you know ... And again, when you have girls, girls think differently than boys do. So again, just understand the best way to communicate with people. But do it more so than you think you should. Because, and I don't want the dentists to ruminate too much over things, when you have your frog just do it more so in the morning.
Howard Farran: So you just said you think girls think differently than boys. If I said that I'd be a sexist pig but since you're a woman you can say it. But I'm really interested in that because women are making well over 90% of all the dental appointments.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And they're well over 90% of all the employees in dentistry. If you were a male dentist, what should they ... How do women think differently and what should they know about that to make them better communicators with their staff and patients?
Karah Maloley: Well I think that women are more planners. So I think, you know, if anyone is really doing anything with the calendar for the house, I think, sometimes it's more women. But again, it's shifting in who works and who doesn't work. So, again, sometimes it is males that do more of that stuff. But if it's a woman I think you need to be more kind to them and be compassionate. Like, you know, those words seem like what you should say in dentistry, but again, if you're kind to people and you want to know that we want to work on this together, that's the whole assertiveness stuff, we want to work on this together. It's more of a dialogue. That's a leadership term that I love, is to be more a dialogue. So whether that's the first phone call or when you're in the practice it's more making sure they understand what you're saying.
Howard Farran: You know with the brilliant idea of Ronald Reagan's free trade when everyone said, "Okay it's free but it's not going to be fair." Cause the governments of Japan and Korea starting subsidizing all these industries so GE had to just shut down television manufacturing. Since we've gone into free trade we've lost 50 million manufacturing jobs. And so the data of men pouring in to healthcare is huge. Healthcare is going to be 17% of the economy. I have a male office manager now. I have a male dental assistant. You go in to the hospital and there's just males popping up everywhere. I think that now half the dental students are women, where they used be all men. But I really think 20 years from now men might be a quarter or a third of all healthcare employees.
Karah Maloley: Well I'm hoping so. I mean I think it's always better when you have both women and men in the same area working together. I think that's always great. It's good too.
Howard Farran: And who do you think is crazier, men or women?
Karah Maloley: It just depends on what you're saying. I don't know, that kind of goes back and forth. Because women, I think, like to talk a little bit more. But I think men like to solve the problem. Both are good actually. Because sometimes you need to talk about it in order to get to the right, you know, answer.
Howard Farran: We do have a data point on that. The scientists have shown that women say five words to a man's one. And even to the other species, a girl chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, gibbons, they're still making five noises for every one the man makes. So they are, they are. They're more ... They like to communicate a lot more.
Now module six, A Clear Vision with Your Team. A vision for the practice should include being sustainable, team culture, coordination.
Karah Maloley: So, again, I really want the ... Often times we have a vision for the practice but do we get people to go, to join with us on what that looks like? So, every year we have a meeting at the beginning of the year. We talk about our vision and maybe some value points that we all want to really speak upon how the ... The year that we want to have. And really to say, like if I'm great at communication ... For example, I like to hug people. But, I mean, it's funny cause when I'm in the practice I cant' wait to see my friends, they feel like our friends. And I hug them and see about their family or that sort of thing. So, again, it just goes along with your ... I want your values to go along with the vision of the practice. And how do we make that come together? Because when you have an authentic practice, people love being there. And they mean that. You know, I won't hug everyone. But still, when I do that I think it's because they know I like them and I hope they like me back.
Howard Farran: But you know, it's so amazing because these dentists truly believe that if they go to the Pankey Institute, and Kois and Sphere and learn the best dentistry in the world. You build that and they will come. And it's just so absolutely not true. When I go into a dental office you can just feel success in a second. People are hugging, smiling, laughing. And look at the patient. 30 years of this stuff. They never know who did any of the dentistry. They never remember the dentistry. I'm like, "Who did this gold crown back here?" They say, "I have no idea." I go, "Wow, that's pretty cool. Some dentist crawled in your mouth, did a gold crown and you don't even remember." And almost every time they say, "Well you did this crown on me and this filling and it hurts." And they come in and I say, "Okay, well I did the crown over here and you're pointing down here." So they never remember the dentistry they only remember how you made them feel. And the dentist that is pressing the flesh, hugging the patients, walking them out, greeting them, they have million dollar practices. And then that quiet little scientist in the back room doing perfect surgery under a microscope [crosstalk 00:28:41]
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And he can't pay his bills.
