Empowering Dentistry: Allison’s Journey to Leadership, Confidence and Global Inspiration
Join AADOM founder Heather Colicchio as she sits down with members of the AADOM Influencer Program to help you get to know the faces behind the influence!
Hear from these inspiring dental leaders as they share their unique stories, career paths, and what drives their passion for leadership in the dental industry. Heather and the influencers discuss what it means to be a trusted resource in the field, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their roles, insights, and advice for success.
Join us to meet the AADOM influencers and discover what makes each of them an integral part of the AADOM community!
Read the Transcript Now!
John: What’s going on, AADOM nation? Thanks for tuning into a special episode here on AADOM Radio.
Today’s episode is going to be hosted by Founder and CEO of AADOM, Heather Colicchio, as she sits down with the newly anointed AADOM Influencers.
In today’s episode, Heather had a great conversation with the very talented Allison Lacoursiere.
Heather: Hello there, AADOM tribe and AADOM Nation. This is Heather Colicchio, AADOM Founder and President.
I’m here today with another one of our very, very favorite AADOM influencers. This is part of our AADOM Influencer series.
Welcome Allison! We have Alison Lacoursiere here with us today. Welcome to the show.
Allison: I am so excited to be here. It is such a pleasure. Excited!
Heather: So excited to have you.
So, we launched the AADOM Influencer Program this year, and we did it with the purpose of sort of bringing the very important people in dental office management more to the awareness of our members, of the AADOM members, of the AADOM tribe.
So, the influencers are not companies. They’re not, you know, sponsors. These are people who have, like yourself, who have organically grown your own tribe within dental office management.
And so, this is just my opportunity to talk to you and for you to, you know, get to talk to the AADOM audience.
So, Allison, let’s start with,—where would you like to start? Let’s start with what started your journey in dental? How did that all start?
Allison’s Dental Journey
Allison: Yeah, I would love to share that.
So, I started off as a clinical dental assistant and I went into orthodontics pretty quickly. And then I moved from Canada—Calgary, Alberta—to the Island of Bermuda because I got a job there and I really wanted to travel. I was very adventurous. I still am very adventurous, but I wanted to live abroad and travel.
And so, dentistry brought me to work in the Island of Bermuda. And I was a very systemized, you know, leader from day one. I had three brothers who I bossed around my entire childhood, so it just came naturally to me.
I ended up systemizing our practice in one capacity in the aligner world. And my boss was like, “Wow, you did this with one procedure. Why don’t you become the office manager?”
And so, I was 24 years old. I was the youngest person in the practice. And as you can imagine, being brought from that clinical DA to being an office manager, I had no sweet clue what I was doing. And nobody really liked me.
And so, I was literally, physically on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and then in an island in the practice. And I was very lonely. Very insecure, very lost, but really motivated to learn how I can be better.
And so, of course, I went online and tried to find every single resource possible. But my dental coach actually said, “You need to be a part of AADOM. That’s what you have to do.”
So, I went to university of Toronto and got my dental office management certification. I went to all these online courses, but nothing really hit the mark more than standing in the room of a thousand other dental office managers, all, you know, in the same position. And for the very first time in my career as an office manager, not feeling alone.
And I think I’ve shared this story with you where I like actually had tears in my eyes because I was so relieved that I didn’t have to do all of this alone. So, that’s what got me into dental was I wanted to travel and work abroad and it just kind of like elevated into being an office manager through that process.
Heather: So, I mean, let’s talk about that a little bit, because that’s fascinating. I mean, just the way you said it, you’re like, “Yeah, so I just got a job in Bermuda.”
Like, walk us through that. How, how does that happen? What were your parameters? Were you booking anywhere in the world? I mean, I never thought of dentistry as such a worldwide opportunity, but it is actually a skill you can take with you anywhere. And it’s very portable skill.
So, you’re young. What were you looking for? Like, what were your parameters as far as where you were looking to go or do or see?
Why Dentistry?
Allison: Yeah, so I chose dental because of that. My parents were pushing me into, you know, they wanted me to be a teacher. They wanted me to go and be a vet. You know, I always had an interest in healthcare.
But, I looked at dentistry, like, “Oh my gosh! Everybody has teeth. Everyone needs support.”
It was like 2008 when I graduated during a recession. So, I was like, I need something that’s going to have longevity and consistency, but I also want something that I can travel with.
