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Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

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My name is Chanel Banger, and I'm recording

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live at the Becker's Healthcare

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Futurist history roundtable in Chicago. And sitting right

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now with Tim North, the CEO of P3

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Partners Inc. Tim, thank you so much for

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joining me today. Chanel, thanks for having me.

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It's great to be here.

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Well, to get us started, could you please

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introduce yourself and tell us a bit about

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your background? Yeah. Absolutely.

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So personally, I've got about 14 years in

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this industry.

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I was the,

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ops guy at Aspen Dental for 7 years.

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After that,

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I went on to Simply Beautiful Smiles, which

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was a startup in the mid Atlantic.

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I was CEO there. And now,

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starting this spring, I've been the CEO of

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this this new venture, P3 Partners. Right? And,

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we're an oral care,

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surgery organization oral surgery organization.

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And, I'm we're happy to start expansion.

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We recently were acquired by HealthEdge, which is

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a PE firm in Florida.

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And, HealthEdge is partnering with us to drive,

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the growth. And so we've got really cool,

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situation going on. We're right in the middle

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of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains down there in

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West Virginia.

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And,

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you know, we have 14 practices in West

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Virginia, Virginia,

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North Carolina, and,

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Kentucky.

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So we, really feel like that we're doing

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what we need to do based out of

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West Virginia to provide, you know, world class

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oral surgery health care solutions to

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what is pretty much traditionally underserved areas of

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the country, you know, Appalachia

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and the broader mid Atlantic region. So,

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our business model is targeted growth through strategic

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acquisition and talented development, you know, with top

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flight oral surgeons.

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You know, we take care of the back

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end operations, like, you know, revenue management and

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purchasing, accounting so that our surgeons can just

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do surgery all day.

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So, that's what they like to do, and

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that's the services that we provide. Together, we

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make a really good team. So

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that's how that works. Alright. Perfect. Thank you

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so much for that introduction.

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Now moving forward,

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can you share,

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some key experiences that have shaped your leadership

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journey in the dental and DSO industry?

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Sure. I did, a stint in the Navy,

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for 7 years, not as, anything to do

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with medicine, but as a serve surface warfare

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officer. So,

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that had a lot to do with sort

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of my leadership style today.

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My parents were, big influencers too. And me,

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personally, my dad ran his own business. He

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had a he had a little wool mill

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a wool mill in,

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Columbia County in upstate New York, and he

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ran that successfully until he sold it. And

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so, I learned how to be a good

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business guy and how to take care of

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the people that work for you,

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how to,

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market and sell your products,

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and then find something most importantly, find something

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that you like to do.

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So for me personally,

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you know, dentistry has been a a real

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win. I was in restaurants before that.

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Had a great career.

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I was the COO at, you know, Papa

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John's for 7 years. It was a a

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great great job. I loved it. But you

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know what? Dentistry

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is a real

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real nice profession. I'm proud to be associated

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with this. I'm proud to help doctors achieve

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the goals that they wanna achieve

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when they can't necessarily do it on their

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own because they don't have the resources.

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They maybe they don't have the investment capital

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that they need or that this is a

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new area, the whole business end of dentistry.

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So I'm happy to be able to take

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that away,

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let them do what they do best, especially

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in the oral surgery world, and then, and

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then bring that back home to, to the

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patients that need it the most. So

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so that's,

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those are the big influences. I also wanna

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throw out that Aspen was a big influence

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on me. It was my first dental experience.

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I learned a lot. I mean, gee, they're

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the top one of the top 3. Right?

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Number 2 in the world.

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And so,

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nothing to be, you know, ashamed of there.

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They are wonderful competitors,

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and they do a fantastic job, you know,

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taking care of of the same kind of

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patients that we do.

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So I liked, learning from Bob Fontana and

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Aspen. I'll give them a lot a nod

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and a lot of credit.

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Got it. Now, you've already mentioned something about

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or a little bit about your expansion, but

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could you maybe dig a little bit deeper

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and tell us about, your guys' growth strategy

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at p 3? Sure. You know, there's been

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a lot of activity in oral surgery and

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and oral surgery practices. And we've known for

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a long time,

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in all of dentistry that we were gonna

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face a 10 year period here where maybe

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half of the dental offices in the United

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States, be it oral surgery or orthodontics or

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or, you know, endo, they're all gonna probably

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turn. And it's not because the economy or

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we don't have enough docs. It's it's

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because they're older. It's because the baby boomers

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are getting older. So we hear about that

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every day. I feel like we forgot about

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that back during COVID, and we tend to

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kind of talk about the economy now. But

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the fact is

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folks are getting older, and half of the

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population of the dentists, in the United States

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today are over 50.

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So it's just a it's not if, it's

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when. And so as a DSO, we can

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really help those folks monetize,

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get credit for all that hard work that

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they put into their offices, and then take

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the office to the next level and and

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give an opportunity for maybe ownership or partnership

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with a new dentist that's coming out of

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school or a new surgeon, in my case,

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a new oral surgeon coming out of school

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who might not have the resources on their

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own to be able to buy their own

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office, but they still wanna run their own.

