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Dentists Who Invest

Podcast Episode

Full Transcript

Dr James: 

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Dentist Room of Best Podcast. Super excited for this episode today. This has been in the pipeline for flipping ages, hasn’t it Me Day? Two busy men trying to align their schedules at zero fund whatsoever, but we finally finally got each other on this Zoom together. The stars have aligned. The universe has coalesced in this very moment for this podcast that we have been waiting for. I’m excited. I hope you’re excited as well.

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, thanks for having me, James. I mean, obviously we’ve been talking for months now, so it’s a real honor to be here. Yeah, looking forward to chatting.

Dr James: 

Cool, my man. So we were just chatting beforehand before we hit the record button and we were kind of bouncing ideas off each other for the title of this podcast. Because here’s what I often do I often speak to the guests beforehand and I say, if you can name this podcast and give it a title, what would that be? And then we work backwards from the content, from there, because if the title is exciting enough, then the content that leads us to create content which works around, that which makes the content by extension exciting. So we decided we’d call this podcast accidental entrepreneur, didn’t we Me Day?

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, I think that resonates very much with me. A lot of things happen by accident, but maybe they’re not an accident, maybe it was always the plan. But yeah, you know what I mean. Sometimes you don’t plan them, but it happens, but actually maybe it’s not an accident. So I think the title’s correct. But who knows, who knows.

Dr James: 

Well, this is it. If we’re going to get all deep and philosophical, was this part of the master plan all along? But all we know is that it happened right and we also just wanted to put in a small disclaimer at the start. We’re going to use the word entrepreneur somewhat reluctantly, almost for lack of a better word. Do you know what I mean? Because I know that that word in itself not everybody gets along with that word and everybody. Some people think it’s a little stuffy. But I suppose what we mean is individual who has grown a business from scratch, who’s out there trying to make it work, making it happen in the business world. And for lack of a better word, we’ll use the word entrepreneur, if that’s okay, me Day, if that sounds good to you.

Dr. Olumide: 

No, totally, because I think obviously we come from a healthcare background, don’t we? So we don’t get taught classically what an entrepreneur is. So I think there are certain character traits of an entrepreneur, and maybe they come out when it’s like the mother of necessity, isn’t it? And when you really don’t have another choice. You kind of find out that you’re an entrepreneur, and I think that’s how I would resonate. I always felt that I wanted to, but I definitely didn’t have any training, and then I was always waiting for someone to give me an opportunity, and then I realized I had to do it for myself. And that’s when, I guess, you figure it out, don’t you? And you either sink or you swim.

Dr James: 

And you know what we’re alluding to. We’re basically alluding to your story, aren’t we? We’re kind of dangling the cart in a way, so I’m so keen to get right in there and here where it all started.

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, man, yeah, I mean. So obviously you know, going way back, I train in Newcastle in 2000,. Qualified in 2005. You know, like many of us, you know universities, that big melting pot isn’t it? Meeting people from different sort of races, places, different accents, of course, with the Jordies, and yeah, had a great time. It was the perfect area for me because I was sort of my parents lived in Lincolnshire, which there’s not a lot going on there, and I moved to a big city, a bigger city, so it was the perfect balance. I think if I’d gone somewhere that was too big I may not have flourished. So my little boy is just coming, so you might hear screaming in the background. Yeah, and Newcastle was just the right size city for me to sort of flourish. But again I’m going to say some slightly controversial things. In the Northeast it’s a very much an NHS focused dental experience, so hospital led, nhs focus. So that model is very clear and because of that I think I’ve just learned how to be a good dentist. Then I’ll never forget moving down south to the Surrey area and I went for the interview and I heard people talking about like money and I was like what 300 pounds for a crown. At the time On my interview somebody was like 300 pounds for a crown. I was like no way. How would you even say those words? And you know it comes out to your character. My parents, for example, would never spend that kind of money on their teeth at the time, so it wasn’t natural to me. So you know, first you have to learn about yourself. You have to learn how to value yourself and know your worth. And truthfully, I’m sure this, james, you’ll agree with this but as a dentist you’re in a room with a nurse and a patient and you don’t know how to measure how good you are at anything. And you know they say, isn’t it you know? And 10,000 hours to be an expert at anything. And I think dentistry we learn on our patients and that period between knowing what you are and like where you start is quite a scary experience, would you not say?