Karah Maloley: So I do want to say, I don't want people to feel like they have to be someone different. You know? So I want people to feel like if you don't know how to talk to people, find a way to talk to people or ask them some questions. Again, most people when you ask them a question, when you say, "Hey Howard, how are your kids?" I asked you something like that already today. And you told me. So it's not like, there wasn't anything that, you know, it's an easy question. Tell me more about your kids. Then I can stop and allow you to tell me about them. So, again, it's not really about what we're saying it's more about how we ... The experience that we're creating. Do they feel like they want to be back there next time? That's what you're trying to create. And if you don't like to talk, find people who like to talk around you.
Howard Farran: Yeah. And dentists are naturally introverts.
Karah Maloley: Yes.
Howard Farran: And I'd much rather train an introvert how to be a Hollywood actor and perform on stage than to try start with an extrovert and try to get them to shut up.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: I mean, you know, you can't shut up an extrovert but I tell every introvert in the world, I said, "You would not believe how many of these Hollywood movie stars are not anything you think they are." Some of them are painfully shy, recluse, basically live in a cave. And then when it's lights, camera, action they're magnificent. So you can learn how to perform. Disney does it. All those characters are not allowed to talk because if you're a little Korean girl and you thought Mickey Mouse spoke Korean and you said something in English you just blew up her whole, shattered her whole image.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: And they have all these little hidden doors called off stage. So when he's got to pull off the mask, breathe, get some water, go to the bathroom, whatever. They just sneak off and they're off stage. But I mean, you have to be on Broadway. You gotta perform.
Karah Maloley: Sure.
Howard Farran: Whether you like it or not you can do it. And I love your module seven, Great Job Team. Your team is great so how do you celebrate them? It's crucial to recognize and [inaudible 00:30:41] your team. I think so many ... They always talked about in MBA school how Fortune 500 companies never take time to slow down and celebrate their advancement. And these guys work real hard, they reach a goal and the first thing the CEO does is raise the bar 15% and talks about this next initiative. And you've got to slow down and smell the roses and celebrate your victories no matter how small.
Karah Maloley: I think that's very true. And especially, you know, again, if women, I think if you're looking more towards women, they like to celebrate. You know? I mean who usually plans birthday parties? You know? A lot of women can't wait to celebrate their son's birthday or daughter's birthday. And again, so there's a reason for that but it's also so that you can feel excited about what your practice is doing. And a lot ... I don't know how many people really get testimonials, but I mean those are the things you can bring in and say, "Hey Katie good job for doing this and someone said this about you. Now that's amazing. Yes it's on our website but really, make sure that people understand that we love that you're doing so much in our practice and we want to celebrate that with you."
So it can be tiny or you can do massages, you can do a lot of different things. Right now we have something called Girls Night Out. At one point in time we had a boy working for us, he came as well, too. But, you know, the doctor? Dr. Maloley pays for this and he sends everyone out. He says the next day is the best day ever at the practice. Cause we go and do like painting or wine tasting, something like that. But it's amazing how that really gets the team to really be more united.
Howard Farran: Huh. I would like to take my team out to wine tasting. I bet that'd get pretty crazy quick. Module eight, Systems. Time to create SOP for your ... Is it standard operating procedures?
Karah Maloley: Practices.
Howard Farran: Or standard operating practices? SOP? Standard operating practices for your operation. Once they start working together opportunities will develop for the team. You started with talking about Marcus Lemonis.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And his three Ps, people, product, processes.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: Systems, processes, how do you think dentists do with their systems and processes?
Karah Maloley: Well, maybe it just depends on the people that you experience stuff with. I think Sandy Purdue is really good at that. You know there are people who can really talk about the processes. But again, what I was saying before about how your practice needs to work exactly the same every single month? So you should have timeframes when you're doing reports, when you know exactly what's happening. When you're talking to your accountant. And again, same day like with your new patient visit. We should know exactly when they come in, are they having a tour or not? What do we tell them? Is should be almost exactly the same.
But again, maybe it just depends on how the people are that are working there. If they can do the processes how you want them to. But you have to have the team members to come in to those systems and do them because it takes maybe a little bit to learn up front but once you have it, it's amazing how it can happen for you. And for the dentist as well.