And so, when I was in Canada, I determined that I was allergic to cold by age 10. So, for me, it really was: go somewhere warm. Like I need to go somewhere warm.
And Bermuda is a very interesting place because most of the health care professionals there are Canadian. Just because we use the Canadian health codes, we have a lot of doctors from Canada.
And so my dentist actually contacted my school because my school in dental assisting—we could pack cord, we could scale, we could place the first layer of edge inflatable. We had a lot of secondary skills, so he just wanted an assistant from there.
And so really it kind of fell in my lap. It like must’ve been destiny or something because it was warm. As soon as I moved there, I got scouted to play on the national volleyball team. So, I started traveling to Europe and playing competitive volleyball.
And so, for me, when someone said, “Do you want to take the job interview for Bermuda?” I’m like, “That sounds warm and it sounds like an adventure. I’m in.”
So, really, I didn’t have to look very hard. It really found me.
Heather: So, national volleyball team. I don’t think I knew that. National for Canada or for Bermuda?
Allison: For Bermuda.
Heather: That is so cool. Wow. Wow!
I mean, we have the time. Tell me a little bit about that. That’s just so interesting. What was that like, playing for the Bermuda national volleyball team?
Playing for the Bermuda National Volleyball Team
Allison: Honestly, one of the best like experiences of my entire life. I played competitive volleyball all through growing up, played on club teams. I was really competitive and excited to continue my journey.
And I got injured when I was in high school. It kind of like threw me off a little bit. So, I was like, “You know what? That’s fine. I’ll go and focus on my career, go travel abroad.”
And when I got there, they asked me, they’re like—like I was playing beach volleyball just for fun. They’re like, “You play, like, you’re obviously quite competitive.”
I’m like, “Yes.”
So, I tried out and I got to travel to like Gotland, Sweden, and Jersey, the Isle of Wight. We played in the U. S. Open in Boston and Kentucky. Went to Toronto. We traveled all over and it was just a fantastic experience to play at that high level, you know, well into my kind of adult life and in my career.
And my boss would give me time off to go and play. And, of course, it’s just with everything that I do now, there’s so many fundamental lessons playing on a high level competitive team that you learn. It translates so well into practice. It translates so well into business leadership.
So, honestly, it was like—walking through like opening ceremony with like the Bermuda Jersey and like singing the Bermuda national Anthem before we would play and having like big crowds watching us—it was pretty phenomenal!
Heather: That’s the coolest thing I think I’ve ever heard. Wow! I had no idea. And really, if your goal was to see the world, sounds like you accomplished it—you know, through volleyball via dentistry, kind of. So, you hit all the marks. That’s amazing!
Do you still play?
Allison: I was playing in a tournament about a year and a half ago and I tore my ACL. So, I had surgery last summer and I’m in recovery, but definitely going to get back to it and definitely want to coach like the younger team members and help them on their journey of competitive sport.
So, I will always like, love it and want to get back into the sand very soon.
Heather: Well, if we ever do competitive sand volleyball at the AADOM conference, I’ll be on your team. You don’t want me, but I will be on your team.
So, take me now from when you finished your time in Bermuda. How did that come to an end? Why? And where did you go from there?
Life After Bermuda
Allison: Yeah. So, in 2020, I was getting to the point where I’d been in my practice for 10 years. I became a certified professional coach and had recognized that I really want to help more people.
Like that was my thing was like, “Okay, I think I’ve grown out of being in this specific practice on this Island. I want to expand and start my own company, help more practices, help more people, and become a professional speaker.”
And so, I went and got a lot of coach training. I’ve got a lot of speaking training. There’s this incredible timing where the pandemic happened. And I started speaking on social media. I started hosting webinars on my own online. And it was this incredible time where the world was quiet and I got a lot of exposure.
And so, I got asked to speak for Seattle Study Club. I got picked up on the align technology faculty, which was my dream, honestly. I got asked to speak at like the Ortho Summit—all these big events virtually.
And because I was really good with technology, I made a really good impression. And I just became known quite quickly on my social media and in the virtual world.
And so, as the pandemic kind of like shifted and we started moving back into in-person events, I started speaking a ton. ,So for the last couple of years, I think I haven’t been in one place for more than two weeks. I’ve been on the road, flying around, speaking.
