Dental A Team with Kiera Dent
Dental A Team with Kiera Dent
Dentists, this is your playbook for building a practice that THRIVES rather than just survives! If you're ready to scale, streamline, or simply want to lead like a CEO, we're here to support you with our strategies.
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Yes, You ARE Allowed to Align Your Life Goals With Practice Growth

Yes, You ARE Allowed to Align Your Life Goals With Practice Growth

10/1/2026 7:30:00 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 52
Practice success doesn’t always equal personal life happiness. Kiera talks about the Yes Success Model, and how to align your business goals with your personal life goals, because they’re allowed to complement each other (and should, frankly). She asks probing questions that’ll get you thinking about alignment and finding the right motivating factors to keep going.

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Transcript:

 

Kiera (00:01)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And I am so excited because I love today's topic. And I hope that it just gives you a filtering and a process of how do I like actually make like growth decisions and life goals and like what is that long-term vision clarity? Like to me, it's such an empowering topic for you. And I'm so excited because I think that so many practice owners, when I meet them or we work with them, is they actually build a successful practice that they don't want. I've done it. I built a business that I didn't freaking want to work in. And I've said, like, hey, if I

 

If I actually like didn't have to work here and I didn't own this, would I keep working here? And if I can't say yes, then we might want to rework this. and honestly, growth without direction can leave you with more stress, more responsibility, and less freedom. And so today I just want to work on like sometimes bigger isn't always better. Sometimes like we just need to be better aligned is better. So bigger isn't always better. Doesn't mean bigger is wrong, but better aligned is where we're actually trying to go. So I want you guys just to know like a lot of owners feel stuck.

 

Even after they hit success. Like I had a podcast a while of like the empty millionaire. Like I thought like if I hit a million, everybody says this and I was like, Yeah, right, I'm not gonna be that person. No, I remember being like, So this is it, huh? Like, all right, we've hit a million.

 

Cool. Do I love my life? No. Like it was this wild thing. And so, like, why do we still feel stuck after hitting success? And how to create this vision that guides a lot of your decisions to where you have a filtering process of yes or no? Like I think about Willy Wonka and the golden egg, like yes, no, good, bad, like giving you kind of that framework to know. And then like what are some questions you should be asking before your next big move? So I think it's really fascinating because when we work with a client and we get on our first call, I'm not here to say like, what do you, what do you want to produce?

 

we call it the yes success model and the why stands for you. The number one thing I want to know is like what what's the life that you're trying to build? I say it often I will say it here. Your business should serve your life, not the other way around. And I've gotten it wrong for so many years where I've given up so much of my life to serve the business. I remember being like, I think back to when I first started the company and Jason and I would be hanging out and we were literally floating down the river. I kid you not, like we're rafting tubing, and I'm on my phone answering emails. And that was an aha moment for me of like here, I think you're doing this wrong.

 

Like you need to freaking shut it off and like be present. And I'm building like that's not the life I want. I don't want to be working seven days a week. I don't want to be psycho. I don't want to be stressed out of my mind. So like I think it's really powerful. Like I call it the yes success model. You are number one pillar. Then it's earnings and then it's systems and team development, not the other way around. If I mess up on you and your life and we are building a practice and you're not fulfilled at the end, we have failed. And that is my definition of it. So I don't want you guys chasing someone else's version of success.

 

I don't want you chasing more locations or operatories or production. I want you doing this because this lights you up and this is your vision and that not because you feel like that's what you should be doing. We're gonna stop shooting on ourselves. I have a practice, they produce about four million a year. They're at a 35% overhead, they work four days a week. People are like, you need another practice, and they're like, we don't want to. This is the life we want. And I think sometimes being that stalwart in your vision is really, really critical and pivotal. So today I just want you to like.

 

realize that vision planning, like I talk to offices all the time, if your team's not following, it's because you don't have a strong enough vision. If you're not happy in your life, it's because you don't have a strong enough vision of where you actually want to go. So I want you to really have these growth decisions that move you closer to the life you actually want, not further and further away from that. So number one, what are we gonna do? Hi, we're Dental A Team. I'm obsessed with you. I'm here to help you have the dreamiest life you could ever imagine. I love, love, love helping dentists and teams come together to live their best life.

 

And I really want to empower you, CEO dentist out there, the dentist who is the CEO of their life and their practice. I call it life and business on purpose. Like let's GSD together. So step one is let's define success beyond production. And for me, this is really hard. I remember there was a dentist I was talking to, and he's like, But Kiera, production is the only thing we can compare against. It's the only actual number. You're right. There is no number of like, what's my fulfillment measure today? Am I like 10%, 20%? There's nothing in there.