Howard Farran: Yeah, have you guys used Sandy Purdue?
Karah Maloley: We have, yeah.
Howard Farran: Yeah, so have I. Love her to death. She's got an amazing podcast too.
Karah Maloley: Yeah, she [crosstalk 00:34:03]
Howard Farran: So you started a podcast. Let me get the link to it. Dentistleadership.com. That's the website.
Karah Maloley: Leading Dentists, yeah that's the [crosstalk 00:34:14]
Howard Farran: So what's the difference? You have two websites. Beingabossdental.com.
Karah Maloley: Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: And then this one is dentistleadership.com. What would my homies find on dentistleadership.com by Dr. Karah Malorey?
Karah Maloley: Well.
Howard Farran: Maloley.
Karah Maloley: Maloley. Good job. I guess, really that's the website really for me. I do some coaching and I, that book that I was talking about before, the "Where is the Love?" That's on there as well. So there's some products [crosstalk 00:34:44]
Howard Farran: How much is that book?
Karah Maloley: I believe it's $140.
Howard Farran: So it's 140 bucks. For the price of one occlusal filling.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And how do they get that book? You just put in your name, email address, subscribe or?
Karah Maloley: Yeah, you can just buy it. It's basically a pdf that will just come to you. That's something you can share with your team. And again, that's really based on what we do at our practice because it's really about, I call it love, because I think that's what people want to experience. They want to feel loving relationships from people that are really around them.
Howard Farran: Ryan, where is the love? I'm just not feeling it Ryan. So Where is the Love? The 52 step dental practice customer care makeover system by Karah Maloley, MSDM. What's MS, Master's in Science, what's DM? Doctorate in Management?
Karah Maloley: Yep.
Howard Farran: That is a ... Tell David that he married up.
Karah Maloley: I will tell him.
Howard Farran: Most dentists don't. The women dentists say ... That's what I ... The most respect I have for women dentists is three out of ten married a male dentist in their class. And the other seven out of ten all married a man with a good job. Then I look at my male homies. Eight out of ten married the hottest waitress out of the Waffle House.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And she'll never have a job and she'll destroy $10,000 a month until he hangs himself on the ceiling fan. And, so uh, how's that for being jaded? So, you ... I'm looking at the program bonuses, create big bold dreams for next year. Personalized advice to overcome your biggest obstacles. This is an amazing deal. How long have you been working on this?
Karah Maloley: You know I really just started this year. I have to give some props to my husband because he kind of said like, "I think I want you to go out and use your doctorate outside of our practice." So really last fall I kind of stepped away from the practice and then I've been really creating my course and setting up my website. And, you know, I think no matter what, I think dentists need mentors. And I know there are a lot of programs that really want them, want their team to be better. But I think you have to start with the dentists. Because if you don't look at their focus and what is troubling them or what they're, what's difficult for them, you can't get past it with the team. I think it's good to work on both at the same time.
Howard Farran: So what is your ... Your podcast called Leading Dentists.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: And is that on your website? Is it on iTunes?
Karah Maloley: It is on the website, you can look at it one there. But it's on iTunes as well.
Howard Farran: Did you load it on to Dentaltown?
Karah Maloley: No, I just realized it wasn't on there.
Howard Farran: Oh my gosh. I gotta ... I'm so proud of that because the reason I started podcasting is because, you know I did the first post on Dentaltown in '98. Now a quarter million dentists have posted five million times. I did the first blog. I did the first online ... I just start the genre.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: And so I started the podcasting genre and now there's 39 podcasts on there including your husband.
Karah Maloley: I know, yeah.
Howard Farran: And look at this, the Dental Success blog with Mark Costes has 79,000 views. How to Open a Dental Office, check this out, How to Open a Dental Office blog has 673,558 views on Dentaltown. [crosstalk 00:38:14]
Karah Maloley: It's pretty [crosstalk 00:38:14]
Howard Farran: Podcasts are huge, they're killing radio.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: Why would you want to commute an hour to work and listen to 30 minutes of commercials and then a few songs that you have better ones on your smart phone. And blogging is just huge. In fact I'm just ... And no one wants to listen to the same person everyday. I mean there's probably people that if they heard me one more time they'd jump. You know?
Karah Maloley: I just have to say, my podcast is on Wednesdays and it's only like five or six minutes. So it's very, it's kind of tiny. But it's leadership tips that you can kind of utilize. So that's what it is.