I’m growing my company and just empowering the dental industry, which truly is just my dream. I used to lay awake at night visioning what I’m doing today, which is so cool.
So, that’s why I left Bermuda, was because I was just on an airplane all the time and I recognized like I need to make sure that—when I have a home base, I dropped down where my family is so I can see them on a more consistent basis.
I have a niece and a nephew, my mom and dad and three brothers. And so, I bought a place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And now, when I touch down, I’m here, between my speaking events.
Heather: So, tell us about your company, the one that I guess you formed during COVID, during the pandemic, right?
I feel I have mixed emotions talking about the pandemic because it was so unfortunate for so many people. It was very good for AADOM and that it gave us, like you, a time to be seen and be heard because people who are normally so busy were so quiet and it sounds like it was the same for you.
So, tell AADOM Nation about your company, what you do and what services you offer.
Empowering Other Human Beings
Allison: Yeah, absolutely.
I recognized when I was a dental assistant first and then an office manager and then a business owner that the human beings in dentistry need to be served in different way. And what does that look like from the dental assistant perspective?
It’s the case acceptance. It’s educating our patients from the office management perspective. It’s empowering our teams, but first, empowering ourselves.
And so, I really sat and I thought about what is the biggest impact I can make with a skillset that I have. And it really is empowering human beings and being able to help them believe more in themselves and understand their capabilities in the world and then go out and support others.
And so, as a professional coach, I help office managers develop internal confidence and self-worth to be able to communicate with their team, create systems in a practice to help them, you know, be more effective and happy.
I think there’s a big stress sometimes, self doubt, limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome—all of this stuff that we just carry with us. We don’t have to have it. And so, I help relieve that as a professional coach.
And then I help with treatment coordinator by being able to create more case acceptance by comprehensive treatment planning diagnosis, and being able to present and discuss and build relationships with patients in a different way.
And so, my mantra with Clear Coaching is we’re humans first, professional second. We become exceptional professionals by being exceptional humans, and it’s not the other way around.
And so, in dentistry, we have to help support the human beings. And so I do a lot of private coaching with dentists, helping them, again, remove the imposter syndrome, the self-belief, become really great leaders. And then coach them, coach my office managers and coach my TCs to really like—my mission is to help them expand into their fullest potential and achieve the goals that they have for themselves and their practice and their work.
Heather: That’s a great mission Allison. And it sounds like you’re doing it and you’re doing it authentically. Like, this is the path you’ve taken, right?
I mean, just thinking about this young girl on the island of Bermuda who is unsure of herself and did one rock star thing the doctor said, “Do more rock star things.” So, you’ve walked the walk, so I’m proud of you. That’s really, really awesome!
I want to go back to the speaking. What do you love to speak on, the most?
Passion for Speaking
Allison: The thing I love to speak on the most is really leadership, high performance and self-confidence. And the reason why I love speaking on that is because I watch my audience and it’s almost like there’s an unlocking of permission to be kinder to themselves—to have tools that will help them have better lives and be happier.
And also, like this recognition that they can accomplish more than they even believe that they can before they come into my lectures. And so, that lecture, like leadership, high performance, self-confidence—all four is like, that lecture in itself.
I’ve spoken to dental schools. I’ve spoken to huge audiences of managers of just dental staff, dental teams. I don’t use the word dental staff. It’s a swear word to me, but dental teams. And I just watch their faces change and they come to me afterwards and they say, “I wish I would have known this sooner. And thank you for these tools because my life will be different after this.”
That makes me feel so good. Like, you know, when we set out on our path to have a career, I think we don’t even recognize how much impact we can make. And being a dental office manager is one of the biggest positions where you’re impacting thousands of people through your patients.
And that’s one lecture for me that I feel really impacts people in a different way.
Heather: Yeah. It sounds like it.
I have a question: What was it like? You started during COVID, during the pandemic. What was it like for you switching from this virtual aspect, right, and then having to go live in-person, which is a whole other skillset, really a whole other world.
What was that like for you?
Going from Virtual to In-Person Coaching
Allison: It was natural. Honestly, the first time I did a keynote on stage after the pandemic, I was kind of known, not really, but I was known for my virtual work. And then it was the first time I was stepping on stage to do a keynote.