 

So it's really, really hard because sometimes we're like, well, my production number is the only thing that I compare with all the other dentists. But I have a dentist who's making a million a year, like he's producing a million a year, works three days a week, and loves his life. There is no way for me to say, like, what's his success measure? I can know what his production is and like, hey, I got an office over here doing 29 million. But we got to define our success beyond production. So production's a result, it's not a vision. So I really want you to have like

 

it's hard because like setting revenue goals without lifestyle goals is a miss. Saying yes to every opportunity is another miss. Feeling successful on paper but exhausted in reality, that's another miss. So we pivot it and sometimes I feel like this is the time where like pretend I'm your fairy godmother and I'm just gonna wave my magic wand for you. Like if you had no stressors, you didn't feel like anybody was judging you, no parents, no spouse, no family, no friends, no no, I don't know, like mean girl or mean guy sitting on your shoulder, how many days do you actually want to work?

 

What kind of dentistry do I actually love doing? When do I want to retire? Or like maybe scale back a few days? What about my family to look like? How much freedom do I actually want? Notice I didn't put in there any dollars in there because if we can focus on vision first, dollars come second. If I know what your vision is and what your life is, fantastic. We can go build. You guys, dentistry is untapped. It's freaking awesome. Like, so let's just build. Like, what does that look like? And you might realize, like, I don't know, Kiera. And so I was actually working with a friend this last weekend.

 

And he's like, Kiera, what do you do when you don't know where you want to go? And I was like, Well, step one is we got to have a little guiding star. Like, let's just do five or 10 years from today. What's your age and what do you want that to look like? You could go further and you could say, when I'm 90, what do I think I'd want to be doing right now? Like when Kiera's reliving her life at 90, sitting on her rocking chair with hot pink hair, like it's actually cutting candy. Pink, you're welcome. for that visual, like, what do I want my life to look like? So, whichever one's gonna work for you.

 

Sometimes a tenure for me, I just need like a little glowing light up on the hill. That's written in pencil. It doesn't have to be permanent. But what do I want that life to look like? And most people usually do it based on one of three things. It's either going to be a dollar amount, which is totally fine. It's going to be on a fulfillment, like what's going to drive you, or it's going to be on a purpose. So, like for me, massive impact. I drive so hard because I want to impact and serve every dang dentist out there. So share this podcast with somebody. Help me on my goal. Like, I'm obsessed with helping dentists have their best lives.

 

And so like that drives me literally in the middle of every vision board, unintentionally, it says massive impact. Like, what can I do that's gonna leave a stamp and a mark on so many people's lives? And so I built the podcast for free because it was a way for us to reach more people. I hope we brighten your day. You're welcome. Go leave us a review for it and tell more people about it so more people we can serve. Like genuinely, that's what it was. But that's like in the middle of my goal board. So for me, it's impact. Like numbers are super fun and numbers drive me hard. And I'm not here to say like numbers are wrong. I am highly numbers driven.

 

But like, what's the impact? That's gonna motivate me so much more. Like serving 500 dentists and then serving a thousand dentists. Like that to me is something of like a churn. I want to make 40 millionaires in my next lifetime. Like, how do I do that? Like the next decade of my life. So, like, I look at this, but also like, what is the life that I want? What's the trade-off? They can be hand in hand. So I really want you to look at like what is it? I told you about that office that I've got this 3.5, 35% overhead.

 

They don't want another practice. They literally want to live. They don't want another associate. They have great, it's all the systems are done. They don't want to deal with the headache of that. And I'm like, fantastic. You want fewer clinical days. I've got another doctor. He's like, Kiera, I want to go play a pickleball. I used to like have a lake house and all these other things. Like, I want it simple. I want to play pickleball. And I want to be able to hang out with my family. Your lighthouse of 10 years or your motivator, it can be a little fuzzy up there. It doesn't have to be perfect.

 

But getting that vision out of you is something I'm obsessed with because your practice should support your life and not the other way around. And once you get your identity outside of success, you're gonna realize like, and hey, guess what? If that practice goes away tomorrow, are you still a human? Are you still happy? If not, we've got to figure out because you need to be a full, complete person and not just a dentist producing. So I don't want you building a practice that you want to eventually escape. I want you building a practice.