Dr James: 

Definitely. You know, I remember when I went to private practice at the very start and the crowns were 650 and I had only ever sold crowns at 250 in my whole life because that was the NHS price. And what I didn’t have the labels, what I didn’t have the terminology to use to describe it at the time the terminology I needed was it was too far outside my comfort zone. But all I knew was there was this icky feeling about saying 650 quid, right, whereas at least when you have a label for what it is, you can know how to overcome it and you’re like oh, this is the thing, it’s not just me, right. So 650 quid in my head was way too far outside the comfort zone. It became 550 somewhere between my mouth right. By the time it left my mouth it was 450,. Okay, that was the crown price. And here’s the thing, totally psychological, there’s nothing physical stopping us saying 650, apart from the fact that we think it’s too much, unless we know and appreciate our value.

Dr. Olumide: 

Absolutely. Now, I think that’s it. I think also, the big one with dentists is that you know it’s healthcare and people genuinely don’t like coming to the dentist. So, depending on your personality type, many of us want to please our patients. We don’t want to hurt them and we want them to like us. So one of the ways to make them like you is don’t hurt them and then make it cheaper or make it palatable. And I think that’s something I struggled with right the way through, and I think even after a running or starting my own business, I was still struggling with that mindset. And you know, that’s why I say the word entrepreneur. If you’re trained to be an entrepreneur, you most probably know your metrics. You value the service, or you have to value it because you’re working backwards, whereas I’m just trying to sell being a nice guy. If I’m honest, that’s kind of what I’m trying to do. And then I think it was a point in time when I realized that actually, you know, I’m really good at what I do being a nice guy. People like me and they come to see me, and I think many of us dentists feel that at some point, and then there can be a value in that, and that’s where the entrepreneurial journey sort of started.

Dr James: 

Okay, I’m all ears and you know what. I have a terrible habit for jumping in with anecdotes from my own life on these exact things and the points in time where I learned these things. But people who listen to the podcast have already heard me waffle on. So I’m going to do exactly the opposite of that today and zip my lips and let you continue and tell everyone how these moments of inspiration came about for you. What are these things that changed your thinking?

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, sure, I’ll try and keep it brief and I’ll summarize. So, let’s say, from graduation to a house job in Maxfax, from a house job in Maxfax to an NHS associate, and that’s where you cut your teeth and build the skills that we’re talking about. Then, after maybe six years of that, I always felt there was a ceiling. Then I got a private practice job. And then in that private practice job so it’s in a great practice called Tendental in Central London and that’s when I learned how to you know, upsell or at least talk about prices more confidently. But then, within that practice, I was fortunate enough that you know, I became the go to clinician for certain procedures and you get this workflow, you know, and you get good at it. You get good at it, you get good at it and I think once you have that confidence, that’s when you can start saying, ok, well, you know what’s next and I’d already been looking at, you know, practice acquisition and quite simply, you know I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so financially I was struggling to raise funds to buy an existing practice. That’s when I started looking at the idea of setting up my own practice and at the time there wasn’t really much out there. There were a couple of courses and a couple of business coaches or mentors and everyone was, so I did jump in.

Dr James: 

I’m just curious circa what sort of time span was this Like? What year was this roughly so? This was?

Dr. Olumide: 

in 2015 now. So sort of ten years, qualified, you know, with a couple of years of house jobs, sort of eight years after. So I think I was around about early 30s, you know, maybe 30, 31. And there was a reason actually that made me do all of this because I was working for him in a mixed practice at the time and the owner sold the practice to like a mini corporate. And you know, they often need to be like a trigger and I was always waiting for someone to give me a leg up and say oh, you know, I’ll help you out, or I’ll make you the main associate, or you know, I was always waiting for that validation. And then the owner of the business I wouldn’t say names, but his son came into the business and the way that he looked at me that day, like the son, was like you’re nothing, you’re like like I own you. And that was the trigger for me to go hold on, I’m busting my gut here. I’m growing this business for your business, and yet I’m just a number, I’m just a metric. And that was the day I decided I’m not doing this anymore. And, as I said, you know, fast forward a few years. I put all my eggs in. I found an empty, disused Indian restaurant. It’d been empty for two or three years. And again, you know we can go into the details later, but you know there’s certain metrics you need. You know location, footfall, but the big thing is you need these kind of push and pull factors. You need more positives than negatives and I think some people do, like you know, draw like a graph or a diagram. You weigh them all up and you know it was my wife that actually found this building and she was like you know what? I think this could work. And, yeah, we went all in. We didn’t have much money, as I said, we had actually remortgaged our house to do a loft extension and I had this money in the bank and I was like, right, I can do the loft and make my wife happy, or I can put all that money into this business and hopefully make my wife happy eventually. And yeah, it’s been a year.

