Hello. This is Ariana Portallatin with the Becker's
Dental and DSO review podcast. I'm thrilled to
be joined today by Thomas Pasellagua, the director
of business development at The Smileist. Thomas, thank
you so much for being here today. It's
great to have you here. Thanks, Ariana. Great
to be here too. To To start us
off, can you introduce yourself to our listeners
and tell us a little bit about your
background?
Sure. Happy to. Yeah. So I am Thomas
with the Smileist.
Smileist is a fairly
fast growing and large DSO based out of
New York.
And currently, we have just about a 115
practices that we own and manage between,
a few states in the Northeast.
I've been with the company just about four
years now, and
my role there as the director of business
development
is really kind of the front end of
our sales and marketing
for acquisitions.
And I lead our sales strategy and market
approach for,
connecting with all the fantastic practices that are
in that Northeast market,
and educate them on what the Smilas is
doing, our philosophy,
and engaging with those doctors and educating them
on, you know, what a partnership with us
might look like.
I have a sales and education background.
I have been a teacher years ago. That's
where I started my career. I have a
master's in education and taught for a number
of years throughout New York City,
but then segued into sales and
was a fairly successful sales rep for a
dental manufacturing company,
through New York City and did fairly well
there,
and navigated the challenge with COVID and, you
know, the territory shut down, but was able
to successfully manage growing that that that region,
and then started training and mentoring other sales
reps as well.
So I I do have some experience with,
you know,
education,
sales training, executive coaching,
but but more relevant to the smile list,
the sales and marketing for our outbound approach
for acquisitions.
Great. Super interesting to hear about your background
there. Thank you for sharing that. First question
here. What are some of the biggest issues
that you're following in the dental industry this
year?
Sure. Yeah. The the big biggest concerns, I
think, that many of us will
agree upon is just the financial market.
Interest rates have not really come down, so
that has been
a challenge for spending acquisition dollars
and structuring
that offer
to where we have a lot of capital
to play with.
So it has been definitely a challenge
to
navigate
that dynamic.
Secondly, staffing still seems to be a little
bit of a challenge, generally depending on what
region you're in. But, you know, compensation costs
went up,
staff demands a little bit more flexibility,
turnover and
and staff attrition is always a concern. So
making sure that we're
trying to build a very strong company culture
to retain staff,
but also find
and engage with, you know, high quality
skill
skilled, you know, clinicians and and support staff
to bring into the practices.
One one thing that we have navigated fairly
well was building out a robust recruitment team
and recruitment strategy.
So we were able to kinda navigate that
challenge a bit.
But, nonetheless, it still definitely is a challenge
with, you know, finding and retaining high quality
staff,
you know,
where
the salary demand is is a bit of
a challenge as well.
Yeah. Super interesting there. I know
culture and fostering a a positive work culture
at companies has been one of the most
reliable solutions and successful solutions that companies have
seen,
really work to attract and retain staff. Can
you tell me a little bit more about
what's some of the changes that have been
made at the smile list, what your culture
is like, some of the things that you've
been doing there to help attract talent?
Sure. Yeah. Great question.
So we still have a a very much
a partnership model when it comes to how
we are aligned in philosophy with our leading
doctors who who sell their practice with us.
So we keep them on long term. We
still want them to be the face of
the practice.
We still want the doctors to engage with
their staff as the leader of the practice.
We only want to enhance the practice where
operationally and administratively
it makes sense. We we don't really want
to adjust the culture in that, in that
environment.
So we really do rely on
the practice leaders, the the staff that are
there to kind of continue to endure the
culture that's already in place prior to affiliation.
But we also have some great incentives
for
our our staff and partner doctors
where
there's opportunities to train and mentor other staff
members,
managers to help
monitor
and,
manage other practices.
To to move up within the company,
for hygienists to get more opportunities as well.
So the smile is trying to to build
out that really
supportive culture
and opportunities for
career advancement within the company as well.
Amazing. Thank you. I'm also curious, what are
you most excited about when it comes to
dentistry right now, and what makes you nervous
about the industry?
Yeah. Two two really interesting questions. Most excited,
probably
how innovative dentistry really is
Every
year, if not, you know, every few months,
there seems to be a shift in
in technology.
Obviously, AI is the latest and greatest, and
it seemed that it came out of nowhere.