 

Of what like I'm so excited and like I love that part of my life. and it doesn't mean we have to have every day great, but we want to love this part of it. So I'd really love for you to write down what success looks like for your life first and then your practice. Also be careful because I found like for me, I used to have a definition of success that was really hard to achieve. Tony Robbins said it really well. He says, We make it really easy to feel bad about ourselves and really hard to feel good. So like for success, you might be like,

 

Have to make a million every year and I have to drive this kind of car and I have to live at this type of house and I have to do this and this and this and this and this and this and this. Well, you're never gonna hit that. You made it so impossible for you to ever feel happy and successful. And I'm not here to say like lower your goals and dreams, but like, is a million really gonna make you happy? Is living in that house really gonna drive you for your happiness and your thing, or is that just something you feel like you should do because that's what people do? Just a question to ask. I want you to write down what success looks like for you, and I want you to make it easy for you to hit success.

 

It's not your production. Success for your life. What does that look like 90 years, 10 years from now? Whatever it is, but let's write that down and let's get that going. Okay. Number two, I want you to filter every opportunity now through this vision. So this hurts. This is hard. This is the discipline side. Not every opportunity is right or a good opportunity. This year, gosh, I don't have my bracelets on. I usually wear bracelets. this year I actually have a bracelet that says no.

 

To remind myself that saying no is equally as important as saying yes. Does that actually fit and fulfill the life I'm building? Or does it not? I have a sign pointing right over here. It says she designed a life she loved. And that's the ultimate goal is we need to be designing, creating, not managing, a life we are freaking obsessed with. So when I look at this, like buying another practice because it's available, if that doesn't fit into your life vision and what you want to do and less this, like I remember I had a doctor, he would set up.

 

Everything was done. We checked every box, every tea. I was like, all right, guys, we're wrapping up. Like, I don't know what else to consult you on. Like, truly what we set out to do, we've accomplished. Like, let's let's go. And now I we have another practice. And I was like, okay, so you have a college-age student. Like just imagine like your child is college age now, like they're out of the house, they're done, and you're about to bring on a screaming baby. Are you sure you want to buy this practice? And this doctor was like, Kiera, I do.

 

Like I really am excited for the grind and the drive and the like thrill of building something else. And they've done an amazing job. It's been three years. They took them from 500,000 to 2.5 million, like crushed it. I'm so proud of them. But it wasn't just because it became available. It fit. And so really checking to make sure, like, does this fit my life? Adding services in because everyone else does. Just because everyone does implants doesn't mean you need to. It's got to fit what you love. Hiring because you're busy instead of because it's strategic. Like, why am I hiring? Why are we doing these things? So

 

I want you to like start to filter through. You got your vision, you got your 10-year plan. Like, what does your life look like? Next step is like, does this move me towards my vision or away from it? And don't be careful where I can justify my life away. Like I can justify the shenanigans out of a lot of decisions. Will this improve that my quality of life? And will this make the practice stronger or just bigger? So those are some good filtering questions for you. And so, like I said, a lot of these, like when we choose to make decisions, like maybe we're gonna have a bigger leadership team or I'm gonna improve systems or

 

We're gonna go hunker down and like focus on profitability. My doctor who wants to like got rid of the lighthouse. We simplified so much. They're like, it's profit and like less stress is what I want. But I want you to know that just because you write this vision today does not mean it's permanent. It's like very much in pencil. You're allowed to rewrite this as much as you want because when you hit this, I want you to feel fulfilled and not empty at the end of it. So looking to see how is this helping me have more freedom, have more life. Like I said, I got a doctor who's working.

 

three days a week making a million and so happy. Like sometimes I look at him and I'm like, I am jealous and so happy of your life. I've got another doctor who works six days a week and they're producing like five, six, seven million. Success comes in all shapes and sizes. And this is actually why I love bringing our doctors together. there was one doctor and she told me she's like, Kiera, I really don't like coming to the mastermind because I compare. And I was like, gosh darn, like you missed it, honey. Like there is no space that you have to compare. It's like hey I'm gonna rip off their ideas that are great ideas.

 

And I'm also going to be so proud of who I am and so confident. And that to me is when you have a very solid vision. You can walk into a room and you can hear a lot of people, but you don't walk out there feeling any less because you're like, this is my life that I'm creating. I am designing a life I'm obsessed with. And when you can say that, it just makes your decision making easier. But I would say have that locked, have it up on a board to where you're constantly focused on that, saying no, not saying yes to every opportunity just because it's there, but truly this is gonna help your decision making process become so much easier.