Dr James: 

Has that happened yet? Has that happened yet? Yeah, we’re almost there.

Dr. Olumide: 

We’re almost there, we’re almost there. But no, no, no, and yeah, you know, it was one of those. You know one of those sliding door moments. You know you can go one way, you can go left or right, and I’m sure we’ve all watched that film, siding Doors. And yeah, you know what I did it. I’m going through it. Is it easy? No, I mean, I’ve made so many mistakes, but the funny thing is I keep making different mistakes. But what I’ve experienced and you know I’ve enjoyed the journey and yeah, as I said, I think there is a way. If you’re good with people, there is a value in that and I think, as dentists you can, that can be an asset.

Dr James: 

And business as well. Like it’s 90% dealing with people. Like you know, when I started doing all of this, you know, I thought to myself oh well, it’s just me and a laptop is less dealing with people than business, then, sorry, than dentistry. Actually, it’s more than ever, you know. But here’s the thing I like that I feel like that plays to my strengths, and I just wanted to say something of what you were saying earlier. You know, that squeeze zone that you can put yourself in, right, here’s the thing. Right, most of us spend our whole life trying to avoid the squeeze zone where our backs against the wall, financially, knowledge-wise, in terms of our business, right Now, here’s the thing. So do so. I’m referring to, you know, when you were basically all in on this dental practice, right, by the way, special place in my heart for people who go all in in business, okay, special place in my heart, cause it’s make or break, isn’t it? It’s sink or swim. You know what I mean. And here’s the thing you might sink, okay, it might not work out. Right, here’s the real power. It’s to recognize when we’re in the squeeze zone. Actually, that’s probably where we’re learning the most and we’ll learn the most the fastest. Therefore, when it does work out, cause, even if that thing doesn’t work out, the next thing has a higher probability and a higher probability still. And to reframe all these things as opportunities to grow and learn and improve, right when it works out, the sooner we can do that to ourselves is actually the sooner we gain that wisdom and then we get the compound and returns on that wisdom and we’re also more likely to be able to pull the business off and therefore unlock the compound and returns of business as well, cause one of the principles of compound and the sooner we start is the sooner we unlock the returns that are associated with that yeah, that makes perfect sense. Does that make sense?

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, totally, totally perfect sense to me. I think you’re right. It’s the fear that stops us from sort of jumping sometimes, isn’t it?

Dr James: 

Yeah, the powerful thing is to realize that the fear, the thing that that the fact that we don’t want to go there because of fear, is Actually the probably the place where we’ll learn the most. But anyway, I don’t mean to jump in tell me what happened next after the dental practice being opened.