And the meeting organizer called me and she’s like, “Can you extend your keynote from one hour to an hour and 30 minutes?” like a week before.
And I was like, “Yeah, of course. No problem. Super experienced with this.”
And so, I felt like a little bit of pressure like being able to do just as well virtually as I could in person. But honestly, being able to feel the room and see the faces and connect with the audience—like, I love that even more than virtual.
And so now I feel really grateful that I have the skills to do really, really great virtual workshops. But also in person—speaking to dental patients and my dental team for a decade—I have that experience. And so it was pretty natural for me.
Heather: You really have the best of both worlds because I remember when the pandemic hit, all the speakers I knew who had always spoken live—no one spoke virtually. That wasn’t not a thing. You didn’t speak virtually.
It was so awkward, like watching a lot of them try and talk to the screen where they’re used to talking to a room full of, you know, hundreds of thousands of people. It was a very strange shift, but it sounds like you mastered the virtual and then went into the live, which is a much more natural progression, I guess.
Allison: I feel really grateful for that. I see we have so many different generations in dentistry right now and every generation has a different skill set and a different, you know, strength that they’re bringing into the industry and all of them are super, super important.
And I think one of the things about millennials is just our ability for utilizing technology. That gives us a little bit more of a—not more, but just a different dynamic ability.
Heather: Yeah, definitely. You’ve got an edge.
I was just on a mastermind with Laura Nelson. We were talking and she was saying that this is the first time in history that there are five generations in the workplace on a given day. So, yeah, it’s interesting, you know, challenges for sure.
But I think everyone, to your point, brings their own unique skills as well.
Something I just want to circle back to that I would love to explore. You talked about imposter syndrome for the dentists. Is that something, in your experience, that they experience imposter syndrome clinically or as business people or both?
Imposter Syndrome in the Dental Practice
Allison: Both, I would say. You know, dentists have a very, very pressurized state of work when it comes to being a leader of their team, being the leader of their patients, being practice owners, and none of that was taught in their dental school.
And so, I just have a giant amount of empathy for the dentist, like coming out and then having this expectation of where and who they need to be.
We’re not taught how to think. One of the things that impacts us the most in the way that we perform, and I learned this in playing beach volleyball in front of a couple hundred people and cameras on me in a bikini, and I’m like, “Okay, I have to handle pressure in a different way.”
One of the biggest things that helped me was learning how to think about myself and others and prepare myself mentally and in a visual way for what is about to come. But often we let our mindset just go rampant with negative thoughts about ourselves, fears, feelings of like unworthiness that really does impact how we show up. And a lot of what we say in our mind is very unkind and it’s untrue.
But if we’re taught how to think in a powerful way, that’s how we can overcome that imposter syndrome and lean into the challenges rather than feel like this big, huge burdens on us.
So, yeah, I would say imposter syndrome comes. A lot of women have a lot of imposter syndrome. Unfortunately, people that are stepping into higher level leadership roles or in positions of like influence and power—it’s scary. And we’re not taught how to deal with it.
Heather: I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt. I should back up. If you could just explain for the audience what that is. Yeah. In case that’s a term someone’s not familiar with.
What is Imposter Syndrome?
Allison: Imposter syndrome is the feeling that even though you’re in a position—like for example, when I was told that I am now the dental office manager—I felt like an imposter.
“If they only knew that I wasn’t qualified or wasn’t capable, then they would not accept me.”
And this can be in any capacity. It’s like the thoughts, the repetitive thoughts about yourself that you’re not good enough, that everyone around you just doesn’t know that you’re not capable or qualified. When, in reality, these things are not true at all. They just kind of like paralyze you.
So that’s really imposter syndrome—these repetitive negative thoughts about yourself that you’re not qualified or capable for whatever you’re doing.
Heather: And I think I’ve seen that a lot in the world of dental office managers, although I’ve never called it that. But that’s because like dentists, dental office managers don’t receive formal training. They’re just expected to know it, to learn it.
And I would see managers going, “I really don’t know how to do this. I don’t want to tell my doctor I really don’t know how and there’s no one else on my team I can ask.”
So I think it is very common in that role. You know, there’s the assistance, the hygienist, there’s the formal training, you know, all the education behind it. But in a role of manager, where it really is, you know, except for AADOM, and some of the resources that are available, it really is kind of every man for themselves, figure it out.