Howard Farran: So yeah. So you have, Create a Customer, Friendship versus Boundaries, Emotional Intelligence, Critical Thinking, It's a Process, Do Good, Connections, Details, Training Two, Foresight, Vacations, Are You Waiting, Networking, Leading Dentists: Conversation with Fred Joyal. I mean you had Fred Joyal on your podcast before me. At this point, oh my God, Ryan delete the podcast at this point. No, I love Fred, I love him so much. Leading Dentist, Leading Dentist Dedication. Have you had your husband on your show? That's what I want to know.
Karah Maloley: I haven't. I should. I should do that.
Howard Farran: You have not had your husband?
Karah Maloley: I have not.
Howard Farran: Have you had Fred Joyal? So why is your husband and myself still talking to you? I can't figure this out. Are we, are David and I so low self-esteem that there's no amount of abuse that we just don't keep taking?
So, I think the genre ... You said your podcasts are, how long are they? Five to?
Karah Maloley: Five or six minutes. They're pretty tiny but I just want people to understand what leadership kind of looks like. It's a journey. Leadership is a journey. So you have to assume that ... And you can see leadership everywhere you go. Like if you're in an airport you can see when people are leading correctly. You know, you can see it. And it happens when airports ... You know, when things happen in airports you can see when it goes good and when it doesn't go good. So no matter where you are if you want to be a leader just look around you and see what's happening. You can learn from good and bad mistakes, no matter what. Like both ways you can learn how to be a leader.
Howard Farran: Well you know what I'm thinking is next year ... We just had our 15th annual Towning meeting last week [crosstalk 00:40:37]
Karah Maloley: I saw that, yeah.
Howard Farran: In Vegas. And we're done with that run because basically two things are planned. The millennials don't think going to a casino with smoking and gambling and martinis is as fun as Orlando. And then number two, the density. Three out of four Americans live east of the Mississippi river and it's so far for three out of four dentists to get all the way to Las Vegas. So we're going to have it in Orlando. But if you and your husband both have a podcast you guys should lecture there next year. You should have a ... I think that would be a really good lecture.
Karah Maloley: I would love to lecture there actually. I like to speak a lot. I think it's fun.
Howard Farran: Does your husband, does he like to speak too?
Karah Maloley: Yeah, yeah. Really in the last year he's been speaking like quite a bit. He's good at it too. He's good cause he'll tell you stories that mean something. So, yeah.
Howard Farran: And where's he speaking? Dental societies? Dental meetings? Where?
Karah Maloley: He spoke, let's see, in Nashville. There's a podcasters ... What is it called? For the podcasters there was a [crosstalk 00:41:45]
Howard Farran: Yeah there was an event in Nashville.
Karah Maloley: Yeah, that's what it was. He spoke there and then he spoke at maybe one other thing with Jamie Emos. He spoke there, he and I spoke there together. So yeah.
Howard Farran: They wanted me to speak there and I wanted to but they usually book me to speak usually like a year in advance.
Karah Maloley: Sure.
Howard Farran: So I was speaking in Tulsa, Oklahoma that day.
Karah Maloley: Okay.
Howard Farran: And I think they threw it together, I think they gave me about a three months heads up. But yeah, that's, it's always so fun when you think you're helping someone along with their journey.
So who was your ... These homies are trying to work. Who was your best customer? Who are you helping the most? Is it the young dentists? The old dentists? Who is your best customer?
Karah Maloley: I think it might be everyone because, and you've been in dentistry for a long time. But I think in leadership you can always learn something from someone. For example, so there was a guy, I'll mention his name. His name is Bob Anarack. So he used to live here in our area. And he's an amazing guy. And he had a house here and I was talking to him. He used to be involved with the Vail Leadership Center. And so I was saying to him, I said, "I can't wait to learn something from you." And he said, "I can't wait to learn something from you."
So I think, you know, even if you feel like you know what you're doing, I think if you assume you don't know anything and see what can happen, and this is with your staff, this is with, you know, leaders like you that people are looking at. I think if you assume you can learn something no matter your age or whatever I think you can always be a better leader. But, again, I really want the dentists coming out of dental school to get in to what they need to be in order to be a great leader.
Howard Farran: And do you think they're covering that in dental school these days?