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah. So building what done? Doors opened and, again, no entrepreneurial skills really, other than trying to be a nice guy. So you know, I think one of the first things is try to ingratiate yourself with the local community. So we did everything, you know, like leaflet drops, went to the local coffee shops, met the local estate agents, all of that. But you know, and the biggest thing with our business model was having a good location. So, as I said about you know, push for all factors. If you’ve got family, if you’ve got kids, if you’ve got a Locality, you know, trying to kind of get something in there that can sort of stimulate, you know, your presence. So I was fortunate that my kids went to school locally. So you know, I did a couple of talks with the school. I Did a couple of them. I think, like you know Some affairs and all of that kind of thing and you really have to be someone that’s prepared to put yourself out there. I don’t think we can sit in them in our, in our box, in our surgery, and expect people to just walk in. And, of course, you can pay for marketing as well. We didn’t do a lot of that actually initially, because we just grew organically and and then again obviously like getting the right team. That was a challenge because initially I Went through like gumtree and I would be googling and searching and you know somebody go our dental nurse, amazing, and there’s a reason why they’re putting their job at this Eve’s on gumtree Probably. And then I went through some. I mean I could tell you some stories, man. I’m like people leaving halfway through the day saying that they had issues and they had problems. I had a crown prep straight after no nurse, you know receptionist calling in. You know it’s everything that you could imagine. You know it did happen. But again, you know, it’s just a journey. And one thing I think as well that I found really hard is I was too Emotionally involved. I still am, but the beginning is Because it’s your baby and it means so much to you. When you realize that no one really can care as much as you, it’s actually quite liberating because you’re like you see it from their side or you see it with their eyes, and Even as an associate I think it’s associates, you know no associate cap, not, not, no, not that many associates care as much as a principle, right. What I mean by that is they’ve got to take care of themselves and their breath and and their you know their patients. But there’s so much more to it. You know like, and when you’re an associate, when you’re a principal, some of the things that you worry about. You know how much, how many micro brushes of use on this breath. You know little things because, um, yeah, you know it’s just an, it’s just a crazy experience. And so what I would say is that you know, the first two years I ran the business like this, you know, finger in the air, get more people in, treat as many of them as you can, and you know, ultimately, the best customer service I could, I could offer. And so you know, we went the extra mile, we made sure the practice smells nice, looks nice, all of that kind of thing, super clean. You know follow-ups, feedback, all of that we, we did well. And then actually, and two years into the practice, I realized that, okay, look, you can keep just trying to get more people in or you can actually start structuring it like a business. So, um, I’m very fortunate I met a guy called Andy McDougal from a company called spot on finance.

Dr James: 

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s a good guy.

Dr. Olumide: 

That is just the legend. I mean, he just helps. That’s why I say accidental entrepreneur, because he’s like, okay, well, you’ve done really well, you’ve got the business up to a point now, but is it a business? So then again, he’s been working with me and my team. He’s empowered my practice manager to start. You know, looking at the metrics, looking at the numbers and we’re not perfect by any stretch, we’re still very new as a business where, five years in. But what we now have is we have someone To basically and I think this is important for anyone that’s going to do do this kind of business you know, get started on your own steam but then start to streamline and delegate as well, because you know I’m not, I’m not the best with all the numbers, for example. So my wife actually does a lot of our finance and she does deals with all the payments and my practice manager deals with the, you know, the HR and the cqc and the day to day and I do the sort of the face, the customer facing and, you know, growing our reputation across different, different media and different streams. So yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at at the moment.

Dr James: 

Very cool. So that’s the whole practice side of things. And then, of course, there’s this whole other Hemisphere to what you do, which is smile fast. How did that come about? Because here’s the thing practice ownership Brilliant, amazing, so cool. Lots of dentists get into that. And then the smile fast is like really Interest and voyage into the unknown, because not many people tend to create something alongside their dental practice. What was the squeeze? What pushed you to create smile fast? What precipitated that action?

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, um, honestly, again, it’s an accident, but I think you know I’m a real big believer in you know, if you feel or see a problem, then somebody else will have the same problem. And I think you know a bit of strength in numbers. You know I was doing Clinical work a certain way and it became quite laborious and quite stressful. And you know cosmetic dentistry is a thing. Okay, you know all the studies show that, like, more than 50 percent of people have a hang up about their teeth. So that’s a huge market. So patients want a nicer smile. Many of them don’t know how to get it. Many of them think it’s going to be incredibly Unaffordable. And then here’s the thing from the dentist side, we have the stress of achieving it, doing it consistently and doing it in a way that our patients would like. So this is the problem that I had. You know you could even go down the ceramics route and you know, prep the teeth, which has issues, and then obviously cost implications. And I was thinking is there, there’s got to be another way using technology, there’s got to be another way to make people’s smiles better and more consistent. So I met Tom Sealy. Tom is just one of these really annoying dentists. He looks at a tooth and it turns into like the Mona Lisa. You know I hate him, it’s not fair.

Dr James: 

It’s not fair, is it?