I can see where imposter syndrome probably runs rampant. So, I’d love to explore that with you down the line for our members.
Allison: A hundred percent.
We are all beginners, but the difference in the mindset when you’re trained to have a mindset like, “I’m going to be the best beginner there ever was,” rather than “I’m not good enough because I’m a beginner.”
Those two thoughts will change you and the way that you feel and the way that you show up so tremendously.
And, and we can learn how to train our mind to be able to feel more confident in ourselves, even when we’re starting something new and even when we have to figure it out.
Heather: That makes a big difference. Yeah, that’s very powerful.
So, let me ask you: what is your favorite thing about dental office managers?
Dental Office Managers Can Figure It Out
Allison: Honestly, I think it’s the fact that they can figure out anything. I really do think that if you—when I meet a dental office manager, I’m like, “I know who you are. You are someone who can handle the most unpredictable day, the most unpredictable situation scenarios. You can do it with grace. You can do it with empathy. You can take care of people and you can just figure it out.”
And I think that’s one of the most like beautiful characteristics of a dental office manager is that we lead with empathy and we lead with heart because we came into this industry because we love people.
And yet there’s this like—can I say the word badass on this podcast?
Heather: Certainly.
Allison: Okay. There’s this like badassery around an office managers where they’re like, “I’ve got this.” Like anything happening, “I’ve got this.”
And like, it’s really just everything is figure-outable for them. So that’s what I love about dental office managers.
Heather: The badassery —and I know exactly what you mean, right? It’s just, yeah. They are the cool chaos coordinator. They’ve got it.
What do you see? Well, let me ask you this: what do you see is the most exciting thing happening within dentistry or dental office management in the next three to five years?
If I have an inside look at some things, what’s coming that we should all be looking for getting excited about?
Exciting Things Coming for Office Managers
Allison: I think there’s two things. I think one is that dental office managers have access to more and better training and resources like AADOM than ever before. Like, you can become an exceptional office manager if you go online, which was not always the case.
Like there was so much disconnection. There was so much like, “Let’s try and figure this out without even having anybody to talk to.” But that’s gone.
And now, if you want to be exceptional at your job, you a hundred percent can. You have the inside of AADOM.
The second thing is technology and AI. We have to understand how this is changing our world.
And I think in dentistry, this is gonna position us so well to be able to take some of the things that were really like monotonous and just time consuming and be able to automate them with technology so that we can focus on the people a little bit more.
And I think that moving our shift from being stressed and burdened by all these tasks that actually can be handled by technology and moving our focus on the people—that’s how we’re going to see some really, really incredible and fun powerful practices be formed.
Heather: I’m with you a hundred percent on that. I think AI is scary to some people, but I find AADOM members, because they are kind of the best of the best, they’re like, “Bring it!” They’re ready to raise it and make it work for them and not against them.
So, yeah, I’m with you on that.
So, we’re going to wrap up soon. I was going to ask you for a fun fact, but I think Bermuda National Volleyball Team is pretty fun. What else would you like the AADOM members to know about you, Allison?
Allison: I’m also a certified yoga instructor and I spent a month living in Bali. I took a summer off and I lived in Bali for a month, became a yoga instructor.
I taught English at a Thai school and traveled throughout Southeast Asia. And my goal is to keep the amount of countries that I visit parallel or equal to my age.
So, I have been able to do that so far. I’m 34 and I’ve been to 34 countries and I’m going to continue on that path.
Heather: Very nice. What’s next on your list?
Allison: I think Japan’s going to be next.
Heather: Very cool. Wow. So, a country a year. Nice.
Well, Allison, thank you so much. I’m glad our AADPM members got to learn a little bit about you. They see you here. They see you there. They see you a lot on social media and I’m glad they got to know you a little bit.
How can they find you? We’ll have it all in the show notes, but if someone’s driving, listening, where do they find you and learn more about what you do?
Allison: Yes. They can go to the Instagram handle allison.lacoursiere or the Instagram handle yourclearalignercoach, and you can find me on my website yourclearalignercoach.com.
Heather: Well, thank you, Allison. Always a pleasure. And thank you for all that you do.
Allison: Thank you for all that you do, Heather. And thank you for building this incredible community. And I’m so proud and honored to be an Influencer for AADOM.
Heather: Thank you.