Karah Maloley: I don't think so. Are they? Do you know that?
Howard Farran: I don't think that but I think the one greatest change ... First of all I don't like it when people throw dental schools under a bus cause I couldn't imagine taking 100 kids off the street and in four years turning them loose with a license to do root canals and crowns. Cause the dental students always graduate and complain they didn't' learn anything. But they did and they have a license. But what I'm proud of the most is that 30 years ago all the dental schools were like a boot camp, a Marine deal. I mean they just purposely went out of the way to make your journey difficult because that was the Army, Navy, Marine dental school mentality. And now so many of those dental schools, their leadership at like Jack Dillenberg at ATSU, like Art Dugoni might have blazed at trail at U of P. Where they're starting to realize that they are our future alumni, these are our future colleagues. Let's start showing them some decency, some love, some respect. So at least the amount of dysfunction at dental school is down.
I mean I'll say this candidly, I mean when I was in dental school there were kids in my class that if they could have killed the dean and got away with it, they would have done it.
Karah Maloley: Hmm.
Howard Farran: I mean the only reason they didn't is cause they were afraid they'd get caught and go to jail for a long time. Now you have people who actually walk in to the dean's office and shake their hand, go to lunch, have dinner. I mean, you know, it's a lot more fun and humane in dental schools these days. I think that's a huge generational change.
Karah Maloley: Well ... And I think though, I think there's ... My husband went and spoke to the CU, I don't know if they have a little, like a mastermind group or something like that more around business. And they asked my husband to come and speak because of the Real Vail Dentist podcast. And so that was really amazing because they wanted to know more about leadership and how we can think more about the business. Because, again, there's two things that you need to be great at. And this is what you learn in dental school, how to be a clinical dentist. This is where you're good.
But then you have to be a leader as well. If you're going to own a practice you need to have those two come together.
Howard Farran: And if you're a really great dentist and you have no leadership skills then you really should go work for someone else. [crosstalk 00:45:48]
Karah Maloley: I think that's true.
Howard Farran: I mean so many people say, "Do you think I should own?" And I love how you start it. And I said, "How do you get them to learn the people stuff?" And the first thing you said is, "Well, they've got to be interested." I mean you can lead a horse to water, you can't make them drink. I mean, you know, the minute you discover this is important and you're interested and you want to be a better leader, you want to be a better boss. The minute you acknowledge it and want it you're on your way.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And the people that don't acknowledge it, they just want to come in, do their root canals, after each one go back in the private office and shut the door and at five o'clock go home, they really should be associates. And I could give you the name of 100 associates who made, you know, 225 a year working for someone for ten years. But then they decided they want to own their own business and now they make 145 because they don't ... They haven't even got to the point where ... They haven't even recognized yet that they need to be a leader.
Karah Maloley: Well I feel that people around you will tell you that if you have a dialogue. Let's go back to that word because, again, you want people to tell you if you're good at things or if you're bad at things. So maybe don't ask that directly. But just say, "Hey if you guys have some insight for me on how I can be a better leader or how our meetings can be better, you know, should I always run them or not?" You can ask those questions and then people will tell you what they're thinking. But you have to be able to communicate that more back and forth.
Howard Farran: My staff have told me what they think of me so many times my eyes are immune to pepper spray. It is really amazing. You can just like mace me right in the eye and it's like [crosstalk 00:47:20]
Karah Maloley: They're good at talking to you?
Howard Farran: It's like saline. It's like saline. Yeah. So when you talk about on your modules that you're on your, if you go to Beingabossdental.com and buy your workshop it's three major areas of focus, foundation, systems, people. Do you ... What would you give the grade of the average dentist right now? I mean do you think ... Where do you think their weakest area is? I mean what grade would you give the existing dentists that you know on foundations, systems and people. Do you think they're all equally ... What grade would you give dentistry? The sovereign profession of dentistry?
Karah Maloley: It's probably, I assume they're probably somewhat in the middle. So meaning that maybe they understand their foundation, maybe they have a mission statement. But do you act upon that? That's two different things. It's good to have a mission statement but do you act upon that?
So we have a mission statement and there's two words that I love, trusting friendships. So a long time ago we created this before, Dave really created it before we started our practice. But now we hire that way. We want our staff to have trusting friendships. So it's, those two words really are the foundation of our practice.