Dr. Olumide: 

No, it’s not a lot of is it, but he’s just a genius. But the problem is for Tom. Even though he was an incredibly talented and dentist, the time that he was taken to achieve these kind of Consistent results meant that it wasn’t profitable. So we have two sides of the same problem. You know we’ve got to get a solution where we can do it better, but actually he’s got to work. So that’s how smart first starters to. Tom and I sat down and you know I was sort of trying to think of it from the business side of things and saying, well, actually, on a day-to-day practice, this is what I need. I need a portal where I can submit my cases, where I can discuss cases, I can plan cases From there. I need a workflow and that’s how sort of smart fast came. And then Tom would be in his, in his shed I think he’s still got the shed and he would go and say, oh, maybe if we make it like this, if we can do this and do that. And then with the digital dentistry we were able to create you know the first iteration of the smart fast stents, tried it on actually I think it was a practice manager at the time. You know she wasn’t happy with her teeth. Her daughter was getting married and I had a nurse at the time who hated dentistry. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a nurse like that. She doesn’t want to be there anymore. She’s done right. And she hated dentistry because she’d kind of seen it all over and over again. And we did this smile face case and I remember taking off the stent and she just looked at me and her mouth dropped and that’s when I realized actually we’re onto something here, because it gave us the results and she actually had smile face to self, the nurse afterwards. So it gave us results that weren’t possible freehand or weren’t consistently possible freehand. And that was basically the start of it. And again, it’s been a learning curve, a learning journey. We’ve made some really big advancements. In September last year we released a second version of the stent. We’ve got some great collaborations with some other companies Ivor Clar, boutique, whitening now as well and these things have just really been allowed us to have an ecosystem which, again, without sounding sort of too sort of big about it, it’s there to help dentists. And we are dentists, we’re wet finger dentists, we live this problem. It’s helping us and then, by extension, if we can give dentists a platform or a pathway. It can help them as well. So, again, I need to be very clear though. One of the big things about smile faces it’s not for every case. We’re not selling it as like oh, we’re not trying to sort of commoditize it. We’re genuinely trying to help the dentists. But, by extension, patients are now asking for the smile face because they understand it as an option.

Dr James: 

Very cool. How long has it been up and running since that very first case?

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, so 2018 was the first case, so that’s four years now. And, yeah, as I said, it started just at the same time as the practice was starting and I had a little baby as well. So a lot of things in one time, but it’s been a whirlwind. You may know now that we’ve actually launched in the United States and, interestingly, although they’re ahead in a lot of things, I think their resin, their composite resin, is underused and I think they’re now actually seeing it. And again, it’s interesting If you ask a room of 20 or 30 dentists, what would you do? Would you prep this case? Would you do additive composites? I think out of 20, probably 18 or 19 will always say they’d rather not prep. So I think it’s something that we all believe in inherently, if we can do it consistently and accurately.

Dr James: 

Yeah, they’re all about their porcelain out there right 20 or 30 years. Yeah big time and not afraid to chop a little bit of enamel, like us Brits.

Dr. Olumide: 

I mean, it’s not illegal, is it? I can’t even believe that it’s not Sorry, I’m being slightly facetious.

Dr James: 

Certainly they’re more open to the idea, whereas we’re ultra conservative. But here’s the thing there’s pros and cons to both. Sometimes, when you’re too conservative, where you’re rusty, flip and fail. You know, it’s the balance between removing enamel and longevity, and there’s a sweet spot always yeah.

Dr. Olumide: 

And I think it’s a question of what would you do first? You know, I think many times a lot of people would actually do the more conservative first, with the anticipation that later down the line you are going to need to prep these teeth anyway. But composite gives us that initial treatment plan.

Dr James: 

This podcast is obviously all about entrepreneurship, and here’s the thing I always find that, from the outside looking in, there was so many misconceptions I had, so to speak, about the journey and there was stuff that I realized as I went through it, that I looked back and I was like, oh, it’s so liberating Now that I know that I wish other people could see what I can now see. What do you think for yourself if you were to just harken back on that previous version of me day versus what you’ve learned now, what were the biggest revelations or the biggest things that you wish you could go back and tell me day, pre-starting your dental practice, pre-starting Smile Fast.