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They still wanna be on their own. So

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we can help them with that. So that

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I like. So our strategy is to find

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those opportunities to maybe do some de novos

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where we have a a provider that doesn't

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have an office, and I don't have one

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there, but also to target those offices where

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I can monetize, and it's the right way

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to say it, to monetize the the selling

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dentist, give them give them something for all

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their years of hard work and all that

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they built up, and then either leave them

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there and have them, you know, sunset their

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careers,

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or maybe, they can leave immediately, and we

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find a new provider, and we start from

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scratch.

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So it's,

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it's really important that our dentists have good

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oral surgeons to refer to. Otherwise,

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too much work is put on the dentist.

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They don't have time to do their prime

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jobs. And and if they don't have referral

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docs, it can get pretty frustrating. I I

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ran general dentistry, you know, with, Aspen, so

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I understand that. So having a good reliable

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referral network is is, I believe, a real

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important and honorable mission. So Absolutely. And can

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you talk about what significant challenges,

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dental and DSO leaders are facing today, and

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how are you addressing them at p 3?

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So I think one thing that, I feel

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strongly about is the labor force. Right? Not

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so much the doctors. You know? I like

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to tell people, no dentists were braided or

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destroyed during COVID. We really, really didn't lose

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too many. I mean, we had some tough

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times like the rest of the country. But

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the fact of the matter is dentistry as

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a profession and oral surgeons as a profession

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came out of that pretty much the same

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way they went in. They're not making more

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or less. They're making about the same. And

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then they had the regular pressures that the

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rest of us had. They had all the

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support staff, the hygienist, the dental assistants, in

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in my case, the surgical assistants, all needing

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more money

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and needing better working and conditions, better scheduling.

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And so the labor piece has been a

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focus, and it should be because, you know,

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we were probably pretty antiquated in our in

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our profession and in our industry.

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We needed to kinda modernize and get with

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the program. And, you know, we can't let

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them work at home until we figure out

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a way to do dentistry with a cell

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phone. We're gonna have to touch the patient.

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They're gonna have to come in. So that

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means our staff has to come in, and

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that's hey. Right there, that's not ideal today.

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Right? A lot of companies would a lot

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of individuals coming out of school today would

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say, I'd like to do a little bit

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at home and a little bit hybrid. Well,

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not here. You gotta do a 100%. So

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we needed to adjust to that to think

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about ways to be flexible.

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And so that that's been a challenge for

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an industry that, you know, didn't think they

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had that.

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The the other one is as, you know,

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I've seen technology improve. You know, implants,

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were in a thing 20 years ago. I

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mean, they existed.

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But, man, today, if you're not doing implants,

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you're a little bit out to lunch.

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And, and so you can choose not to

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and outsource everything, or you can refer to

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everything, or you could start doing them. But

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by golly,

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you know, the technology has changed. And so

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you can't just, you know, do what your

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father did in dentistry

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25 years ago. That won't work. So that's

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a big change, and that's a challenge. It's

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a challenge for a 50 year old dentist

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that has never done an implant

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to figure out how do I teach myself,

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how do I get trained,

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and then how do I feel comfortable about

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doing this with my patients. Right? So,

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so that's a challenge. And and there's not

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enough, you know, folks doing implants and or

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oral surgeons to make up for that gap.

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We just have to we're gonna have to

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rise to the occasion.

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The third thing is the interest rates. You

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know, we we went for 20 years with

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really easy interest rates, and the private equity

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was really reigning supreme. Right? Well, now,

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with interest rates being higher, it's harder. Right?

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And so we've seen the number of transactions

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decline in the last couple of years, but,

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that should end now. Seems like we've peaked,

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and we're coming in the opposite direction. So

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I anticipate

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the log there's a log jam. There's pent

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up demand. There's a lot of practices waiting

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for someone to come along and make the

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right offer, and there's, you know, private equity

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that's ready to grow. So

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I think, we're a couple months away from,

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you know, a a real watershed

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breaking of the dam, and we ought to

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see some stuff really start flowing and some

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transactions, which will be good. It's good for

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the doctors that, you know, wanna monetize. It's

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good for the patients.

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But what I hate to see, and I

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saw this in general dentistry as well, you

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know, you'd come into town, and you'd you'd

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maybe buy one office because that's all you

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needed to buy.

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And the other 3 would just close. And

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they they, you know, they have no debt.

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These are baby boomer dentists. They've worked their

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whole lives, and they've they're very proud of

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what they've got, and they should be. But

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there's no reason to work one extra day

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after that. They know they're not gonna sell,

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so they have that meeting with the staff.

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And thanks for 42 years, and I'm moving

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to Florida.

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So I think,

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that's a challenge. Don't like to see that.