So I think people are good at that. Maybe people like systems because I think dentists are a little bit more engineer-like. They want to know here, here. Cause that's what happens when you do stuff in the mouth it's this, this, this, you know, same way. So maybe systems are maybe good.
And maybe some people are not good at that but love their people and they have a way to really interact with them and be very charismatic, you know, within the staff and with their patients. So I would say maybe 30% is maybe where practices are. But I want people to get a little bit more ... And make it easy. It's not hard to do it's just you have to take time in to making sure you can go on those three, really, sections.
Howard Farran: I think that is so genius how you fell, not fell, but found the word trusting. Because it's so obvious. Women make all the appointments. Women have huge trust issues. When they go to the store and buy bottled water it's transparent, they know what it is. But when the air conditioner repairman shows up at the house and says, "I can't fix your air conditioner, you need a whole new one." What percent of women say, "I don't even believe you. I just think you're trying to sell me a new air conditioner."
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: When they go get an oil change and they say, "Yeah we do the $20 oil change but you need to change your transmission fluid and get an air filter." What percent of the women don't trust them?
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: All. So when somebody walks up to you and says, "Karah you have two cavities." I mean how do you know? And it all comes down to trust.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And if your staff doesn't trust you and each other and your patients don't trust you they're not ever going to buy something invisible if they don't trust it.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: That's why I want a word-of-mouth referral and keep an existing ... I'd rather spend money on loyalty to keep my existing patients and get word-of-mouth because when I advertise and I get Shirley to walk in cold off the street, doesn't know anybody. And you tell her she needs to change her transmission fluid, get a new air conditioner and she's got three cavities she turns around and walks out the door. You know, so trusting is everything. How do you think dentists could be better at getting trust with their staff and employees? And patients?
Karah Maloley: Well, I think, you know really in our office my husband is really good at, this is what he says about kids, he always says, "You have to look their mental health before you look in their mouth." So what's happening here? Do they need to be sedated or not?
We don't want to make instances where later on they're like, "Well Dr. Maloley, he didn't, er, er." You know? That happens. That's what happens to adults when they come in and say, "I don't like the dentist because this happened when I was four, when that happened when I was five." So that's with kids. But what happens with kids happens with adults too. You have to be able to trust what's going on there. Sometimes my husband will say, "Let's wait on this, we're not going to do everything. Let's start over here and then we'll go forward with this together."
So it's more about, again, it's a dialogue, it's a communication style. It's about, you know, my husband likes to say, "I want to know four things about the person before we go here." So, say, their name, what they do, what they like to ... We live in a resort area so a lot of people like to ski or maybe their son skis. So again, it's about the person first. So yes, they're here because they want to have their teeth worked on. But by a person that they love and kind of like. People like to like their dentist. And they'll tell you when they don't. By the way.
Howard Farran: You said you wanted to move to Vail, Beaver Creek to have a more European way of life and I see that in those four questions you were saying name, occupation, that stuff. You know in my practice, I'm in Phoenix.
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: I want to know four things too. I want to know their name, their occupation, what they served time for, what prison they were in, if they have any prison mates they could refer to our practice. So how was Vail and Beaver Creek a more European life?
Karah Maloley: Really, I don't know. I mean just the people like to vacation here. And so there's a little different mindset when you are on vacation. People like ... So sometimes when you move here people are like, "Well don't live in Vail and Avon because there are a lot of tourists." I love them because most people are very smiley when they're on vacation, right? Everyone loves to be on vacation. So that's what I love about being here because people want to be here and they, sometimes they don't even care what money they spend because they are on vacation. And so I think this is a little bit more, I think Europeans are a little bit better about the work, the fun stuff as opposed to the work hard stuff. We're not good at that in America.
Howard Farran: You know half of America ... It seems like I could divide the country in to two groups. Half of them, when you say dentist, go in to fear, I don't want a shot, don't drill on me, I just don't like that. And the other half are afraid of money, cost, insurance, blah, blah, blah. And you live in the most famous state for the legalization of recreational mariajuana.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: Do you think ... I keep wondering if, who will be the first dentist in Colorado to say, "Hey are you afraid of the dentist? Come in to my office and eat a medical mariajuana brownie, cupcake." Whatever you do down there. Do you think that's around the corner? Or do you think that's not and you think that's a really really bad idea?