Dr. Olumide: 

Oh yeah, great question. I mean, the first thing I think is, yeah, just take a breath and not try to like put so much into everything you do and force other people to do it with you. You’ve really got to take people along with you on the journey. So that’s something I learned the hard way. You know like maybe being super intense, you know just wanting it so much and that’s been the biggest thing. Valuing myself, I think. Ultimately, I probably undervalued a lot of what I did and I probably still do to an extent. That may come down to personality. I don’t like to overcharge or overvalue everything, but I think, maybe starting to appreciate that you know what, do it once and do it right, and that might mean that you have to spend a bit more time and, you know, charge a bit more as well. That’s something I’ve learned and it’s helped me. Other things that I’ve learned well, I was going to say work-life balance, so that’s not sure I haven’t learned that yet, but no, just I was saying actually before we started, the problems will always be there. I started to learn to just focus on the first one. So I have a load of things going on, but do this one and do it now and do it properly. So I’ve started being a lot better at that. And then the biggest thing I have learned from business though and this is something that’s changed massively in my mindset is if there’s a problem or I need to do something, I do it straight away. I don’t procrastinate half as much. So if I’ve got like 10 things and somebody says something, I do it now. So if I need to make a business meeting or a call, or I just do it, and I’ve learned that action. I don’t have to overthink it, I just do it, and that’s been massively liberating for me.

Dr James: 

On that specific thing. I feel like that’s one of the greatest things that holds people back is that we act like we’ve got more time than we actually do, particularly if we’ve got big dreams, because really every second counts right here today. If you’ve got big dreams, these huge things take decades to grow, so you’ve got to start. So, with regards to what you just said, it’s very powerful to be able to create an association in your head between what you have to do the repetitive day to day small tasks like creating the meeting and blah, blah, blah and that overall goal that you’re trying to achieve. So look at the overall goal, realize how that will make you feel in terms of being happy and positive, or also realize how it will make you feel if you don’t achieve it Right, and you know that happiness or that emotional pain associate that with not doing these little tiny tasks and you’ve just biohacked your brain to get so much shit done. It’s insane. That works for me.

Dr. Olumide: 

No, I totally agree. I totally agree, and it’s. I think sometimes we end up just procrastinating or just overthinking it or just going I’ll get back to it later. I just do it and then it’s done, and then I move on. I mean, there is a problem in that, though, because I think you can become over efficient, and now sometimes you know my wife’s like how have you done? You know 10 things, and maybe sometimes I think there is a danger in becoming a bit of a robot, just kind of like taking on things and doing them. So that’s the bit I’m working on with myself. You know, maybe having a switch off, I need to, I need to dial that in as well.

Dr James: 

That’s cool, man. I totally understand There’ll be a lot of people out there listening to this who are tearing on the brink of starting a dental practice, creating their own business. What is the greatest thing that you could say to those people to put the wind in their flipping sales?

Dr. Olumide: 

The greatest thing when you’re starting is I’m going to say make sure you’re ready, because it’s one of these things A lot of people start and then not ready. So you need to get your skillset right. You need to know that whatever comes in through the door you can deal with. Ultimately, you’re a one man band at the beginning, so if you’re not competent or confident to deal with what’s going to come in, just wait. Take your time, invest in yourself first, get that bit right and then you can grow from that. I’m talking specifically to, obviously, a type of dental practice, so a squat practice buying an existing business. I’m sure there are things you can pick up and you can get other people to help you with, but ultimately, when you recognize that no one will ever care as much about your business successes, you will, no matter what that is, be it your account and be it your financial advisor, whatever. When you realize that it’s on you, then you need to be ready to take it all on, and I think some of us I know some people call me up and a few of my buddies and like within five minutes I just say you’re not ready. I don’t put the phone down, but I’m like just don’t do it. And yeah, yeah. And a couple of guys have now gone on, and one of them, dr Ali, in Swansea. He says the story all the time. He said I was so rude to him the first time. He was like you just shut me down and he went. It was the best thing that happened to him, because now, you know, two years or three years later, he’s got a beautiful practice, he’s got it, but he’s ready. So I think that’s the biggest thing I can tell people just make sure that when you’re ready, you go, not like, oh yeah, I think I’ll be fine and then I’ll make it up. So yeah, that’s something that’s quite important, I think.

Dr James: 

That’s cool, man. Thanks so much. I love these sorts of podcasts where I have someone who’s been successful in business and achieved things as my guest, because when we speak on a specific subject which has been relevant to your success, then what it means is your words carry gravity, because you’ve literally walked in those shoes and you can’t get that wisdom from anywhere else. And I feel like that’s why Dentist, who invests in the podcast and all of the stuff that we do on there, bring this totally different angle of education to Dentistry because, like I say, otherwise, these stories just don’t get told and this wisdom never gets imparted. So thank you for that.

