Just a Couple of Dentists

Most dentists lump every bad day, every rough month, and every “I can’t do this anymore” moment into one word: burnout. But what if it’s not burnout? What if you just… don’t like clinical dentistry? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Laura Brenner, founder of the Dentist Side Gigs community and Lolabees, to unpack the real difference between being truly burned out and being completely misaligned with clinical dentistry.  We get into: Why so many dentists feel trapped by the identity of being “a dentist” How to tell if you’re burned out vs. simply done with the four walls The personality patterns Laura sees in dentists who struggle the most Why dentistry attracts people-pleasers (and why that backfires) The emotional weight of irreversible procedures Why vacations fix burnout but don’t fix misalignment Alex and I love forcing Just a Couple of Dentists down your throat every week. So do us a favor—don’t just accept it… tell your friends we’ve got plenty more where that came from.

This week we check back in with Dr. Cory Ball — you might remember him as the guy who bought the practice that should’ve come with a disclaimer. Ten months later, he’s cleaned up a lot of the mess… but now he’s dealing with the thing that’s driving him the craziest right now: No-shows. Constantly. We get into what he’s trying, what’s actually helped, and the stuff that sounds good on paper but falls apart in real life...especially when half your new patients are Medicaid and you can’t charge a no-show fee even if you wanted to. We also talk about: The patient who left Cory a 1-star review… and left a strip club a 5-star review Where the line is between being flexible and getting walked on How he decides when it’s time to fire a patient Why scheduling feels like the thing that secretly runs your entire practice What his practice looks like 10 months in...the good and the bad

You’ve heard it a thousand times: “Build passive income so you can be free.” But what if that whole idea is a myth? After selling our dental practices, we chased the same dream: passive income, early retirement, financial freedom. Spoiler alert...it didn’t exactly work that way. In this episode, we sit down with Josh Cochran to unpack what real passive income actually looks like, why most of what’s pitched to dentists isn’t passive at all, and how to set honest expectations when it comes to real estate, investing, and “freedom money.” PS – Alex and I love making Just a Couple of Dentists for you. If you’re enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend. It would mean the world to us.

Ever wonder what it actually takes to open six dental offices in six months? Dr. Andrew Vallo didn’t just wonder...he did it. And in this episode, he breaks down exactly how it all went down. We talk with Andrew and Matt Brown (from Energize Marketing) about: How he used second-gen spaces to move fast and stay lean Cutting build-out costs from $600K to $150K Building a growth model around associates and how he retains them Why mindset and leadership matter way more than most people think PS – Alex and I love making Just a Couple of Dentists for you. If you’re enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend. It would mean the world to us.

Zach Shelley and Kirk Teachout are two office managers running multi-million dollar practices who actually have their systems dialed in. In this episode, we get into what those systems look like day to day: how they hire, how they hold people accountable, and how they keep the culture steady when things get messy. We also talk about why firing faster usually fixes more than it breaks, how they structure meetings so they don’t drag, and what they’ve learned about leading teams that don’t constantly need babysitting. It’s the kind of stuff most dentists think they have figured out… until they don’t. PS – Alex and I love making Just a Couple of Dentists for you. If you’re enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend. It’d mean the world to us.  

Paul Goodman didn’t set out to build the most well-known group in dentistry. He just liked nachos and connecting with fellow dentists. Fast forward 8 years....with 67,000+ members, Dental Nachos is part Facebook group, part movement, and part community dentists didn’t know they needed. In this episode, we get into: Who actually came up with the name "Dental Nachos" The origin story behind BAD, MAD, and SAD What it’s like running a Facebook group with more people than most towns Why acronyms like SBITDA and terms like “dentisting” actually stick Crying Inside: the KPI no one tracks but everyone feels The difference between owning a dental practice vs. a dental community (and which one’s more stressful) We also talk about what happens when dentists post photos of ACTUAL nachos, argue in the comments, and lose their minds over free CE.

We brought on our dental school friend Dr. Mike Dyriw, who somehow went from living in a van during orientation week to becoming a board-certified endodontist in Nashville. In this episode, we cover: Mike’s “Wax Rim Scandal” that almost got him in trouble in dental school 🦷 Why endodontists roll their eyes at “Please remove decay and assess restorability” referrals Whether they actually want you to prep the tooth first or not The truth about build-ups, temporaries, and CBCT add-ons How boring endo is (for assistants) and how Mike hires for that The weird billing codes specialists use (and how insurance ruins them all) Netflix’s “Root Cause” documentary and if patients actually believed it And if most endodontists are actually board certified 🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the full video on YouTube.

How does a dentist running a $20M business plan his year for success? We brought back Josh Cochran to walk us through the annual planning system he calls the #1 most impactful habit of his entire career—the same process he uses every year to lead a $20M dental business and real estate company with clarity and intention. Inspired by Bill Gates' “Think Week,” this 8-week framework helps him reflect, get focused, and set up the year to win. 👇 In this episode: 00:00 Intro – why yearly planning fails 02:38 The inspiration: Bill Gates' Think Week 05:35 Josh’s background: 7 practices, 160 employees 07:10 Why this takes 8 weeks (not 1 lunch meeting) 08:02 The power of “Why” and accountability partners 16:13 How to journal your time and rate every task 19:29 The passion/strength matrix 21:09 Eliminate, Automate, Delegate: what stays, what goes 21:42 Why visual maps help you say no with confidence 31:21 The 12 Freedoms model 34:28 Building your “Ideal Week” 36:07 Josh’s 8-week cohort info Josh's 8 week EPIC course starts on October 15th. Click here to sign up! https://drjoshcochran.com/mastermind/

Most of us show up to a dental CE, grab our badge, sit in a ballroom, and don’t think twice about what it actually takes to pull the thing off. But what’s it really like to run one of these events? How much do room blocks actually cost? What happens if people don’t show up? Are sponsors footing the bill… or is the organizer rolling the dice? And is it really worse than planning a wedding? In this episode, we sit down with Minal Sampat, who has been running dental CE events for years (and sells them out). She takes us behind the curtain into the numbers, the chaos, and the last-minute fires you never hear about. PS – Alex and I love making Just a Couple of Dentists for you. If you’re enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend. It’d mean the world to us.

Chris Green went from $0 to $4.6M in four years. In this episode we cover what he systemized so you can copy it, and what he tried that wasn’t worth it. You’ll learn how he… 📁 set up his Google Drive so systems are easy to find and use ✅ built one-page checklists the team actually follows ⏱️ trained assistants to be “functional in 30 days” 🛡️ tightened insurance verification to cut surprises at checkout and improve collections 🤝 ran route slips and transfer-of-trust handoffs that create confidence and higher case acceptance PS – Alex and I love making Just a Couple of Dentists for you. If you’re enjoying the podcast, share it with a friend. It’d mean the world to us.