Karah Maloley: I've never thought of that but I think a lot of people medicate with that before they come in. Sometimes you can smell it so they ... In some ways that's okay because it's legalized so it's fine here. It's fine in Colorado. So I have never thought about that. I'll have to ask my husband about that.
Howard Farran: And you wouldn't be able to smell an edible. But yeah, I've noticed. I remember when I first got out of school I couldn't figure out what this acetone smell was. And I didn't know if they had kidney disease and liver and I'm asking all these health issues. And I'm like, "Man I'm smelling ketones or acidosis or something." Finally this older doc said, "Dude they're drinking before their appointment because they're scared. What you're smelling is they had a couple belts of whiskey or vodka."
Karah Maloley: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Howard Farran: And then it's like, "Aw, how did I not think about that?" So how long has medical mariajuana been legal there?
Karah Maloley: Legalized, it's been a long time. I think we were one of the first states to do it. Was it like five years or more? I'm not sure. And it's been recreational [crosstalk 00:55:01]
Howard Farran: So what are your thoughts on that? Do you think that's working there? We just had at this last presidential election I think seven more states voted on it. And I live in Arizona it was the only state that voted it down, the other six passed it. But do you think it's a good idea? Or do you think it's a really bad idea?
Karah Maloley: Well I don't know that much about it in terms ... I know it's not good for kids. That's what you kind of hear. I don't know that much about it. But, you know, I think in some ways, I don't feel like there's a lot of issues with it, you know, in our state. I don't do it. But I don't believe that there's a lot of issues with it. I haven't heard of that here in our county. For example, cause usually you kind of know what's happening in the media or that sort of thing, with the police stuff. But I haven't really heard that much about that. So, I don't know. In some ways I wonder if America will be, like everyone will have to kind of go down that path just because it's working. And again, there's money that's coming back within our state because of it.
Howard Farran: Yeah, you know, I used to think during college, I thought this 100 times, that you know, on the weekend if the boys went out and drank beer, they wanted to chase women. And then go to dancing bars and all that. If they drank the hard stuff, like whiskey, they got in fights, fist-fights [crosstalk 00:56:15]
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: Punched holes in walls, wrecked cars. If they smoked pot they stayed home and watched cartoons and ordered Domino's pizza. And I always thought it was so weird that the whiskey stuff, in my 54 laps around the sun, it's the hard liquor that causes most all the carnage I see.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: Like if somebody is on a bottle of whiskey they're driving 80 miles down the street and hit a telephone pole.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: If they're on weed they're driving four miles as hour with their hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock. I mean, you know. I just think boys do the worst on the hard stuff.
Karah Maloley: Yeah.
Howard Farran: And the easiest on that other stuff. Yeah, I don't do it either but I'm sure if I went in Ryan and Zack and Greg's room with a magnifying glass I could probably find something. I could try it.
So back to your three major areas of focus for your Being a Boss Dental module on foundation, systems and people. Which would you think, prioritize those of what do you think is the most important. If you had to get a ... What would be the most important? Foundation, systems or people? If you could arrange them in order of most to least important?
Karah Maloley: I think you have to have a foundation. And again, you know, when you're building your house you have to have a great foundation in order to build up. So I think it's like gum disease, right? You have to make sure down here is okay for your teeth to be okay. I think it's the same way in ... You need to know what your mission statement is and you need to act on that. You need to know what your values are and how you can act those out. So I think your foundation is first. And you can always go back there. If things aren't working out you can say, "Are we not right on our mission statement? Is it not working now?" And you can look at that together.
Howard Farran: And the, you know, the common people person I always see on Dentaltown, the common question is, "The patients love this hygienist but she can't get along with the assistant. The dentist is afraid of her." Do you think if they did these modules they would become better at dealing with their staff and these organizational management HR issues?
Karah Maloley: Well, I hope so because I want people to really understand what they're doing and what they're not doing. But again, you have to be willing to say to the person, "The patients love you but it's hard with the staff. How can we figure that out?" It's a question, and ask the person because they know too. They know what's happening to them. They know what they're doing. It's just a matter of you holding them accountable for what they're doing.