Dr. Olumide: 

Well, I’m gonna throw something back at you, james, actually. So I think you use the word success there, which I think is really kind, because I think from the outside and again on social media, people would say that I’m successful, I’ve got a practice, I’ve actually got a second practice coming, I’ve got Smile Fast, and what is success? I mean financial success, emotional success, I think the truth is. This is why I’m really glad that we’re talking with you, because the reason I gravitate to you a lot is actually success and financial freedom, as you’ve mentioned before, is actually really important, and I think there’s a lot of us that work too hard or work incredibly hard. I do believe that mental health in Dentistry is the thing. Can you think of another industry where you have to deal with 20 to 30 clients a day in a high level, stressful procedure and then you have to do an operation on them, then they have to pay you, then they have to be happy with the service, then you have to manage your nurse and your receptionist. It’s mental, it’s really crazy. There’ll be other industries where a lawyer, you sit on a phone. I mean you have your stresses of course you do, but you’re not dealing with 20 or 30 clients doing the same procedure and then the fact is you can get sued if you do it wrong. So Dentistry is a unique and it’s a crazy industry and I think success I think I’d probably say, james, I’m not completely successful I need to learn from you. I need to learn how I can make financial bits of financial success actually make my life better, and I think that’s where I’m still in the journey. Working harder doesn’t mean happier or smarter. So I just thought I’d mention that because I really admire you for what you’re doing. I think you’re giving people a different way, especially in our healthcare industry.

Dr James: 

Thanks, bro. That really means a lot, and I think you’ve highlighted something really important there, which is what is success right? And here’s the thing unless we make a conscious decision about what our success looks like, here’s what happens. We’re inadvertently following someone else’s predetermined idea of success for us. And what does that mean? What does that mean? It means that we might be working in someone else’s business, building their business, consistently contributing to a savings account because we feel like we should, or someone has imposed that idea upon us or suggested it to us, and we kind of are semi-conscious. We semi-consciously think, oh well, that’s not a good idea, that’s what everybody else is doing, but is that what we want? You with me? Yeah? And you’re right, life is about happiness first and foremost. It just so happens that when we increase our wealth is one of the simplest ways to get back our time, which allows us to do the things that we want and therefore are more likely to be happy. The point is not having the money, so to speak. The point is what we can use the money to obtain. Be with me, and it just so happens that understanding financial freedom and the methods that we can use to get there are the best way that we can achieve that goal and therefore, by extension, the things in life that make us happy Boom. So, long story short, just to build on what you said right, best way to determine success is to figure out what it looks for you. Write the hell down. If you want to Write the bullet points down, right, and then work back from there.

Dr. Olumide: 

Yeah, couldn’t agree more. Man, Mic drop Boom boom, Mida.

Dr James: 

You’ve been so flipping generous with your time today. Any parting words of wisdom. Thank you so much for coming on.

Dr. Olumide: 

Part of words of wisdom. No, I think you just said it there. I think happiness, the thing that makes me happiest in my life is seeing my family grow and my family thrive. And actually there is one thing that I do like to sort of finish with. I’m building this up now, so it better be good, but anybody can be anything that they want to be. That’s like the biggest thing in my life. It’s again like seismic. I didn’t realise it. Don’t let your situation limit what you can be. Doesn’t matter what you are, who you are, the colour of your skin, the accent that you’ve got, your hair colour. You can be anything, and I think ultimately, that’s my big thing to just empower people. Obviously, as a young black man, I found it challenging at times. I did, I’m not going to lie, but actually it didn’t mean that I couldn’t do it. One of the things I do realise, though, for anybody, is that you often need to see somebody that kind of looks or sounds or, yeah, talks a little bit like you to make you realise it’s possible. So you know, both for young women to be successful in business or for men. I just wanted to sort of leave with that sort of mindset that you can be whatever you want to be, and I think once people realise that you can do it, it might be hard but it’s possible. I think it’s quite an empowering thing.

Dr James: 

I’m vibing without me today. I’m feeling the flip in love, bro. Thank you so much. That was awesome. Thank you so much, dude. Dude, we’re going to end it right there. Much love my man. We’ll catch up really soon. Cheers. Thank you so much, bro.

Dr. Olumide: 

Cheers, bye.