 

If it doesn't fit the vision, it's a distraction. And it's a no. So just say no and move on. That way you are obsessed with creating your life rather than managing it. So I want you to think about your next major decision and ask, does it support the future I'm trying to build? And if it does, rock on. If it doesn't, rock on. We just want to make sure that we're driving you forward. And then my next step is like revisit this vision every year at a minimum. I like to do my like, gosh. Are you ready to meet Kiera for real? I have been using the passion planner. Thank you, Monica. I know you listen to the podcast. This is a shout out to

 

I use the passion planner. It literally at the end of every month has reflection questions for me. It says, What was a memorable part of this past month? Describe it. What were three lessons you learned this past month? Review your planner for the past month and assess your priorities. Are you happy with how you spent your time? If not, what steps can you take next month to adjust them? What did you accomplish this past month? What are you proud of? How are you different between this past month and the month before it? What or who are you especially grateful for this past month? Name three ways you can grow this upcoming month. What concrete actions can you take to work towards these?

 

From one to one to ten, how do you feel overall about this past month? And this is supposed to you can take those same questions. I write my vision out. And a lot of times I use that reflection to also ask myself, am I getting closer or further away from the vision I set for myself? Every quarter I revisit our company's vision and my personal vision. Am I closer or further away? And what do need to do to course correct? At the end of every single year, kid you not, I literally write it. It says 2026. Like, let me just pull it up right now so you guys know.

 

That I'm not there. So 2026, my word this year is happy. and it's outcomes over so 2026, the year of happy. Kiera's the happiest version of herself. She does things that light her up. Outcomes over activity say no. This is my dream of a life that I am creating daily. And I have my purpose, I have what my goals are, I have my things on there, I have my mission statement, I have my personal important goals this year.

 

And I have my consulting goals for our company of what I want. And then I break it down into quarters of what needs to happen. And I review this monthly and I review this quarterly and I review it at the end of the year. My goal is like, what do I need to do and how do I need to drive towards this? So really it's a like review it every year at a minimum. I have a goal board. I put mine out on Canvas so I don't forget about it. To me, if it's if I'm creating my life rather than just managing it, I better be actively working towards that rather than just stumbling and hoping I make it.

 

So I want you to like when I get doctors and teams aligned on their one year, their three year, their ten year, thank you, traction for that model. They're able to all row. I have a doctor that we're working with right now. They're about a five million dollar practice. And they like we started out, we like got all the leadership team aligned about almost two months ago now. And they've been running their meetings. And today we got on our call and they were like, Kiera, we actually are rowing like.

 

The leadership highlight was we're all having better communication. We're all focusing on the same thing and we're all headed in the same direction. And to me, that lights me up because that team's lit up. But what's even cooler is on the backside of it, that doctor has their personal life goals that they're working towards in conjunction with their business goals. This doctor has never been happier. And I think about that. To me, that is the freaking success of what we're aiming for. So I encourage you, like have an annual vision day or put it in there monthly of like review my vision and see.

 

Get a passion planner. I know it sounds so silly, but like this forces me not to forget. And to me, my vision is the most important thing. Secondary is executing on it and not just having it as a hope and a wish, but something I know I'm confident I will actually have. So for you, quick wrap up on this. I hope you loved it today, is divine divine your success beyond just production. Like, what is that? And make it easier to feel good and harder to feel bad. Filter our decisions through that vision. We do the same thing for teams. If it's not aligned with our vision, we don't do it now.

 

And then revisit that vision every single month, every single year, every single quarter, whatever's right for you. Because I really want you to know that the best life and the best practice are built on purpose, not by accident. You truly are intentional by this. Like I want you to be designing a life you love, not just managing one that's given to you. When your vision is crystal clear, your decisions become much easier. So if you feel like you're being pulled in a bajillion directions, like it might be that you're not doing too much, it might just be that we don't have a clear vision of where you need to go.

 

So let's define that up. Let's help you. This is something we do with all of our offices, your personal life and your business. And they need to be married together and they need to be serving you. Life and business on purpose. You're worth it. You deserve it. You went and took the risk of becoming a business owner. Now let's reap the rewards of that. Success has two sides of the coin, the hard side and the great side. Let's get more of that great side. So that way when you reach these successful milestones, you feel freaking lit up, fulfilled, and so happy that you are actually living your dream of a life and not just managing what's coming your way. So reach out.

 

Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go live your best life. Do not make this just a hope and a wish. I used to write on my mirror when I was little. I said, don't just dream, do. And I encourage you to do the same. And with that, thank you guys so much for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.
Category: Ethics, Jurisprudence and Malpractice, Financial Planning and Investments, Office Design, Practice Management, HR and Accounting
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