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And so I'm happy to come in, especially

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on this side now, on oral surgery side,

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and be the, you you know, the referral

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docs that you can rely on. We're gonna

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be there for you. And, and that makes,

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you know, young dentists feel good about coming

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into a market. So

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Absolutely. Well, Tim, I wanna thank you for

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your time today. But before I let you

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go, with your unique career trajectory leading up

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so many different types of organizations, I think

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you're the perfect person to ask this question.

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What would you say are some essential qualities

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or skills

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emerging leaders in this industry should cultivate?

306
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Yeah. I think that's a great question.

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You know, we've got to be people centric.

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We really do. And you can't just run

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this thing like a finance company. We have

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to be thoughtful

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about,

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how we're managing our organizations. And, you know,

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an organization like mine, we have a probably

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10 people

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that aren't even in the office to support

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every one of,

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every one of the surgeons. Probably

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not

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too

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different at, Aspen or anywhere else. Right? And

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so,

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then there's the people in the office. There's

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probably 10 there too. Right? So that's a

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whole lot of really good folks. We talk

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about living wage. We talk about all those

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things, and and these are good careers at

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town. I mean, these are you work at

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a dentist office. You've got a good job

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in that town.

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So I feel like,

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you can't sort of skip the people skills.

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You gotta really go back, think about it,

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have a strong HR department. We need to

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be reactive and thoughtful.

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You know, we took a big hit with

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hygiene in my general dentistry days

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when, you know, COVID hit. And,

338
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a quick story. It took me took me

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a while to figure out what was going

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on. You know, we were we were offering

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crazy amounts of money to have a hygienist

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come back, and they just weren't coming.

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And we couldn't figure out why. And, it

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took, if you're from the northeast, a company

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called Wawa,

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which is a gas convenience store. Right? And,

347
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I saw they were paying people just to

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apply. They get $50 just to fill out

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the application.

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So I called a buddy of mine that

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works there, and I said, what's the deal

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with that? And they they had termination date

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of

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15th June. I said and, you know, offer,

355
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whatever, ends June 15th. I said, why is

356
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that? And he said, well, what do you

357
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think happens June 15th? I said, I I

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don't know. He said school's out. And so

359
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so what does that have to do with

360
00:12:49,929 --> 00:12:52,250
anything? And he says because the schools during

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COVID have been an an unreliable

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place to put your kid,

363
00:12:55,769 --> 00:12:57,850
that at any minute your kid was told

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00:12:57,850 --> 00:12:59,629
he had to stay home for 3 weeks.

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And he's like, who what family was gonna

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let the 9 year old, the 7 year

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old stay home belong?

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Grandma didn't wanna come over during COVID. There

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wasn't childcare,

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and so someone had to stay home. And

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guess what? A lot of times, it was

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a hygienist.

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So what we should have done, right, is

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00:13:16,045 --> 00:13:18,304
been thoughtful and smart about it and said,

375
00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:20,399
wow. We we should just ask, like, what's

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the problem? And I think what hygienists would

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00:13:22,959 --> 00:13:24,480
have loved if we did was say, look.

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00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,740
You got a job here whenever you can.

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And if you have to stay home for

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00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:30,339
a month because your school is quarantined,

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stay home for a month, and then you

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come back. And and I know some people

383
00:13:34,794 --> 00:13:36,654
are gonna freak out when they hear this,

384
00:13:36,715 --> 00:13:38,715
but that that's the way to handle that

385
00:13:38,715 --> 00:13:40,475
problem. And just say, you got a job

386
00:13:40,475 --> 00:13:42,075
here, but I understand you also have a

387
00:13:42,075 --> 00:13:44,394
job at home, instead of saying, well, how

388
00:13:44,394 --> 00:13:47,799
about $60 an hour? You know? Because that

389
00:13:47,799 --> 00:13:49,799
doesn't work, and we've proven it. And so

390
00:13:49,799 --> 00:13:52,120
to this day, we're struggling because of that.

391
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,740
And so back to your question,

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00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,259
the people skills, smart enough. I was embarrassed

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00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,295
that I hadn't thought thought about that. And

394
00:14:00,295 --> 00:14:02,134
here's this guy at Wawa, a can a

395
00:14:02,134 --> 00:14:04,455
gas convenience store, and they got it wired.

396
00:14:04,455 --> 00:14:07,254
He's figured it out. And so, you know,

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00:14:07,254 --> 00:14:09,654
we need to be humble and listen to

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00:14:09,654 --> 00:14:11,335
our people. And if you can do that

399
00:14:11,335 --> 00:14:13,254
as a leader today, you're gonna be so

400
00:14:13,254 --> 00:14:14,875
much better off moving forward.

401
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,080
Absolutely. Well, Tim, I wanna thank you once

402
00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:18,759
again for your time today and for sharing

403
00:14:18,759 --> 00:14:20,919
your insights on the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thanks

404
00:14:20,919 --> 00:14:22,860
for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you.