But it's it's now there's a few months
of experience and and a couple years of
of application.
So we're really seeing
what the potential benefit
of these AI platforms can do, specifically on
the RCM side, is really, really exciting.
Obviously, clinical diagnosing and imaging is is fantastic,
and and and the Smilos is including some
of those processes and some of those
processes within our company as well. Like, we're
very cutting edge, so we're staying on top
of all the advancements.
But it's it's just amazing
of how quickly it came on,
the the experience
the industry has gained so far and where
it can go, and what challenges it can
it can, provide solutions for.
Specifically on the RCM
and insurance side, I I think that's really,
really unique.
What makes us nervous
is the unpredictable
financial market.
Right. We you know, we're we're halfway through
this year already,
and, you know, there's been some stability in
interest rates. But just with the political climate
and the financial climate,
it's really hard to predict
where things are going to be in three,
six, nine months a year. So
navigating
how we are balancing a P and L,
how we are
structuring acquisitions
and spending money
is definitely a challenge. And I know
we're not unique in that, and many businesses
and companies are
struggling to to find that stability as well.
Yeah. Super interesting that you mentioned that. I
know there's been so much going on this
year. A lot of changes in back and
forth just in the political climate and the
financial market as well as you mentioned.
For someone
in your background and in your role at
the smile list, when there's so many changes
in back and forth, how do you like,
what's your mindset? How are you tracking all
of these changes? And what's really your approach
to your day to day work when you
don't exactly know what you're gonna what your
day is gonna look like and what decisions
are gonna be made?
Yeah. Great question. For me and my perspective,
it's focusing on the aspects you can control.
So I can control
the conversations I'm having,
my attitude towards
business development,
the ability to engage with high quality doctors,
really kind of
narrowing down on what's my core mission,
what's the core goal,
focusing on building really good relationships,
and understanding that
every climate, every season is temporary. So we'll
eventually get through this just like we have
in the past and other, you know, difficult
times.
So how are you seeing past it and
not allowing the temporary moment to derail you?
So being future forward, thinking about your ultimate
goals,
controlling the conversations, controlling your attitudes and your
mindset,
and and thinking positively. So so shifting to
a positive mindset and solution oriented mindset
has really helped.
And and for the smile list, it's continuing
to engage with really high quality doctors,
but also going to our core mission of
really supporting and developing our current practices.
And we put a lot of effort into
that this year
to making sure that not only we're growing
really well inorganically,
but our organic
growth and our organic support is very, very
strong.
Great advice there. Thank you so much. It's
semi related question, but I know you mentioned
earlier your background in executive coaching, education,
sales, very diverse background.
Is there anything that you take from your
past
roles in those other industries into your work
with the smile list?
Yeah. Yeah. I think
I think a common theme that I always
had
throughout my career was helping others,
whether that's, you know, in a classroom,
helping other sales reps, navigating challenges,
helping an executive to, you know,
find solutions,
or or helping doctors, you know, find,
a a higher platform to build their practice
on.
It's really empowering other people, and I feel
like that's kind of an internal drive for
me of helping other people,
helping those around me. If I can pay
it forward
with anyone I interact with, then I'm succeeding
as a professional.
So personally, professionally, something that resonates with me
is really helping other people find solutions
and and navigating challenges. So I'm here to
serve, here to help, and really and really
trying to leave a positive impact on everyone
I interact with.
Okay. Great. Great conversation so far. We have
one more question here. What will the most
effective health care leaders need to be successful
in the next two to three years?
Yeah. I think
trying to
stay on top of the change.
Right? One one kind of mantra I heard
this year was the only consistency is change.
Right? The only consistent aspect we can expect
is things will change.
So so
being nimble enough and flexible enough
to adjust,
staying ahead of
ahead of those challenges, and try to set
up your company and set up your business
model
so you can navigate change. You can navigate
when things get difficult. Your leadership team is
very much aligned in the goals.
Your support staff understand
the changes and understand what the mission really
is.
So alignment is a really big,
you know, endeavor is making sure that the
company is fully aligned top to bottom.
Great advice there. Well, but that's all we
have for you today, Thomas. Thank you so
much for joining us today. It was a
great conversation. It's been a pleasure speaking with
you, and I look forward to connecting with
you again in the future. Yeah. That was
very exciting. Thank you so much.