Howard Farran: And the last thing I want to say, I can't believe it's been an hour. You're an amazing guest. But I, you know I've said this to my homies a million times, and again I've done this for 30 years. Dentists don't blink and spend $150,000 on a CAD/CAM machine, $100,000 on a 3D CBCD, you know, $80,000 lasers. I mean they are flying clear across the country in a $500 plane ticket and staying at some resort while they're going to some, you know, some post grad course that's three, four, five thousand dollars a weekend. And then I look at all the return on investments on that. Then I go back to the soft stuff like just getting a consultant. Just getting a consultant that's always a ... Every time measurable, every dollar you gave her she gave the dollar back and you might have got another one and it's all measurable within this quarter, this half, and they never want to do it.
And here you have this amazing course, it's 1,000 bucks and the dentist says, "I don't know, that's a lot of money." Well do you want to buy an $80,000 laser? Hell yeah, hell yeah. Does it got a shiny light on it? Does it have some knobs? I mean they just always, every time they have a problem they think that if they go learn how to make another dental recipe they make dental lasagna it's going to solve all their problems. And I'll tell them a million times get your house in order. Get it poised for growth. Get your foundation. Get your right people on the bus. Get your process. Everything you're talking about. That is the most important thing.
And I just want to end on this, these dental schools, these lack of curriculums, ways that you and David can help is with 56 dental schools in just the U.S. and hundreds around the world, I'm Skyping into them now. You don't want to drive there or fly.
Karah Maloley: True.
Howard Farran: Once these instructors know that next Tuesday at nine o'clock on their business class or whatever that you'll Skype in I just think it's amazing.
Karah Maloley: I would love to do that. I would love to do that because again it's about being mentored and having someone on your team. And that's the hardest part, when you're the boss sometimes there's no one really on your team. And maybe your spouse doesn't want to hear about it all the time. So find someone to be on your team because it's your practice you want to make it as excellent as you can.
Howard Farran: Yeah, well I think you're amazing.
Karah Maloley: Thank you.
Howard Farran: I think your husband is amazing. Tell your husband thank you for being the father of the dentistry uncensored podcast and the podcast section on Dentaltown because I was his first guest, I didn't even know what it was.
Karah Maloley: You didn't.
Howard Farran: And I, the only reason I did it was to start ... I mean my deal is user-generated content.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: I went ... People to get, I mean Dentaltown is where no dentist ever has to practice solo again. I want the dentists to go on there and solve their own problems and work together and just like a staff meeting, I want them all to talk. And now that there's 39 podcast shows I often think I should wrap mine up and not crowd out the space. I mean I love these podcasts. The feedback from podcasts is so amazing from the dental students and the millennials. It seems like they all have an hour commuting to work.
Karah Maloley: Right.
Howard Farran: Or they're healthy and they do an hour on the treadmill or the bike or the StairMaster and they just love ... They say, "I never listen to", not just my podcast, but anybody's podcast where after an hour of listening to me or the relentless dentist they got three good ideas that they're pumped up and psyched and ready to go do it. And I like the fact that yours are really clear and succinct. I mean if they're only five minutes it's right to the chase.
Karah Maloley: Right, it is.
Howard Farran: So can my homies expect tomorrow instead of listening to my short, fat, bald butt that they'll be able to start listening to your podcast on the Dentaltown app?
Karah Maloley: Yes. Absolutely yes.
Howard Farran: All right, tell your husband he's a lucky many and thank you so much for coming on my show.
Karah Maloley: Thank you.
Howard Farran: And shoot me an email, howard@dentaltown.com, on what you want me to push out on social media. If you have a specific post [crosstalk 01:02:57]
Karah Maloley: Okay, perfect.
Howard Farran: For ... Cause you have two things, you have the Being a Boss Dental, 1,000 bucks that deal. So that post. And you have another one for that Show Me the Love, which I want you to send to Ryan.
Karah Maloley: Okay.
Howard Farran: So he'll show his dad more love. Ryan will you read it if she sends it to you? So send me whatever exactly how you want me to post it on Dentaltown [crosstalk 01:03:22]
Karah Maloley: Thank you.
Howard Farran: Facebook, Twitter and I will push it out today.
Karah Maloley: Let me tell you one thing, I think it's lovely how you support the dentists and me as well. That's amazing to get, you know, some props from Dr. Farran so thank you.
Howard Farran: The honor and privilege was all mine. Have a great day.
Karah Maloley: You too.